Chapter 27: The Toughest Part of Him Is His Mouth

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When Su Wan looked at Lu Xing again, her heart no longer stirred as it once had. That was simply how she was when it came to love: when she loved, she gave herself to it completely.

But when she let go, she never clung or hesitated.

She politely brought Lu Xing a glass of water. “Have some water.”

He was a guest now, and she was the host. Basic courtesy was still necessary.

Qin Yi’s expression remained unchanged as he stepped forward to greet Lu Xing.

“Lu Xing, thank you for coming to visit your sister-in-law.”

Lu Xing’s hand, resting at his side, tightened around the corner of his clothes. He was still young, after all, and unable to conceal his feelings.

His entire face was filled with disappointment.

Su Wan smiled and changed the subject. “You’re about to start school again, aren’t you?”

At the mention of school, Lu Xing’s heart trembled. Back then, he had clearly had so many opportunities to confess his feelings to Su Wan.

Yet he had never done so.

His voice was full of dejection. Once school began, he would have even less reason or standing to see Su Wan again. With that thought, he murmured, “School starts tomorrow.”

Su Wan froze for a moment, then smiled. “That soon?”

She had spent this entire period recovering in the hospital and had not thought much about school. Han Hongmei had told her that she would handle everything with the school.

Lu Xing raised his head and looked at Su Wan, concern in his eyes. “How is your recovery?”

Su Wan answered openly, “I’m fine now.”

Beside her, Qin Yi gazed at Su Wan with an almost clingy look in his eyes. “Wanwan, go look for my medicine in the bedroom. I couldn’t find it earlier.”

Lu Xing’s heart tightened with a bitter ache.

Su Wan had nothing more to say to Lu Xing. With a smile, she excused herself. “You two talk. I’ll go look for it.”

Only Qin Yi and Lu Xing remained in the living room. Qin Yi tossed him a cigarette, which Lu Xing caught in a fluster.

With a sharp click, Qin Yi lit his own cigarette and blew out a ring of smoke. “Shall we go outside and talk?”

Lu Xing silently pushed Qin Yi out of the house. Neither of them spoke again until they reached a secluded spot in the compound. Only then did Lu Xing stop.

Qin Yi cupped his hands around another cigarette and lit it. After taking a deep drag, he asked in an almost casual tone, “You used to like Su Wan?”

Lu Xing held the cigarette awkwardly. He had only just lit it when Qin Yi’s words made him choke and cough violently.

Qin Yi narrowed his eyes slightly and watched him in silence.

Lu Xing kept coughing until his eyes turned red. At last, he looked Qin Yi straight in the eye and admitted without reservation, “I liked her when we were at school. And it wasn’t as if she felt nothing for me.”

The bluntness of those words was a blatant provocation to Qin Yi.

Qin Yi merely glanced at him and gave a dismissive scoff. “So?”

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Lu Xing opened his mouth. He wanted to say that he intended to win Su Wan back, but beneath Qin Yi’s gaze, he could not bring himself to speak.

Qin Yi looked at him contemptuously. “So you only liked her, but you didn’t even have the courage to tear through that thin sheet of paper between you?”

Qin Yi knew exactly where to strike.

Lu Xing turned his head away and said nothing.

Qin Yi stared into the distance. “You liked her but were afraid to confess. How could someone as cowardly as you ever give her happiness?”

Lu Xing suddenly turned back, his eyes sharp as he glared at Qin Yi. “What do you know? Just because you like her, how can you be certain that she likes you?”

Qin Yi calmly flicked away some ash. “I don’t care whether it’s liking or love. I only know that she is my wife. I’ll do everything I can to treat her well and become someone she can rely on.”

Those two words—my wife—were enough to crush Lu Xing’s spirits. He clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot.

Su Wan could have become his girlfriend. They might have married in time, instead of her hastily marrying Qin Yi.

Qin Yi continued twisting the knife. “Su Wan doesn’t like you. If she did, she wouldn’t be drawn to a man who drags his feet.”

Seeing the unwillingness on Lu Xing’s face, Qin Yi kindly offered him some advice. “If I were you, I’d stay away from her. If you cause Wanwan to suffer even the slightest bit of gossip, I won’t let you off.”

Lu Xing froze and bit down hard on his lip. He had indeed considered telling Su Wan that if Qin Yi treated her badly, he would find a way to take her away.

Qin Yi had exposed his thoughts with a single sentence. Lu Xing fell silent. Of course he knew how important a woman’s reputation was in this era.

What he intended to do really would subject Su Wan to gossip and condemnation.

By the time Qin Yi returned home, Su Wan had already made the bed. She came over, pushed him inside, and poured hot water for him to wash.

Su Wan looked at him. “What did you say to Lu Xing?”

Without changing expression, Qin Yi replied, “I warned him not to entertain ideas he shouldn’t have.”

Su Wan raised the corner of her eye. “Do you not trust him, or do you not trust me?”

“Him.”

As a reward, Su Wan wiped his face for him, then naturally sat down and began massaging his legs.

Her voice held a trace of concern. “Is that miracle doctor you found really reliable?”

Seeing that Su Wan was not troubled in the slightest by what had happened with Lu Xing, Qin Yi felt secretly pleased.

Su Wan was genuinely worried. Qin Yi had been confined to a wheelchair for more than a year, and his legs had long since lost all sensation. If Grandma Qin had not taken such good care of him, no one knew what condition he would be in now.

Although Qin Yi never said so, she knew he must be filled with hope that he could recover.

If the doctor in whom he had placed such high hopes could not make him stand again, if the treatment failed to produce even the slightest effect—

the blow would be devastating. What would happen to him?

Could he bear such a blow and still pull himself back together?

Seeing the worry on Su Wan’s face, Qin Yi felt something soft pass through his heart.

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He gently took her hand, pulled her into his lap, and rested his head against her.

He comforted her softly. “Things are already like this. We might as well give it a try. Even if it fails, we’ll be no worse off than we are now.”

Before this, hearing him say such words would have made Su Wan happy. She would have been glad that Qin Yi was willing to try and had stopped shutting himself away.

But after spending so much time together, she wanted him to recover, yet she was also afraid that he would suffer another devastating blow.

After thinking for a moment, she still asked, “Have you made up your mind?”

Qin Yi tightened his arms around her and murmured, “Mm.”

Su Wan struggled a little, but Qin Yi only held her more firmly, looking at her with a roguish smile.

Looking at him like that, Su Wan could think of only one phrase: a soldier with the manners of a bandit.

With a hint of petulance in her voice, she said, “You certainly take things in stride.”

Qin Yi answered with a perfectly serious expression, “My wife trained me well.”

Su Wan pinched his cheek, only for him to seize her hand and bite it. She hissed in pain.

She playfully patted his chest and threatened him in an imperious tone, “Don’t bite me.”

Qin Yi gazed indulgently at her bright, smiling face. She was so vivid and full of life. Such a wonderful girl had become his woman.

She had breathed life into his stagnant existence.

After Su Wan finished washing up and lay down in bed, Qin Yi pulled her into his arms.

Her heart began to race.

She watched Qin Yi nervously. Although he had wiped her body for her in the hospital, the two of them had never gone all the way. Thinking that they were about to see each other completely exposed, she still felt somewhat tense.

Her body stiffened involuntarily.

Noticing her nervousness, Qin Yi teasingly pinched the soft flesh at her waist.

He turned toward her, his breath brushing against her neck. His voice was husky as he asked, “Lost your nerve?”

Of her entire body, only her mouth was truly unyielding. Stubbornly, she refused to admit it. “Not at all.”

She thrust out her chest, bold in spirit if not in confidence, and bumped against Qin Yi. His body stiffened.

He reached out, gently closed his hand around her, and began to caress her lightly. Su Wan trembled all over, shaking uncontrollably.

Qin Yi’s voice grew huskier.

“Keep talking tough, and I’ll have my way with you.”