Accidental Love

Shi Yan's words straight up made the tears that were about to fall down back into Zheng Shuyi's eyes. Then, they turned into balls of fire and evaporated in her body.

At first, she was a little confused and thought that maybe she had misheard.

But such a simple sentence.

How! Could! She! Have! Misheard!

In an instant, all the sadness and hidden thoughts were gone, and there was only a buzzing sound going in her mind.

No, it's just, why did you suddenly say this at this time?

Zheng Shuyi's mouth was left wide open. After staring at the wall in a daze for a while, she turned her head to look at Shi Yan.

He had a light expression. His eyes were looking calmly at the LED announcements on the wall and didn't seem to feel like what he said was wrong or inappropriate.

Zheng Shuyi couldn't even feel sad anymore.

She looked at him blankly for a few seconds before looking away.

The body temperature that was already feverish got even higher, and the blush on her face also grew more and more obvious.

"You… I…"

Hearing that she didn't manage to utter a word after hesitating for such a long time, Shi Yan said again calmly, "Am I wrong?"

Although his words were obviously due to the sudden anger, to be honest, he wasn't that wrong.

Otherwise, what else would an adult couple be doing at this time?

Holding hands and watching movies?

According to Zheng Shuyi's previous routine, this kind of progress was a bit of a waste of her effort.

Shi Yan looked at Zheng Shuyi with some mocking eyes.

While in a fever, one's brain wouldn't function as well as normal. In addition, Zheng Shuyi was in such shock that she actually felt like his words made sense. She nodded slightly in a daze.

But so what? All the conditions for that to happen are already gone.

"Yeah, you're right."

Shi Yan: "…"

However, as soon as the voice fell, the air seemed to have vibrated slightly, and the two fell silent again.

This short conversation seemed to have lifted up a corner of a barrier that both sides knew but have been hidden this whole time.

Her honest words seemed to have made the current situation even more embarrassing.

That feeling of her throat being stuffed came again, preventing her from saying anything else.

The corridor was wide and empty, but the air felt extremely heavy.

Zheng Shuyi leaned against the wall lightly, not knowing how to deal with the situation.

The broadcast sounded again to remind her, and only then did Zheng Shuyi return to her senses. She quickly ran to the window.

After getting her test results, she evened out her breathing before returning to Shi Yan.

"Got my results, I'll go see what they mean."

Shi Yan let out a "Mm" and said nothing more. He didn't have any intention to follow her there either.

Zheng Shuyi went to the diagnosis room alone.

The doctor looked at the results and typed on his computer while saying, "White blood cell amount is high, should be a bacterial infection. The condition isn't very serious right now, I'll prescribe the medicine for you and if the fever is still there after you wake up tomorrow, you can come to the hospital to get an intravenous drip1A drip in medical terms is when fluids, usually something like glucose, are stored in a small bag and then slowly dripped into your bloodstream via a tube. Don't pull all-nighters and make sure you get plenty of rest."

Zheng Shuyi nodded, "Okay."

When she came out with the medicine list prescribed by the doctor, Zheng Shuyi saw the empty corridor and her heart sank.

After a few steps, she saw Shi Yan's back outside the corridor door, and she grew nervous inexplicably.

After waiting in line and getting the medicine, Zheng Shuyi walked to Shi Yan's back with a small plastic bag.

She wanted to pull his sleeve, but her hand never rose.

She stood motionlessly; not even the shadow on the ground moved.

The sound of her footsteps was very light, and it took a few seconds for Shi Yan to realize there was a person standing behind him.

He turned and looked at Zheng Shuyi standing there quietly. Her head was slightly lowered and her face looked completely pale.

Her thin fingers holding the plastic bag were beside her legs. Under the lights, they seemed to be very cold just by looking at them.

For some reason, Shi Yan wanted to reach out and hold her hand, but when he looked up and saw her pitiful appearance, he grew annoyed instead.

"Are you a mute?" Shi Yan finally spoke.

Zheng Shuyi looked up with her hazy eyes, "Huh? What?"

"Time to go."

Zheng Shuyi lowered her head again and replied quietly, "Oh."

——

On the way back, Shi Yan drove at a slower pace and didn't say anything.

Zheng Shuyi was very tired, and also very sleepy.

Moreover, she has always been uncomfortable in cars. When driving smoothly, it was really easy for her to fall asleep.

Yet today, she couldn't fall asleep at all. She was so wide awake that she could even hear Shi Yan's breathing clearly.

It was just that she didn't know what to say, and the atmosphere wasn't suitable for her to say anything either. So she just leaned quietly against the car window, looking like she fell asleep already.

At least that was what Shi Yan thought.

From Shi Yan's angle, it looked like that not only was Zheng Shuyi asleep, she was also sleeping very soundly.

So when the car drove to the gate of the neighborhood, Shi Yan gently stepped on the brakes and just rested his hands on the steering wheel. He made no sound and there weren't any further movements.

Zheng Shuyi didn't know why Shi Yan didn't wake her up.

But her selfishness told her to keep pretending to sleep like this.

At least that way, she could stay with him for a little longer. Otherwise, she really didn't know when she could meet him again.

The car was so quiet that the only sound present was the two's unsynchronized breathing.

The vendors on the roadside were closing and the lights went out one by one. People who returned from working overtime were dragging their feet towards home, their figures passing the car windows one by one.

Zheng Shuyi leaned against the window with her eyes closed, but all her other senses turned extremely sensitive.

Although she couldn't see, every movement of Shi Yan's was displayed in her mind.

Just like this, sitting in a car half a meter away from each other, she was already very satisfied.

But time also passed very quickly in this silence.

Twenty minutes have already passed, and for Zheng Shuyi, it only felt like a short moment.

――If it wasn't because of the voice message Shi Yan played on his phone, she might have continued to pretend.

The voice message was from Guan Ji. As Shi Yan played it, he unfastened his seat belt and loosened his bow tie.

Guan Ji: "Quick question, do you have time tomorrow night?"

Shi Yan typed a few words back: What is it?

A few seconds later, Guan Ji's voice echoed clearly in the car.

"Of course it's good news! Do you remember that Fiona last time? Didn't you seem to be interested in her? Well, it seems that she's interested in you too, and tonight she was representing her company at a social gathering and asked me about you. I think she knows you and she also happened to have her day off tomorrow, would you two want to meet?"

When Shi Yan clicked on the message, he didn't think much about it and so he played it out loud inside the car.

Upon hearing this, he frowned and subconsciously glanced sideways at Zheng Shuyi.

She was still asleep.

Shi Yan suddenly felt annoyed by him and didn't plan to reply.

But at this time, Guan Ji has already sent him a call. Before Shi Yan even got to speak, he started to blabber again, "I'm serious, you really shouldn't miss this good opportunity. There aren't many pretty and young girls nowadays who are still single. If it wasn't because I dated one of her friends before, I really want to go chase her myself."

"You seem to have nothing to do?"

"Not really, I just drank a little tonight so I'm a bit talkative," Guan Ji did drink a lot, and even his voice sounded a little mumbled. His logic didn't make much sense either as he continued, "I'm not joking. One word from you, would you like to come to get to know each other tomorrow? If not, I'll be chasing her."

Shi Yan turned his neck, switched the phone to his right hand, and said mockingly, "Didn't you just say that she's a friend of your ex-girlfriend? It seems that your moral restraints aren't very effective."

"I thought about it, it's not like I'm breaking the law," Guan Ji replied stubbornly, "As Buddha said: love is like holding a torch and walking against the wind, at one point, the fire would start to burn your hand."

Hearing this, Shi Yan’s face quickly darkened and gradually started to focus on the windshield.

Without feeling Shi Yan's silence, Guan Ji laughed to himself on the other end of the phone, "I think my hands can withstand some small burns."

He really did drink a lot tonight. He felt very relaxed and didn't call Shi Yan to be a nice matchmaker.

The girl that he liked so much, how would it be possible for him to hand it over to someone else? This call was merely done because of what Fionia asked. In addition, he was certain that Shi Yan wouldn't have the time to go spend time with someone whom he only met once before anyway.

After a few more casual chats, Guan Ji finally hung up the phone.

Shi Yan looked down at his phone for a while and suddenly felt someone's eyes looking at him.

He turned his head and found Zheng Shuyi looking at him with her eyes wide open.

"Awake?"

Zheng Shuyi nodded.

Shi Yan immediately turned his head back around, buckled his seat belt, and started the car.

The meaning of his actions was very obvious.

But Zheng Shuyi didn't get off the car. She clutched onto the seat belt and carefully asked in a quiet voice, "Will you go tomorrow?"

Shi Yan's hands suddenly stopped. He turned his head slightly and looked towards Zheng Shuyi.

A moment later, he understood what she meant.

"You heard?"

Zheng Shuyi nodded again.

"I heard a little bit."

Shi Yan held onto the steering wheel and looked at the street lights in front. Then, he smiled.

"Why do you care?"

Fine.

Zheng Shuyi knew that she was not qualified at all to be asking this question.

"I didn't mean to care about your businesses, I'm just asking."

After speaking, she unfastened her seat belt and opened the car door.

Just as one of her legs stepped down, her wrist was suddenly grabbed onto by Shi Yan.

"Then do you want me to go?"

Zheng Shuyi still kept her back to Shi Yan, even though he was grabbing onto her wrist.

After a few seconds, she slowly turned her body around.

How could she want him to go?

Just by thinking that Shi Yan would be going on a date with some other woman, her fever probably wouldn't break today.

"No," she shook her head, "Of course not."

However, Zheng Shuyi's reply was within Shi Yan's expectation, so he wasn't as happy as he should be when he heard it.

Or maybe it was because he has heard her say such things so many times that at this moment, it made it sound ironic.

Shi Yan still didn't let go of her hand.

When his gaze landed on Zheng Shuyi's face, she could see a sense of mockery from him.

"Zheng Shuyi, what gave you the right to be saying this right now?"

Zheng Shuyi: "…"

Zheng Shuyi started to reflect on herself.

Indeed, she didn't have the rights and was in no position to be saying this.

But Shi Yan's words sounded a little too aggressive.

Do you have to be so harsh?

Zheng Shuyi took a deep breath, and said with her last bit of strength, "Because the almanac2A calendar that uses various star observations and weathers and stuff to predict which days would be good to hold certain events and which days there would be bad luck indicates that it's best not to go out tomorrow."

Shi Yan: "…"

"There will be a big catastrophe."

Shi Yan: "…"

He twitched the corner of his mouth, suddenly let go of Zheng Shuyi's hand, and said coldly, "Go sleep."

Zheng Shuyi took her bag, took a few steps, and looked back at Shi Yan worriedly. "Really, you should be careful tomorrow," she said loudly.

Shi Yan: "…"

When he stepped on the gas, he drove away without even using the turning lights.

——

That night, Zheng Shuyi naturally didn't get a good sleep.

She tossed around endlessly on the bed, and it wasn't until when signs of light started to appear outside the window did she finally start to fall asleep.

The next morning, she also naturally got up late. She felt that her body was even weaker and her body temperature also rose instead of falling.

Zheng Shuyi sat on the bed for a while, then called the company to inform them of her absence, and then went to the hospital with yesterday's test results.

The doctor last night was also on duty this morning. After seeing Zheng Shuyi's sick expression, he wasn't surprised at all.

He prescribed her some medicine and asked her to wait at the emergency department for her drip.

Zheng Shuyi came relatively early and there weren't many people at the emergency department.

Everyone here was a patient and not many people had the energy to speak, so the emergency department seemed exceptionally quiet.

It started to rain again outside. Accompanied by the smell of disinfectants, it made everyone feel a sense of coldness.

Especially Zheng Shuyi.

As a person from another city, not only did she have to work and live alone, she also had to come to the hospital alone when sick. There was nothing more lonely than such an experience.

In addition, she had to face her greatest fear alone.

More and more patients came to get their drip, and soon, the emergency department was already full of people.

Which also magnified Zheng Shuyi's loneliness.

She glanced around casually and found out that she seemed to be the only girl who came all by herself.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier.

All the people who came after all had waves of chills coming from them.

Zheng Shuyi looked at the messages from work pop up one after another on her phone and felt extremely powerless.

She rubbed her eyes and was about to turn off her phone when suddenly she received a message from Qin Shiyue.

Qin Shiyue: Sister Shuyi, are you busy right now?

Zheng Shuyi: No.

Qin Shiyue: Then let me ask you something real quick.

Zheng Shuyi: Go ahead.

Qin Shiyue: It's about Mr. Yu that afternoon, you said you two were on a blind date right?"

Zheng Shuyi: Yeah.

She thought about it and then added: We're both forced by our family, we're just ordinary friends.

Qin Shiyue: Really? You two don't have that kind of relationship?

Qin Shiyue: And he didn't have any extra interest in you either?

Zheng Shuyi: Of course not.

Although Zheng Shuyi has never chased anyone else, there have been plenty of men who chased her before.

In her experience, when a man like Yu You was interested in a woman, he would take the initiative first and not waste time playing around.

And when they first met, he already said that he wasn't interested in falling in love right now at all.

Zheng Shuyi didn't have the slightest doubt in his words. After chatting with him a few times, she could tell that there were many goals in his heart that he was trying to achieve, there was no room left for a relationship.

Zheng Shuyi: What did you suddenly ask him for?

Qin Shiyue: Nothing really, just curious.

Zheng Shuyi held the phone and was silent for a moment. Then, with a trace of hope, she asked: Did your uncle tell you to?

Qin Shiyue:?

Qin Shiyue: What does he have to do with this? He doesn't have that much time to care.

Zheng Shuyi: Oh…

Qin Shiyue: It's just that I‘m interested in him.

Zheng Shuyi: ?

Zheng Shuyi: ???

Qin Shiyue: Does it sound very surprising?

Qin Shiyue: Sister, can't you smell the sense of singleness coming from me?

Zheng Shuyi: No no, it's just that I think he might not be very suitable for you.

Qin Shiyue:?

Qin Shiyue: Why?

Zheng Shuyi: He's not planning to form a relationship right now.

Qin Shiyue: Haha, I don't believe in those kinds of BS from men.

Zheng Shuyi:…

Qin Shiyue: Sister, help, please?

Zheng Shuyi: How?

Qin Shiyue: You can take him out for me, then I'll follow you along.

Zheng Shuyi: Sure, but he's pretty busy, I'm not sure when he'll have the time.

Qin Shiyue: It's okay, I'm not in a hurry.

Qin Shiyue: Just ask him if he's free tonight.

Zheng Shuyi: "…"

You don't seem to be in a hurry at all…

Zheng Shuyi: Definitely not today.

Qin Shiyue: Why?

Zheng Shuyi: I'm sick.

A few seconds later, Qin Shiyue called directly.

"Are you sick? What's wrong? Is it serious?"

"It's okay, it's just a fever."

"Have you gone to see a doctor yet?"

"Yes," replied Zheng Shuyi, "I'm at the hospital."

"You're at the hospital?! And you call this okay?! Is there anyone with you?"

"No, but it's really okay, it's just a slight illness."

Zheng Shuyi looked up and found that her first bag was already almost used up, so she said, "I'm going to get the nurse over now, see you later."

"Oh okay, take care of yourself."

——

After the bag got replaced, Zheng Shuyi was already feeling very sleepy.

But she didn't dare to sleep. Being here all alone, no one would call the nurse over to refill the solution if she fell asleep.

After ten minutes, she couldn't hold it anymore. Her fried mind that was short-circuited finally thought of a solution.

She estimated the time when the bag would be used up, and then set an alarm clock. Then she leaned back on the chair and unworriedly closed her eyes to sleep.

Soon, the surrounding voices gradually disappeared, her head leaned to the side, and she fell soundly asleep.

——

When the alarm clock rang, she opened her eyes and sat in a daze. It took a while for her to remember what she was doing before she fell asleep.

So her first reaction was to look up to see if the solution in the bag was used up yet.

However, the moment she raised her eyes, she found Shi Yan standing beside her.

In the overcrowded emergency department, he was wearing a thin white shirt and standing beside her alone, making it impossible for her to ignore his existence.

But his figure looked too real, too natural.

To the point that Zheng Shuyi thought her eyes were lying to her, or that she still hasn’t awoken yet from her dream.

She looked at him in a daze. But he was just leaning against the wall and didn't seem to notice Zheng Shuyi's look yet.

Making it seem more like a dream.

Zheng Shuyi wanted to reach forward and touch him.

But as soon as she raised her hand, it was pressed down.

"Don't move."

A female voice sounded.

Zheng Shuyi turned her head and looked over. The medicine bag was already empty, and the nurse was helping her pull the needle out.

The moment the nurse's hand touched her, she finally realized that there was a suit covered over her.

With the fragrance that belonged to Shi Yan.

Zheng Shuyi slowly understood what was going on.

After Shi Yan took the cotton swab from the nurse and pressed it on Zheng Shuyi's arm…

He finally looked towards her and whispered, "You must be really brave to fall asleep in the hospital while being alone."

For no reason, Zheng Shuyi's eyes felt sour, as if they had been smoked by vinegar.

She really wanted to cry.

After a while, she mumbled effortfully using her sore throat, "Why are you here?"

After saying this, she was already immersed in her emotions. Uncontrollably, her voice contained some grievances and complaints in it, "Didn't I tell you not to come out today…"

Shi Yan loosened the cotton swab. Seeing that there was no more blood coming out from the spot where the needle was, he straightened his body and looked at Zheng Shuyi from above.

His tone was heavy and it was mixed with some helplessness.

"Aren't you the catastrophe of my life?"

Translator’s Note: Thanks again to “V” for the donation of Ko-Fi O(∩_∩)O The username “V” suddenly reminded me about Tower of God (btw I think it’s a really good webtoon, you should check it out if you’re up for some top-notch action and fantasy), it’s about time to go check out those new manga chapters I’ve been saving up for. Anyways, this chapter is quite long too! Hope everyone enjoyed this extra release today, and fortunately, things seem to be getting better for ZSY and SY!

• 1A drip in medical terms is when fluids, usually something like glucose, are stored in a small bag and then slowly dripped into your bloodstream via a tube
• 2A calendar that uses various star observations and weathers and stuff to predict which days would be good to hold certain events and which days there would be bad luck