The painkillers and sanitary pads were quickly delivered. Qi Chenyan hesitated for half a second before deciding to give her the medicine first.
He poured hot water, then sat back down on the edge of the bed, lifting the girl curled into a ball and cradling her in his arms.
Qi Chenyan brought the pill to her lips. “Xingxing, take the medicine quickly.”
Shi Xing didn’t open her mouth. She was already dazed from the pain, drifting in and out of consciousness.
Qi Chenyan’s brow furrowed tightly. Honestly, he was almost in pain himself.
Not daring to delay any longer, he placed the pill in his own mouth, leaned down, and pressed his lips to hers.
His tongue gently traced the seam of her lips, trying to coax her to relax.
With one hand supporting her waist to keep her from falling, he used the other to gently pinch her jaw, applying slight pressure to part her lips.
Then, he quickly slipped the pill into her mouth and withdrew.
Next, he took a sip of water from the cup and pressed his lips to hers again, feeding her the water.
After repeating this several times, worried that she hadn’t swallowed the pill, he finally let his tongue slip between her lips, exploring slowly.
He didn’t find the pill, only the soft, smooth surface of her tongue.
He paused. The moment he touched her, it felt as if even the pain had eased slightly, replaced by a tingling numbness that overshadowed everything else.
Perhaps she felt the same?
So he didn’t pull away immediately. Instead, he cupped her cheek, gently sucking and teasing her tongue for a while. Only when he heard a soft whimper escape her throat did he release her and slowly withdraw.
She had swallowed the pill. After being kissed for a while, her previously pale lips now carried a hint of moist pink.
But Qi Chenyan could still feel the sharp pain in his lower abdomen.
Her delicate brow remained furrowed, her beautiful face twisted in discomfort. The moment he let go, she whimpered, “It hurts.”
Tears, forced out by the pain, slid from the corners of her eyes. Qi Chenyan pressed his palm to her cheek, damp with cold sweat and tears, gently stroking it as his heart tightened.
He whispered soothingly, “Be good. The medicine will work soon, and it won’t hurt anymore. Don’t be afraid.”
He wasn’t sure if she heard him, but she tilted her head slightly, nuzzling her cheek against his palm as he stroked her.
Utterly obedient.
Qi Chenyan held her tighter with one arm, resting his chin on the top of her head as he closed his eyes and sighed softly.
A few minutes later, when the pain in his lower abdomen had subsided somewhat, he loosened his hold slightly and looked down at her still-pale face. “Feeling better, baby?”
“Mhm.”
Shi Xing had regained some clarity and responded softly.
Qi Chenyan hesitated. “Should I carry you to the bathroom to clean up?”
Shi Xing shook her head slowly. “I’ll do it myself.”
“Then let me carry you in?”
After a moment’s thought, Qi Chenyan didn’t insist on helping her wash. After all, she was probably too shy for that.
“Mhm.”
Shi Xing didn’t refuse. Qi Chenyan lifted her and carried her to the bathroom, setting her down in the shower area. Still concerned, he asked, “Can you stand steady?”
Shi Xing wrapped her arms around his waist, weak but nodding. “Yes.”
As she spoke, she finally opened her eyes, her gaze damp as she looked up at him.
Qi Chenyan cupped her face, looking down to meet her eyes, his gaze soft. “Call me if you need anything.”
Then he reminded her, “Don’t take too long. You probably shouldn’t shower for too long right now.”
She nodded to everything he said. Finally, Qi Chenyan reluctantly let her go and turned to leave the bathroom.
As he turned away, Shi Xing noticed the bloodstains on his clothes.She bit her lip and blinked, waiting until the bathroom door closed before leaning against the shower wall, covering her face with her hands, her heart still heavy.
While asleep, she had a dream—a memory from her past life, when he forced her to abort their child.
It was their child, conceived on their first night together.
But he said that since both of them had been drugged at the time, the child might not be healthy and couldn’t be kept.
Back then, Shi Xing truly felt a sense of despair.
By the time she found out she was pregnant, she had already been entangled with him for nearly two months.
She had slowly begun to accept him and gradually realized she hadn’t actually hated him as much as she thought. When she learned about the child, she was happy.
She felt as though everything could start anew.
Maybe being with him wasn’t so bad after all.
But he didn’t want that child.
Although her rational mind told her he wasn’t wrong—the drugs could have affected the baby, and if the child were born with problems, they would both suffer immensely.
Emotionally, however, she couldn’t accept it at the time.
After all, she already doubted his feelings for her.
She cried and begged him not to harm her child, but he simply held her, repeating, “Be good.”
“Xingxing, be good. This child can’t stay.”
“We’ll have more children in the future, my dear. Please, just listen to me, okay?”
In the end, Shi Xing still lay on the operating table. Just before the anesthesia was administered, she stared at the blindingly bright lights on the ceiling, tears falling in large, heavy drops.
At that moment, she thought, there would be no more children.
She would never have a child with him again.
She didn’t want it anymore.
In her dream just now, she relived that scene. She even dreamed of lying on the operating table, watching Qi Chenyan plunge a cold knife into her abdomen, the pain tearing her apart.
Then she woke up, but she truly felt a pain in her lower abdomen—an unbearable ache.
Shi Xing took off her clothes, turned on the hot water, and slowly washed away the sweat and blood. When her palm brushed her abdomen, she felt a moment of disorientation.
That lost child… she wondered when it would return…
Qi Chenyan also went to another bathroom to wash up and change his clothes. When he returned to the bedroom and saw the bloodstains on the bed, his brow twitched violently.
Even now, though the pain wasn’t as unbearable, it still lingered, a dull, persistent ache.
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he stripped the bloodstained bedding and tossed the soiled items into the living room for someone to collect later.
As he did this, he recalled the two things she had mumbled in her pain-induced haze.
“Don’t hurt him…”
“My child, please…”
Qi Chenyan’s breath caught painfully, a nagging sense that something was off.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out what exactly was wrong.
If He Sheng wasn’t the one, then if Shi Xing had ever been pregnant, whose child could it have been?
The child wasn’t kept—it sounded like someone had forced her to abort it?
Lost in these chaotic thoughts, he finished changing the bedding just as the bathroom door opened.
He turned and saw Shi Xing emerge, looking utterly drained. He hurried over and picked her up. “How are you feeling? Any better?”
Though he could sense her condition, he still cared more about how she felt.
Shi Xing wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head weakly against his shoulder. “Much better.”
Qi Chenyan carried her back to the bed, sitting down with her in his lap. Gently stroking her hair, he frowned and asked, “Does it hurt this much every time?”
“Not always…”Shi Xing shook her head, “It wasn’t this painful before.”
She didn’t know why it hurt so much this time.
Qi Chenyan’s brow furrowed deeply, “Then we should still go to the hospital to get it checked.”
Shi Xing nodded, having no objections. She cared about her own health as well.
Qi Chenyan had someone prepare the car, carried her out of the hotel, and they headed to the hospital.
In the car, she rested quietly in his arms.
Holding her, Qi Chenyan’s mind was in turmoil.
After a long silence, sensing that her stomach wasn’t hurting as much now, his suppressed doubts became uncontrollable. He asked her softly, “Xingxing, I have a question for you.”
Only then did Shi Xing turn her head to look at him, “What question?”
Qi Chenyan’s gaze flickered, his palm slowly moving to her lower abdomen, pressing warmly against her as he gently massaged.
“You…”
He hesitated for a moment, organizing his words, but ultimately chose the most direct approach, “Have you been pregnant before?”
Shi Xing was stunned, “How did you…”
At this point, realizing she had revealed something, she suddenly bit her lip, her eyes darting rapidly, even lowering her gaze, unable to look at him.
Qi Chenyan’s heart sank heavily.
It was actually true.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, his breath tightening, “Who is the child’s father?”
At that moment, Qi Chenyan thought he could ask this question calmly, but as he spoke, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth slightly, carrying an indescribable anger and pain: “Who is the man who hurt you, forced you to abort the child?”
Who exactly is that wild man who had her, hurt her, and didn’t cherish her!