47

Duan Baiting was still in the ancestral hall, having just finished burning incense. There was no moon outside, but two street lights were on.

The weather has been a little strange since the afternoon. I guess it will be another sunny Spring Festival this year.

His uncle was talking to him nearby, and they were also talking about the renovation of the ancestral temple.

Duan Baiting remained silent, and what he said was what it was.

He didn't grow up here. Over the past twenty years, he only came back for a few days every year during the ancestral worship festival.

There is no emotion at all, and even less awe.

After leaving the ancestral hall, my cell phone rang.

He walked over and picked up the phone that was casually placed aside. After seeing the contact on the top, he raised the corner of his lips, pressed the answer button and put it to his ear.

Before he could speak, a weak and painful voice came from the other end: "Duan Baiting, I'm dying."

He ran all the way back. The journey that usually took more than ten minutes took less than two minutes today.

He kicked the door open and ran into the bathroom.

Song Wanyue was lying on the toilet, dying. He was still breathing hard: "What's wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable?"

Song Wanyue shook her head. After seeing him, tears flowed uncontrollably: "My stomach hurts, and I feel like vomiting."

These were not serious symptoms. It was probably just that he had eaten something bad.

Duan Baiting's tense emotions relaxed instantly. He closed his eyes and finally found the correct breathing rhythm.

——Just now, for a moment, he felt that he forgot how to breathe, causing his vision to go black.

After regaining his composure, Duan Baiting took a tissue to wipe the corners of her mouth and carried the person who had fainted from vomiting out.

The man who was usually full of energy, today lay quietly in his arms.

Duan Baiting poured her a cup of hot water and called a taxi.

Fortunately, this place is close to the hospital.

He was steaming and breathing heavily.

Song Wanyue took a sip of water and looked up at him.

"Did you run back?"

He answered calmly: "Yes, I ran a few steps."

The pain in his stomach was intermittent, not continuous. Perhaps because she drank the hot water, the pain was slightly relieved and she had the mind to care about other things.

"I'm sorry for making you worry." She felt a little guilty, and her voice was even weaker due to her illness.

The car was already waiting outside. Duan Baiting was afraid that she would be cold on the road, so he got a coat for her.

"It's my fault that I didn't take good care of you."

Song Wanyue was stunned. When she wanted to say something, Duan Baiting had already carried her out.

The driver had already gotten out of the car and opened the back door.

Song Wanyue didn't say a word along the way. It was so painful that she didn't even have the strength to speak.

Occasionally she would look up at Duan Baiting, but it was too dark in the car and she couldn't see anything clearly.

All I could hear was his slightly heavy breathing.

He is an extremely restrained and introverted person, and he does not show his emotions ostentatiously.

It is difficult to get close to such people, and even if there is a brief contact, they will quickly drift apart.

To put it bluntly, it is not easy to be sincere when interacting with him.

Because everything is mutual. Even if you give your sincerity, he may not return your sincerity.

At most, they will play around with you for the sake of the benefits they can extract from you.

Song Wanyue used to think that he was pitiful because he didn't even have a close friend.

Later, he discovered that it wasn't that others were unwilling to confide in him.

The main factor is whether he accepts it or not.

Song Wanyue admired herself for still having the mind to think about these things even at this time.

She curled up in his arms, and when the pain became unbearable, she twisted her fingers tightly around his cuffs.

Duan Baiting noticed it, lowered his head, and asked in a gentle voice: "Does it hurt a lot?"

She nodded and put her face against his chest. His shirt was soaked with tears.

Duan Baiting hugged her and said, "Be patient, we'll be at the hospital soon."

At the same time, he told the driver to drive faster.

The car arrived at the hospital, and with Duan Baiting's advance arrangement, she was admitted to the VIP ward.

We also took a special channel.

There were not many people in the emergency room at night, so the doctor gave her a rough check-up and found nothing serious, except that she had eaten something bad and had diarrhea.

I'll receive two bottles of medicine and some more prescription medication. I'll need to stay in the hospital for observation. I can leave when the pain is gone.

Song Wanyue was lying on the hospital bed, her face still looking ugly and she was sweating coldly.

Duan Baiting knew that she loved cleanliness, so he wiped it for her over and over again without getting tired of it.

"Are you thirsty? I'll get you a glass of water."

She shook her head: "No, I'm just a little hungry."

Duan Baiting covered her with a blanket: "Bear with it, you can't eat now."

Song Wanyue was dejected. The New Year was about to come, and she ended up encountering such a thing.

If my grandma knew about this, she would definitely feel sorry for her and say that this is an unlucky thing.

I have to take her to the temple to worship.

Thinking of this, Song Wanyue was extremely glad that she was not in Shanghai.

Duan Baiting went out to make a phone call and came back soon.

Song Wanyue asked him: "Do you want to go back first? Over at the

ancestral hall..." He brought a chair, put it beside the bed and sat down: "Just lie down and relax, I'm not going anywhere."

Song Wanyue hesitated: "But..."

"Close your eyes."

"Oh." She closed her eyes obediently.

After a while, he opened his eyes again and said, "I can't sleep."

I had slept all day, so how could I sleep now?

The lights in the ward were turned off, with only a desk lamp on.

It's a quiet place here. Apart from the occasional nurse who comes to check on the place, there's no one else here.

She looked at Duan Baiting who was sitting beside the bed: "Tell me stories and put me to sleep."

He paused for a moment, and it was obvious that he was not good at telling stories.

But he still nodded: "What story do you want to hear?"

Song Wanyue gradually became more and more demanding: "Any story?"

"Not necessarily, just tell me what you want to hear first."

It's really better to be sick, he will respond to any request and do whatever you ask.

Song Wanyue said, "I want to hear your stories from the past."

Duan Baiting took off his coat and casually put it on the sofa in front of him.

After hearing her words, he raised his eyes calmly: "My past story?"

Song Wanyue nodded: "My past story before you know me."

Duan Baiting briefly recalled that his life experience was not worth telling. In addition to studying, he would occasionally relieve his stress through various extreme sports.

He has skydived, raced a car, and climbed Mount Everest.

But he didn't intend to tell Song Wanyue about this. This was another side of him that was unknown to the public.

"Before I met you, I studied in the UK."

Song Wanyue said, "I know all this, tell me something I don't know."

Duan Baiting was silent for a long time.

When he spoke again, his tone was still calm: "When I was fifteen, I went to a new school. Because I was Asian, I often suffered discrimination."

Song Wanyue

's eyes were distressed: "Did they bully you?" Duan Baiting saw all her distress, and his eyes softened: "It's not bullying, they talked behind my back. They knew I was rich, and they went to my house to steal things. I was not home that day, and when I got home, I found the house was a mess."

Song Wanyue's alarm bells immediately rang, and her expression became nervous: "Did you call the police? The United States doesn't have any laws to protect minors, right? The kind that just criticizes them a few times and it's over?"

"The things that were lost are not important, so I didn't call the police. I just taught them a lesson."

"Did you beat them?"

He shook his head.

Song Wanyue frowned: "Didn't he beat me?"

Duan Baiting smiled and said, "I didn't." Just

because he didn't, doesn't mean others didn't.

At that time, Duan Baiting was always accompanied by bodyguards.

It is very common for families like his to be kidnapped and extorted.

There is also an independent security system around the manor.

The reason why they were able to succeed was Duan Baiting's idea.

According to the laws there, if you fight back after a home invasion, even if you kill someone, it falls under the category of self-defense.

Duan Baiting didn't discuss this topic with her any further.

But knowing her inquisitive nature, he lightly changed the subject to prevent her from asking further questions.

"Don't talk about me, talk about you."

"Me?" Song Wanyue paused, not knowing why she was so proud, and sat up straight, "I've had fights too."

Duan Baiting was indeed a little surprised: "When?"

"When I was in the first year of high school." When it comes to this, she has a very strong desire to express herself, "I have a female classmate whom I hate very much. She has liked to compete with me since elementary school and often says bad things about me behind my back. I really couldn't stand it, so one day I had an argument with her. She actually said that I took myself too seriously, and she also mocked me, saying that I was pretentious and thought of myself as a little princess."

She became more and more excited as she spoke, and her fists were clenched.

Duan Baiting was afraid of the needle slipping, so he loosened her clenched fist.

The things that made her so angry, in his eyes, seemed as cute as a quarrel between children.

Or maybe it's because this happened to her that it seems cute.

He asked casually: "Did you fight with that girl?"

"No, I fought with the person who said that."

This was an unexpected follow-up development.

He asked her, "Did you win the fight?"

Song Wanyue lowered her head and said dejectedly, "I didn't win. The fight didn't even start when I accidentally bumped into the table. I got a big cut and bled a lot."

The faint smile in Duan Baiting's eyes disappeared in an instant, "Where is the injury?"

Song Wanyue rolled up her sleeves, revealing the not-so-obvious scar on the inside of her forearm.

I had to get several stitches at the time, and later used various scar removal ointments, and it is no longer obvious.

A very faint small mark.

Duan Baiting stroked it gently with his fingertips: "Does it still hurt?"

She shook her head: "No, it hasn't hurt for a long time."

He lowered his eyes and said nothing, his pupils were deep.

I don't know what he was thinking about, and he didn't speak for a long time.

Perhaps because her stomach didn't hurt as much anymore, Song Wanyue's complexion returned to its rosy color.

When the pain was gone, she started laughing and talking about her past.

I participated in a summer camp organized by the school and almost drowned in the river.

When traveling to Yunnan with Shizuka, I ate uncooked wild mushrooms and started hallucinating. I thought I had gone to the underworld.

I was taken to the hospital in the middle of the night for gastric lavage and stayed in bed for half a month.

She was isolated for a period of time during her first year of high school. People said she had a distorted voice, was pretentious and a green tea girl.

She said all these things with a smile.

In the dim ward, her eyes were bright.

Duan Baiting felt as if there was a hole in his chest and wind was rushing in.

Bleak and sad, with a lingering pain.

It was strange, very strange to him.

But this strange emotion arises because of another person.

His eyes moved around, and finally he steadied his breathing and asked her softly, "Aren't you sad?"

"What's there to be sad about? Although I almost drowned, I didn't have to go to class during the days I was in the hospital. Wild mushrooms are delicious, and those hallucinations are very interesting. Besides, I hate those people who isolated me, so it's good for me to have some peace and quiet."

Her tone was light and cheerful when she talked about these things. Maybe these are all the troubles she faced during adolescence, but she doesn't feel that they are troubles at all.

Even find them interesting.

"The only thing I was afraid of at that time was growing up. Because people around me always said that they would find a marriage partner for me in advance. My aunt married someone she didn't like and lived a depressed life. I was afraid that I would be like her."

After listening to this, Duan Baiting lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Because he was the culprit who made her afraid of growing up.

Song Wanyue took his arm and rested her head on his shoulder: "But I met you. Duan Baiting, it's a good thing that I met you."

Duan Baiting stood still, feeling her breath.

He has always been good at concealing and always endures and restrains the truest side of his heart.

What does it matter whether it is true or false, real or fake?

But heartbeat can't lie.

There was nothing unusual on his face: "You were afraid of me before."

"Because you didn't like me before."

Duan Baiting lowered his eyes: "Don't like you?"

Song Wanyue counted his crimes: "You didn't even talk to me much on the day of our wedding."

He explained calmly: "You tremble when I get close to you."

"That's because you always look cold, so I'm a little scared."

She was not the only one who said this, even Xi Yang and the others always said that when he didn't smile, his expression was solemn and cold, which made people feel chilly.

He nodded: "It's my problem."

Song Wanyue seemed to have finally resolved the knot that had been bothering her for a long time.

"I wish you had met me earlier."

She suddenly sighed.

Duan Baiting glanced at the remaining amount in the infusion bag, and retracted his gaze after hearing her words: "Huh?"

She looked serious: "This way we could have met earlier, I will protect you."

He curled his lips: "You can't even win a fight, how can you protect me?"

"Although I can't win, I will definitely not swallow my anger and let it go. If you had known me earlier, someone discriminated against you, I would discriminate back. If someone stole your things, I would..." "

Steal them back?"

"No." She said weakly, "Theft is illegal. I will call the police."

"What if I'm very ugly at that time." He asked a question casually that Song Wanyue couldn't answer.

Given her obsession with looks, it is impossible for her to fall in love with someone who is ugly.

Just like at the beginning, she was willing to have a real marriage with him without any emotional basis, also because of his face.

"You can't be ugly." She tried to skip the question.

"What if?"

It was obvious that Duan Baiting wanted to hear her answer.

He didn't give her a chance to avoid the subject.

Song Wanyue couldn't lie and give him an answer that was completely impossible.

But she assured him: "If you become ugly now, I will continue to love you."

He had a blank expression and obviously didn't believe it: "Really?"

Seeing that he didn't believe her, Song Wanyue took the initiative to hold his hand and placed it on her chest to feel her heartbeat: "The throbbing of the heart can't lie. Even if you become ugly, the feeling will not disappear."

His face was calm and he gently stroked her chest.

After a moment, the feeling ended, and a mocking smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: "But your heartbeat didn't change."

Song Wanyue's cheeks flushed, and her voice softened because of shame: "Because it has been beating very fast the whole time, from the moment you sat down next to me."

-After

finishing the two bottles of medicine, Song Wanyue was almost well.

Although the doctor's advice was to stay in the hospital for observation, she didn't want to spend the New Year in the hospital, so she pestered Duan Baiting to be discharged.

He couldn't persuade her, and even less could he resist her pitiful behavior of nestling in his arms and acting coquettishly.

He did not return to the courtyard, but returned home.

The kitchen was preparing the New Year's Eve dinner, even though there were only Duan Baiting and Song Wanyue at home.

But the preparation of this meal is still very tedious and complicated.

Alaskan king crab and bluefin tuna flown in this morning.

Song Wanyue went to take a bath.

Lying in the bathtub after a long absence, I feel that home is the best place.

Although the location of the courtyard makes it worth a fortune.

But compared to there, Song Wanyue likes this manor better.

When she first got married, she often heard rumors. It is said that this manor was specially prepared by Duan Baiting for his young wife.

Specially used to hide a beautiful woman in a golden house.

Those people said this with some malicious ridicule, but Song Wanyue was not angry at all.

Anyway, the beauty hidden in the golden house is her.

Because it was the first New Year's Eve dinner away from home, Song's father, who missed his daughter so much, made a video call to her who was far away in the north city.

Song Wanyue thought the screen of her mobile phone was too small, so she projected the screen onto the TV.

110-inch full screen.

Obviously, the opposite side is also like this, with a wide-angle camera, the whole family can be in the frame.

It was a rare occasion for everyone to get together this year, but Song Wanyue was the only one missing.

Several uncles, aunts, and cousins ​​also came back from abroad.

The eldest cousin apologized in a gentle voice: "You couldn't make it back on your wedding day, so I prepared a special gift for you to apologize."

He is ten years older than Song Wanyue and has loved her since childhood. After graduation, I went to work abroad.

Haven't been back for several years.

Because of this, Song Wanyue was angry with him for a while and refused to reply to his messages.

Later, he made several phone calls a day for more than a month before he finally coaxed the person into calming down.

Song Wanyue was very magnanimous: "Since you have a good attitude in admitting your mistake, I'll reluctantly forgive you."

The screen was so small that the cousin forced his way into the frame and squeezed to the front: "Since you are not here this year, I'll collect your red envelope for you."

Song Wanyue looked aggrieved and went to complain to her grandmother.

Grandma twisted her cousin's ear and drove him out of the camera, then told Song Wanyue with a doting smile: "Grandma is keeping all your red envelopes with you. Yours is the biggest this year."

The cousin complained to her grandma about being partial, saying that Sister Wanyue still got red envelopes even though she was married.

My aunt said, "Your sister Wanyue is the only girl in the family. She has been treated like a treasure since she was young. Even after she gets married, she will still be the treasure of the Song family."

The family has always been lively and the family is quite prosperous.

But across several generations, only one girl, Song Wanyue, was born.

This is also the origin of her spoiled character.

She was treated like a baby since she was young. No one dared to scold or hit her. Even if she made a mistake, she was only criticized verbally.

Also pay attention to the volume, it can't be too loud.

Halfway through the call, Song Wanyue wanted to go to the bathroom again.

Although the diarrhea symptoms have been alleviated, they have not been completely relieved.

She simply said, "I'm going to the bathroom first, wait for me."

When Duan Baiting came down, there was no one in the living room. Song Wanyue had gone somewhere, and the TV was on.

He came to pick up his cell phone because there was a problem with a project and he needed to remind the person in charge to follow up.

The call had just been made, and during the few seconds he was waiting for the other party to pick up, he keenly sensed that something was wrong.

Look up calmly.

On the huge LCD screen, people in the living room were looking at him.