Song Ci, having met countless individuals, primarily encountered socialites and prominent figures due to his association with Qing Muy野. These women tended to maintain a certain demeanor in his presence.
However, Meng Jingwei was notably different, showing no such reservation. She lay on the bed, her head turned to face Song Ci, and asked, "Who told you I couldn't finish it? Even if I can't, I can pack it up for dinner."
Frugal and averse to waste, she was certainly capable of those principles. But at this moment, she simply desired meat.
"Go buy it. Old Han, Xiao Si, and A Ming are here too, so you can all eat together."
To silence Song Ci, Qing Muy野 brought his brothers into the picture to back him up.
After speaking, he exchanged a glance with the men sitting nearby. The three brothers immediately played along.
Han Yu: "Mm, what a coincidence, I also want to eat braised pork knuckle."
Lu Yanming: "It seems Miss Meng and I have quite similar tastes."
Tang Si: "How could we not finish such a small amount? You're underestimating us. Song Ci, hurry up and buy it. I'm starving, look, my face has lost all its collagen from hunger."
The others: "..."
With no other recourse, Song Ci nodded, "Alright, I'll go buy it immediately."
The masters simply opened their mouths, while the servants ran themselves ragged. Ah, this was fate.
Song Ci turned and left the hospital room, closing the door behind him.
Meng Jingwei lay on the bed for a while, then turned her head to look at Qing Muy野 on the adjacent bed. Seeing him get up and walk over to her, he asked, "How are you feeling? Does it still hurt?"
The young woman shook her head, glancing at Qing Muy野, then at the men sitting nearby. She had some questions but didn't ask them directly.
"You've met Old Han and Xiao Si. This is Lu Yanming, you can call him A Ming. They're all our people, so speak your mind." Qing Muy野 took a chair offered by Tang Si and sat beside Meng Jingwei, his gaze filled with tenderness.
Hearing Qing Muy野's words, Meng Jingwei finally felt at ease and asked, "Did you have me examined? Have you figured out what it was that entered my body?"
This was her greatest concern. The thought of an unknown entity entering her body was terrifying. She was still young and didn't want to succumb to illness and die prematurely.
A flicker of distress crossed Qing Muy野's narrow eyes. He feigned nonchalance and said, "You're lucky. After the doctor's examination, they located the thing and made an incision on your wrist to let it out."
As he spoke, he lifted Meng Jingwei's left wrist and pointed to the moderately sized wound, stating it as a fact. To make Meng Jingwei believe him, he had indeed instructed the doctor to make a cut on her wrist. However, the wound was very shallow.
"What was it?" she pressed.
"A transparent worm. Specialized instruments were needed to see its form clearly. To avoid any lingering issues, the hospital took it for disposal immediately."
"What? Disposed of it? Why didn't you let me see it?"
Meng Jingwei stared intently at Qing Muy野. After a moment, she seemed to sense he was lying. Knowing Meng Jingwei was sharp and astute, the man took out his phone and found a picture. "The effect couldn't be captured on my phone, so I had someone who saw it draw it."
He held the phone screen towards Meng Jingwei. She looked at the screen and saw a drawing of a worm that strongly resembled the Michelin Man's mascot. At a glance, she felt disgusted and nauseated. "Take it away, take it away, it's too disgusting."
She raised a hand to her forehead. The mere thought of such a worm crawling inside her body sent shivers down her spine and made her feel utterly sick.
"Don't worry, the doctor said this thing is harmless and won't cause any after-effects," Qing Muy野 was lying. Although he didn't know if Meng Jingwei's severe headaches would recur, he didn't want to worry her too much, lest it worsen her existing insomnia.
He finished speaking and glanced at the men beside him to get them to corroborate his story. The men, receiving the 'signal,' immediately played along.
Tang Si gravely exaggerated, "Little chili pepper, you have no idea how disgusting that thing was. It nearly made me throw up my dinner from last night. The moment I thought that thing could burrow into a person's body, I almost couldn't resist swinging my 40-meter saber."
Han Yu maintained his usual reticent demeanor but managed to say, "The doctor said we need to observe for a while, and there shouldn't be any other effects."
Lu Yanming: "Don't listen to Xiao Si's nonsense, it wasn't that terrifying. It was a transparent thing, not scary."
The three of them earnestly put on a united front, echoing Qing Muy野's words.
Meng Jingwei had felt some doubt earlier, but after hearing their words, her suspicion decreased from ninety percent to twenty percent. However, her body was her own, and she maintained a degree of skepticism. The only reason for her doubt was: if the doctor had truly removed a worm from her body, why didn't they show it to her before disposing of it? Based solely on a picture, she couldn't be one hundred percent convinced.
But Meng Jingwei didn't dwell on it too much, not wanting to put too much psychological pressure on herself. She lay on the bed, tilting her head to look at the gauze wrapped around Qing Muy野's hand. His left hand was injured, and his right hand was also bandaged.
"Are you... alright?" After emerging from the water, Meng Jingwei had choked on water, but she remembered Qing Muy野 saving her.
"It's nothing." The man raised his hand and looked at the bandaged gauze. After she bit him, the doctor had said it would definitely leave a mark. In that case, it meant that in the future, whenever he used his right hand, he would see the mark left by someone on his hand.
Meng Jingwei was deeply grateful for his life-saving gesture. She recalled the time Shu Yao had tricked her into going abroad; the time she was washed away by the flood in Dongpu Village; and today, when she was pulled from the underwater tunnel and saved by him. Having been indebted to him for saving her life several times, Meng Jingwei felt particularly grateful to Qing Muy野.
"However..."
The man paused, his dark pupils tinged with a mischievous smile. "You lost our bet."
"I..." Meng Jingwei pouted, unwilling to admit defeat, and glared at him. "This doesn't count, it was clearly an unexpected situation. When I compete with my master, my longest breath-hold was five minutes and thirty-six seconds. Even though this was underwater, I could have pushed for my personal best."
As she said, this time was indeed an accident. Since Meng Jingwei was willing to dive with Qing Muy野, she must have had absolute confidence. One should know that a woman who cherished her life would not treat it as a trifle.
"Since it's a bet, we naturally only consider the win or loss." He raised an eyebrow, a smug smile gracing his handsome face. He leaned down, one hand supporting himself on the edge of the bed, the other on her headboard, and said sternly, "Lying here is like being on a battlefield; the enemy won't care if you get sick before going to battle."
It had to be said, Qing Muy野's words held considerable logic.
"No way. Then let's have another competition later." Meng Jingwei huffed coldly, still proud and unwilling to concede.