In the hospital ward, Meng Ruozhao smelled a faint scent of pine in her sleep.
While chasing the scent of pine, she saw Yan Qiubai standing in front of her. With red - rimmed eyes, he asked her why she had forgotten him.
She couldn't explain anything. All she could do was vainly call out his name.
However, he just gave her a cold look and said he was extremely disappointed in her.
Then Du Xixi popped up out of nowhere. She put her arm around Yan Qiubai's and looked over triumphantly.
"Don't try to seize what doesn't belong to you!"
...
When the smell of disinfectant was gilded with the morning light, Meng Ruozhao suddenly woke up with a start on the accompanying bed.
She found that her left hand was tightly clutching the hem of Pei Jiangmu's hospital gown, and there were wrinkles on the fabric from her tight grip in the dream.
The man was sitting quietly on the chair beside her. His eyelashes in the morning light were like two wet crow feathers, and the shadows they cast hid the bloodshot eyes of a sleepless night.
"You didn't sleep?"
She quickly let go of her hand.
Pei Jiangmu raised his hand and rubbed his stiff neck. His gaze when he looked over was a bit puzzled and curious.
"Sister had a nightmare in the middle of the night. When I came to check, sister grabbed my clothes."
"Sister seemed really scared. Did you dream of something bad?"
His voice was as hoarse as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper.
Meng Ruozhao suddenly remembered the curve of his throat rolling under his pale skin when he tilted his head to swallow the medicine last night.
There was an inexplicable allure.
Her ears burned, and she quickly averted her gaze to look for her phone.
"I don't remember."
She really didn't remember clearly. All she could recall was that Yan Qiubai and Du Xixi were in the dream.
It was definitely something unpleasant.
Seeing that she was avoiding his question, a fleeting darkness flashed in Pei Jiangmu's eyes.
But he quickly put on a harmless expression.
"The nurse just came and said I can be discharged from the hospital."
He could be discharged?
She reached out and gently pointed at the side of Pei Jiangmu's neck, where the rash was still clearly visible.
"Are you sure you don't need to stay for observation for a few more days?"
The man turned around and undid the buttons of his hospital gown.
"The doctor said just apply the ointment on time. If it doesn't get better after a week, come back then."
When Meng Ruozhao saw him taking off his clothes, she realized he was going to change. She immediately stood up.
"Okay, I'll go out and wait for you first."
After saying that, she immediately walked out of the ward and went to the restroom at the end of the corridor to wash her face and tidy up her hair.
This man, why did he just take off his clothes like that without giving her any time to react?
When she came out again, Pei Jiangmu had already packed up. He was still wearing the slightly small short - sleeved shirt she had found for him.
Below was a pair of sports shorts, also found by her yesterday.
Although he had an overwhelming aura of a young man, as he leaned against the corridor with his head down, his back and waist curving like a green bamboo, his whole being was filled with a sense of fragility.
The medical staff and patients walking back and forth were all secretly sizing him up.
This time, she took the initiative to walk towards him and whispered, "Let's go."
Seeing her come to his side, Pei Jiangmu immediately showed a smile.
In an instant, the sense of fragility that had permeated his body just now dissipated.
The two went downstairs to the place for discharge settlement.
After reporting the hospitalization information, the cashier quickly looked up at Pei Jiangmu and then lowered her head to tap on the keyboard.
Meng Ruozhao caught a glimpse of the balance that flashed on Pei Jiangmu's phone.
Six hundred and thirty - two yuan.
And the medical expenses, not counting the money she had prepaid yesterday, still needed an additional seven hundred and twenty yuan.
She was in such a hurry to offer her payment code that she almost bumped into Pei Jiangmu's arms.
The man understood what she meant.
Out of embarrassment, a sickly blush rose on his pale face. When his Adam's apple rolled, it caused a slight tremor of the rash on the side of his neck.
He was so stiff that he didn't dare to move at all.
Only his voice was soft, "Wait until the gallery pays..."
They had said this yesterday. Meng Ruozhao interrupted him in time, "I know."
After walking out of the hospital, Meng Ruozhao said she was hungry and wanted to go to the breakfast shop across the road for breakfast.
When crossing the zebra - crossing, Pei Jiangmu walked beside her.
She casually turned her head and noticed that the skin around the needle hole on the back of his hand was an eerie purplish - red bruise, like crushed berries in the snow.
"What happened?"
She instinctively grabbed his wrist, and her thumb unconsciously rubbed over the bruise.
This action made both of them freeze at once - the feeling of her touching his skin was so familiar, as if she had checked his injuries like this countless times before.
Pei Jiangmu's pulse suddenly accelerated under her touch. His eyelashes fluttered violently and drooped, casting a cobweb - like shadow on his nose bridge.
Meng Ruozhao had no idea how she could be so bold as to grab a man's hand in the street.
They had only known each other for a day and she had just helped him a little. Now she was being so touchy - feely.
Wasn't this the same as those lecherous guys?
If she said this action was completely instinctive, could she still salvage a bit of her image in Pei Jiangmu's eyes?
She swore she really didn't mean to take advantage of him.
Fortunately, Pei Jiangmu didn't seem to mind. He just let her hold his hand, and the two walked across the road side by side.
It wasn't until they walked into the breakfast shop and he asked her with a smile what she wanted to eat that she woke up from her daze and quickly let go of his hand to explain.
"Sorry, I just saw this bruise..."
Pei Jiangmu shook his head. "Sometimes bruises are like this. It's okay. It doesn't hurt. It will fade away after a while."
After saying that, he asked her what she wanted to eat again and then ordered the same breakfast as hers.
He behaved very naturally, but Meng Ruozhao couldn't help but wonder if it was just her imagination.
She always felt that Pei Jiangmu seemed out of place in this rather shabby roadside breakfast shop.
There weren't many people in the shop yet, and the food they ordered was quickly served.
In the steaming hot air of the soy milk, Pei Jiangmu peeled the tea - egg with his bruised hand.
The eggshell made a soft cracking sound. The brown juice dripped down his wrist bone, but he continued to move as if he didn't notice.
It wasn't until Meng Ruozhao suddenly grabbed a tissue and pressed it on his wrist.
The tissue was instantly stained dark brown.
It seemed that she just couldn't bear to see him injured or dirty.
"Let me do it."
She wanted to take over the plate with the tea - egg.
But Pei Jiangmu stopped her. "Let me serve sister for once."
"Doesn't your hand hurt?"
She pointed at the bruise on the back of his hand again.
He suddenly curled his fingers, and his eyebrows finally frowned ever so slightly. "It's okay."
The fried dough sticks were piled up like a golden mountain in the bamboo basket. The crying of the child at the next table pierced through sharply.
Meng Ruozhao stared at his hand that had retreated into the shadow and suddenly realized: this person had an incredibly high pain threshold.
He didn't let out a single cry even when he was in anaphylactic shock last night.
He didn't frown at the purple - black needle hole.
There were wounds all over his body, big and small.
He could talk about each one without changing his expression.
Even when he was feeling so unwell, he always remembered to smile at her.
"You always..." She scooped up the lukewarm soy milk, and the spoon handle made a soft sound when it hit the edge of the bowl. "Are you always so able to endure?"
Not only pain, but also all the current bad situations.
Judging from his overall aura and the situation of that watch, as long as he bowed his head to his family a little, he could change the current situation, right?
Did it mean that his family situation was even more unbearable for him?