Lin Xingwan and others turned their gazes to the entrance of the intensive care unit, seeing Zhou Jinbai, pale and bloodless, being pushed out.
"Jinbai, my good grandson," the old lady hurried towards the bedside, with Lin Xingwan following closely behind.
She had a thousand words she wanted to say to this man, but seeing him so weak, the words that welled up in her throat were swallowed back.
Zhou Jinbai was too weak; it seemed even a few words would cost him his life.
"Good grandson, you really gave this old woman a scare this time. If anything had happened to you, how could this old lady go on living?"
The old lady wept, patting the hospital bed as she spoke.
She hadn't cried from the moment she learned of her grandson's accident, nor when the doctor told her to prepare for the worst. But the instant she saw him being wheeled out, the old lady wailed.
For in this world, her grandson Zhou Jinbai was the only one she relied on.
With him around, she didn't need to be strong. Without him, she had to maintain an unyielding facade to prevent internal strife within the family.
Listening to the old lady's cries, Lin Xingwan felt a pang in her heart.
Even if they didn't blame her, Zhou Jinbai's severe injuries were her fault.
Lin Xingwan's tears also fell uncontrollably. Seeing the old woman and the young woman weeping so heartbrokenly, Zhou Jinbai said with a tone of helplessness, "I've been rescued, haven't I? You should be happy. What's there to cry about?"
"You rascal, do you know how worried your grandmother and granddaughter-in-law were outside? We haven't slept since last night, and it was your granddaughter-in-law who went to get the medicine for you, or you wouldn't have woken up."
By the end of her sentence, the old lady was choked with sobs.
"Don't cry, don't cry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have made you worry. It won't happen again." Although Zhou Jinbai was comforting his grandmother, he laboriously held Lin Xingwan's hand, interlocking their fingers.
It was as if only in this way could he ensure this woman wouldn't leave him.
Lu Shiyan was the last to emerge from the intensive care unit. Upon seeing Zhou Jinbai awake, he still couldn't fully recover from the shock of a moment ago.
About half an hour prior, Brother Zhou's condition had rapidly deteriorated, and he had been issued three critical illness notices.
Then, a strange doctor administered an injection directly into Brother Zhou's body.
His increasingly worsening physical indicators began to rapidly return to normal, like parched earth receiving much-needed rain.
If Lu Shiyan hadn't witnessed it himself, he would have thought he was hallucinating.
"The Duan family's miraculous medicine truly lives up to its reputation. I, Lu Shiyan, have truly opened my eyes today," Lu Shiyan said as he walked over to Lin Xingwan and the others. "Although Brother Zhou has passed the crisis, his body is still very weak. You must pay attention to his recovery in the coming days, or it will leave him with lingering health issues."
Lin Xingwan and the old lady nodded repeatedly, and they all proceeded to Zhou Jinbai's VIP room.
Although the old lady wasn't wailing as loudly as before, she was still wiping away tears.
"If you two keep crying, I'll ask the doctor to send me back to the intensive care unit. I'll only come out after I've fully recovered."
Zhou Jinbai's voice was filled with a deep sense of helplessness. The two women he cared about most in his life were now crying in front of him simultaneously, making him feel utterly defeated.
The old lady and Lin Xingwan immediately stopped crying, knowing that this man meant what he said.
Seeing that his words had an effect, Zhou Jinbai continued, "Grandma, you haven't slept since yesterday. Your health isn't good, so you need to go rest quickly. My wife can take care of me here. If there are any problems, I'll notify Xuanyin."
"Yes, Grandma, please go rest," Lin Xingwan also chimed in. Having spent so much time with the old lady, she had come to understand her personality quite well.
The old lady was strong and dignified, rarely showing her inner pain.
Seeing her haggard appearance, Lin Xingwan felt even more self-reproachful.
"Old Madam, let me escort you. Since Young Master has pulled through, he just needs a period of rest," Xuanyin said, gently taking the old lady's arm.
"In that case, I'll go and rest for a while. Xingwan, take good care of Jinbai. If you need anything, just tell the bodyguards outside the door."
The old lady was indeed exhausted. Her body was already nearing its end, and now, after more than ten hours of grief and terror, she felt a dizzying weakness and needed to rest and recuperate.
Lin Xingwan nodded, and the old lady then departed.
In the spacious hospital room, only the sound of the monitoring equipment could be heard.
Lin Xingwan stood before Zhou Jinbai, her tears flowing even more torrentially than before.
"Don't cry, wife. What's there to cry about? I'm fine, aren't I? Come here, let me hold you for a while." Zhou Jinbai's voice was exceptionally gentle. He immediately noticed the blood seeping from Lin Xingwan's arm and her swollen face.
While he had been wandering between life and death in his unconscious state, his wife, who was awake, hadn't fared any better.
Zhou Jinbai was even certain that from last night until he regained consciousness, it was his grandmother and the woman before him who had endured the most pain.
Lin Xingwan didn't approach Zhou Jinbai. Instead, she said, "I'm sorry. It's all my fault. If I hadn't gone to Qingxi Town, none of this would have happened."
Even though Zhou Jinbai had been saved in the end, the feeling of despair and helplessness from last night until now was something Lin Xingwan had never experienced before, leaving her feeling lost and bewildered.
"Silly girl, even if you hadn't gone to Qingxi Town, those who wanted to harm you would have found other ways. Although we've been through hardship, we should be grateful that the person who harmed us is dead." Zhou Jinbai looked at the woman before him, who was filled with self-reproach, and at this moment, he felt immense pity for her. "I won't abandon my wife. I still want to dote on you, spoil you, have a bunch of children, and grow old with you. And if you don't come over soon, I'll get up and hug you myself."
Zhou Jinbai's last sentence was laced with a strong threat.
Lin Xingwan immediately went to his side, saying anxiously, "Don't move, and don't get up."
This man was too fragile. Lin Xingwan felt as if he were a delicate treasure, easily broken by a gust of wind.
"I want a hug..." Zhou Jinbai had no idea that when he said this, he sounded like a pliant and delicate handsome man easily subdued, posing an immense temptation to Lin Xingwan.
Lin Xingwan looked troubled. "How can I hug you in this state? When you've recovered a bit, I'll let you hug me, okay?"
"No, it's been so long since I hugged you, I miss you so much."
At this moment, Zhou Jinbai had transformed into an unreasonable, childish boy.
Lin Xingwan was at a loss. Unexpectedly, the man spoke again, "If you lie down with me, then I can hug you."
"No, I'm afraid I'll press on your wound," Lin Xingwan immediately refused.
Zhou Jinbai made a move as if to get up, scaring Lin Xingwan into quickly and carefully lying down beside him.
Zhou Jinbai's hand, the one not connected to the IV, finally got to embrace Lin Xingwan's waist as he wished.
He buried his handsome face deep into her neck, greedily inhaling the scent that belonged solely to her.
Only when she was safe and sound beside him did Zhou Jinbai feel that his injuries were worth it.
Lin Xingwan's body tensed, not daring to move.
She was like a well-behaved ragdoll cat, letting Zhou Jinbai, her owner, hug and kiss her.
It wasn't until the man stopped all movement and mumbled, "Wife, I'm sorry," that Lin Xingwan responded in a muffled voice, "Don't say that. You need to rest well, your health is important."
She certainly knew what Zhou Jinbai wanted to say, but subconsciously, she even resisted all truths.
She was afraid that when everything was revealed, she would be the most ridiculous one.
It was better to pretend that nothing had happened.
"No, I have to say it. If I don't, I'll feel suffocated," Zhou Jinbai said, then lightly kissed Lin Xingwan's forehead. "Wife, I didn't intentionally deceive you. At the time, I never expected us to get married or fall in love, so I didn't tell you my true identity. In other words, I was still somewhat resistant to my identity, worried that you wouldn't want to be with me after knowing my true identity, so I was very scared."
Lin Xingwan listened quietly to Zhou Jinbai's words, her heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.
"Compared to Dongfang Junze's identity, interacting with you as Zhou Jinbai made you more relaxed and dependent on me. The more I cared about you, the more I feared that all of this would be like a dream, and that you would leave me once the truth was revealed. I had asked you before, using Dongfang Junze's identity, what you would do if I liked you. But you still rejected me, so I was afraid..."
The hand that Zhou Jinbai had used to hold Lin Xingwan's waist tightened its grip.
"Don't say these things, you should rest," Lin Xingwan only heard Zhou Jinbai admit to deceiving her, but not the answer she longed for in her heart, which left her quite disappointed.
Even at this point, this man was still unwilling to mention the existence of that other woman? Especially... they were about to get married.
"Wife, please forgive me, okay? I won't dare to do it again. You like my Zhou Jinbai identity, so I'll live as Zhou Jinbai forever. If you prefer my Dongfang Junze identity, then from now on, I am Dongfang Junze."
Zhou Jinbai had never been so humble. Of course, he wasn't foolish; he knew this was the best time to admit his mistake and apologize. After all, his wife was soft-hearted, and this was an opportunity for an apology he had earned with his life.
He had to strike while the iron was hot.
"I forgive you. You need to rest," Lin Xingwan clearly didn't want to delve deeper into this matter.
Zhou Jinbai, however, grasped her hand and intertwined their fingers again beneath the covers.
"Wife, I know you haven't truly forgiven me yet. You must still be angry with me. Besides this matter, I don't know what else I've deceived you about. If I've done anything wrong that made you unhappy, please tell me, okay? I can coax you, I can apologize, but if you don't say anything, I can't guess what else you're angry about. I hope we can talk properly and not make each other guess. Truly loving couples only think about solving problems, not creating them."
Zhou Jinbai nuzzled Lin Xingwan's face pitifully. "I don't want you to distance yourself from me. That feeling is truly unbearable. Wife, please tell me, okay? Even if it means I have to die, I want to die with clarity. Otherwise, I won't be reconciled."
Lin Xingwan listened to Zhou Jinbai's repeated pleas. She wasn't made of stone and couldn't remain unmoved.
As soon as she thought of the promise she had made to Duan Muxing, Lin Xingwan took a deep breath and then slowly said, "I'm angry that you played me with your identities as Zhou Jinbai and Dongfang Junze, but what makes me even angrier is your dishonesty in matters of the heart. I told you long ago, if you liked someone, you could tell me. I'm not someone who clings on stubbornly and refuses to let go. Your biggest mistake was having a fiancée and not telling me. I only found out when you were about to get married. I feel like I've been a complete fool, deceived by all of you."
As Lin Xingwan spoke, she felt increasingly wronged. Her nose tingled, her eyes burned, and soon, tears streamed down her cheeks.
Her sobbing grew uncontrollable, and Zhou Jinbai, flustered, could only repeatedly wipe away her tears. "Don't cry, don't cry. I was just asking. Stop crying, or you'll turn into a little kitten. Besides, when have I ever been dishonest in matters of the heart? I don't have a fiancée, and I'm certainly not getting married!"
"You do!"
"I don't!"
"You do!"
"Wife, I really don't."
The two of them bickered childishly. At this moment, Zhou Jinbai wished he could lay his heart bare for the woman in his arms.
He also knew that continuing to argue about this topic was meaningless, so he gently persuaded, "Since you say that about me, then please, wife, show me the evidence."
"The couple's bracelet last time," Lin Xingwan said.
Zhou Jinbai immediately explained, "The bracelet was lost. It wasn't custom-made by me. Someone liked me, and I told you, I would never be with that woman. We've already put that behind us! Wife, we agreed, bringing up old grudges is not a good habit."
Lin Xingwan pouted and spoke again, but this time her voice was more dejected than before. "Who was that woman you were kissing when you went to the nightclub?"
Zhou Jinbai: ???
It seemed something had gone beyond his comprehension.
"What nightclub? What kissing? Wife, what are you talking about?" Zhou Jinbai's usually stern eyes were now filled with confusion. He was starting to doubt if the wife's perception of him was the real him.
Seeing that Zhou Jinbai didn't seem to be faking it, Lin Xingwan opened her phone and showed him the messages and photos from the night they had the car accident.
After reading them, even the usually composed Zhou Jinbai fell silent.
If he didn't have a strong aversion to nightclubs, he would have suspected that the man in the photos was him.
"Wife, when I had the car accident, I was afraid you would discover my true identity, so I didn't see you. But as soon as I woke up, I sent you a message. As for the messages you sent me, they were all on my old phone, but after the car accident, the old phone was lost. It seems that someone with malicious intent picked up my phone and sent you messages. I was in the emergency room being resuscitated, how could I have been intimate with another woman? And the man in the nightclub is not me at all. If I had the slightest intention of deceiving you, may I be torn apart by five horses and die a horrible death."
"Bah, bah, bah! Why are you making such a poisonous vow?" Lin Xingwan was terrified by Zhou Jinbai's words.
This man really dared to make any kind of poisonous vow.
Zhou Jinbai continued to explain, "As for you mentioning a fiancée and getting married soon, I might have guessed what that's about."