Wronged and Aggrieved

Ye Mian pressed her lips together. The golden Buddha in her hand was surprisingly heavy. She wanted to set it down hard on the table, yet feared damaging it.

She took out her phone, intending to ask Jiang Chen why he had sent her something so expensive, only to find that he had sent her a picture.

The background was a hospital: white bedsheets, white walls. Yet the food in the photograph looked nothing like a patient’s meal.

Several exquisite lunch boxes were filled with Sichuan and Hunan dishes—fish head with chopped chilies, diced chicken with dried chilies, and peppers blazing red.

Just looking at them made her... butt hurt.

Ye Mian: “...”

Was this man out of his mind? He knew perfectly well that he was injured, yet he had recklessly ordered spicy food. His pity ploy was simply too... clumsy.

Before she could say anything, Jiang Chen sent another screenshot.

It was a conversation between him and Guan Yi.

[Guan Yi: Brother Jiang, don’t eat that! The chef at my house today is from central China. Sorry—I only just realized everything is spicy.]

[Jiang Chen: Perfect.]

Ye Mian: “...”

A father digging his own son’s grave. Truly magnificent.

She gently set down the golden Buddha, then rapidly typed a message with both hands and sent it.

[Good Sleep: Why don’t you order some Cantonese food yourself?]

After thinking it over, she withdrew the message.

Then she sent another one.

[Good Sleep: Wait there. I’ll bring you something you can actually eat.]

[Good Sleep: I don’t mean anything by it.]

After putting down her phone, Ye Mian went into the kitchen and poured the chicken soup she had simmered at noon into a thermal container.

She had caught a cold, which was why she had made such a large pot.

She certainly could not finish it, and chicken soup was indeed suitable for a patient.

Jiang Chen had simply happened to catch her at the right time.

Besides, even if she had not been bringing him food, she would still have gone to see him.

She had to return the golden Buddha.

Even if Jiang Chen had wronged her, she could not accept such an expensive gift from him.

Otherwise... what kind of person would that make her?

As the thought surfaced, Ye Mian clenched the spoon tightly in her palm.

“...”

Her gaze drifted toward the golden Buddha.

At last, she understood why Jiang Chen had given her such a gaudy and impractical thing.

...

Jiang Chen stared at the words “I don’t mean anything by it” on his phone and could not stop himself from laughing.

His deep, pleasing voice trembled faintly, tugging at the wounds across his body and bringing a fine, dense ache. Yet he seemed accustomed to it.

The little nurse watching from the side felt the pain herself.

He, however, remained entirely unaware of it. His striking eyes were filled with laughter and tenderness.

What was this compared to anything else?

No amount of pain could rival the torment he had suffered as a child.

It was December, and heavy snow had fallen. There was no green left outside the window.

The sky was somewhat pale. The hospital ward had been renovated within the past two years, and its facilities were excellent. Thanks to Guan Yi’s connections, Jiang Chen had been placed in the most sought-after luxury single room.

The main reason was that his injuries could not be seen by anyone else.

On the way to the hospital, Ye Mian carried the lunch box and the large golden Buddha in a taxi. She did not even dare close her eyes to rest. One hand remained pressed firmly against the velvet case the entire time.

Was this a joke?

A golden Buddha worth more than a hundred thousand.

She felt as though she had just withdrawn a fortune from the bank.

She was terrified that one careless moment would see her robbed in broad daylight.

The journey was dull and tedious. Ye Mian could not look at her phone either, since reading in a moving car made her dizzy. All she could do was turn her head and watch the scenery outside.

The city was a vast expanse of white, and there were far fewer pedestrians than in the sweltering summer.

Every so often, a roasted sweet-potato stall appeared along the street. Even with the windows closed, Ye Mian could almost smell the rich fragrance of the sweet potatoes.

People’s sense of smell was especially sensitive in winter.

When she entered the hospital, the strong smell of disinfectant filled her nose.

She made her way to the inpatient department, took the elevator to the top floor, and fixed her gaze on the ward to the right.

She had been there once before, on the day Jiang Chen was brought to the hospital.

Drawing a deep breath, she stopped outside the ward and knocked.

A cool, distant voice came from within.

“Come in.”

When she opened the door, the first thing she saw was the pile of food containers in the ward. Sure enough, they gave off an aggressively spicy smell.

Good grief.

The fumes were so strong that Ye Mian sneezed twice.

Once she stepped farther inside, the hospital bed came into view.

The man was sitting against the headboard. Unlike other patients, he did not look listless or sickly. His lips were merely paler than usual. His long fingers held half a cup of unfinished warm water, and his gentle eyes were fixed on Ye Mian.

“You came.”

There was a smile in his gaze, though it was not entirely one of happiness. Instead, there was an awkwardness hidden within it that Ye Mian could not understand.

...?

She decided he was feeling guilty.

Without saying a word, she raised the small table attached to the bed and placed the chicken soup she had brought on top of it.

Remembering the wounds she had seen that day, she thought of his shoulder.

He probably could not move it, could he?

So she thoughtfully opened the lid of the food container for him.

The light fragrance of chicken soup could not overpower the smell of the chilies. The stench was truly choking.

She carefully covered the spicy dishes again and switched on the ventilation fan.

Only after quite some time did the air become noticeably fresher.

Jiang Chen did not rush to speak to her. He watched her finish everything she was doing before saying sincerely, “Thank you. And I’m sorry for what I’ve put you through.”

Ye Mian’s heart trembled.

Hearing that genuine apology, the unbearable sense of grievance she had felt came back to life.

Her eyes reddened against her will. Not wanting him to notice, she pretended to sniff and said softly, “You’re welcome. In any case, after we finish this visit, we should stop contacting each other.”

The light in the man’s eyes dimmed slightly. The cup trembled almost imperceptibly in his hand, and with his eyes lowered, he continued apologizing.

“I’m sorry.”

He truly had no experience apologizing. Yet he knew that, whatever the reason, suddenly disappearing without a word was indeed something that would hurt another person.

If the girl was hurt, then she was hurt.

Other than saying he was sorry, he did not want to offer any excuses.

Ye Mian could scarcely believe it. Jiang Chen’s lowered eyes and brows made him look remarkably like a wronged puppy that had fallen into the water, a tremendous contrast to his usual aloof and noble bearing.

Who, exactly, was more aggrieved here?

She was, right?

And yet she had softened so easily?

Not only could she no longer bring herself to say the harsh words she had imagined hurling at the heartless scumbag, but a faint sense of guilt had even begun to rise within her.

When a person’s contrast was this extreme...

They really did come with an innate cuteness!!!

Ye Mian tightened her fingers. After a long while, she drawled, “You don’t need to apologize to me. The person you’ve wronged is your own character.”

“Yes. I’m sorry. My character is flawed. I’ll change.”

Jiang Chen followed her lead, lifting his eyes to look at her. He appeared sincere and entirely willing to let her punish him as she pleased.

Because he was lying in bed, Ye Mian’s perspective was slightly elevated, making him look even more pitiful and inexplicably heartbreaking.

Ye Mian shifted her gaze away and stared straight at the ceiling, feeling as though she had been struck hard in the chest.

To be fair, if she kept looking at Jiang Chen like this, she truly would not be able to hold out.

When she spoke again, her tone had softened, though a little of her backbone remained.

“You actually cheated on me. Can a person’s character really be changed after doing something like that?”

“...”

The atmosphere inexplicably fell into complete silence.

Sensing the sudden stillness, Ye Mian lowered her head and looked at Jiang Chen.

She discovered that the man was staring at her with a strange expression.

“Hmm?” Jiang Chen said slowly in his low voice. “I was wrong, but if you’re falsely accusing me, I still feel rather aggrieved.”

Thanks to SELFISH, Shi Shi, Xun Is Not Xun, wxiaohan2000, In Late Autumn, He Xi Ci, Mang Mang, Mo Xiao Xi, Si Ri Gu Leng, Nao Nao Mommy, Miss Liao, Eat the Nickname, Book Friend 2023 32325, A Little Bit of Ice, Yun Hu, Xiao 877, Azure, Lan Shan Tan Shui, sun_, smile° Wei Xiao, Red Sleeve Book Friend 151 460, A Lu Lu Ha, Jiu Jiu~, Azure, and Xue Fei Li Kangzhe’s Mom for the recommendation votes. Thank you all so much. Bows and scatters flowers!

Thanks to In Late Autumn, Daijin, bds, and Passing Years for the rewards. Thank you all so much. Bows and scatters flowers!

Love you all, love you all. I have a major recommendation coming in a few days, so I need to save up chapters and release a huge update.

End of chapter.