He arrived with Qiao Anchen in the afternoon.
"Is something wrong?" Chu Yi asked, only to find her voice hoarse. She hadn't eaten in a long time.
“The identity of that person has been investigated and clarified.” Zhou Jian met her gaze, then his eyes involuntarily turned to the person lying there, his eyes filled with guilt and sympathy.
"Xie Xin has a twin brother. Only the two of them know this. Their mother was unmarried and died in childbirth. Xie Xin was sent to an orphanage as soon as he was born."
"Jiang Ming, that's the younger brother. He was malnourished in his mother's womb and was born with poor health, so he was given away and raised by a stranger in a remote mountain area."
"The only person who knew about this was their maternal grandmother, who passed away a long time ago."
"The two met by chance when they were fifteen years old."
“They have been committing crimes together, but Jiang Ming has never been registered in the household because his adoptive parents have many children, so his information could not be found.”
"The person who showed up today was Jiang Ming."
“He saw the news that his brother had been sentenced to death, so he wanted to take revenge. Both of them have severe antisocial personality disorder… Jiang Ming had studied computers for a while and hacked into the system to find your personal information.”
Zhou Jian pursed his lips and bowed solemnly to her.
"I'm sorry, it was our oversight."
Chu Yi's lips moved, but he couldn't bring himself to say "it's okay." Even though it was clear that they weren't entirely at fault.
If she didn't go down to pick up the package.
Perhaps then the accident wouldn't have happened.
Living in a society governed by the rule of law for too long, most people have lost their sense of crisis. In particular, after Qiao Anchen clearly told her that the other party would not escape, Chu Yi already thought she had misjudged the situation.
Otherwise, how could a criminal who was on the news just a moment ago suddenly appear next to you?
How could that be?
For example, she was just going downstairs to pick up a package, a simple matter that would take no more than ten minutes, and the other party attacked her without any regard for her safety when she was only one meter away from the security room.
Accidents always happen from the smallest oversights.
Even if she had been a little more cautious, she should have stood in front of the security room and let that person bring it over—no, she shouldn't have gone down.
Even if the other party insists on your personal signature, I insist that they leave it in the security room, and none of this will happen.
Chu Yi's eyes reddened again, her nose tingled, and tears welled up. She choked back sobs and couldn't speak.
"It's my fault... Qiao Anchen got hurt because I ran down to pick up the package. If it weren't for me, none of this would have happened."
“Miss Chu…” Zhou Jian hesitated for a moment, but still managed to say it.
"Actually, if this hadn't happened, we probably wouldn't have caught him so quickly. After all, it's too difficult to find someone in a vast sea of people without any information."
"Moreover, given Jiang Ming's personality, even if you hadn't come out this time, he would have made his move sooner or later. He would have been lurking around, trying every possible way to strike, and there might have been even more victims."
"Fortunately, we happened to be there to check the nearby surveillance footage, which prevented him from succeeding completely."
"It's already a stroke of luck amidst misfortune."
"Don't blame yourself, Prosecutor Qiao will be fine."
After Zhou Jian finished speaking, his gaze inadvertently fell on Chu Yi's feet. She was still wearing those slippers. During the running and the chaos, someone had stepped on her toes, causing them to swell up and turn blue.
He was completely disheveled.
Her clothes, pants, and cheeks were stained with blood. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and she was swaying as if she would faint at any moment.
He couldn't bear it and said, "Go and tidy yourself up first, treat your foot injury, and eat something. I'll take care of Prosecutor Qiao."
Seeing that Chu Yi was about to say something, Zhou Jian interrupted her again, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"You don't want to faint before Prosecutor Qiao wakes up, do you?"
Chu Yi silently closed her lips again, looked at herself, and saw that her toes had been throbbing with pain since the beginning, but she hadn't paid attention to it. Now, looking down, she saw that they were swollen.
She belatedly realized that she was feeling unwell and discovered that her entire arm was also uncomfortable, with her wrists red and swollen.
My stomach, which hadn't eaten for so long, was almost twisted in pain, and my throat felt like parched earth; even speaking was painful.
She nodded and gave a grateful smile.
"Thank you."
After getting some medicine from the nurse and receiving simple treatment, Chu Yi bought a bowl of porridge and slowly drank it. Only now did he feel as if he had finally escaped from that absurd and sudden terrifying event and returned to the normal world.
I never imagined that such a thrilling, movie-like event would occur in my simple and ordinary life.
A vicious criminal is suddenly threatened with death by a simple delivery call.
Chu Yi thought that she would probably have a psychological aversion to delivery calls for a long time, and she would probably never go downstairs to pick up a package again in her life.
No, it might turn them into easily frightened birds, seeing enemies everywhere.
She let out a soft breath, quickened her eating pace, and wanted to get back to the ward as soon as possible to stay with Qiao Anchen.
During the night, Qiao Anchen not only did not wake up but also started to have a fever. The on-duty doctor came several times and said it was normal, so he first used anti-inflammatory drugs and physical cooling methods.
Chu Yi was busy all night and was so tired that she fell asleep by the bed. When she woke up, it was already broad daylight.
She glanced at Qiao Anchen, who was still unconscious, and her heart sank. She pushed back her chair, got up, and went to the bathroom to wash up quickly.
The doctor checked his physical condition this morning and all his data were normal. He should have been awake by now, but for some reason he hasn't made a move yet. The doctor told Chu Yi to wait patiently.
Chu Yi immediately thought of those vegetative patients who would never wake up, and tears welled up in her eyes again. In the past two days, she had become extremely prone to tears. The slightest emotional fluctuation would cause her eyes to sting and her vision to blur.
She turned her face away and quickly wiped away her tears.
A gentle breeze stirred the white curtains outside. Chu Yi looked at the bed and saw Qiao Anchen lying there quietly, like Sleeping Beauty in a fairy tale, completely unaware of the outside world, immersed in his own dream.
There was no one else around. Chu Yi pulled up a chair and sat down on the edge of his bed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand and letting out a soft sob.
"Qiao Anchen..." she murmured his name to herself, as if that would wake him from her dream.
"Why aren't you awake yet?" No one answered in the empty room, so Chu Yi continued speaking to himself.
“I’m so scared to be alone. I don’t dare to tell my parents because I’m afraid they’ll worry. I want to wait until you wake up before I can let them know I’m safe… The hospital is cold and empty at night. Everyone is busy with their own things. Human joys and sorrows are hard to understand. Even if you’re on the verge of collapse, no one else can ever truly understand.”
"If you don't wake up... I really can't hold on any longer..." Chu Yi lowered her head and began to sob softly. She couldn't help but reach out and hold his hand again, squeezing it tightly and feeling the warmth on it.
It was as if only in this way could she suppress the fear and worry in her heart.
"Qiao Anchen, as long as you wake up, I will never lose my temper with you again. If you work overtime, I will wait for you to come home, cook you delicious food, massage your back every day, and make soup for you."
"By the way, I've recently learned how to make so many different kinds of soups, but I haven't had a chance to cook them for you yet. You lost so much blood this time, you must make sure to nourish yourself properly."
As Chu Yi spoke, she became even more distressed, lowering her head and sobbing uncontrollably, her mind filled with the image of him lying in front of her, covered in blood, that day.
“The last one…” A hoarse voice suddenly sounded in his ear. Qiao Anchen, lying there, struggled to open his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering slowly. He looked at her, coughed twice, and forced a smile, “Never mind…”
"Huh?" Chu Yi hadn't reacted yet. She opened her mouth slightly in surprise, a single, clear tear still clinging to her face, slowly sliding down her chin.
"I don't want to drink soup anymore." Qiao Anchen added the last sentence with a slight pant, his voice tinged with laughter. Chu Yi came back to her senses, her expression changed drastically in a second, and she threw herself onto his shoulder and burst into tears.
"Waaaaah, Qiao Anchen, you're awake! You're really awake, you scared me to death—" After burying her face in his neck and crying her heart out, she suddenly remembered something and immediately sat up straight as if facing a formidable enemy.
"Oh, right! I went to call the doctor. He said to tell him as soon as I wake up!"
Before Qiao Anchen could speak, he saw the person in front of him run out in a panic. He laboriously reached out and touched the warm, damp patch on his neck, then smiled.
After a series of complex examinations, Qiao Anchen was finally declared by the doctor to be fine and just need to rest and recover.
Chu Yi watched him longingly from the side, like a loyal little animal waiting for its master.
After everyone had left, she moved a small chair over and sat down, biting her lip and gazing at him with teary eyes.
Qiao Anchen was not in good spirits. He was still very weak. It felt like there was a little person jumping around in his head. His nerves were aching dully. He had no strength at all and felt like he could fall asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
But he still mustered his strength to talk to her.
"Find a caregiver, then call home and have them come over to relieve you. Go back and pack your things for the hospital." Qiao Anchen held her hand and gave the instructions in a very soft voice. He spoke such a long sentence in one breath and it took him a long time to recover.
Chu Yi nodded repeatedly, reached out and patted his chest, and said softly, "Don't say anything more. I know. As long as you're awake, everything else is trivial."
Qiao Anchen pursed his lips and looked at her without saying a word. His gaze gently enveloped her face, and the air was quiet, yet one could not bear to break the silence.
Chu Yi suddenly thought of something.
"Oh, by the way, that man has been caught." Seeing that Qiao Anchen was about to speak, she immediately added, "Don't say anything, just listen to me!"
Qiao Anchen smiled helplessly, but still obediently lay there, listening to her.
"They actually came as twins! I really never expected this..." Chu Yi frowned and sighed indignantly, as if she were telling the unbelievable truth behind some mysterious case. Qiao Anchen didn't say that he had already guessed it, but just looked at her quietly with a faint smile on his face.
He woke up, and Chu Yi found her pillar of support. She returned to her usual vibrant self and couldn't wait to tell him about all her experiences over the past two days, including the words Zhou Jian had spoken to her. She repeated them verbatim to Qiao Anchen.
After chattering on and on for who knows how long, Qiao Anchen gradually became exhausted, his eyelids slowly drooping, then he forced them open again. Chu Yi noticed this and, as the conversation gradually faded, touched his face with her palm with concern.
"You should rest for a bit. I'll talk to you when you wake up."
"Hmm..." Qiao Anchen responded, but his eyes remained open. He looked at Chu Yi with a lingering reluctance, as if he wanted to look at her a little longer.
That tender gaze made Chu Yi feel completely melted; her heart ached, and her eyes started to sting.
She blinked hard, trying to hold back her tears.
“Qiao Anchen…” Chu Yi leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, “You can’t do this again. If something happens to you, I won’t be able to live either.”
The thought of this possibility brought tears to her eyes again, and her nose stung with tears.
Qiao Anchen gazed at her; her eyes were bright, with a thin layer of mist covering them, which, in the afternoon sunlight, seemed to hold stars.
He opened his lips and slowly, with great difficulty, uttered three words.
"Me too."
If anything happens to you, I'll be terrified, and the rest of my life will be difficult.
Qiao Anchen didn't think too much at the time; he just instinctively blocked the knife the moment he saw it aimed at Chu Yi, with only one thought in his mind.
She's so young and delicate; she cries her eyes out at the slightest injury. That knife looks so sharp; if it really hurt her, wouldn't the sky be falling?
Even now, Qiao Anchen has no regrets, because he cannot imagine Chu Yi lying here, too weak to speak.
Because it really hurts.
He preferred to bear the pain himself.
Chu Yi was stunned for several seconds before she realized what he meant by those three words. She burst into tears again, trying her best to hold back her sobs until her face turned red.
Qiao Anchen gently squeezed her hand in silent comfort. His energy was exhausted to the limit, and he could no longer hold on. His eyelids drooped heavily, and he fell into a deep sleep.