Qin Ningyi returned to the ward, and An An had already fallen asleep on the nearby sofa.
Seeing Qin Ningyi return, Xia Qingxue quietly got up and left.
"I'm going to deal with Tang Zhenzhen's matter. You stay here and watch An An." Although Xia Qingxue was a little afraid of the cold Qin Ningyi, when it came to An An, his expression was not so scary.
Qin Ningyi nodded, and Xia Qingxue quickly grabbed her bag and slipped away.
Only a small night light was on in the ward. He waved at Xiao Konglin and walked in by himself.
An An slept obediently on the sofa, covered with a towel. Huo Rou on the hospital bed closed her eyes. After the fever subsided, the unnatural flush was gone, making her look exceptionally pale and weak.
Qin Ningyi looked at Huo Rou. Such a delicate girl did not seem like his type. However, if such a beautiful face were to appear before him, he would not forget it so easily. He was sure he had never met Huo Rou.
How did An An come about?
Qin Ningyi, as if possessed, reached out and tucked the quilt for Huo Rou. After doing so, he was startled by himself and withdrew his hand, walking to the chair by the sofa and sitting down.
He smiled faintly, sat up straight as a pine, and closed his eyes to rest.
The next morning, Qin Ningyi came out after washing up and happened to meet Zhou Qingyan and his mother at the door outside the ward.
"Are you An An's friend?" Qin Ningyi asked, looking down. He had some impression of Zhou Qingyan's appearance.
"Yes, yes, our Qingyan said An An fell into the pond yesterday, so we've come to see him today." Zhou Qingyan's mother, adorned with jewelry, leaned forward with a smile.
Zhou Qingyan nodded with concern, "Uncle, is An An okay?"
"He's fine." Qin Ningyi looked at Zhou Qingyan, always feeling that something was not right.
When faced with Qin Ningyi's searching gaze, Zhou Qingyan lowered his head. He was unsure if An An had seen him yesterday, but his mother insisted that he come to see An An.
"Uncle, can we go in and see An An?" Zhou Qingyan asked politely.
"Go ahead, An An just woke up." Qin Ningyi nodded in agreement and stepped aside to let them in.
An An walked over from behind. "Go out."
"An An, are you okay? Qingyan said it seemed like you fell into the water yesterday, and he insisted on me bringing him to see you," Zhou Qingyan's mother asked with concern.
An An stared at Zhou Qingyan, his eyes filled with sadness. "Go out."
"An An?" Qin Ningyi remembered that this was the brother An An liked very much when he entered that class.
Why was he so unusually refusing visitors and chasing people out today?
"You clearly saw me fall into the water," An An said, choked with sobs, unable to understand. "Why didn't you call for help?"
An An finally asked the question he wanted to ask.
The concern in Zhou Qingyan's eyes slowly disappeared. His mother, however, hurriedly said, "An An, is there some misunderstanding? Qingyan wasn't by the pond yesterday, how could he have seen you fall into the water?"
His mother looked at Qin Ningyi and then suddenly slapped Zhou Qingyan's head. "Hurry up and explain to An An, weren't you by our side all day yesterday? How could An An misunderstand you? Speak!"
Zhou Qingyan covered his head in pain, looked at An An, and then at the handsome Qin Ningyi beside him. He suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
"Mom, he doesn't want us to come, so let's go back."
"What are you talking about? He's your best friend. It's your fault he's hurt. Explain properly. Children don't hold grudges overnight," Zhou Qingyan's mother lectured Zhou Qingyan, and at the end, she glanced at Qin Ningyi obsequiously.
Qin Ningyi sensed that something was wrong and lowered his head, patiently saying to An An, "An An, tell Daddy what happened?"
An An thought of the unfathomably deep pond water yesterday, thought of Zhou Qingyan watching from afar, and then looked back at his mother, who had not yet woken up. He spoke in a muffled voice, suppressing the sadness welling up in his heart, and said word by word, "Brother Qingyan, we are good friends. You clearly saw me fall into the water yesterday, why didn't you ask for help?"
Zhou Qingyan was about to say something when An An looked up at him with reddened eyes. "You clearly saw it, but you did nothing. If my mother hadn't come to save me, I don't know how long I would have been in there."
Zhou Qingyan pursed his lips and said indifferently, "I didn't."
"You didn't?" An An looked at Zhou Qingyan in confusion. "Brother Qingyan, we are good friends. You are still lying to me now."
Zhou Qingyan's mother repeatedly defended Zhou Qingyan with a smile.
Qin Ningyi looked at An An's calm face and said calmly, "Since you didn't, then we can check the surveillance footage and we'll know."
Hearing about surveillance, Zhou Qingyan quickly looked up at Qin Ningyi, then lowered his eyes and said to An An, "Aren't you okay now?"
"Brother Qingyan, I want to know why."
"I'm tired of following a brat around all day," Zhou Qingyan said, cautiously glancing at his mother beside him.
"I also did very well, why does the teacher only praise you!" During this period, both the math teacher and the Chinese teacher, Teacher Zhou, only praised An An. Before An An came, he, Zhou Qingyan, was the most outstanding in the class.
This little brat had stolen all the limelight. At home, he was told to befriend An An. The toys he liked were given to An An before he even played with them, and every time he received them, An An would unceremoniously accept them and give back meaningless trinkets.
An An did not expect that his sincere treatment and the carefully prepared gifts for Zhou Qingyan would be considered meaningless trinkets by him. But every time he gave them to him, he accepted them happily. He never said he didn't like them.
Zhou Qingyan's mother slapped Zhou Qingyan on the head, making him stumble.
"An An, it's our Qingyan's fault. Please don't take it to heart." Zhou Qingyan's mother did not expect such a scene. She brought Zhou Qingyan here to get acquainted with Qin Ningyi. With the Qin family's help, their company would have a different future.
"Apologize to An An quickly!" Saying this, she kicked Zhou Qingyan in the leg again. "An An, Qingyan is just saying things in anger. I didn't buy him his favorite toy today, so he's throwing a tantrum. Don't take it seriously."
An An no longer believed these words. Everything that had happened before had a pattern. Looking back, the so-called friend had no sincerity at all.
Qin Ningyi looked at Zhou Qingyan's mother deeply. "Don't burden the children with adult matters. You can leave now."
Without listening to their further words, Qin Ningyi closed the door, leaving only him and An An inside.
Qin Ningyi didn't know how to explain adult thoughts, so he raised his hand and stroked An An's hair.
"An An." Huo Rou's hoarse voice sounded.