In the hospital ward.
Qu Jiaran watched Nan Yu bustling around for her. Unable to hold back, she waved her hand. "Yuyu, you don't have to take care of me like this. I'm already better."
Nan Yu wasn't naturally fond of waiting on others. She just wanted to make up for Qu Jiaran more to ease the guilt in her heart.
"Drink some hot water." Nan Yu handed her the cup. "The doctor said you should drink more water. It can boost your body's metabolism."
Qu Jiaran's eyes crinkled into slits with a smile. "I knew Yuyu is truly good to me."
She finished all the water Nan Yu gave her before asking, "Yuyu, have you been living with Tan Linyuan recently?"
Nan Yu didn't expect Qu Jiaran to ask such a question out of the blue. Her hand that was reaching for the cup paused for a moment. She pursed her lips and calmly recounted what had happened that day.
She tried to sound as natural as possible, not wanting Qu Jiaran to overthink.
Qu Jiaran really didn't overthink. Instead, she nodded in satisfaction. "Great. With this, that scumbag Shen Yanche won't dare to act recklessly. And now that Linyuan is taking care of you, I'm very relieved!"
Her words were filled with trust and concern for Nan Yu.
Nan Yu lowered her eyes. That sense of guilt welled up again, almost breaking through her chest. She didn't dare to meet Qu Jiaran's eyes.
"Do you want to eat an orange?" Nan Yu tried to change the subject.
A bag of oranges on the bedside table was just brought by Qu Jiaran's bodyguard. He said their young lady loved them the most.
Qu Jiaran tilted her head and smiled. "Of course I'll eat the oranges cut by Yuyu myself."
Nan Yu turned around to get the fruit knife.
With her back to the hospital bed, Qu Jiaran suddenly said, "Actually, Linyuan is really good in bed. I always enjoy myself when I'm with him."
Nan Yu's hand holding the orange stiffened slightly. The knife had just cut through the orange peel, and the juice oozed out from the crack.
She still kept her head down and cut the orange into equal segments.
When she turned around, her face showed a flawless smile. "So you've been making good progress recently."
Qu Jiaran shrugged and said briskly, "Not recently. It was in the past."
In the past.
When in the past?
Before or after she met Tan Linyuan?
Her heart felt as if it was tightly blocked by something, making her chest feel swollen and painful.
Qu Jiaran still covered her lips and laughed. Her eyes blinked. Although she lowered her voice, her tone was full of pride. "It was in the bamboo forest of Changuang Temple. It was really exciting."
Hearing Qu Jiaran say the word "exciting", Nan Yu's breathing tightened, and her palms curled up involuntarily.
"And, and we were in a hotel before. He booked a super luxurious presidential suite. We went from the bedroom to the study, then to the kitchen, living room, and bathroom..."
Nan Yu listened numbly and didn't even interrupt her.
She didn't know why her mood had suddenly become so bad.
She even wanted to cover her ears and close her eyes.
At this moment, she thought Tan Linyuan was extremely disgusting.
All his grace, coldness, nobility, and magnanimity had turned to ashes.
It was really strange. She clearly knew he was a hypocrite and a brute, but there was still a dull pain slowly spreading from inside her body.
She couldn't remember the specific details of the first time she drank too much. But in many subsequent times, Tan Linyuan was very skillful.
It turned out that it was because he had prior experience.
She should have thought of it earlier. Since Tan Linyuan could propose to maintain a sexual relationship with her back then, he definitely couldn't have only had her as a woman.
But thinking so in her heart was one thing; hearing it with her own ears was another.
Nan Yu understood that she and Tan Linyuan had only slept together a few times. Apart from that, everything else had nothing to do with each other.
Just talk about sex, not about anything else.
Nan Yu smiled and turned her face away. "Jiaran, you don't need to tell me this kind of thing in the future. No matter how good our relationship is, we're not at the stage of sharing this."
She tried to make her tone kind and not show any flaws -
"Yuyu, you're acting really strange today."
Qu Jiaran said with a smile. "You've never called me Jiaran before, and you've said a lot more than usual today."
Nan Yu thought she had no flaws, but in fact, there were many loopholes.
"If it were normal, you would have told me to shut up immediately."
Qu Jiaran smiled. "You clearly don't like me chattering on and on, right?"
She knew everything.
Nan Yu bit her lips tightly and pretended to be calm. "You're overthinking."
...
Later, Tan Linyuan returned to the hospital ward.
Qu Jiaran excitedly called him and showed that she was completely better. "I'm much better now, Linyuan. Don't worry about me."
Tan Linyuan nodded casually. "Let the doctor come and check you later. If there's no problem, let the bodyguard take you home."
"Okay, okay. You're so wordy." Qu Jiaran complained, but her face was smiling. "When I get home, I'll definitely call Linyuan to report immediately!"
Seeing Qu Jiaran acting coquettishly, Nan Yu got up consciously, wanting to leave some private space for the two of them.
"Where are you going?" Tan Linyuan glanced at Nan Yu.
Nan Yu's tone was polite and distant, keeping a certain distance from him. "I'll go out for a while."
"No need to go out." Tan Linyuan said indifferently. "It's getting late. We should go home."
When he said "go home", Nan Yu lowered her eyes and didn't say a word.
"Yes, it's all my fault for making everyone go through so much. You should go back and sleep quickly!" Qu Jiaran's expression was very cute. "Good night to Yuyu in advance!"
...
From the hospital ward to the car, Nan Yu remained silent all the way.
Tan Linyuan noticed her strangeness and glanced at her from time to time, but he didn't know why she was like this.
"Are you hungry? Do you want to go for dinner?" Tan Linyuan asked her.
"I'm not hungry. I ate something in Qu Jiaran's ward." Nan Yu refused straightforwardly and pretended to yawn. "Let's go back early. I'm a bit sleepy."
After saying that, she turned her head and leaned on the seat back, facing the window, no longer looking at Tan Linyuan.
She felt a bit stuffy being in the same space as him, so she rolled down the car window a little for some fresh air.
As if this could briefly blow away her low mood.
"I met the Shen father and son just now and had a brief chat. They'll be more lenient towards you recently."
Nan Yu didn't respond. Tan Linyuan continued, "It's not easy to cancel the engagement for the time being. During this period, you can be a bit more flexible in your attitude towards them..."
"I understand."
Nan Yu didn't wait for him to finish and turned her head. Her expression was cold. "Uncle, you don't need to speak up for the Shen family. Of course, I know what to do."