Chapter 24 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Xie Muhuan didn’t sleep well that night.

But for him, it was the most restful sleep he had had in the past month.

“Hey, Xie Muhuan, after breakfast, we’re heading back to Jiangcheng.”

Qu Qingzhi, who had slept in the room next door last night, swiped her card and came in, carrying breakfast.

She laid out both Chinese and Western breakfasts on the table, commanding in a domineering tone, “I saved you, so you’re mine now. If I tell you to eat breakfast, you better eat.”

Xie Muhuan glanced at her silently.

He had ointment applied on him.

It must have been her doing while he was asleep.

She had seen everything.

His humiliation, his shame, his filth—probably all a joke to her.

“Hurry up, Xie Muhuan,” Qu Qingzhi demanded bluntly, “The doctor who performed surgery on Grandma Xu was arranged by my father. That’s why it was so successful. You and your grandma owe me, so if I tell you to go east, you better not head west.”

Xie Muhuan stood up without a word.

He truly did owe her.

Whatever her reasons, she had pulled him out of the abyss.

“I’ll eat.” Xie Muhuan sat down at the table, his leg throbbing with pain, but he acted as if he felt nothing. He picked up a burger and silently took a bite.

“Eat more. You’re so skinny now, it’s ugly,” Qu Qingzhi resumed her usual sharp-tongued persona.

She had saved him recklessly this time, yet she hadn’t received any punishment for it.

But that was even scarier.

It meant something bad was likely waiting ahead.

“Hey, System, why didn’t I get punished for breaking character?” she asked the system in her mind while sipping her porridge.

[Now you’re scared?] System 99 snorted.

“Is this some kind of delayed punishment?”

[Your actions seriously violated the rules, causing a significant deviation in the main plot. You’ll have to wait for the consequences of that deviation to unfold before the world’s laws determine what punishment you should receive,] System 99 replied, despite its grumbling.

“What deviation? According to the original plot, Xie Muhuan would have escaped in about ten days. I just helped him a little earlier,” Qu Qingzhi argued, confused.

[Doesn’t matter, it’s still a deviation,] System 99 said unhappily. [You’re really disobedient.]

Seeing that she wouldn’t get more information, Qu Qingzhi lost interest in its scolding.

After breakfast, she took Xie Muhuan and headed back to Jiangcheng by car.

On the way, she messaged Su Xingye: 【Don’t forget, you need to pick Grandma Xu up from the hospital today.】

She casually followed it up with a money transfer.

Su Xingye replied quickly: 【Tsk tsk tsk… Rich woman, if I didn’t know you were doing all this for Xie Muhuan, I’d think you were keeping me as your sugar baby.】

Qu Qingzhi: 【With how rich your family is, you think you need someone to take care of you?】

Su Xingye: 【You don’t know how stingy my dad is, do you?】

Qu Qingzhi thought for a moment. Su’s father was indeed strict, treating his son like a soldier under tough training, which only made Su Xingye more rebellious.

【Do a good job for me, and I’ll make you rich,】Qu Qingzhi joked, then added, 【Make sure to tell Grandma Xu that the apartment is under your name so she and Xie Muhuan can feel at ease staying there.】

【You found Xie Muhuan?!】Su Xingye was shocked.

【Yeah.】

…

Back in Jiangcheng, at Lanting Apartments.

As soon as Qu Qingzhi and Xie Muhuan entered, Su Xingye, with his short red-brown hair, rushed over.

“You brat! Where the hell have you been for the past month!” Su Xingye slapped Xie Muhuan on the shoulder.

Xie Muhuan’s body swayed, and he quickly stepped back two paces.

He couldn’t stop his fists from clenching, his body trembling slightly.

Qu Qingzhi immediately stepped forward, blocking in front of Xie Muhuan. “Su Xingye, did you just hit my guy?” she snapped angrily.

Su Xingye spat, “That’s how men greet each other! What would you, a delicate little princess, know?”

Qu Qingzhi retorted unreasonably, “I don’t care. You’re not allowed to touch him. He belongs to me and only me.”

Su Xingye looked at her like she was insane.

But in Qu Qingzhi’s mind, she was thinking about Xie Muhuan’s ordeal on the yacht. He must not want anyone to know about it.

He was clearly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder—his body trembled whenever a man touched him.