Chapter 41  

With warmth in his arms, Ning Yuan fell back against the bed, startled for a moment before realizing who it was—it was Ah Qiao.

He immediately recognized her presence. If not for the pain from his wound, he might have thought this was just a dream.

After all, it was only in dreams that he could hold her like this.

“Ah Qiao…”

“Brother Ning, I’m here,” she said softly.

Her voice was so close, and Ning Yuan’s arms, which had been hanging at his sides, instinctively wrapped around her. Feeling her warmth, he knew this was real.

“Why are you crying so much?” he asked gently.

He felt hot tears falling onto his shoulder. “Are you scared?”

Ah Qiao rested her head on Ning Yuan’s shoulder and nodded slightly, unable to hide her fear.

Ning Yuan’s heart ached. He hurried to comfort her, saying, “Ah Qiao, this is my fault. I couldn’t protect you well. But I promise, nothing like this will happen again.”

Hearing this, Ah Qiao’s tears started falling even harder, like a broken string of pearls.

Her voice was shaky and hoarse as she whispered, “It’s not your fault, Brother Ning… It’s me. It’s my fault that you got hurt.”

“You were asleep for so long… so long that I thought you might never wake up. I was so scared… Brother Ning, please don’t leave me.”

This was the first time Ah Qiao cried so much because of someone else.

“Ah Qiao.”

Ning Yuan’s heart raced as he hugged her closer. Even though his injury hurt, he raised his hand to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks.

In the dim room, he couldn’t see her clearly, so he leaned closer. Their breaths mingled in the quiet.

Ning Yuan quickly realized something wasn’t right. He didn’t want to make Ah Qiao uncomfortable, so he started to pull away, worried about losing control.

But as he tried to let go, Ah Qiao grabbed his clothes tightly, pulling him back.

Ning Yuan froze, his mind filled with surprise and warmth.

Ah Qiao’s emotions were raw, and her grip on him was desperate. She didn’t want him to leave, didn’t want to face her fear alone.

Ning Yuan leaned closer, his heart racing. He gently held her against the bed, his mind filled with tender care.

Her face turned red with embarrassment, and Ning Yuan hesitated, realizing he needed to be careful.

He leaned down, and for a brief moment, their foreheads touched.

“Ah Qiao,” he whispered softly, “you’re safe now. I’ll always be here.”

Ah Qiao closed her eyes, her tears finally stopping as she leaned into his comfort.

_

Xu Lianqiao curled up, feeling unsure if she should resist or not.

Her mind was completely blank, and she just acted without thinking.

But Ning Yuan was hurt. When Xu Lianqiao touched his hand again, she felt something wet—it was blood. She was so shocked that she snapped out of it and quickly stopped what she was doing.

“Physician…”

“Physician, Ah Qiao, look at me.”

Ning Yuan, lost in the moment, didn’t care about the physician.

“Don’t worry,” he said calmly.

“What are you talking about?” she scolded, frustrated. He was injured and acting like it didn’t matter.

“I’ll call the physician,” she said, feeling a little guilty. The physician had told her to call him as soon as Ning Yuan woke up, but she had completely forgotten.

She pushed Ning Yuan away awkwardly and climbed out of bed, tugging at her clothes, which were much too big for her.

_

When the elderly physician came in to check on Ning Yuan’s pulse, Xu Lianqiao stood aside, feeling a little awkward. She wasn’t too far away, but not too close either. From where she stood, she could still see Ning Yuan’s face.

Earlier, when the room was dark, everything had felt normal. But now, with the candlelight showing everything so clearly, Ning Yuan’s face and lips made Xu Lianqiao blush.

What had she done?

“Young Madam, Young Madam…”

The physician called her twice, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Young Madam, you’re so young—why don’t you hear well?” the physician teased, chuckling.

Xu Lianqiao’s face and ears turned red in embarrassment.

“Physician, do you need something?” she asked nervously.

The elderly physician waved her over. “I need your help to change his bandages. Come here.”

“Ah…” Xu Lianqiao hesitated. “I… I’ll call someone else to help. I’m not very good at this.”

She didn’t want to make Ning Yuan’s injury worse.

“What’s the problem?” the physician said impatiently. “I’m not asking you to do much—just pass me what I need.”

“Oh, okay.”

Xu Lianqiao didn’t want to waste any more time, so she went over obediently.

Standing by the bed, she watched Ning Yuan take off his coat and immediately looked down, feeling shy.

“Why so embarrassed?”

The physician chuckled again.

“Why are you feeling awkward now?” he said knowingly.

He’d seen plenty in his lifetime and didn’t understand why young people were always so bashful.

“You’re lucky your wound didn’t get worse,” he muttered.

Neither Xu Lianqiao nor Ning Yuan argued and just stood there quietly.

“Physician, it’s my fault,” Ning Yuan admitted honestly.

“Hmph,” the physician grumbled. He wasn’t happy, but he continued treating the wound.

“You’re lucky,” he said while working. “I thought you’d be asleep for weeks, but you woke up after three days. You’ve got a strong body, young man.”

Xu Lianqiao’s face turned even redder when she heard this, and she kept her head down. Memories, like little bubbles, popped into her mind.

She had kissed Ning Yuan.

_

The physician finished applying the medicine, handed the white bandage to Xu Lianqiao, and then said:

“Okay, I’m tired. I’ll let you, my little wife, do the bandaging for me.”

My little wife…

Ning Yuan listened, a hint of a smile appearing in his eyes recently.

His gaze remained fixed on Xu Lianqiao with obvious affection.

The physician noticed this too. The man hadn’t taken his eyes off the girl since entering the room. He didn’t want to be a hindrance to their closeness.

So, he decided to let them do it themselves.

Xu Lianqiao took the gauze, hesitated, and sat on the bed.

She lowered her head, pretending to bandage Ning Yuan.

“Ah Qiao,” Ning Yuan called her name.

“After all of this is over, how about we get married?”

He wanted her to truly be his wife.

Xu Lianqiao didn’t expect to hear this so suddenly, especially after she had just sat down.

She completely forgot it was her idea in the first place.

But as she raised her head, Xu Lianqiao noticed that Ning Yuan had scars of various sizes on his body. Some of them seemed old, from years ago.

It hurt her to look at them.

Her nose suddenly felt sore.

“Does it hurt?”

She asked him with such concern, making her sympathy obvious.

Ning Yuan shook his head.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore, it’s all healed.”

“I’ve been less injured these past few years. A lot of these were from when I was younger, careless.”

These words were a mix of truth and lies. While he had sustained many injuries, they were mostly from several years ago. However, he knew that in his line of work, injuries were inevitable. Even now, he couldn’t promise there wouldn’t be more. He just didn’t want Ah Qiao to worry.

“Don’t worry, Ah Qiao, I won’t let you be a widow. Even if I leave before you, don’t wait for me. Live your life with whoever you choose…”

He said this, but still, it broke his heart thinking about it.

“Just remember to visit me during Qingming Festival^[1]is a traditional Chinese holiday for paying respects to ancestors..” 

“What are you talking about?” Xu Lianqiao frowned. How could anyone say such things?

“Who said I want to marry you?”

She understood her place—could she really marry Brother Ning?

Besides, she hadn’t come to terms with her own feelings yet…

“Ah Qiao…ah…” Ning Yuan was anxious, and in his distress, accidentally tore his wound.

“We…”

They both knew what this meant.

“No matter what happens, if Ah Qiao kisses me, you have to be responsible for me.”

A grown man said this, feeling wronged.

“Ah Qiao, Ah Qiao, Ah Qiao…”

He repeated her name over and over.

Xu Lianqiao felt numb from hearing it.

“What are you doing?”

She looked at him with tears welling up in her eyes.

“I wanted to call your name.” Then, he remembered something and held her fingers, “It’s my fault. I haven’t told you yet that I love you.”

Xu Lianqiao never knew someone could say those two words so easily.

So bold.

But that was Ning Yuan. If he liked someone, he gave them everything.

“Why do you like me?”

Xu Lianqiao blinked, looking confused.

“Because Ah Qiao is the best girl in the world.”

“That’s nonsense.”

Xu Lianqiao didn’t fall for his words. She muttered but didn’t believe him.

Ning Yuan took her shoulder seriously and said, “Ah Qiao, I used to resent everyone, but it was you. Only after meeting you did I realize that there are truly people in this world who can treat others sincerely.”

She almost lost her temper. Treat everyone sincerely?

She had never been stingy with kindness, and she was the only clear spring in his dry desert.

A man’s words can be deceiving.

“I don’t believe it. You say such nice things, but why didn’t you write to me?”

At this moment, she remembered how she had waited for his letters every day.

Ning Yuan was stunned…

“I wrote to you. Sent it to Uncle Pingcheng’s Mansion, No. 35 Gucheng Road.”

He wrote one letter every month for seven years, until Ah Qiao married.

Not only that, he also sent letters to Wat Pho, but there was never any response.

He thought of every possibility—the letter got lost or the address was wrong.

Unable to enter the capital, he had someone inquire about it.

He was relieved to know that the letters had made it to Uncle Pingcheng’s house.

He thought maybe Ah Qiao couldn’t respond to him…

He never imagined the letters that had reached the uncle’s house from the northwest never made it into Ah Qiao’s hands.

Xu Lianqiao was also stunned…

She truly hadn’t received a letter.

“What’s going on?”

But after asking, Xu Lianqiao already had a sinking feeling in her mind.

“I’m so stupid.”

No one in her second uncle’s family would have cared about letters for her.

“I’m sorry.”

Xu Lianqiao apologized, realizing how she had wrongly blamed him.

“Silly girl.”

He didn’t think twice about it.

Ning Yuan leaned in and hugged her.

He couldn’t lose her again…