Chapter 32

Cheng Li lay on the hospital bed and suddenly thought of a question.

“Wasn’t this just food poisoning? Do I really need to stay in the hospital for this?”

She had assumed her situation would just require a quick IV and she could head home.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Ling was eating the fruit that Cheng Dingbo had bought, originally intended for Cheng Li.

The fruit shop had been considerate, providing some disposable plastic forks along with the pre-cut fruit, which Cheng Dingbo had neatly arranged on the small bedside table by Cheng Li’s bed.

“This pear is quite sweet,” Mrs. Ling remarked as she took a bite before adding, “But honestly, I’m curious too. You should ask Rong Qi. If he hadn’t called and said you needed to stay in the hospital, we wouldn’t have even come.”

Cheng Li sighed. “I already know how much you dislike me, so there’s no need to elaborate further.”

Cheng Dingbo tried to console her from the side. “You know your mom—sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. After you left last night, she didn’t sleep well at all. She only lay down after Rong Qi called.”

“Cheng Dingbo!” Mrs. Ling glared at him, addressing him by his full name. “Stop spreading nonsense.”

Cheng Li couldn’t help but smile. She picked up a disposable fork from the table, stabbed a piece of pear, and popped it into her mouth.

Rong Qi returned quickly.

Cheng Li asked with concern, “Where did you eat?”

“Outside the hospital,” Rong Qi replied.

Cheng Li thought for a moment. “Aren’t there just small eateries outside hospitals?”

Even though she hadn’t seen the area around the hospital last night, she could pretty much imagine it.

It must have been lined with simple roadside diners.

Rong Qi casually placed the bag he was carrying on the table and said nonchalantly, “I didn’t grow up living off dew.”

Mrs. Ling cast a deliberate glance at Cheng Li from the side.

Cheng Li quickly explained, “I was just concerned for you.”

“I know,” Rong Qi responded, realizing that both Mrs. Ling and Cheng Dingbo were present. He straightened his tone and added, “I mean, I actually enjoy small eateries. The food tastes good.”

After spending a little more time, Mrs. Ling and Cheng Dingbo prepared to leave.

Cheng Li looked expectantly at Cheng Dingbo, prompting Mrs. Ling to roll her eyes. “Forget it. Your dad can’t stay to keep you company. He has to go back to work.”

So, Cheng Li turned to her mom.

Mrs. Ling adjusted her hair. “I already made plans with Aunt Qu to get my hair permed. The stylist there is excellent, and appointments are hard to come by.”

Cheng Li: “…”

Rong Qi volunteered to escort Mrs. Ling and Mr. Cheng downstairs.

Left alone in her hospital bed, Cheng Li was bored. Suddenly, she remembered something.

The food she ate yesterday had been with Meng Yuange.

If her condition was so severe, could Meng Yuange have also gotten sick?

She reached for her phone on the bedside table, intending to call Meng Yuange.

But before she could, her phone rang.

Looking at the screen, she saw it was a call from Meng Yuange.

Cheng Li answered immediately, but before she could say anything, the voice on the other end erupted in a flurry of words.

“Girl, you won’t believe the rollercoaster of events I went through last night. I ended up in the hospital in the middle of the night! I woke up from the pain, and my entire body went numb. I’m not exaggerating—I couldn’t even speak from the agony. I had to force myself to call for an ambulance. Two paramedics came and carried me into the hospital on a stretcher in the dead of night.”

“Food poisoning?” Cheng Li wasn’t too surprised.

If her condition had been this bad, it didn’t make sense for Meng Yuange to have been unaffected.

Meng Yuange immediately latched onto her choice of words. “Wait… also? Don’t tell me you were too?”

Cheng Li sighed. “If it hit you this bad, did you really think I’d escape unscathed?”

“Holy crap. How are you now? I just woke up and immediately called you.”

“I was just about to call you, but you beat me to it.”

Meng Yuange was touched. “Not only do we face troubles together, but we’re also telepathic. Is there a friendship more moving than ours?”

“None at all,” Cheng Li replied earnestly.

Meng Yuange asked, “So, how did you get to the hospital last night? Did Uncle Cheng and Mrs. Ling take you?”

“Honestly, I used to find staying with my parents annoying. But after last night, I realized that family is the best. When I was bawling in pain, all I could do was call for an ambulance.”

Unlike Cheng Li, Meng Yuange had moved out a long time ago.

Her parents’ house was quite far from the apartment she rented, so it was quicker for her to call an ambulance than wait for her parents to arrive.

“It wasn’t my dad who took me,” Cheng Li admitted.

Meng Yuange was stunned. “What? Mrs. Ling is mad at you and wouldn’t let your dad take you to the hospital? So how did you get there? Don’t tell me you also called 911 like I did.”

That would be so tragic.

Cheng Li said, “Mrs. Ling called Rong Qi. Remember, I told you his grandparents live in the garden villa near my place? He happened to be staying there last night.”

“So, he rushed over to take you to the hospital?”

Cheng Li hesitated, then said softly, “He carried me to the hospital.”

Meng Yuange: “Huh?”

“Like a princess carry.”

Beep, beep, beep.

Cheng Li glanced at her phone and muttered, “She hung up just like that?”

She had only wanted to tease Meng Yuange a little. Who would have thought she’d hang up so abruptly?

Leisurely, Cheng Li opened WeChat and sent a message to her friend.

Cheng Li: [I was just teasing. Why so sensitive?]

Meng Yuange: [You weren’t.]

Meng Yuange: [You were seriously showing off!!!]

Apparently not satisfied with text, Meng Yuange sent a voice message.

“Cheng Li! How did I never realize you were this kind of person? Have you no sympathy? I was carried into the hospital on a stretcher, and you’re out here bragging about a princess carry?!”

Ding. Ding.

Another voice message.

“Fine, princess carry, huh? You wait. Once I recover, I’ll find 800 burly men to princess-carry me one after the other, and I’ll make you stand there and watch!”

Cheng Li, having successfully riled her up, could only try to placate her.

Cheng Li: [Fine, fine, I’ll just watch.]

Meng Yuange: [No, you’ve hurt me too deeply this time. I need compensation.]

Cheng Li: [How do you want me to compensate?]

Meng Yuange: [A feast to soothe my wounded soul!]

Cheng Li was stunned. [You still want to eat?]

Wasn’t eating what landed them in the hospital?

Meng Yuange: [Fine, I’ll think it over carefully.]

Cheng Li: [Take your time.]

After much effort coaxing her friend into a good mood, Cheng Li let out a deep sigh of relief. She looked up and was startled to see Rong Qi standing at the doorway. She nearly dropped her phone. “When did you come back?” she asked, flustered.

Noticing her guilty demeanor, Rong Qi strolled leisurely into the room from the doorway.

Cheng Li tried to act nonchalant but couldn’t resist glancing up. Sure enough, as expected, her gaze met Rong Qi’s.

His eyes casually swept over her phone. Cheng Li held onto a sliver of hope. Maybe he didn’t hear anything. Hopefully, he didn’t catch a word.

“‘Princess carry,’” Rong Qi suddenly said, looking directly at her. His tone was languid, and he seemed to be savoring the words. Then, as if he realized something, he added in his usual relaxed drawl, “You know, the line you said.”

— “He carried me to the hospital.”

— “Like a princess carry.”

Cheng Li kept her composure. “Oh.”

She maintained an air of indifference, as though nothing had happened. But as Rong Qi turned away and bent down to pick up a water bottle from the table, preparing to pour it into the kettle, Cheng Li quietly slipped under the blanket.

Carefully and without drawing attention, she pulled the blanket over her head, curling herself up into a tight ball like a small animal retreating into its burrow.

When Rong Qi turned back, ready to ask if she wanted some water, all he saw on the bed was a bulging, cocoon-like lump under the covers, white and round.

Even hidden under the blanket, Cheng Li couldn’t suppress the embarrassment coursing through her. She looked down and caught sight of her tightly curled toes under the blanket. This is mortifying. I could dig an entire magical castle out of the ground with my toes right now.

Why were you bragging about being princess-carried, huh? Was it necessary?

Cheng Li berated herself inwardly. Then again, she hadn’t even experienced such a thing before. This was new, and she’d merely blurted it out in jest. How was she supposed to know she’d get caught red-handed?

Still curled under the blanket, she was tempted to punch the bed in frustration. But the thought of making any noise that Rong Qi could hear held her back. She couldn’t even turn over without fear of being noticed.

Ugh, this is infuriating.

Suddenly, she felt the sides of the blanket tighten. Two large hands gripped the edges and lifted her, blanket and all.

Cheng Li squirmed and poked her head out of the blanket.

To her surprise, her head popped out just in time to nearly bump into Rong Qi’s jaw, which was inches away.

Their eyes met.

She stared at him in shock and stammered, “What are you doing?”

“Sorry,” Rong Qi said, his dark eyes fixed on her. His apology was calm and sincere.

Cheng Li was puzzled. “Why are you apologizing?”

Rong Qi replied, “Next time, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything.”

Cheng Li: “…”

You… You might as well not apologize!

*

Cheng Li stayed in the hospital for two days, though she was supposed to stay for three.

Truthfully, she was almost fully recovered after the first day. Rong Qi was the one who insisted she stay.

By the second day, Cheng Li was adamant about leaving.

Her workload had piled up after her sudden absence, and with the company already busy, taking two days off felt like an indulgence.

During her hospital stay, the engineering team had begun collaborating with Jiangchi Automobile to prepare for a pilot test. Their autonomous driving system was about to be installed in actual vehicles—a major milestone.

There’s no way I’d miss this, even if I have to crawl there, Cheng Li thought.

After being discharged, Cheng Li returned to the office, where her colleagues were visibly relieved to see her.

In her three years at Fanhai, Cheng Li had never taken sick leave before. Her absence had left everyone feeling unanchored.

That evening, she returned to the office after a visit to the car factory. It was already past 6 p.m.

The car factory had sent back feedback data that needed urgent adjustments, so Cheng Li couldn’t go home and had to work late at the office instead.

She worked until 11 p.m.

Most of her colleagues lived far from the office, and since it was getting late, she had sent them home by 10 p.m. Only a few people remained with her in the office.

Earlier, Rong Qi had messaged her, asking when she’d finish work.

Cheng Li suspected he wanted to arrange for a driver to pick her up. But since she wasn’t sure when she’d finish, she told him to let the driver go home.

She hadn’t expected it to start drizzling outside.

On a rainy November night in Shanghai, the chill was biting.

By the time Cheng Li got downstairs, she was already pulling her trench coat tighter around herself.

“Cheng Li.”

A voice called out suddenly.

She turned and saw a black Mercedes parked by the roadside near the building.

The car door opened, and Xu Jiheng stepped out with an umbrella, hurrying toward her.

Cheng Li hesitated and reached for her own umbrella, intending to leave.

Her ride-hailing car was already nearby.

“Cheng Li, let’s talk,” Xu Jiheng said, stopping her.

Cheng Li raised her head and asked bluntly, “Does your current girlfriend know how persistently you keep pestering your ex?”

“I just want to talk,” Xu Jiheng said.

“But I don’t,” Cheng Li replied, her tone firm. “There’s nothing left to talk about between us.”

She turned to leave.

But behind her, Xu Jiheng suddenly said, “In our relationship, do you really think you were completely faultless?”

Cheng Li froze. Raindrops slid down her umbrella, falling past her line of sight.

She turned back around, looking at him calmly.

“So, what is it? What are you trying to say?” she asked quietly.

Xu Jiheng stared at her. “You married that man. When did your relationship with him begin?”

At that moment, Cheng Li finally understood why he was confronting her.

“Judging others by your own actions—how typical of you,” Cheng Li nodded, not particularly surprised but rather amused as she said, “Because you cheated, you assume I’ve done something just as despicable?”

Xu Jiheng remained silent.

Cheng Li continued, “While I don’t care to explain myself to you, I won’t allow you to throw mud on me or my husband.”

The words me and my husband made Xu Jiheng’s eyes turn red with anger.

He stormed forward, stopping just in front of her, and said in a low voice, “Do you know what’s most frightening about you? You’re always so calm, so composed.”

Cheng Li chuckled softly. Was that a bad thing?

She liked her calmness.

She also liked her rationality.

Faced with Xu Jiheng’s accusations, Cheng Li found it laughable.

She raised her head and said seriously, “Mr. Xu, what exactly are you trying to accomplish by saying this? What’s the point? Do I need to remind you again that you were the one who cheated?”

Xu Jiheng pressed her further, “Even when we broke up, did you feel any sadness? Or, Cheng Li, did you ever really love me?”

Cheng Li looked at him and suddenly laughed lightly, genuinely amused.

Her voice was gentle yet steady as she replied, “Xu Jiheng, do you know? The reason you’re so agitated right now isn’t because you still like me or miss me. It’s because you’ve realized that after I left you, I’m living a better life.”

“If I were still pining over you, crying my eyes out every day, you’d probably look at me and think, ‘Wow, this poor woman is suffering so much without me.’ But instead, I didn’t act the way you hoped—I didn’t grieve, I didn’t fall apart, I moved on quickly. And now, that’s thrown you off balance. You didn’t get to see what you wanted, and my response has disappointed you.”

Cheng Li didn’t flatter herself into believing Xu Jiheng still loved her.

His actions stemmed solely from resentment.

Resentment that she could live so happily now.

Resentment that she had moved on and thrown him—the garbage—completely out of her life.

Cheng Li looked at him, and a faint smile curled at her lips.

“But seeing you like this actually makes me quite happy,” she said.

With that, she pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of him.

Holding up the phone, she said, “If you dare bother me again, I’ll send this picture to Wang Shuyan and tell her you’re still pestering me. I doubt your wealthy fiancée would tolerate this sort of thing, would she?”

Sure enough, Xu Jiheng’s face shifted through various shades of anger and discomfort.

Cheng Li raised her eyebrows slightly. No matter how unwilling he was, he still turned and left.

A short while later, Cheng Li watched as his car drove off.

Only then did she slowly put her phone away and prepare to leave.

She was just wondering why her rideshare driver hadn’t called yet when she looked down to make a call herself.

That’s when she saw a tall, familiar figure standing not far away.

Cheng Li blinked and watched as he walked toward her, unhurried. Water splashed lightly beneath his shoes as the distance between them shortened with each step.

“Why are you here?” Cheng Li asked in surprise, a bit worried he might have seen her encounter with Xu Jiheng earlier.

Rong Qi said, “I finished work and came to pick you up on my way home.”

“You just got off work too?” Cheng Li felt a sense of camaraderie.

In truth, Rong Qi had nothing urgent today and could have left the office much earlier.

But he stayed, dealing with various matters, waiting until now.

Cheng Li lowered her head and said, “Let me cancel the rideshare first.”

After handling the cancellation, she looked back up at him.

Rong Qi closed the umbrella he was holding. Cheng Li quickly moved closer, raising her umbrella to shield him from the rain. “Why did you put your umbrella away?” she asked softly.

“To share yours.”

Oh.

Cheng Li murmured in acknowledgment as Rong Qi reached out and took her umbrella from her.

The two stood under the same umbrella. A gust of wind blew by, scattering raindrops onto their clothes. Cheng Li, her coat unbuttoned, felt the chill seep through her sweater and into her body.

It was freezing.

She shivered.

Rong Qi wrapped an arm around her and shielded her as they walked to the car.

He opened the door for her, letting her get in first.

Sitting inside the car, Cheng Li looked out at the pouring rain. The warmth inside the vehicle was a stark contrast to the cold outside.

For some reason, she suddenly thought of a Korean drama she’d watched. A reserved man in the show had expressed his love with a simple line: “It’s so cold in winter; let’s endure it together.”

On a day like this, hearing such words would probably feel deeply moving.

Almost unconsciously, Cheng Li muttered, “It’s really cold.”

“Cheng Li.”

Rong Qi, now seated in the driver’s seat, suddenly called her name.

Cheng Li turned her head and saw his face partially hidden in the shadows of the car. But his eyes stood out—dark yet bright, their light reflecting faintly from an unknown source. She could see his eyelids tremble slightly.

Then, he looked straight at her.

“Cheng Li, move in with me.”