“You’re awake?” Huo Mian’s voice was raspy and weak.
“Don’t leave…” Like a child, he grabbed onto her hands tightly, unwilling to let go.
Huo Mian had never seen this side of Qin Chu before. He had always been so prideful, quiet, and cold, uninterested in anything that didn’t involve her. Now? He looked so weak, his face colorless and his lips purple, helpless as could be…
“I won’t leave.” Huo Mian turned back and sat down by his bedside.
“Mian… I can’t fix what my mother did. I’m so sorry… If I had known that she would be so extreme, I wouldn’t have let my father know that we were married. It’s all my fault. I’m sorry that your mother had to suffer.”
Although Qin Chu’s voice was weak, his gaze was honest and genuine…
Huo Mian could tell that he truly felt apologetic towards her mother…
“It’s okay, I can’t blame you for what your mother did. You are you and your mother is your mother. You shouldn’t pay for the crime she committed. The law even says that children shouldn’t pay for their parents’ monetary debts, not to mention something like this.” Huo Mian was much calmer after she combed through her thoughts.
Although she felt guilty towards her mother, she wasn’t about to put the blame on Qin Chu…
She could battle and hate his mother all she wanted, but she couldn’t bear to continue fighting Qin Chu.
He had been, after all, so good to her…
Qin Chu was surprised by what Huo Mian said. He had expected her to complain… but she didn’t, and she didn’t even plan on holding him accountable for anything.
“You’re not mad at me anymore?” Qin Chu asked quietly as he gazed at Huo Mian’s face.
“Mad? Of course I’m mad at you! I almost forgot about it! Who allowed you to drink so much? Don’t you know how dangerous that is? Gastric mucosal shedding, bleeding out… don’t you know that you can die from a stomach hemorrhage?” Huo Mian was infuriated by Qin Chu’s neglect towards his own health.
“I know…” Qin Chu smiled bitterly. He studied medicine, how could he not understand the risks.
“Then why did you do it? Do you want to kill yourself?!” Furious, Huo Mian tried to pull away from Qin Chu but her hands were tightly gripped and she was unable to escape his hold…
“All I know is, I will also die if I lose you,” Qin Chu enunciated every word.
Huo Mian felt the pain in his words. It was as if they turned into millions of needles, pricking at her heart…
With reddened eyes, Huo Mian looked at the weak but ridiculously handsome man in bed. “Qin Chu, are you stupid?”
“Of course not, I think I’m very smart.”
“You’re smart?” Huo Mian questioned him angrily. She didn’t think that someone who joked about death was smart.
“Because I married the world’s smartest woman.”
Huo Mian didn’t respond. She simply stared deep into his eyes…
She couldn’t imagine being him, surviving seven years in another country with no more than a simple belief.
The man in front of her had suffered so much, while she was being cowardly and apprehensive.
Zhixin was right. How many seven-years did they have left? She didn’t want to run away this time.
Huo Mian took the towel and continued to gently clean Qin Chu’s face…
Her strokes were slow and gentle… Qin Chu raised his head to carefully study Huo Mian’s face, gazing at her as if he couldn’t have enough.
Qin Chu had informed GK of his absence but said that he was on a trip, hiding the fact that he was hospitalized.
Assistant Yang sent out endless emails into Qin Chu’s mailbox for the things that had to be dealt with…
“Mian.”
“Hm?”
“Why don’t we leave this place, go somewhere where no one knows us, and start over?”
Huo Mian’s towel-holding hand paused for a second…