nycdaug Chapter 184 You've always liked me, haven't you?
Chapter 184 You've always liked me, haven't you?
Jiang Qin woke up because she was hungry.
As soon as I opened my eyes, a familiar voice rang in my ears, "Awake?"
With a slight frown, Jiang Qin propped herself up and sat up.
After taking a moment to react and confirming that there was nothing seriously wrong with her body, she looked for her shoes without looking at the people around her.
However, it couldn't be found immediately.
Horst rose from the bench, walked to the foot of the bed, picked up the shoes, and said, "Here, shall I put these on for you?"
"I can do it myself." Jiang Qin's voice sounded very weak.
Huo Sili frowned slightly, a hint of disappointment appearing on his handsome face, but he still obeyed.
"Okay." She placed the shoes under the middle of the bed for her convenience.
Jiang Qin bent down to put on her shoes. Perhaps it was a lingering effect of the accident, but when she lowered her head like this, her vision went black.
Instantly, her brows furrowed in obvious discomfort.
Her body's protective mechanism activated automatically. Her hands moved faster than her brain. In the instant her vision went black, Jiang Qin almost immediately pulled her hands diagonally upwards and backwards, gripping the edge of the bed tightly to prevent herself from getting too dizzy and falling headfirst to the ground.
Huo Sili was right next to her and naturally noticed. The man's pupils contracted, and before he could react, he reached out and caught Jiang Qin as she was falling. Then, he put one hand on her shoulder to help her steady herself.
Her eyes flashed with obvious anxiety and heartache. "Are you still feeling dizzy? Then don't get up. Lean against the headboard for a while longer. I'll have He Xu bring your lunch over."
The dense, dark shadows that would appear in Jiang Qin's eyes when she was a child, when she was severely anemic due to her family's poor economic situation, would appear when she suddenly stood up from a squatting position.
Therefore, being supported like this, she couldn't react immediately, and she didn't have the energy to respond to what Horstley was saying.
At that moment, Huo Sili helped Jiang Qin sit up on the edge of the bed and dialed He Xu's number right in front of her.
He instructed the other party to pack lunch at the staff canteen and deliver it to the infirmary ward, and personally gave them the specific names of the dishes.
And hearing that long list of dish names—
"Sweet and sour pork, stewed beef with potatoes, steamed egg with minced meat, lotus root and pork rib soup, stir-fried lettuce, pickled eggplant..."
Jiang Qin's urge to say something vanished.
That's enough, I'm hungry. Food is the most important thing for people, so why should I suffer my stomach because of him?
Moreover, she has been maintaining a good daily routine recently, always eating on time. Having stuck to this for so long, Jiang Qin, who is a bit of a perfectionist, doesn't want to have her routine disrupted by the person next to her.
After all, that wouldn't be good for her, and even worse for the baby. Pregnancy consumes a lot of the mother's nutrients, and insufficient nutrition for the mother is also detrimental to the development of the fetus.
He Xu delivered the food very quickly, and for a hungry person, the aroma of the dishes was incredibly enticing.
Since there isn't any real deep-seated hatred, it's natural to put aside grudges for the time being.
Huo Sili brought over a small table from the bed and placed it on it, then opened the lids of the packed lunch boxes one by one.
These were all her favorite foods. Jiang Qin was so hungry that her stomach was cramping and she felt a little palpitations, so she couldn't be polite and quickly picked up her chopsticks to eat.
Huo Sili glanced at Jiang Qin, who was quietly eating beside him, for a while, then picked up the last dish from the bag.
That was what He Xu had packed for him to eat. It was a simple lunchbox with the food and vegetables all in one container. Compared to the lavish "separate food and vegetables" fast food that Jiang Qin had set out on her side, it looked rather pathetic.
But when he ate a bite and glanced at the person in the hospital bed, Huo Sili's eyes clearly lit up.
Then, he thought of something, and his gaze dimmed again.
Yes, it seems like it's been a very, very long time since they've eaten together at the same table.
He hadn't felt that feeling of being filled with happiness in a long time, like he did a year ago when he could simply have a meal with her at home.
The gazes of the people around her were too obvious, and since it was just the two of them in the room, Jiang Qin naturally felt it.
But she didn't care; she planned to leave after finishing her meal and recovering better.
He Xu promised to get those things for her. In Jiang Qin's memory, He Xu had always been quite reliable, so she wasn't worried.
After finishing his meal and packing up his lunchbox, he was about to leave when Horst called him back. He had just put on his shoes and stood up straight by the bed.
"Qinqin, wait a minute."
Cannibals are soft and short.
Jiang Qin frowned slightly, not wanting to pay attention, but thinking that she was able to get out safely this time, she was indeed very grateful to Huo Sili, and that he had indeed helped her again in the situation just now.
Although he desperately wanted to abort the child, that was the reality.
This time, it was mostly because of him that she was able to be rescued in time. After all, she could feel that the repair work was progressing very slowly. Then suddenly a lot of people came, and when she fell to a certain floor, she could hear a lot of noise outside.
Given that she encountered He Xu upstairs, and considering that He Xu, as her confidant, was always a meticulous person, it's not hard to deduce that He Xu likely informed him of her suspicions, and that his intervention accelerated the repair process, allowing her to be rescued in time.
"What do you want to say?" Thinking of this, Jiang Qin finally turned around.
She thought to herself that he probably wouldn't say much and wouldn't take up much of her time. After all, since they entered this cold war-like period, there had been very few moments when they could sit down and have a quiet chat.
He handed me his phone, its screen still lit up.
Jiang Qin lowered her gaze and landed on the audio file interface with the play button, looking at Huo Sili with a puzzled expression.
"what?"
The next second, Huo Sili tapped the audio file on her right in front of her with his long, slender fingers.
A woman's voice, neither unfamiliar nor particularly familiar, instantly resounded in the silent hospital room—
“Brother Sili, I’m sorry, but, but I had no choice! I didn’t mean to, I didn’t know your grandmother and Secretary Jiang would be coming at that time…”
At first, Li Xueqian's voice sounded rather pitiful and tearful.
Then, Horst's cold, deep voice rang out, devoid of any warmth.
"Starting today, all your projects with the Huo family are cancelled. Coincidentally, your previous advertising campaign was also operating at a loss, so according to the contract, the cooperation should also stop."
"As for the future, please don't come to me for any resources or roles. If you do it again, you'll be blacklisted."
After Huo Sili finished speaking, it was Li Xueqian's panicked voice, which sounded like she was begging for mercy and trying to gain sympathy.
"Brother Sili, I... I really didn't mean to ruin your marriage with Secretary Jiang!... I... I'm really pregnant, I just don't know what to do..."
"Miss Li, your character makes me wonder if you really were the one who saved President Huo eight years ago? Could it be that you only went to save him because you saw it was President Huo?"
"Otherwise, how could your act of taking advantage of someone's kindness be so textbook-perfect?!"
The last part of the recording features He Xu, who is usually very measured in his words and actions, asking a sarcastic and cold question.
After the recording ended, the quiet atmosphere in the ward became even more intense than before.
However, just as Huo Sili was about to say something, Jiang Qin's voice came out first.
"So, you're trying to tell me that you and Li Xueqian's child are unrelated? It's just that she was pregnant and wanted you to accompany her to the OB-GYN to protect her reputation?"
Huo Sili's dark pupils suddenly lit up.
"right……"
“Right?” However, as soon as the word was uttered, a smile appeared on Jiang Qinfen’s lips.
It wasn't a happy laugh, but a cold, sarcastic, and complex one.
The man's bright eyes instantly darkened. "Qinqin, you... don't you believe me?"
Before he could finish speaking, it suddenly occurred to him that in that instant, Horstley realized something.
Yes.
Once trust collapses, how easily can it be rebuilt?
He said so many hurtful things to her.
How can we let her just turn the page on the past because of this?
He was the one who hurt her first, not her. Her childhood experiences had made her sensitive and slow to warm up. Just when her feelings had begun to develop, he extinguished them with his own hands.
Now, why should she believe him just because he said it?
In this era, money can buy anything, and once trust is destroyed, it is likely to be permanent.
but……
Huo Sili stared intently at Jiang Qin, wanting to explain seriously.
Jiang Qin slapped him hard across the face with a single sentence.
"So, why do you think she specifically chose you to accompany her to the OB-GYN?"
Huo Sili's face turned pale as he understood the other layer of meaning in Jiang Qin's words.
She was questioning him about why he, a married man, was being entangled with Li Xueqian.
It also reminds him that it was because of his excessive indulgence of Li Xueqian during this period that Li Xueqian felt that he had ulterior motives towards her. All of this was clearly his own fault!
Horst's thin lips tightened.
"I'm sorry, Qinqin, I..."
Now that things have come to this, Horstley naturally has no choice but to admit that he was wrong.
He couldn't deny that he did have some ulterior motives back then. Of course, it wasn't that he liked Li Xueqian, but rather that he wanted to see Jiang Qin jealous, to know if Jiang Qin cared about him, and at the same time, he was genuinely angry that she didn't like him.
But at this moment, Horst realized he was terribly wrong.
Because his Qinqin is different, and he knows it perfectly well.
Her feelings were so pure, she clearly understood.
She clearly liked him so much.
Seeing that Huo Sili had no intention of speaking further, Jiang Qin turned to leave. Just as her hand touched the doorknob, a gust of wind came from behind her.
"Qinqin, I want to ask you something! Just a moment, it'll be quick."
He gripped her wrist tightly.
Jiang Qin frowned. She had only just recovered and was not in good health. Comparing his physique to hers, there was no need to guess. Jiang Qin knew very well how much she was capable in terms of martial arts.
A wise person knows when to yield, so she finally stopped.
But in the instant she stopped, she forcefully pried his large hand off her wrist.
She looked up to meet his eyes, remaining calm and speaking in a flat, distant tone.
"What do you want to ask? Go ahead and ask."
“A year ago, you only ever liked me, and never anyone else, right? Also, do you know someone named Chi Shen? Chi as in late, Shen as in depth.”