I'm sorry, but your fiancé loves me.

Was it a one-night stand? What happened last night?

Yun Muqian couldn't remember clearly.

However, she had important business to attend to today, so she didn't think about it anymore.

Today, Yun Muqian was going to see Zhou Xue. When she arrived at the hospital, she could faintly hear Zhou Xue's voice in the corridor.

Through the half-open hospital room door, Zhou Xue's voice was much sharper than usual: "I said I want to be discharged! Can't you understand human language? I want to be discharged! Call your head nurse over here!"

Yun Muqian paused at the door, a smile curving her lips, and then gently knocked on the doorframe twice.

The sounds in the ward suddenly stopped.

Zhou Xue turned her head and looked over. She was sitting on the edge of the bed in a hospital gown, her wrists still wrapped in thick gauze. The moment she saw Yun Muqian, her intense emotions were abruptly suppressed, and her voice softened: "...Why are you here?"

Now that Zhou Xue has been embroiled in a scandal, people are keeping their distance from her. Yun Muqian's visit to see her is a timely help, so she trusts Yun Muqian more.

"I've come to see you." Yun Muqian came in carrying breakfast, glanced at the two nurses at the door whose expressions weren't very good, and waved her hand with a smile. "It's alright, you can go back to your work. I'll talk to her."

The nurse left as if granted a pardon, the door closing behind her. The ward fell silent. Yun Muqian brought out a bowl of porridge and placed it on the bedside table, handing her a spoon as well. She then looked up at Zhou Xue:

"What happened just now?"

Zhou Xue pursed her lips: "They won't let me leave the hospital. They say I need to be observed, but all my vital signs are normal. Why are they keeping me locked up here? I don't want to stay any longer; I'm going crazy."

Yun Muqian handed the spoon to Zhou Xue, her voice gentle: "You've only been awake for a few days. Your health is the most important thing. Let's focus on recovering first. It's true that this place is stuffy, but facing all those reporters outside will only make things more tiring."

Zhou Xue took the spoon, stirred the porridge in the bowl a couple of times, but didn't eat it. Yun Muqian sat quietly beside her, waiting for her to speak.

Sure enough, a few seconds later Zhou Xue looked up, "You...you used to work for Qin Qihan, he should have mentioned me to you, right?"

Yun Muqian's smile remained unchanged. She tilted her head slightly, signaling Zhou Xue to continue.

Zhou Xue's gaze was somewhat unfocused: "I just want to know... what he said to you. Did he mention me? Did he talk about our relationship...?"

"I've already resigned from Mr. Qin's company. So I'm not really aware of what's going on around him now."

Yun Muqian lowered her eyes: "However, Mr. Qin did mention you when we were chatting before. He said that the two of you... are not a good match, and being together wouldn't be good for anyone."

Zhou Xue's face turned pale instantly.

Her lips were slightly parted, as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn't utter a single word.

"He...he really said that?" Zhou Xue's voice trembled, and her fingertips trembled as well.

Yun Muqian gently covered Zhou Xue's intact hand with her warm palm: "Don't be sad. You've done so much for him, and it's his loss that he doesn't see it. How can you hurt yourself for him?"

Zhou Xue's tears welled up, her lips turned white from being pressed together, but she didn't cry out. She just sat there, biting her lower lip tightly.

However…

Zhou Xue looked up at her with teary eyes.

Yun Muqian's gaze held a genuine concern for her:

"I don't think Mr. Qin is completely indifferent to you. Think about it, if he didn't care about you, why did he agree to be with you in the first place?"

For Qin Qihan, it was simply a heartless person who agreed to a family marriage, but for someone like Zhou Xue who still harbored a sliver of hope, it was easy to believe.

Zhou Xue's eyelashes trembled: "But he... he said we're not suitable..."

"Men are like that," Yun Muqian said, as if making an excuse for a man who couldn't express himself. "The kind of person he is, he cares about his pride and won't back down. Maybe he said it wasn't right because he felt he had hurt you and didn't know how to face you."

Zhou Xue's eyes brightened slightly, but beneath that glimmer of light lay some hesitation and unease.

Yun Muqian leaned forward slightly:

"Let me tell you, I've seen many couples where the woman has to make a scene before the man realizes the importance of the relationship and decides to come back."

"He won't listen to reason. You have to let him see your pain, let him feel that you'd give your life for him, only then will he truly realize how important you are to him."

Zhou Xue's pupils contracted slightly as she looked at Yun Muqian, as if processing the weight of those words. Her lips moved slightly:

"you mean……"

"I didn't mean anything by it." Yun Muqian released her hand, sat up straight, and her tone returned to its gentle and concerned state.

"I just feel that if you just recover and get discharged from the hospital, he might really think you're fine and then slowly forget about you."

Yun Muqian's meaning was clear: it would be best if she could go so far as to jump off the building, but whether she would actually jump or fake it was up to Zhou Xue herself.

She picked up the bowl of pumpkin porridge, which had cooled slightly, and stirred it gently with a spoon. "Drink the porridge first, don't think so much. You need to get better so you'll have the energy to think about the future, right?"

Zhou Xue's gaze was somewhat unfocused. Yun Muqian placed the bowl of porridge on the bedside table, stood up, straightened her clothes, and picked up her bag.

As she walked to the door, she glanced back. Zhou Xue was still sitting on the bed, her gaze fixed on the gray sky outside the window, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of her bandaged wrist.

"I'll come see you again when I have time," Yun Muqian said gently. "You should rest well and not think too much."

Zhou Xue did not respond, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

--

As night fell, Qin Qihan finished signing the last document, snapped the pen cap back on with a "click," and tossed it onto the table.

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. He glanced out the window; it was already completely dark. He picked up his coat, stood up, and walked out of the office. His assistant was waiting for him at the door, holding the car keys.

"Mr. Qin, the driver is already downstairs."

Qin Qihan hummed in agreement, took two steps toward the elevator, then suddenly stopped, turned her head to look at Li Ming, and said, "Let's go to her place tonight."

"Huh?" The assistant paused, the keys in his hand dangling. "Miss Yun... Miss Yun?"

Qin Qihan had already pressed the elevator button, without turning to look at him: "What else could it be but her?"

The assistant followed, standing half a step behind him. After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke: "As for Miss Yun... you and she... I thought you had moved on from each other."

The elevator doors opened with a ding, and Qin Qihan stepped inside, loosening his bow tie slightly: "It's normal for couples to argue and have disagreements."

The assistant swallowed the rest of her words. As Qin Qihan went downstairs, she sent Yun Muqian a message:

I'm here.

I've read it, but haven't replied.

He sent another message: 【Have you eaten?】

It's read again, but no reply.

He looked at the two lonely messages on the screen and the blank space below, put his phone back in his pocket, opened the car door and got in. He decided to just go.

After driving for a while, he suddenly asked the driver to pull over when they passed a convenience store.

He got out of the car and walked into the small shop with warm white light. He stood in front of the oden stall for a while, picked out a few of her favorite dishes, and carried the oden back to the car, completely unaware that he had been used as a pawn today.

The drive wasn't long; it only took about twenty minutes to reach the apartment building.

Qin Qihan entered the building, the elevator went up, and he came out. One of the motion-activated lights in the corridor turned on; he couldn't wait to see her.

He walked to her door, raised his hand to knock, when his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a pair of shoes under the shoe cabinet by the door—

The dark brown one, wiped clean, was neatly placed next to her high heels.

These are men's leather shoes.