Cheng Ye and Ning Mingyuan were admitted to the same hospital.
After Cheng Ye was rushed into the emergency room, there was no family waiting by his side.
Ning Zhiyuan arranged for someone to remain outside in case signatures were needed during the operation. Once everything was settled, she headed upstairs to the ward.
The butler’s eyes reddened the moment he saw her.
His knees bent as he prepared to kneel.
“Miss, it’s all my fault. I failed to keep an eye on the Bai family mother and daughter. That’s why Madam’s keepsake was stolen. I’ve failed the master, failed you, and failed the trust the Ning family placed in me…”
Ning Zhiyuan quickly stepped forward and helped him up.
“This isn’t your fault.”
The old butler wiped away tears as guilt consumed him.
“How’s my father?”
“The master keeps saying he doesn’t care, but he’s been crying under the blanket when no one’s looking. He only just managed to fall asleep…”
Ning Zhiyuan quietly opened the door and looked inside.
Ning Mingyuan lay asleep on the hospital bed.
His brows were tightly furrowed, and his face looked exhausted and worn.
Unable to bear disturbing him, she gently closed the door again.
She had already warned him not to get involved with Bai Cuilan and Bai Xiaoxiao anymore.
How had things still ended up like this?
“What exactly happened? Why did you let them move back into the house?”
The butler remained silent for a long moment before answering.
“That day, the master encountered Bai Xiaoxiao waiting outside the house. She was extremely emotional, crying about your years of friendship and saying she wanted to apologize to you. The master was afraid she might do something foolish, and that you would…”
He paused and glanced at her guiltily.
“So he brought them back.”
A sharp pain spread through Ning Zhiyuan’s chest.
In the end, all of this had happened because of her.
For years, she had treasured Bai Cuilan and Bai Xiaoxiao like family.
Ning Mingyuan had witnessed everything.
How could he simply believe she had truly cut them off after only a few harsh words?
When the Bai mother and daughter used their lives as leverage, Ning Mingyuan hadn’t been worried about them.
He had been worried about her.
Worried she would regret it for the rest of her life if something happened to them.
He hadn’t dared gamble on that possibility.
That’s why he secretly brought them back.
“You’re here?”
A cold voice suddenly interrupted.
“The Ning family doesn’t welcome you. Leave immediately.”
Pei Jin had appeared out of nowhere.
No one knew how long he had been waiting.
The butler’s expression hardened as he moved to drive away the unwelcome guest.
“You’re just a butler. Since when is it your place to speak? I need to talk to your young miss. Get out of the way.”
The butler refused.
Pei Jin shoved him aside and grabbed Ning Zhiyuan’s arm, dragging her toward the hallway.
Not wanting to wake Ning Mingyuan with a commotion, she signaled to the butler with her eyes and followed without much resistance.
Still worried, the butler immediately sent two bodyguards after them.
From a distance, however, the scene looked completely different.
Assistant Qi frowned.
“That’s strange. Pei Jin came alone. How did he manage to take Miss Ning away so easily? Unless…”
Unless she went with him willingly.
The moment the words left his mouth, Shen Li shot him a cold glance.
Assistant Qi instantly fell silent.
After moving beyond the range of the security cameras, Pei Jin finally released Ning Zhiyuan’s arm.
Bai Xiaoxiao was already waiting nearby.
She opened her mouth to greet her, only to realize Ning Zhiyuan was treating her as if she didn’t exist.
Embarrassed, she shut her mouth again.
Pei Jin got straight to the point.
“Yuanyuan, I came to visit Uncle Ning, but he refused to see me. So I had no choice but to wait here for you. Though you arrived later than I expected.”
Ning Zhiyuan rubbed her sore wrist.
“What exactly do you want?”
Avoiding her gaze, Pei Jin said bluntly,
“Tell Uncle Ning to restore the partnership with the Pei Corporation. Leave Shen Li and come back to me. Then everything can go back to how it was before.”
After the brooch was stolen, Ning Mingyuan had chosen to terminate the partnership with the Pei Corporation even at the cost of mutual losses.
The project had been Pei Jin’s responsibility from the beginning.
Now it had reached a critical stage.
If it collapsed, the board members waiting to judge his performance would never let him off easily.
Ning Zhiyuan sneered.
“Why is there suddenly another condition?”
A trace of warning entered Pei Jin’s voice.
“Yuanyuan, don’t forget. The brooch is in my hands now. You’d better do as I say.”
“How do I know it’s really with you?”
“You know perfectly well Xiaoxiao took it from the Ning family and gave it to me. Why ask something you already know?”
“Oh.”
Ning Zhiyuan nodded.
“So Bai Xiaoxiao stole it.”
Standing in the corner and being ignored until now, Bai Xiaoxiao immediately burst into tears.
“Brother Pei Jin, how can Yuanyuan say that about me? I only did it for the sake of your relationship…”
Pei Jin pulled her into his arms protectively.
“Don’t cry, Xiaoxiao.”
Watching the two of them perform their act together made Ning Zhiyuan’s head ache.
Yet Bai Xiaoxiao wasn’t finished.
“Are you going to visit Uncle Ning? If so, tell him not to get so angry at his age. It’s bad for his health. I only borrowed the brooch. I’ll return it sooner or later…”
Ning Zhiyuan hadn’t even settled the score yet.
The fact that Bai Xiaoxiao still had the nerve to speak was unbelievable.
Without hesitation, she yanked Bai Xiaoxiao out of Pei Jin’s arms and slapped her across the face.
The force turned Bai Xiaoxiao’s head to the side.
Even a strand of hair came loose from her hairstyle.
Her eyes filled with rage.
“I was only concerned about Uncle Ning! I was only worried about your relationship! I haven’t hurt anyone! Why are you treating me like this…?”
Pei Jin didn’t bother comforting her.
Instead, he stepped forward angrily.
“Ning Zhiyuan, how did you become such a shrew? I was involved in the brooch matter too. I can prove Xiaoxiao meant well. You…”
Slap!
Ning Zhiyuan struck him before he could finish.
“Thanks for reminding me. I hit her but forgot to hit you.”
Now both of them had identical handprints on their left cheeks.
Oddly enough, they looked rather well matched.
Pei Jin’s face turned green with rage.
His fingers slowly clenched into fists.
Again and again, Ning Zhiyuan had deliberately stepped on every one of his triggers.
At the club, she embarrassed him.
At the café, she publicly mocked his background.
And now she was provoking him without the slightest fear.
He raised a fist the size of a sandbag.
“Looks like I need to teach you a lesson so you’ll learn your place.”
Ning Zhiyuan wasn’t afraid at all.
She even tilted her face toward him.
“Go ahead. Hit me.”
“As long as I end up with a bruise on my face, let’s see whether Shen Li investigates it.”
“Then we’ll find out whether you’ll still be so confident.”
Pei Jin had deliberately chosen a hallway without surveillance cameras because he didn’t want things to escalate.
Threatening her with the brooch was merely a smokescreen.
His true goal was to separate her from Shen Li and strip away her protection.
In the end, the raised fist never fell.
The commotion had become too large.
Even the bodyguards hidden nearby could no longer remain still.
The narrow hallway quickly filled with people.
Ultimately, Pei Jin backed down.
Leaning close, he whispered a final warning.
“I’ll figure out another solution for the partnership. But within two months, you must leave Shen Li.”
“Otherwise, you’ll lose that brooch forever.”
With that, he left in frustration.
As he passed through the hospital lobby, he overheard several trainee nurses chatting.
“The boy Miss Ning brought in today is still in surgery.”
“I don’t know if he’ll survive.”
“Hard to say. I think there’s a high chance he won’t make it. Did you see how badly he was injured?”
Pei Jin stopped them.
Pulling out a bank card, he handed it over.
“The Miss Ning you’re talking about, is it Ning Zhiyuan?”
The nurses exchanged glances before accepting the card.
“Yes, it’s her.”
Outside the emergency room, Bai Xiaoxiao covered her swollen face and avoided the stares of passersby.
She glanced unhappily at Pei Jin.
“Brother Pei Jin, what are we waiting here for?”
Even Pei Jin couldn’t explain it.
He simply felt as though some invisible force was compelling him to stay.
He wanted to see whether the boy inside would survive.
“Yuanyuan saved a boy. That’s strange.”
Bai Xiaoxiao didn’t think much of it.
“What’s strange about that? Yuanyuan has always liked handsome boys. She probably just liked his face…”
She paused.
“Looks like she hasn’t truly fallen for Shen Li after all.”
Her voice gradually grew quieter.
Because she knew something.
When Ning Zhiyuan genuinely loved someone, she never involved herself with other men.
That had been true when she loved Pei Jin.
Just then, more medical staff walked past, whispering among themselves.
Embarrassed by the attention, Bai Xiaoxiao hid behind Pei Jin.
“Brother Pei Jin, can we go home now?”
Feeling the strange looks from everyone around them, Pei Jin stared at the illuminated emergency-room sign.
For a long time, he remained silent.
Finally, suppressing the inexplicable feeling in his heart, he left with Bai Xiaoxiao.
That night, Ning Zhiyuan couldn’t sleep.
Her mind was crowded with worries.
Not until eleven o’clock did news finally arrive.
Cheng Ye had survived.
“He was lucky. His will to live was incredibly strong. Even the doctors said it was practically a medical miracle that they managed to save him.”
A faint smile slowly appeared on Ning Zhiyuan’s lips.
She had won the gamble.
Cheng Ye wasn’t particularly close to his so-called uncle and aunt.
But he deeply cared about the grandmother who had raised him.
His grandmother’s only son.
Her only blood relative.
Cheng Ye wanted to repay that kindness by paying off their debts.
Even if the price was his own life.
That was why he had come to find her.
That was why he had signed the life-and-death waiver.
Only by making him unwilling to accept death, by leaving him with unfinished business, could she force him to cling to life.
After transferring the money to the designated account, she received a video showing Cheng Ye’s uncle and aunt being released.
Both were covered in injuries.
One of the bodyguards who had witnessed everything hesitated before asking,
“Miss… if Cheng Ye had really died, would you have paid off the debt for him?”
Ning Zhiyuan glanced at him.
Her expression remained indifferent.
“No.”
She and Cheng Ye had never been close.
Not in her previous life.
Not in this one.
In fact, in her previous life, Cheng Ye had stood on the side of those who harmed her.
She had no obligation to help him.
She wasn’t a savior.
After being reborn, she only wanted to make up for her regrets.
And the people she owed the most were Ning Mingyuan and Shen Li.
Lying on the companion bed, burdened by countless thoughts, Ning Zhiyuan finally drifted into a heavy sleep.
Outside the room, Assistant Qi looked through the window at the sleeping figure and rubbed his numb legs.
Were they really going to stand here all night?
“Boss…”
After arriving at the hospital, Shen Li had spoken only one sentence all evening.
“Let’s go.”
As he turned away, his body swayed slightly.
He steadied himself against the wall before continuing forward with heavy steps.
When Ning Zhiyuan woke up, the clock on the wall already showed noon.
Then she suddenly remembered.
Yesterday, she had promised Shen Li she would attend Madam Shen’s birthday banquet!