Chapter 176: He Almost Went Crazy

It was not until daybreak that the wind and snow finally stopped.

Zhu Yuan did not wake up until noon.

Opening her eyes, she was caught off guard by a pair of bloodshot eyes; she shuddered in fright and fearfully raised her hands to cover her eyes.

Only then did she discover that both hands were wrapped in gauze, and they hurt whenever she moved; her entire body ached everywhere.

"Am I that terrifying?" the man's low, hoarse voice came through.

Zhu Yuan was startled; in a daze, she saw Sheng Yu's cold, stern face, his gaze fixed on her with complex emotions, those deep eyes filled with bloodshot veins.

It was as if he had been guarding the hospital bed the whole time and had never left.

Seeing her dazed expression, Sheng Yu twitched the corner of his mouth, "Frozen stupid?"

Zhu Yuan vaguely remembered a few fragments of the scene before she lost consciousness.

So it wasn't a hallucination; it really was Sheng Yu who found her.

"You..." she stared at Sheng Yu's face; as she spoke, her throat was dry and painful, and when she turned over, her hand accidentally bumped against the edge of the bed, making her gasp in pain.

Sheng Yu frowned, gently grabbing her wrists to pull her raised hands away, "Don't move around; your hands are frostbitten."

Thinking of how Qiao Mai said she would have needed an amputation if it had been any later, a flash of murderous intent crossed Sheng Yu's eyes.

Zhu Yuan looked at her hands, which were wrapped like rice dumplings.

So it was frostbite; no wonder it hurt so much—the skin must have broken.

She took a few breaths, and because her throat was dry, her voice was very hoarse as she whispered, "I want to drink some water."

That high and mighty man stared at her for a while.

Zhu Yuan didn't know why, but after waking up, she felt that the way Sheng Yu looked at her was strange.

The atmosphere was also strange.

Indescribably ambiguous and lingering.

Before she could think too much, Sheng Yu got up and went to the other side of the hospital room to pour a cup of warm water.

Only then did Zhu Yuan see his long legs, clad in a pair of hiking boots.

The boots were wet, but it had likely been a while as they weren't dripping, though the dark color clearly showed they were soaked through.

After such a long time, he hadn't even changed his shoes.

Sheng Yu walked over with the water cup and sat beside her, intending to help her up to lean against his chest, but as soon as he touched Zhu Yuan, she gasped in pain.

The man's jawline tightened.

Seeing that he was angry, Zhu Yuan quickly said, "My muscles have been stiff for too long, so they are very sore."

Sheng Yu's hand holding the cup stiffened, and for the first time ever, he explained, "I'm not angry."

Zhu Yuan's heart beat a little fast, and she couldn't help but recall the scene in the dressing room where he held her and said "I'm sorry" to her.

The atmosphere changed quietly, returning to that indescribable ambiguity; Zhu Yuan's gaze drifted, "Is there a straw? I'll use a straw to drink."

She didn't expect someone as high and mighty as the Sheng Family Crown Prince to know how to take care of people.

When Sheng Yu brought the straw, she spoke as if coaxing a fool, "Insert it, then bring it to my mouth."

The man's expression darkened, and he was truly angry now, "Do I not know how to insert it?"

He placed one end of the straw by Zhu Yuan's lips, watched her finish the water, and then sighed, his voice dropping, "Do you feel better?"

Song Ci had just pushed open the hospital room door when she heard the conversation between Zhu Yuan and Sheng Yu inside; hearing things like "insert it" and "do you feel better" made her face flush red.

Qi Jing and Yuan Fengye cleared their throats.

This finally startled the people inside the room.

"We'll come in later," Qi Jing said to Song Ci, "Compared to us, she probably needs you more."

Sheng Yu saw them, but he had no intention of leaving.

But right now, Zhu Yuan really needed to use the restroom; although she and Sheng Yu were "that familiar," she certainly wouldn't be able to take off her pants in her current state, and she couldn't bring herself to use the restroom in front of Sheng Yu.

She said nicely, "Your shoes are all wet; go change into a pair, don't catch a cold."

Because she was weak all over, her voice was soft and gentle, sounding even better than her usual affected tone.

Sheng Yu's gaze visibly softened; he gave a blank "mm," and turned to walk out.

The hospital room door closed.

Zhu Yuan hurriedly begged Song Ci for help, "I need to pee!"

Song Ci helped her up, and seeing her grimacing in pain, she explained, "The nurse originally wanted to insert a catheter for you, but I didn't let them."

Zhu Yuan was in such pain that her face twisted, "You did the right thing; having a catheter inserted and a urine bag hanging on the side would be too embarrassing."

"So much baggage?" Song Ci teased her.

Zhu Yuan wore an expression of not knowing how to explain it to her.

As she sat on the toilet, Song Ci leaned against the sink with her arms crossed, "Just now at the door, I heard you say 'insert it' and thought you were so impatient that you started doing it in the hospital room before your body had even recovered."

Zhu Yuan didn't react for a moment, but once she realized what Song Ci was saying, she rolled her eyes in speechlessness, "Your future is truly 'yellow' (pornographic); I was asking Sheng Yu to insert the straw because I wanted to drink water."

Song Ci gave a knowing, mocking "oh."

She suddenly said, "You confessed to Sheng Yu while you were unconscious, and he almost went crazy, did you know that?"

Zhu Yuan's brain buzzed.

Halfway through using the toilet, she held it all back.

Her face flushed red, and her voice stammered, "What did you say?"

Song Ci raised an eyebrow, with an expression that said she hadn't misheard.

Zhu Yuan's face felt like it was burning; no wonder Sheng Yu's gaze was so strange when she woke up.

But it didn't matter; liking someone is just liking them.

She didn't know at what moment it was that Sheng Yu had quietly carved himself into her heart.

Perhaps it was the encounter in the square on New Year's Eve, when he wore a fox mask and lowered his head to kiss her the moment the New Year's bell rang.

Perhaps it was when she almost thought she would be killed by the Dong Family, and on the road while fleeing with Pei Ling, out in the countryside, he held her in a tight embrace.

Perhaps it was even earlier...

By the time she realized how important that man was in her heart, she was completely panicked.

Yet last night, when she guessed that those people wanted to capture her to threaten Sheng Yu, she chose to flee into the snowy mountains without hesitation, not giving anyone a chance to hold Sheng Yu back.

Song Ci helped her put on her pants and supported her back to the hospital bed to rest, "Your face is so red, yet you're still pretending to be calm."

Zhu Yuan suddenly stopped in her tracks, "Wait."

"What's wrong? Do you need to go again?" Song Ci asked her.

Zhu Yuan clicked her tongue, and supported by Song Ci, she slowly turned around, looking at the bathroom mirror in disbelief.

When she saw the face on her neck clearly, she looked at Song Ci with a blank expression and said hoarsely, "No, my face has become like this, and you didn't tell me?"

It was red and swollen, with blisters from frostbite, and after applying the Medicine, her face was a patchwork of red, blue, and yellow, looking just like a palette.

So, she had just faced Sheng Yu while sporting this face?

Song Ci replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "I thought you knew."

Zhu Yuan: "... Let the Earth be destroyed."

Two minutes later, Song Ci opened the hospital room door.

Sheng Yu, having changed his clothes and shoes, gripped the doorknob, ready to enter, but Song Ci blocked him, "She doesn't want to see anyone right now, especially you, President Sheng."

"Why?" Sheng Yu asked in a deep voice.

Song Ci sighed, "She thinks she's ugly."

Zhu Yuan looked at him, her eyes calm and without a single ripple.