A pampered young lady from a wealthy family is reborn, choosing a rich wife over a rich man.

The lock on the ward door made a crisp sound, and then the door was pushed open forcefully.

It slammed against the wall with a loud thud.

At the last moment, Zhou Yu got up and quickly tucked the blanket around Meng Zhixue, wrapping her up tightly.

Xie Lingfeng was the first to rush in, and what he saw was Zhou Yu standing by the bed, looking at him with a cold expression.

Meng Zhixue, on the other hand, was huddled under the covers, with only her watery eyes showing, looking like a pitiful little animal.

Behind Xie Lingfeng, a nurse glanced around the ward and said, "If everything's alright here, I'll head back to the nurses' station. Call me if you need anything. Keep quiet and don't disturb the other patients and their families."

Zhou Yu now understood why the ward door, though locked from the inside, could still be opened.

The nurse left, and Xie Lingfeng closed the door behind her.

His sinister gaze swept back and forth between Meng Zhixue and Zhou Yu.

Even though the two of them seemed perfectly normal and even kept a certain distance from each other, he just felt that something was off about the atmosphere in the room.

Conversely, if they weren't doing anything shady in the room, why would they lock the door?

"What were you doing in there with the door closed?" Xie Lingfeng slammed his car keys on the table and asked directly, "You called for ages and no one opened the door. Were you doing something lewd in there? A hospital? You're something else."

Meng Zhixue's heart skipped a beat, and she retorted in a hoarse voice, "No... I was asleep just now, and Young Master Zhou should... also, not have heard the knocking."

Zhou Yu stood by the bed and chuckled noncommittally.

He didn't explain, but that ambiguous smile was nothing short of a blatant provocation in Xie Lingfeng's eyes.

Xie Lingfeng's face was so dark it looked like it could drip water.

He strode to the bedside and reached out to lift Meng Zhixue's blanket to check on her, but he stopped himself as soon as his hand touched the blanket.

Looking at Meng Zhixue's pale and haggard face, and the way she avoided him like the plague, he gritted his teeth and sneered, "Fine, I believe you were sleeping just now and didn't do anything shady with Zhou Yu!"

"..." Meng Zhixue thought for a moment and reminded her, "Don't say I didn't, even if I did, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with you, and you can't control me."

Xie Lingfeng: "..."

He took a deep breath; he felt like his chest was about to explode with anger.

But he held back, picked up a stool and sat down by the bed: "I'll stay here tonight to keep you company."

Meng Zhixue was now truly in a bind.

She looked at Zhou Yu on the left side of the bed, then at Xie Lingfeng on the right, and thought the world must have gone mad.

While they may not be as powerful as those described in novels, who "control the economic lifeline of Country Y," both of them are CEOs and big shots who handle projects that generate tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Is it really necessary for them to waste their time on her?

Young people, if you can't sleep, why don't you go and work hard and build a career?

Is it really worth it to not go to the company to build your career, nor to go back to your mansion to sleep, but instead squeeze into a single room in a military hospital?!

"Are you all alright?" Meng Zhixue asked weakly.

She forced a smile: "As everyone knows, you can hire caregivers at the hospital. I can find one to take care of me; I don't need you two staying here all night. Please leave me alone; I want to sleep and don't want to see you."

"...Go to sleep." Xie Lingfeng glared at her irritably. "Anyway, I won't leave unless Zhou Yu leaves. Even if he leaves, I won't leave. He's so cunning, he'll definitely come back after I leave."

Zhou Yu didn't refute, but carefully slowed down the IV drip, looking as steady as an old dog.

Meng Zhixue: "...Alright then."

Anyway, they're the ones taking care of her, not the other way around.

Whatever.

She simply couldn't take it anymore; the exhaustion from the high fever left her feeling weak all over and desperately needed sleep...

Under the cover of the blanket, she carefully rubbed her chest, which still felt strange, and soon she fell into a deep sleep.

……

The next day, early in the morning.

Meng Zhixue was awakened by the noise of the nurses taking temperatures during their rounds. She instinctively reached under her pillow to check the time on her phone, but couldn't find it.

She was a little confused.

Xie Lingfeng asked the nurse, "What is her temperature?"

The nurse said, "It's normal, the fever is gone."

After the nurse left, Meng Zhixue asked Xie Lingfeng, "Where's my phone? No, where's my bag?"

Before she went into the water to save the person, she left her coat and bag on the shore, and her phone was in her bag.

Now that I think about it, I don't think I saw the bag last night.

Xie Lingfeng swallowed the "How would I know?" that was about to come out, got up and looked around the ward: "It's not here."

"Where's Zhou Yu?" Meng Zhixue asked.

Xie Lingfeng immediately became displeased: "You're so hung up on him? He had an emergency at his company and was picked up by his assistant early this morning. I'm the one who's been waiting for you all this time!"

"..." Meng Zhixue said helplessly, "I wanted to ask him if he had seen my bag."

Xie Lingfeng: "I'll ask."

He called Zhou Yu, but Zhou Yu didn't see it either. He said her phone had been turned off in the afternoon, and he tracked her phone's location that night. The last location was by the river.

Meng Zhixue could only accept the reality that her bag and phone were probably gone...

She threw back the covers, intending to go to the bathroom.

The moment she moved, Xie Lingfeng coldly extended a hand, startling her so much that she quickly shrank back, her eyes fixed on him warily.

Xie Lingfeng's face darkened, and after a long while, he managed to choke out, "Don't worry, I won't treat you like that again."

"Really?" Meng Zhixue looked at him with some surprise.

Xie Lingfeng's "prodigal son returns" tone felt very unreal to her, and she even wondered if her fever hadn't subsided yet.

"I'm going to wash up." Meng Zhixue didn't want to dwell on the topic and got off the hospital bed herself.

She was wearing a blue and white striped hospital gown, without a bra, and her clothes were completely empty underneath.

She forgot about it, and Xie Lingfeng didn't remind her, just watching her walk into the bathroom.

Meng Zhixue was still feeling unwell, tired and weak. She simply washed up and casually tied her long hair into a bun, without even looking in the mirror.

When she came out of the bathroom, she found Xie Lingfeng standing by the bed with one hand in his pocket, looking at her with a strange expression.

Her eyes held understanding, inquiry, anger, and a complex mix of emotions she couldn't decipher.

Meng Zhixue felt baffled.

Supporting her limp body, she sat back on the bed. Just as she was about to pull up the covers, Xie Lingfeng suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder with one hand.

"Xie Lingfeng, what are you doing?"

Meng Zhixue pushed his hand away easily, but his eyes were fixed on her collar, his gaze so sinister it was almost burning.

She was even more confused, but when she looked down, she was stunned.

On her snow-white chest, near her heart, several dark red, bluish-purple marks stood out starkly.

...Those were the kiss marks Zhou Yu left last night.

She instinctively gathered her clothes together, slid down, and hid under the covers.

"What is that?" Xie Lingfeng asked coldly. "Last night I knocked on the door for almost ten minutes, and you and Zhou Yu stayed inside without making a sound. Was that what you were doing?"

Xie Lingfeng's voice was as cold as ice.

Meng Zhixue: "..."

Although she was unhappy with Zhou Yu's sudden attack and overstepping of boundaries last night, being questioned by Xie Lingfeng also made her feel uneasy.

But just as she was about to coldly retort, "What's it to you?", Xie Lingfeng's gloomy and cold eyes suddenly turned incredibly aggrieved.

"If he can do it, why can't I?"

Meng Zhixue: "...???!!!"

Ok?

Wait, why does this sentence sound so familiar?