Chapter 31: But I Am Your Lifesaver

When Jian Qing opened her eyes, she felt as if she were still dreaming.

To be more precise, as she looked at Shen Yue Li’s worried face and Ren Yishan’s schadenfreude right beside her, she wasn’t sure whether she ought to pretend to have amnesia—

Then, perhaps, the malicious supporting role would have a change of heart, and the male lead who had left would return to her side, helping her search for her lost memories.

But with an oxygen mask strapped over her face, Jian Qing couldn’t utter a single word for some time. Lying on the bed, her legs ached terribly. It was Shen Yue Li who finally spoke first:

“Senior, are you thirsty? I’ll get you a glass of water. Fortunately, it’s just a dislocated bone in your leg. With a plaster cast, it should heal in a few days. Just lie in bed and rest well these days.”

Dislocated?

Jian Qing had no recollection of it.

Nor did she feel any pain now—her whole body was numb under the anesthesia.

People often said one might talk nonsense under general anesthesia; Jian Qing wondered if she’d blurted out anything she shouldn’t have.

Ren Yishan sat on the companion’s bed, arms crossed, snorting coldly:

“Jian Qing, Yunchen has saved your life yet again. I’m starting to suspect you threw yourself under a car just to get his attention when he called. If that’s true, you’re truly terrifying!”

“Excuse me, who do you think you are?” Shen Yue Li retorted immediately. After bringing Jian Qing to the hospital, she’d seen Xiao Yunchen and Ren Yishan rush over. She was familiar with the former, but not the latter. She’d assumed Ren Yishan was here out of concern for her senior, only to find she was here to add insult to injury.

“Who would degrade themselves so much just to attract someone’s attention?”

Ren Yishan sneered, “Jian Qing will stop at nothing to climb the social ladder.”

“Climb? My senior comes from a wealthy family herself. And you? You look old enough—are you Xiao Yunchen’s mother or something?”

Shen Yue Li’s words were sharp as a blade, and the two were about to bicker in earnest when suddenly, Xiao Yunchen walked in, interrupting the brewing storm.

“What are you arguing about? This is a hospital. The patient needs rest.”

He looked a little pale, with a cotton ball pressed to his arm. After confirming Jian Qing was awake, he stood at her bedside, his gaze sweeping over her from head to toe before withdrawing.

“Yunchen,” Ren Yishan stepped forward and clung to his arm, pushing Shen Yue Li aside. “Yunchen, perhaps Qingqing just can’t let you go. After all, you’ve saved her twice now.”

Having said that, Ren Yishan handed Xiao Yunchen the hot water Shen Yue Li had just poured for Jian Qing. “You’ve lost so much blood. Let me take you home to rest.”

Their eyes met. No longer able to feign indifference, Jian Qing, still light-headed from the anesthesia, summoned all her strength to grip Xiao Yunchen’s sleeve:

“You… you gave me blood again?”

Xiao Yunchen said nothing, his gaze shuttered as he left with Ren Yishan.

Shen Yue Li watched the woman walk away arm in arm with the man, her eyes nearly popping out of her head.

“Senior, who on earth is that woman? Why is she holding Yunchen like that? Even if she were his mother, she wouldn’t cling to her son like this, would she?”

Jian Qing’s headache grew worse. She closed her eyes as the pain gradually flared in her leg, and tears slipped down her cheeks.

“That’s Xiao Yunchen’s girlfriend. My sister, as if popped out of a crack in a rock.”

“Huh?”

In an instant, a domestic tragedy worthy of the stage began playing out in Shen Yue Li’s mind. After thinking for a while, she still couldn’t make sense of it.

“No wonder you kept mumbling something about ‘thirty-three’ under anesthesia—were you calling her a mistress?”

“What? Thirty-three?”

“You kept repeating that number after you went under. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.”

Jian Qing immediately reached for her phone. Shen Yue Li fished it out of her pocket.

“It fell and cracked the screen.”

Jian Qing took the phone. It was barely usable, but when she opened it, she saw the last message from Number 33:

“You must come.”

She wiped her tears. As the anesthesia wore off, the pain in her leg grew sharper. She hesitated, unsure how to respond to Number 33.

At the end of the day, he was just a lover—a man she saw only at night, in bed.

There was no need for him to visit her in the hospital.

Even if Number 33 really liked her, it was nothing more than a willing exchange.

She paid; he obliged.

But since he had fallen in first, he was the one to lose in the end.

“Xiaoyue, could you do me a favor? Go to the villa at Jiaohaibay for me. There’s a man there who’s looking for me. Ask him what he wants. You don’t need to let him see me or know about my situation. If he asks for money, don’t argue—just come back and tell me the amount.”

Number 33 was so insistent on seeing her; even if she called, he might not say why.

Now that her leg was injured and she couldn’t go, it made sense to let Shen Yue Li handle it.

“Will you be alright here alone, senior? Should I ask Yan Jin to keep you company?”

“I’ll be fine. Yan Jin has her own matters lately. Don’t worry about me—I’ll call for a nurse.”

“Alright, I’ll be back soon.”

That was Shen Yue Li’s plan. But as soon as she arrived at the Jiaohaibay villa, everything changed.

Outside the villa, luxury cars lined the entire driveway.

Standing by the gate, the first person she saw was an elderly man dressed in a tailcoat—a perfect image of a butler.

There were people gathered inside, but from a distance, Shen Yue Li couldn’t make out who they were, though she could hear voices.

She checked the house number, swallowed nervously, and called out to the butler.

“Hello, I’m a friend of Jian Qing’s. What’s going on here?”

“So you’re madam’s friend. Please, come in!”

The butler’s respectful address left Shen Yue Li bewildered. As the grand doors were slowly pulled open, she followed the butler into the villa.

Standing in the middle of the elegantly decorated, traditionally styled living room was a tall, imposing man who turned at the sound of her arrival. Around him, the others followed suit, all their gazes settling on Shen Yue Li.

She didn’t recognize most of them, but she immediately spotted Du Yu standing nearby—she’d just delivered a batch of custom emerald necklaces to the Du family a few days ago and had met him then.

But clearly, Du Yu was not in charge here.

The man at the center, upon seeing Shen Yue Li, frowned.

“Where is Jian Qing?”