In the hospital room, the two sat in silence.
Everyone else had left, leaving behind only a reminder to rest well.
Lu Nan saw that she was ignoring her and let out a soft sigh. “You’ve seen the files. You really took that hit. Are you actually feeling sorry for him?”
“Of course not. Who would feel sorry for a criminal who wanted to kill them?” Song Wenwei held her hand. “I’m just thinking that I almost got you hurt again.”
“What hurt?”
Lu Nan spread her hands, indicating that she was perfectly fine from head to toe.
She said flatly, “I’m in robust health. The only part of me that can’t move is my foot. The doctor said it’ll be better in another week or so, so the only wounds I suffer are to the heart.”
“Are you referring to the hurt I caused you?” Song Wenwei looked at her leisurely. “In that case, I can’t date you anymore. Otherwise, every time you get hurt in the future, it’ll be my fault.”
Lu Nan replied, “What’s wrong with that? I back the blame all the time. It won’t hurt for you to take a turn.”
“Two wives of one heart, their strength can break gold?”
“Of course.”
…
After dinner, the two snuggled together to watch TV. Song Wenwei had specifically found a movie that Lu Nan had starred in before. Explosions blared from the television as the plot unfolded.
A girl in white rode her horse through the night, her ponytail tied up with a silver maple leaf hairpin pinned above it. It fluttered in the wind as she leaped sideways off the horse, drew her hands behind her back, and two short blades appeared in her grip.
Before her was a dense crowd of people. Someone lit torches and shouted, “Catch her!”
The girl heard this, leaped onto the rooftops, and tread lightly without making a sound…
“No wonder there are so many shipping videos of you online.” Song Wenwei’s tone held no particular emotion. She often watched short videos, and because of her status as an actress, they pushed that kind of content to her.
It was different from just seeing clips online. Song Wenwei hadn’t watched the full movie before, and now it felt entirely different.
“You have plenty too.” Lu Nan responded, “When I saw your shipping videos, my eyes turned red with jealousy. But I couldn’t say anything or curse because you didn’t even know me back then.”
“Were you jealous?”
“What else?” Lu Nan said, “I’ve been jealous for years. Didn’t you smell the sourness all over me?”
Song Wenwei teased with a smile, “Perfect, I like sour pickled radish. Lend me some of that pickling.”
“No lending.”
“…”
Lu Nan noticed that the person who had been chuckling was growing quieter and quieter. She touched her to confirm she was still in her arms and asked anxiously, “What’s wrong? You suddenly went silent and scared me.”
“A bit sleepy.” Song Wenwei mumbled, letting out a big yawn.
Seeing this, Lu Nan turned off the TV and the lights. The doctor had said that patients needed plenty of rest to recover quickly. The room plunged into darkness, with only hazy outlines visible from the light filtering in from nearby.
She said, “Then let’s sleep!”
Just like the night before, Lu Nan hugged her from behind and nuzzled against her, resting a hand on her back. She stroked it absentmindedly. She didn’t know why, but she was just used to it—like this could help her fall asleep, like this could make her feel warm.
Song Wenwei closed her eyes and savored the warmth. Even after all this time, Lu Nan treated her the same way: just as moving, just as warm, just as irresistible.
Those eyes, cold to the extreme, softened for her. She had saved her from danger time and again. After waiting so long, she held no grudges. Whenever she could have spelled it out, she chose silence, never embarrassing her.
Knowing that Song Wenwei didn’t remember her, she still pursued a gradual reunion. If she was the hunter, then her prey had willingly walked right into her hands.
Her body trembled as cold seeped into the bedding—it was freezing. She pulled the blanket up higher, and the hand that had been stroking her back seemed to notice, tucking the blanket in for her.
If only she could hold me like this forever. Song Wenwei thought.
People were always greedy. She wanted Lu Nan’s love to be free of obsession, yet she also wanted them to spend a lifetime together. She wasn’t willing to settle for just the present.
Out of nowhere, the thought of getting married to Lu Nan arose—sudden and unbidden, just like Lu Nan had said that day: “I follow my heart.”
She followed her heart.
But it wasn’t time yet. She had to wait a little longer. She couldn’t be impulsive; this was important.
Song Wenwei’s eyelids grew heavy as she thought this. She slowly closed her eyes and drifted into dreams.
The person in her arms trembled lightly, so Lu Nan held her tighter. She had thought it was from the cold—the blanket was a bit small for two people—but gradually, she realized it wasn’t cold at all. It was an involuntary shudder from her body itself…
“Wenwei, what’s wrong? Why are you shaking… Wenwei?” Lu Nan’s anxious words exploded in the already silent room.
Song Wenwei forced a smile. In the dimness, Lu Nan couldn’t see her clearly at all. She said, “It’s cold. A bit cold. Just hold me for a while and it’ll be fine.”
The window was clearly closed, and the room was toasty warm. How could she be cold?
“You’re lying to me?” Lu Nan’s hand pressed against the wall, turning on the nightlight.
The surroundings brightened. In the instant the glaring light hit, she saw the pallor on the face of the person in her arms—almost no color at all.
“Song Wenwei!” Lu Nan shouted, placing a hand on her forehead. The scorching temperature burned her palm. How could this be? They’d been holding each other, and she hadn’t noticed anything wrong.
“I’m here…”
The woman leaned against her, consciousness fuzzy, responding weakly from her lips.
“Ring ring ring…”
“Nurse, come quick! Something’s wrong with Song Wenwei!”
The doctor and nurses arrived by the fourth ring, rushing in. Fortunately, they were the only two patients in the entire hospital.
“She has a fever.” The doctor measured her temperature with an electronic thermometer and, as routine, checked Lu Nan’s as well.
Looking at the reading in front of her, she fell silent.
The doctor tried to separate them. Lu Nan’s hand loosened then clenched again. The doctor pried it open more firmly, her expression serious. “You two need to be separated.”
“Why?” Lu Nan asked, puzzled.
Fortunately, Song Wenwei just had a fever, nothing more serious. Lu Nan breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
“You’re feverish too. You two shouldn’t be together—it’s easy for one to recover only for the other to catch it again. This back-and-forth won’t do.”
No wonder she hadn’t noticed anything off about Song Wenwei. Their temperatures were about the same. Lu Nan chided herself for being careless, only realizing it when the person beside her was already delirious.
Lu Nan was silent for a moment before asking, “Really can’t?”
“Yes.”