“…”

Shu Nian felt she couldn’t communicate with him at all and was too frustrated to speak. She stood there, her shoulders slumping, her tone dejected: “Forget it.”

Xie Ruhe looked at her: “What’s wrong?”

“I wanted to help prove your innocence.” Shu Nian didn’t want to go back and listen to those people gossiping and teasing for no reason. She sat in the seat in front of him and glumly recounted what had just happened.

Xie Ruhe listened in silence.

Shu Nian’s cheeks puffed up, and she muttered like she was blowing bubbles: “So annoying.”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe pressed his lips together and lowered his eyes. His mood seemed poor, yet also indifferent.

A few seconds later, he asked: “Hearing these things, are you very unhappy?”

Of course, she was unhappy.

Shu Nian didn’t like being laughed at, didn’t like them joking about her friendship with Xie Ruhe, and especially didn’t like them always pushing them to date early, strongly encouraging them to do inappropriate things at an inappropriate age.

Shu Nian said seriously: “Unhappy.”

Xie Ruhe raised his eyelids, noticing her serious expression and that she wasn’t joking. His lips forced into a smile, his expression dimming: “I understand.”

“Understand what?”

“I’m awake now.” Xie Ruhe didn’t answer her question, lazily leaning back, turning his gaze away, “Ask me again.”

“Huh? Ask what?”

Xie Ruhe calmly reminded her: “Whether I like you or not.”

Shu Nian was a bit stunned, and obediently repeated: “Oh, do you like me or not.”

His gaze rested on the window outside. Sunlight shone through the curtains, casting a beam on his eyes, like a brand, making the other side obscure and dark.

Xie Ruhe’s Adam’s apple moved once, and then he said: “I don’t like you.”

…

…

As soon as these words fell, Shu Nian’s heart trembled, and she instantly opened her eyes and woke up.

Thinking of Xie Ruhe’s expression when he said those words, Shu Nian’s mood inexplicably became low and sad.

She felt that at that time, he was indeed unhappy.

This memory was from a long time ago.

Back then, she didn’t understand anything, and once she had decided something, she basically wouldn’t change her mind.

She thought Xie Ruhe didn’t like her. So no matter what reaction he had, she would automatically interpret it as dislike.

But now Shu Nian wasn’t so sure anymore.

Shu Nian rolled over and opened her phone to check the time. It was almost nine o’clock. Only seeing the time did she realize she was hungry. She sat up, wrapped herself in a coat, and went to the kitchen, planning to make something simple for dinner.

After putting some water in the soup pot, Shu Nian dropped in ten frozen dumplings.

Soon, the water gradually boiled, bubbles rising, white steam coiling.

Everything seemed unreal.

She blankly covered her face, feeling confused.

She didn’t know if the dream just now was something that happened, or if it was just an insignificant dream stemming from her daily thoughts.

Having just returned from out of town, Shu Nian planned to rest for a while, giving herself a vacation. Voice acting work was scarce during this period, and she might not get a role even if she went to the recording studio.

After waking up last night, she tossed and turned without really falling asleep.

Today, Shu Nian got up early, planning to find Xie Ruhe and accompany him for his rehabilitation training.

This was a gradual process.

Although Shu Nian hadn’t asked Xie Ruhe in detail about this matter,

She had heard some things from Fang Wencheng.

Xie Ruhe’s leg injury was caused by a car accident two years ago. At that time, he was in a coma for two months, and when he woke up, he found his lower limbs couldn’t move. Because he needed to recuperate, he stayed in bed for some time.

He missed the optimal recovery period.

The doctor’s opinion was that even if the rehabilitation went well, he still couldn’t do any strenuous activities. What’s more, he couldn’t walk as smoothly and naturally as normal people.

Although Fang Wencheng had only been working with Xie Ruhe for two years, he had been working for Ji Xinghuai when Xie Ruhe returned to the Xie family at sixteen.

Because of this, Fang Wencheng had seen Xie Ruhe before.

At that time, Xie Ruhe was very quiet, with a somber face every day, not caring about anything. He never got angry, never actively made any requests, had no desires, and was lifeless.

In the Ji family, he was just a shadow that was hard to notice.

But this leg injury had drastically changed his temperament.

He was always gloomy and unpredictable and would get angry and break things because of something someone said. Most of the time, he would just stay alone in his room, as if locked in a cage.

Xie Ruhe had a lot of negative energy, and he wouldn’t approach many things with a positive attitude.

At first, the treatment was passive.

He could only lie in the hospital bed, using massage and acupuncture to promote the recovery of his motor organs. Xie Ruhe extremely disliked being touched by others, got angry many times, and resisted many times.

Ji Xinghuai talked to him several times before he gradually accepted it.

Later, when he had recuperated well, Xie Ruhe began rehabilitation, which was also divided into two stages.

The bed-ridden stage and the walking stage.

He had to first strengthen his upper body, such as his lower back and abdominal muscles. This would allow him to move independently, from the bed to the wheelchair, and also provide a foundation for the upcoming walking training.

It was an arduous and lengthy process.

Fang Wencheng said that when Shu Nian came to Xie Ruhe’s house for recording, he was still in the bed-ridden stage. But later, the rehabilitation progress was suddenly accelerated, as if breaking through a bottleneck period.

In this process, Shu Nian hadn’t been with him all the time, but she had seen him in many different stages.

When he could only sit; when he could stand up; when he could walk holding onto parallel bars;

Until now, when he could walk without relying on anything.

She was merely an observer, yet still found it a moving and encouraging thing, not to mention how Xie Ruhe, the person directly involved, must have felt.

From falling to the bottom, climbing up by his strength, to returning to the peak.

He didn’t need to thank heaven, nor did he need to thank anyone.

He only needed to thank himself for persevering.

It was just past eight o’clock now.

Shu Nian had suddenly decided to come over, without telling Xie Ruhe in advance. Only when she reached his door and was about to press the doorbell did she remember to send him a message on WeChat?

Xie Ruhe replied quickly, telling her to go directly to the seventeenth floor.

Shu Nian went up from the sixteenth floor.

Walking to the door, just as she pressed the doorbell, the door was opened from inside.

It was Xie Ruhe who opened the door.

At this time, Fang Wencheng didn’t seem to have started work yet, and there were no signs of anyone else in the house. Xie Ruhe had probably already started his rehabilitation training, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, sweat on his forehead, and his hair also damp.

Not expecting him to start rehabilitation so early, Shu Nian asked blankly: “Have you had breakfast?”

Xie Ruhe said: “The housekeeper came by earlier.”

Shu Nian said “Oh” and squeezed the breakfast she had just bought in her hand: “Are you going to continue training?”

Xie Ruhe lowered his eyes, immediately noticing what was in her hand.

“Yes, have you had breakfast?”

Shu Nian nodded: “I have.”

The next moment, Xie Ruhe took the breakfast from her hand and said softly: “Then thank you.”

“…”

Shu Nian’s hand was suddenly empty.

And strangely, she felt her heart empty too.

Shu Nian collected herself and followed Xie Ruhe into the large room where he did his training. There were some changes inside, with more equipment added and some removed.

For example, the rehabilitation standing bed had been moved away.

Shu Nian asked: “You don’t need a medical professional with you anymore?”

Xie Ruhe put the breakfast on a nearby table: “No need, I know my limits.”

He wasn’t using a wheelchair. He looked good, just standing there, his posture tall and slender, like a white poplar tree. He wore a white T-shirt, mostly soaked with sweat, clinging to his body, faintly revealing the contours of his abs.

Shu Nian immediately looked away, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Xie Ruhe moved a chair over from the side: “Sit here.”

Thinking of Xie Ruhe’s proper and respectful manner, Shu Nian didn’t dare to look over, and responded with a “good,” but she also didn’t plan to sit idly by while he was working hard on his rehabilitation.

Noticing Shu Nian’s evasive gaze from the corner of his eye, Xie Ruhe paused and looked at her.

He hesitantly called out: “Shu Nian?”

Shu Nian obediently responded, but still didn’t look at him.

Xie Ruhe raised his eyebrows, looked down at himself, and then his gaze stopped, as if thinking of something, but not entirely sure. He didn’t speak again, walked over to the power exercise bike, and sat down.

Then, Xie Ruhe said: “Shu Nian, can you get me some water?”

Shu Nian looked around and saw the water bottle on the ground near Xie Ruhe. She nodded, walked over, and picked up the plastic bottle.

Shu Nian walked to Xie Ruhe’s front.

At the same time,

As if feeling hot, Xie Ruhe suddenly lifted the hem of his shirt, using it to wipe the sweat from his forehead, revealing his well-shaped abs. His ears were entirely red, his expression not very natural.

If Shu Nian wasn’t so nervous, she might have noticed that his actions were somewhat stiff.

Xie Ruhe looked up and saw Shu Nian’s frozen expression. He withdrew his expression and thoughtfully stared at her.

Shu Nian clenched her fist, her face burning. She lowered her eyes and pushed the water into his hand.

Xie Ruhe took it without further movement, his gaze moving from her to the water bottle, steadily, as if thinking about something. Soon, he took a sip of water and silently began his rehabilitation training.

The spacious room instantly became quiet.

The two people were each lost in their thoughts, with an ambiguous atmosphere fermenting in the air.

Shu Nian understood the principle that saying more meant more mistakes. She knew that keeping silent was the best approach at this moment, so she didn’t take the initiative to say anything more.

She was very afraid of her feelings being discovered.

Because at that point, whether the distance between them would shorten or lengthen,

At this moment, neither of them knew.

But before long, Xie Ruhe stopped his movements and broke the silence.

“Shu Nian.”

Shu Nian looked up blankly: “Hm?”

“You asked me before.” Xie Ruhe’s features were very three-dimensional, his eye sockets deep, making him look particularly affectionate, “After I could stand up, what did I want to do?”

Shu Nian blinked: “Yes, what do you want to do?”

Silence.

It was a brief silence that felt prolonged.

He seemed to be carefully choosing his words, cautious yet determined.

After a long while, Xie Ruhe said: “I have someone I like.”

Shu Nian’s breath caught.

Xie Ruhe looked up at her. His voice was deep and hoarse, speaking slowly and deliberately, clear and distinct.

“I want to date her.”