Chapter Ninety-Five: An Unforgivable Act

Pei Xi did not know much about Fang Yuan’s finances, but she knew that he had no family by his side, no proper job, and probably very little money to his name. She was not trying to use money to make amends with him. It was just that, right now, money was the only thing she had that could possibly make up for what had happened to Fang Yuan. Surely she could not, in this age, offer herself to him in the old-fashioned way.

“Thank you, really, there’s no need. I feel better than I ever have. If you know the doctor here, hurry up and have them write me a discharge note.”

The hospital was saturated with the harsh sting of disinfectant, and Fang Yuan found it almost unbearable.

His sense of smell was far keener than most people’s. Ordinary people might eventually grow accustomed to such things, but for Fang Yuan it was sheer torment. If he stayed here one more day, his nose might well be ruined.

“Discharge? Are you certain you’re really all right?” Pei Xi had not expected Fang Yuan to ask to leave the moment he woke up. “If you really want to go, I’ll have the doctor give you a full examination later. If everything checks out, you can leave.”

“I really am fine. Look at me—do I look like someone who’s injured?”

As he spoke, Fang Yuan actually threw back the blanket and stood up.

The result was that, the moment he was on his feet, he felt an inexplicable chill below the waist.

And when he looked at Pei Xi’s expression across from him, he did not even need to glance down to know exactly what he looked like at that moment.

In a flash, Fang Yuan sprang back onto the bed with astonishing speed and pulled the covers up over himself completely.

Normally, when a girl saw something like that, shouldn’t she scream at the top of her lungs and cry, “Pervert”?

So why was Pei Xi different from every other girl?

Seeing that Pei Xi seemed only a little unaccustomed to the sight, but not especially shocked, Fang Yuan could not help saying, “You... I... I’m really sorry about just now. I truly didn’t mean it.” He hurried to explain, inwardly cursing over and over the bastard who had taken advantage of his unconsciousness to strip every last thread from his body.

Even for a boy like Fang Yuan, the scene had been mortifying. Yet when he looked at Pei Xi again, she had already returned to normal, as though nothing at all had happened. She walked on her own to the curtains and drew back all the half-closed drapes.

“Looks like you’ve already seen my entire body. Back then, I didn’t see you making such a fuss.” Seeing Fang Yuan so apologetic, Pei Xi actually found herself curious.

“What? My whole body...”

At Pei Xi’s words, Fang Yuan’s eyes widened.

When he thought back to the first time he had seen Pei Xi, she had been standing not far away, staring at him with that same cold, detached expression. So she must have already seen him before he woke up—and not just seen him, but...

Chongchong, don’t tell me this has nothing to do with you, or I really will explode from anger.

Fang Yuan silently and fiercely scolded Chongchong in his heart, but in front of Pei Xi he could only pretend to have lost his memory and act as though he did not remember any of it.

“Cough, cough. What are you two talking about? It looks rather interesting.”

Just as Fang Yuan was wondering how to answer, Ke Bei appeared at the doorway without anyone noticing when, lifting the bag in his hand and giving it a shake toward Pei Xi.

“Fang Yuan hasn’t eaten in a long time, so I went downstairs to buy something for him.” The moment Ke Bei came in, Pei Xi and Fang Yuan both fell silent. “What were you talking about just now? Why did you both stop when I walked in?”

Ke Bei’s hearing was no less sharp than anyone else’s. At the door just now, he had only overheard a little, but even that was enough for him to sense something beneath the surface. He wanted to pry a bit more out of them, but Pei Xi and Fang Yuan seemed to have arranged it in advance, answering in perfect unison with two words:

“Chitchat.”

“Chitchat? Then chat with me too.” Ke Bei was not so easy to dismiss. If he did not get to the bottom of it, he would not give up.

“Boring.”

“Boring.”

What he got in the end was two voices speaking at once. That answer instantly drained Ke Bei of any desire to keep pressing.

“Miss Pei Xi, I swear your troubles are not something I caused, so could you please stop looking at me like that? You’re practically driving me insane.” The moment Ke Bei saw Pei Xi, he could not help but look away.

“What’s wrong with you two?” Fang Yuan asked when he heard Ke Bei’s words, immediately sensing that something had happened between them that he did not know about.

“Nothing much. I just get irritated the moment I see him. Fang Yuan, I’ll have the doctor arrange your examination in a little while. As for discharge, we’ll wait until the results come out. If anything comes up, call me. I’m right next door.” After saying that, Pei Xi left without so much as a glance at Ke Bei.

That left Ke Bei feeling utterly wronged. Seeing Fang Yuan staring at him in confusion, and remembering what he had overheard at the doorway, he assumed Fang Yuan was questioning him. So before Fang Yuan could even ask, Ke Bei began venting everything in full detail.

It turned out that after Fang Yuan jumped into the sea the second time, Pei Xi had landed on the ship where Li Mingbo was.

After learning the whole story, Pei Xi was furious at what Li Mingbo had done.

Thinking of Fang Yuan and Ke Bei—one with his life and death still unknown, the other trapped in danger—even the strongest person could not have borne Li Mingbo’s treatment of Fang Yuan. She immediately launched her retaliation, not for anything else, but because Li Mingbo had deliberately provoked Fang Yuan into jumping into the sea.

Pei Xi had learned some combat techniques as a child, though only because Old Master Pei had forced her to. She had not studied very seriously at the time, but she still remembered a few moves.

Unfortunately, when it came to that moment, not a single advantage was on her side—neither timing, nor place, nor people. She had barely made her move when Li Fu seized her in a hold, and her slim arms and legs were swiftly bound by him.

Unable to swallow the insult, Pei Xi hurled a string of curses at Li Mingbo. She had been a well-bred young lady since childhood; for her to be driven to foul-mouthed abuse meant she was truly enraged.

Considering Pei Xi’s身份, Li Fu did not dare actually lay a hand on her. But she was shouting too loudly, and to stop her from saying anything else outrageous, he grabbed something at random and stuffed it into her mouth.

These were things Ke Bei had found out while Fang Yuan was still unconscious, when the two of them had nothing better to do in the room and he had gone fishing for information.

As for what happened afterward, Ke Bei remembered it all clearly. Later, after Fang Yuan brought Ke Bei back up, they saw Pei Xi staring at him with a resentful look. But once Pei Xi noticed Fang Yuan lying behind Ke Bei, the resentment on her face disappeared.

Still, because of that incident, every time Pei Xi saw Ke Bei now, her eyes were filled with that same mixture of grievance and hatred.