Jiang Youli slowly withdrew her hand, a hint of a teasing smile curling at the corner of her mouth. "Jiang Xing, do you really think I need to explain my actions to you?"
Faced with such an arrogant attitude, Jiang Xing trembled with rage, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. "Jiang Youli, don't push me too far! If you keep forcing me like this, believe me, I'll make sure we both go down together!"
Jiang Youli, however, seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world and couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. "Oh? How noble of you. If you're so concerned about what I might do to Jiang Zhao, then why did you help me distract your mother just now? In the end, you're just afraid for your own life."
Jiang Xing was stung by her blunt sarcasm, his face instantly shifting through a spectrum of ugly colors, pale then flushed, like a painter's palette. His lips quivered as he struggled to find a retort.
Seeing this, the smile on Jiang Youli's face deepened, and she continued her merciless taunt. "So stop pretending to be tough in front of me. Since you don't have the guts to die, spare me your grand declarations in the future."
With that, her figure blurred, agile as a cat, as she flipped over the windowsill and vanished from Jiang Xing's sight.
Humiliated, Jiang Xing clenched his fists for a long moment before finally turning to look at Jiang Zhao on the hospital bed. He didn't know what Jiang Youli had just done, but it certainly couldn't be anything good!
"I'm sorry, Jiang Zhao. You know my situation. Jiang Youli poisoned me, and I can barely protect myself, forced to obey her. If she really did something to hurt you just now and I couldn't stop her... I can only apologize. But rest assured, once I get the antidote and am free from her control, if you really don't wake up... I'll avenge you."
At this point, a sudden thought struck Jiang Xing: With the chaos in the Jiang family following the car accident, and with Uncle, Aunt, and Jiang Youli all away from home, these next few days might be the perfect opportunity to have someone steal the antidote from the eastern district villa!
Lost in his thoughts, Jiang Xing failed to notice the faint tremor of Jiang Zhao's eyelashes on the bed after he finished speaking.
...
After leaving Jiang Zhao's room, Jiang Youli nimbly climbed back through the window into her own hospital room.
Just then, the door to the room was pushed open from the outside.
Before Jiang Youli could get back into bed, she turned to look. Fortunately, it wasn't her beautiful stepmother or handsome stepfather, but Qi Huan.
Her tense nerves instantly relaxed, and she leisurely settled back onto the bed.
Qi Huan asked, "How are you feeling? Any discomfort?"
"Perfectly fine. It's you I'm worried about. Your leg injury isn't fully healed, yet you joined me in that reckless stunt. Are you okay?"
"I'm perfectly fine too. Consider it a long-overdue stretch." Qi Huan had Cheng Jing guard the door outside before closing it and wheeling himself into the room. "So, what mischief were you up to just now?"
Jiang Youli sighed in mock exasperation. "Little Huanhuan, how is it that nothing gets past you? It'll be hard to play any tricks on you in the future."
Qi Huan chuckled. "I'll play along and feign ignorance when the performance calls for it."
Jiang Youli remarked, "You must know the saying 'too much wisdom brings sorrow.' But then again..." She paused, then smiled. "I do prefer intelligent men."
Especially after her two-month relationship with Duan Jinghan and their sudden breakup, she was even more convinced that it's hard to go the distance with someone who doesn't move at the same pace.
"I went to see Jiang Zhao just now," Jiang Youli explained plainly.
Qi Huan understood. "I heard he might remain in a coma indefinitely."
"Mm. So... I made a little adjustment to his brain. He'll regain consciousness, but his body will remain paralyzed." She didn't hide it from him.
Qi Huan quickly guessed her intention. "You plan for Jiang Zhao to hear and perceive things in his seemingly comatose state that he wouldn't be able to if he were awake."
Jiang Youli gave an affirmative hum. "I want Jiang Zhao to understand exactly how the adopted sister he cherished, even at the expense of hurting his own blood sister, has been betraying her all along."
To say she felt completely at peace and held no resentment after being abandoned by her birth parents and brother would be a lie.
However, she would absolutely not endure humiliation and swallow her pride just to earn their cheap, meager affection.
She wanted them to regret it, clearly and unequivocally!
And she would never forgive them!
"We're really two of a kind, both betrayed by our own family," Jiang Youli couldn't help but sigh.
Qi Huan, however, had already made his peace. "Having you is enough for me."
"Aren't you afraid I'll betray you too?" Jiang Youli teased.
"You won't," Qi Huan stated with certainty.
Jiang Youli laughed. "I certainly won't betray you, but I will directly..." She drew out the syllable, taking her time before finishing the sentence. "...bully you!" With that, she walked up to Qi Huan and reached for his endlessly handsome face.
While taking liberties, she even offered a critique: "This face is truly too good-looking! I'll have to kiss it to ruination someday!"
A fond smile lingered in Qi Huan's eyes as he replied generously, "No need to wait. You can start ruining it now."
Jiang Youli thought that made sense. "You're right. After surviving a disaster, one should reward oneself by being a little more willful!"
As she spoke, she bent down to kiss Qi Huan's handsome face.
Right at that moment—
The door opened, and Cheng Jing's voice came from outside. "Young Master, your father and Qi Yue are here."
Only then did he notice the intimate atmosphere in the room.
Cheng Jing felt momentarily awkward.
Jiang Youli stopped and straightened up, joking, "Little Huanhuan, it seems ruining your lips with kisses will have to wait for another day."
Qi Huan let out a silent sigh.
Although he heard no words of reproach from his young master, just seeing his back made Cheng Jing feel uneasy. Yet, he was now caught in a dilemma—neither closing the door again nor leaving it open felt right.
"It seems I'll have to blame my father and Qi Yue for this interruption," Qi Huan said before reluctantly wheeling himself out of Jiang Youli's room.
Cheng Jing, still guarding the door, made an apologetic gesture with his hands pressed together towards Jiang Youli inside the room before finally closing the door.
...
"Big Brother." Seeing Qi Huan slowly enter the room in his wheelchair as the door was pushed open, Qi Yue, who had been waiting anxiously, immediately stood up and called out with obedient deference.
His demeanor was a complete contrast to before.
Sitting nearby, Qi Tianxiang maintained a stern expression, holding onto an air of lofty, elder-like authority.
With Cheng Jing's careful assistance, Qi Huan slowly settled back onto his hospital bed. After adjusting his position, he turned his gaze to Qi Yue and asked, "Did you handle everything I asked you to do yesterday?"
Qi Yue quickly nodded emphatically. "It's all taken care of. All the employees who resigned have been persuaded to return to the company."
Qi Huan smiled slightly upon hearing this, but the smile did not reach his eyes. "Next time, without my instructions, don't act on your own initiative or try to be clever. Understood?"
Faced with his elder brother's words, which carried a hint of warning, Qi Yue still nodded obediently. "Understood."
After answering, Qi Yue hesitated for a moment, then cautiously ventured, "It was truly a stroke of luck within misfortune that you weren't in mortal danger from this car accident, Brother."
Hearing this, the corner of Qi Huan's mouth quirked up in a faint, ambiguous smile. "Indeed. You must be wondering how my life could be so tenacious? Otherwise, you and Father would have gotten your wish."
