“Doctor, how is he?” Sheng Jiaoyang stood next to the bed and watched Lin Yan sleep as she asked the doctor.

“His fever has temporarily calmed down. It was probably triggered by being in an unacclimated environment combined with his previously existing digestive issues. Take good care of him, check his temperature every hour and if it rises, come and find us.” After leaving them instructions, the doctor left with the nurse.

“You guys can go back and rest, I"ll stay,” Lin Yu said.

Sheng Jiaoyang moved a chair closer to the bedside, clearly showing that she wouldn"t leave. “I promised him that I"d wait until he gets better.”

Lin Yu also moved a chair to sit next to the bed and looked at Lin Yan, who was currently sleeping peacefully. “How many days has it been since my cousin has been back?”

“Five days.” Sheng Jiaoyang also looked at Lin Yan.

“If he hadn"t called me today to ask me to take him to the hospital, I wouldn"t have even known that he"d returned.”

“It"s because our movie was lacking an actor and Lin Yan just happened to visit. The director thought he was quite fitting, so he invited Lin Yan to join…”

“Cousin is in your movie?” Lin Yu was surprised.

Sheng Jiaoyang nodded. “He"s been filming with us these past few days and acted out the scenes quite well.”

Lin Yu still found it unfathomable how his cousin was suddenly acting in a movie. “Now I"m really eager for your movie"s debut. Unless something unexpected happens, this will probably be his only movie.”

“Right, it"s his first and last time,” Sheng Jiaoyang lamented.

An opportunity like this, where the role just so happened to fit perfectly with Lin Yan"s characteristics, was something that would probably never happen again. This really could be Lin Yan"s only movie debut, so it was naturally significant.

“You already know that my cousin broke off his engagement, right?” Lin Yan suddenly asked.

“Yeah,” Sheng Jiaoyang answered.

“So, it"s because of you.” A look of realisation suddenly appeared on Lin Yu"s face. Everybody in his family was confused over why Lin Yan had suddenly annulled the engagement and had been so firm about it, not hesitating even though he"d incur the other party"s resentment. Lin Yu finally understood after Lin Yan"s fever.

Lin Yu knew that feeling all too well. When you finally love somebody, you can"t stop. Even if everyone else tells you you"re reckless, even if you"ve failed to live up to expectations, you just can"t stop.

Sheng Jiaoyang was silent.

“Don"t worry too much. If my cousin did that, it"s definitely because you"re worth it.” Lin Yu"s words were sincere. “Jiaojiao, if you like my cousin, you should consider him. With how my cousin is, he"d love you to the end. I hope you two don"t miss this opportunity.”

Sheng Jiaoyang stared at Lin Yu, who talked as if he was trying to matchmake them, and said, “Alright, let"s talk about something else. You"re graduating in June, right? Are you planning to continue attending grad school or are you going to find a job?”

“I"m going to continue studying. Grandfather"s already paved out a good route for me to take.” Lin Yu followed her change of topic and didn"t continue talking about romance.

“Wouldn"t you feel unhappy or dissatisfied if you follow the path that somebody else laid out for you?”

“I"m already satisfied with the fact that I can make a modest contribution to the family.” Lin Yu laughed slightly. Not the slightest bit of dissatisfaction could be seen on his face.

Everybody was ambitious, but Lin Yu was simply too filial. Although Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t agree with his views, she admired him a lot. For a family business to continue, they needed people like Lin Yu, who wholeheartedly invested themselves into the family.

They didn"t chat for much longer because Lin Yan suddenly woke up.

“Jiaoyang!”

“I"m here.” Sheng Jiaoyang held Lin Yan"s hand, the one without the IV.

Lin Yan stared at her, and after ascertaining she was really there, slowly calmed down before finally noticing Lin Yu.

Lin Yan"s eye twitched when he noticed Lin Yu"s shocked expression. “What?”

“Cousin, you just shouted Jiaoyang.” Lin Yu moved his gaze to Sheng Jiaoyang. “Jiaojiao, you responded.”

Sheng Jiaoyang was startled. Because Lin Yan had woken up, she was focused on consoling him and had forgotten about what her name was now supposed to be.

“You heard wrong, I called Jiaojiao.”

Lin Yu slowly shook his head. He then suddenly stood up and walked towards the door. “Cousin, I"ll go buy breakfast for you.”

Sheng Jiaoyang watched him leave before turning to Lin Yan, her voice filled with concern, “Do you think Lin Yu knows?”

“So what if he knows? He won"t reveal it.” Although they weren"t that close, Lin Yan already understood Lin Yu"s nature.

He gripped her hand. “Even if Lin Yu knows your ident.i.ty, he"ll help you conceal it because he wouldn"t want you to fall into a bad situation.”

Sheng Jiaoyang couldn"t help but admit that Lin Yan was right. With Lin Yu"s character, even if he knew her ident.i.ty, he"d definitely help keep it a secret. However, she felt that for Lin Yu, it was even crueler for him to know than to have believed she"d died.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

Sheng Jiaoyang looked at her phone, expecting to see Director Cen calling, only to discover that it was actually Shen Zhining calling her.

She looked at the time and noticed that it was already 8:30 AM.

“Lin Yan, I"m going out to answer a call.” Sheng Jiaoyang grabbed her phone and stood up, but before she could leave, Lin Yan gripped her hand.

“Don"t leave.” Lin Yan refused to let go of her.

The phone was still ringing, but Sheng Jiaoyang hesitated, leaving her forced to pick it up. “You finally called me back.”

“I"m afraid that if I didn"t call back, you would have long kicked me aside.” His voice had a hint of hidden bitterness, making Sheng Jiaoyang want to smile.

“I waited for you so long yesterday and called you many times. You were the one refusing to see me.”

“I went down, but you weren"t there.”

“When did you go downstairs? I waited three hours for you.”

“Then, do you know how long I waited for you at home the day before yesterday?”

Sheng Jiaoyang paused. “I was filming until very late that night, so I didn"t go back. When I returned early in the morning, you"d already gone to work.”

“You didn"t come back last night either.”

“There was a gathering with the film crew yesterday night and we hung out till pretty late, so I just went to the hotel with them.”

Lin Yan watched her acting like a little wife reporting to her husband and felt rather unhappy. Perhaps, she hadn"t realised it, but her heart had already accepted that man. Otherwise, she wouldn"t accept him questioning her like a suspect.

Lin Yan abruptly started to cough, so much so that his face turned red.

Sheng Jiaoyang was frightened by his sudden outburst as she hastily called for the nurses and doctors before grabbing Lin Yan"s hand, asking anxiously, “Lin Yan, what happened?”

“I…” Lin Yan waited until his coughing was a bit better before speaking. “I choked on my saliva.”

“You scared me to death!” Sheng Jiaoyang patted her chest in fright. With how seriously he"d coughed just now, she"d almost thought that something serious had happened.

Seeing how she"d really been scared, Lin Yan apologised softly, “I"m sorry for scaring you.”

“As long as you"re okay.”

The doctor hastily ran over with a nurse, only to find out he"d just choked. After inspecting him and finding nothing wrong, he left a few sentences about being careful before leaving.

Sheng Jiaoyang had just sighed with relief when she saw something light up. She looked at the phone she"d left on the bed and felt her heart thump. She thought of how she"d just been talking with Shen Zhining when she heard Lin Yan coughing, scaring her into dropping the phone as she pressed the b.u.t.ton to call for the nurse.

She hesitantly picked up the phone again and cast a glance at Lin Yan before murmuring, “Zhining…”

“You"re with Lin Yan?” His voice seemed unsettlingly calm.

“Yeah.” Sheng Jiaoyang had a bad feeling. It almost felt like she"d done some sort of shameful deed.

“Didn"t you say that you went back to the hotel with the film crew? By the film crew, did you mean Lin Yan? And, how could there be a doctor at the hotel? Are you already so used to lying to me?”

His last sentence stabbed at her heart.

Sheng Jiaoyang asked herself if she"d said any lies apart from not telling him her true ident.i.ty. She began to grow annoyed under his questioning and retorted, “In any case, I"m just a liar to you. Think whatever you want!”

After saying that, she hung up. She still seemed annoyed as she turned her phone off.

After turning off her phone, Sheng Jiaoyang remembered that she still hadn"t called Director Cen to explain everything and silently powered it back on. She quickly called Director Cen and informed him of the situation.

“Director Cen says that they want to come see you,” Sheng Jiaoyang told Lin Yan after hanging up.

“It"s the thought that counts.”

“You helped them when they needed it, and it was because of the filming that you became like this. If they don"t see you, they"ll feel bad.”

Lin Yan laughed. It didn"t matter. He didn"t need anyone but her.

But, of course, people showed up.

Lin Yu soon arrived with breakfast.

“It"s been hard on you.” Lin Yan nodded and thanked Lin Yu.

“It"s no big deal,” Lin Yu replied calmly. His face was completely calm, his true feelings unclear.

Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at Lin Yu a few times, watching his calm expression as he helped Lin Yan sit up and move the food to the table.

“Jiaojiao, go and rest. I"ll be fine on my own,” Lin Yu finally said to her.

Sheng Jiaoyang released a breath and said, “I"ll wait for the crew and leave with them.”

Lin Yu glanced at her and didn"t say anything further.

From his glance alone, Sheng Jiaoyang was certain that Lin Yu already knew of her true ident.i.ty.Previous ChapterNext Chapter