Chapter 103: It Doesn't Hurt

Fu Wenzhou gently wiped the tears from Song Qingyou’s eyes, and his rough voice came out husky. “It’s all right. Don’t worry.”

The ambulance siren sounded outside the iron gates. The police first loaded the unconscious, heavily bleeding Song Chen onto a stretcher, then came back for this man who looked like a demon himself. “Boss Fu, to the hospital first?”

Song Qingyou tore herself from his arms and reached out to pull him up. “Come on. Let’s go—go to the hospital.”

She was too slight to lift him. Fu Wenzhou could only stand with one hand propping himself against the back post. His clothes and blood had clung together; every shift pulled and stung.

He let out a sharp hiss. Song Qingyou hurriedly lifted her head, her lashes trembling. “Does it hurt? Is it very painful?”

Fu Wenzhou pinched her earlobe. “Not painful.”

The paramedics, not daring to waste a second, rushed Fu Wenzhou onto the ambulance. Song Qingyou followed to the hospital.

When he was taken to the operating room, Song Qingyou waited outside. The doctors urged her to get checked; she was unresponsive, saying she was fine.

Song Chang couldn’t persuade her either.

So the medical staff had to do only a simple treatment for the wound on her neck, and luckily it was not serious. Her wound was much better than the two patients inside.

Halfway through the surgery, Xu Zezhan and Gu Bai arrived.

They had already learned what happened before coming. When Gu Bai saw Fu Wenzhou, he looked ready to slit Song Chen himself, but Xu Zezhan held him back.

“Enough,” Xu said. “Why are you stirring up trouble? What happened to Song Chen is for the police to handle.”

Gu Bai, still angry, snapped, “That’s two knife wounds. If he’d gone in a little deeper, he’d have ruined his own leg for good!”

Xu glanced at Song Qingyou—her face ashen, silent. He guided Gu Bai to a quiet corner, one hand patting him down, the other handing Song Qingyou pills and water. “I ran into Uncle Chang downstairs. He asked me to give these to you.”

She took them, swallowed, and showed no expression.

Another fifteen minutes passed before Liang Muchuan and Shen Guannan arrived.

A handful of people came and another handful left. Song Qingyou sat quietly on the bench, still as stone. The cold wind drove into her chest; after coughing several times, it finally eased.

Liang Muchuan stood at the stairwell, finished one cigarette, his eyes drifted vaguely toward Song Qingyou. After a while he stubbed it out, shrugged off his coat and draped it over his arm as he walked toward the operating room door.

When Gu Bai noticed him coming, he said flatly, “Aren’t you the one who went to see Song Chen? Is that boy dead?”

Liang shot Song Qingyou a hard look. “He’s still in emergency treatment.”

“Damn it,” Gu Bai muttered. “Why didn’t you kill him?”

Xu tapped Gu Bai on the back of the head. “If you’d killed him, Wenzhou would end up in prison. Do you really think this capital is your personal backyard?”

Gu Bai held his breath and said no more.

Liang bent down and offered his coat. “It’s chilly outside. Put it on.”

Song Qingyou moved slowly, sluggishly, as if half a beat behind herself. “Thank you, but no.”

Liang’s brow twitched, and he tugged at his lips before pulling his hand back.

Xu Zezhan’s eyes lingered on Liang with a look hard to read.

The operating room lights flicked off. The door opened from inside, and a doctor came out.

Song Qingyou sprang up in panic. Even when Song Yuan had whipped her, she had never been this afraid. “Doctor, his leg—did the leg get hurt?”

The doctor removed his mask. “The wound isn’t deep. No blood vessels were cut. If he rests for a while, there should be no lasting problem.”

At last her tense heart eased. As if all her strength had been drained from her, she leaned limply against the hospital’s white wall.

Fu Wenzhou was moved to a VIP room. Xu Zezhan and Liang Muchuan went up with Gu Bai to check on him, while Song Qingyou took the paperwork and went herself to pay.

She stubbornly refused to let anyone else handle it.

In the elevator Gu Bai scratched his head, baffled. “A trivial errand like this—couldn’t you just send someone else? Why run around with the forms yourself?”

Xu glanced at Liang and laughed. “At hospitals, family usually handles payment. Looks like our hopeless romantic has finally broken through after all these years.”

Liang gave a short laugh. He understood Xu was teasing him and didn’t bother to answer.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Liang walked out.

Gu Bai asked, “What’s with him? Who got under his skin this time?”

Xu didn’t explain and followed him in.

Fu Wenzhou had only been half-anesthetized; he was still fairly clear-headed. Hearing the noise at the door, his eyes brightened. As soon as he saw who had come in, the light went out of them.

He frowned in disgust. “Why is it you?”

Gu Bai answered bluntly. “It’s us—without your Song Qingyou.”

Fu asked at once, “Where’s my Qingyou?”

“She went to pay the bill,” Xu said, pulling up the blanket and looking at his neatly bandaged leg wound. “Good grief, both legs were cut almost symmetrically. Tsk. For Song Qingyou, you really are willing to throw your life into danger.”

Fu brushed his hand away and said lazily, almost proud, “Do you know why she insists on doing even such little things herself?”

The three men at the bed exchanged a look. The meaning in their eyes was unmistakable. Here we go again.

Xu played along. “Why?”

Fu’s lips lifted into a half-smile, his tone triumphant. “Family. I’m family to her. Heh. You lot of singletons wouldn’t understand.”

Gu Bai took a deep breath, swallowing the urge to punch him—mostly because he had no chance.

They stayed in the room for a while. Fu grew more restless by the minute, his gaze flicking toward the door again and again.

“Gu Bai, go find Qingyou. She won’t get lost, will she?” Fu asked, brows tightening with worry.

Gu Bai was nearly speechless with frustration. “This is a hospital, Fu Wenzhou. This is not a maze! And Song Qingyou is an adult, not a child. How could she get lost?”

Fu’s face darkened. He could not bear not seeing her. “Go find her. Bring her back. I need to see her.”

Gu Bai exhaled sharply, telling himself three times not to quibble with a wounded, lovesick man. “Fine. I’ll go find her.”

Fu nodded, then looked at Xu Zezhan and Liang Muchuan. “I’m not that bad. You two can go home.”

Liang cast him one glance, guessing what that really meant, and gave a cold laugh. “Fu, is this really necessary?”

Fu lifted the corner of his eye. “Necessary.”

Liang left with a stern expression.

Xu pulled on his coat. “Then I’ll leave too.”

When the room door shut, Gu Bai’s mouth flew like a machine gun. “I truly wonder if Fu Wenzhou’s brain was invaded by aliens. It’s Song Qingyou all the time—every single one of us is shrinking in his heart! This hospital isn’t that big. Where could she have gone that she’s gone missing? And he sends me to find her. Do you think he’d die if he doesn’t see her for a minute?”

Xu gave a smile. “Couldn’t really say.”

Gu Bai snarled with suppressed anger. “You and Liang go back first. I’ll go find Qingyou.”

“With all that loud talk, you really think you won’t go?” Liang said with a smirk.

“Sure,” Gu Bai replied dryly. “Who do I owe him anyway?”

But after circling the billing desk three times, Gu Bai still couldn’t find Song Qingyou.