After the banquet,
The guests dispersed,
Ye Jinghuai and An Nuan were among the last to leave.
They stayed with Xia Qiqi and Xiao Nanchen until the very end.
Only when there were just the two of them left, An Nuan followed Ye Jinghuai and left.
After everyone had gone,
Xia Qiqi reluctantly sat in the car with Xiao Nanchen, heading to what they called their new home.
Inside the car, it was incredibly quiet.
Neither of them spoke.
Xia Qiqi held her phone and kept flipping through it incessantly.
She scrolled through her contacts, messages, chat apps, social media platforms, and so on, repeatedly.
She was clearly becoming restless.
Xiao Nanchen watched her actions and slowly shifted his gaze to the window.
He knew very well that Xia Qiqi was waiting for a call or message from Nie Ziming.
But evidently, Nie Ziming hadn't contacted her.
The car arrived at the Qing City Luxury Residential Area.
Every inch of land inside was precious.
It was a fully furnished large penthouse they had bought after agreeing to get married.
The driver assisted Xiao Nanchen out of the car and onto his wheelchair, then pushed him towards the entrance.
"No need," Xiao Nanchen declined. "It's getting late. Go back and rest."
"The madam asked me to accompany you," the driver quickly responded.
Xiao Nanchen knew his mother was worried that Xia Qiqi wouldn't attend to him or push his wheelchair.
In fact,
Even if Xia Qiqi didn't push him,
He could push himself.
He said, "I will explain to my mom. You go back first."
"Yes," the driver no longer insisted.
He respectfully returned to the car and drove away.
At this moment, Xia Qiqi stood beside Xiao Nanchen.
She hesitated several times but ended up pushing his wheelchair.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Xiao Nanchen's mouth.
"Don't overthink it," Xia Qiqi pushed him towards the elevator. "If it weren't for me causing your leg injury, I wouldn't even spare you a second glance. It's just a guilty conscience."
"Okay," Xiao Nanchen responded.
He actually knew
Xia Qiqi was tough on the outside but soft-hearted inside.
"On which floor?" Xia Qiqi asked as they entered the elevator.
"Nineteenth floor," Xiao Nanchen answered.
Xia Qiqi pressed the button for the nineteenth floor and muttered, "Why live so high? If an earthquake happens, we won't be able to escape."
"It's built to withstand an earthquake of magnitude 8."
"..." Xia Qiqi always felt that she couldn't argue with Xiao Nanchen.
In terms of reasoning, she had never won.
The elevator arrived.
Xia Qiqi pushed Xiao Nanchen out.
"The password is 123456," Xiao Nanchen said. "If you find it too simple, you can change it to something easier for you to remember."
"Xiao Nanchen, do you think I'm that dumb?! I can remember a password like 123456?!" Xia Qiqi fumed.
Xiao Nanchen chuckled.
No matter what Xia Qiqi said, he always seemed to smile lightly, never getting angry.
Xia Qiqi entered the password.
The two of them went inside.
"There are slippers in the cabinet," Xiao Nanchen said.
Xia Qiqi opened the shoe cabinet.
There was a pair of blue slippers and a pair of pink slippers.
Clearly, they were couple slippers.
Xia Qiqi felt somewhat annoyed as she looked at them.
She said, "I don't want to change shoes."
"Okay," Xiao Nanchen nodded.
Xia Qiqi simply pushed Xiao Nanchen inside.
A spacious 300-square-meter apartment, at first glance, appears quite roomy, with an exceptional view. The large French windows in the expansive living room overlook the riverside of Qing City, offering the most beautiful night scenery in the entire city.
Xia Qiqi pondered for a moment and estimated that this apartment must be worth millions.
Without a doubt, it was her father who bought it.
Xiao Nanchen, this man, must have cost her father a fortune!
"Let's sleep in separate rooms," Xia Qiqi straightforwardly pushed Xiao Nanchen to the center of the living room.
"Alright," Xiao Nanchen responded calmly.
In fact, even without Xia Qiqi mentioning it at the banquet tonight, he knew she wouldn't sleep with him.
"You can sleep in this one," Xiao Nanchen pointed to one of the rooms.
Xia Qiqi glanced at it and didn't refuse, simply entering the room.
Then, the door slammed shut with a loud bang.
Apparently, she didn't want to spend even a second more with him.
Well, why would she want to look at someone she doesn't like?
Xiao Nanchen pushed his wheelchair and slowly made his way to one of the rooms.
Tonight, he didn't call any servants here.
Even though his mother was very concerned and repeatedly suggested having either a servant or a doctor assist him.
He always felt that regardless, the bridal chamber should be a private affair between two people.
Clearly, he was overthinking things.
What was he expecting, knowing full well that there wouldn't be a real bridal chamber?
Not very agile, he entered his own room while pushing the wheelchair.
Tonight, he would try to bathe on his own.
He started undressing.
The suit was indeed uncomfortable for him.
He took off each piece of his clothing until he was left with only one thing—a pair of red underwear.
It is said that you should wear red underwear for marriage.
It is said that you should wear old red underwear for marriage.
He didn't have any old ones, so he asked Xia Qiqi's mother to prepare it in advance when she agreed to marry him. He wore it twice in advance, so it could be considered old.
Xiao Nanchen picked up the cane that had already been prepared in the room and slowly supported himself off the wheelchair, using the strength of his arms to move towards the bathroom.
He tried to be extremely careful, avoiding any possibility of falling.
Xia Qiqi was still in the next room, and he didn't want to disturb her rest.
However...
He had too high an opinion of himself.
For a normal person, originally fully functional, losing both legs and being without anyone's help truly made him feel helpless.
Just like at this moment.
He turned on the shower, his two arms supporting him with the cane, unable to free up his hands to wash himself.
He tried a few times.
Trying to use the strength of the cane to support his body.
His body tilted.
Combined with the slippery floor, the cane slipped out of his hand and fell to the side.
He himself fell heavily to the ground.
A loud sound reverberated.
Xiao Nanchen endured the pain and didn't utter a sound.
He let himself rest on the ground for a while before climbing up again and retrieving the fallen cane.
Just as his hand reached out.
He saw a woman's feet appear before his eyes.
Xiao Nanchen's throat moved slightly.
He didn't want Xia Qiqi to witness such a pathetic scene.
Xia Qiqi didn't want to see it either.
She returned to her room and firmly locked the door.
I just didn't want to be under the same roof as Xiao Nanchen.
But...
The noise from the next room was just too loud.
She had a feeling that Xiao Nanchen might have fallen to his death.
When she went over, she saw Xiao Nanchen lying in a miserable state under the shower, completely drenched.
She bit her lip.
Bending down, she picked up Xiao Nanchen's crutch.
Xiao Nanchen's hand awkwardly let go.
Xia Qiqi, without saying a word, walked up to Xiao Nanchen and tried to help him up.
Xiao Nanchen pursed his lips.
Deep down, he knew how unwilling Xia Qiqi was to do these things.
She was only doing it because she couldn't go against her conscience, even if she disregarded him.
In Xia Qiqi's eyes, she was the one who had caused him to become like this.
