Since she was so conflicted, of course he had to add fuel to the fire.
"I'll pay back the medical expenses. I can do it when the gallery settles the payment next month."
Suddenly, he grabbed her withdrawing wrist and then let go as if burned.
"I'll do anything at [Floating Cloud Studio]..."
He seemed determined to get Meng Ruozhao to agree to let him stay in the shop temporarily. Not just staying there without a proper status, but as an employee.
To fan the flames further, he started coughing violently before his words faded. The infusion stand rattled, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged a bluish-purple color from the exertion.
"Shut up!" Meng Ruozhao's voice trembled as she almost snapped at him.
She saw his eyelashes flutter violently and then quickly drop to cover his eyes. His fingertips tugged at the edge of the washed-stiff bedsheet. His slender wrist slipped out of the cuff, and the crooked scar on it was a bit glaring under the light.
The act was a bit overdone, but seeing her panicked look as she pressed the call bell, Pei Jiangmu licked his canine tooth in the shadow.
Of course, he had switched the allergy medicine himself. The real special-effect medicine was lying on the bedside table in his villa, along with the secretly-taken photo of the bread in Meng Ruozhao's cabinet.
Somehow, the rain had stopped.
The moonlight shone in through the glass window, casting mottled shadows on Pei Jiangmu's face.
He just looked up at her like this, his eyes filled with cautious expectation and deeply hidden possessiveness.
Meng Ruozhao suddenly realized that she seemed to be in contact with a dangerous person. Not because he had any violent tendencies, but because he knew too well how to use his own vulnerability.
But when she looked into those eyes, all the rational warnings became insignificant background noise.
"One-week probation," she heard herself say. "Room and board are provided. I'll pay you according to the market rate."
Pei Jiangmu's eyes lit up immediately.
He tried to sit up straight to thank her, but fell back because of the dizziness.
Meng Ruozhao instinctively reached out to support him, but he took the opportunity to grab her wrist.
"Thank you, sister, for taking me in."
His thumb seemed to unconsciously brush across her carpal bone and then let go of her wrist, as if he was just afraid she would fall.
He still kept a safe distance, carefully avoiding any physical contact with her. When he spoke, his voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible.
"I really don't need the money. I don't want to cause any more trouble to you, sister."
Meng Ruozhao's heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, and a subtle sense of pity welled up in her heart.
She sighed softly. "I was going to hire an extra person anyway. Don't feel burdened."
The man curled up on the narrow hospital bed, and the infusion tube trembled slightly with his suppressed cough. Under his collarbone, there was a large area of rash, faintly visible at the collar of the blue-and-white striped hospital gown. He was like a stray dog curled up in pain.
Her fingertips unconsciously dug into her palm as she desperately suppressed the urge to tidy up his collar.
"But you've already helped me a lot, sister."
His wet eyelashes lifted, and his eyes filled with moonlight looked at her cautiously.
She sat beside him. The light above her head shone on her eyelashes, creating a fine golden halo. When she slightly lowered her head and looked at him, her hair fell on her shoulders. Her expression was as gentle as warm water soaked in honey, and her voice was also very soft.
"I haven't done much."
A dark and complex light flashed in his eyes.
Just acting pitiful to this extent was enough to make her so soft-hearted?
He lowered his head again, using the cough as a cover to hide the darkness in his eyes. - When she regained her memory, he must teach her how to be more vigilant.
But he also knew better than anyone that there was no more contradictory existence in the world than her.
She was born dazzlingly beautiful.
When she didn't smile, people didn't dare to approach her easily. But as long as she showed a little smile, it could make people feel like they were bathing in the spring breeze, and they would even be willing to offer everything. People who were not familiar with her thought she was charming, but those who knew her well would find that she was as pure as a child.
In school, she would give her umbrella to the scavenging old man on a rainy day and run away in the rain by herself.
She would remember the temper of every stray cat in the woods behind the school.
She would also secretly stuff bread and milk for the classmates from poor families in the class even when she didn't have much pocket money.
...
Her beauty was not just about her appearance, but also the light that always shone in her eyes when she looked at the world.
All these little things were like tiny hooks, pulling out a hidden pain in his heart.
So when he first realized that she had grown up and no longer put him in the first place.
He suddenly understood why the dragon in the fairy tale had to imprison the princess:
When the moonlight was too bright, even the shadow would have the delusion of exclusive possession.
It was this undefended radiance that had attracted his soul mired in the swamp like a magnet.
But now, he almost hated this radiance.
It was like an open treasure basin, attracting all the greedy, longing, and turbid gazes!
Why didn't she understand?
Every time she reached out a helping hand, every time she showed a smile, every time she got close without any defense.
It was like handing a ladder to those restless and malicious souls!
Just like Yan Qiubai and his ilk!
He hated the secret longing on the faces of these people when they looked at her.
But now, he had to take advantage of her kindness to get close to her again.
Trying to make her exist only in the palm of his hand.
Probably sensing that his gaze on her had lasted a bit too long, Meng Ruozhao took the initiative to explain.
"It's just a small favor. I would do the same for anyone else."
Pei Jiangmu's fingertips suddenly tightened on the bedsheet, and the fabric wrinkled into distorted patterns in his palm.
The same for everyone?
Did those other guys deserve the same treatment as him?
Suddenly, he coughed violently. When his Adam's apple rolled, the collar of the hospital gown came loose. The rash under his collarbone that hadn't subsided rose and fell with his breathing, like red berries blooming in the snow.
"The sister is really... kind-hearted."
He looked up hoarsely, with tears from the choking still hanging on his eyelashes. But when Meng Ruozhao reached out to support him, he deliberately leaned back.
The infusion needle shifted in the blood vessel, and blood immediately seeped through the tape. He pretended to be flustered as he buttoned up, but his fingers "accidentally" opened more of his clothes. His lean waist and abdomen glowed cold and white in the moonlight, and the curve of his abdominal muscles rose and fell, as if separating his well-behaved appearance from the dormant animal nature.
The moment Meng Ruozhao turned her face away, he bit the inside of his cheek. The smell of blood mixed with his gasps reached her ear: "I'm a bit uncomfortable. Can you help me raise the head of the bed?"
Meng Ruozhao couldn't refuse a sick person.
When she leaned over, her hair brushed across his nose, and his knee hidden under the blanket couldn't help but tremble slightly. This time, it wasn't an act.
"Don't move around anymore. You're bleeding again."
She pressed one hand on his wrist, her cold fingertips touching his burning skin. With the other hand, she raised the head of the bed. Her gaze fell on the bleeding back of his hand, and her tone became a bit serious.
"I'm sorry. I'm fine. It doesn't hurt."
His voice was hoarse after the cough, and his face was buried in the pillow.
He was like a puppy that had done something wrong and could only flee in a panic by instinct. But he never broke free from her touch.