Chapter 77
Chapter 77
Ning Xi shot Shen Yibai a resentful glare and prepared to kill time with some mindless mobile games.
However, having a cold presence like Shen Yibai sitting right next to her completely ruined her mood for games.
Shen Yibai, meanwhile, seemed entirely oblivious. He looked quite relaxed as he processed documents on his phone, appearing to be in a rather good mood.
With a sharp scrape of her chair, Ning Xi stood up and marched out of the hospital room without a word.
This was maddening; she needed some fresh air!
Inside the room, Shen Yibai closed his phone. Watching Ning Xi’s huffy departure, he murmured softly to himself, “Such a temper?”
She was truly different from the A Ning of ten-plus years later.
The hospital was exceptionally quiet deep into the night.
The entrance to the emergency room was brightly lit. Many family members were resting on chairs, and occasionally, a patient would be rushed in, followed by medical staff hurrying to perform emergency treatment.
Suddenly, Ning Xi heard a cry of profound grief.
She looked toward the source of the sound.
A young, pregnant woman with a protruding belly was watching as her husband was wheeled out under a white sheet. She cried out to the nurse, “Save him! Please, save him again! He hasn’t even seen the baby yet… he still wants to live!”
The nurse quietly offered her condolences.
The wife was left behind, sobbing weakly and helplessly, “Save him, someone please save him…”
The nurse pushed the stretcher covered by the white sheet closer and closer to Ning Xi.
At that moment, the wife ran over frantically and yanked back the sheet, clutching her husband-who had died in a car accident-and weeping bitterly.
The moment passed quickly, but Ning Xi still caught a glimpse of the husband’s mangled face and blood-soaked body.
Yet the wife didn’t seem to see any of that. She leaned down, kissing her husband’s unrecognizable face with deep reverence and longing.
Ning Xi froze at the sight.
The next second, a hand covered her eyes, and the faint, cold, slightly bitter scent of medicine filled her nose.
“Don’t look.”
Shen Yibai’s voice was low and raspy, sounding like gravel rubbing together.
He didn’t let go until the nurse had finished pushing the stretcher away.
He looked at the uncharacteristically silent Ning Xi and asked, “Scared?”
Ning Xi didn’t answer. She stared in the direction the stretcher had gone and whispered, “Isn’t she afraid?”
She prided herself on being brave, but even she had been a bit shaken by the sight of the deceased husband’s face.
And yet, that pregnant woman could kiss him without even flinching…
“Because he was her lover. Even if his face was ruined, in her eyes, he will always look the way she loved him most.”
Shen Yibai’s voice was somewhat dry, as if something was stuck in his throat.
Ning Xi gave a soft “oh.” Her mood was visibly more somber than before.
She had always felt that death was something far away.
But seeing a young, loving couple separated by life and death just now left her with an indescribably complex feeling.
She didn’t dare imagine how she would feel if someone close to her passed away…
“Don’t worry. You and the people you love will surely be safe, healthy, and have a smooth life,” Shen Yibai said suddenly in a soft voice.
“So, there’s no need to imagine anyone passing away.”
At those words, Ning Xi couldn’t help but smile.
“You can actually guess what I was thinking?”
She really had been imagining things just now-if any of her friends, or even her most disliked acquaintance, Fu Zhi, were to die in an accident, she would definitely be sad.
It had been a long time since Shen Yibai had seen Ning Xi smile at him like that.
The lights in the hospital corridor were dim, but her smile seemed to glow with a radiant luster, making it impossible to look away.
Shen Yibai lowered his gaze to hide the emotions in his eyes and looked straight ahead.
“Because you are A Ning.”
Hearing “A Ning,” the name that used to be so familiar, Ning Xi paused.
She had many names: Ning Xi, Ningning, Xiao Xi, Xixi, Kalpana.
But only Shen Yibai would call her A Ning.
At this moment, Shen Yibai felt a bit like the Xiao Bai she used to know.
But while Xiao Bai could turn into the current Shen Yibai, the current Shen Yibai would never turn back into Xiao Bai.
“Forget it. Just call me Ning Xi from now on. It feels more natural.”
Ning Xi scratched her head, trying to break the strange atmosphere between them.
After all, their current relationship was incredibly awkward.
Despite the title of fiancé and fiancée, they were practically less than strangers.
Shen Yibai’s lips parted slightly as he whispered, “Alright.”
Afterward, the two of them returned to the hospital room.
Shen Yibai’s special assistant was already waiting at the door.
“President Shen, the clothes and items you asked me to prepare are already in the room.”
Shen Yibai nodded.
Ning Xi pushed open the door and immediately spotted the fresh flowers by the window, along with a grass-head doll in a small pot.
“Wow!”
Ning Xi looked at the sprouting grass-head doll with delight. “Will it have a full head of hair by tomorrow morning?”
When they were children, if any of the three of them fell ill, the other two would buy a grass-head doll. Once the doll sprouted grass overnight, it was a sign that the sick person was on the mend.
They hadn’t played this game since they grew up.
She hadn’t expected Shen Yibai, a high-ranking president, to actually instruct his assistant to buy such a little trinket…
Shen Yibai listened to his assistant’s report, but his gaze was fixed on Ning Xi inside the room.
Only when Ning Xi looked over did he discreetly shift his eyes away, pretending to be deep in conversation with his assistant.
Ning Xi blinked and began to play with the grass-head doll in secret.
She pinched its eyes, poked its mouth, and smoothed out its sprouts.
However, whether it was because Ning Xi didn’t control her strength or because the doll’s mouth was simply poorly attached, a soft “crack” sounded as she touched it for the second time. The doll’s mouth fell off.
Ning Xi: “…”
She shot a guilty glance at Shen Yibai and the still-sleeping Fu Zhi on the bed.
Then, she quickly jammed the mouth back on.
Nothing she couldn’t handle!
After playing with the doll for a while, Ning Xi still didn’t feel sleepy, so she decided to pull up the script for The Chess Player on her phone.
Shen Yibai, meanwhile, was working on the sofa nearby.
The cold glow of the laptop screen illuminated his face. Eventually, he pushed the computer aside and tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose.
Even though Ning Xi didn’t intend to pry into his privacy, a stray glance from the corner of her eye caught a photo on the screen.
“Are you investigating Xie Lanchen?”
Ning Xi frowned.
Shen Yibai’s hand instinctively landed on the documents beside him.
Sensing something, Ning Xi snatched the file directly from his hand. Her pupils contracted as she flipped it open.
Inside was Xie Lanchen’s personal profile!
And it was clearly the work of a private investigator.
“Why are you investigating him?”
Ning Xi was baffled. Shen Yibai was usually someone with very little curiosity about others.
But whenever he did look into someone, it meant he was planning to take action…
Shen Yibai looked at Ning Xi, his gaze unwavering.
“Don’t you find it suspicious? A man who appeared at the Victoria Film Festival at the same time as you and me two years ago? Don’t you want to know everything a top-tier detective agency could find on Xie Lanchen?”
“No.”
Ning Xi took a deep breath and threw the file back onto the table with a heavy thud.
“Shen Yibai, investigating someone’s private information without consent is illegal!”
Shen Yibai fell silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a short laugh.
He picked up the file without a word and began flipping through it again.
Ning Xi rolled her eyes and went straight to the cot to sleep, deciding that out of sight was out of mind.
Time flowed silently through the room.
Shen Yibai’s movements as he turned the pages grew quiet.
He had obtained information on Xie Lanchen, but it was all limited to his public appearances in social circles. Much deeper, private information seemed to be blocked by an invisible, powerful hand.
Shen Yibai lowered his gaze and slowly closed his eyes.
He searched through his memories of the past and future-the sixteen years of his life-trying to recall if Xie Lanchen had ever appeared before.
The ward was very quiet, save for the occasional hum of the air conditioning. A light mist had formed on the window, and the fresh flowers Shen Yibai had ordered emitted a faint, peaceful fragrance.
Suddenly.
Shen Yibai snapped his eyes open.
He looked at Ning Xi, who had already drifted off into dreamland, and finally remembered where else he had seen Xie Lanchen.