My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

Jiang Yi's voice was hoarse when he said "I'm sorry".

His throat was so dry it felt like it had been burned; he had to use all his strength to squeeze out each syllable.

His eyes were half-open, with fine bloodshot veins in the center, and his pupils were unfocused, his gaze shifting back and forth between Su Xiaoyue's face and the ceiling, as if he might lose consciousness again at any moment.

Su Xiaoyue held his hand, her fingers tightening slightly.

She looked at his ashen, thin face, with dark circles under his eyes that looked like he'd been punched twice. Her lips moved a few times, as if she wanted to say something, but something seemed to be stuck in her throat.

She wanted to say, "It's okay."

I want to say, "I don't blame you."

I wanted to say, "I don't want that money anymore, I'm just glad you're okay."

But these words swirled in his throat, and in the end, not a single one came out.

It wasn't because she didn't want to say it, but because she knew these words were too insignificant.

She cares a lot.

Especially Jiang Yi!

She cared so much that her life would be meaningless without Jiang Yi.

"Jiang Yi."

She finally spoke, her voice so soft it was like a feather about to fall.

"Don't speak yet, you still have a fever. The doctor said you need to rest."

Jiang Yi's lips moved again, tearing open a small wound on his chapped lips, from which a drop of blood seeped out.

He didn't seem to feel any pain, or rather, he couldn't feel any pain anymore.

His gaze slowly and laboriously shifted from Su Xiaoyue's face, sweeping across the white ceiling, the IV drip stand, the fruit basket on the bedside table, and finally landing on Gu Qinghan standing in the doorway.

"Miss Gu... Miss Gu."

His voice was broken and intermittent, like a spider's web about to snap in the wind.

"Jiang Miaomiao...where...where is she now?"

Gu Qinghan frowned slightly.

She glanced at Su Xiaoyue, who nodded slightly.

Gu Qinghan walked in from the doorway, stood at the foot of the bed, put her hands in her coat pockets, and looked down at Jiang Yi.

"Jiang Miaomiao is still at the Zhongshan branch of the Public Security Bureau. She signed a confession, admitting to all her crimes."

Jiang Yi's eyelashes trembled slightly.

"However," Gu Qinghan paused, lowering his voice by half an octave, "you also signed that confession. The two confessions contradict each other, and the case is currently stuck at the prosecutor's office, requiring a retrial."

Jiang Yi closed his eyes.

His chest heaved more, and his breathing became heavier than before.

He understood the meaning behind Gu Qinghan's words.

The two confessions are contradictory.

The case needs to be retried.

This means that at least one of his and Jiang Miaomiao's confessions are problematic.

He knew that his confession was fake.

He was forced to sign.

"Jiang Yi."

Gu Qinghan's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I've hired a lawyer, the best lawyer in Beijing. They'll help you overturn the case. But you have to cooperate, say whatever you know, don't hide anything, and don't take the blame for anyone."

Jiang Yi opened his eyes and looked at Gu Qinghan.

His lips moved slightly.

Why?

"Why? Why?"

"Why should you help me?" Jiang Yi's voice was soft, but each word was enunciated clearly. "I know you hate me. You wish I were in jail. Why should you help me?"

Gu Qinghan did not answer immediately.

She looked at Jiang Yi's ashen face and remained silent for two seconds.

Then she turned her head and glanced at Su Xiaoyue.

Su Xiaoyue kept her head down, her fingers still holding Jiang Yi's hand, her knuckles turning white.

Gu Qinghan withdrew her gaze and landed on Jiang Yi's face.

"Because someone doesn't want you to die."

When she said this, her tone was very flat, so flat that it was almost devoid of any emotion.

She didn't say anything more, turned around and walked out of the ward.

The door closed behind her with a dull thud.

The ward fell silent.

It was so quiet that you could hear Su Xiaoyue nervously rubbing her fingers together.

Su Xiaoyue held Jiang Yi's hand, sat on the chair by the bed, and looked at him.

She did not speak.

Jiang Yi remained silent.

The two of them stayed there quietly, like two small boats that had been tossed about in a storm for too long, finally washed ashore on the same beach, stranded there, unable to move, but at least temporarily safe.

A long time passed, so long that Su Xiaoyue thought Jiang Yi had fallen asleep, when his voice suddenly came from the pillow.

"Miss Su."

Su Xiaoyue's fingers tightened slightly.

"Mr. Jiang, how are you feeling? Should I call the doctor?"

Jiang Yi shook his head.

A very slight, almost imperceptible touch.

"Need not."

His gaze shifted from the ceiling to Su Xiaoyue's face.

"Ms. Su, I'd like to ask you something."

Su Xiaoyue looked at him and waited.

"Was it...was it you who called the police?"

Yes, he has been thinking about this question ever since he woke up.

Now I've finally asked the question.

Su Xiaoyue was stunned for a moment.

She hadn't expected Jiang Yi to ask that question.

She shook her head violently.

She wasn't the one who called the police.

It's definitely not her.

She was even the one who was notified by the police.

"It wasn't me."

She bit her lip and readily told the truth.

"I...I was going to call the police. But as soon as I took out my phone, the police called me. They said I was a victim of a fraud case and asked me to come in for questioning."

Jiang Yi's eyelashes trembled slightly.

"So...it wasn't you who called the police?"

"It wasn't me."

Su Xiaoyue's voice became even softer, almost as if she were talking to herself.

"I don't know who called the police."

"I'd rather never know, even if I'm deceived by you for the rest of my life."

Of course, she didn't say the second half of the sentence aloud; she just kept it to herself.

Jiang Yi could basically confirm that it wasn't Su Xiaoyue based on Su Xiaoyue's expression.

Not her.

Who could it be?

Jiang Yi's mind seemed to explode at that moment.

Countless fragments surged, spun, pieced together, and scattered in the darkness.

He recalled what Gu Qinghan had said in the car.

"Xia Anmian had a falling out with her father because of you."

"To avoid making you feel distant from her, she rides a shared bike, eats in the cafeteria, and wears T-shirts that cost only a few dozen yuan every day."

"She pretended to be an ordinary person just like you in order to protect your pitiful self-esteem."

He recalled what Zhao Zhiguo had said in the interrogation room.

"Her father arranged numerous blind dates for her with men of similar social standing, but she didn't go to any of them."

"How many things did she say against her conscience in front of her father to protect you?"

He recalled what Zhao Jianmin had said in the interrogation room.

"Someone doesn't want you to be an accomplice."

"What she wants is for the two of you to shoulder the burden together."

These fragments spun rapidly in his mind, like shattered puzzle pieces searching for their place in the darkness.

Then, they were put together.

It wasn't Su Xiaoyue who called the police.

Those girls, those girls he had never met but whose names appeared in Jiang Miaomiao's chat history, they wouldn't call the police.

They had no idea they had been scammed.

They are still waiting for "him" to reply.

Who is it?

Who would know about this?

Who would have thought that Jiang Miaomiao had used his photos to swindle so much money?

Who would have known that Su Xiaoyue had come to Kyoto?

Who would have known he picked her up from the airport?

Who would know all this?

Jiang Yi's breathing became rapid.

His chest heaved so violently that even the blankets trembled slightly. The electrocardiogram monitor beeped rapidly, and the numbers on the screen began to jump.

Su Xiaoyue suddenly stood up, leaned over, placed one hand on his shoulder, and pressed the call button on the bedside table with the other.

"Jiang Yi! What's wrong? Don't scare me!"

Jiang Yi didn't look at her.

His eyes were fixed on the ceiling, his pupils dilated, and his lips were trembling.

He knew who it was.

He found out.

It must be—

Summer is here!

(Godfathers can send in their favorite photos, and I'll collect them to create illustrations for the female lead.)