withered lover

On the way back, the car was so quiet that only the sound of the air conditioner operating could be heard.

Shen Guiwan leaned against the window and let his eyes go blank, his dazed appearance made Du Zhinian couldn't help peeking at him from the corner of his eye several times.

Shen Guiwan had been in a pre-ill state since the beginning of winter, and the sudden retching just now directly lifted Du Zhinian's heart to his throat, for fear that he would fall ill again if he didn't pay attention.

Du Zhinian was thinking about the reason for Shen Guiwan's physical discomfort all the way, but until the two of them lay on the bed and went back to sleep, Du Zhinian couldn't think of a reason.

He touched the protruding rib marks on Shen Guiwan's waist for a long time, and said hesitantly: "Shen Guiwan, do you want to go to the hospital with me for an examination later?"

Shen Guiwan had two nightmares in a row, exhausted physically and mentally to the extreme, heard Du Zhinian's voice in a blur of consciousness, and it took a long time before he said bluntly: "...No, it's just motion sickness."

Du Zhinian waited for a long time before hearing such a perfunctory answer, and felt agitated for no reason.

He was about to ask, but he turned his head and met Gui Wan's defenseless sleeping face.

Shen Guiwan has haggarded a lot during this time, his eyes were slightly dark blue, and he frowned even when he fell asleep.

Du Zhinian put his arms around him and sighed helplessly, temporarily suppressing this matter in his heart.

In the days approaching New Year's Eve, the temperature in the urban area dropped a few degrees, and fine snow began to fall in the morning and evening.

While Du Zhinian wrapped his down jacket tightly, he was worried about Shen Guiwan's body.

During this period of time, most of the patients in the hospital were discharged, and Du Zhinian didn't have much work on hand, so he always called Shen Guiwan every now and then to inquire about his health condition in his spare time.

He asked similar questions over and over again, and Shen Guiwan answered honestly every time, listening to Du Zhinian's instructions tirelessly.

"Everything is fine", "It's fine"... These are the answers Du Zhinian heard most from Shen Guiwan.

He has been brooding over Shen Guiwan's sudden discomfort that day, and every day when he comes back, he has to hold Shen Guiwan to check it carefully several times. After a few days, Shen Guiwan was confused by him, and he himself was very tired.

But after confirming that Shen Guiwan was not sick again, Du Zhinian finally managed to persuade himself to believe what Shen Guiwan said that day.

However, he was worried that Shen Guiwan would fall ill again. Shen Guiwan, who had just been ill, answered questions obediently every time, but actually didn't care about his physical condition at all.

In Shen Guiwan's understanding, winter is always tough, not to mention suffering such a serious injury and developing a high fever, it is normal to feel unwell.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with his current state. If there was any problem, it was that he had too many nightmares during this period.

But this kind of situation happened three years ago, and when it happened again now, Shen Guiwan just thought that he had encountered too many things during this period, and the remaining memories had infiltrated into his sleep.

He muddled through until the day before New Year's Eve. On the afternoon of the last working day before Du Zhinian's holiday, he changed into a fluffy down jacket and stepped out of the apartment door.

Shen Guiwan went to the shopping mall opposite the apartment, walked through the atrium where the Christmas tree used to stand, and pushed open the glass door of the cafe covered with red stickers.

The coffee shop was empty except for a woman in a black sweater sitting in a corner.

She crossed her arms and closed her eyes to meditate. The glass in front of her was filled with ice cubes, with a dark straw inserted.

Hearing the sound of Shen Guiwan pushing the door open, the woman looked up.

The moment their eyes met, Shen Guiwan's steps paused.

He looked at the familiar eyebrows, stared at the woman in the corner for a few seconds, and then walked straight to the corner seat.

"Is it Miss Lu Yi?" Shen Guiwan asked softly standing in front of the woman.

"I am." Lu Yi raised her head, her examining eyes swept over Shen Guiwan's face.

The man in front of her was too different from what she had imagined, his face was so pale that no trace of blood could be seen, and even the bloated down jacket could not conceal his thin body.

It's just that his pair of pitch-black eyes were clean and bright, and he didn't look away from each other, making it impossible for anyone to look at him with a trace of disgust.

The waiter at the cafe came over with a glass of water, and there was a crisp sound of the glass colliding with the table, and Lu Yi's tense shoulders suddenly relaxed.

"Sorry, I overreacted a little..." She raised her hand to signal the seat opposite her, "Sit down."

"Thank you." Shen Guiwan sat opposite Lu Yi, holding the warm water handed by the waiter and covering his hands.

Lu Yi looked at the fingertips that were white with cold in front of her eyes, and lightly tapped the table, "Have something to drink, I'm treating you."

Shen Guiwan ordered a cup of hot black tea, and after the black tea was served, he kept holding the slightly hot cup to warm his palms.

He didn't take the initiative to bring up the topic, and Lu Yi didn't apologize again until his Ice American was delivered, and there was no third person around: "I'm really sorry that I asked you to spare time to meet me at this time... "

"It's okay." Shen Guiwan shook his head, his gaze fell directly on Lu Yi's face.

Lu Yi and Lu Xing are sisters, they look similar, but their temperaments are very different.

Shen Guiwan only saw Lu Xing once, she lived cowering in Yu Minggu's palm, endured the man's torture, looked at him with eyes full of fear and careful begging.

But he couldn't see this on Lu Yi's face. Her eyebrows were sharp, her gestures were calm and generous, and even an apology was faintly revealing a force that could not be refused.

Just like now, Lu Yi ignored his gaze and continued: "Thank you for telling me about Xiao Xing. I will find a way to get her out of here later."

She took out a black USB flash drive from her pocket and put it on the table, "This is what you want, everything you can find is in it."

Shen Guiwan didn't reach for it, but only glanced at the USB flash drive, then raised his head to look at Lu Yi.

Seeing that he didn't ask for it, Lu Yi froze slightly.

She was silent for a while, and when she spoke again, she changed the topic: "When did you and Xiaoxing meet? I've never heard her mention you as a friend before."

Shen Guiwan appeared too suddenly, contacted him without any warning, and claimed to be his sister's friend. Although the result of entrusting a friend to investigate later confirmed his statement, Lu Yi still dared not trust this strange man.

She doubted his identity and motives, especially after Shen Guiwan made the request, this doubt became more intense.

Shen Guiwan naturally understood that his actions were too abrupt, and Lu Yi's suspicion was reasonable, but right now neither he nor Lu Xing had any other choice.

"She and I...are not really friends." Shen Guiwan held the cup and slowly considered his words, "I only met her once, in Yu Minggu's villa."

The expression on Lu Yi's face gradually changed from calm to dignified, and at the end there was a little sarcasm.

"Only met once?" She raised her eyebrows and asked back, "Helping her do these things only once met? Are you a Bodhisattva descended to earth or fell in love with my sister at first sight?"

Shen Guiwan put down the cup, stroked the scar on his palm, "I know it's weird to do this, but I... don't want to pretend I can't see anymore."

"I don't care what you think." Lu Yi's tone became a little aggressive, "What's your relationship with Yu Minggu? And how did you meet my sister?"

"Yu Minggu hired a doctor to treat Lu Xing...." Shen Guiwan erased the details about Du Zhinian.

Lu Yi frowned, and asked in a deep voice, "Which doctor are you?"

Shen Guiwan shook his head, "I am his lover."

Hearing this ridiculous answer, Lu Yi's expression instantly collapsed.

She thought about many possible answers, but she never expected such a bloody relationship.

"Are you... that doctor's lover?" Lu Yi repeatedly asked, "Are you crazy? Does that doctor know you did this? Are you not afraid of revenge?"

"Why...why are you doing this?"

Her rhetorical question was very ironic, although it was ugly, it was also reasonable.

After all, most normal people avoid such things when they encounter such a thing, and there are very few people who take the initiative to get involved like Shen Guiwan, and they can even be called outliers.

"He doesn't know, even if he knew, he wouldn't bother me." Shen Guiwan smiled lightly.

Lu Yi didn't understand why he was smiling, but she didn't have time to ask, so she saw Shen Guiwan spread out the palm of her right hand.

He showed the uneven scar completely, "This is left by my father, and there are other things on my body, if you want to see—"

"No need!" Lu Yi interrupted him loudly.

She looked at Shen Guiwan, her shocked gaze mixed with a little sympathy, moving back and forth on his palm and face.

It was not the first time for Shen Guiwan to face this kind of gaze. Du Zhinian had looked at him like this before. At that time, Du Zhinian seemed to want to say something, but he prevaricated.

After that, Du Zhinian never mentioned it again, and he didn't know what he wanted to say at that time.