"Brother Zhan, I heard..."
As soon as Lu Qingzhou walked in, he happened to run into the two of them being intimate, and his voice cut off abruptly.
Gu Jingzhan stopped, turned back, and shot him a cold glare.
Lu Qingzhou froze for a moment, then turned and walked out as if nothing had happened, pulling the door shut behind him.
"Phew—"
Lu Qingzhou let out a long breath, then leaned sideways against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest as he frowned in bewilderment.
What on earth was going on with these two?
Didn't they just say this morning that they had made up their minds to get a divorce?
How were they kissing again just like that?
Gu Jingzhan gently stroked Xiang Wanniao's face, his deep eyes gazing at her as his voice grew husky. "Qiaoqiao, I gave you a chance to leave."
"I'm not leaving. I'll never leave you again for the rest of my life." Xiang Wanniao cupped his face in her hands and smiled softly. "Gu Jingzhan, this time I am staying by your side of my own free will."
Gu Jingzhan bent down, pressing his forehead against hers. His heart hammered wildly in his chest, as if it were about to burst out.
*Qiaoqiao, I hope you're really not lying to me this time.*
*Otherwise, I'll truly go crazy.*
Xiang Wanniao looked at the man in front of her, and the heart that had been floating aimlessly finally landed firmly on the ground.
If she hadn't lived through her past life, she would never have known how deeply this man loved her—loved her to the marrow of his bones, loved her with no bottom line, loved her until he completely lost his mind.
She just couldn't understand what on earth had triggered such profound love from him.
Lu Qingzhou stood outside the ward, bored out of his mind as he waited for Gu Jingzhan to come out.
After quite a while, Gu Jingzhan finally emerged from Xiang Wanniao's ward.
"What? You're not planning to divorce Xiang Wanniao anymore?"
Gu Jingzhan slanted his gaze and gave him a cold look. Not only did he ignore the question, but he issued a warning instead. "Next time you come in, remember to knock."
"I did knock. You two were just too absorbed in your kissing to hear."
Lu Qingzhou straightened up and hurried to keep pace with Gu Jingzhan.
"Hey, you haven't answered my question yet! You couldn't possibly have been blinded by that woman Xiang Wanniao's honey trap again, could you?"
Gu Jingzhan walked on while adjusting his cuffs, paying Lu Qingzhou no mind.
"Anyone with eyes can tell what kind of schemes she's pulling. How can you let her fool you over and over again? Don't forget, this is a trap she and that adulterer set for you. Don't forget the recording I let you listen to last night."
Terrified that Gu Jingzhan would get the short end of the stick, Lu Qingzhou tried earnestly to persuade him.
"Xiang Wanniao is just a scheming woman who will stop at nothing to achieve her goals."
"Brother Zhan, you must not fall for it again!"
Gu Jingzhan stopped in his tracks, turned his gaze to stare at him, and said coldly, "If you have time, worry more about your own love life instead of staring constantly at whether I'm getting a divorce or not."
"I'm only worried that you're being conned by that woman Xiang Wanniao! My good intentions are just going to waste!"
"I don't need you to worry. I know what I'm doing."
"You know your ass!" Lu Qingzhou pointed at him, exasperated and furious. "I swear you've completely lost your mind over Xiang Wanniao—you can't even tell good from bad anymore!"
Gu Jingzhan gave a soft chuckle and said dismissively, "It's not like you're finding this out for the first time today."
"..." Lu Qingzhou was so angry he laughed. "Fine, you are a slave to romance who casts aside his friends. Sooner or later, you're going to die at that woman Xiang Wanniao's hands."
"Even so, I'd gladly accept it."
Lu Qingzhou was truly infuriated by him, almost choking on his own breath.
He pointed a finger at Gu Jingzhan, choked back his fury for a long moment, and finally spat out, "You're completely beyond saving!"
Gu Jingzhan gave the corner of his lips a slight tug and strode out of the hospital.
Lu Qingzhou let out a cold snort and walked off in the opposite direction.
Inside the ward.
Xiang Wanniao touched her lips, swollen and red from Gu Jingzhan's kisses, and a bashful smile crept onto her face.
Just as she was sinking into the sweetness of that recent kiss, an ill-timed cell phone ring interrupted her thoughts.
Xiang Wanniao furrowed her brows slightly, cast a sideways glance at the phone screen, and saw that the call was from Lü Siwei.
She curled her lips in a cold smile, picked up the phone, and answered.
"Qiaoqiao, I'm so sorry. Because I got a last-minute work assignment and have to go on a business trip for a few days, I won't be able to come see you. How are you doing now?"
Lü Siwei's opening words were dripping with apologies.
Had it been her old self, she really would have believed Lü Siwei's act.
Listening to this excuse, Xiang Wanniao couldn't help rolling her eyes.
"It's fine, I'm doing pretty well right now."
"As long as you're okay," Lü Siwei said with hypocritical concern. "You have no idea how worried I was about you."
"Is that so?"
"Of course! I originally thought you were just putting on an act, I never expected you'd actually go through with it."
*Never expected?*
*You were probably hoping I'd just drop dead.*
With a detached expression, Xiang Wanniao's voice unconsciously chilled a few degrees. "No matter what, I still have to thank you. If you hadn't helped me come up with the suicide trick to pressure Gu Jingzhan, he wouldn't have agreed to divorce me so easily."
"Gu Jingzhan really agreed to a divorce?" Lü Siwei feigned surprise and delight.
"Yeah, the divorce agreement has already been sent over. Could it possibly be fake?"
Hearing this, Lü Siwei probed with a hint of nervousness, "You signed it?"
"I signed it," Xiang Wanniao said purposely.
"What! You signed it?" Panic setting in, Lü Siwei grew even more anxious and accidentally exposed herself in her fluster. "Didn't you promise Xiao Xu'an that you wouldn't divorce Gu Jingzhan for the time being?"
Xiang Wanniao curved her lips into a smile and calmly countered, "Weiwei, how did you know I promised Xiao Xu'an I wouldn't divorce Gu Jingzhan for the time being?"
"I..." Lü Siwei paused, answering vaguely, "I... I heard about it."
"Heard about it?"
"Qiaoqiao, do you not trust me? I'm your best friend, how can you not trust me?"
Knowing that Xiang Wanniao was afraid of losing her as a friend, Lü Siwei deliberately used the issue of trust to dodge the real point, hoping to manipulate her with it.
Xiang Wanniao smiled, her tone indifferent as she replied, "No, how could I not trust you?"
Hearing this answer, Lü Siwei let out a slight sigh of relief. "I knew it, we're best friends after all."
"Yeah, best friends."
A trace of coldness flashed through Xiang Wanniao's eyes, and she delivered those final words with profound meaning.
Lü Siwei smiled and said, "Qiaoqiao, don't rush into this divorce business. Just get some good rest first. Once I finish my work, I'll come back to see you, and then we can talk things over properly."
"Mm, okay."
After hanging up the phone, the faint smile on Xiang Wanniao's face vanished completely in an instant.
*Hmph, best friends.*
*Sometimes, the ones who hurt you the most are precisely those good friends you thought you knew.*
She leaned back against the headboard, her fingertips tapping lightly on the phone screen as if waiting for someone's call.