Meng Weixi looked away and composed herself before speaking: "Don't say thank you to me. Say anything, just not those two words. They really hurt me."
Zhao Xiyin's right cheek was buried in the blanket, and her expression remained unchanged.
"Take a few days off. Don't worry about the troupe; I'll handle it. Consider it a work injury, and the company will cover your medical expenses." With that, Meng Weixi walked straight out.
He didn't dare to look back even once more.
He didn't want to be heartbroken again.
Zhao Xiyin was to stay with Dr. Ji for two days to receive intravenous fluids. Li Ran somehow found out about this and brought Xiao Shun to see her early the next morning.
"Zhao Xiyin, you're really putting your life on the line with dancing! You've danced so hard you're getting an IV drip!" Li Ran, with her head of red hair, nags like a lion with its mane standing on end.
Xiao Shun glanced at the nameplate above the bed and asked, "Sister Xi, why doesn't it say what your illness is?"
Li Ran smacked him on the head, "She's not sick! Do you understand how hard it is to be a woman?! Every month there's a river of blood! And then there's childbirth! If you don't take good care of yourself during postpartum, you'll suffer for life! You'd better stay on the right path, don't become a scumbag!"
Xiao Shun was baffled. "It's just menstrual cramps, how did it involve a scumbag?"
Li Ran immediately smiled broadly, cupped his face and rubbed it twice, "You know so much."
Zhao Xiyin, annoyed by their noise, sat cross-legged on the bed, feeling much better than yesterday. "Did you bring me any food?"
Li Ran didn't bring any. "I was busy shipping orders yesterday, and I came straight here this morning. I was starving myself."
Zhao Xiyin gave her a murderous look, "Manager Li, I've found you to be increasingly unreliable."
Xiao Shun raised his hand: "I'll go buy it, I'll go now."
"Stop." Li Ran became serious. "Where are you going?" She waved her phone, her expression clearly earnest. "Nobody's going. We're waiting for someone to take us!"
Li Ran just took a picture at the hospital entrance and posted it on her WeChat Moments, simply writing four words: "My best friend is sick."
Zhou Qishen was on her friend list, and she was betting he would see the post. Sure enough, as soon as she entered the lobby, Zhou Qishen called and asked directly, "Is Xiaoxi sick?"
Li Ran smiled faintly, her words carrying a hidden dagger: "Oh, aren't you supposed to be a very busy person? Yet you still diligently surf the internet like a net addict?"
Zhou Qishen interrupted: "Li Ran, don't give me that nonsense. Haven't you gotten tired of your old tricks after all these years? If you really want to curse, then next time I'll stand in front of you and you can curse to your heart's content. Don't give me that sarcastic talk. I don't buy it—answer me, isn't she the one who's sick?"
Li Ran was speechless, completely stumped. Zhou Qishen was a complete straight man; he never cared about others' feelings, only cherishing his own people. His retort had truly emboldened Li Ran. As soon as she finished giving him the hospital address, Zhou hung up the phone.
Zhao Xiyin didn't understand what she was talking nonsense about. "Who are you waiting for to deliver it? Did you order takeout for me again? You're just being perfunctory. The takeout here is not good at all."
Li Ran said lightly, "I just bought three Hermes bags yesterday. I'm going bankrupt. I don't have money to order takeout for you."
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Gu Heping's voice, with a touch of roguishness, came through the door, "Brother Zhou, this is it."
The door opened, and Zhou Qishen arrived uninvited. When he saw Zhao Xiyin on the hospital bed, his subconscious reaction was unmistakable, and the anxiety in his eyes was genuine.
Zhao Xiyin was stunned. The oversized hospital gown made her look two sizes smaller.
"Uh." Gu Heping was also quite surprised. "Xiao west, you don't look too good."
Li Ran gave a forced smile, "Don't you even know who's here? Do you think you deserve a friendly welcome?"
Gu Heping clicked his tongue and took two steps toward Li Ran. "Little sister, you can't live without roasting me, can you?"
Li Ran smiled innocently: "If you say so, then so be it."
Gu Heping: "You can't control your mouth, can you? Aren't you afraid I can't control my hands?"
Li Ran said, "Honey, your hands are too restless, I suggest you cut them off."
Gu Heping crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow seductively: "What, you want to kiss me? Where does my little sister want to kiss me?"
Li Ran spat and almost went up to tear off his handsome face that showed he didn't uphold male virtue.
Zhou Qishen's tone was displeased, with a clear warning: "Gu Heping."
Gu Heping immediately fell silent.
Zhou Qishen turned to look at Zhao Xiyin, his attitude softening instantly. He bent down slightly and said in a deep voice, "Xiao west."
Zhao Xiyin calmly met his gaze.
Li Ran said coldly from the side, "Don't ask how she got sick. She's sick, that's all. If it's not a serious illness, she won't be hospitalized. She's on twenty IV drips a day. See? There's nowhere left to insert the needle in her hand. You feel sorry for her? Don't talk nonsense. Men's words are just lies. You're taking her injections and suffering for her. Do you know what kind of world we live in? If men don't uphold male virtue, the country will cease to exist—this isn't my saying, it's what they said on Weibo! It's about people like you—I asked you to buy food, did you buy it? You came to visit her in the hospital empty-handed. I believe you wouldn't do such a thing."
Li Ran spoke eloquently, cursing without using any vulgar language. Gu Heping was stunned, and Zhou Qishen's face darkened.
Half a minute of silence.
Zhou Qishen awkwardly took out his phone. "I brought it. I have a lot of stuff. I'll have the driver bring it up."
The atmosphere had been made rather strange by Li Ran. Gu Heping stood by the window like a spectator, observing Manager Li with great interest. Before long, the driver arrived, carrying a full load of seven or eight exquisitely packaged boxes, which he piled on the floor.
Zhao Xiyin was taken aback by the scene, but upon closer inspection, she was speechless.
Li Ran thought she was seeing things, so she walked closer, squatted down, and finally turned to look at Zhou Qishen with a complicated expression, "I asked you to bring food, what kind of junk did you bring?"
Zhou Qishen remained calm. "Can't I eat it?"
Li Ran traced her index finger from the first box to the last. "Ginseng, deer antler, deep-sea fish oil, Tian Shan snow lotus, Ten-Ingredient Tonic Pill... Zhou Qishen, did you just come back from the Greater Khingan Mountains?"
That's incredible, he's the epitome of a straight man.
Chapter 23 I Don't Believe in Growing Old Together (3)
I don't believe that people can grow old together (3)