“Alright; hurry up and eat.”
In the beginning, Tang Yuanyuan had no appetite to eat. However, when the food was placed in front of her, she began to get the munchies again. Thus, she ended up eating a lot and only realized how much she had eaten after she finished eating.
“Didn’t you say you had no appetite?” Zhong Chufeng joked while looking at her.
Then, her face turned red at his words. “Why did you order so much food then?”
“Oh, but I didn’t ask you to finish eating everything even though I ordered so much food.”
Feeling a little agitated by his words, she pressed her lips together and refused to say anything.
“Alright, alright; I was just joking with you. You didn’t eat that much anyway. Here; wipe your mouth,” he said, handing her a tissue.
She snorted lightly and refused to take it. “I’m going to ignore you.”
He laughed and was about to say something when his phone rang. Taking it out, he glanced at it. Then, the laughter in his eyes faded considerably. “Yishu, are you finally awake?”
“What’s the room number?” Yuchi Yishu’s voice sounded a little breathless as if he had run over here.
After Zhong Chufeng told him the room number of the hospital room, the other party ended the call immediately. Thus, he put his phone back into his pocket and said to Tang Yuanyuan, “Your brother is awake. I think he is already at the hospital.”
“My brother is here?”
“Yeah.”
As he cleared away the empty food containers, he comforted her, “What did I tell you before? Your brother could never bear to ignore you.”
“Yeah.” After knowing that Yuchi Yishu was already at the hospital, Tang Yuanyuan seemed inexplicably more at ease. She had been in a panic before this, but she had recovered now.
Soon, there was one more person in the hospital room. Yuchi Yishu was panting lightly, then he sighed in relief when he saw her sitting there unscathed.
Not long after his entrance, Zhong Chufeng picked up the items on the table and stood up, “You’re here? I’ll leave things to you while I throw out the garbage.”
After he left, only three people remained in the hospital room—one of which was Meng Kefei, who was still unconscious.
Yuchi Yishu was still panting slightly as he walked over and sat down in front of Tang Yuanyuan. Then, he gave her an indulgent smile. “Have you eaten?”
“Yishu.” She nodded. “Yes, I have. Chufeng ordered a lot of takeaways and they were all my favorites. So, I ate a little too much.”
“Are you alright?” Then, he seemed to realize something. After checking her all over and confirming that she had no injuries on her, he heaved a sigh of relief.
“I’m fine. Fei is the one who is injured.” She pointed at Meng Kefei, who was lying unconscious on the hospital bed. “Her body is covered in injuries.”
“Injuries?” Meng Kefei had stayed over at his house before. Besides, she was Yuanyuan’s best friend. So, he naturally felt slightly worried about her. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” After that, Tang Yuanyuan recounted the events of the past few days to him. By the time she finished speaking, her eyes had reddened again. “Since just now, she has not woken up. I don’t know when she will finally regain consciousness.”
“Don’t worry.” He reached out his hand and lightly rubbed the back of her head. “Since the doctor mentioned that she is under observation, we’ll watch her for now. There’s no point for you to get anxious. Are you going to stay with her tonight?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. I will accompany you.”
She subconsciously pulled on his sleeve. Then, she got up, walked over to him, and sat down beside him; she seemed very dependent on him. After a while, she began to feel sleepy sitting there. Thus, he took off his jacket and covered her with it. “If you’re sleepy, you can sleep on my shoulder for a bit. I’ll wake you up when your friend regains consciousness.”
“Thanks, Yishu.”
Zhong Chufeng had returned a long while ago. Standing by the door as he watched Tang Yuanyuan acting dependent on Yuchi Yishu, he felt a wave of sourness in his heart. However, he quickly consoled himself.
No matter how good a relationship they had between them, they could only remain as siblings and nothing more. Besides, it was normal for siblings to have a close relationship. There was nothing strange about that. Even so, he felt like an outsider under these circumstances. So, he was too embarrassed to enter the ward.
It wasn’t until Meng Kefei woke up and Tang Yuanyuan rushed over to her bedside that Zhong Chufeng managed to get his emotions under control and entered the room again. When Meng Kefei woke up, her stomach was still in pain and her vision was white, leaving her feeling confused. Immediately after that, she saw Tang Yuanyuan, Yuchi Yishu, and Zhong Chufeng. Then, she realized what was going on. Looks like the matter I tried to keep secret for so long is out in the open now.
“Fei, you’ve finally woken up.” Tang Yuanyuan anxiously held Meng Kefei’s hands and seemed especially concerned.
“The doctor said to inform him the moment she wakes up. So, I’m going to let the doctor know.” Zhong Chufeng quickly turned around and left the room.
Tang Yuanyuan’s eyes were slightly swollen. Looking at her eyes, Meng Kefei instantly knew that Tang Yuanyuan had cried for her and was extremely worried about her. Thus, her pale, white lips forced out a difficult smile. “Don’t cry anymore. I’m fine.”
“How can you be fine? The doctor told us that you had injuries all over your body. Fei, things have already come this far. How did you get those injuries? Why did you hide it from me?” While Tang Yuanyuan spoke, Yuchi Yishu stayed by her side quietly. His thin lips were tightly pressed into a straight line. When he saw that Meng Kefei was hesitating to speak, he spoke up on Tang Yuanyuan’s behalf, “You’re already in the hospital. Do you think you can continue to keep things hidden?”
That sentence opened Meng Kefei’s eyes. That’s right; I’ve been hiding it for so many days. In the end, I couldn’t endure it and was sent to the hospital. Everything is out in the open now. However, when she thought about her mother, she nonchalantly said, “Actually, I was beaten up by a group of thugs at the school gate a few days back.”
“Thugs?”
“Yes. They were trying to steal my bag, but I refused to give it to them. So, I got beaten up.” Her voice was indifferent—like she was talking about somebody else’s matters.
Yuchi Yishu pursed his lips and remained silent, but Tang Yuanyuan seemed to be convinced by Meng Kefei’s words. Thus, she naïvely got angry on her behalf. “How could such people exist? Why didn’t you report it to the teachers or the police? Besides, why did you refuse to come to the hospital despite your injuries?”
“In the beginning, I thought that it wasn’t such a big deal. I only took a few hits here and there. I was only slightly hurt, so I thought I’d get better after resting for a few days. I can’t believe that… I’m sorry, Yuanyuan. I made you worry about me.” After saying that, Meng Kefei smiled again as she held Tang Yuanyuan’s hand. “Don’t cry. I know my condition well. Besides, I’m awake now, aren’t I?”
On the other hand, Zhong Chufeng quickly came back with the doctor. The first question out of the doctor’s mouth was: “I saw that your stomach was injured. Does it still hurt?”
Meng Kefei was afraid of making the others worry, so she shook her head.
However, the doctor’s expression was stern. “Little girl, this isn’t something you can brush off so easily. You’re already in the hospital. Whether it hurts or not, you need to be honest about it. Otherwise, you could delay the treatment process. If anything happens then, will the hospital be responsible for it? Or, will you?”
Meng Kefei was probably frightened by the harsh tone the doctor used. Thus, it took a long while before she finally nodded her head and admitted, “It hurts. It hurts like hell.”
