Chapter 68: She Is Extremely Cold Toward Him

One hour later.

In the study.

Chu Li took off his white shirt, revealing the crisscrossing bloody welts on his back.

The family doctor treated the wounds methodically and instructed Chu Li not to let them get wet.

"How is she?" Chu Li asked.

"I have already given the Madam a fever-reducing injection; she is asleep."

The doctor packed up his things, left ointment and gauze on the side, and then departed.

"Boom—"

Lightning streaked across the sky outside the window, and heavy rain began to fall.

Chu Li stared blankly at the raindrops rolling down the window; no matter how smooth the glass was, the raindrops always left traces upon it.

He gave a silent, bitter smile, feeling that his relationship with Qin Xingwan was now like this summer rain—arriving with aggressive momentum.

The cracks were even more like those marks on the glass, impossible to wipe away.

Past eleven o'clock, the rain eased a little.

Chu Li came out of the study and returned to the master bedroom.

The voice of a servant came from downstairs: "Madam."

Chu Li was startled and ran quickly downstairs.

Qin Xingwan had already pulled open the front door and rushed into the rain.

The heavy rain fell on her body, which had just recovered from a fever, feeling like needle pricks.

She hesitated only for a moment before someone grabbed her tightly from behind.

"Xingwan." Chu Li called his wife's name, his voice blurred in the heavy rain, "Where are you going?"

"Let go of me."

Qin Xingwan pounded on his hands, but those arms were like iron pincers, refusing to loosen even a fraction.

They dragged her there, raw and unyielding.

Filled with hatred, she dug her nails into his hands, drawing blood.

Yet Chu Li still refused to let go, only calling her name anxiously, "Xingwan, be good, come back with me."

A servant hurried over with an umbrella, but both of them were already soaked through.

Qin Xingwan let her arms hang down powerlessly, her long eyelashes trembling, shaking off what could not be distinguished as either rainwater or tears.

She said softly and sarcastically, "Chu Li, if Qin Yunshu wanted my life, you would give it to her without the slightest hesitation, wouldn't you?"

"I wouldn't." Chu Li turned her body around, gazing deeply into her eyes, "Xingwan, trust me one more time."

Qin Xingwan only shook her head, "Let me go, I swear, I will never agree to any of your grandfather's demands again, I will leave Yuncheng."

She did not want to stay here anymore.

It was exhausting.

It was painful.

Chu Li pulled her into his embrace, begging her over and over again to trust him one more time.

The emotions Qin Xingwan had been suppressing finally collapsed.

She wept, her palms striking Chu Li's back with force.

A patch of blood seeped out from behind his white shirt, only to be quickly washed into a pale pink by the heavy rain.

The servant watched in terror and cautiously reminded him, "Sir, you..."

Chu Li glared over with cold eyes, and the servant stopped speaking, trembling.

He caught Qin Xingwan's wrists and picked her up, "Xingwan, let's go back."

Qin Xingwan was utterly desperate.

She could never escape his control after all.

Warm water showered down, dispelling the chill on her skin.

Qin Xingwan's crying did not cease for a long time.

Chu Li stood at the bathroom door, feeling miserable all over; the wounds on his back began to ache again and even started to itch.

His complexion turned an unnatural shade of white.

The water in the bathroom stopped, and Qin Xingwan walked out.

Chu Li put away all his emotions, pulled her to his side, and carefully and gently dried her long hair.

"Xingwan, don't hurt yourself like this." He instructed her meticulously, adding a faint warning, "Don't make Grandma worry."

Qin Xingwan looked at her cold and ruthless husband through the mirror, "So?"

Her throat ached, and she could barely speak.

Chu Li's hand tightened, and he said blandly, "As long as you are Mrs. Chu for one day, Grandma will receive the best care."

He did not want to threaten her, but he also did not want today's events to play out again.

He could not watch her all the time, nor could he truly lock her in the house forever.

He could only use the method she hated most.

But he was not wrong; he just wanted to keep her by his side.

Qin Xingwan looked quietly at herself in the mirror.

She saw a painful, haggard face of a resentful woman, as well as her own compromise with fate.

She sat there expressionlessly, accepting reality.

Chu Li finished drying her hair and had a servant bring over ginger soup.

Brown sugar ginger soup, to dispel cold and warm the stomach.

Chu Li thought Qin Xingwan would continue to make a scene and would not drink it.

But she did not say a word, and drank that bowl of ginger soup until it was empty.

His heart was filled with joy.

Their relationship had finally taken the first step toward easing, and it would only get better from here on out.

He felt countless expectations arise, and gently kissed her forehead, "Rest now."

Qin Xingwan lay down and closed her eyes.

Chu Li watched her quietly for a while, turned off the bedroom's main light, and went to the bathroom.

In the dim, orange-yellow light, Qin Xingwan gripped the quilt tightly.

Chu Li took a shower, then went downstairs to have a servant help apply medicine, only then returning to the master bedroom.

Waking up in the morning.

Qin Xingwan opened her eyes and lay there for a long time before slowly sitting up, her fingers curling to comb through her long hair.

Beside her, Chu Li sat up as well.

His silk pajamas slipped, and a faint scent of medicine wafted out.

Qin Xingwan had already gotten out of bed and did not ask a single word about where the smell came from.

She went to wash up, get ready, changed her clothes, and left the master bedroom.

Chu Li's eyes darkened.

He stood up, felt a wave of dizziness, and only then realized with a start that he was not feeling well.

His body felt somewhat hot, and the wound on his back was becoming increasingly itchy.

He took his phone to call the family doctor and stated his symptoms.

"It might be infected, I'll be right over," the doctor said.

Chu Li washed up and went downstairs; Qin Xingwan was eating breakfast.

She ate in a slow and measured way, with exceptional grace.

Chu Li stood on the stairs and watched her for a long while, his gaze surging with darkness, harboring an emotion that was impossible to fathom.

He went to the living room.

Yet his gaze remained fixed on Qin Xingwan.

Qin Xingwan, however, seemed not to notice, not even turning her head to look once.

The family doctor hurried over.

Chu Li took off his shirt; the wound on his back was red and swollen.

"It really is infected," the doctor said helplessly, "You must have gotten it wet."

Chu Li gave a grunt of acknowledgment, still looking toward Qin Xingwan.

He was waiting.

The distance between the living room and the dining room was not far, and furthermore, from the position where Qin Xingwan was sitting, she could see the situation in the living room just by turning her head.

Yet she did not turn her head, as if today's breakfast were exceptionally sweet.

Treating the wound took half an hour, and the doctor had someone sent over new medicine.

Over there, Qin Xingwan had already finished her breakfast.

She stood up and cast a faint glance toward the living room.

Chu Li stared at her intently, nervousness rising in the depths of his heart.

But Qin Xingwan merely took that one look, then turned and went upstairs.

Chu Li's entire heart felt as if it had been doused with a basin of cold water, thoroughly chilled through.

When he had the scent of medicine on him, she didn't ask a single word.

Now that he was treating his wound right in front of her, she still remained silent.

She was extremely cold toward him.

The look just now also seemed as if she were not looking at her husband, but merely at a stranger.

The doctor was instructing the servant on how to use the medicine.

Chu Li clenched his palms.

"Go call the Madam over," he ordered the servant in a cold voice.

Qin Xingwan had just entered the study and was about to pick and choose from a pile of books to pass the time.

The servant stood at the door and invited her: "Madam, the Master asks you to go down."

Qin Xingwan replied coldly, "I'm not going."