When she saw his sly and unfathomable gaze, which seemed to illuminate her, the blush on her face deepened.

She winced and cleared her throat. Then, she continued and just went all out with a serious expression. "Right now, do you... like... me even a little bit?"

When she said the last few words, she was barely audible.

The instance she asked that, Mu Yuchen was stunned. His gaze at her suddenly flickered indefinitely and the curve on his lips widened, yet he did not answer her.

When she noticed that he did not answer after a long while, Xi Xiaye frowned. She stared at him without moving. Her expression also shifted as she waited. After that, she just pulled a long face and pushed away his long arms that were wrapped around her shoulders, pulling the blanket to herself and lying down on the bed.

Clearly, she was unhappy!

Mu Yuchen then chuckled. He turned to pull her closer and laughed. "Does anyone ask about that this way?"

"Didn't you tell me to be straightforward earlier?" She rightfully used his words against him.

"There's this thing called restraint..." He inched over with a tight embrace, his deep and sexy voice brushing past her ear.

"Restraint... Why didn't you tell me to restrain the night before?"

"You..."

Was this considered sinning? She was getting cleverer with her words!

...

Night gradually fell, and the patter of the rain outside continued accompanied by the rustling cold wind.

Outside a certain superior ward in Hospital T.

Han Yifeng leaned against the cold wall. He did not know how long he had stood there. It was only when he felt his legs turn unbearably numb that he turned to sit on a stool on the side.

Xi Xinyi was inside the ward. She came around after being sent there after her fainting spell. She went through a long torment before she fell asleep again. Yue Lingsi and Huang Ziyao had gone home, so now only he was left on-guard together with Secretary Wang who was at his beck and call.

Secretary Wang, who also stood for quite a while on the side, looked a little worriedly at Han Yifeng. He hesitated before speaking up, "CEO Han, do you want to go home to rest first? I'll watch over here. You haven't been resting well for quite a few days now."

Han Yifeng looked up at him indifferently, then shook his head with a sigh. "That's fine. You should go home."

"But CEO Han..." Secretary Wang looked hesitantly at Han Yifeng, unconvinced.

"I'm fine. You go home first. I want to be alone for a while." Han Yifeng was extremely exhausted and his raspy voice sounded weak. Without waiting for Secretary Wang's response, he leaned forward with both arms on his knees. Exasperated, he pulled at his hair and held up his heavy head.

Secretary Wang watched him silently for quite a while. He could not help but sigh on the inside. In the end, he quietly left.

The corridor was instantly empty. It was so quiet that there was an indescribable sensation of the air being stifled.

He was silent for a long while before finally gathering the courage to get up and push open the door to the ward that was tightly shut.

Just as he entered, he saw that Xi Xinyi was staring at the door with a dazed expression on her face.

"I thought you wouldn't come in!" When she saw Han Yifeng's figure, Xi Xinyi's hoarse voice came through as she looked hurt at Han Yifeng.

Han Yifeng slowly walked over. He took a careful look at her, then turned around to pour her a glass of water. His deep voice seemed to have currently calmed down a lot more. "Drink some water first."

Xi Xinyi did not take the glass. She just looked up silently at him, her eyes still glittering with tears as her beautiful eyes were swollen.

"Yifeng, I'll listen to you from now on. I'll quietly stay behind you to be a good wife. We'll be happy, and we have our baby. This time, let it past. Let's start fresh. Everything will be better, okay?"

Xi Xinyi seemed to be exhausted too. She even sounded weak when she spoke and her eyes were carefully begging him.

Han Yifeng breathed in deeply. When he saw that she did not continue, he responded, "Xinyi, once some things have happened, no matter what, we can't just pretend it never happened... You know, I've never agreed to wishful thinking, so every time after your headstrong act, I admit that I become more unhappy with you by the day. I also didn't know how long I could endure it. Every time after I forgive you, I'd tell myself, 'This is definitely the last time', but it always seemed as if this last time would always be far in the indefinite future..."

When he said this, he paused and lowered his gaze. He looked at the ring on his hand as a faint light greeted his sight. In that instant, he suddenly felt like a dimmed out lightbulb. After a while, he continued, "I'm a little tired of my one-sided efforts, Xinyi... No matter how many times I put up with you, I know that it would never be the last time. I think I might not be as tolerant as I thought. In the end, I can't protect you. Perhaps, you actually don't need anyone's protection..."

"No! No! Yifeng, you can protect me. You can protect me forever. Please don't say such things! The way you're acting right now feels so foreign to me. I don't know what to do... I also don't know how to make it up to you. I really love you. Don't do this. Please! Don't give up so easily. We've gone through the worst of times together."

When she heard Han Yifeng say that, Xi Xinyi's body trembled. She reached out to pull Han Yifeng's sleeve in a panic. "Back then, you could've chosen me without a second thought and give up on Sister. Why are you brooding over these things now? Isn't Sister fine now? We don't have to feel so guilty. Even though we did get lucky, this shows that God is watching over us and we didn't cause too huge of a problem. This means that God still hopes that we can be together with a clear conscience..."

When he heard this, Han Yifeng instantly felt his head throb. He stared at how Xi Xinyi looked so pitiful yet still speak with such justification. He could not help but feel a tight pain in his chest slowly spread.

What else could he say to that?

He laughed bitterly, then lamented, "Xinyi, do you know what disappointed me the most?"

"Yifeng..."

"The most disappointing about everything is that after the dust settled down, you always feel so matter-of-factly that it's all in the past! For instance, about Xiaye's matter, what if your cousin got away with it back then? What about Xiaye? And what about us? Haven't you considered all these problems before?"

Han Yifeng rubbed the space between his brows, his voice sounding a little heavy.

Xi Xinyi was stunned...