Chapter 166: Because I Like You, Because I Love You

“Ouch, ouch, ouch! It hurts so much! Don’t touch me!”

Xu Qingzhou really couldn’t take it anymore. She got out of bed wearing her pajamas.

She went to the living room and sat down on the sofa.

Once the anesthetic wore off, endless pain followed.

Xie An quickly put on her glasses and followed her out, her steps still a bit unsteady. Clearly, she hadn’t slept well.

“It’s normal to feel pain. It’ll hurt a little for the next couple of days, but it’ll get better in a few days.”

Xie An knew she was in pain, but she’d already given her the medicine.

All that was left was for Xu Qingzhou to endure it herself.

The most Xie An could do was stay by her side.

She knew how painful it was after a dental implant surgery once the anesthetic wore off.

But seeing Xu Qingzhou in such distress made her both amused and heartbroken.

Xu Qingzhou’s teeth had endured a decade of daily ice pops, no matter the freezing cold, and countless all-nighters.

It was all due to her poor lifestyle habits.

Even her menstrual cramps were the same.

Recently, though, under Xie An’s urging, she’d started learning to soak her feet for health benefits.

She still sneaked ice cream sometimes.

But habits weren’t formed or broken in a day.

“You’re talking like it’s easy! You haven’t experienced this pain yourself, so of course you don’t know! You haven’t truly empathized with it, okay? Hiss~~”

Xu Qingzhou was irritable from the pain, especially since she hadn’t slept well.

Her temper flared even more, and she snapped directly at Xie An.

Xie An really hadn’t experienced this kind of pain. Her family were all doctors.

Her mother was the head of internal medicine, and her father was a renowned surgical director.

So she’d been raised with wellness habits, and her health was indeed good.

When it got cold, she obediently put on long underwear.

In summer, no matter how hot it was, she slept in socks, and she set the air conditioner no lower than 23 degrees.

She didn’t have many other hobbies.

After work, she hurried home. She rarely ordered takeout.

Instead, she experimented with low-oil, low-salt salads and such at home—healthy eating, regular lifestyle.

Even becoming a dentist had been arranged by her parents long ago.

She was the obedient good girl.

So her teeth were just as good.

“I’ll get you a glass of warm water. Drink some to ease it a bit.”

A dental implant was still a surgery, after all. Any surgery hurt once the anesthetic wore off.

But just how much did it hurt?

She truly didn’t know.

Xie An brought over the warm water.

Xu Qingzhou took it.

“Xie An… maybe we should sleep in separate beds? It’d be better this way. My condition might be affecting your rest. If you don’t rest well, how will you have the energy to work? If you keep taking time off, your department head won’t look kindly on it, right? I’ll be fine.”

Xu Qingzhou thought separate beds were better.

Especially since Xie An had been taking time off frequently because of her. She felt it wasn’t necessary.

It was just a minor thing—no need to go that far.

Xie An hadn’t been beaten down by society yet, but Xu Qingzhou had.

Society was tough to navigate. She was lucky just to have survived it without being crushed.

So in the past, no matter how unwell she felt, she’d still gone to work and done what needed doing.

Mainly because she had no one backing her up—absolutely no one.

Others at least had parents to fall back on.

But she had nothing behind her.

When she was exhausted, she could fall asleep leaning against a wall, even if it was just for those few minutes.

And that was enough.

She wasn’t young anymore—she was thirty.

Not some kid who needed coddling. She could handle it herself.

She’d managed before.

In a relationship, you shouldn’t keep troubling the other person.

Especially when your girlfriend was so outstanding.

She might seem carefree at times.

But in front of Xie An… she felt a tiny bit inferior.

Of course, just a tiny bit—negligible.

After twelve years of being hammered by society.

She’d at least carved out a bit of a name for herself. No longer that invisible nobody.

Though Xie An had quietly helped her along the way, it was also because her skills in her field were solid.

That’s why she’d blown up.

Maybe it was because the more she liked someone, the less she wanted them to think she was useless.

“No separate beds. I want to sleep with you.”

Xie An half-squatted in front of her, looking up into her eyes.

She tightly gripped Xu Qingzhou’s hands.

“You can trouble me, you can disturb me. I like being relied on by you, I like taking care of you, I like being the first name you think of when you’re in trouble. You don’t need to worry about me, actually. I’m planning to open my own dental clinic and go independent.”

“You can be my boss lady in the future. Opening a private dental clinic is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’ll give you a good life. All you have to do is believe in me. It took so long to finally chase you and hold you in my arms—shouldn’t you consider my feelings before asking me to separate?”

Xu Qingzhou was a little moved.

Sometimes, she just loved Xie An’s practicality. Every step in her plans seemed to include her.

Planning this and that with her.

“Aren’t you mad? I snapped at you?”

“Why would I be mad? Ever since we met, I’ve been the one deceiving you, the one scheming to get you. I bent you—it’s my fault. So even if you scold me, it’s what I deserve. As long as the result is right, the process doesn’t matter that much, does it?”

“I only wanted you to be happy. The spot by your side didn’t have to be mine—that was my old thinking. Now I don’t want to let go, don’t want to separate. Now I just want you to be mine alone. Hearing you call me ‘sister’—doesn’t that make you pretty happy too?”

Xie An’s greatest skill was healing, probably because she was a doctor.

Xu Qingzhou always felt like she was the world’s best therapist, slowly mending all her wounds.

No matter if she was angry or being unreasonable.

Xie An always stayed calm and went along with her tantrums.

Never finding her annoying.

Back when they first met.

She’d been at a low point—her parents had passed just two years prior.

With a pile of debts to pay.

The family had no money, not even enough to buy cemetery plots for her parents.

It wasn’t until she met Xie An that things changed.

She’d borrowed some money from her, at least enough to properly lay her parents to rest.

Then she worked as a bartender, did marketing.

Shook milk teas, did voice acting—some days sleeping only two hours.

Later, she took a bank loan to pay Xie An back.

Then she just ran off.

When she first entered the voice acting circle, it was purely a hobby—the first two years, she barely made any money.

Only later did she start earning.

She could only say it was timing, luck, and opportunity—and she’d gotten the last one.

It was only now that she realized the person who’d silently supported her back then was Xie An.

Thinking of all this.

Tears welled up in Xu Qingzhou’s eyes.

Her body twitched—not just from the pain, but because she wanted to cry.

“Why are you so good to me? I don’t have money to give you, no family background or connections, just a pile of endless troubles behind me. You could find a girl on your level—no way she’d be as helpless as me…”

“Because I like you, because I love you.”