Chapter 28: Distraught

The young man’s eyes were brimming with tears, “I thought you had left…”

At this moment, it didn’t seem right to leave him alone in the hospital. Fang Chuning sat by the hospital bed, planning to decide what to do after he woke up.

As a result, she ended up falling asleep leaning on the edge of the bed. When she woke up again, it was already dawn. She rubbed her temples and wanted to check the time, but found that her phone had shut down last night due to low battery.

Troublesome.

Fang Chuning could already imagine how worried her father must be, unable to reach her by phone.

There was no charger here either, so she had no choice but to go to the hospital’s night duty station to make a call home and report that she was safe. After making the call, she noticed it was just before 7 AM.

Fang Chuning rubbed her eyes as she walked towards the exit of the hospital.

In the ward, not long after the young woman had just left, Xu Muzhou on the hospital bed slowly opened his eyes. A hint of fragile confusion flashed through his honey-colored eyes, but in an instant, he came to his senses and instinctively turned his head to the side.

The bedside was empty, and the ward was so quiet it seemed as if he was the only person left in the world.

Xu Muzhou’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. Based on his understanding of her, how could she feel at ease leaving him alone here before he woke up?

Xu Muzhou lifted the blanket and got out of bed. The corridor outside the ward was eerily quiet without a single person. Tears were already welling up in his eyes, but still not believing it, he walked towards the hospital’s duty station.

At the nurses’ station outside the ward, there was only one male nurse on duty. He was writing a report when he heard a sound and looked up, surprised to see it was the beautiful young man who had been rushed to emergency last night.

He was a bit surprised: “You’re awake!”

The young man looked soft and fragile, his face more beautiful than a celebrity’s, but with a sickly pallor. His eyes were moist, and his weak and helpless appearance made one’s heart ache just looking at him.

“Excuse me, have you seen the young woman who came with me?”

Handsome and very polite, the male nurse couldn’t help but praise him inwardly, his expression becoming even friendlier, “She left, just a moment ago.”

“Left…” Xu Muzhou murmured. Although he had more or less guessed it, knowing for sure that she had left made his whole heart feel empty. He found it hard to believe; he thought he understood her well enough.

It felt like something was stuck in his throat, a sour feeling rising to the tip of his nose. Xu Muzhou lowered his head, crystal clear tears dropping to the ground. He stared blankly at the floor with wide eyes, not knowing what to do for a moment.

Was it because she had confirmed her relationship with Jiang Luoyu that she planned to stay away from him from now on?

What should he do then?

From childhood to adulthood, she had always been his goal, and only her. He wasn’t sure what he would become if she never paid attention to him again.

In a daze, Xu Muzhou seemed to return to that lonely early childhood period when even teachers were unwilling to give him a second glance due to his introverted personality.

Emptiness and fear enveloped him. Xu Muzhou raised his hand to rub his eyes, tears sliding down his wrist and into his sleeve like broken strings of pearls.

When Fang Chuning returned from outside, she saw the young man standing by the nurses’ station in thin clothes, head lowered, rubbing his eyes. She was still chewing on a bun, and approached him in confusion, “What are you doing standing here?”

She clearly saw the young man’s thin shoulders stiffen, suddenly raising his head, red eyes looking at her with a mix of surprise and joy.

That tear-stained face made Fang Chuning even more confused: “What’s wrong with you? Why are you crying!”

As if having suffered a great grievance, the young man cried even harder after seeing her, his eyes continuing to spill tears while staring at her.

It was the first time Fang Chuning had seen him cry so fiercely. With complex emotions, she asked, “Did you think I had left?”

The young man nodded with tear-filled eyes.

She sighed: “Silly, I’m such a responsible person. You should know it’s impossible just by thinking about it.”

Xu Muzhou raised his hand to wipe away his tears haphazardly, one hand reaching out towards her like a traveler in desperate need of supplies, urgently hugging her and burying his tear-stained face deep in the crook of her neck.

Muffled sobs came from beside her ear. Fang Chuning felt a bit at a loss. She looked towards the nurses’ station, where the male nurse was resting his chin on his hand, watching them with great interest.

Fang Chuning’s ears turned red with embarrassment, and she softly persuaded, “Stop crying.”

It wasn’t like they were acting in an idol drama. It felt so embarrassing to be watched like this!

Those arms were like branding irons, tightly clasping her waist, wet sensations constantly falling on her shoulder.

After who knows how long, probably having cried enough, the young man remained leaning on her shoulder without moving. By this time, people had started moving about. Fang Chuning remained in her stiff posture and said, “If you don’t let go, the congee will get cold.”

This sentence was quite effective. The hands tightly clasping her waist loosened a bit. Xu Muzhou lowered his head to look at the congee she was holding, slowly released her, but still kept his head down, raising his hand to rub his eyes like a child.

The two returned to the ward. Fang Chuning put the congee on the table for him, “Eat quickly, otherwise it’ll get cold soon.”

Xu Muzhou’s eyes were red, but he said nothing and obediently sat down to drink the congee, taking small sips as it was still a bit hot, so he drank very slowly.

Fang Chuning stood by the window. With her phone dead, even standing there for a while felt boring. “Since you’re awake, I’ll head back first.”

“Don’t,” like a clingy little boy, the young man looked at her with yearning eyes, “Can you wait until I finish the congee before you leave?”

Seeing his sickly appearance, Fang Chuning’s heart softened.

By the time he finished the congee, half an hour had passed. Before leaving, Fang Chuning instructed him to wait for the doctor to come and do another check-up before he could be discharged if there were no problems.

Xu Muzhou sat on the hospital bed with a low mood. The phone on the table kept displaying new message notifications. He picked up the phone, lowered his eyes to open the chat interface, and red dots kept refreshing.

He had no interest in seeing what messages those people had sent him. His slender, pale fingers scrolled through the screen until he saw a familiar name. He looked at it expressionlessly for a few seconds, then clicked into the chat box.

Qin Shaoqing: I have something to tell you, do you have time now?

Xu Muzhou: I’m in the hospital.

Qin Shaoqing: What happened? Which hospital? I’m coming over now!

Xu Muzhou sent him the hospital location. In less than half an hour, the young man rushed over.

“Weren’t you fine just a couple of days ago? How did you end up in the hospital!?”

Although Qin Shaoqing was a bit arrogant and domineering, Xu Muzhou was the only person in class who truly cared for him. Even though something strange had happened, he didn’t want to lose this friend at all.

Xu Muzhou was as gentle as ever, “I don’t know either. I woke up and found myself in the hospital.”

“Did you eat something wrong?” the young man muttered, then found it strange, “Then who brought you to the hospital?”

The young man’s eyelashes lowered slightly, “It was classmate Fang.”

“Ah, you were together yesterday?”

Xu Muzhou pressed his lips together, neither confirming nor denying.

Qin Shaoqing took it as a tacit agreement. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “Do you like Fang Chuning?”

As he spoke, he remembered the incident at the hot spring pool, “That time… did Jiang Luoyu really take your medicine?”

Xu Muzhou’s eyes lifted slightly, his honey-colored pupils revealing a hint of depth, “Is this why you’ve been avoiding me these days?”

The young man’s gaze was like a cold interrogation, making Qin Shaoqing inexplicably panic, “No, no, I…”

He couldn’t find any other reason. That cold, mechanical gaze made him feel guilty and lost. Until the young man spoke again: “I’m just asking, I don’t mean to blame you.”

His voice returned to its gentle and pleasant tone, as if that cold questioning just now had been an illusion.

Qin Shaoqing, “Muzhou…” He didn’t know what to say, so he could only change the subject: “Have you had breakfast? I’ll go buy some for you.”

Xu Muzhou shook his head, “No need.”

Qin Shaoqing felt that he was angry with him, “Don’t be mad, okay? From now on, I’ll listen to you. If you like Fang Chuning, I can help you!”

Xu Muzhou’s eyes finally turned to him, the corners of his pale lips curving up slightly.

“Really?”