Some matters are better dealt with directly.
Tonight, Xie Qian had thoroughly pierced that layer of window paper.
If Xie Qian was not afraid, what did Wen Ying have to fear?
Xie Qian liked her, and she liked Xie Qian. This was the freedom of just the two of them and harmed no one. What was there to hide?
Especially after hearing her roommates say that everyone was gossiping and had even dug up Xie Qian’s identity, Wen Ying felt even more compelled to declare her feelings!
Wen Ying feared that some classmates might discuss Xie Qian’s wheelchair.
She worried these discussions would reach Xie Qian’s ears.
Although Xie Qian probably would not care… Wen Ying refused to gamble on that small probability!
So Wen Ying not only admitted that she liked Xie Qian, but when Sun Mingfei praised her for being direct enough, she also mentioned Xie Qian’s injury. “I did not mean to hide it. Xie Qian and I had long ago agreed to apply to universities in Shanghai together. After the gaokao, I chose Fudan first, and he did too. If not for the car accident he suffered during the summer holidays, we should have registered as freshmen together.”
“Ah? A car accident!”
“Was it very serious?”
“He is in a wheelchair…”
The three roommates forgot about gossiping entirely. Their attention was wholly captured by the accident Wen Ying described.
People love to admire beautiful things and people, and they hate to see such beauty destroyed.
Even if Xie Qian were not handsome, the roommates would still have basic empathy.
Wen Ying nodded. “It was quite serious. From the summer holidays until now, he has been treated for four months in total. To stand up as soon as possible, Xie Qian even went abroad for treatment.”
The roommates did not know what to say.
Wen Ying had never mentioned these things before. She had borne the pressure alone.
Sun Mingfei murmured, “You are not just direct enough. You are very brave…”
“Oh, come on, do not be like that. It is all in the past. Xie Qian is recovering very well. In another two or three months, he will completely bid farewell to the wheelchair!”
Wen Ying changed the subject, pulling her roommates back from the brink of heartache.
Sure enough, everyone brightened up.
“Really?”
“Just two or three months? That is wonderful!”
“In this situation, does he need rehabilitation… Oh, the university really must be understanding of classmate Xie Qian’s circumstances!”
Wen Ying was not afraid of her roommates discussing it. She feared them not discussing it.
When other students came to ask her roommates for information, they could tell the truth. Then those people would know that Xie Qian would not remain in a wheelchair forever. On this point, Wen Ying had even consulted Xie Qian himself, fearing he might want to deliberately mislead certain people and not wish to publicise his treatment progress.
Xie Qian, however, said he did not mind.
Previously, his condition could be concealed because he had gone abroad for treatment.
Now that he had returned, certain people wanting to probe his injury could, even if they could not bribe Dr Joseph, still leak information through the many eyes and ears in the hospital.
Since he had chosen to return, Xie Qian no longer cared about such things.
Xie Qian also mentioned a possibility: the more openly Wen Ying stated that Xie Qian would be free of the wheelchair in two or three months, the less likely certain people would believe the truth when they heard it.
Those who did not want Xie Qian to recover would hope he remained impaired and suspect it was a smoke bomb deliberately released by Xie Qian!
Wen Ying thought about it and realised it was true.
That night, the dormitory’s bedtime chat revolved entirely around “Xie Qian”.
The three roommates were like fans obsessed with a CP, pestering Wen Ying for details.
Wen Ying kept her lips tightly sealed, frustrating Sun Mingfei so much that she got out of bed to tickle her.
What Wen Ying did not know was that the CP group, which Li Mengjiao had nearly disbanded in a fit of anger, had lain dormant for so long but came alive again tonight!
Li Mengjiao released the news of Xie Qian’s return.
It was like dynamite in a quiet pond at midnight.
The CP fans were truly moved to tears.
It had been over a hundred days without any news of Xie Qian. Forget about photos of the main couple together – at least there should be updates about the male lead!
Without news of Xie Qian, what CP were they even shipping?
More than just Wen Ying and Xie Qian from Rongcheng Province’s key school had been admitted to Fudan. The CP group had spies at the university.
According to the spies, during Xie Qian’s disappearance, three prominent senior brothers at Fudan had pursued Wen Ying!
All three seniors were outstanding and capable in their own right.
Li Mengjiao said that besides these three, others had wanted to pursue Wen Ying too.
Of course, there were plenty who wanted to pursue Xie Qian as well.
Some little princess from the Zhang family in the capital.
Some young lady surnamed Ran.
Li Mengjiao never thought these suitors could break the CP she was stubbornly shipping. Any CP that could be broken by others was not worth her devotion. The only thing that could break a CP was the CP itself!
Xie Qian’s behaviour had seemed very much like he was trying to break his own CP.
Hmph.
So what if he had returned?
Returning and standing Wen Ying up, causing her to grieve like a walking corpse for so long – could that just be brushed aside?
Li Mengjiao was about to criticise Xie Qian in the group when the spy at Fudan sent a photo.
“Someone took this this afternoon. It is far away and a side view, so I am not sure if it is Xie Qian. But President, you said Xie Qian is back… so this should be him?”
The photo was a distant shot and quite blurry.
That was normal – current phone cameras were indeed not great.
In the blurry distant image, a girl was pushing a wheelchair, leaning down to speak to the person in it.
This CP fan group existed solely to ship the pair. Back in high school, they had secretly taken countless photos of Xie Qian and Wen Ying. Everyone was far too familiar with the two.
Especially Li Mengjiao. If someone took a distant photo of her, she would need a good look to recognise herself. But for Wen Ying, Li Mengjiao could identify her at a glance!
The girl was Wen Ying. The person in the wheelchair was naturally Xie Qian.
Even a blurry distant shot could not hide Xie Qian’s excellent facial contours.
Li Mengjiao was struck dumb.
—Why was Xie Qian in a wheelchair?
The fact that Xie Qian had been in a car accident was actually a semi-open secret.
The parents of several friends had either guessed or personally confirmed it.
Li Mengjiao did not know.
Everyone treated her like an immature little girl. No one would discuss such a heavy topic with her.
Li Mengjiao suddenly felt very sad.
Sad for Xie Qian, and sad for Wen Ying.
Li Mengjiao wanted to call Xie Qian immediately, or ask Wen Ying.
In the end, she held back.
The phone screen lit her face. Her expression was fierce as her hands flew over the keyboard:
“Nothing can separate Xie Qian and Wen Ying. If they cannot be together, I will never believe in this rubbish called love again! But for now, I need to find out about Xie Qian’s condition first.”
Well, it seemed even the group president did not know why Xie Qian was in a wheelchair.
Late at night, everyone in the QQ group was frantically posting.
Would Xie Qian and Wen Ying end up together?
Tonight, shipping the CP had become secondary for the group members. They were more concerned about Xie Qian’s exact situation and wanted him to recover quickly.
Love is important.
Life and health are more important!
…
Zhao Dong had indeed been a villain in vain.
He had deliberately concealed the news of Xie Qian’s return, but how could it possibly be hidden?
Less than 24 hours after Xie Qian’s return, concerned calls and messages nearly overwhelmed his phone.
Many people cared about Xie Qian’s condition.
Most genuinely cared, while a small portion wanted to confirm if he had become foolish or truly suffered a lifelong disability.
For these malicious probes, Xie Qian responded with nothing but the truth.
“Some people will be very disappointed. Others will not believe my true words.”
Xie Qian was on the phone with Xie Yuping.
Xie Yuping was not surprised. “That is good. I mean, the misfortune that has occurred cannot be reversed, but at least you can use this accident to see the people around you more clearly.”
Xie Yuping was right.
The first person Xie Qian thought of was Miss Ran, who had been silent for a long time.
Ran Keqing had probably heard the news from somewhere and no longer appeared before Xie Qian to make her presence known.
What kind of liking was that?
Miss Ran merely liked his appearance.
Xie Qian would not hold a grudge against Ran Keqing for it. She was, after all, irrelevant to him.
But with Ran Keqing as contrast, Xie Qian felt even more grateful for Wen Ying’s deep devotion to him.
Sometimes Xie Qian truly wished he knew magic. Then he would turn his heart into a little house and shrink Wen Ying into a tiny miniature person.
He would invite mini Wen Ying to live in his “heart house”. Wherever he went, Wen Ying would go too.
Wen Ying could frolic freely in his heart house.
Xie Yuping also brought Xie Qian another piece of news. The driver who had crashed into Xie Qian with a small van had first been found to have cancer while in a coma, then declared brain dead by doctors.
The driver’s family was not well-off. After discussion, the relatives decided to give up treatment – commonly called “pulling the plug”.
“This lead is about to break.”
Xie Yuping was quite regretful.
There was currently no concrete evidence to charge the driver with intentional murder. After the doctors declared brain death, the family indeed had the right to forgo meaningless further treatment.
Xie Qian, however, was not disheartened. “This is a long line. Let us watch what his family does next.”
Having received benefits, how could they resist using them?
Whether money or something else, traces would eventually show. It might take a year or two, or longer. Xie Qian had plenty of patience to wait.
