Sweetie, don't look at him, kiss me.

After the door closed, the ward became quiet.

Ji Xingqing sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Lin Qingmian's lowered eyes, and suddenly leaned closer mysteriously, her voice filled with excitement: "Mianmian, I have a surprise for you."

"What?" Lin Qingmian replied listlessly.

Ji Xingqing glanced at her phone, her smile widening: "I'll be there soon!"

Downstairs, Ji Linzhou and Su Tingwan walked out of the inpatient building side by side.

Just as Ji Linzhou was about to ask Bai Cheng to arrange a car to take Su Tingwan back, a silver-gray Porsche drove up from not far away at high speed, passing them directly and turning into the hospital's underground parking garage.

Ji Linzhou recognized the license plate number of that car.

It was Ji Xingye's car.

His gaze suddenly froze, and he stopped in his tracks.

Ji Xingye... is back?

Has he returned to China?

The man frowned, turned around, and wanted to go back to the inpatient department.

"Linzhou".

Su Tingwan reached out and stopped him.

She looked up, staring into his eyes, her voice tinged with inquiry and coldness: "What exactly is your relationship with Lin Qingmian?"

Ji Linzhou paused for a moment, his brows furrowing slightly.

He turned around, looked at the woman in front of him with a burning gaze, and said in a cold voice, "Why are you suddenly asking this question?"

Su Tingwan stared into his eyes, trying to find some clue in his expression.

"Are you interested in Lin Qingmian?"

Her voice held a hint of hesitation and unease: "Don't forget, she's your nephew's fiancée. Do you want to steal her from your nephew?"

Ji Linzhou's brows furrowed even more.

He looked at her and earnestly corrected her, "She and Ji Xingye have already broken up, and she's no longer Ji Xingye's fiancée."

"As for what kind of relationship I have with her..." He stared at Su Tingwan, enunciating each word clearly, his voice as cold as ice: "Whether or not I compete with my nephew for a woman is not your concern."

"You're not my fiancée yet, and you never will be."

Su Tingwan's face turned deathly pale instantly.

"I'm playing along with your act in front of the media, but don't think you'll actually have a chance."

Ji Linzhou's voice grew even colder: "Don't forget, I'm a married man."

After saying that, he didn't look at Su Tingwan again, turned around, and strode towards the inpatient department.

The leather shoes made a crisp and resolute sound as they stepped on the ground.

Su Tingwan stood there, watching the man's departing figure, her fingers clenched into fists at her sides, her nails digging into her palms, causing a piercing pain.

She bit her lip, her eyes reddening, but she didn't let the tears fall.

A married man?

Oh.

She wanted to see who his so-called "wife" really was.

Upstairs, in the ward.

Ji Xingqing was still keeping Lin Qingmian in suspense. She sat on the edge of the bed, resting her chin on her hands, and looked at Lin Qingmian mysteriously: "Mianmian, let me tell you, this surprise of mine will be something you'll never forget!"

Lin Qingmian frowned, her voice tinged with helplessness: "If you don't tell me, I really won't be interested anymore."

"Almost there!"

Ji Xingqing glanced down at her phone, then suddenly looked up, her eyes sparkling as she gazed towards the door: "Coming! Coming!"

In the corridor, the elevator doors opened with a "ding".

Then came the sound of leather shoes on the marble floor, steady and rapid, one after another, approaching from afar.

Ji Xingqing jumped out of bed excitedly, rushed to the door in three steps, and pulled open the door to the ward.

"Mianmian!"

Her voice was filled with barely concealed excitement and anticipation: "Look who's come to see you!"

Then, she turned slightly to the side, fully revealing the person at the doorway.

Lin Qingmian raised her head and looked in the backlight from the doorway.

The next second, her pupils suddenly contracted.

The man standing at the door was wearing a dark gray trench coat. He was tall and slender, with a somewhat weary face and faint dark circles under his eyes, clearly a result of traveling all night.

But those eyes were still as bright and passionate as they had been two years ago.

It carries a stubbornness and persistence that disregards everything.

Ji Xingye.

He is back.

He stood at the door, his gaze passing over Ji Xingqing and landing directly on Lin Qingmian on the hospital bed.

His gaze lingered on her right arm, which was in a cast, for a long time before finally moving to her face.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he spoke, his voice hoarse as if he were holding grit: "Mianmian."

Lin Qingmian's heart clenched suddenly.

The feeling was strange, like being hit hard by something, or being pushed off a height; the weightlessness left her mind blank.

She had imagined many times how she would react if she saw Ji Xingye again.

Anger? Hatred? Indifference? Ignoring?

But only now did she realize that when she was actually facing him, she had no emotions at all.

There was only a weariness that emanated from the very core of one's being.

"Why are you back?"

Her voice was calm, as if she were asking a stranger, "Aren't you supposed to be filming in Los Angeles?"

Ji Xingye walked into the ward and sat down in the chair that Ji Xingqing had pulled over, his gaze still fixed on her face: "I'm back."

"I told you, I would come back."

Lin Qingmian lowered her eyes and remained silent.

Ji Xingqing looked at this person, then at that person, and tactfully took a few steps back: "Um...you guys chat first, I'll go buy a coffee!"

After saying that, she quickly slipped out of the ward, closing the door behind her.

The ward fell silent.

Ji Xingye sat in the chair, leaned forward, and reached out to touch Lin Qingmian's arm, which was in a cast.

Lin Qingmian turned slightly to the side, avoiding his hand.

The man's finger hovered in mid-air, frozen for a moment, before slowly retracting.

You are injured.

He said, his voice filled with suppressed heartache, "How could you be so careless?"

"It's none of your business."

Lin Qingmian's voice was indifferent, with a deliberate sense of distance: "Ji Xingye, we've already broken up."

"I know."

Ji Xingye's eyes darkened, but he did not back down: "But I don't intend to let go."

"Mianmian, I was wrong two years ago."

His voice was hoarse and earnest, tinged with remorse and pleading: "I shouldn't have left you alone, I shouldn't have left without explaining to you."

"I've been abroad for the past two years, and I've thought about you every single day."

Lin Qingmian's fingers gripped the bed sheet tightly, her knuckles turning white.

She looked up and met his gaze.

Those eyes were once the ones she knew best and relied on the most.

But at this moment, she only felt unfamiliar with it.

"Ji Xingye," she said, her voice calm yet icy, "I've told you, I'm already married."

"I know," Ji Xingye said stubbornly, looking at her. "I don't believe you."

"You may not believe it," Lin Qingmian said, her eyes closed, her voice tinged with weariness, "but it's the truth."

Ji Xingye stood up, walked to the window, looked at the parking lot below, and said in a low voice, "Mianmian, I will not let go again."

"Whether you're really married or not, I will never let go."