On the way back, I fell asleep. Studying is naturally exhausting and arduous, and coupled with the early morning physical training, the shock of tumbling down the stairs, and the intense pain, it left me completely drained.
When I woke up, I was already in my own bed.
Huo Ni was doing practice test papers at the desk by my bed.
I stared blankly for a moment, memories rushing back into my mind, a chaotic mess.
"Ni ni?" I called out softly.
"Nan Xing? You're awake?" Huo Ni asked, overjoyed, as she hurried over to lean against the bedside. "Does your foot hurt? Is anything making you uncomfortable?"
I thought about it. "I'm hungry."
Huo Ni smiled, jumped up, and said, "I'll go get you something to eat."
I sat up, pulled back the blanket to look at my cast-wrapped foot, and struggled to the edge of the bed. I tried a few times, but couldn't manage to get out of bed with it.
I couldn't help letting out a sigh.
If this meant I could completely cut ties with Huo Ning, then even breaking my foot was worth it.
Mother Kong personally carried in a food box and smiled, saying, "Does Miss Nan's foot still hurt?"
I shook my head. "I can't really feel it. Mother Kong, could you help me get a pair of crutches? I tried, but standing on one leg won't work."
Mother Kong was startled. "Miss, you mustn't be reckless. A bone injury takes a hundred days to heal, and if it's not cared for properly, it'll leave chronic ailments. Sir has already prepared a wheelchair and crutches; they're right outside the door. I'll have Fifth Miss help you try them on in a moment."
Huo Ni had already brought the crutches in. "Is Nan Xing trying to go to the washroom?"
I nodded, took the crutches, and tried them out with the help of both of them.
They felt very natural.
In my previous life, because of my broken leg, I had used crutches for over half a year, and the muscle memory remained.
As I ate the meal Mother Kong had prepared herself, I asked Huo Ni, "Where are the others?"
Huo Ni looked a bit uneasy. "Uncle chased them away. Nan Xing, are you mad at my eldest cousin?"
I raised an eyebrow at Huo Ni. "You don't seriously think your eldest cousin and I were just a young couple having a fight, do you?"
Huo Ni hesitated for a moment and gave a slight nod.
I tossed a chicken wing bone onto my plate and glared at her. "Straighten out your eyes and your heart, and tell me: do your eldest cousin and I look like a couple, or do my sister Nan Yang and your eldest cousin look like a couple?"
Huo Ni bit her lip and said somewhat reluctantly, "Your sister."
"There you go. Then why are you still trying to play matchmaker? Your eldest cousin and I are two people who have nothing to do with each other, alright?" I picked up another chicken wing.
"But everyone says you're the one who's supposed to marry my eldest cousin," Huo Ni said, looking at me.
I put down the chicken wing and said earnestly to Huo Ni, "Don't worry, I will definitely use my actions to show everyone that I am not going to marry Huo Ning!"
Huo Ni looked at me with a trace of pity.
I said dismissively, "Don't worry, without marrying your eldest cousin, I'll only live better. He is not the right match for me."
Huo Ni shook her head. "I just think that with how pretty you are, not marrying into our family is our family's loss."
My motion of biting into a chicken wing paused, and I couldn't help laughing. "Ni ni, you're learning to be bad!"
Huo Ni smiled.
A thought stirred in my heart. "Ni ni, I heard your uncle was kidnapped when he was a child?"
Huo Ni nodded. "Mhm, I heard Uncle almost lost his life."
I looked at Huo Ni. "And then?"
Huo Ni shook her head. "I don't know. That's all I know."
That's all? Just a single sentence? I really have to hand it to this naive sweet-talker.
Huo Ni thought about it, probably feeling that she hadn't said much either. "I heard that ever since that incident, my grandfather kept my uncle by his side. They said it was to discipline him properly, but I think it was actually to protect him. Grandfather dotes on Uncle a lot."
That much was obvious; elders always doted on the youngest child, which made sense.
Huo Ni suddenly leaned in closer and whispered, "I heard Uncle has someone he likes in his heart, which is why he's never taken a girlfriend."
I was stunned.
An indescribable feeling spread from the bottom of my heart, making me extremely, intensely uncomfortable.
There was someone Huo Jingchuan liked in his heart?
Really?
Who?
In his previous life, he remained unmarried at thirty-five and guarded me for eight years, yet he had someone he liked in his heart?
He was twenty-six now and had no girlfriend. Who was the person he liked?
Afraid I wouldn't believe her, Huo Ni swore solemnly, "It's true! I'm not lying to you. Grandfather is always urging Uncle and even sets up blind dates for him, but he always avoids them. He told Grandfather that there's already someone in his heart. When Grandfather told him to just marry that person, he wouldn't say another word."
Huo Ni cautiously glanced left and right, then lowered her voice. "Once, I heard my older brothers and sisters chatting, and they said my uncle likes men!"
My eyes widened.
Huo Jingchuan liked men?
I laughed, laughing until tears streamed down my face.
Saying Huo Jingchuan liked men was far less convincing to me than the notion that the person residing in Huo Jingchuan's heart was me.
Thinking of that night of intimacy, my face involuntarily flushed, and my body grew somewhat warm.
Seeing me laugh like this, Huo Ni grew anxious. "It's true, I'm telling you, there's never been a woman by my uncle's side. For the two of us to be able to stay at Uncle's villa is practically a miracle. Besides, the men around my uncle are one more handsome than the last! Oh right, you went to the hospital today, you must have seen that very handsome doctor, right?"
Lin Ran?
Lin Ran's words suddenly flashed through my mind.
"Who was your uncle with when he was kidnapped back then?" I abruptly asked.
Huo Ni: "Who was he with? I don't know. That matter seems to be somewhat taboo; no one ever dares to mention it, or Grandfather will lose his temper."
I froze.
Huo Jingchuan returned very late. I was sitting in the living room waiting for him, without any lights on.
When he came back, I was curled up on the sofa, fast asleep in a crooked heap.
"Why are you sleeping here?" Huo Jingchuan looked at me in surprise and asked in a lowered voice.
At this hour, the household servants should all have been asleep.
I rubbed my eyes and reached my hand out to him. "Carry me."
Huo Jingchuan scooped me up without a moment's hesitation and walked toward my room.
I leaned against him, breathing in his scent. In the past eight years, he had lifted me up like this countless times.
Only, I had been completely oblivious to this embrace.
Now, I cherished every single second in his arms.
The next second, he dumped me onto the bed.
I grabbed hold of the hem of his jacket.
He paused, startled. "What is it?"
His gaze dropped to the cast on my foot.
"Were we kidnapped together when we were kids?" I asked straight to the point.
The light from the bedside lamp was dim, but I still saw Huo Jingchuan's eyes brighten.
"You've remembered?"
I shook my head gently. "No, I guessed it. Huo Jingchuan, can you tell me what happened back then?"
This use of "Huo Jingchuan" left both of us stunned.
Huo Jingchuan stood by the bed, quietly looking down at me. In the faint lamplight, his expression and gaze were murky and unreadable.
I looked up at him without any apology or honorific.
I called him by name, so what?
After a long silence, he patted the top of my head. "So disrespectful!"
He turned and walked toward the door.
"Huo Jingchuan! What on earth happened? I've lost my memories, you can't bully me!"
I raised my voice at his retreating back.
Huo Jingchuan's footsteps paused. "You'd better wait until you remember on your own."
His tone sounded somewhat sorrowful.
"I want to know right now!" I kicked the edge of the bed with my cast, producing a loud "thud."
Huo Jingchuan slowly turned around. "Your task right now is to get into M University! Don't think about anything else!"
With that, he pulled the door open and walked out.
"Hey!" At the exact same time, the throw pillow in my hand accurately hit the door.
Early the next morning, both the Huo and Nan families arrived in full force.
Huo Ning was here to apologize, while the others were probably here to accompany him through it.
Huo Jingchuan had just finished working out. He was dressed in athletic wear with a towel draped around his neck, and his expression was terrifyingly cold.
Huo Ni wheeled me out into the living room.
Li Yuan came over, looked at the cast on my foot, and said gently, "This child, the injury isn't even that serious, why make it look so frightening? Is that necessary?"
I shrank back slightly and said in a tiny voice, "The doctor said it was to prevent any lingering complications."
Huo Ni, standing behind me, clearly froze, her grip tightening visibly on the handles of the wheelchair.
This girl probably didn't catch the undercurrents, did she?
The corner of Li Yuan's mouth twitched habitually into a sneer of disdain.
Huo Ning's mother, Su Qing, smiled and said, "The doctor is right, you certainly can't let any complications linger. Nan Xing, this time Huo Ning was in the wrong. We've already disciplined him, and today we specifically brought him over to apologize to you."
Huo Ning's expression wasn't great; he stiffened his neck and refused to look at me.
I huddled in the wheelchair, looking as though I didn't quite know what to say.
At times like this, it was usually Nan Yang's moment to shine.
Sure enough, Nan Yang said sweetly, "Auntie is exaggerating. This younger sister of mine has been mischievous since childhood. Yesterday, she suddenly started spouting nonsense about not being a match for Brother Huo Ning, which made Brother Huo Ning angry enough to give her a shove, not realizing she was right by the stairs. Brother Huo Ning truly didn't mean it."
Su Qing's expression softened considerably, and she said politely, "Even so, Huo Ning was in the wrong. Huo Ning, quickly apologize to your younger sister."
Huo Ning turned his head to look at me. "Nan Xing, what you said yesterday was quite right. You're actually good for nothing, so why would I ever like you? I only pitied you, pitied that your parents are both gone and no one dotes on you. I am not going to marry you!"
I looked at Huo Ning, not daring to show my delight, and forced an expression of pure astonishment onto my face.
I genuinely hadn't expected Huo Ning to have the backbone to say such things right in front of both families.
Truly impressive! It was enough to make me look at him in a new light.