Chapter 28.1

After washing up, Zhu Xinyue lay back on the hospital bed.

She wasn’t sure what time it was now, but judging from the time Ji Qingyuan left, it must be very late.

Ji Linyu had been her temporary caregiver for the day, and tomorrow was a working day, so he should go back to rest.

Ji Linyu tucked her in and glanced at his wristwatch. It was almost midnight.

“Good night, get some rest.”

When the nurse was around before, Zhu Xinyue would wear headphones to listen to music while sleeping.

But today, with Ji Linyu here, she wanted to hear his voice, so she lay quietly in bed and said, “Good night.”

Zhu Xinyue didn’t feel particularly sleepy. Life as a blind person was very boring. Apart from when someone visited her, her daily routine was to sleep, listen to music and the radio, cooperate with the doctor’s examination, and then receive the same notification.

But she never showed her frustration with this life. Others would feel uncomfortable seeing her upset.

She bore these pressures on her own. There was no need to transfer her emotions onto others, nor did others owe her anything.

In the darkness, she heard Ji Linyu turn off the light with a soft click, his footsteps gradually fading away.

Then there was the sound of the ward door opening and closing, and the room returned to silence.

The ward was so quiet.

The room still carried the scent of Ji Linyu, that comforting herbal fragrance, which gradually dissipated as he left.

Zhu Xinyue clutched the blanket he had tucked her into, closed her eyes tightly, and curled up.

She is grown up now and shouldn’t be afraid of imaginary things. Keeping her hands and feet under the blanket meant she was safe.

Zhu Xinyue comforted herself.

Suddenly, she heard a strange tapping sound from the wall above her head, like kids playing with marbles.

Zhu Xinyue pulled her head under the covers.

It’s okay, she was blind, blind people couldn’t see ghosts.

It was stuffy under the blanket. Zhu Xinyue wanted to stick her head out again, but what if it was right beside her bed?

Countless horror movie scenes flashed through Zhu Xinyue’s mind—pale-faced child ghosts, red wedding-dress ghosts, faceless ghosts with long hair. She hated her vivid imagination, fueling her fear.

If only she hadn’t let Ji Linyu go.

Even if he had to leave, she should have asked him to put on her headphones and play “Good Days” to lift her spirits.

Zhu Xinyue regretted it. She started to miss Ji Linyu.

With Ji Linyu around, she wouldn’t be scared. He would earnestly analyze why there were no ghosts in the world.

Oddly enough, whenever she started thinking about Ji Linyu, Zhu Xinyue seemed less afraid.

Memories related to Ji Linyu flashed through her mind.

In front of him, she could be aggrieved, childish, shy and embarrassed, willful and unrestrained. No matter what she did, Ji Linyu could handle it.

It seemed that with Ji Linyu by her side, she could be herself without worry.

He would see her vulnerability, take her to the hospital, and patiently wait for her check-ups. He would also see her fear, accompany her on night walks, see her grievances, and take her to the night market to cheer her up…

She thought she only had a slight fondness for Ji Linyu, but as memories surfaced, she realized this fondness was more than just a little bit.

If it weren’t for Ji Linyu, she wouldn’t feel so aggrieved over trivial matters, nor would she feel happy just because he cheered her up.

Zhu Xinyue was born into a large family with multiple children, the second eldest. Although her parents tried to be fair, most of the time, they couldn’t achieve perfect fairness. So she could only be sensible and say she didn’t like chicken legs.

She was used to being sensible and used to being aggrieved, so when facing the world and others, she was somewhat accommodating.

At first, when facing Ji Linyu, she was the same.

Until the audition for “Peach Blossom Spring,” when she cried uncontrollably alone in the stairwell, it was the first time she so flagrantly used his expensive suit jacket to wipe her tears and snot. She even complained unreasonably, blaming him for being too strict.

Zhu Xinyue thought he would get angry, get up and leave, and never bother with such a troublesome person again.

But Ji Linyu didn’t.

He stayed, catching all her grievances.

Zhu Xinyue couldn’t help feeling sad again.

He’s such a good person; he deserves someone just as good as him.

She should match his looks, intelligence, maturity, and… health.

Zhu Xinyue didn’t like herself feeling so fickle, and she even started to dislike Ji Linyu a bit.

She began to harbor dark, negative thoughts about him.

She hated how good-looking he was. If he were just average-looking, although she couldn’t see it herself, others might say they were barely a match.

She hated how outstanding he was. If he were ordinary, she could use her foresight into novel plots to invest early in hit dramas and make a lot of money, maybe enough to support Ji Linyu—though this theory needed verification, she felt Ji Linyu wasn’t the type to live off others.

She hated how mature and stable he was. If he were more childish, only concerned with immediate happiness, maybe they could have developed a simple physical relationship—after all, adults have physiological needs to meet.

She didn’t hate how healthy he was… she felt someone as good as him deserved to be healthy.

She wished him well and also wished well for the person he liked.

Wuu wuu wuu…

Fuming with imagined scenarios, Zhuxinyue cried herself to sleep again, dreaming this time that Ji Linyu married a faceless ghost.

He actually married a faceless ghost! What kind of taste was that… Zhu Xinyue woke up again, angry and sad, so caught up in her crying that she didn’t hear someone entering the ward.

To make it easier to care for Zhu Xinyue, Ji Linyu booked a room in a nearby hotel, went back to the company after washing up, and brought some work back to the hospital, worried that Zhu Xinyue might fall or hurt herself if she got up at night.

With her reserved and quiet nature, she definitely wouldn’t want to call for help by ringing the bell.

She was the kind of person who would rather suffer in silence and not cry in front of others, even if it meant being in pain.

To some extent, Ji Linyu understood Zhu Zinyue too well.

He walked into the living room, placed things on the table, and heard muffled sobs coming from across the door.

Ji Linyu knew she had been having a hard time lately, always forcing a smile in front of others, and because she couldn’t see, she was very alert to any movement, especially fearful of overly quiet environments.

Listening to her sobbing, Ji Linyu’s heart clenched with pain.

He knocked on the door, and when he pushed it open, Zhu Xinyue was hiding under the covers, crying heavily.

Ji Linyu didn’t turn on the light. He walked to Zhu Xinyue’s bedside, and pulled the blanket a bit, but didn’t pull it away.

Zhu Xinyue’s crying paused, and the person under the blanket began to tremble.

She was saying there was a ghost.

Wuu wuu wuu, the ghost was pulling her blanket! She was already so miserable, why did it have to scare her?!

Through the blanket, Ji Linyu patted Zhu Xinyue gently. “Can you breathe under the blanket?”

Hmm? This voice?

Zhu Xinyue sniffled hard, cautiously moved the blanket down with a tug, and saw a dim light.

Only half the curtains in the ward were drawn, and the bright moonlight shone into the room, illuminating Ji Linyu’s silhouette. Half of him was in the moonlight, and half was in shadow, sitting by her bed. Just by the outline of his figure, she could confirm it was Ji Linyu himself.

Was she dreaming? How else could she suddenly see? And even clearer than before?