Zhang Xiyue stood motionless in the doorway, and Cheng Mingjiao urged her again.
Zhang Xiyue finally came to her senses and walked over with an embarrassed look. “Mr. Cheng, this doesn’t seem appropriate, does it?”
“What’s inappropriate about it?” Cheng Mingjiao countered. “You’ve been with me since noon, and you’re no longer showing signs of resistance. That proves confronting the trauma will help you recover faster. But we need to take it step by step. For example, we could sleep together tonight to recreate the conditions in the mountains. Once you’ve adjusted, we can return to Lanlan Mountain together and let your brain understand that you’re completely safe now.”
His reasoning was sound, and he even sounded very professional.
But Zhang Xiyue thought he was insane.
After a moment of silence, she sighed. “I’m sorry, Mr. Cheng, but I can’t do that.”
Cheng Mingjiao’s brows drew together slightly.
“We’re in a superior-subordinate relationship, and we’re also a man and a woman. Back in the mountains, we had no choice but to sleep holding each other because our lives were at stake. Now that we’re safe, it’s better to maintain some boundaries.” Zhang Xiyue analyzed the situation calmly.
Cheng Mingjiao stared at her for a long while before understanding. “You’re afraid you won’t be able to control yourself.”
Zhang Xiyue: “?”
“You’re right. The situation is different now. Back then, staying alive was the priority. Now that our bodies are in a safe environment, our attention won’t be focused on survival. It’s normal for our minds to wander to other things.” Cheng Mingjiao nodded. “When you put it that way, we really can’t sleep together.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
What? What was he even talking about?
Why did she feel like she understood him even less after returning from the mountains?
Zhang Xiyue wore a face full of question marks, but she didn’t pursue the subject any further, because…
The emperor had issued an imperial decree: “Then you can sleep on the sofa.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
In the end, she really did lie down on the sofa.
Everything in the VIP hospital room was from a famous brand, and the sofa was no exception.
It was probably designed with all kinds of patients and family members in mind. The sofa was neither too soft nor too firm, and it was wide enough to serve as a bed.
Zhang Xiyue rolled over and invited Guo Fengnian to play a game.
Of Cheng Mingjiao’s three-man team, Cheng Mingjiao was difficult and childish, while Liang Xiao seemed easygoing but was actually rather distant. Only Guo Fengnian was lively and warm, getting along with everyone.
For some reason, Guo Fengnian, despite being a doctoral student, seemed not to be busy at all. The moment he received Zhang Xiyue’s message, he went online.
At first, Zhang Xiyue was mindful of the other person in the room and communicated entirely by typing. But after dying several times in the game, she stopped caring and simply turned on her microphone to discuss tactics with Guo Fengnian.
“Pick up the gun, not the bandages…”
“No, no, don’t go over there. Someone’s lying in ambush.”
“Watch your back!”
Bang.
She died again. Zhang Xiyue rubbed her brow, feeling a little discouraged, when a hand suddenly reached over her shoulder and took away her phone.
Zhang Xiyue jumped in fright. When she turned around, she saw that Cheng Mingjiao had already started a new round.
“Guo Fengnian, if you don’t know how to play, give the phone to A-Fu so you won’t hold everyone back,” Cheng Mingjiao ordered coldly.
Guo Fengnian’s surprised voice came from the phone. “Jiaojiao? You’re there too? Xiyue, you’re playing games in front of your boss? You’ve got some nerve…”
“You talk too much. Can you improve your skills or not?” Cheng Mingjiao interrupted.
Guo Fengnian: “…”
A steady stream of sound effects announcing Cheng Mingjiao’s rampage rang out from the phone. Unable to resist, Zhang Xiyue climbed to her knees on the sofa to watch.
Cheng Mingjiao glanced at her and shifted closer so she could see more clearly.
“Not bad, Mr. Cheng,” Zhang Xiyue praised him casually.
The corner of Cheng Mingjiao’s mouth lifted by approximately one pixel, and his long fingers moved with even greater flair.
For the next half hour, Zhang Xiyue witnessed Cheng Mingjiao mercilessly torment Guo Fengnian from close range.
After Cheng Mingjiao mentioned A-Fu for the fifth time, the game finally ended.
“…My supervisor wants me to revise my thesis. I’m leaving now,” Guo Fengnian said weakly before fleeing.
The hospital room fell silent.
Zhang Xiyue took the phone back with both hands and casually asked, “Mr. Cheng, is this A-Fu you keep talking about a dog?”
Cheng Mingjiao: “A White’s tree frog.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
The situation was even worse than she had imagined.
Cheng Mingjiao: “Want to play another round?”
“…Huh?” Zhang Xiyue looked up.
Cheng Mingjiao glanced at the time. “You have another hour and forty minutes before you’re allowed to make noise.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
Why was there even a lights-out time?
She declined Cheng Mingjiao’s invitation to team up. He looked a little disappointed, and before returning to his bed, he told her to send him the results from the last game.
Zhang Xiyue agreed and lay back down.
Five minutes later, she suddenly asked, “Mr. Cheng, can I add you on WeChat?”
The person on the bed didn’t respond for a moment.
Zhang Xiyue immediately regretted it.
She shouldn’t have made such a presumptuous request just to save one yuan on an MMS message.
Zhang Xiyue began thinking about how to take back what she’d said. While she was concentrating on the problem, Cheng Mingjiao spoke calmly.
“Zhang Xiyue.”
“I’m here.” Zhang Xiyue hurriedly answered.
Cheng Mingjiao had already refreshed his contacts page eight hundred times. “I haven’t received your friend request.”
Zhang Xiyue froze for a moment, then quickly found his profile in the group chat and sent a request.
It was accepted instantly.
Zhang Xiyue sent him a screenshot, but Cheng Mingjiao didn’t reply.
This time, the hospital room truly fell silent.
Zhang Xiyue had thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep with Cheng Mingjiao in the room. As it turned out, she fell asleep before the lights-out time he had set for her.
It was probably the first early night she’d had since being rescued.
Cheng Mingjiao, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep. When the hour hand on the wall clock pointed to eleven, he experienced the first bout of insomnia in his twenty-eight years of life.
After tossing and turning for a long while, Cheng Mingjiao finally couldn’t take it anymore. He got out of bed and tiptoed over to the sofa.
Zhang Xiyue was sleeping deeply, half her face buried in the thin summer quilt, exposing brows and eyes that looked entirely defenseless.
Cheng Mingjiao stared at her for several seconds, then contentedly acknowledged to himself that he had been right: his presence really did make Zhang Xiyue feel safe.
The night grew deeper. The room was unlit, bathed only in hazy moonlight.
If Zhang Xiyue had woken at that moment, she would have seen someone crouching in front of the sofa like a ghost, a pair of sharp eyes fixed on her with intense curiosity.
Unfortunately, she didn’t wake up. She slept all the way until dawn.
The curtains in the hospital room had not been drawn, and she woke to sunlight streaming over her.
After opening her eyes, she lay there in a daze for quite some time. It wasn’t until she heard someone on the bed turn over that she slowly sat up and turned to look at it.
Cheng Mingjiao was hugging his quilt, his cheek pressed against the pillow as he slept peacefully.
How nice.
She wished she could let him sleep forever.
When Cheng Mingjiao opened his eyes, he saw Zhang Xiyue smiling at him.
He ignored the fleeting murderous intent in her eyes. There was only one thought in his mind: She even sneaks looks at him while he’s sleeping. Did she like him that much?
Of course, taking Zhang Xiyue’s dignity into consideration, he didn’t ask.
Sure enough, the only person whose intelligence could rival his was himself—when it came to emotional intelligence.
“Good morning, Mr. Cheng.” Zhang Xiyue smiled and waved. Sunlight fell over her, making her whole body seem to glow.
Cheng Mingjiao turned his face away.
Zhang Xiyue: “?”
The first night of their cohabitation treatment was a great success. Cheng Mingjiao wanted to do it for a few more nights, but Zhang Xiyue firmly objected, even threatening to give up on treatment altogether.
Although Cheng Mingjiao was somewhat displeased, he understood that she couldn’t control herself, and eventually agreed with a stiff expression.
Zhang Xiyue went to the psychological counseling room for two hours every day. At last, her wandering soul began to settle.
After spending seven or eight days in the hospital, they were finally cleared to leave.
Three days in advance, a whole group of people began calling Cheng Mingjiao, saying they wanted to pick him up from the hospital. This included his parents, who had never managed to make it back from overseas, as well as his grandmother, who came to see him punctually every day.
Cheng Mingjiao rejected them all.
“Our schedule is a little tight, but we can absolutely make it in time. You don’t have to worry about us,” his mother, Feng Shan, said earnestly. “You’ve been hospitalized for so long. We haven’t gone back this whole time, and we really feel terrible about it.”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “Oh. Then keep feeling terrible.”
Feng Shan: “…”
Cheng Mingjiao continued, “I’m leaving with Zhang Xiyue. No one is picking her up, and I don’t want anyone picking me up either.”
Feng Shan knew who Zhang Xiyue was. After Zhang Xiyue woke up, she had even called personally to express her concern and apologize.
Hearing Cheng Mingjiao mention her now, Feng Shan said patiently, “Your father and I can pick both of you up.”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “No.”
Feng Shan: “…”
If even his own mother received such treatment, everyone else stood no chance.
Before long, the day of discharge arrived.
Despite his busy schedule, Dr. Liang resigned himself to running back and forth, completing all the necessary procedures before preparing to see them home.
“No need,” Cheng Mingjiao refused again. “We have a car.”
The day before, he had already had someone bring his car over, and he had handed the keys to Zhang Xiyue.
Liang Xiao asked, “How are you planning to get home?”
Cheng Mingjiao replied, “Zhang Xiyue will drive me home first, then go back to her own place to drop off her things, and finally return the car to me.”
Liang Xiao: “…That’s too much trouble. Once Xiyue gets home, she’ll definitely want to rest too.”
Cheng Mingjiao thought that made sense. He turned to Zhang Xiyue and said, “You can keep the car. You don’t need to return it to me.”
Looking at the expensive logo on the car keys, Zhang Xiyue hesitated. “Wouldn’t that be inappropriate?”
Cheng Mingjiao misunderstood her. “If you don’t like this one, you can choose another from the garage when we get to my house.”
Then he puffed out his chest and added casually, “The pink supercar I had custom-made a year ago arrived last month. It’s the only one in the world. As a girl, you should like it.”
Liang Xiao: “?”
Zhang Xiyue didn’t correct his childish, stereotypical assumption that all girls liked pink. Since he insisted on having her drive him, she gave Liang Xiao a look, signaling that he didn’t need to persuade him any further.
Liang Xiao also knew that decisions made by the Young Master were usually difficult to change. As luck would have it, a patient came looking for him, so he simply left first.
Cheng Mingjiao and Zhang Xiyue walked downstairs together. Once they entered the elevator, they each stood in a corner.
Cheng Mingjiao said, “No need to thank me.”
Zhang Xiyue: “?”
“I was supposed to be discharged three days ago, but your treatment wasn’t finished, so I stayed in the hospital with you until now,” Cheng Mingjiao explained. In his view, it was merely what an excellent employer should do. Thus, he added, “No need to thank me.”
Zhang Xiyue was speechless for a long while, genuinely unsure how to respond. Fortunately, the elevator doors opened just in time, and people began filing in one after another.
Watching the elevator grow crowded, Cheng Mingjiao furrowed his brows and began seriously considering whether he should have a private elevator installed in the hospital—one that only he could use.
Before he could make up his mind, Zhang Xiyue was shoved into his arms. She grabbed his arm to steady herself.
“Sorry, Mr. Cheng.” Zhang Xiyue looked up.
Cheng Mingjiao turned his face away. He was in excellent health and, barring any accidents, rarely came to the hospital more than once a year. Installing an elevator just for himself would be a little wasteful.
Standing in front of Cheng Mingjiao, Zhang Xiyue could constantly feel the undisguised gaze of the person behind her.
She didn’t know whether it was just her imagination, but she always felt that Cheng Mingjiao had become rather strange ever since he was hospitalized.
The elevator crawled downward and finally reached the first floor.
Zhang Xiyue stepped out first, but then suddenly stopped. “I forgot my charger!”
Cheng Mingjiao frowned. “Zhang Xiyue, you’re very careless.”
“Sorry, sorry.” Zhang Xiyue turned around and went back into the elevator. “Mr. Cheng, please wait here for me.”
Cheng Mingjiao was just about to follow her back when he paused. By the time he realized she hadn’t intended to ask him to come along, the elevator doors had already closed.
He stood alone in front of the elevator. His bored face was reflected in the tightly shut doors.
Cheng Mingjiao’s thoughts began to wander.
“Hello! Ankang Health Checkup is running a promotion right now. A full-body examination only costs 499. Would you be interested in hearing more?”
An upbeat voice rang out. Cheng Mingjiao turned his head and saw a girl with shoulder-length short hair and a little carrot hair clip. She was holding out a flyer and smiling brightly at him.
Cheng Mingjiao stared at her for several seconds before taking the flyer from her hand.
