CH 28

Bai Zhen Zhen only came around the next morning.

Only after waking up did she find out that she had fainted inexplicably last night, not because she was drunk, but because she was allergic to alcohol. Her alcohol allergy was extremely serious, directly knocking her unconscious.

After confirming that she wasn’t tricking him, Huo Xiang was so frightened that he immediately dialed 120.

“Do you not know that you’re allergic to alcohol?” Huo Xiang poured a cup of warm water for Bai Zhen Zhen. A sliver of fear remained in his heart as he recalled what happened yesterday. “The doctor said that if you drank just a little more, you could even go into cardiac arrest!”

Bai Zhen Zhen received the cup of warm water, pouting aggrievedly.

She didn’t know that the female lead had such a setting. After all, the novel didn’t have a plot where the female lead drank.

Besides some lingering fear, Bai Zhen Zhen also felt relieved. Fortunately, when she attended those parties and conferences previously, she didn’t greedily drink alcohol, if not the consequences would be disastrous.

“Drink some warm water first.” Huo Xiang sat down on the chair next to her bed, saying “Once the IV drip is completed, I’ll buy you some breakfast.”

Bai Zhen Zhen nodded, looked around, and asked: “Did you stay here the entire night watching over me?”

“Otherwise? There were only the two of us on the balcony at that time. If you died, I would be the first suspect! How could I not watch over you!” Huo Xiang rolled his eyes, “I’ve worked hard for so long. It wasn’t easy for me to finally be able to enjoy a rich life. I don’t want to ‘go in’ at such a young age.”

Bai Zhen Zhen raised her eyebrows.

He sure was stubborn as a mule. Recalling the expression he had on his face when she just woke up, she knew that he was truly concerned about her.

“Then you didn’t sleep all night?” Bai Zhen Zhen asked.

“How could that be! Without you snoring at one side, I slept so well!” Huo Xiang responded.

“Little sister, don’t listen to your boyfriend spouting nonsense. He was really worried about you.” A nurse who was changing the IV drip spoke up, “My colleague was on the overnight shift last night. When she did the handover this morning, she specially told me that the handsome guy in Ward 6 treats his girlfriend exceptionally well, holding his girlfriend’s hand tightly the whole night. Even though we said that we will strictly control the IV infusion time, he kept staring at the IV drip, refusing to sleep.”

“No wonder there’s dark eye circles…” Bai Zhen Zhen suppressed her laughter.

A faint blush emerged on Huo Xiang’s face. He said to the nurse: “Sister nurse, I was just afraid that I wouldn’t be able to explain myself to the police if her condition worsened! She was the one who blindly landed herself in this situation! I’m not worried about her at all!”

“Come on, the look in your eyes whenever you see your girlfriend exposes your true thoughts. Besides, we girls have an exceptional sixth sense. I believe what my colleague said is definitely true.” The nurse chuckled, before looking over to Bai Zhen Zhen, “Right, little sister? You can see it too, right?”

Bai Zhen Zhen laughed along with her.

Huo Xiang rolled his eyes, spitting out: “You’re still laughing! You’re an adult, yet you’re not ashamed to be called ‘little sister’ by others! Moreover, this nurse looks about the same age as you.”

“We’re not similar in ages.” The nurse responded, “From a glance, this little sister looks about 23 years old this year. I’m already 32 years old, almost a whole decade older than her! If I don’t call her ‘little sister’, then should I call her ‘niece’?”

Huo Xiang pretended to sigh in appreciation: “Wow, then sister, you’ve maintained your looks very well!”

The nurse burst out in laughter, and said to Bai Zhen Zhen: “Your boyfriend is really glib!”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Bai Zhen Zhen said.

Huo Xiang immediately continued: “That’s right! Strictly speaking, I’m her lawful husband!”

This sentence could not be refuted. Bai Zhen Zhen gave Huo Xiang a few looks, unable to retort.

The nurse finished changing Bai Zhen Zhen’s IV drip, and said: “I didn’t expect that the two of you were married at such a young age! But it makes sense. As long as you’re with the right person, it doesn’t matter whether you marry earlier or later. I sincerely wish you happiness!”

Bai Zhen Zhen’s mouth twitched, and she looked at Huo Xiang helplessly.

On the other hand, Huo Xiang had a smug look on his face.

“This is the last course of IV drip. After this, we will invite the doctor over to check on you. If there’s nothing wrong, you can be discharged from the hospital immediately.” The nurse said.

“Ok, thank you.”

After the nurse left, only Huo Xiang and Bai Zhen Zhen were left in the ward.

Huo Xiang asked Bai Zhen Zhen: “What do you want to eat? I’ll buy it for you.”

Bai Zhen Zhen raised her eyebrows, deliberately teasing him: “Didn’t you say you weren’t worried about me? Why did you wait for the nurse to finish changing the IV drip before going out to buy breakfast?”

Huo Xiang sneered: “That’s because I wasn’t hungry yet.”

“Then why did you rush to claim your position as my husband when I told her that you weren’t my boyfriend?!”

“I’m just stating the facts, is it wrong?”

Bai Zhen Zhen pressed her lips together: “Very good, your replies get full marks.”

Huo Xiang continued: “Bai Zhen Zhen, don’t think that I will develop feelings for you! I was only considering how you, as a young lady, are travelling alone with no one to rely on. I only helped you out of the goodness of my heart; don’t take it the wrong way.”

Bai Zhen Zhen also heartlessly replied: “Don’t worry, in terms of narcissism, Young Master Huo will always be the best! Don’t think that just because you took care of me once, you would be able to capture my body and soul.”

“Ok!” Huo Xiang raised his chin.

Bai Zhen Zhen made a “please” gesture: “Then I’ll have to trouble you to buy breakfast!”

“No problem, you just wait here!” Huo Xiang stood up and left the ward.

Bai Zhen Zhen saw him off from her bed. As she gazed at his retreating back, she unconsciously fell into a daze.

Only after a few minutes passed did she realise that Huo Xiang had already left, and the door had already closed.

Outside, Huo Xiang had not taken more than a few steps when the system notification rang out in his mind.

— System: “Ding~ Female lead happiness points +5.”

— Huo Xiang: “What?! I fearfully watched over her the whole night without sleeping, a whole night!! Yet I only gained a measly five happiness points?! The same as buying a branded bag???”

— System: “Knight, that’s the way it is. Please be understanding…”

****

After the IV drip finished, Huo Xiang invited the doctor to come for an examination. The doctor didn’t find anything else wrong with her, thus Huo Xiang helped her with the discharge process, and the two of them directly left the hospital.

They decided to go back to the hotel to wash up before thinking about where to eat lunch.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they walked into the lobby of the hotel, they coincidentally saw two people lugging their suitcases, checking in at the front desk.

“Zhen Zhen?” A familiar voice sounded.

Bai Zhen Zhen was truly bewildered — What was this?! It was actually Jiang Mu Yang and Jiang Mu Yu! How could they be here?!

Jiang Mu Yang was obviously pleasantly surprised when he saw Bai Zhen Zhen, but he immediately realised that Huo Xiang was by her side, and the smile on his face froze.

On the other hand, after the previous humiliation, Jiang Mu Yu hated Bai Zhen Zhen with a vengeance. Although she followed her brother over to Bai Zhen Zhen and Huo Xiang, “reluctance” was written all over her face.

“Why are you here?!” Bai Zhen Zhen subconsciously blurted out when the two approached.

Jiang Mu Yang replied: “Mu Yu’s best friend is getting married tomorrow. I accompanied her here to attend the wedding, and also to take advantage of this opportunity to have fun and relax.”

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand towards Huo Xiang and said politely: “Long time no see, Young Master Huo.”

Huo Xiang shook hands with him as his gaze fell on to Jiang Mu Yu: “Oh, Ms Jiang’s best friend is getting married! Ms Jiang doesn’t look too young either; it should be around the age to get married? Should I introduce a boyfriend to you?”

“You –” Jiang Mu Yu was breathless with anger.

“I don’t dare trouble Young Master Huo for this.” Jiang Mu Yang gently refused, “My younger sister is still mischievous. As an older brother, I will need to watch over her more.”

Huo Xiang understood the nuances in Jiang Mu Yang’s words. He knew that it was his younger sister who had wronged them first, thus he didn’t take Huo Xiang’s sarcasm to heart, placing the blame firmly on himself.

Since Jiang Mu Yang had taken the initiative to take a step back, Huo Xiang didn’t continue to embarrass Jiang Mu Yu for his sake.

But Jiang Mu Yu was not someone who could hold herself back.

She examined Bai Zhen Zhen from head to toe, sneering: “The sparrow sure is different after flying up the branch! The entire outfit has been replaced by internationally branded clothes! However, this is the first time I’ve met someone who could make such luxurious branded clothes feel like poor imitations! As they say, ‘A leopard never changes its spots’. Even if a sparrow changes its outfit, it can never become a phoenix.”

Bai Zhen Zhen felt the same way. She nodded, replying: “Ms Jiang speaks wisely! I didn’t expect that you would have such a profound understanding of yourself.”

“Oh? Why do you say that?” Huo Xiang cooperatively asked in a timely manner.

Bai Zhen Zhen said: “Darling, don’t you know? In a sense, this Ms Jiang has some fate with you.”

“Really?” Huo Xiang pretended to be curious.

Jiang Mu Yu’s eyes were gloomy. She stared at Bai Zhen Zhen, waiting to see what she could spin out.

Bai Zhen Zhen paused, before slowly saying: “Because just like you, Ms Jiang was an orphan when she was young. However, she was slightly luckier than you. She didn’t experience any troubles in life, and was adopted by the wealthy Jiang family when she was young.”

“There was such a hidden history?!” Huo Xiang pretended to be shocked. In fact, Bai Zhen Zhen had told him about it a long time ago, “Unexpectedly, the Ms Jiang who had been pampered since childhood turned out to be an orphan with a tragic background!”

He frowned, refuting Bai Zhen Zhen’s words: “However, I don’t think that Ms Jiang is luckier than me. After all, she doesn’t even know where her biological family is. I’ve already recognised my family.”

Jiang Mu Yang and Jiang Mu Yu faces paled by the side.

Jiang Mu Yu asked Bai Zhen Zhen in shock: “You- How did you know?!”

She immediately turned her head towards her brother: “Brother, you even told her about this?!”

“I didn’t…” Jiang Mu Yang frowned and tried to explain, “How could I speak about this to others…”

When the Jiang family adopted Jiang Mu Yu, she wasn’t even 3 years old. Mother Jiang wanted to have a daughter, but unfortunately she damaged her body during Jiang Mu Yang’s birth, and couldn’t have another child. Thus, the Jiang family adopted a little girl from an orphanage, and named her “Jiang Mu Yu”.

Out of consideration of the child’s future, apart from the Jiang family and several exceptionally close friends and relatives, the matter was strictly kept confidential. Not a single drop of the matter had leaked out for more than 20 years.

At this moment, Jiang Mu Yang only wanted to know — How did Bai Zhen Zhen know about this?!

———————

Author’s note:

[Small scene]

Huo Xiang: I also want to know. Where did you hear of this news?

Bai Zhen Zhen: (Obviously I read it from the novel!) I can’t tell you right now.

Huo Xiang: Why?!

Bai Zhen Zhen: Because if I tell you, we will be able to ascertain each other’s identities. Then, wouldn’t this novel be ruined?!

Author: ???