Chapter 26: Rivals Meet, Sparks Fly

Jiang Boyuan left the hospital ward just before Lin Changchun could lay a hand on him.

"Old Jiang, you rascal, stop right there!" Lin Changchun shouted as he gave chase.

With that live wire Lin Changchun gone, the room fell silent. Su Wan watched Qin Yi, who was peeling an orange with a calm and collected expression, as if nothing had happened at all. However, Su Wan was certain he was hiding something from her.

As Qin Yi handed her a slice of orange, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "What did Jiang Boyuan want with you?"

"He asked me to help him vet a blind date he’s going on," Qin Yi replied. As he spoke, he peeled another piece and fed it to her, his composure remarkably unshaken.

Su Wan watched him with a smile. If she hadn't been spending every waking moment with him lately, she might have actually believed his deadpan delivery. She wasn't a fool, so she snorted and fixed her gaze on his face.

Seeing her skeptical expression, Qin Yi tried to appease her by rubbing her hand. Su Wan shot him a glare and swatted him away, her voice drifting lightly from the hospital bed.

"Tell me the truth. You only get one chance."

Meeting Su Wan’s bright, smiling face, the certainty on Qin Yi’s own vanished. Yet, he showed no embarrassment at being seen through; he was a man who had weathered great storms, and though he was in the wrong, he remained steady.

Even so, the "Qin Dog" adopted a new posture of contrition. He sat up straight, his attitude earnest as he confessed everything to Su Wan.

"I had Boyuan go out of town to bring back a miracle doctor to look at my legs."

He emphasized the words "look at my legs" to show that his stance had shifted; he would no longer refuse treatment as he once had. After he finished, he looked at Su Wan, as obedient as a husband being disciplined for a mistake. He had laid it all out; in front of his wife, he dared not hold anything back.

Su Wan raised an eyebrow. She knew he was telling the truth, but she didn’t want to let him off the hook so easily. She hadn't even realized herself that when she was with Qin Yi, she would fuss over the smallest trifles, picking fights even when she had no reason to.

Qin Yi said nothing, simply submitting to her judgment, and leaned in closer to massage her legs. He looked for all the world like he was being bullied by an unreasonable, domineering Su Wan.

*So slick,* she thought.

Appeased by his good attitude, Su Wan smiled. "Speak directly from now on. If I find out you’re lying to me again..."

Her eyes curved into crescents, showing no real displeasure, yet Qin Yi gave a 120 percent guarantee. "It won’t happen again."

In truth, given the environment Su Wan grew up in, she shouldn't have been this spoiled or willful. But with Qin Yi, she was exactly that. It was likely because he had been indulging her lately.

The phrase "spoiled by love" suited her perfectly. Qin Yi didn't want a woman who was sensible and self-sacrificing; he wanted her to be herself. When they first married, he hadn't trusted her, misinterpreting her motives for marrying him and wanting to drive her away. Part of it was also that he was paralyzed and didn't want to drag a vibrant, young girl down with him.

No one wanted to spend a lifetime with a cripple.

Aside from that, he had always treated her well—one could even say he had always been sincere with her. When Su Wan encountered danger, he finally understood his own heart: he didn't want to let go.

He wanted to keep her by his side, and at the very least, it seemed that Su Wan liked him too. Now, he wanted to give himself a chance for her sake, to stand up again and become her pillar of support. He knew it would be difficult, and he might even face another crushing blow, but he had to try.

He could see that his little wife didn't have a good relationship with the Su family, and they didn't truly care for her. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to be her man. He wanted to shield her from the wind and rain.

Three days after the stitches were removed, Su Wan was discharged.

The four of them were in the car, and from the hospital to their home, the only voice heard was the chatterbox Lin Changchun’s. "Sister-in-law, do any of your classmates happen to be single? Look at me, I’m a fine specimen of a man. Introduce one to your brother-in-law..."

Jiang Boyuan looked at him, nursing a headache. "Let me think about it."

Su Wan glanced at Qin Yi and stifled a laugh.

Qin Yi eyed the back of Lin Changchun’s head and said flatly, "Are you that desperate to get married?"

"What are you saying? Only women get 'desperate to marry.' I’m a grown man—I’m desperate to take a wife!" Lin Changchun was currently indulging his obsession with finding a spouse to the extreme.

"Did you forget the time you gave that girl a shoulder throw the first time you met?" Jiang Boyuan, sitting in the passenger seat, could no longer tolerate the noise and dropped this comment with a deadpan expression.

Lin Changchun looked like a duck whose neck had been squeezed. His face turned beet red, and he sputtered "I-I-I" for a long time without managing to say anything. He fell silent instantly.

Su Wan signaled to Qin Yi with her eyes. Qin Yi quietly hooked his finger around hers and returned a look that said, *I’ll tell you when we get back.*

Su Wan was filled with curiosity, but as the men in the car remained silent, the atmosphere grew strangely quiet.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Grandma Qin waiting expectantly at the door. As the car came to a stop, she hurried over. "Wanwan, let Grandma look at you."

After stepping out of the car, Su Wan stood there obediently, smiling as she let her look her over.

When Grandma Qin saw the gruesome wound on Su Wan’s head and the hair shaved away for the stitches, her eyes turned red with heartache. Su Wan’s rosy face was full of smiles, her lips red and teeth white. "Grandma, look, aren't I standing right here in front of you?"

Grandma Qin couldn't stop wiping away her tears. It wasn't until Qin Yi stepped out that he intervened.

"Grandma, Wanwan just got out of the hospital. Do you want her to stand here in the cold wind? The doctor said it would give her headaches."

"Look at me, let's go inside, let's go home." Grandma Qin pulled Su Wan toward the house.

Qin Yi glanced at a figure in the distance and said in a low voice to Jiang Boyuan, "Boyuan, there are still some of your sister-in-law’s things in the car. Go get them."

Lin Changchun looked at Qin Yi, puzzled. "Old Qin, there isn't any—"

Jiang Boyuan clamped a hand over his mouth, dragged him inside, and shouted back to Qin Yi, "I’ll come back to get sister-in-law’s things in a bit!"

Jiang Boyuan was perceptive and always cautious; he understood what Qin Yi was doing the moment he spoke. As they entered the house amidst the bustle, Qin Yi curled his lips into a faint smile.

Elsewhere, Lu Xing watched them go, his spirit deflated as he trudged back to his room and collapsed onto his bed. School started tomorrow; it seemed he would have no chance to speak with Su Wan again.

After lying there for a long time, he suddenly sat up. He was Su Wan’s classmate, so why couldn't he go visit her? With that thought, he grabbed some gifts from home and headed out without a second thought.

His heart felt bitter and heavy, and it wasn't until he stepped into the Qin residence that his mind cleared a little.

"Is anyone home?"

Grandma Qin came out in response. Seeing Lu Xing, she busily ushered him in. "Oh, it's Lu Xing. Come, come in, please."

Lu Xing said, "Grandma, I... I came to see Su Wan."

"Wanwan, Xiao Yi, we have a guest."

Su Wan pushed Qin Yi out of the bedroom, and both were taken aback at the sight of Lu Xing. Qin Yi narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing him. There was an inexplicable hostility between them, and as their gazes locked, sparks seemed to fly in the air.