Chapter 281: It's all fake

Xia Xi leaned against the hallway wall, the back of her head pressing against it, she lifted her head high, trying to hold back her tears.

But it was useless; tears rolled from the corners of her eyes, sliding down her cheeks.

She wiped them with her hand, but couldn't get them dry.

The words Xu Yanfeng spoke weighed a thousand jin, pressing on her heart, making even breathing difficult.

As it turned out, that's how he thought. He had never forgotten her, always liked her; even if she made mistakes in his eyes, betrayed him, he could abandon his principles and bottom line for her.

How could there be someone so foolish in the world, how could there be someone so good.

Xia Xi couldn't stand; her back slid slowly down the wall, she covered her face and crouched on the floor, crying silently.

A nurse pushing a cart passed by, saw the situation, stopped, walked to Xia Xi, bent down and lightly patted her shoulder, speaking with concern: 'Ma'am, where do you feel uncomfortable? Do you need help?'

Xia Xi lifted her face, eyes red, shook her head: 'Thank you, I'm fine.'

The nurse understood; she might be a patient's family member. In the hospital, such scenes are almost daily: family members fall ill, relatives are helpless, still have to tend to the patient's emotions, so they hide away to cry secretly.

After the nurse left, Xia Xi pushed herself up using the nearby plastic chair and walked toward the public restroom at the end of the hallway.

In the ward, Xu Yanfeng gazed toward the door; Xia Xi probably couldn't control her emotions for a moment, didn't want him to see her, so she made up an excuse to leave. If she really just needed the toilet, there was one in the ward—why go outside?

Xia Xi stood at the washbasin, washing her hands, calming her emotions.

Suddenly she felt unsure how to face Xu Yanfeng; after he said those words, she could no longer jab him with words, nor could she keep a cold face toward him, she clearly felt her guilt deepening.

There was no mirror at the washing spot; Xia Xi knew her face must look awful after crying, so she simply stood there, waiting for the redness in her eyes to fade before returning to the ward.

Meanwhile, she tried to straighten her tangled thoughts.

When she heard over the phone today that Xu Yanfeng had been in a car accident, she was terrified, not knowing how seriously he was injured; all along she imagined various bad scenarios, her palms sweaty nonstop, her heart feeling constantly squeezed.

When her grandmother passed away, she deeply understood the meaning of 'you never know whether tomorrow or an accident will come first'; some things cannot wait, or waiting may turn them into nothing, becoming a lifelong regret.

She asked herself, do I still have Xu Yanfeng in my heart?

The answer was crystal clear to her; just like him, she had never forgotten.

He has always been in her heart.

Before, no matter who asked her whether she still thought of Xu Yanfeng, she never gave a direct answer, always responding with vague, ambiguous replies.

But she couldn't deceive herself.

During the busiest years abroad, every time she thought of Xu Yanfeng, her heart ached. Back then, she foolishly believed she would someday be able to forget him completely.

Even if it were three years, five years.

But three years passed, five years passed; when she thought of him, she still couldn't achieve a heart as still water.

Xu Yanfeng asked if she had given him some kind of spell; in fact, she was no less under his spell.

Perhaps blame the 'brand' he left on her body, deep into the marrow, which she cannot remove.

Xia Xi suddenly recalled her grandmother's will; in that letter, her grandmother left words for everyone in the family, and one sentence she left for Xia Xi was: follow your heart's desire to do what you want, rather than what you ought to do; sometimes, a turn of events lies in a single thought.

At that moment, two nurses passed behind Xia Xi, their whispered conversation unusually clear in the quiet setting.

'What's the condition of the patient in 1502? They said he was brought in after a car accident, but no medicine seems to work; I heard the director took the case.'

'Shh, the person in that ward has quite a background.'

'You know?'

'Of course, you know our director is the cousin of Tang Zong from Lofty Heaven Capital, right? When Tang Zong came to see the director, I happened to be passing outside the office and overheard a sentence or two.'

'Come on, tell me, I'm dying of curiosity.'

Xia Xi's thoughts were interrupted; isn't the 1502 ward the one Xu Yanfeng is staying in? The nurse said he was brought in after a car accident, the info matches, and she also mentioned Tang Yizhou… what's the problem?

Xia Xi didn't turn to look at the two nurses, fearing to draw attention; she only slightly turned her body, held her breath, and focused to eavesdrop on their talk.

The nurse who knew the inside story gave a mysterious smile and whispered: 'The person inside is the CEO of the Xu Clan; he has nothing wrong with him.'

The other nurse looked bewildered: 'Really? He can be in a car accident and still have no ailment at all?'

'What? He didn't have a car accident at all.'

'Then why is he hospitalized?'

'I don't know the reason. Tang Zong told the director to just open a ward, wrap his head in two layers of gauze, and that's enough; nothing else needs to be done.'

'Ugh, I can't fathom the minds of rich people. Maybe they're under too much pressure, mentally not quite normal…'

'Anyway, our hospital's VIP wards are always vacant; just treat it as bringing in revenue for the hospital.'

After hearing the two nurses' conversation, Xia Xi became completely calm.

There was nothing left in her mind.

Xia Xi turned on the faucet, washed her hands again, and walked toward the ward.

Each step she took was full of momentum, not like going to care for a patient but like seeking someone to revenge; if she held a weapon, it would be even more so.

Xu Yanfeng was still patiently waiting in the ward for Xia Xi, wondering how she would respond to him.

After a while, just as he worried something might happen, Xia Xi's figure finally appeared at the ward door; he gazed deeply at her face… and it was nothing like what he had imagined.

She wasn't moved, nor particularly excited; her pair of eyes were calm as a deep lake.

Xia Xi arrived at the bedside, said nothing, and directly reached out to pull off the gauze wrapped around Xu Yanfeng's head.

Xu Yanfeng was caught off guard, uttered an 'eh', reached out to stop her, but it was too late; the white gauze wound around his head ended up in Xia Xi's hands.

The air stilled.

Xu Yanfeng had never anticipated this situation; he had no idea what to do next.

His head was perfectly fine, not a scratch; seeing Xia Xi's calm face now ripple slightly, it was clear the nurse's words were true—Xu Yanfeng hadn't been in a car accident; what lay before her was merely a scheme he'd cooked up with Tang Yizhou—a bitter ploy.

To gain her sympathy.

Xia Xi coldly spoke: 'Car accident? Concussion? Dizziness? Need bed rest?'

With each of her questions, Xu Yanfeng felt a bit more guilty; finally, unable to withstand her mocking gaze, he threw off the blankets, sat up, and without further ado apologized: 'Sorry, I shouldn't have…'

Xia Xi threw a punch at him, felt it wasn't enough to vent her anger, and threw another.

Xu Yanfeng fell silent, reaching out to hug her. Xia Xi stepped back, not letting him touch her; the tears she had held back surged up, and her eyes reddened all around in an instant.

Can this kind of thing be joked about so casually?

He doesn't know how scared and worried she was on the way rushing over; she had to forcefully restrain herself, or she would have shaken in the taxi. That stretch of road was so long; in the agonizing wait, she felt as if she had lost all warmth, cold from head to toe.

In the end, it was all fake.

Seeing her red eyes, Xu Yanfeng felt awful, extremely regretful; he shouldn't have been momentarily muddle-headed and listened to Tang Yizhou's wicked idea.

Xia Xi glared at him fiercely, then turned and walked away.

Xu Yanfeng, still wearing a blue-and-white striped hospital gown, chased out of the ward and grabbed Xia Xi's hand in front of the elevator.

The entire floor was VIP wards, with hardly anyone in the hallway; Xu Yanfeng held Xia Xi, not letting her go.

"Let go!" Xia Xi, knowing he wasn't injured, no longer held back, lifted her leg to kick his shin, kick his ankle, and step on the top of his foot.

Xu Yanfeng seemed to feel no pain, his arms hard as iron, firmly locking her body; he felt both distressed and heartbroken: "Xia Xi, hear me out: the idea was Tang Yizhou's, undeniably, I'm also at fault; I shouldn't have deceived you, using your sympathy to seek a chance for reconciliation. Sorry, you can hit or scold me as you wish, but every word I've said to you comes from the heart; if you don't believe me, I can swear. If what I say is false, let me truly get into a car accident…"

"Xu Yanfeng! Shut up!"

Xia Xi's tears fell in strings, she was furious to death.