Chapter 675 - 454: Hospital Bed
A magnificent villa was situated in one of Mingzhu City’s famous affluent neighborhoods.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the night was a murky black.
Qi Yingchen sat upright on the sofa, his fingers toying with a rosary as he stared absently out at the night.
The room was unlit, shrouded in darkness. On the coffee table, a wine glass filled with scarlet liquid gave off a rich, fragrant aroma.
A real estate tycoon of his stature certainly knew how to enjoy life. He had a private villa all to himself, a secret place that not even his family had ever visited—only his most trusted confidants knew of its existence.
CLICK, CLACK—
The sound of a lock turning came from the entrance. A man in glasses walked in slowly, shaking the rain from his suit.
"President Qi, I’ve taken care of everything. I didn’t leave a single trace."
"Mmm..." Qi Yingchen’s gaze remained fixed on the window, unsurprised. It was clear this wasn’t the first time he’d done something like this. "Those two little girls from the Jiangg Family are so naive. Did they really think a signed contract would stop me? I’ll force the Jiangg Family to default, leaving Youxia Company with no option but to sue. When they can’t acquire that plot, their project will be dead in the water. Then I’ll just pull a few strings, and sooner or later, I’ll swallow that land whole."
"Brilliant, President Qi."
"Hmph. I wouldn’t have had to go to all this trouble if Youxia Company hadn’t stuck its nose where it didn’t belong. I’ve already secured more than half the land in the planning district. So what if that Xia woman buys this building? In the end, I’ll just gobble it up piece by piece."
"But what about the higher-ups?" the assistant asked, a little worried.
"We’ll just keep him in the dark. As long as this doesn’t blow up, he won’t have the time to meddle. He’s a very busy man, after all."
"Yes, sir."
The assistant nodded slightly, seeing his superior settle back into a reclining position on the sofa.
Taking the hint, he quietly withdrew.
He closed the door and left alone.
...
「Elsewhere.」
In a room at the municipal hospital.
Carrying two bowls of wontons, Chen Yuan pushed the door open with a smile. It was a complete departure from the intimidating, grim-faced man in the hallway; his expression was now bright and sunny, utterly harmless.
"These wontons smell amazing. I’m getting hungry just from the scent. I had to wait in line for more than ten minutes to get them downstairs, so they must be good."
𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
"Oh, really?" Jiangg Ning averted her gaze from the ceiling to look at Chen Yuan.
"You’ll know once you taste it."
Chen Yuan unwrapped the containers and pulled out the small tray table from the visitor’s cot beside her.
He was halfway through opening the steaming wontons when he suddenly looked at Jiangg Ning, a flash of apology in his eyes.
"I forgot to adjust your bed."
One of Jiangg Ning’s hands was hooked up to an IV drip, while her other, injured arm was raised high in a sling. She couldn’t even turn over. She wanted to turn her head to watch Chen Yuan as he moved, but she didn’t dare make any sudden movements.
"I’ll try to sit up, then." After more than half an hour on the IV drip, Jiangg Ning felt the dizziness begin to subside.
Besides, she was getting tired of lying down.
Chen Yuan immediately bent down, trying to figure out how to raise the upper half of the bed. He thought the controls would be underneath, but after searching for a handle and finding nothing, he began looking at the front of the bed.
"Could it be over here?" he said, his body brushing past Jiangg Ning as he leaned over to the other side.
The two of them were suddenly pressed close together.
Jiangg Ning was directly facing his neck, close enough to see every inch of his skin, close enough for her breath to brush against his nape.
"Found it. Hold on a second, okay?" he urged in a soft voice.
As Chen Yuan pressed down repeatedly with his arm, the angle of the bed began to increase.
Jiangg Ning watched as her own face was brought closer and closer to the side of Chen Yuan’s, until they were close enough to kiss.
"Chen..." she reminded him, a note of fond exasperation in her voice.
"Hm?"
"That’s high enough. This is good."
For a moment, Jiangg Ning had wanted to kiss him, but she suddenly felt shy and turned her face away.
The oppressive atmosphere of the hospital room suddenly felt a little charged.
It also served to dispel the lingering sense of panic from the car crash.
"Alright, alright, we’ll leave it at that," Chen Yuan said as he pulled back, not forgetting to plant a kiss on Jiangg Ning’s cheek. "So pretty, my Ningning."
The sudden kiss made Jiangg Ning freeze for a second.
When she recovered, she didn’t say anything, but simply gazed at Chen Yuan tenderly for a moment.
"Say ’ah’—"
After blowing on a wonton to cool it, Chen Yuan brought it to Ningning’s lips as if feeding a small child.
She obediently opened her mouth and took a small bite.
Even though she was being careful, a little bit of clear broth still trickled from the corner of her mouth.
"Mmhmm—" Jiangg Ning quickly lifted her chin, pointing it out to him.
Chen Yuan swiftly pulled off a napkin to wipe her chin, then tucked it underneath as a bib.
"Is it good?"
"It’s okay..." Jiangg Ning mumbled, her words muffled.
This was the first time Chen Yuan had ever fed her. He’d fed Yaoyao plenty of times in the past—that little troublemaker was always demanding it—but feeding Ningning, Chen Yuan felt his heart absolutely melt.
’So, so cute.’
It was always Ningning who took care of him and Yaoyao.
The contrast was striking.
Chen Yuan found that he quite enjoyed being needed like this.
...
Perhaps she wasn’t hungry; she only ate a little of the wontons he’d bought. Chen Yuan finished the rest himself.
As for Jiangg Yao’s portion, Chen Yuan figured he would buy her a fresh bowl after she was out of surgery, since the wontons were best eaten right away.
"I was hoping to resolve this matter quickly. I’ve been incredibly busy these past few days, and now that I’m suddenly idle, it feels... strange. I’m not used to it," Jiangg Ning sighed.
Chen Yuan, of course, knew what she was talking about.
At the end of the day, Ningning’s mind was still on company business.
"How about this? Tomorrow, I’ll have someone set up a dedicated video conference for you. If you’re worried, you can give instructions to Lawyer Gu and the new hires. As long as it doesn’t get in the way of your treatment, you can make whatever requests you need."
"Really?" Jiangg Ning blinked.
"I swear it."
"But I just don’t feel like I have the energy right now."
Jiangg Ning stared blankly at the ceiling. Her surgery wasn’t scheduled for today, but she still had to stay in the hospital, unable to go anywhere.
’I want to go home.’
’This cold hospital is no place for a human being.’
Seeing her looking so down, Chen Yuan seemed to empathize. He remembered being sick as a child, lying in a hospital bed just like her, feeling that everything was pointless and losing his appetite.
That was true even when his parents brought him all the treats he normally wasn’t allowed to eat.
They would try everything they could think of to cheer him up.
’Right... There has to be a way to cheer Ningning up.’
An idea seemed to flash through Chen Yuan’s mind.
"Ningning, want to watch a movie?"
"I don’t want to," Jiangg Ning shook her head.
"Come on, let’s watch together. Otherwise, there’s nothing to do. This IV drip alone is going to take over two hours."
"How are we supposed to watch together? That TV is so far away." Jiangg Ning lifted her chin, gesturing toward the television mounted on the wall.
"I have my phone," Chen Yuan said, holding it up and giving it a little shake. "We can get under the covers and watch together. We won’t get chewed out if a nurse finds us, right?"
Chen Yuan glanced toward the room’s door and thought for a moment. Then, he kicked off his shoes, lifted the covers of Jiangg Ning’s bed, carefully raised the hand with the IV drip, and squeezed his nearly six-foot frame into the small space.
Jiangg Ning’s petite frame was squashed over to the very edge of the bed. She looked at him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"What are you doing?"
"It’s freezing out here, but it’s so warm in your bed." Chen Yuan took off his jacket, wrapped an arm tightly around Jiangg Ning, and leaned over her to take a deep sniff of her scent.
The two of them snuggled together on the narrow bed.
Speechless, Jiangg Ning rolled her eyes, seemingly in no mood to play along with his antics.
"We’ll watch this one. ’Super Bear Squad: The Movie.’"
Chen Yuan held up his phone, his cheek pressed against Ningning’s, and tapped the play button.
"A cartoon?"
"You don’t get it. Cartoons are good for the soul, especially on a bleak night like this."
"Alright..." Jiangg Ning pouted. She felt something unfamiliar pressing against her leg but decided not to say anything.
’Hmph. That rogue, Chen.’
’He can’t even keep his hands to himself while watching a movie.’