Liu Siyin slept badly. She spent the entire night worrying whether Yin Man was angry.
It was only in the morning, when Yin Man woke up, that she noticed the haggard look on her face and asked, “Did you not sleep well?”
It was not that she had slept badly, she simply had not slept at all.
Yin Man’s attitude was now almost Liu Siyin’s only hope, her only support. Yin Man let out a helpless sigh. “Your injuries are not even healed, and you still are not resting well. How long are you supposed to keep recovering like this?”
She muttered it casually, and Liu Siyin, sensitive as she was, immediately pricked up her ears. Worried that Yin Man disliked her for being too fragile, she said softly, “I can be discharged, really.”
“That is not up to you. It is up to the doctor.” Yin Man pinched her small hand. “How about I tell you two more stories?”
Liu Siyin asked carefully, “Sister Man, are you not angry anymore?”
Angry?
Yin Man was stumped by the question. When had she ever been angry? Her thoughts immediately went back to last night, and her expression turned troubled. How should she tell Liu Siyin? She really had not been angry.
She had a very good temper.
Before she could properly explain, the hospital room door was pushed open, and Yin Zhe strode in on his very straight, long legs. “Manman, I have something to tell you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he had already reached the bedside and picked Yin Man up. Feeling the slight resistance, Yin Zhe’s gaze fell on Liu Siyin’s hand, which was gripping Yin Man’s hand tightly. “Let go!”
Terrified, Liu Siyin slowly loosened her grip bit by bit. Yin Man could not bear to watch. “Brother, don’t be so fierce to her.”
With a cold face, Yin Zhe placed Yin Man on the wheelchair and was about to push her out. Yin Man hurriedly said, “She is afraid of the dark. Find someone to stay with her first, then I will go with you.”
Though Yin Zhe did not understand, he still called someone over.
He pushed Yin Man out of the hospital room. The weather was nice, with a deep blue sky and clean white clouds.
Yin Man’s attention was drawn to the roses on the branches, and Yin Zhe suddenly said, “So you really have fallen for her. You never used to speak to me like this.”
It did seem that way.
She seemed to be controlling this body well now. She hoped it was not just her illusion.
Yin Man gave Yin Zhe a faint smile, and Yin Zhe was a little dazed. That clean smile made him think of many years ago, before their mother had passed away. Back then, although Yin Man’s legs were disabled, she had not been this extreme yet. She would sometimes show a little-girl demeanor. It was something he had not seen for many years.
Was this change because of Liu Siyin?
Yin Zhe shook his head lightly. “Manman, she is not good enough for you.”
Yin Man did not argue with Yin Zhe on this issue. She asked, “Brother, did you not come looking for me because you had something to say?”
That little interruption had muddled his thoughts. Yin Zhe finally remembered the real reason he had come. “Dad still wants to arrange another marriage for Yin Youxia. I want to ask if you have anyone you want to force on her.”
Unexpectedly, she was no longer causing trouble for Yin Youxia, and there was also Yin Nanbai.
“Dad should know Youxia is longing for freedom.” A faint smile appeared at the corner of Yin Zhe’s mouth as he said regretfully, “He does like Yin Youxia, but he likes power and money even more. Manman, he has set his sights on Jiang Yan.”
Yin Nanbai was only in his forties, and having his power stripped away by his son was naturally something he could not accept.
Over the years, he had tried more than once to pull Yin Zhe down.
“Would Wang Gu agree?”
“Jiang Yan has a cousin too. She is not as pretty as Jiang Yan, but her temper is much better than Jiang Yan’s, and she is also easier to handle, and…” She already understood. Anyway, to Wang Gu, it was just a marriage alliance. Whether it was the elder sister or the younger sister did not matter.
Yin Man helplessly curled her lips. “I have no objections, do whatever you want.”
“That does not sound like you.” If it were the original host, what would she do? Find Yin Youxia an even worse marriage, just like the book described. After Liu Siyin died, Yin Man found Yin Youxia an even worse woman, forced her to marry, then step by step pushed her toward Mei Xuying.
Yin Man did not have the spirit of helping others. Using Yin Youxia’s hatred for her to bring about Yin Youxia’s match with Mei Xuying was more like her style.
How they were going to hook up was their business, as long as they did not keep wandering around in front of her.
Besides, Liu Siyin was a character who was killed in the original novel. She could save her now, but what if one day she died again just to push forward the main plot romance?
It was better to cherish life and stay away from the female lead.
“It is not like I am the one getting married. Why should I worry about this? Right now, I only care about when Siyin can be discharged.” Yin Zhe could not help asking, “Is she really that good?”
“She is pretty good. She is beautiful. Anyone who is not blind knows Liu Siyin is beautiful.”
He was not asking whether she was pretty. Yin Man seemed to have misunderstood him. In truth, Liu Siyin was not bad either, at least much better than Yin Man’s former hobbies.
He was not pitying those women. It was just that more than once, when Yin Man tortured other people, she ended up hurting herself too.
Yin Man had self-harm tendencies, and the crazier she got, the worse it became.
He was worried about Yin Man. If Liu Siyin could make Yin Man more normal, he might even be grateful to Liu Siyin.
They ran into Jiang Yan on the way back to the hospital room. Wearing a white coat and a ponytail, the neat female doctor blocked their way. Yin Man slightly lifted her eyes. “What is it?”
Jiang Yan glanced at Yin Zhe, then looked at Yin Man. “Yesterday your fiancée asked me for a bottle of sleeping pills, did you know?”
“Mm, I already confiscated them.” Jiang Yan let out a breath. The more she thought about it after going back last night, the more she regretted it. She was a doctor. She should save the dying and heal the wounded, not harm people. She knew Liu Siyin had thoughts of dying, and still gave her sleeping pills. That was her fault. She had hesitated over and over before deciding to ask Yin Man.
After easing up, Jiang Yan asked again, “She cannot sleep. Why do you not care at all?”
“Who told you I do not care? If she cannot sleep, I will coax her myself. She does not need medicine.” Her brows and eyes were gentle. When she mentioned Liu Siyin, her eyes were full of tenderness. That kind of indulgence from the heart could not be hidden at all, it was plain for anyone to see.
Jiang Yan’s gaze fell heavily on her. Naturally, she did not miss the look in her eyes. Her breathing grew heavy. “You can even tell stories.”
“I just learned. She is the first listener.” Jiang Yan’s expression also grew colder and colder, those beautiful eyes seeming to have flames burning in them.
Yin Zhe ignored Jiang Yan and pushed Yin Man’s wheelchair forward. “How much longer are you going to stay in the hospital with Liu Siyin?”
“Of course until she gets better.” Even when mentioning Liu Siyin, her gaze was gentle and lingering, as if she were no longer that arrogant, ruthless person.
That blinding scene before her hurt Jiang Yan.
A part of Jiang Yan’s painful memories surged back, back to the last day she had been Yin Man’s private doctor. Yin Man and Yin Zhe were indeed a marriage alliance that everyone in the circle wanted, and the Jiang family wanted it too. She had been forced to become Yin Man’s private doctor, and also forced to use the convenience of her position to seduce Yin Man. But in the end, she was only shoved away by Yin Man and fell heavily to the floor at her feet.
She still could not forget that day. Yin Man had looked down at her with contempt. “You do not really think I had you become my private doctor because I was interested in you, do you, Jiang Yan? Trying to climb into my bed, do you deserve it?”
Originally, it was not a big deal. There were many people in the circle whom Yin Man had humiliated. Most simply treated it like a gust in their ears, and let it blow past. Yin Man had rejected her, but she had also rejected others. She never slept with anyone. She was simply addicted to torturing pairs of beautiful legs.
But Liu Siyin changed all of that. That woman, who had originally been disliked everywhere by the Yin family’s eldest miss, suddenly became her darling.
Could it be that she was not even as good as an illegitimate daughter!
“Ah!” After Yin Man was pushed away by Yin Zhe, Jiang Yan finally could not restrain herself and shouted loudly. Her emotions collapsed bit by bit. A hand then rested on her back, and a gentle, affectionate voice said, “What is wrong?”
Jiang Yan looked up and saw a gentle face, Mei Xuying.
Her gaze darkened. She was always the one who lost. Jiang Yan’s voice was low. “Xuying, Yin Man seems to really have fallen for that Liu Siyin.”
“Unwilling to accept it?” Mei Xuying asked.
“I just think Liu Siyin is not worthy at all.” Mei Xuying smiled and said, “She is an illegitimate daughter, you are a young lady from an eminent family. You could not get close to Yin Man, but she did. Do you feel you cannot save face?”
“I cannot even compare to an illegitimate daughter!” Jiang Yan admitted generously, but Mei Xuying frowned slightly. “Yan Yan, I really do not like the term illegitimate daughter.”
She was also an illegitimate daughter, only she had been much luckier than Liu Siyin. Mei Xuying had been brought back to the Mei family when she was very young, and had always grown up as the Mei family’s eldest miss. Very few people knew that she was an illegitimate daughter.
And Jiang Yan was one of the few.
Jiang Yan saw that Mei Xuying was a little unhappy, so she moved closer to her. Reflected in her eyes was Mei Xuying’s figure. Her hand hooked onto the collar of Mei Xuying’s shirt. “Let me apologize to you, okay?”
Mei Xuying looked at Jiang Yan with a smile. “Then how do you want to make it up to me?”
Mei Xuying’s eyes curved, her eyelashes long. Those long lashes seemed to itch at the heart. Jiang Yan’s gaze became a little strange. “Xuying, stop entangling yourself with Jiang Wan, okay? I am prettier than her, and I love you more than her, right?”
Mei Xuying lowered her eyes and glanced at Jiang Yan, meeting her lonely eyes. “You are going to get engaged to Youxia, right? Then after that, we will be relatives too.”
Jiang Yan leaned against Mei Xuying’s chest. “I do not want to be relatives with you.”
Jiang Yan’s fingers were a little stiff. Mei Xuying really felt wonderful to hold. She was soft, as if without bones, and so soft she seemed able to melt her own cold, hard heart. It was a pity that Mei Xuying’s heart was not this soft. If she had not been humiliated by Yin Man, and if she had not gone abroad to pursue further studies in an escape-like manner, she would not have met Mei Xuying and then parted from her in a foreign country.
When they met again, she was already entangled with Jiang Wan, and as for a cousin’s husband, she did not acknowledge him.
She and Yin Man were indeed cousins. Jiang Yan could not get Yin Man, and could not get Mei Xuying either. Fortunately, Jiang Wan could not possess Mei Xuying forever either. Jiang Wan was also going to be engaged. She could not accept people who were everywhere inferior to herself getting the person she could not get, just like Liu Siyin.
Jiang Yan’s gaze gradually turned cold, but Mei Xuying smiled and stroked her from her forehead all the way to her thin lips, pausing there, her gaze slowly examining Jiang Yan’s face, her eyes carrying an unreadable meaning. “Yan Yan, Youxia’s cousin has a much simpler mind than Wang Gu.”
Author’s Note:
Thank you to everyone who gave me monthly tickets or nutrient solution between 2022-04-14 10:20:39 and 2022-04-19 09:35:35.
Special thanks to the little angels who gave nutrient solution: Xiaolaishuanglinzui, Youzhemeihuangxie, Xianyun xiaoyehu, 1 bottle;
Thank you all very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!