Chapter 24
Huo Zheng sat by the bed and held Lin Xiaowan’s hand.
She was on an IV drip, causing her hand and arm to feel slightly cold. His hand was warm so she managed to draw some warmth from it.
It was really snowing outside like Huo Zheng said. In fact, it was snowing rather heavily.
Huo Zheng did not speak.
Lin Xiaowan knew that if she did not speak, he would not speak either. Hence, she took the initiative and asked perfunctorily, “Where am I?”
“All Heart Hospital.”
Lin Xiaowan looked around. The room really did not look like the normal hospital ward. It was more like a nice bedroom.
“What month is it now?” Lin Xiaowan asked tentatively, wondering if she had been reborn again.
“December,” Huo Zheng said as he looked at her, “You were asleep for a long time.”
Lin Xiaowan tried to move. No wonder she felt sore all over. It seemed like she had been lying down for too long. She finally confirmed that she was not reborn again, and she was still in the period where she had yet to marry Huo Zheng.
‘Then, what’s with me turning into a ghost and following Huo Zheng? Was that really just a dream?’
She turned to look at Huo Zheng, but as soon as she turned, she met his deep and dark eyes. He was looking at her as though he was afraid that she would suddenly disappear.
Lin Xiaowan recalled the strange dream where Huo Zheng almost strangled Song Zhiyi to death in a fit of rage. She also recalled how Huo Zheng had carried her out of the car and whispered that he only wanted to marry her.
Lin Xiaowan was at a loss. Whether it was this life or her previous life, it seemed like there were many things that she did not know.
She coughed lightly, clearing her throat. She was just about to speak again when she saw Huo Zheng leap to his feet, looking anxious.
Huo Zheng touched her forehead and asked worriedly, “Why did you suddenly cough? Does your throat hurt?”
Lin Xiaowan was slightly stunned. “No, it doesn’t.”
She only felt that her throat was a little blocked, as if there was phlegm.
However, Huo Zheng still looked worried. He turned on the diffuser at the side.
Lin Xiaowan sniffed the wisps of mist rising from the machine. It smelled strange, but it was not unpleasant. She asked curiously, “Did you add something?”
“Yes, it’s good for you,” Huo Zheng said as he poured a glass of warm water for her and held it to her mouth.
After drinking a few mouthfuls, Lin Xiaowan moved away, and Huo Zheng set the glass down on the low cabinet before he focused on warming her hand, which had turned cold, again.
Lin Xiaowan stared at Huo Zheng, who wore a serious expression on his face. She recalled what she had heard earlier and asked, slightly embarrassed, “You… Did you call me ‘baby’ earlier?”
Huo Zheng did not respond.
Lin Xiaowan hit him lightly with her other hand. “Say something.”
Huo Zheng looked at her eyes that were shining with expectations and replied helplessly, “Mm.”
Lin Xiaowan could not help but straighten her back and leaned toward him. Her interest was piqued. In her previous life, Huo Zheng had addressed her as ‘Qingqing’ until the day she died. Why did he suddenly change in this life?
“Why did you call me that? Is that how you refer to me when I’m not around?”
Huo Zheng ignored her. He tucked the blanket for her and said, “Don’t move.”
However, his ears were slightly red.
Lin Xiaowan did not give up. Before her brain could stop her, she said, “Why are you embarrassed? When you wrote love letters to Song Zhiyi in the past, you were even more affectionate.”
Huo Zheng was stunned. “You saw the love letter?”
There was a love letter hidden in a book in his study. He had written it before his breakup with Song Zhiyi. They had broken up before he could give it to her. He had casually slipped it between the pages of a book he was reading at that time, and he had completely forgotten about it. It had lay forgotten for many years.
However, one night, after Lin Xiaowan fell asleep, he went to the study to work. For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly felt like reading that book. When he saw the love letter, he felt guilty. At the same time, he was also glad that Lin Xiaowan did not come to the study and did not discover the letter. At that time, he wanted to throw the letter away, but he felt uneasy. In the end, he decided to bring it to the company. He put it through a paper shredder until it could not be pieced back together before he finally threw it away.
He really did not expect Lin Xiaowan to have seen it.
Lin Xiaowan asked unhappily, “What? Can’t I look at it?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Huo Zheng said before he added, “I’ve already thrown it away.”
“When did you write it?”
“… A long time ago.”
Seeing that Huo Zheng was so curt with his words, Lin Xiaowan felt a little angry. “You still won’t tell me about the matter between you and Song Zhiyi?”
Lin Xiaowan recalled the days when she was held captive. Song Zhiyi not only verbally abused her, but Song Zhiyi also forced her to watch a video of Song Zhiyi and Huo Zheng. With this thought in mind, she grew even more unhappy.
She pulled her hand away from Huo Zheng and looked away, feeling frustrated.
Huo Zheng quickly held her hand, making sure she did not yank the needle out. “Qingqing!”
Huo Zheng’s voice was a little loud. Lin Xiaowan was already upset, to begin with, so her eyes reddened immediately. She felt extremely aggrieved.
Huo Zheng knew that he was a little fierce earlier so he softened his voice and said, “I’m not scolding you. I was just afraid you’d hurt yourself.”
However, how could Lin Xiaowan listen to him at this moment? Her heart was filled with grievances as she sniffled.
Huo Zheng could not help but panic. After a long while, he finally said, “Song Zhiyi threatened me with evidence detrimental to the Huo family. You and I aren’t married yet. If something happened to the Huo family, at least you wouldn’t be dragged into it if you didn’t know anything.”
Lin Xiaowan was not comforted by her words at all. Instead, she looked even sadder than before.
“Don’t cry, Qingqing.”
Huo Zheng held Lin Xiaowan’s hand carefully, not knowing what to do. After a while, he called out softly, “Baby…”
His voice was slightly hoarse, but it was gentle and affectionate. He sounded extremely charming.
Lin Xiaowan turned around to look at him with red eyes.
After everything that happened, she had also guessed this was the reason behind Huo Zheng and Song Zhiyi’s frequent interactions in her previous life. However, she did not know why everything happened three years earlier compared to her previous life.
“Why didn’t you tell me about her? You hid so many things from me. Did you want me to hear about it from other people? I know you were together with her since junior high school, and you were together for seven years before breaking up. Did you want me to find out about it from Song Zhiyi?”
Lin Xiaowan stared at the speechless Huo Zheng and continued to say, “You said that you didn’t have any contact with her after breaking up, but she told me that even after breaking up, you cared about each other’s well-being. To her, I seemed to be a shameless person who hindered both of you.”
“It’s not like that,” Huo Zheng protested.
Lin Xiaowan did not want to listen to him. “If you had told me about the two of you from the beginning, how could she have found a loophole to exploit? In fact, I didn’t meet for the first time in Yiran Restaurant. She called me out a few days before that.”