The baby slapped me, and I said, "Sit on my lap and slap me."

Song Yunyan was seething with anger, but his face remained impassive.

He portrayed that "weakness" even better, his tone carrying a hint of self-deprecation and loneliness.

"It's nothing serious, just... I accidentally fell and broke my right hand and left leg. I need to rest for a while."

He raised his uninjured left hand, casually adjusted the blanket on his lap, and then looked back at Su Qingyao's face with a hint of disappointment.

"Qingyao seems to be particularly busy lately? I've sent you a lot of messages and called you several times, but I haven't been able to get in touch with you."

"Did I... bother you?"

Upon hearing this, Su Qingyao blinked in surprise, "Huh? No, I didn't receive your message."

She hadn't received a call from Song Yunyan, let alone seen any news about him.

Aside from studying and Wenyu, she rarely receives frequent phone calls from anyone else.

Her social media notifications were often overwhelmed by various group messages, but she didn't remember seeing any unread messages from Song Yunyan.

Seeing her bewildered yet somewhat innocent expression, Song Yunyan instantly understood.

It's not that she didn't see it, it's that someone simply didn't want her to see it.

Wenyu.

He did indeed sabotage things behind the scenes, cutting off all his communications.

It seems that the seemingly arrogant young master is actually quite wary of Song Yunyan...

This realization dampened his anger and even gave him a twisted sense of pleasure and fighting spirit.

The more Wen Yu guarded against him, the more it showed how important Su Qingyao was to him.

This further demonstrates that his approach was effective and made the other party feel threatened.

Thinking of this, Song Yunyan's weak smile became even more genuine, and he took the initiative to find reasons for Su Qingyao.

"Really? Maybe the signal isn't very good. You know I just got back to Beijing not long ago, and I'm not familiar with many places, so my SIM card might not be very stable."

He paused, lowering his voice even further, tinged with the helplessness of being alone in a foreign land.

"Here, the only person I'm really close to is Qingyao. Being injured and hospitalized must have made me feel... a little lonely, so I wanted to talk to someone. I didn't expect to be unable to contact her for so long, I thought..."

He didn't finish his sentence, perfectly conveying the unspoken loneliness and the hurt of being ignored.

Su Qingyao looked at his pale face, her gaze falling on his right hand, which was in a heavy cast, and his left leg, which was also immobilized.

The sense of alienation caused by past unpleasantness was eventually replaced by a touch of sympathy and helplessness.

Regardless, he looked quite badly injured, all alone in the hospital, with no relatives or friends to turn to...

She sighed. "Brother Yunyan, which ward are you in? I... I'll take you back. It's not convenient for you to push a wheelchair by yourself, especially since your hands aren't very flexible."

A glint of triumph flashed across Song Yunyan's eyes.

He looked up, revealing a smile that was both grateful and somewhat dependent, yet also made him appear more vulnerable.

"Ward 301, Building B, thank you for your help, Qingyao."

Su Qingyao put the bag of warm liquid food into her crossbody bag, walked to the back of the wheelchair, and grasped the handle.

"Let's go, Brother Yunyan." Her voice was calm, revealing little emotion.

Song Yunyan sat in his wheelchair, turned his head slightly, and gave her a grateful but weak smile.

The distance between Building A, where Su's mother lived, and Building B, where Song Yunyan lived, was not far, separated only by a small garden for patients to take walks.

In the evening, the garden was somewhat desolate, with only a few people in hospital gowns walking slowly around.

Su Qingyao pushed the wheelchair, unsure of what to say, and the two fell into a slightly awkward silence.

The wheels rolled over the ground, making a regular sound.

With his back to Su Qingyao, Song Yunyan's weak expression faded, and a hint of calculation and gloom flashed in his eyes.

He was weighing his options, searching for the most suitable entry point and performance style.

Soon, they arrived at ward 301 in Building B.

This is a regular single hospital room, clean and tidy.

Su Qingyao parked the wheelchair beside the hospital bed, looking at Song Yunyan's arms and legs in casts, and hesitated.

How can she, all by herself, help him from his wheelchair to his bed?

Song Yunyan saw through her predicament, raised his head, and put on that understanding smile.

"It's okay, Qingyao, I can do it myself. It'll be a bit difficult, but I can manage to move it."

As he spoke, he struggled to support himself on the wheelchair armrest with his uninjured left hand, leaned forward slightly, and tried to stand up using the strength of one leg and his waist.

His movements were noticeably unsteady and clumsy; he dared not put weight on his injured right leg, and his cast-covered arm was also in the way.

He tried twice, his forehead beaded with sweat, before he could barely support himself on the edge of the bed and awkwardly slumped onto the hospital bed.

After settling in, he took a breath, his complexion even worse from the ordeal.

He raised his left hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead before looking at Su Qingyao, who was standing to the side with a furrowed brow.

Song Yunyan spoke very softly, his tone deliberately adjusted to sound sincere and regretful.

"Qingyao, this is enough, thank you."

He paused, met her gaze, and his eyes, which had been warm before, now held a clear-headed distance and apology.

"I think I know what you're worried about."

He lowered his eyes slightly, as if organizing his thoughts, his tone carrying just the right amount of self-reproach.

"The first two times we met, and also in Auntie's hospital room... I really didn't handle things well. I always subconsciously stayed in my childhood memories, forgetting that we've grown up, have our own lives, and you have... a very important boyfriend."

"I have acted and spoken inappropriately and overstepped my bounds. This was due to my lack of consideration, and I am very sorry."

He looked up at Su Qingyao again, his eyes calm.

"I hope you won't take it to heart. In the future... I'll be more careful to keep my distance and won't make things difficult for you again, okay?"

This "self-criticism" and "guarantee" were delivered with genuine sincerity.

Song Yunyan adopted a very humble attitude, completely lacking the previous ambiguous and aggressive feeling.

Hearing him say this, Su Qingyao's wariness and discomfort dissipated considerably.

After all, you can't hit someone who's smiling, especially when they've taken the initiative to apologize.

She pushed the wheelchair to the wall and placed it there, nodding her head and softening her tone.

"It's all in the past, Brother Yunyan, don't take it too seriously."

She examined his injury. "What did the doctor say? Is the fracture serious? How long will it take to heal?"

Song Yunyan gave a wry smile and gently touched the cast on his right arm with his left hand.

"It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, and this is a fracture with several metal pins. The doctor said I'll need to be observed and treated in the hospital for at least another month before I can consider being discharged for rehabilitation. Sigh, this is really..."

As Su Qingyao listened, her sympathy for him grew even stronger.

A month of limited mobility must have been quite a hardship.

She thought about it for a moment, then brought it up anyway.

"You're hospitalized now and it's not easy for you to move around. If you need any help, you can contact me. Although I may not be able to help much, I can still run errands."

Her words were purely based on a sense of "repaying a debt of gratitude," without any other ulterior motives.

"Before... when my family had a crisis, Brother Yunyan helped me during the most difficult time. I was really grateful at that time. Now that you are injured, I will naturally do my best to help you in any way I can."

Song Yunyan was originally going along with her words, preparing to continue playing the role of a "strong yet helpless" patient.

Hearing the words, "You helped me when my family was in trouble and I was going through the hardest time," my heart skipped a beat, and a sense of confusion and doubt flashed through my mind.

During the most difficult time? Did he help her?

How come he doesn't remember?