The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife
Chapter 218. Onset of Illness (Second Watch of the Night)

Chapter 218: 218. Onset of Illness (Second Watch of the Night)

Wen Xi Yao nodded, noticing Shen Junyu had gone into a shopping mall, but didn’t pay it much mind. She picked up her phone to check the news, found nothing interesting, and put it down again, listlessly surveying her surroundings. Her eyes landed on a photo in front of her, which she reached out and took.

"I didn’t know you were such a good brother," Wen Xi Yao said softly, staring at Shen Junyu in the photo.

As she saw Shen Junyu come out of the mall, she hurriedly put the photo back in place and started flipping through her phone. Shen Junyu got into the car and handed her a bag.

Wen Xi Yao accepted it with a puzzled look, "For me?" As she opened it and looked inside, she saw a pair of slippers, with iodine and cotton swabs in the bag as well.

"Disinfect the wound, don’t let it get infected. Try not to wear high heels for the next few days, and stick to slippers when you are in the office," Shen Junyu said gently.

A warm glint passed through Wen Xi Yao’s eyes, "Thank you," she murmured her thanks.

Shen Junyu smiled, saying nothing more, and drove Wen Xi Yao to the entrance of her office building. Watching her walk in with the slippers he had bought for her, he then left.

Back in her office, Wen Xi Yao looked down at the slippers on her feet, a faint smile curling at the corners of her mouth as she clearly felt very good.

Wen Xi Yao’s phone rang, and she picked it up to see who it was, then pressed the answer button, "Hello, big brother, how come you have time to call me today?"

Wen Sihan began, "If I didn’t call you, would you even remember what your brother’s name is?"

Wen Xi Yao giggled, "How could I forget? You’re my dearest big brother. Even if I forget myself, I couldn’t forget the brother who dotes on me."

Wen Sihan laughed indulgently, "Keep joking. I want to ask you, how is it going between you and Du Nan?"

Wen Xi Yao played dumb, "How what?"

"Xi Yao, you know what big brother is talking about. He’s been chasing you for so many years, you’re not getting any younger, and you ought to take your own marriage seriously. I think Du Nan isn’t bad."

"Big brother, those words are from daddy, aren’t they? Really, when he doesn’t want to speak, he sends you to be the bad guy, the old fox."

Wen Sihan fell silent, implicitly agreeing, "Dad is thinking of your best interest. You’re already twenty-seven. Your sister-in-law was a mother at your age. Just the other day, I ran into Aunt Du, and she was discussing this matter with mom too."

"Big brother, you know exactly what the relationship between me and Du Nan is. How could you be unclear? I don’t like him, and it’s not possible between us," Wen Xi Yao interrupted her brother.

Wen Sihan sighed helplessly, glancing at their mother who was sneakily listening to the phone call next to him, and spoke softly, "Even if you don’t like Du Nan, you should find a man to marry eventually. You can’t be single all your life. We didn’t pressure you before since you were young, but now it’s time to give it some thought."

"Big brother, I am only twenty-seven, there’s still plenty of time. Nowadays, people get married in their thirties all the time," Wen Xi Yao’s tone was casual, indicating that marriage still seemed too early for her.

"Xi Yao, don’t tell me you really plan to stay single forever?" Wen Sihan probed, aware of Du Nan’s feelings for his sister, but unable to do anything if she didn’t reciprocate.

"Not at all, it’s just that I haven’t met the right one." As she spoke, Wen Xi Yao’s eyes gleamed, "Big brother, I suspect all my romantic prospects have been scared off by Du Nan. He’s always hovering around me, how would anyone dare approach? Why don’t you think of a way to send Du Nan away?"

Wen Sihan sighed deeply for Du Nan, "Xi Yao, I get it, but even if it’s not Du Nan, you should still date someone, so mom and dad won’t worry."

Glancing down at the slippers on her feet, Wen Xi Yao said, "Who says I haven’t found someone I like?"

"You mean you have a boyfriend? Who is it? Where is he from? How old? What does he do?" Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wen, who had been eavesdropping, grabbed the phone out of Wen Sihan’s hand and started firing questions like rapid gunfire.

Wen Xi Yao rolled her eyes, "Mom, could you please not eavesdrop on my conversations with my brother next time?"

"I understand, but now is not the time for that. Who is this man you were talking about? Bring him home next time so your dad and I can meet him."

"Mom, it’s still early days for us, don’t hurry. You will definitely meet him at some point. Mom, I have a meeting here, let’s not talk now. Bye."

"Wait a second, don’t hang up—," Mrs. Wen called out, but the phone had already been hung up by Wen Xi Yao, "This child."

Wen Sihan smiled, "Since she said she has someone she likes, it must be true. She wouldn’t use this to deceive us. Mom, just relax."

But how could Mrs. Wen relax? She worried when her daughter wasn’t dating, and now that she was, she still worried. Raising children, there was never a time without worries.

"Forget it, I won’t bother with this matter anymore, but about the Du Family..."

Wen Sihan thought for a moment, "You should still give the Du Family a heads-up about this sooner rather than later to avoid any hard feelings between the two families."

Mrs. Wen nodded, "Mm, I’ll talk to your father about it tonight. Xi Yao too, sigh, if she doesn’t like Du Nan, she should have made it clear earlier."

Mrs. Wen muttered to herself as she walked upstairs, while Wen Sihan smiled helplessly. It wasn’t that Xi Yao had failed to make things clear, but certain someone simply didn’t want to give up.

After some thought, he called Du Nan.

**

It was a week later when Fu Hengyi returned. He must have gone several days without proper rest again, as he was completely worn out upon arrival.

Still in his training uniform, Shen Qinglan saw his exhausted face and felt a pang of heartache, "Go take a shower first, I’ll get some clothes ready for you."

Fu Hengyi nodded and went straight into the bathroom while Shen Qinglan fetched his clothes. She knocked on the bathroom door, "Fu Hengyi, open the door."

"The door isn’t locked," Fu Hengyi said from inside. Shen Qinglan opened the door and went in. Fu Hengyi was showering, and she tried not to look at him, putting the clothes on the rack before turning to leave, but Fu Hengyi grabbed her wrist and pulled, drawing her into his embrace.

The shower was still on, and the warm water poured over Shen Qinglan, quickly soaking her clothes. It was the end of April, and she was only wearing a shirt, which clung to her skin, revealing her underwear beneath when wet.

"Wife, did you miss me?" Fu Hengyi looked down at her, the heat in his eyes undeniable even to a blind man.

Shen Qinglan patted his chest, "Shower first."

"Together." Fu Hengyi held onto her, not letting go, and kissed her lips. After more than a week apart, he missed her more than he could say.

Shen Qinglan closed her eyes, responding to his kiss, and soon sounds that could make one’s cheeks flush and heart race filled the bathroom.

By the time Shen Qinglan and Fu Hengyi emerged from the bathroom, it was over an hour later. Lying in bed, Fu Hengyi held Shen Qinglan in his arms, his face radiating satisfaction.

"Is the mission over?"

"Mm," Fu Hengyi responded, "There’s still three months of training with the Beijing Military Region, but after that, I’m afraid I’ll have to return to base." He didn’t mention that this mission was in response to a provocation from BK, who had suffered significant losses at their hands in the past. This time, they had captured a few civilians from Z country and used their lives to threaten them, and Fu Hengyi had nearly died at KING’s hand. Had it not been for sheer luck, a bullet intended for his heart inexplicably veered off, hitting a tree trunk instead, or he might not have made it back this time.

Although he was unharmed, two of his comrades had fallen, killed by KING himself.

A wave of reluctance rose in Shen Qinglan’s heart, but she knew it was his duty, his job, and she said nothing.

"Don’t worry about leaving. I’ll take care of the house, and I’ll take good care of Grandpa," Shen Qinglan said.

"And yourself too," Fu Hengyi spoke gently, "Taking care of yourself is most important. Don’t make me worry."

Shen Qinglan nodded, signalling she understood. Seeing her wide awake, Fu Hengyi rolled over, "Since you’re not sleepy yet, let’s do some more of that beneficial physical exercise."

Shen Qinglan was speechless at the man’s formidable stamina. He was so tired and yet still had the energy for this, but her body cooperated with him.

When Shen Qinglan awoke, it was already the next morning, and Fu Hengyi was dressed and ready to return to the Beijing Military Region, "Wait a minute," Shen Qinglan called out to him.

She went into the study, fetched a men’s wristwatch, and presented it to him, "This is for you. Remember to wear it and never take it off."

Fu Hengyi raised an eyebrow, "Why are you giving me a gift all of a sudden?"

"Do I need to pick a special day to buy my husband a watch? Do you want it or not? If not, I’ll give it to someone else," Shen Qinglan retorted.

Fu Hengyi chuckled, "How could I not want a gift from my wife?" He took off the watch he was wearing and held out his wrist to Shen Qinglan.

She put the new watch on Fu Hengyi’s wrist, glanced at it to make sure it looked right, and nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad, wear this from now on. I’ll take care of your old one."

"Alright," Fu Hengyi smiled and nodded.

After Fu Hengyi left, Shen Qinglan went out to her appointment as she had agreed to meet Ya Xi today.

**

Ya Xi looked at the woman in front of her, truly a bit headache-inducing, "What exactly do you want?"

With a smile gentle and full of affection, Qin Yan replied, "Ya Xi, I just wanted to come see you. The college entrance exams are coming, and with you being in Beijing, the academic pressure must be immense. Today is the weekend, and there’s no class, so I thought I’d take you out for a meal."

Ya Xi’s face remained cold, "I have my own money, I can go eat by myself. All I need is for you not to show up in front of me. If you come looking for me again, I’ll call my daddy. If you don’t believe me, just try."

Facing the bristling Ya Xi, Qin Yan seemed quite helpless, "Ya Xi, why do you always have such great hostility towards me? Even if I really did break up your parents’ marriage, wasn’t I a victim too? Your mother... she lost my daughter, my only daughter!"

"You’re talking nonsense," Ya Xi screamed, "My mom would never do such a thing. Don’t spout nonsense here."

"Ya Xi, if you don’t believe me, you can go home and ask your daddy why he divorced your mom."

Ya Xi’s emotions surged violently, "You’re spouting lies. My parents’ divorce is because of your appearance. If it weren’t for you, they would never have divorced. Stop causing trouble here."

"Ya Xi, you are still a child. Originally, I didn’t want to tell you, but now you misunderstand me so deeply. My daughter disappeared all because of your mother. If she hadn’t colluded with human traffickers to take my daughter away, I would never have been separated from my daughter for over twenty years. To this day, I have not found her. You don’t know how much I despise your mother for hating me," Qin Yan said, her expression pained.

Ya Xi’s face turned pale, her chest heaving violently. She desperately stared at the woman in front of her, "I don’t believe it. I don’t believe a word you say. My mom is so kind, she would never do such a vicious thing. Stop lying to me here."

"I’m not lying to you. Think about it. In such circumstances, your father didn’t divorce your mother to marry me. Now I’m already married. Why would he have divorced your mother out of the blue? Over these years, while I’ve been searching for my daughter, I inadvertently discovered that her disappearance was no accident. It was deliberately orchestrated by your mother to get back at me, to take revenge on me for breaking up her family. But the truth is, I was the one who fell in love with your father first. Your mother was the third party in our relationship," Qin Yan said, tears streaming down her beautiful face.

Ya Xi clutched at her chest; the pain in her heart was intense. Her complexion ghostly pale, she gasped for air, but she felt suffocated, unable to catch her breath.

Qin Yan seemed oblivious to Ya Xi’s distress and continued, "In the past, your father and I truly loved each other. But your mother, in her desire to be with your father, actually had me driven out of Nancheng and even wanted me to marry an old man. If I hadn’t fought desperately, I might have died at that old man’s hands by now. And what about my daughter? Innocent, and who knows where she is suffering now. Who knows my agony?"

Ya Xi began to cough violently. She felt a sharp pain in her heart. Removing her backpack from her shoulders, she tried to take out her medicine; her asthma was flaring up.

Yet her legs gave way, and Ya Xi sat down on the ground, her backpack falling aside. Qin Yan, seemingly startled, rushed over with an anxious face, "Ya Xi, what’s wrong?"

Ya Xi struggled to breathe, her hands shaking as she pointed at her backpack. Qin Yan cradled Ya Xi in her arms, "Ya Xi, say something. What happened to you? Don’t scare me."

Ya Xi tried to speak; she wanted to say that her medicine was in the backpack, but she couldn’t get the words out. She pointed at her backpack, but Qin Yan did not understand what Ya Xi meant. She slapped Ya Xi’s face lightly, "Ya Xi, talk to me. What’s wrong with you?"

At this time of day, there weren’t many people at the school gate, and nobody noticed what was happening there. Ya Xi could only feel darkness closing in.

When Shen Qinglan arrived, the scene before her was this: she immediately changed her expression and walked quickly over, pushing Qin Yan aside, "Ya Xi."

Ya Xi’s eyes had already closed, but hearing a familiar voice, she struggled to open them and pointed weakly at her backpack. Shen Qinglan understood immediately, taking out the inhaler from the backpack and letting Ya Xi use it.

Ya Xi’s breathing gradually stabilized, and Shen Qinglan took her to the hospital, with Qin Yan following behind.

When Yan Anbang received news that his daughter was hospitalized, he rushed over from Nancheng and saw Qin Yan sitting sadly in the corridor outside the ward, "Yanyan, why are you here?"

"Anbang, it wasn’t intentional; I didn’t know Ya Xi had asthma. I really didn’t know," Qin Yan said, likely having cried, her eyes red, and her delicate makeup smudged.

Yan Anbang didn’t have time to deal with these matters at the moment. He had received a call from Ya Xi’s phone saying that Ya Xi was hospitalized due to an asthma attack, but he didn’t know the specifics.

"We can talk about this later; I want to go in and see Xiao Xi first." Yan Anbang removed Qin Yan’s hand from his arm and turned to enter the ward.

Sitting in the chair, Qin Yan had a sad expression on her face.

"Xiao Xi," Yan Anbang saw his daughter lying on the hospital bed, her face pale, and couldn’t help but feel distressed. He called out softly, but Ya Xi was asleep and did not wake.

Shen Qinglan was sitting by her side and didn’t greet Yan Anbang first when she saw him. Yan Anbang had already noticed Shen Qinglan and composed his expression, "It was you who called me, wasn’t it?"

Shen Qinglan nodded. "Yes, that’s me. I’m Ya Xi’s friend; my name is Shen Qinglan."

So she’s Shen Qian’s daughter, Yan Anbang realized. Before he got divorced from Zhao Jiaqing, Yan Anbang had heard Zhao Jiaqing mention that Ya Xi was very close to the daughter of the Shen Family.

"I really owe you a debt of gratitude for what happened this time."

"There’s no need for thanks," said Shen Qinglan indifferently. "Now that Ya Xi’s family member has arrived, I should be going."

"Big sister." Ya Xi had woken up when Yan Anbang entered but pretended to be asleep, not wanting to face her father. Hearing Shen Qinglan was about to leave, she opened her eyes.

Her voice was very weak. Shen Qinglan looked at her and said, "You need to rest well now. I’ll come visit you another day."

Ya Xi wanted to ask her to stay but after thinking it over, she nodded instead.

Shen Qinglan looked at Qin Yan as she walked out of the ward but quickly averted her gaze. It was Qin Yan who called out to her, "Miss Shen, please wait."

Shen Qinglan looked at her, her expression cold. "What is it?"

Qin Yan’s face showed signs of exhaustion. "I can’t thank you enough for today. If you hadn’t arrived in time, I probably would have caused a huge disaster."

Shen Qinglan’s face remained expressionless. She simply nodded at Qin Yan and then walked away without seeing the resentment in Qin Yan’s eyes.

In the hospital room, Ya Xi turned her head away, not looking at Yan Anbang.

"Xiao Xi, do you feel any discomfort?" Yan Anbang was not at all perturbed by his daughter’s cold demeanor. Ever since the divorce from Zhao Jiaqing, this had been the attitude of both his children toward him, and he had gone from initially being angry to now being calm.

"Xiao Xi, you can be mad at Daddy, but don’t joke with your own health."

"Tell that woman outside to leave and not to come looking for me again. Do you know that I almost died at that woman’s hands today?" Ya Xi’s face was full of grievance. If it weren’t for Shen Qinglan, she might have really been done for today.

Yan Anbang’s gaze shifted slightly as he looked at Ya Xi. "Xiao Xi, what exactly happened? How does your hospitalization relate to Qin Yan?"

Ya Xi turned her eyes away. "You can go ask her yourself."

Seeing he was getting nowhere with Ya Xi, Yan Anbang turned to find Qin Yan. She was still sitting in the chair but stood up when she saw Yan Anbang come out.

"Anbang, how’s Ya Xi doing?" Qin Yan asked anxiously.

Yan Anbang, seeing the urgency in her eyes, softened his expression, "Xiao Xi is fine now, don’t worry. But what exactly happened today? Why are you here?"

Qin Yan looked dejected. "I was in Beijing waiting for Ya Xi. I wanted to have a proper meal with her, but it seems there has always been a misunderstanding between us. She wouldn’t listen to my explanation. I wanted to treat her to a nice meal today since her university entrance exams are coming up, but she kept blaming me for breaking you two up. In a fit of anger, I ended up telling her about Mumu. Anbang, it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have argued with a child."

Regret and remorse filled her eyes, causing Yan Anbang, who had been prepared to reprimand her, to swallow his words.

"Anbang, I didn’t know Ya Xi had asthma. If I had known, I definitely wouldn’t have said things that upset her," Qin Yan covered her face, her voice choked with tears.

Yan Anbang couldn’t find the words to say anything else, just patted Qin Yan on the shoulder. "You’re not entirely to blame. I know your temperament. It must have been something Xiao Xi said. No matter what she told you, don’t take it to heart. She’s been spoiled by her mother and me; she’s quite willful."

Qin Yan smiled understandingly. "How could I possibly hold it against her? Seeing her just reminds me of Mumu. If Mumu was still here, she’d probably be as pretty as Ya Xi by now."

As she talked, Qin Yan’s expression turned sad. She wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and smiled. "Enough of this. You should go back in. Ya Xi needs someone to look after her right now. I’ll head off."

"Yanyan, let me see you out," Yan Anbang said, feeling distressed at the thought of Qin Mu and seeing Qin Yan’s state, he felt even more guilty.

"No need, I’ll just take a cab. You’d better stay and take care of Ya Xi."

Yan Anbang still insisted on seeing Qin Yan to the hospital entrance. Watching her get into the taxi, he turned and headed back to the ward. After Qin Yan got into the car, the expression on her face gradually became indifferent, marked by a cold detachment.