novelraw Chapter 264: "You’re So Good... I Wish You Were Always This Good
Chapter 264: "You’re So Good... I Wish You Were Always This Good
When it came to Xu Su’s physical health, even she herself had no say in the matter.
After breakfast, she underwent a battery of thorough examinations. The final conclusion was that there were no major issues. The injury to her ear didn’t require surgery and would heal on its own. Only then did Zhou Mochen’s face, which had been tense all night, finally relax a little.
Xu Su hadn’t even had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. The moment she returned to her hospital room, Zhou Mochen began interrogating her about where she had been all afternoon yesterday and why she had only returned to Imperial Central so late at night.
Spending the first day of the Lunar New Year—the very first day of the new year—in a hospital was one thing, but having to rack her brains to come up with a lie on top of it all...
She was utterly frustrated but knew she couldn’t just brush him off.
The problem was, lying to Zhou Mochen was an incredibly difficult task. The man’s insight was too sharp, so Xu Su could only mix truths with falsehoods.
Aside from Xi Zirong’s appearance, which she couldn’t tell him about, Xu Su haltingly explained everything she could.
"You sat in an arcade all afternoon?"
"Yeah. My mind was a mess, and I wanted to be alone for a bit. I sat in the arcade until dark, and only then did I decide to go back and find you," Xu Su said, her gaze lowered, speaking a mixture of truth and lies. "I happened to have just enough money left in my pocket for a taxi."
Zhou Mochen’s brow furrowed. "So you didn’t eat all day?"
"...That’s right." Xu Su faltered, her voice dry. "I didn’t feel hungry."
"You didn’t feel hungry? Are you made of iron? In temperatures this low, you spent the entire day outside without replenishing any calories, then squatted by the roadside late at night, freezing. It’s no wonder you came down with a fever."
Zhou Mochen was both heartbroken and furious. He felt a rage building in his chest with nowhere to go, and he gritted his teeth in frustration. "You had a fever of forty degrees last night. You were unconscious. Half your face was bruised and swollen, your mouth was bleeding, and the doctors found you had a ruptured eardrum. Do you have any idea what I was feeling as I looked at you lying there, unconscious?"
’I’ve never been so scared in my entire life!’
’The girl I’ve cherished and protected was beaten right under my nose to the point of a ruptured eardrum. A little more and she could have been permanently disabled!’
"..." Xu Su could understand how he felt. She reached out, tugged on the corner of his shirt, and for once, apologized in a soft voice. "...I’m sorry. I made you worry."
In truth, Xu Su felt terrible too. She’d been healthy since she was a child and had rarely ever gotten sick, let alone run a fever. She never imagined that just being out in the cold for a little while could lead to a high fever and unconsciousness.
Of course, it might have also been from the shock and the overwhelming rage. Xu Weiping’s savage expression, the hurtful words from Xu Hao and Mrs. Xu, and everyone else just standing by and watching—it all left Xu Su both terrified and furious.
She had been so angry she was trembling all over. ’What could be more infuriating than being verbally humiliated by your own family!’
"If you know to say you’re sorry, then don’t make me worry like this again."
He reached out and ruffled the top of Xu Su’s hair. Seeing her so sick, how could Zhou Mochen possibly have the heart to truly scold her?
He sighed and instructed her in a gentle voice, "Memorize my phone number. Promise me, no matter what happens from now on, don’t harm your body like this. Contact me the moment anything happens. Don’t ever let me be unable to find you."
Remembering the feeling of being unable to find her anywhere yesterday, Zhou Mochen’s expression darkened as he pulled her into a tight embrace.
Xu Su nodded obediently. Seeing him standing by the bed, she thoughtfully scooted further in. "Do you want to come up?"
Her hospital room had a double bed.
Zhou Mochen didn’t stand on ceremony. He lifted the covers, got into bed, and reached out to feel her forehead. Leaning in, he kissed it and whispered, "I’ve already called you out of school. You can go back to class once you’ve recovered."
Xu Su continued to nod obediently. She had no objections to taking time off. The fever was one thing, but the main reason was that she had just looked in the mirror. The red handprint on her face was still obvious. Xu Weiping clearly hadn’t held back at all with that slap. The swelling would probably take several days to go down, and she definitely couldn’t show up at school with a face like that.
She was so docile that Zhou Mochen found it a little strange. He studied her for a moment before pulling her into his embrace. He pressed a kiss to her pale lips and gently patted her back, coaxing, "My sweet girl, sleep with me for a bit."
His eyes were bloodshot; he probably hadn’t slept a wink last night. How could Xu Su have the heart to refuse? "Okay. You sleep. I’ll stay with you."
"So obedient... If only you were always this good." Zhou Mochen smiled, tightening his arm around her. He kissed her forehead and fell asleep just like that.
Listening to the steady sound of his breathing, Xu Su suddenly recalled the look in his eyes last night as he slowly wiped the blood from his hands.
In her eyes, his casual, matter-of-fact attitude toward the blood was even more terrifying than the moment he had personally stabbed Xu Hao’s hand.
Xu Su still remembered the profile of his face, impossibly cold and hard. He seemed like a completely different person from the gentle, considerate man he usually was with her.
’This is the real Zhou Mochen. Tenderness is an extremely scarce resource for him.’
’The Zhou Mochen who was so good-tempered he’d yield to her every whim, who would comfort her unconditionally, who was willing to suppress his own desires even when it was difficult... that Zhou Mochen belonged only to her.’
This realization made her chest grow uncontrollably warm. She couldn’t help but be moved by his undisguised favoritism.
Zhou Mochen slept until lunchtime, then ate a "patient’s meal" with Xu Su.
The broth was bland and tasteless, but Xu Su didn’t complain. She turned on the TV and watched *Journey to the West* to help her appetite.
Monkey King was her ultimate appetite stimulant!
By the afternoon, Xu Su was feeling much better, and her fever had completely broken. While Zhou Mochen was away taking a phone call, she decided to sneak out of bed for a walk. But just as she lifted the covers, there was a knock on the door, and someone entered.
Xu Su guiltily pulled the blanket back over herself at once. Looking up, she was completely surprised. "Shen Chen, what are you doing here?"
’It’s the first day of the Lunar New Year.’
"I was planning to come on the third day of the New Year, but I didn’t get your picture yesterday, so I had to come early to see what was going on."
Shen Chen was dressed in a short black puffer jacket over a hooded sweatshirt, with casual, athletic-style pants and skate shoes. He looked quite young—not like a domineering CEO, but more like a college student.
The hospital room was warm, so he took off his jacket upon entering and tossed it onto the sofa. He walked over to the bed and immediately saw Xu Su’s face, still red and swollen. He stared at it quietly, his smile slowly fading. "Your dad really doesn’t hold back, does he?"
"He’s not my dad. I don’t have a dad. From now on, just consider me an orphan." Being beaten like this was embarrassing, after all. Xu Su turned her head away, looking uncomfortable.
"Fine, not your dad. That guy’s name is Xu Weiping, right?" Shen Chen nodded, then suddenly leaned down toward her right ear and whispered loudly, "Can you hear me?"
"..." Xu Su’s expression darkened. She shoved him away and said sternly, "I’m not deaf."