Returning - Chapter 136
Chapter 136: She Is Luckier Than Me
His arm throbbing faintly, Xue Zhan drew in a soft breath, finding the sight of those two with their fingers tightly interlaced rather glaring.
Yet it seemed he didn't even have the right to find it glaring now.
After a pause, he simply turned and walked out. The doctor had said his arm needed proper rest, but he had never really rested it properly.
Now it hurt badly enough that he figured he might as well take advantage of being in the hospital and go see a doctor about it.
At the door, however, he stopped again, turned around and looked at the person on the hospital bed. "Zhao Yu, from now on, you don't have to scheme so hard anymore. Whatever you want, just tell me directly."
Zhao Yu was slightly taken aback and raised her eyes to him. Shang Lu also turned his head to look at him.
Xue Zhan didn't say anything more. He pulled open the door and walked out without looking back.
By the time he returned to the old residence, lunchtime had already passed. He had just been about to head upstairs when the Old Master caught him squarely. "What exactly is going on with Xue Zi'ang?"
Everything that had happened these days, including his arm injury, he had been keeping from the Old Master.
He could only quietly lower his right arm—the one he had just been supporting with his other hand—and said calmly, "He's been somewhat agitated, nothing serious."
"What kind of agitation could make him sick like this? What tricks are you uncle and nephew up to?"
The Old Master was about to press further when Xue Zhan cut in ahead of him: "Let me go check on him first."
Ignoring the Old Master's muttering behind him, Xue Zhan went straight up to the third floor but ran into Liu Ling, who was also at home, just outside his own room.
Liu Ling glanced at his arm and asked in a low voice, "Any better?"
Xue Zhan nodded, and glanced towards Xue Zi'ang's room. "How is he?"
Liu Ling looked deeply worried. "The fever has gone down, but he won't eat, won't drink, and won't speak."
Xue Zhan clenched his fist and said, "I'll go talk to him."
Inside the room, Xue Zi'ang lay motionless on the big bed in loose pajamas. Even when Xue Zhan approached, he showed no reaction.
Looking at his pale complexion and the stubble on his chin, Xue Zhan sighed and sat down by the bedside. "I haven't had lunch yet either. Get up and have a meal with me."
Xue Zi'ang still gave no reaction, didn't even lift his eyes to look at him.
Xue Zhan said, "It's only natural for you to hate me. I was self-righteous, wanting to use my own methods to make you grow. And I couldn't control myself, letting things develop to this point."
Xue Zi'ang still ignored him.
He raised his uninjured left arm to pull the corner of the blanket up from the floor for Xue Zi'ang, hesitated for a moment, then spoke: "If you want to hate me, then hate me, but Zhao Yu…"
At this name, Xue Zi'ang on the bed finally trembled slightly, his fingertips tightening on the blanket.
Xue Zhan continued, "She had her difficulties. All these years, she has had it too hard."
"Everything she did, she was forced to do. Don't blame her."
Seeing that the person on the bed still refused to acknowledge him, Xue Zhan was silent for a while, then stood up and walked towards the door. Just as he reached it, he heard a hoarse voice from behind him: "What happened to her?"
After lunch, Shang Lu still had business to attend to and went back to the company first. Zhao Yu napped for a while in the hospital bed. When she groggily woke up, she discovered there was an extra person by the bed.
She had thought it was Shang Lu returning, but when she blinked her eyes clear, she couldn't help feeling surprised: "Xue Zi'ang?"
Xue Zi'ang hadn't closed his eyes for days and had inadvertently fallen asleep leaning against the bed, but as soon as he heard her voice, he immediately straightened up.
Their eyes met, and for a moment both were at a loss for words, looking at each other, not knowing how to begin.
Seeing that he looked even more haggard than she did, Zhao Yu asked, "Are you feeling better?"
Xue Zi'ang nodded, averted his gaze from her, and after a long silence pointed at the cabinet. "Auntie Jiang made some soup. I happened to bring some along. Would you like some?"
Zhao Yu shook her head. "Don't you hate me?"
He didn't answer, but his gaze fell on her lower abdomen. He reached out and gently caressed it through the blanket. "Does it hurt?"
Zhao Yu gave a small smile. "That was so many years ago. It's long since stopped hurting."
He didn't speak, and slowly bent down, leaning his head against the raised bedclothes just like that.
"Xue Zi'ang?" Zhao Yu called twice without getting a reply, and gave up on him, taking out her phone to check WeChat on her own.
She had just replied to a message from Ji Sui when she felt the body pressed against her abdomen tremble, and then tremble again.
Zhao Yu was slightly stunned. Looking at his head of soft black hair: "Xue Zi'ang?"
He didn't answer, but she half-guessed: "Are you crying?"
"No!" His voice was hoarse, and because his whole face was buried in the blankets, the sobbing tone was even more noticeable.
Zhao Yu blanked for a moment before she let out a low chuckle. "This is a hospital."
"Aren't you the one who hates hospital blankets the most? And there you are with your face pressed against them. That's filthy."
Xue Zi'ang didn't say anything. Only after a long while did he straighten up, his eyes red-rimmed as he looked at her: "Of all the people to fall for, you had to fall for that bastard Zhuang Ye. What was so good about him?"
Seeing him like this, Zhao Yu instead smiled again.
Actually, from a certain point of view, Xue Zi'ang and Zhuang Ye were quite similar. Both were golden boys born into wealth, the same age, the same flamboyant personalities, and sometimes the same kind of naive immaturity.
It was just that Xue Zi'ang's arrogance came from being spoiled his whole life, while Zhuang Ye's rebellion stemmed from family misfortune.
And also, Tang Xi and Xu Miao were quite similar too — deeply in love on one side, retreating on the other, unable to let go, unable to give up, and always feeling like there was nothing they could do.
In fact, if Zhuang Yiqing hadn't acted so ruthlessly back then, hadn't caused that irreparable accident, then the ending for Tang Xi and Zhuang Ye should have been just like Xue Zi'ang and Xu Miao's.
Even if they weren't together anymore, even if they no longer loved each other deeply, at least each could be safe and well on their own.
With a self-mocking smile, Zhao Yu said quietly, "She is luckier than me."
Not only was Xu Miao luckier than her, but Xue Zi'ang was also luckier than Zhuang Ye, because what Zhuang Ye was about to face would be a blow he could never bear.
Catching the glimmer of tears in her eyes, Xue Zi'ang pulled out a tissue and handed it to her, asking, "Did Zhuang Yiqing deliberately have it removed, or…"
Zhao Yu shook her head. "No. When I fell, there was a massive hemorrhage. It couldn't be saved."
"She was still the one who caused you to fall."
Watching his teeth gritted and fist clenched, Zhao Yu said slowly, "Xue Zi'ang, what you liked was only the role I deliberately played in front of you. Not Tang Xi, not Zhao Yu."
Xue Zi'ang lowered his head and said nothing.
Zhao Yu smiled. "I know, I'm the one who wronged you. If you want to hate me, want to take revenge however you like, go ahead. But I can't…"
Before she finished speaking, her phone rang. She looked down; it was an unfamiliar number.
As soon as she pressed the answer button, a somewhat familiar voice came through: "Miss Zhao? This is Ling Jianyuan."
"President Ling, can I help you?"
"I'd like to meet with you and have a chat."
Zhao Yu was not at all surprised, and said calmly, "Sure."
"You set the time and place, President Ling."
After she hung up, Xue Zi'ang asked, "Ling Jianyuan?"
Zhao Yu smiled. "You could tell?"
Xue Zi'ang was silent for a moment, then fixed his eyes on her. "I'll go with you."
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