Seeing that Qi Yanjue made no move, Song Yueying automatically assumed he refused to take the pill she offered. So she put it away.
She said, “Since you refuse to take the medicine yourself, you’ll have to endure the pain if your wound hurts. Don’t expect me to take care of you. You did block a knife for me, but before that, you were already seriously injured.”
“I didn’t leave you there to die. I brought you to the hospital for treatment, that already repays more than half of your favor for taking that knife for me.”
“If I also cover your medical expenses, then we owe each other nothing. Don’t even think about using a life-saving favor to force me into taking care of you.”
“We’re not related in any way. Even if I’m kind-hearted and do good deeds, I’m not going to ruin my own reputation over it.”
After saying that, she turned around, took the half-eaten orange from the net bag, and continued eating.
Mm, still delicious, still that same sweetness.
“Song Yueying, how do you even have the nerve to say that?” Qi Yanjue’s expression remained calm, but anger flickered in his eyes. “Repaying each other’s debts? Using a life-saving favor to threaten you?”
One year ago, wasn’t she the one who used a life-saving favor to force him into marrying her? For the sake of her reputation, he had no choice but to register their marriage.
Swallowing the orange in her mouth, Song Yueying turned back to look at Qi Yanjue lying on the hospital bed and asked bluntly, “Why wouldn’t I have the nerve to say it?”
Qi Yanjue did not answer. His sharp eyes fixed on her, as if trying to find even a trace of guilt on her face.
Unfortunately, there was none. There wasn’t the slightest hint of guilt. It was as if the person who had once used a life-saving favor to force him into marriage a year ago was not her at all.
Qi Yanjue suddenly realized something. Since he woke up, the way Song Yueying looked at him had been completely unfamiliar. She had also been desperately denying that she was his family member…
Recalling every word she had said, Qi Yanjue became more and more certain, something was wrong with Song Yueying. Very wrong.
Not to mention the injury on her forehead, just her attitude toward him alone was enough to prove it.
Apart from unfamiliarity, there was only unfamiliarity. It was as if she had forgotten Qi Yanjue, or rather, in Song Yueying’s memory, there had never been a person called Qi Yanjue at all.
Had Song Yueying been replaced by someone else?
It was very possible. The more Qi Yanjue thought about it, the more reasonable the idea seemed. During his previous missions, he had encountered situations where liaison agents were swapped out before.
And not just once.
Especially in this mission, if the liaison had not been replaced, causing more than half of the team he brought to be killed or injured, he would not have had to fake his own death to confuse the enemy.
A small hand waved in front of his eyes, pulling his drifting thoughts back. He looked at the fair, slender hand, then followed it up to its owner.
“What are you doing?” Qi Yanjue asked.
With a soft scoff, Song Yueying said, “I should be the one asking you that. What were you thinking so hard about? So absorbed in your thoughts you forgot everything. I called you and you didn’t even respond.”
This woman was suspicious, very suspicious. Qi Yanjue decided to steady the situation first and reined in his thoughts.
“What did you just say to me?” he asked.
“You really weren’t listening to me,” Song Yueying said, clearly displeased with such rudeness.
Qi Yanjue said calmly, “I was thinking about whether your forehead was injured or not. I remember you had a head injury, from hitting a wall…”
“You’re mistaken,” Song Yueying quickly interrupted him, hoping to cut off his train of thought entirely. “I didn’t hit a wall. Am I stupid? Why would I go hit a wall?”
She sounded flustered. A sharp glint flashed in Qi Yanjue’s eyes, though his tone remained calm as he echoed her words. “Yes, you said I remembered wrong, but I clearly…”
A knock on the door interrupted him.
“Come in,” Song Yueying called out loudly, quietly breathing a sigh of relief. She had just been thinking of how to interrupt him, and the knock came right on time.
It seemed luck was on her side.
The ward door was pushed open, and a group of people walked in.
Song Yueying looked at the people who walked in. Some of them she recognized, others she did not.
Those she recognized included the foreigner Will and his interpreter, Doctor Zhao, and the nurse. Those she did not recognize were three people: a doctor in a white coat, and two public security officers in uniform.
Qi Yanjue’s gaze swept across everyone. It lingered a few seconds longer on the foreigner before moving away and settling on Doctor Zhao’s face.
Will’s eyes lit up with excitement. He walked up to Song Yueying and said in German, “Brave and beautiful girl, so you are here. I’ve been looking for you for a long, long time.”
“I’m very glad I finally found you.”
Will’s interpreter assumed Song Yueying did not understand, so he translated, “Comrade, Mr. Will says he has been looking for you for a long, long time, and he is very happy that he has finally found you.”
Smiling lightly at the interpreter, Song Yueying looked at Will and said, “Hello, Mr. Will. May I ask what you are looking for me for?”
Her tone was calm, and she spoke in German as well.
“Hello, hello! Brave and beautiful girl,” Will said with a smile. “I came to ask for your help. I hope you can act as a witness for me.”
“A witness?” Song Yueying blinked, not understanding what she was being asked to testify about.
Will raised his hand, pointing at the doctor in the white coat, then at the two public security officers. “They don’t believe what I said, so they told me to find a witness.”
The two of them went back and forth, speaking entirely in German. Aside from Will’s interpreter, no one else understood them, not even Doctor Zhao or Qi Yanjue.
Everyone in the ward was looking at Song Yueying.
Especially Will’s interpreter. When Will told him that the girl who saved him could speak German, he hadn’t believed it. Now, hearing her converse with Will, her German was even more standard than his own.
Just moments ago, he had been translating for her, now he felt his face burning with embarrassment.
“Comrade, where did you learn your German?” Will’s interpreter asked. He meant no harm; he was simply curious.
But Song Yueying did not see it that way. She looked at him and calmly parted her lips, saying a few words:
“No comment.”
The interpreter froze, completely not expecting Song Yueying to reply to him with those words.
Will did not understand what Song Yueying had said. Seeing his interpreter’s stunned expression, he guessed that the interpreter must have said something she did not like. He gave Song Yueying an apologetic smile.
He reached out and patted his interpreter on the shoulder. “Zhou, you mustn’t ask a girl such private questions. That’s very impolite.”
Interpreter Zhou knew Will had not understood what the female comrade had said and had instead misunderstood him as having said something inappropriate. He did not explain, but turned to look at Will and simply said, “Thank you for the reminder.”
The phrase “no comment” had been spoken in Chinese. Aside from the foreigner Will, everyone else in the ward understood it.
To openly challenge a foreign affairs interpreter like that, the crowd’s expressions toward Song Yueying became complicated.
Song Yueying first glanced at the two police officers, then shifted her gaze to Will. In German, she asked, “Mr. Will, you just said they don’t believe what you said and want me to help you as a witness. A witness for what?”