"I was going to report it originally," Chen Hego replied, "but my grandmother said that this piece of paper alone wouldn't be considered evidence, so reporting it wouldn't lead to any results. She said we'd be better off seeking help from my father's superiors to investigate. But before we could go to them, my father's superior came to our house, asking for my father's diary, claiming that its contents were classified and needed to be taken back for processing."
After four rings, Fu Shenxing finally answered the phone. She whispered "Yuanze?" before he could speak. As she had expected, there was a moment of silence on the other end. When the person on the other side didn't speak, she continued hoarsely, "I'm feeling really unwell, I have a terrible headache and I'm feeling dizzy. I think I have a cold. Can you get some medicine for me?"
Her voice grew smaller and she hadn't finished speaking before she collapsed onto the ground, not knowing what she had hit, making a loud thud. Her colleagues were startled and rushed over to her, calling out anxiously, "Teacher He? Teacher He? What happened to you?"
He Yan had her eyes tightly shut and did not respond at all, but she could hear Fu Shenxing's low voice coming from the phone. "He Yan? He Yan?"
Hearing this voice, He Yan's heart, which had been hanging in the balance, finally relaxed a little, and she unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Then, without a trace, she loosened her grip on the phone. She continued to pretend to be unconscious, allowing her colleagues and several event staff members to carry her to the couch in the rest area. She checked for the group number.
She didn't know who picked up her phone. Maybe they had heard a sound on the line, so they kindly explained, "Sir, hello, Teacher He just fainted. Yes, she fainted, right in the hotel lobby. We don't know what happened yet. Please contact her once she wakes up."
Initially, He Yan was faking her unconsciousness. But after being jostled around by them with her eyes closed, she was actually feeling a bit dizzy. In a daze, she seemed to hear Xu Chengbo's voice, then felt like she was being lifted up, and then, she didn't know anything at all.
When she woke up again, she was in the hospital, and the first thing she saw was the sliding cable on the ceiling, with a drip bag hanging underneath it. Following the IV line down, she saw Liang Yuanze sitting on the chair next to her bed.
"Yuanze?" Her voice was dry and almost inaudible, but it still startled Liang Yuanze, who almost immediately opened his eyes and leaned towards her bed, asking in a rapid-fire manner, "Are you awake? How are you feeling? Are you feeling any better? Do you want some water?"
Her hoarse voice made He Yan smile, and she asked him in a hoarse voice, "Which question do you want me to answer first?"
Liang Yuanze couldn't help but smile and chose the last question, "Do you want some water?"
Her lips were indeed dry, so she nodded and responded, "Yes, I'd like some water."
He got up to pour her some water and carefully placed a straw in her mouth. While she drank, he quietly complained, "Why aren't you taking care of yourself? It's not just a bad cold this time; your body is very weak. Have you missed a few meals? Your colleague said they haven't seen you go out for meals these past two days."
He Yan couldn't breathe through her nose, so after taking a few sips of water, she had to open her mouth to breathe and ignored Liang Yuanze's nagging, only asking him, "Do I need to be hospitalized? How many days do I need to stay in the hospital?"
"The doctor said we'll see how it goes. Be a good girl and stay in the hospital for three days," he replied, reaching out to touch her nose. "This time, don't think about running away. Stay in the hospital obediently."
He Yan had no intention of running away, and in fact, she hoped she could stay in the hospital for a few more days, at least during that time, Fu Shenxing wouldn't come looking for her. She made a face at Liang Yuanze and suddenly remembered something, asking him nervously, "Did you tell my parents? Do they know I'm in the hospital?"
"I was startled when your colleague called me in the middle of the night. I didn't dare disturb them so late at night. But this is something that can't be kept a secret, and I don't intend to keep it a secret for you. Just wait for Mom to scold you tomorrow," Liang Yuanze replied.
Sure enough, when He's mother saw her daughter looking haggard in the hospital, she was both distressed and angry. She scolded He Yan from head to toe and finally said, "Have you ever thought about getting pregnant? Look at how you've worn yourself out. Do you want to upset your mother to death?"
Hearing the word "pregnant," He Yan couldn't help but feel a pang of pain. Fu Shenxing never agreed to take any preventive measures, and after she had taken emergency contraception a few times, she had quietly started taking long-term contraceptives to protect her body. The child had become an unreachable place in her heart. Before overthrowing Fu Shenxing completely, she would never allow herself to get pregnant.
However, hearing her mother mention the child triggered another thought in He Yan: a method to gradually reduce Fu Shenxing's vigilance without leaving a trace, and to relax his surveillance of her parents, thus allowing her parents to completely escape Fu Shenxing's threat.
She interrupted her mother, jokingly saying, "Speaking of pregnancy, Mom, I must remind you, if you and Dad want to go on vacation, do it now, both domestically and internationally. Otherwise, when I have a child, you won't be able to go out for several years. Yuanze's mother won't come back from the United States to take care of the child; you'll have to take care of it for us."
After thinking it over, He's mother realized it made sense, "You're right. When the child gets older, your father and I will have trouble getting around, and we won't be able to go out."
He Yan just smiled, but her gaze shifted from the phone on the bedside to elsewhere. Since making that call last night, she had received no response from Fu Shenxing, and she was waiting for his reaction in order to change her future strategy. Right now, she wasn't hoping for concern from him; she just wanted him to pause his torment of her, at least out of consideration for her illness.
Achieving this would be a great victory; compassion arouses sympathy, and once a man's heart softens, his coldness and cruelty will gradually crumble. Yes, he would always be a despicable jerk, but a despicable jerk with a weakness is always easier to deal with than a cruel and unfeeling one.
On the fourth day, He Yan was discharged from the hospital and was on her way home when she received a call from Fu Shenxing. She covered the receiver and whispered to Liang Yuanze, "It's the hospital administrator. You go put the stuff away, and I'll take the call."
She directed Liang Yuanze to the kitchen and went into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
It seemed like Fu Shenxing had overheard her conversation with Liang Yuanze because there was a low, mocking laughter in his voice when he asked her over the phone, "So, dared to go home, not hiding from me at the hospital anymore?"
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