Joining A Dating Show With Five Exes - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: It Was Like Seeing Four Wolves

When Xia Zhiran rushed out of the hospital in a fit of pique, she was already formulating a plan to settle the score with that damned Xie Zhiqing.

Troubled by her hand injury and bored, she had received Wangshu’s communication the night before and casually drawn a map of the island for Xie Zhiqing, even thoughtfully marking the approximate elevations and vegetation coverage—

Yet, how did Xie Zhiqing stab her in the back?!

She actually dared to put sleeping pills in her refreshing tea and even had people handcuff her to a hospital bed.

When she woke up, Xia Zhiran knew the time was wrong.

Based on their assessment of Shen Lingxi’s arrangements on the island, no matter what Shen Lingxi did, by this time, Xie Zhiqing should have brought Cheng Shiyuan back as planned.

She was going to drag these iron handcuffs and perish with the useless Xie Zhiqing!

Spotting the helicopter parked in the open area, Xia Zhiran started running with more fervor than she’d ever shown in a track meet, like an angry bird, charging at the steel transport with a mortal body!

Just then, the door suddenly opened.

A staggering figure, rubbing her eyes in a daze, nearly lost her footing when she stopped and stabilized herself.

The sunlight fell upon her, dressing her in an innocent and harmless golden cloak.

Xia Zhiran abruptly halted her steps. Her phoenix eyes widened slightly, and she slowed her breathing, staring at her intently.

She seemed afraid that a heavier breath would startle away this little bird who had temporarily returned to her world.

Until Cheng Shiyuan’s gaze fell upon her hands, observing the two paws wrapped in thick gauze, even more exaggerated than when she was first injured, barely showing any fingers, with fresh blood still seeping out.

Xia Zhiran suddenly snapped back to attention.

She deliberately extended these two hands, wrapped by the local nurse to look ugly as pig trotters, toward her—

“Cheng Shiyuan.”

She smiled, wanting to ask her, What should she do now that she owed her a debt she could never repay in this lifetime?

She even had the base desire to claim permanent caretaking rights over the celebrity.

However, as the thick gauze approached that beautiful face, she heard two soft ‘pat-pat’ sounds.

Crystalline tears fell onto her gauze.

Xia Zhiran instinctively let her palms drop.

As if unable to bear such weight.

Then, she reflexively hid her hands behind her back, quickly changing her tone:

“I meant to say that the hospital level in this crummy place is terrible. Look how they wrapped my small injury, like a dumpling… Let’s hurry back home.”

“Why are you crying? I didn’t ask you to be responsible. I brought this on myself.”

She mumbled some words of comfort, something she wasn’t good at.

She even looked extremely guilty when she saw Xie Zhiqing and Wangshu descending from the helicopter, receiving one indifferent and one helpless glance, both filled with silent reproach, causing her to defend herself louder.

Seriously, she didn’t say anything today, did she?

Her eyes glazed over, and she almost cursed her own mouth.

Until Cheng Shiyuan burst out of her tears with a laugh, sighing as she looked at her severely injured hands:

“What should we do? The thought that the G-spot-tier-top of the lesbian community is now one down and one bottom-who-can-only-lie-down up, makes me sad for the sisterhood.”

Xia Zhiran: “…”

Her expression shifted multiple times, but after a few moments, she finally couldn’t resist talking back—

But the moment she opened her mouth.

Cheng Shiyuan reached up and stuffed something into it.

Her tongue instantly tasted bitter. Xia Zhiran swallowed with a grimace, then asked her: “What did you feed me?”

“Poison.”

Cheng Shiyuan blinked as she replied.

“That’s great then.” Xia Zhiran made a snap decision, quickly and cleanly latching the other cuff, which was dangling from her own wrist, onto Cheng Shiyuan’s wrist. The cuff closed with a ‘click’: “You have to witness my poisoning with your own eyes.”

Obtained Xia Zhiran’s affection: 3

With that, she tilted her head, intending to collapse onto Cheng Shiyuan.

Until Xie Zhiqing, who had been observing for a long time, quickly stepped forward, embracing Cheng Shiyuan with one hand and ruthlessly pushing Xia Zhiran’s head away with the other: “Shiyuan isn’t feeling well. Don’t try to latch on to her right now.”

Xia Zhiran immediately began scrutinizing her up and down, wishing her eyes were X-rays: “Where’s the discomfort? Did Shen Lingxi abuse you?”

Cheng Shiyuan couldn’t exactly say she was too sore to walk steadily.

She could only look back, “Wangshu’s injury is more severe. You should worry about her.”

It was a good thing they had confirmed before getting on the helicopter.

Shen Lingxi’s shot hadn’t pierced Wangshu’s knee but was a graze along the side of her leg, only a flesh wound.

After witnessing the spectacular fireworks, Cheng Shiyuan couldn’t confirm whether it was because Shen Lingxi’s marksmanship was terrible or too good.

“Worry about what?” If Xia Zhiran was most annoyed with the unscrupulous Xie Zhiqing, her non-compliant niece was a close second.

She glanced at Wangshu, sweeping over the injury on her cheek and then the wound on her leg, which appeared to be bandaged and not significantly affecting her walking.

“She’s grown wings, she’s an adult. She brought this on herself.”

She used to feign compliance with her words, but now she didn’t even bother to pretend, daring to side with Xie Zhiqing.

Xia Zhiran felt that the only reason she hadn’t been angered to death was because her ancestors’ genes didn’t include a congenital heart condition.

Cheng Shiyuan was startled, wanting to say something more.

But Xie Zhiqing suddenly picked her up horizontally: “That’s enough. Don’t talk here. Those who need checks, get checked. Those who need treatment, get treated.”

Thus.

That day, a unique spectacle appeared outside the private hospital in the largest city of the Pearl Islands.

Passersby frequently turned their heads.

They speculated on the relationship between the four beautiful women walking toward them.

The two women standing like bodyguards had obvious injuries, and the one with the hand injury was even wearing handcuffs that looked exactly like the ones police used to catch criminals. The other end of the handcuff was surprisingly attached to the wrist of the woman being carried in the middle.

However, the person being carried seemed extremely concerned about her image, wearing a hat and a mask.

But judging from the exposed figure and skin, she was undoubtedly a beauty.

‘Tsk, what a mess. You foreigners sure know how to mess around.’

‘Is that really the police catching a thief?’

‘What kind of relationship could result in a scene like this? It’s hard to guess.’

Cheng Shiyuan was vaguely aware of the intense gazes around her. She had managed to pretend to be calm when all those things happened on the island, but by the time Xie Zhiqing put her down on the VIP room bed, she looked utterly exhausted.

She asked in an extremely weak voice: “Does anyone else know that I’m a celebrity?”

She had fans abroad too!

Then she heard a soft laugh.

At that moment, Wangshu had been taken away by the medical team for debridement. Xia Zhiran was on the bed opposite her, hooking a stool with her foot to support their dangling, joined wrists.

And the Xie Zhiqing in front of her was communicating with the doctor in English.

…The laugh didn’t seem to come from either of those two.

Cheng Shiyuan was confused for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and turned her head to the other side!

Only then did she discover that this overly spacious room had another bed.

She met a pair of gentle, smiling eyes.

The person examined her up and down, noticing her expensive, beautiful dress and the glittering jewelry she was still wearing, seemingly confirming that she didn’t have any obvious, exaggerated external injuries.

Looking at her complexion, she didn’t seem to be suffering from any painful internal injuries either.

So, Chen Chuxing, who had traveled thousands of miles and gone through numerous troubles just to change to a hospital and room with poorer medical conditions, finally felt her heart settle back into her chest. She even had the energy to wink at her.

Obtained Chen Chuxing’s affection: 2

Cheng Shiyuan’s gaze involuntarily moved up.

She saw the nursing chart hanging on her bed, with the hastily written words like “burns, external injuries.”

But before her expression could change, Chen Chuxing, who hadn’t been in the mood to recover and had been anxiously lying in the hospital room for days, closed her eyes peacefully with a smile still on her lips, facing her.

When Xie Zhiqing and Xia Zhiran finished listening to the doctor’s report and turned back, they saw the two people sleeping face-to-face.

Xia Zhiran let out a silent “tsk.”

But seeing Cheng Shiyuan consistently well-behaved, not saying a single word about releasing the handcuffs, she couldn’t help but feel satisfied by the sight of that slightly curled, close-at-hand, jade-white palm.

For a moment, she desperately wanted to take advantage of Cheng Shiyuan being asleep, insert her injured palm into the gaps between her five fingers, hold her hand forever, and never let go.

But in the end, she could only look at her scarred hand with a hint of resentment.

She was so angry at herself for her lack of self-control, thinking that if she had endured and not caused all these injuries before, wouldn’t she be able to hold hands with her beloved now?

Yet, the thought of the pain—

She was startled.

The bone-gnawing itch, which could only be temporarily suppressed by pain but would relentlessly return, had been quietly dormant for a long time since just now.

Xia Zhiran touched her upper palate with her tongue. The bitterness of the so-called “poison” she had just ingested still lingered at the base of her tongue.

But her eyes only held a smile.

Because Cheng Shiyuan was asleep, it was no longer convenient for them to talk in the room. Xia Zhiran finally reluctantly took out the key and very gently unlocked the intensely restricting handcuffs.

Before leaving, she tenderly blew on the tiny red mark rubbed onto Cheng Shiyuan’s wrist because of the handcuffs.

Outside the hospital room door, at the end of the corridor.

Xie Zhiqing, who was contemplating what checks to discuss with Cheng Shiyuan when she woke up, and Xia Zhiran, who should have been checking on Wangshu’s injuries, sat briefly facing each other in a small garden.

After patiently and reluctantly listening to Xie Zhiqing’s brief account of the events on the island.

Xia Zhiran immediately couldn’t help but criticize the irritating Xie Zhiqing:

“What, did you see her corpse with your own eyes? Are you so sure she’s dead?”

Xie Zhiqing wasn’t particularly concerned about Shen Lingxi’s safety. She even thought darkly that it would be best if the person was dead.

The untimely understanding between rivals reappeared. Xia Zhiran only needed to glance at her nonchalant calmness to know what she was thinking—

“Ha.”

Although Xia Zhiran acutely realized that the landmines buried on the island turning into fireworks was strange.

She was also perfectly clear that the moment Cheng Shiyuan was safely rescued, their already precarious alliance naturally shattered on the spot.

She wouldn’t get any more information from Xie Zhiqing.

So, she stood up calmly but leaned closer to the person who annoyed her so much.

“In light of our somewhat pleasant cooperation over the past two days,” Xia Zhiran selectively forgot that Xie Zhiqing had forcibly made her rest with underhanded means, causing her to miss the rescue time: “I’ll give you a piece of advice.”

“Xie Zhiqing, if I were you, I would start a massive search and rescue operation from the moment Shen Lingxi jumped into the sea.”

“Alive or dead, you need to see a body. You’d better pray she’s still alive—”

Xia Zhiran poked Xie Zhiqing’s left shoulder with her injured hand.

“Otherwise, from now on, that little bird’s heart will have a vermilion mark in addition to you, the moonlit muse.”

It was precisely because Xia Zhiran was so skilled at vying for things.

That’s why she understood one truth: How can the living compete with the dead?

Shen Lingxi was different from her unfortunate brother, who had insisted on going out in a rainstorm. Although her current methods were despicable, she was the one who managed to marry Cheng Shiyuan over all of them back then.

She didn’t believe that Cheng Shiyuan had never harbored a single thread of affection for Shen Lingxi.

Even if she didn’t want to admit it, she knew clearly that the sheer magnitude of this incident, ending in such a manner, meant that Cheng Shiyuan’s thoughts would definitely be different from theirs.

To that end.

Xia Zhiran went to Wangshu. She learned from the doctor that her niece’s injuries were indeed minor, but after the facial swelling subsided, she would need to return home promptly to have a tooth implanted.

She looked at the medical record in front of her.

After a while, Wangshu was the one who asked: “Auntie. What does ‘Rebirth’ mean?”

Xia Zhiran didn’t doubt that Wangshu’s Chinese had suddenly deteriorated in the past two days. She simply raised an eyebrow: “Where did you see those two words?”

Wangshu honestly recounted everything she had seen since arriving on the island.

It was much more detailed than the brief account she gave yesterday, which only included useful information for the rescue.

Towards the end, she even got thirsty and drank several glasses of water.

Wangshu also posed a new question: “Xie Zhiqing said that Cheng-Cheng isn’t well. Did you know about this?”

Xia Zhiran narrowed her eyes.

All the mysteries she had encountered since her unexpected reunion with Cheng Shiyuan in that variety show now had an answer.

“No wonder…” Finally, she uttered a sound of realization, remorse, and helpless exasperation.

Wangshu looked at her expression and couldn’t help but worry: “Auntie?”

She knew Xia Zhiran was smart and specialized in drawing conclusions from these subtle clues.

If she hadn’t been so desperate for more information about her beloved, she wouldn’t have mentioned Cheng Shiyuan’s affairs.

But she had forgotten that the already simple relationship between her and her aunt had changed drastically since the night of the Cheng family banquet—

Xia Zhiran merely glanced at her indifferently: “Aren’t you quite cunning? Then figure out a way yourself to make your very sly, very lying beloved tell you the truth.”

She turned and left decisively.

Leaving Wangshu stunned on the hospital bed, who eventually punched the bed in frustration.

The golden-haired puppy was dejected for a while, then remembered the most important thing and quickly called someone in to help her transfer rooms.

And so.

When Cheng Shiyuan woke up from her compensatory nap, feeling as though the stories of blood and fire on the small island were as distant as a past dream, she slowly realized she was facing four pairs of intensely focused eyes.

It was already sunset. The hospital room wasn’t built very high, and the twilight light was blocked by the tall buildings.

In the dim room, she felt as if she was seeing four wolves.

They were hungry wolves that had already selected their prey without her knowledge, gathered around, and looked menacingly at where to bite first.

She deliberately blinked her eyes.

The next second, she heard Xie Zhiqing, sitting by her bed, ask: “Are you awake? Should I turn on the light?”

Cheng Shiyuan subconsciously nodded.

When the light was turned on, Xie Zhiqing thoughtfully covered her eyes with her palm. After about two or three minutes, when she had adapted to the light filtering through her fingers and raised her hand to look out while holding her wrist.

She realized.

The figures she saw in the dimness were all an illusion, because the concern reflected in the eyes of these four people was more obvious than the last.

Where were the wolves? They were clearly just loyal and clingy dogs.

Especially.

Wangshu, who was isolated on the opposite bed, looked as though she wished she could glue her eyes to Cheng Shiyuan.

Cheng Shiyuan was slightly amused, not understanding why each of them had heavier injuries than her, yet they were all eager to examine her with a magnifying glass to check if Shen Lingxi had caused her to lose a single hair.

Located in this VIP room, which felt like it had been converted into a large dormitory, she heard Xie Zhiqing ask again:

“I noticed your walking posture wasn’t right earlier. Should we get an X-ray?”

Xie Zhiqing said in a timely manner: “If you don’t like blood tests, we won’t do them.”

Cheng Shiyuan couldn’t help but feel her heart soften.

But with those pairs of eyes staring at her simultaneously, there was no way to explain that the reason for her abnormal walking posture was not some bone injury or hidden, exaggerated trauma.

Although she had just taken a nap, she now picked up the blanket to cover her face again: “It’s fine… A couple more sleeps and I’ll be better. I’m just tired.”

The moment the word “tired” was spoken.

Combined with Xie Zhiqing’s previous question, the expressions of the others instantly became very subtle.

Xia Zhiran couldn’t help but let out a sarcastic snort, aimed at who knows who.

Chen Chuxing’s eyes showed distress. Wangshu lowered her gaze, hiding the dejection in her eyes.

Xie Zhiqing, however, maintained a composed expression and pulled Cheng Shiyuan’s wrist away.

“I’ve had someone buy new sheets and blankets. They should be in the dryer now—”

“Don’t let your face touch the bedding here. It’s not clean.”

She paused, then added: “If you don’t like checks, we can skip them. But you must let me see, otherwise, I won’t feel at ease. What if you have inflammation? What if it gets worse without medication?”

Xia Zhiran heard her solemnly using the pretext of “frightening” her to seek a personal advantage and couldn’t help but want to speak up.

But Cheng Shiyuan immediately interrupted:

“No, no. I’ll be fine. I’m very strong.”

Xie Zhiqing had always known where to draw the line. The principles and bottom lines for some things had been almost completely eroded, but on others, she was terrifyingly stubborn.

She only asked: “Let me see, or let the doctor see?”

Cheng Shiyuan remembered the others at this point and peeked furtively toward the neighboring bed.

Like a patient trying to resist medical orders and encouraging other patients to rebel with her.

Chen Chuxing really wanted to speak up for her. Xia Zhiran lifted her eyelids, also ready to intervene, and even Wangshu across the room sighed, preparing to help her resist CEO Xie’s authority.

Xie Zhiqing didn’t spare them a glance and calmly crushed Cheng Shiyuan’s hope:

“Two of them have crippled legs and can’t walk over, and one has crippled hands and is useless. No one can help you.”

Xia Zhiran dragged out her warning: “Hey. Don’t go too far, Xie—”

Xie Zhiqing looked at her indifferently, tempted to remind her if she wanted another sleeping pill.

Cheng Shiyuan’s face slumped in defeat: “Fine. Have the doctor come over.”

She remembered that doctors abroad were the type who didn’t treat small illnesses and waited for death with big ones. In the eyes of these doctors, her level of complaint was probably equivalent to a mosquito bite.

Superstar Cheng was confidently preparing herself to be declared safe and healthy and discharged by the doctor.

But she forgot.

Money makes the world go round.

The doctor, who operated on a separate system for the rich, was extraordinarily cautious, frowning deeply. After drawing the privacy curtain, he muttered something and left behind an exaggerated amount of painkillers, enough to last her a lifetime.

And.

Anti-inflammatory drugs, topical creams…

Cheng Shiyuan stared blankly at the medication.

Now, even the others, who had been annoyed with Xie Zhiqing, changed their expressions.

Chen Chuxing regretted for the first time that she had obediently drunk that cup of boiling water from the Zhao family back then. Otherwise, she would have a barrage of questions and concerns to offer now.

Wangshu was even more direct: “Cheng-Cheng! What exactly is wrong with you? Maybe you should get checked after all?”

Xia Zhiran secretly cursed Shen Lingxi’s inhumanity, feeling that simply dealing with her company’s stock price in her boredom at night was no longer enough. If the Shen woman managed to survive this time, she would personally make her witness her company’s bankruptcy!

On the surface, her expression wasn’t much better: “Cheng Shiyuan, why are you hiding your illness and refusing treatment? Do you want to be tied up for the checkup?”

Cheng Shiyuan felt so wronged.

She should have agreed to Xie Zhiqing if she had known the doctor had a completely different face for the filthy rich.

Now she couldn’t even prove that she was truly fine.

She could only pick up the water cup, feeling incredibly depressed, and swallow an anti-inflammatory and a painkiller.

Finally, she set her jaw, grabbed the box of topical cream, pulled the curtain around the bed, and prepared to handle it herself.

The four women isolated outside the curtain stared at the fabric with such intensity that their gazes alone could have caused a spontaneous combustion fire in the room.

Suddenly, an exaggerated gasp was heard from inside—

A moment later.

A hand reached out from within, grasping Xie Zhiqing’s wrist and pulling her inside.

Cheng Shiyuan was blushing profusely. She handed her the cotton swab dipped in medication and asked in a tiny voice: “Help me?”

Xie Zhiqing mumbled, “Mm-hmm.”

Cheng Shiyuan then leaned into her ear and whispered: “Be gentle, it will hurt.”

When she had tried to apply the medication herself just now, whether the angle or the force was wrong, she ultimately couldn’t bring herself to apply the medication properly.

Xie Zhiqing closed her eyes, banishing any seductive thoughts, telling herself this was standard treatment.

She nodded.

However, Cheng Shiyuan was already gripping the bed rail tightly, her fingers turning white, letting Xie Zhiqing slowly roll up her skirt hem.

Xie Zhiqing’s intensely focused gaze fell upon the red, swollen, and overwhelmed injury.

The color in Xie Zhiqing’s eyes deepened. The visible guided marks left on the pristine white skin.

And the flower, like the one in the park after being battered by the storm and strong winds, bloomed to the extreme of enchanting beauty but couldn’t withstand any touch, ready to wither at any moment.

A person she couldn’t bear to touch—

Shen. Ling. Xi!

Hate surged to Xie Zhiqing’s teeth, especially when she remembered how carefully she had tried to make Cheng Shiyuan comfortable at the Cheng family’s place.

Yet, a cursed person dared to willfully injure her beloved like this!

In that instant, Xie Zhiqing’s heartache overshadowed everything.

She almost held her breath as she gently applied the cotton swab with the healing cream.

But at that very moment.

Cheng Shiyuan suddenly gripped the bed rail harder, her fingers white from the effort, and a sweet, muffled groan escaped her lips.

A flush of heat, born from arousal, unexpectedly shot up her normally pale neck and ears.

She quickly bit the back of her hand, knowing it wasn’t Xie Zhiqing’s fault.

It was primarily the aftermath of Shen Lingxi’s nightly revelries over the past few days.

Xie Zhiqing, quick on the draw, reached out, grabbed a few tissues from the bedside table.

Racing against the time before the sheet could be stained, she wiped away the traces on Cheng Shiyuan’s thigh.

But the roughness of the tissue rubbed against Cheng Shiyuan’s overly sensitive and delicate skin at the moment, involuntarily causing her to grab more and more tissues.

Seeing Cheng Shiyuan biting the back of her hand, tears welling up in her eyes, her face completely flushed.

She sighed, pulling her hand away, “Bite me if it hurts.”

Cheng Shiyuan mumbled indistinctly: “I-it’s fine.”

But when Xie Zhiqing really started to apply the medicine, she couldn’t help herself, biting the hand that was resting by her side, a prolonged, tiny animal-like whimper escaping her throat.

She knew her body wasn’t right at the moment.

So, when she realized that most of the medicine was probably applied in vain.

She apologized groggily: “I’m sorry…”

Xie Zhiqing leaned in and kissed her, her voice full of reassurance: “It’s alright. Relax a little. Don’t be nervous.”

However, suppressed sobs continued to echo from inside the curtain.

Outside the curtain.

The three patients who simultaneously heard the exaggerated sounds of rustling tissues were notably silent.

Silent to the point of being almost suffocating.

However, one thought was crystal clear and deafening in their minds:

Heal!

They had to heal these damned injuries tomorrow! They must recover tomorrow!!!