Chapter 172

Chapter 172

March in Beicheng seemed to have been caught in a late cold snap. Though it was spring, the temperature was far lower than in Ireland.

After so many years, Yao Qin once again set foot on this land and lifted her head to gaze at a sky that had long since become unfamiliar.

The sky was gray and overcast, a light rain falling. The biting wind turned the tip of her nose red, yet she could not help reaching out to catch a few drops of rain in her palm.

Icy. Chilly. Cold.

The hand she had stretched into the rain was drawn back by a broad, warm palm beside her. Yao Qin stared blankly at the handkerchief Liu Shubai was using to wipe her hand.

In the end, Liu Shubai still had not been able to let Yao Qin come back on her own.

“The wind is strong. Let’s go inside.” Liu Shubai tightened the scarf around her for her.

Yao Qin’s eyes were still a little unfocused. As she followed him into the house, she tugged at the handkerchief Liu Shubai had tucked into his pocket and parted her lips slightly. “Did I embroider this?”

She was asking about the asparagus fern pattern on the handkerchief.

Liu Shubai had nothing to hide. “Mm. It’s yours.”

“Mine?” Yao Qin’s steps paused slightly.

“I stole it,” Liu Shubai explained with a smile. “Back in high school.”

Back then, he was about to go abroad and did not dare confess his feelings. When he saw Yao Qin give handkerchiefs as graduation gifts to her close friends, while he received nothing, Liu Shubai committed the first ungentlemanly act of his life.

Seeing him say it so solemnly, Yao Qin, for some reason, let out a helpless little laugh.

Liu Shubai did not understand why she was laughing and was just about to ask when Xia Wanzhi brought over a cup of warmed milk for Yao Qin. He could only fall silent.

Yao Qin seemed unfamiliar with her surroundings. Holding the milk, she sat dazedly on the sofa. Xia Wanzhi observed her for a while, then turned and met Liu Shubai’s gaze. She leaned closer and spoke softly. “For now, you should stay here too. Once Ayan’s mother is doing a little better, you can…”

“Why can’t I stay here with her the whole time?” Liu Shubai had no idea what it meant to be thin-skinned. He gave a snort. “You two called me back. Kicking me out once you’ve used me is hardly moral.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Fine. That worked too.

The room was quiet. Yao Qin looked around, and finally her gaze fell on Xia Wanzhi. “You haven’t been married long, have you?”

Some of the newlywed decorations around the place still looked fresh.

It was obvious this was a marital home.

Xia Wanzhi scratched her cheek. The person in front of her was, after all, her mother-in-law, and for a moment she actually felt a little shy. “Mm. We only registered before the New Year.”

Yao Qin lowered her eyes. “That’s wonderful.”

Those words held far too many emotions.

But with her head lowered, Xia Wanzhi could not tell what they were.

Xia Wanzhi looked at Liu Shubai. Liu Shubai shook his head, also uncertain.

The last time Yao Qin had regained clarity, Liu Shubai had been both shocked and overjoyed, but by the next day she had changed again, as though it had all been nothing but an illusion.

“Where’s Ayan? Still not back?” The moment Liu Shubai learned that Xie Tianqi had become a vegetable, he could not have felt more satisfied. But the thought that the man had woken up again immediately made anger smolder in his chest.

“Not yet.” Xia Wanzhi rubbed the edge of her phone with her fingertips. More than an hour had passed since Xie Qiyan left, and there had been no news during that time. She had to look after Yao Qin here, and even though she was worried, she had not dared let it show on her face.

“Who? Is he calling me?” Yao Qin suddenly raised her head and looked toward Xia Wanzhi as if in a daze. “I think I heard Ayan calling me.”

“Ayan isn’t back. I was calling you.” Liu Shubai smoothly took over the conversation, got up, and sat beside Yao Qin, letting her continue drinking the rest of the milk. Then he adjusted his glasses and looked at Xia Wanzhi. “I’ll take care of Ah Yao here. Go see if he’s beaten the man to death.”

Xia Wanzhi’s throat caught, and she did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Only people and matters related to Yao Qin could make him say such unrefined things.

But Xia Wanzhi truly was worried. Since he had put it that way, she did not refuse. After tidying up briefly, she hurried to the hospital.

When she arrived, Xie Tan was waiting at the hospital entrance to receive her. She trotted over, took Xia Wanzhi’s hand, and started chattering as they walked. “You have no idea. When Uncle saw Brother Ayan, his eyes went completely round. Then he kicked his legs out so hard the doctors thought he was going to pass out again. They even brought out the defibrillator…”

Xia Wanzhi listened carefully as Xie Tan recounted what had happened.

“Grandpa wouldn’t let Brother Ayan go in again and provoke Uncle, so Brother Ayan has been waiting outside the whole time. His face is all tense, and he won’t say a word. It’s honestly kind of scary.” Xie Tan was in fact a little worried.
“Got it. Thank you for your trouble, Xie Tantan.” Xia Wanzhi rubbed her head. When she reached the ward door, sure enough, she saw Xie Qiyan standing there, back ramrod straight, the murderous aura on his face impossible to hide.

Only when he sensed Xia Wanzhi approaching did Xie Qiyan show any reaction.

“Wan-”

His voice was cut off by a warm, gentle embrace.

Xia Wanzhi wrapped both arms around his waist and drew him into her arms.

“I came to see whether my Ayan has been wronged.” Xia Wanzhi patted his back softly. After a few pats, she rubbed up and down, trying to help his body, which had been tense all this time, relax.

Xie Qiyan lowered his eyes. He stood stunned for a long moment before his shoulders slowly loosened, and he lifted both hands to hold Xia Wanzhi tightly.

Bending at the waist, he took a deep breath and buried himself against her.

His neck brushed past her shoulder in a kiss.

“The doctor said he’s recovering well.” Xie Qiyan’s voice was low and heavy. With his eyes closed, he forced down that sliver of hatred inside him. “What a miracle.”

“It’s not entirely a bad thing.” Xia Wanzhi coaxed him gently. “Don’t think of everything in the worst possible way. Him waking up may not necessarily be a good thing for him. More importantly, for your mother, this might be…”

Feeling Xie Qiyan go stiff, Xia Wanzhi paused for a moment and explained, “What I mean is, Uncle Liu told me your mother has always been deeply fixated on him.”

Yao Qin had become what she was today entirely because of Xie Tianqi.

Xie Tianqi owed her an explanation. Yet when she had wanted that explanation from him most, he had avoided her.

He had dismissed her with nothing more than, “I don’t love you anymore.”

Yao Qin did not believe Xie Tianqi could be that kind of person, and she refused to believe that all the feelings they had shared over the years had been false.

And so she struggled with herself, numbed herself, and gradually lost herself, her pent-up misery turning into illness.

Liu Shubai had said that when she was lucid, she still wanted to find him.

To find Xie Tianqi and demand an answer.

The real answer.

And now, Xie Tianqi was awake.

Yao Qin had also returned.

“Let me think about it.” Xie Qiyan’s brows knitted tightly, his breathing growing heavy.

Yao Qin’s condition could not withstand any more shocks, but he could not deny that what Xia Wanzhi had said was not wrong.

“There’s no rush. Let’s go back and discuss it with Uncle Liu first.” Xia Wanzhi also knew this was a risky gamble. She had only brought it up now because she hoped to divert Xie Qiyan’s attention.

Some movement came from inside the ward. The door opened, and the Second Uncle of the Xie Family and the Third Uncle of the Xie Family came out together, leaving only the Old Master inside.

“We’ve told Big Brother about Sister-in-law and Xie An,” Second Uncle Xie said calmly, looking at Xie Qiyan with a sigh. “He finally woke up. For your grandfather’s sake, don’t agitate him anymore.”

Xie Qiyan showed no expression at all.

“Go in. He has something to say to you.” Second Uncle Xie raised a hand, wanting to pat his shoulder, but Xie Qiyan avoided him.

Xia Wanzhi looked at Second Uncle Xie with a faint, polite smile, as if apologizing on Xie Qiyan’s behalf for his rudeness.

Second Uncle Xie: “…”

Xie Qiyan had been keeping watch at the door not out of concern. He had merely wanted to see just how stubbornly Xie Tianqi’s life could cling on. Now that Xie Tianqi wanted to see him, he was all the more unwilling to oblige.

Just as he was about to take Xia Wanzhi’s hand and leave, Old Master Xie came out from inside and called, “Ayan, come in and hear what he wants to say.”

The moment Xie Tianqi woke, he had instinctively asked about Hou Mengqiu and her son. Old Master Xie had not hidden anything from him. He had Second Young Master Xie and the third brother explain everything that had happened during this period, including Xie Qiyan and Xia Wanzhi’s marriage.

Xie Tianqi had listened through it all without saying another word. When he finally spoke again, it was to ask to see Xie Qiyan.

Xie Qiyan did not move, as if he were thinking it over.

Not until Xia Wanzhi rubbed him lightly with the pad of her finger.

The moment he entered the ward with Xia Wanzhi, Xie Qiyan narrowed his eyes slightly and met that weary, deep gaze.

Xie Tianqi steadied his breathing, then turned to Xia Wanzhi. “When you were little, you already felt sorry for him. So it turns out the two of you were destined for each other after all.”

Xia Wanzhi admitted it openly and greeted him in passing. “That’s true. Long time no see, Uncle Xie.”

After a long silence, Xie Tianqi finally looked at Xie Qiyan.

His breathing rose and fell a little heavily. Having been unconscious for more than half a year, all the sensations in his body were still in the process of recovering. From head to toe, only his fingers could move with any agility. He tried with some difficulty to lift his hand, struggled halfway through the motion, and in the end gave up.