Chapter 73

Pei Kuang had undergone a procedure under local anesthesia, so he was awake when he was pushed into the ward. It was just a minor surgery, and his injuries weren't too severe, so Pei Kuang was conscious before entering the operating room.

"Well, you're awake huh, you've got quite the luck," Luo Yi said as he walked in and looked down at him from beside the hospital bed.

Pei Kuang glanced at Luo Yi and said weakly, clearly a little annoyed, "Don't be sarcastic, I told you I know my limits."

Luo Yi scoffed and said impatiently, "Yeah right, quite the ability you've got to still end up lying in the hospital."

Pei Kuang didn't want to argue with him further, so he simply shut his mouth and didn't say anything more.

Seeing his attitude, Luo Yi was even more irritated, but he suddenly thought of something and a trace of schadenfreude flashed across his eyes, "Fine, I'm too lazy to lecture you anyway, someone else will do that for me."

Pei Kuang saw his cryptic expression but didn't think too much of it, assuming he meant Li Cheng would do the talking.

Before taking action, Li Cheng had repeatedly told him to be careful, but he went against orders during the final stage, so Li Cheng must be furious now and would surely give him a piece of his mind.

Just then, the ward door was pushed open from outside. Luo Yi was standing right in front of the door, so he shifted to the side to reveal the person behind him.

"Pei Ge, you awake?" Liu Hao asked.

Pei Kuang smiled and replied, "Don't worry, I've been awake the whole time, I'm not..."

He stopped mid-sentence as his eyes met the person behind Liu Hao, his smile freezing on his face.

Song Anan didn't say anything, she just walked right up to the bedside and looked quietly at Pei Kuang.

He was lying in the hospital bed wearing a patient's robe, his face pale.

On the way over from the airport, Liu Hao had briefed her on Pei Kuang's condition, so she knew he was fine now and finally felt relieved.

But at the same time, Song Anan also learned from Liu Hao how he got injured, so she was feeling both angry and distressed.

Pei Kuang opened and closed his mouth, seeming at a loss for words as he said, "Anan, what are you doing here?"

Song Anan replied coldly, "Just passing by."

Pei Kuang: "..."

Hearing her say "just passing by", Luo Yi was extremely delighted. Her curt reply showed she was quite angry!

"Pei Kuang, I have to say, what kind of question is that? One look and you can tell she came here specially to see you!"

Then he turned to Song Anan with a smile and introduced himself, "Little sister-in-law, nice to meet you, I'm Luo Yi, Pei Kuang's friend. I was the one who called you earlier."

Although upset, Song Anan knew to distinguish between people. She naturally wouldn't be rude to Luo Yi.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Song Anan. No need to call me little sister-in-law, just call me Anan."

Luo Yi glanced at Pei Kuang and said deliberately, "No, since you're Pei Kuang's little sister-in-law, I should address you properly as such."

Song Anan looked at Pei Kuang lying in bed and said, "No need, he calls me by my name too."

Luo Yi feigned surprise, "Oh my, I didn't expect that. How disrespectful of him."

Song Anan was confused, unable to follow Luo Yi's train of thought. She didn't know how to respond.

Pei Kuang glared at Luo Yi, hinting for him to stop.

Luo Yi knew it was time to wrap it up. He laughed and said, "Then Anan it is. Please keep an eye on him, this guy really is too much trouble."

Song Anan shook her head and said sullenly, "I won't manage him." She couldn't control him anyway.

Hearing this, Pei Kuang instinctively looked at Song Anan, a fleeting expression flashing through his eyes.

Luo Yi stroked his nose. He didn't expect Song Anan to refuse so bluntly. "Alright alright, none of us will manage him then. No one cares about him anyway, let's just let him fend for himself."

Song Anan still didn't speak. She really was angry and meant it when she said she wouldn't manage him, completely ignoring Pei Kuang.

Seeing the situation, Luo Yi tactfully took his leave, pulling Liu Hao along to exit the ward, saying they were going to ask the doctor if there was anything to take note of.

Once out of the ward, Luo Yi led Liu Hao straight out of the hospital.

Liu Hao asked puzzledly, "Brother Luo Yi, weren't we going to see the doctor?"

Luo Yi replied, "I've already informed the doctor of what needed to be said, no need to go over."

"Oh," Liu Hao responded. "Then where are we going? I should stay here to take care of Pei Ge."

Luo Yi put his arm around Liu Hao's shoulder and half pushed, half pulled him away from the patient ward area. "No need for you to stay, someone's there to take care of him."

Liu Hao was confused. "Someone's taking care of him? Who? Oh, you mean little sister-in-law? No, that won't work. She's a girl, it'll be inconvenient if Pei Ge needs to use the bathroom, how awkward would that be for them."

Luo Yi thought to himself, that's precisely the awkwardness he wanted.

"Let's go, help your Pei Ge prepare some things for his hospital stay," he said. "The doctor did say he'll have to stay here a few days."

Only Song Anan and Pei Kuang were left in the ward.

Pei Kuang tentatively asked, "Don't you have work tomorrow?"

What he really wanted to ask was when she would be heading back, but he rephrased it to be more tactful.

Song Anan glanced at him and replied, "I took time off."

Pei Kuang was surprised and quickly said, "I'm really fine, Liu Hao and the rest are here. You don't have to take time off."

But Song Anan ignored him again, seeing that his IV drip was nearly empty. She stood up directly, "I'll go find a nurse."

Pei Kuang watched Song Anan's departing back and sighed silently.

She's quite hot-tempered.

He had heard Song Linchuan say before that his little sister-in-law can be quite scary when really angry. At the time, Pei Kuang didn't think much of it. He felt that someone as gentle and soft-spoken as her couldn't be that frightening even if angry.

Now witnessing it himself, he finally understood what was meant. Her cold treatment really was quite scary.

It worried him that she would continue being so indifferent towards him.

But thinking about why Song Anan was angry, a warmth arose unbidden in Pei Kuang's heart.

Dinner was brought by Luo Yi. He had left Liu Hao at the hotel, having gone through great pains to persuade him to stay.

Song Anan took the food from Luo Yi and helped prop up a tray on Pei Kuang's bed for the meals. After everything was neatly arranged, she went to sit at a side table to eat her own dinner, still not glancing Pei Kuang's way even once.

Whenever Pei Kuang tried to speak to her, he was ignored.

Luo Yi was delighted seeing this. When it seemed about time, he said,

"Oh right, something urgent came up at the company tonight, afraid I can't stay over. So..." He looked at Song Anan meaningfully.

Song Anan understood what he was getting at. "I'll stay tonight then."

She had rushed over in the afternoon and didn't get a chance to book a room yet. Staying over worked out well.

Luo Yi immediately responded, "Great, thanks for the trouble, Anan."

He then pointed at the bags beside him, "Got some basic toiletries here for you two. Make do with these for tonight, get anything else needed tomorrow."

Song Anan nodded lightly and stood up, "I'll go rent a foldable bed."

Luo Yi quickly said, "Let me handle that, don't want you wandering around unable to find a place." Song Anan waved her hand, "It's fine, I'll go. I know my way around hospitals better."

Luo Yi remembered then what Song Anan did for a living and didn't argue further.

The two settled the foldable bed matter through brief exchanges, while Pei Kuang tried unsuccessfully several times to cut in.

After Song Anan left, she shut the ward door from outside.

"Where's Liu Hao?" Pei Kuang asked. "What are you guys up to?"

Luo Yi shrugged. "Don't say I didn't help you out bro. A man and woman alone together, if you can't seize this kind of opportunity, you deserve to be single forever."

Pei Kuang's brows furrowed slightly. "Nonsense!"

"Don't joke about her like that."

Luo Yi rolled his eyes at him. "Enough, do I seem like that sort of tasteless person? I didn't mean anything by it."

He paused, then continued, "But some ambiguous boundaries need to be broken, or you'll always just be her nephew."

Pei Kuang was staying in a single room, the environment was quite nice with a private bathroom. The space had seemed big at first, but after adding in the foldable bed Song Anan rented, having two beds in the room made it feel much more cramped.

After washing up, Song Anan helped wipe Pei Kuang's face and did a simple clean up for him.

Just before going to sleep, Song Anan asked, "Do you need to go to the bathroom? I can help you there."

Pei Kuang had been stabbed in the abdomen during the skirmish with Lao Ba, and although no organs were damaged, he had just gotten out of surgery and still had difficulty getting out of bed without assistance.

When Pei Kuang met Song Anan's gaze, he couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed. "No...it's okay."

Luo Yi had just helped him go not long ago.

"Oh, okay," Song Anan said, her eyes completely guileless. "Don't be shy, I've been interning at the hospital for so long, I've seen everything, it's no big deal."

Pei Kuang: "..."

Looks like Luo Yi's plan was going to fail.

What romantic tension was there to break through?

Seeing that Pei Kuang really didn't need to go, Song Anan didn't insist.

Their beds were placed side by side with just a small aisle between them, close enough that they could easily touch each other if they reached out.

Lying in bed, Song Anan turned over, her back facing Pei Kuang.

Pei Kuang shifted onto his side and asked softly, "Still mad?"

Song Anan didn't respond, clearly not inclined to talk to him.

Pei Kuang sighed silently. Young girls really were difficult to pacify when angry.

Looks like he'd have to think of something.

Lying in bed, Song Anan heard some faint rustling sounds behind her as Pei Kuang moved around. She wasn't sure what exactly he was up to, and wanted to turn around to look, but restrained herself.

Gradually, the sounds behind her stopped.

Just as she thought nothing was going to happen, Pei Kuang suddenly let out a hiss, followed by pained breathing.

Song Anan immediately forgot everything else, quickly sitting up and turning on the light, only to see Pei Kuang somehow sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What's wrong, did you pull your wound open?"

As Song Anan spoke, she went to lift Pei Kuang's shirt, wanting to check if the knife wound was bleeding.

But in her haste, she used a bit too much force, accidentally ripping off three buttons in a row.

In that split second, Song Anan froze, one hand clutching Pei Kuang's collar, the other pressed against his chest.

Their eyes met, and the air was suddenly heavy with an inexplicable intimacy.