Chapter 48: Unexpected Encounter, Incomprehensible Concern

On the hospital bed, Fang Chuning was eating an apple peeled by Gao Qiong. In her words, this was compensation.

“This compensation of yours won’t even fill my stomach.”

After spending a night in the hospital without breakfast, eating half an apple only made her hungrier.

Gao Qiong, who had also spent the night at the hospital, was a bit hungry too. She quickly ate a banana and went to open the window. “You rest for a while. I’ll go outside and see if there’s anything to eat.”

“I want youtiao, sour and spicy noodles, and a cup of soy milk.”

“Got it.”

After Gao Qiong left, Fang Chuning looked down at her arm in a cast, carefully adjusting her position to pick up her phone from the table to check for unread messages.

But she found that her phone had run out of battery and shut down.

She glanced at the clock on the window. It was already past nine. Usually, on weekends at this time, Xu Muzhou loved to send her messages. If she was sleeping in and didn’t reply, he would call directly to wake her up.

“Oh no…”

Fang Chuning could already imagine his expression when he received no response to his messages and calls. She carefully got out of bed, intending to go outside to see if she could borrow a charger from someone.

Arriving at the nurses’ station, Fang Chuning noticed someone standing in front of it. She lined up behind him, planning to wait for him to finish asking.

“Excuse me, how do I get to Room 72?”

The man’s voice was gentle and magnetic, the kind that could increase one’s favorability just by listening.

Fang Chuning wasn’t in a good mood. She hadn’t expected to see someone she completely didn’t want to see even while hospitalized. Taking advantage of the male nurse’s response, she hurriedly walked back.

Li Yipeng, who had received directions, smiled and thanked the male nurse. As he turned around, he caught a glimpse of a hurried figure turning into the corridor. He didn’t recognize who it was but lifted his foot to follow in that direction.

Unable to borrow a charger, Fang Chuning dejectedly flopped onto the bed. Soon, Gao Qiong returned with breakfast. Her eyes lit up, “Quick, go borrow a charger for me.”

Gao Qiong put the breakfast on the table, “Let’s eat first. I’m really hungry.”

That works too.

Gao Qiong ate breakfast while looking at her phone. Her phone only had 6% battery left. As soon as she turned it on, she saw messages from Xu Muzhou. She glanced at the girl eating breakfast and curiously opened the messages.

He politely asked if Fang Chuning was with her. Gao Qiong’s lips curled slightly upward as she replied: No, she’s not. What’s the matter, Vice President?

The other side quickly replied “Nothing” and then didn’t respond further.

Gao Qiong continued typing: I was with her last night and we had some drinks. She’s probably still passed out from drinking. If you’re worried, Vice President, I can go to her house and wake her up for you.

Fang Chuning, who was eating noodles, looked at her with a strange expression. “Can you not look at your phone while eating? If you’re going to look, at least don’t smile so lewdly.”

“Can’t help it. I can’t control my expression when chatting with my boyfriend.”

Fang Chuning rolled her eyes at her, “You change boyfriends daily and still can’t control your expression?”

Gao Qiong ignored her sarcasm, her smile deepening as she looked at her phone. She stopped eating breakfast, her fingers tapping away rapidly.

This made Fang Chuning curious. She leaned over to try and see, but Gao Qiong immediately turned the phone away, not letting her look.

“Tch,” Fang Chuning sat back, “Is that necessary? It’s not like anything will happen if I take a look.”

“Then why don’t you show me your chats with the Vice President?”

“You wish,” Fang Chuning said irritably, “If you’re not eating, hurry up and borrow a charger for me.”

“Alright, alright.” Gao Qiong got up and walked out. After closing the hospital room door, she looked at her phone again. The other side hadn’t replied anymore, which disappointed her a bit.

From the corner of her eye, she saw someone coming out of the room next door. She moved to the side to avoid them, but was called out to: “Young student?”

Her footsteps halted, and Gao Qiong turned her head.

Fang Chuning, waiting for the charger in the hospital room, didn’t expect that not only did this girl bring back the charger, but she also brought along the man she had been avoiding.

“It’s not my fault. He insisted on coming along. I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Fang Chuning was extremely annoyed. She reached out her hand and said, “Give me the charger.” Li Yipeng’s gaze fell on her arm in a cast, his brows furrowing slightly: “What happened to your hand?” “I fell.”

This answer wasn’t convincing at all. “You fell and it ended up like this?”

“What’s so strange about that? When I fell, I just happened to land on a rock, and this is how it turned out.” The girl’s nonchalant attitude and obvious lie irritated Li Yipeng. He looked at Gao Qiong standing to the side, “May I speak with Miss Fang privately?” Gao Qiong looked at one, then the other, nodded, and left the hospital room.

Because her other hand couldn’t move, she couldn’t even plug in the charger. Fang Chuning clicked her tongue in frustration and glanced at the man, “Can you help me out?”

Li Yipeng stared at her for a moment, then went over to help her plug in the connector. The smell of sour and spicy noodles on the table made his brows furrow even deeper. “Didn’t the doctor tell you what you shouldn’t eat?”

Fang Chuning clumsily slurped some noodles with her left hand and said indistinctly, “Probably, I wasn’t really listening.” Then the sour and spicy noodles in front of her were taken away, along with the youtiao, and the cup of soy milk she had only managed to take one sip from.

“Hey, I wasn’t finished eating!”

Li Yipeng threw the items into the trash can and wiped the soup that had gotten on his fingers with a tissue. He looked down at her, “These aren’t suitable for you to eat, if you want to recover quickly.”

Fang Chuning was really annoyed by his nagging, fatherly manner. He was just a secretary, yet he liked to meddle in everything she did. “Then what am I supposed to eat? Are you trying to starve me?”

The man left the hospital room without a word, returning about half an hour later with a large bag. He took out the items from the bag and arranged them on the table one by one. There was lamb noodle soup and some kind of fish soup. Worried she might get tired of it, he had thoughtfully prepared two side dishes to whet her appetite.

Li Yipeng moved the chair next to her and sat down, using chopsticks to pick up a piece of lamb and bring it to her mouth.

Fang Chuning turned her head away, avoiding it. “No need, I can eat by myself.”

Li Yipeng gave a meaningful look at her uninjured left hand. “Are you sure?” The man’s current demeanor was somewhat different from his usual gentle self. It was hard to describe the feeling, just like… he was angry.

Thinking this way, Fang Chuning looked at him even more strangely.

The man was very patient, his calm face revealing nothing as he allowed her to scrutinize him.

“I’m telling you, you don’t still have feelings for my mom, do you?”

As if he had anticipated this, Li Yipeng sighed inwardly and spoke more gently: “No, don’t overthink it. Come on, eat.”

Fang Chuning didn’t believe him but said nothing more, opening her mouth to eat the lamb.

Her free left hand pressed the power button on her phone. When the screen lit up, a flood of messages and missed calls notifications popped up.

Fang Chuning’s heart skipped a beat. She already felt a headache coming on before even looking at them.

“Your little boyfriend keeps a close eye on you.”

Li Yipeng’s voice was neither cold nor warm. He gently blew on the hot fish soup in the small spoon, then brought it to her lips.

Compared to the person constantly sending her messages on her phone, he seemed more like the perfectly attentive boyfriend.

Fang Chuning, who had lost her appetite, ignored the fish soup brought to her mouth and frowned, thinking about how to deal with these dozens of messages and more than ten missed calls.

The man amusedly suggested: “Or, you could just tell him the truth?”

“How could I do that!”

“Why not? You just accidentally hurt your hand. Would he be angry at you for that?”

Of course not. This excuse was just something she made up to brush him off. Whether he believed it or not didn’t matter to her, but Xu Muzhou was different.

Before she could think of what to say, the phone that had just quieted down rang again. The caller ID still showed Xu Muzhou.

Fang Chuning picked up the phone and walked to the window, putting it to her ear after answering.

The other side didn’t immediately question her. The silent breathing sound made her nervous, as if he was right beside her, staring at her with reproachful eyes.

“Xu classmate…”

“Where are you?” His slightly hoarse voice didn’t sound like he was questioning her.

“I’m… at home.” Fang Chuning’s palms were sweating from nervousness.

The other side was silent for a moment, as if he believed her. “Gao classmate told me you were drinking last night.”

“I didn’t,” Fang Chuning reflexively defended herself. “Don’t listen to her nonsense. I just… stayed out too late last night, and my phone ran out of battery. I forgot to charge it, that’s why I didn’t answer your calls.”

“Really?”

“…Really.”

Over the phone, Fang Chuning couldn’t see his expression. She only heard that after receiving an affirmative answer, the young man’s voice softened a bit: “I want to see you. Can you come meet me now?”

Fang Chuning looked at her arm in a cast and said with difficulty: “Not today.”

The other side went quiet. She racked her brains to explain: “My mom wants me to stay at home today. She said… my aunt is coming over later, so I can’t go out today.” The lie seemed to have some contradictions, but she couldn’t care about that now.

Only after she had placated him did she hang up the phone. Fang Chuning let out a sigh of relief.

A soft chuckle came from the man in the hospital room. She looked over at him, “What are you laughing at!”

“Nothing much. Just think you look cute when you’re lying.”

Li Yipeng’s face wore an enchanting smile. His alluring gaze, combined with the subtle flirtatiousness in his words, was very much like teasing, capable of unsettling one’s emotions.

Unfortunately, Fang Chuning, whose heart and mind were fully occupied by her boyfriend, failed to grasp the meaning behind it. “Don’t you have anything else to do? I want to be alone for a while.”

This little ingrate really knew how to bite the hand that feeds her. Li Yipeng made a show of getting up to clean the leftover food on the table. “I do have some other matters to attend to. Director Fang is probably still waiting for me to deliver some documents.” He looked at his watch, “It seems I’m running late. I might need to explain to her why I’m late.”

Fang Chuning quickly called out to stop him: “You’re not thinking of telling her about me being in the hospital, are you?”

The man’s eyes seemed to say, “What else?”

“Don’t tell her!”

Li Yipeng walked over and reached out, intending to tuck a strand of hair that had fallen on her face behind her ear, but she dodged away. His raised hand froze for a moment before naturally dropping. He looked at her with deep eyes, “Keeping so many secrets for you without any reward, I’ll feel very pressured.”