Mrs. Fu, please be mindful of the appropriate boundaries.

Fu Sichen wanted to continue, but then he saw Fu Jingting come down from the study upstairs.

Zhong Wanxiu asked, "Have you finished talking with your dad?"

"Okay, Mom, I have something to do, I'll be going now."

Fu Jingting grabbed the suit and was about to leave.

Fu Sichen followed, grabbing the man's arm and pleading, "Second Brother, where's my red envelope?"

When someone pinched his wound, Fu Jingting's expression turned really bad. Fu Sichen was so frightened by his dark face that he immediately let go and fell silent.

In their family, the father is the most serious, followed by the eldest brother, and the second brother is the most unserious.

However, Fu Sichen is not afraid of her father or her older brother, but she is afraid of Fu Jingting's dark face.

Her father couldn't bear to hit her, and her older brother couldn't outrun her.

But when my second brother gets angry, he becomes ruthless and doesn't recognize his own family; he's especially frightening.

Fu Jingting glanced at her, then took out his phone to transfer money to her, while also warning her not to mess around with men outside.

Fu Sichen inwardly cursed this man for being so hypocritical; he could have women outside, but he wouldn't allow her to have a boyfriend.

However, she still had a particularly obsequious smile on her face, "Second brother is so good, I wish you countless beauties around you and a happy sex life every day."

Nobody knew which sex she was referring to.

Before Fu Jingting could even start cursing, Fu Sichen had already slipped away.

……

Zhong Wanxiu asked Fu Pinghui, "What is Jingting thinking about that Miss Xu?"

"This daughter of the Xu family is no simple character. Despite Ye Chengnian's relentless suppression, Shengshi has managed to hold on until now and even show some improvement. That's quite remarkable." Fu Pinghui pondered. "Jingting's intention is for her to use Jingting to contend with the Ye family. And your son is going along with it."

"Such a beautiful girl, doesn't he have any other thoughts?"

"Do you want him to have other ideas, or do you want him to not have any?" Fu Pinghui asked, somewhat curious.

Zhong Wanxiu looked worried. "It's not that I have a prejudice against this Miss Xu. I only caught a glimpse of her last time, but she was stunningly beautiful. I heard that she and Ye Tinghong were lovers when they were in school, but after the incident, she was quite ruthless towards Ye Tinghong. No wonder Ye Chengnian has intensified his suppression of the Xu family. I'm afraid that a girl like that might turn around and stab me in the back."

"Are you worried that Jingting will be blinded by lust and lose his judgment?!" Fu Pinghui recalled their conversation later. "He knows his limits, so you can rest assured about that."

……

The car drove smoothly on the way back to Jingshan No. 1.

Fu Jingting raised his hand to look at his arm, then lowered it, leaned back, rested his head on the leather armchair, and closed his eyes.

The neon lights from the streetlights outside the window cast a dim, half-lit glow on the man's face.

Duan Heng asked him, "Should I have a doctor treat your wound?"

"It's alright."

Fu Jingting didn't even open his eyes.

As the car approached Jingshan No. 1, he slowly opened his eyes. "Call Ye Chengnian and convey my message. Let the Ye family handle their affairs. But my affairs are none of their business."

Duan Heng was taken aback for a moment, then quickly replied, "Okay."

Does this mean they want to protect Xu Qingcheng?!

Looking in the rearview mirror, he saw the man close his eyes again, clearly not intending to continue the conversation.

Ye Chengnian's face was gloomy when he hung up the phone.

Ye Wenhan huddled on the sofa, too afraid to speak.

"What does the Fu family mean?" Ye Songren looked at his eldest son, whose expression suggested things weren't going well. "Are they unwilling to come forward and clarify things with Wenhan?"

Fu Jingting's words were very impolite, and Ye Chengnian's hand, resting on the sofa armrest, showed prominent veins.

He looked up at Ye Wenhan and asked, "What stage have you and Fu Jingting reached now?"

Ye Wenhan didn't understand why her older brother asked that question. "It's fine. He treats me very well. He indulges me a lot."

Fu Jingting did indeed indulge her, but there was an inexplicable distance between them, and they weren't intimate.

"Did you go to bed?" Ye Chengnian asked directly.

Ye Wenhan gasped, not expecting her older brother to be so blunt as to ask her directly. She stammered for a long time, but finally gave in to her brother's angry gaze and said, "No."

"No?" Ye Chengnian's anger flared. "Ye Wenhan, do you think this is still kindergarten?!"

Ye Wenhan shrank back and muttered under her breath, "This isn't something I can just do because I want to."

Ye Chengnian, being a man, couldn't say everything he wanted to say. His wife quickly interjected, "Chengnian, you deal with the public opinion first. I'll talk to your sister-in-law about something; it's not too late to fix things yet."

……

Xu Qingcheng stayed in the ward the whole time. She spent the night huddled on the sofa, unable to sleep soundly. Her dreams were bizarre and fantastical, as if a dense net was trapping her, preventing her from breaking free or leaving.

It felt like I was chained up and thrown into cold water; it was both stuffy and cold.

She struggled as if she couldn't breathe, when suddenly a hand pulled her up.

The water was gone, and so were the iron chains.

She was pulled into a warm embrace.

The black clothes, the broad chest and strong arms—even without seeing his face, she seemed to know who he was.

I feel somewhat at ease.

When Xu Qingcheng woke up, she was wearing Fu Jingting's black trench coat.

It was still early, and the ward was quiet.

Her fingers clenched her clothes tightly; the man's scent was so strong it couldn't be ignored.

No wonder I dreamed about it.

Xu Qingcheng got up and went to the bathroom to wash her face. In the mirror, the woman's eyes were red and swollen.

She hadn't cried so freely in a long time, but it looked so ugly.

When Xu Qingcheng came out, her eyes fell on the scattered milk candies on the table. She walked over and swept them all into her bag.

Aunt Wang came back with water and saw that she was awake. "Drink more water. It's chilly at night, so don't catch a cold."

Xu Qingcheng hummed in agreement, then suddenly asked, "Aunt Wang, did you put the clothes on me?"

"Yeah, you were shivering with your arms wrapped around yourself while you were asleep, and there wasn't anything else to cover you with."

Xu Qingcheng lowered her eyes. "Thank you."

Although it was a short time, she really fell asleep.

She suddenly remembered something, reached out and grabbed Aunt Wang's hand, "Aunt Wang, there's something I'd like to ask you."

"What do you mean by 'please' or 'beg'? Just tell me."

……

Zhao Lan actually woke up around six in the morning.

The early shift doctor came and did a simple examination. He found Zhao Lan's emotions were relatively calm, but she was very weak. He instructed her family to take good care of her and monitor her emotions. He said her wrist would be very painful once the anesthesia wore off. He advised her to eat more blood-nourishing, high-protein foods.

Xu Qingcheng noted them all down and had people prepare them.

The newly hired caregiver has also arrived.

Xu Qingcheng stood in front of Zhao Lan's hospital bed, her voice low, "Mom, I apologize for anything I did wrong. But you have to take care of yourself. You can't let Qingyao come back without seeing your mother."

Zhao Lan kept her eyes closed, neither speaking nor looking at her.

Xu Qingcheng stood there for a while longer before leaving.

As soon as the others left, Zhao Lan could no longer hold back her tears, which streamed down her cheeks.

Aunt Wang couldn't help but sigh when she saw this. Having known Zhao Lan for the past six months, she had become quite familiar with her and began to nag her, "Why are you getting angry with your own child? She hasn't eaten anything or slept much since yesterday."

While you were unconscious, her boyfriend came to see you. He's very handsome, and I thought they were a good match. Ms. Xu also said she originally wanted to wait until things were more stable before introducing him to you. She felt guilty because the last time they almost got married and then broke up. She didn't expect your misunderstanding to deepen, and eventually, she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Zhao Lan turned her head. "Boyfriend?"

Her voice was still very weak, but after Aunt Wang said so much, she only responded to this one, so Aunt Wang felt that she had found the right approach.

"Yes. I have photos here." Aunt Wang took out her phone and showed the photos to Zhao Lan, just as Xu Qingcheng had instructed.