Xiao Nanchen sat on the couch, waiting for Xia Qiqi.
Seeing her finished dressing, he stood up from the couch and said, "Let's go, I'll walk you out."
Xia Qiqi looked at Xiao Nanchen.
She didn't expect him to walk her out.
Based on his usual indifference, shouldn't he have coldly ignored her?!
No matter how late it was.
Xiao Nanchen paid no attention to Xia Qiqi's gaze as he walked ahead, slipped on a pair of outdoor shoes, and opened the door.
Xia Qiqi found her shoes that she had tossed aside, put them on, and immediately followed behind Xiao Nanchen.
After stepping out the door, at the moment Xiao Nanchen closed it, he operated the electronic door lock.
Xia Qiqi heard the lock announce, "Password changed, fingerprints deleted."
Xia Qiqi pursed her lips.
If it were her.
She would have done the same.
If she tried to explain now, she wouldn't know how to explain.
Anyway.
From now on, with Xiao Nanchen changing the password and deleting her fingerprints, even if she accidentally came back, she couldn't enter.
After finishing with the lock, Xiao Nanchen headed toward the elevator.
The two of them walked in, one after the other.
The elevator descended in silence.
As if they were strangers, neither of them spoke a word.
The elevator reached the ground floor.
Xiao Nanchen led Xia Qiqi out of the residential complex.
As soon as they left the residential area, the cold night wind assailed them.
Xia Qiqi couldn't help but shiver from the cold.
Although she wore a coat.
Her body was still scantily clad, with only a thin lace spaghetti strap dress underneath, and crucially, no pants or even stockings, just a pair of single-strap heels. The night chill made her feel like she could barely walk.
Yet the man in front seemed oblivious to her physical reaction, his stride steady and unhurried.
Xia Qiqi gazed at his figure and fell silent.
Xiao Nanchen's leg injury must have healed, right?!
It seemed to have healed.
She pursed her lips and quickened her pace to catch up with Xiao Nanchen.
The two of them reached the main gate.
A black sedan was parked there.
Xia Qiqi recognized at a glance that it was the car and driver her father had given her.
So Xiao Nanchen had contacted them in advance, only to walk her to the residential gate.
She didn't know.
Why she felt a twinge of discomfort.
She approached the sedan.
Xiao Nanchen stood a short distance away, watching her get in.
After Xia Qiqi sat down, she turned back.
Looking back, she saw Xiao Nanchen had already turned and walked away.
He wasn't dressed warmly either.
Probably not considering how cold it was outside, with the ample heating at home, he only wore a thin casual outfit. The night wind was truly strong, disheveling his clothes and hair.
Xia Qiqi watched Xiao Nanchen, watched the distance between them grow.
Watched him grow increasingly cold toward her...
She didn't know.
Why tears started welling up in her eyes.
The next day.
Xia Qiqi fell ill.
A severe cold.
When she opened her eyes, intending to get up and go to work, she felt dizzy and weak.
She had always thought she had a strong constitution.
She never expected that a short time in the cold could leave her this frail.
Did women who had been through childbirth really have such poor health?!
She should have listened more to An Nuan's advice.
She couldn't get up, so she called her father to take a sick day.
Her father agreed, but seemed unconvinced by her.
She didn't understand, was her credibility that low?!
Xia Qiqi lay in bed, miserable.
Just feeling unwell.
Her whole body ached.
Dizzy, feverish, chills.
It had been so long since she last had a cold!
Xia Qiqi was alone at home, dejected.
It was still only 10 AM when Nie Ziming called her.
She didn't know whether she should take Nie Ziming's call.
Last night, she was clearly the one who got upset.
But because of the incident with Xiao Nanchen, she felt insecure again.
In the end.
She answered weakly, "Ziming."
"I heard you're sick? How did you get sick? Did you catch a chill last night?" Nie Ziming's concerned voice only deepened Xia Qiqi's guilt.
She didn't understand why he refused to sleep with her.
But she could keenly feel his affection for her.
She thought.
Perhaps he truly had no choice.
Xia Qiqi sighed, "Yeah, I didn't dress warmly enough last night."
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I..."
"It's okay, I'll be better in a couple of days."
"Have you been to the hospital?"
"I don't want to go."
"You have to go to the hospital when you're sick, I'll come keep you company."
"No need." Xia Qiqi refused.
She really didn't want to see Nie Ziming now.
She was truly afraid of the awkwardness.
"Qiqi, you can't be so stubborn. Be good, I'll be right over."
"I'll go myself, you focus on work." Xia Qiqi still refused, "I'll have my driver take me. You take care of your work first."
The other end fell silent.
"I just don't want to disturb you, don't read too much into it."
Saying that.
Xia Qiqi hung up.
She truly didn't want to say any more.
Not out of pique.
She called her driver to take her to the hospital.
Then she struggled out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up.
As she washed her face, she suddenly noticed in the mirror the dense clusters of purple marks on her neck.
She was startled.
Only after a while did she realize they were hickeys.
Last night, her encounter with Xiao Nanchen, she had been doubting whether it was just a dream, unable to believe Xiao Nanchen would...
Now, seeing the marks on her neck.
She couldn't delude herself that she was attacked by a ghost, could she?!
Xia Qiqi bit her lip tightly.
Completely unsure how to describe her current feelings.
Forget it.
She would just treat last night as if nothing happened.
She figured Xiao Nanchen probably felt the same way.
After washing up, she changed into a thick outfit and went downstairs.
She took her car directly to the VIP entrance of the central city hospital.
Sitting in the doctor's office, her temperature measured 40 degrees Celsius.
"If you had come any later, your brain might have gotten fried," the doctor joked.
Xia Qiqi didn't expect to have such a high fever either.
From childhood until now, she couldn't recall ever having burned up this severely.
Last night was just a brief time in the cold.
What did she do to make herself this sick?
"First, take some fever reducers, then get an IV drip," the doctor expertly wrote out a prescription. "I'll get you a private rest room. You'll feel better lying down and sleeping it off until around 2 PM."
"Okay." Xia Qiqi didn't resist.
More than being reluctant to stay in the hospital, she feared actually damaging her brain.
She wasn't smart to begin with.
An nurse guided her to a VIP rest room. As she was entering, Xia Qiqi's steps faltered.
Through the half-open door of the adjacent VIP room, she thought she saw Xiao Nanchen.
She saw him getting an IV drip while still working on his laptop?!
