Chapter 177: Love Me That Much?

When Sheng Yu pushed open the hospital room door, Zhu Yuan's face was covered with a piece of gauze, as if she were dead.

He walked over with a furrowed brow.

The movement of opening the door was very slight, and the sound of his footsteps was masked by the noise of the hospital equipment.

Therefore, Zhu Yuan did not know that someone had entered.

When the gauze on her face was lifted by someone, Zhu Yuan was startled, but upon seeing it was Sheng Yu, she became anxious and embarrassed, ignoring her pain to snatch at the gauze, "Give it back to me!"

Sheng Yu threw it aside directly, propped his hands on her pillow, and looked down at her face from above.

This unscrupulous "appreciation" of his made Zhu Yuan blush with shame and anger, but she could not run away now, nor could she push him away, so she simply closed her eyes and pretended he wasn't looking at her.

Sheng Yu looked at her face, flushed red from annoyance, and her self-deceiving appearance with her eyes closed, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

How could she be so cute.

A pleasant, soft chuckle reached Zhu Yuan's ears.

"It's a little ugly, but it'll still do."

Zhu Yuan's heart trembled incessantly; her eyelashes, as her eyes were tightly shut, beat in sync with her heart, trembling uncontrollably, and the tips of her ears rapidly turned red.

Suddenly, a touch of warmth pressed against her lips.

Zhu Yuan's breathing became disordered.

It was Sheng Yu's lips.

However, he did not pry open her teeth, nor did he suck or bite; it was completely different from his usual domineering plunder.

It was just a light touch like this.

Incredibly devout and protective, as if she were his most precious treasure.

When she realized this, Zhu Yuan's heart went numb and her body stiffened, the pain in her muscles making her gasp.

The man sighed, his warm fingertips gently stroking the parts of her cheek that were not frostbitten, and he said in a low voice, "It's not like I don't know how beautiful you are."

Zhu Yuan opened her eyes abruptly, staring at Sheng Yu without blinking, "Y-you, what did you say?"

"I only say nice things once." Sheng Yu curled his lips.

Under the quilt, Zhu Yuan slowly raised a hand to press against the position of her heart, fearing it would overload and stop from beating too fast.

Sure enough, there are some people who shouldn't say sweet nothings; once spoken, they possess top-tier lethality.

She suddenly felt that something was missing from her wrist; the agate bracelet was gone.

"Did you see my bracelet?" she asked hurriedly; it was very important to her, something her mother had left her.

The man raised his right hand; that string of red agate was worn on his wrist, "Your hands are frostbitten and can't wear this; I'll return it to you when you're better."

Zhu Yuan pursed her lips and hummed, only then noticing the green Hair Tie on his wrist.

Her cheeks grew hot.

Could it be that he has been wearing it all along?

A green Hair Tie—he isn't even afraid of people laughing at him for wearing it.

Sheng Yu lifted a corner of the quilt and lay down beside her, gently pulling her into his arms, "I haven't slept all night; I'm going to lie down for a while."

Zhu Yuan went from being tense at the start to gradually relaxing her body, and she gave a low hum.

The two had never had such a warm moment before; she was not used to it, but she inexplicably liked this feeling very much.

She liked the temperature of Sheng Yu's body and his broad chest very much.

Sheng Yu looked down at her, her eyes having regained their liveliness in his arms, and the image of discovering her on the mountain slope, her eyes murky and her consciousness unclear, flashed through his mind.

He couldn't help but tighten his hold, yet remembering the pain in her body, he held her gently, "Were you afraid when you realized you couldn't escape that mountain?"

Zhu Yuan shook her head without hesitation.

Sheng Yu stared at her with deep eyes and said hoarsely, "Do you love me that much?"

When he found her in the mountain hollow and held her in his arms, hearing her say that sentence, he almost instantly recalled the words she had said back then—If I fall in love with someone, I will accompany him through mountains of blades and seas of fire.

Zhu Yuan froze, the tips of her ears red enough to drip blood, "I... mm!"

The man suddenly lowered his head and kissed her lips!

This time he was no longer gentle; he forcefully pried open her teeth, hooked and entangled her tongue, and kissed her deeply.

Whether it was an illusion caused by her intense trembling or not, Sheng Yu's fingertips and chest were both shaking; he sighed, as if there were endless words kneaded into this kiss.

Zhu Yuan gasped in pain, "Mm... it hurts, Sheng Yu... my body hurts..."

"I'm just kissing you, not sleeping with you, how could it hurt?" Sheng Yu rolled over and propped himself up above her.

He lifted her chin without question and continued to kiss her, "It won't hurt if you relax. Be good, I can't hold back."

When Ji Xiang came to see Zhu Yuan, she saw her lying on the hospital bed and was so anxious she started crying.

She threw herself to the side of Zhu Yuan's hospital bed, "Xiao Fengzheng, how did you become like this? Sob sob sob, your hands are bandaged like this, and your face is swollen, and your mouth is swollen too. Sob sob sob, how miserable."

Crying like this, someone who didn't know would think Zhu Yuan had passed away.

Zhu Yuan sighed dotingly, enduring the pain to gently touch Ji Xiang's head with her gauze-wrapped hand, "It's just frostbite, it will be better soon."

Song Ci rolled her eyes silently from the side.

The face and hands were frostbitten, she could guarantee that.

But that mouth of hers was not necessarily frostbitten.

How long and how hard must one kiss to make perfectly fine lips swell up.

Seeing Song Ci roll her eyes, Zhu Yuan blushed and cleared her throat, repeating in a small voice, "It really is frostbite."

Knowing that she needed quiet rest the most right now, Ji Xiang did not linger in the hospital room, but she had brought some food Zhu Yuan liked; however, because Zhu Yuan couldn't eat, she mimicked the way Zhu Yuan used to treat her and ate it in front of Zhu Yuan.

It made Zhu Yuan's mouth water, and she wished she could climb up and beat her.

After Ji Xiang and Song Ci went out, Zhu Yuan fell asleep before long.

Not knowing how long she had slept, she felt a cold touch gently brushing against her face, carrying a hint of caution.

Yet Zhu Yuan only felt the temperature.

It was too cold.

In a daze, she thought she had only dreamt of being rescued, and that she was actually still in that snowy mountain.

She opened her eyes abruptly, and a faint, clean fragrance wafted out; she saw the tall figure of a man by the hospital bed, wearing black clothes, his silhouette blurred and distant.

Although the hospital room lights were off, with only a light by the door left on, the light was not bright, but she still recognized Pei Ling and could not help but be stunned for a moment.

"Second Master Pei."

Pei Ling's hand hanging by his side clenched, his expression as cold as usual, "Frozen into a pig's head."

How was one supposed to respond to that? She would never admit that her face looked like a pig's head right now, even if she died!

Although his words were very rude, she still replied very politely: "Thank you for coming to see me, I am fine now."

"When can you return to the theater to perform?"

Zhu Yuan pursed her lips, "I have to wait until I am better to talk about that. Please rest assured, once I am better, I will immediately return to the theater to perform and earn money for you."

"Earn money for me? Has the troupe not been paying you a salary or a bonus?"

Zhu Yuan did not dare to argue with him and nodded, "Everything you say is correct."

Pei Ling let out a cold snort and turned to walk out of the hospital room; the light from the doorway swept past his eyes, illuminating his bloodshot eyes.