They say that when facing death, the last sense to fade is hearing. Li Yue didn’t know if he was dying, but right now, he could only rely on his hearing.
His consciousness was already somewhat blurred. He felt dizzy, weak, and desperately nauseous, momentarily unsure of where he was or what state he was in.
Then he heard a familiar voice—filled with anger, agitation, and indignation.
In truth, he had hardly ever exchanged more than a few proper words with Qin Yuan, yet he easily recognized her voice now.
Perhaps due to her unsettled emotions, her voice wasn’t particularly clear or bright, but to Li Yue, it sounded as pleasant as ice-cold spring water falling into a lake, as if it could dissolve the restlessness and thirst consuming his entire body.
Like a lone traveler in the desert finally catching a cool breeze, he knew an oasis lay ahead.
Li Yue heard his own name. She said that if anything happened to him, she wouldn’t let the culprit get away.
She asked where he was.
Driven by the instinct to survive, Li Yue wanted her to find him. He strained to lift his head and looked toward the source of the voice.
His vision was hazy, and the sunlight was too intense. He could only make out a backlit silhouette, dazzling and radiant.
It really was Qin Yuan.
When Qin Yuan turned and saw Li Yue’s condition, for a moment, she genuinely wanted to call the police.
During their first encounter, although he had been leaning in a filthy alley, covered in blood, his gaze had still held stubbornness and the fierce will to survive against all odds.
Even though he had been full of hostility toward her that day, Qin Yuan had never doubted that this person would one day reach the pinnacle and achieve great success.
But today, that promise of a glorious future was nowhere to be seen in Li Yue.
This time, it couldn’t even be described as mere dishevelment. Li Yue’s face was pale; high fever and dehydration had hollowed his cheeks and eye sockets, and his lips were cracked. Though he was looking in her direction, his eyes were unfocused, his consciousness seemingly scattered.
Miserable and pitiful.
Qin Yuan couldn’t bear to look too closely. Noticing the handcuffs on his wrists, she turned and demanded sharply, “Where’s the key?”
The group behind her stood frozen. Qin Yuan almost wanted to slap each of them again to snap them out of it. She waved her open palm in front of Zhu Yunle’s eyes. “The handcuff key! Are you waiting to use it yourself at the police station?!”
“Oh, oh, right here, right here.” A flustered lackey scrambled to pull out the key and handed it to Qin Yuan. Finally, as if regaining their senses, the group, under Qin Jie’s barely restrained reminder, half-coaxed, half-pushed Zhu Yunle and Guan Youyi away.
Qin Yuan: “Get lost before anyone notices!”
Before heading downstairs, Guan Youyi glanced back unwillingly and saw Qin Yuan striding to the Equipment Room door, personally unlocking Li Yue’s handcuffs. She bit the inside of her cheek in resentment.
It was impossible not to feel fear. Li Yue’s complexion looked truly terrible. Qin Yuan’s fingers trembled slightly as she held the key, fumbling several times before aligning it with the lock and opening the handcuffs.
Without the upward pull, Li Yue immediately slumped to the side. Qin Yuan was startled and instinctively bent down to support his shoulders.
She felt like she was grasping a handful of bones.
Although she had always been forced to stand opposite the male lead as the “Vicious female supporting character,” Qin Yuan couldn’t help but resent the plot at this moment.
Did it really have to push someone to the brink of death? Even a beautiful, strong, and tragic character shouldn’t be made to suffer this much, right?
“Li Yue? Can you hear me?” Qin Yuan crouched beside Li Yue and called out twice. When she saw him close his eyes again, she felt her own vision darken, nearly frantic with worry.
Li Yue gave an almost imperceptible nod, his eyelashes fluttering, his voice hoarse like two rough sheets of sandpaper. “Mm.”
At least he was still conscious. Qin Yuan finally felt a slight sense of relief. She glanced up at the scorching weather and decided to first help him move to the shaded area near the stairwell.
However, although Li Yue wasn’t particularly robust now, as a future CEO-in-training, his height and bone structure were fully developed. At this moment, he had no strength left in his body, resembling a tall medical skeleton model. Relying solely on Qin Yuan to move him was too difficult.
In the past, she had schemed to get close to the male lead. Now that she could physically get close, Qin Yuan felt like tossing him aside like a sack.
After pulling and tugging without moving him even 50 centimeters, and instead hurting her hands and shoulders against his bones, Qin Yuan gave up. She simply let him lean against the door and stood in front of him to block the sun for Li Yue.
How could there be such a kind-hearted vicious female supporting character like me in the world? Qin Yuan wiped the sweat from her temple and took out her phone to call for help.
“Uncle Wu, I’m on the rooftop of the Laboratory Building. Come pick someone up. The elevator is out of order—take the fire escape through the back door.”
“I’m fine, it’s a classmate… Yes, that boy from last time… His leg isn’t broken, it’s fine, but he can’t walk. I can’t lift him up.”
“Hurry, hurry. We need to get to the hospital quickly.”
Li Yue heard her making the call and looked up at her.
She swept the hair that had fallen to her chest back behind her, then unconsciously tugged at a strand, rubbing the ends back and forth.
This was a small, unconscious habit she had when thinking or feeling anxious—something Li Yue had noticed after observing her from the back of the classroom for a month.
Her gaze shifted back and forth, but she never looked down at Li Yue, so for the first time, Li Yue could observe her up close.
This time, he finally got a clear look at her face. Her delicate brows were furrowed, her eyes half-squinted from the sun, one hand resting on her hip. She was slender, and it was these thin shoulders that shielded him from the heat, casting a patch of cool shade.
Fortunately, Uncle Wu, who had driven Qin Yuan to school, was still waiting at the school gate. He arrived quickly. When he reached the rooftop and saw his young lady and Li Yue lying on the ground, he visibly paused in his steps.
Qin Yuan had been worried that Uncle Wu would ask questions upon seeing this situation—she wasn’t prepared with an explanation yet.
But Uncle Wu simply called out “Young lady,” then without another word, stepped forward and hoisted Li Yue onto his back, heading toward the stairs.
Qin Yuan, trailing two steps behind, let out a long sigh of relief. As expected of a driver from a wealthy family—he’d surely seen it all.
This was the second time Li Yue had ridden in the Qin Family’s car, and both times were to the hospital.
Although neither incident was her fault, Qin Yuan felt inexplicably guilty. At this rate, their family car was practically becoming Li Yue’s personal ambulance.
She found two bottles of water in the car’s fridge, then remembered that after dehydration, the body loses a significant amount of electrolytes and shouldn’t drink large amounts of plain water directly. She reluctantly handed the water bottle to Li Yue, letting him hold it to cool down.
After getting into the car, she only urged Uncle Wu once to drive faster, then fell into a prolonged silence.
Although she and Li Yue sat side by side in the back seat, Qin Yuan kept her distance, pressing herself against the inner side of the car door, shrinking away as if she were an outsider in her own family’s car.
No one spoke in the car. Li Yue tilted his head to glance at her.
Miss Qin rarely had moments of such panic. She had always been refined and arrogant, forever looking down from above, only accepting the admiring gazes of others.
But now, after getting into the car, Qin Yuan had been nervously twisting her hair. Her clothes and the outer side of her forearm were stained with dust, likely from trying to lift herself up on the roof of the Laboratory Building. It completely shattered her usual haughty image.
Even if he didn’t want to believe it, Li Yue had to admit that she had truly changed a lot.
During physical education class, Wu Zhuoyuan’s joking words now echoed in Li Yue’s ears again—
“She even protected you!”
Looking back now, Qin Yuan had indeed stood on his side several times recently.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, Qin Yuan, who had been staring out the car window, turned her head and briefly met Li Yue’s eyes.
Li Yue didn’t know how to describe her expression. There was no hatred or disgust, no fear or pity, only an indescribable… sorrow?
After arriving at the hospital, as the only adult present, Uncle Wu was once again responsible for handling everything and bore the hidden accusations in the doctor’s words.
“How could you let a child end up like this? He’s already moderately dehydrated. If he had waited two more hours, it would have become severe dehydration. If it had developed into heatstroke, he really wouldn’t have made it!”
Qin Yuan followed behind, her heart pounding with fear.
After paying the fees, Uncle Wu returned with a stack of receipts and found his young mistress still leaning against the wall in the hospital corridor, her hands behind her back, head lowered as if lost in thought.
Beside her was Li Yue’s ward, the door open, but she seemed to have no intention of entering.
Uncle Wu didn’t know what relationship the boy had with his young mistress. His experience as a working man told him it was best not to ask too many questions. He tentatively stepped forward and asked her, “Should we go home now or wait a while?”
“Let’s wait a while.” Qin Yuan took a deep breath and finally turned to enter Li Yue’s ward.
It was a double room, but only Li Yue’s bed was occupied. When Qin Yuan entered, he was resting with his eyes closed, turning his head only when he heard footsteps.
The only sound in the room was the steady drip of the IV, making the silence between them even more pronounced.
Qin Yuan truly felt powerless.
Not only could she not escape this elusive fate of her role, but even Li Yue, the male lead, couldn’t avoid it. Even without a broken leg, this bout of severe dehydration had landed him in a hospital bed.
After a long while, Qin Yuan carefully spoke up, “The doctor said it’s best to stay in the hospital for observation for five days. Depending on the situation, it might be extended to a week. Should I help notify your family?”
Li Yue’s voice was still a bit hoarse but steady. “No need.”
Another subtle silence followed.
“I’ll cover the medical expenses.” Qin Yuan spoke these words softly, clearly conflicted.
In his early days, Li Yue’s life had been too difficult. When someone is poor, even hearing about money feels tied to their dignity, especially when a wealthy person brings it up.
Qin Yuan broached the topic with him cautiously, afraid that the male lead would think she was trying to insult him again.
“Thank you.”
Huh? What did he say?
Qin Yuan blinked, not expecting him to accept so smoothly. She never thought in her life that Li Yue would say “thank you” to her, the vicious female supporting character. For a moment, she thought she had misheard.
“…Consider it as something I owed you from before.” Qin Yuan murmured, her gaze fixed on the slow drip of the IV fluid.
They had never spoken so calmly before. Perhaps sensing her hesitation, Li Yue took the initiative to ask, “Is there anything else you want to say?”
His intention was simply to find out why Qin Yuan was lingering—there was no need for such meaningless conversation between them. Yet, the words came out sounding almost accusatory.
Qin Yuan paused for a moment, understanding dawning on her. Caring for the male lead was her original sin as the vicious female supporting character. Instantly, she changed her tone. “Once you recover, you should exercise a bit. It won’t do for someone so young to be this weak.”
“Your bones are only good for maintaining your human shape and poking me. At least make sure you can fight back when someone tries to bully you.”
Li Yue: …
Author’s Note:
Official Statement:
Li Yue is not weak.