It wasn’t as if Yan had a slow reaction speed. She was simply thinking about something else, so it took her a longer time to react. Then, she glanced at Han Qing pitifully. When she made this expression at him, he paused for a moment. After that, he sighed suddenly. I can’t believe time passed so quickly. My young lady has become a mother of two, and I am now a father too. He, who once believed that he would never get married, had a family of his own now.
Mulling over it, he reached out his hand and pulled her into his embrace. Then, he rubbed at the spot where he had hit her on the forehead just now. “I’m sorry. I was a little agitated just now. Does it hurt a lot?”
Not expecting him to apologize nor help her tend to her wound, she was slightly astonished for a moment. Still, she was hungry for him to hold her. She wanted to snuggle into his embrace, yet she was afraid that his injuries had left him physically weak. So, she settled for half leaning against him as she shook her head. “It doesn’t hurt that much. How could I react so slowly if it hurt that much?” Afraid that he would blame himself for it, she claimed that it did not hurt. Besides, with the gentle motion of rubbing his warm fingers against her forehead, the pain from before had all but vanished.
Then, she seemed to realize something, so she lifted her head to look at him. “You’ve just woken up. Are you sure you don’t want to get the doctor to examine you? I mean, you had a concussion! Although it was mild, I think it’s better to get it checked out.”
No matter what he said, Yan was extremely worried. Han Qing studied her expression, then he nodded his head. If I don’t get examined by the doctor, I don’t think she will stop worrying. “Alright. I’ll have to trouble you to call the doctor for me please.”
“Why are you worried about troubling me?” She glared at him, then pouted as she snapped, “I’m your wife! What are you talking about?” Afterward, she got off the bed and went to call for a doctor. Along the way, she recalled how he said that he was being a burden to her. It felt like he was being overly polite and that made her uncomfortable no matter how she thought about it.
Soon, the doctor arrived, gave him an examination, and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with him. Then, the doctor listed off several things to be mindful of and told him to stay in the hospital for observation for the next three days. If he showed no other symptoms during that period, he could be discharged to recuperate at home.
“Thank you very much.”
After the doctor left, she stood far away and refused to go near him. As he sat leaning against the pillow, he glanced at the young lady, who was already a mother, standing a distance away from him. Then, he couldn’t help feeling curious. “What’s wrong? Why are you standing so far away? Did I offend you?”
She glared at him moodily and snorted, “Nope. You’re so polite; how can I possibly be offended by it?”
I’m polite? The old guy pondered over it and remembered the words he had said to her—specifically, the sentence ‘I’ll have to trouble you to call the doctor for me’. Could it be she’s mad because she felt that my words were too polite?
“It’s just a sentence; is it worth getting angry over?” Han Qing looked at her a little helplessly and smiled. “Come over quickly.”
Yan stood where she was, refusing to budge. After listening to his reply, she felt her frustration growing. “It’s not about that sentence. It’s… You don’t seem to think of me as part of your family.” If he thought of me as family, why would he think that he is being a burden to me?
Han Qing said nothing, so she assumed that he had nothing to say in his defense. However, after waiting for a short moment, she noticed that he was preparing to get off the bed. Shocked, she hurried over to help him. “Didn’t you hear what the doctor said to you? You’re supposed to stay in bed and recuperate. How can you forget it so quickly? Don’t you care about your health?”
“I didn’t forget.” Then, he held her tender, white wrist. Exerting some strength in his hand, he pulled her into his embrace. She anxiously tried to get up, but he tightened his arm around her waist. He held her in a death grip, confining her in his territory as their breaths got nearer and nearer. “I just wanted to talk to you, but you were too far away. Since you weren’t willing to come over, I had to go over to you myself.”
When he said that, his voice was low and hoarse. His voice struck her heart directly, and her face subconsciously heated up. When she spoke again, her confidence had shriveled considerably. “I wasn’t unwilling to come over; I was just—”
“Just what?” He leaned closer, narrowing his eyes slightly as he stared at her. “Just because I was speaking too politely to you, you got angry?
She bit on her lower lip. Although she wanted to explain, she didn’t know how to explain. In the beginning, she was slightly annoyed by it, but it wasn’t to the point of anger. She was feeling a little moody about it, but it wasn’t a big deal. Therefore, when he wanted to get off the bed, she went over to him immediately without caring about anything else. However, the way he talked right now was aggressive and he got closer and closer to her as if he didn’t plan to let her off the hook.
“Hmm?”
“Okay, okay,” she said, giving in as she looked up at him. Then, she bluntly continued, “I did think that you were speaking too politely. We are husband and wife now. Moreover, I’ve already given birth to two of your children. When you got into the accident yesterday, I rushed over anxiously. I didn’t even care that I had gotten injured; I just wanted to stay by your side. However, I didn’t do all that to get your gratitude. I did that because I was worried about you—like how a wife would worry about her husband. So, I don’t want all the things that I do for you to become a burden to you. These actions should be done as a matter of course between us. When you are sick or unwell, you can ask me for help, and vice versa. Aren’t a husband and wife supposed to take care of each other? When you act so politely toward me, it makes me worry about the future—”
The latter part of her speech was stopped before she could finish. He pressed his index finger against her lips, and she lost her chance to say anything else.
“Stop worrying over nothing.” He sighed, feeling inexplicably helpless. Then, he rubbed the back of her head as he continued, “You’ve done so much for me. I’m not acting out of gratitude; rather, my heart aches for you. Besides, I wasn’t being polite when I said what I said. I just didn’t want you to do too much because of me. I’m your husband, and the father of your children. I should be taking care of the three of you. However, I’m not fulfilling my duties right now. Instead, I’ve caused you to run about for my sake despite being injured.”
The two of them might have different ways of thinking, but it was out of concern for each other. As she listened to him, she felt that they were thinking about the same thing. So, there was nothing left to dispute over. Thus, she tugged at his hand and said softly, “I know you want to take care of us, but your body is not made out of steel. Besides, I’m an adult. I can share your burdens.”
Then, he smiled as he looked at her.
“What are you smiling for?” Yan reached out and poked at his chin as she huffily said, “Do you know how worried and scared I was when I heard you were involved in an accident? Do you know that if anything happened to you, I won’t be able to continue living?”
At the end of her sentence, her eyes had reddened as she looked at him with teary eyes. Looking at her, Han Qing felt as if his heart was being pierced by something sharp. It hurt so much it took him a long while to return to his senses. By the time he came back to his senses, he had lowered his head and kissed her on the lips.
