His melancholic expression pained Shu Yan. She gently placed a hand on his cheek, seeking to comfort him.
Yet, this man's pale, handsome face was also captivating.
She wanted… she wanted his heart, his person… she wanted to possess everything about him.
But she saw no deep affection for her in his eyes. She experienced an unprecedented sense of defeat with him, and she was unwilling to accept it!
She continued, "Your surgery was very successful. With rehabilitation training afterward, you can recover completely."
Qin Tianyi found her touch extremely repulsive. He casually swiped away the hand she had placed on his face.
Shu Yan, however, was persistent. She placed her hand on his face again. Taking advantage of his current weakness, she cupped his face with both hands and said, "Tianyi, look at me. I know you have psychological issues, but we are getting married. As husband and wife, we can't avoid all physical contact, can we? I think you need to try and adapt. When you were unconscious, I treated myself as your wife and even helped you wash your entire body."
Qin Tianyi could not tolerate any woman other than Gu Susu touching him like this!
He almost sprang up from the hospital bed. In a weak, hoarse voice, he roared, "Get lost! Don't touch me…"
But as he exerted himself, his post-surgery wound split open, and his breathing became rapid. The monitoring equipment beside him began to alarm.
Shu Yan quickly let go of him. She hadn't expected his psychological problem to be so severe, making him completely unable to tolerate contact with the opposite sex.
Soon, Xiao Anjing and Chen Ma, who were standing at the door, pushed open the door and entered the ward. They saw Qin Tianyi's eyes open, unable to speak, and looking very uncomfortable.
Xiao Anjing quickly pressed the call button, and Chen Ma rushed to the bedside, asking, "What happened? Didn't the doctor say the surgery was successful?"
Qin Tianyi felt a piercing pain in his lower back. He stared at Shu Yan with wide eyes, breathing rapidly, unable to speak.
Xiao Anjing understood Qin Tianyi's meaning and asked Shu Yan coldly, "What did you do to him?!"
Shu Yan looked innocent and said aggrievedly, "I didn't do anything. I just wiped his face and body…"
Before she could finish speaking, the doctor arrived in the ward. He immediately flipped open Qin Tianyi's eyelids and told the nurse, "Prepare to check the post-operative wound and administer a sedative to the patient."
"Okay," the nurse replied, then said to the others in the ward, "Please all of you go outside. Don't crowd the ward."
They were ushered out of the ward. Both Xiao Anjing and Chen Ma were very worried about Qin Tianyi's condition.
Meanwhile, Shu Yan felt an indescribable sense of grievance. She had merely touched Qin Tianyi's face; was it really necessary to react like this?
"Miss Shu, don't you know the patient needs rest? Why did you do something he detests the most at this time, causing him emotional distress!" Chen Ma questioned angrily.
"I… I just saw that his face and body were dirty and wanted to help him clean them. He would be more comfortable lying down," Shu Yan said, suddenly wondering if Gu Susu had set her up.
It was Gu Susu who had told her to wipe Qin Tianyi's face when she was leaving just now.
Gu Susu, knowing full well that Qin Tianyi disliked being touched by women, must have intentionally wanted to harm her by asking her to touch him!
Chen Ma retorted, "The doctor disinfected Young Master's entire body before the surgery. Where could it possibly be dirty?"
Shu Yan felt extremely wronged. She couldn't let them know she didn't know how to care for patients and was merely following Gu Susu's instructions.
She said to Chen Ma stubbornly, "What is your status that you dare to question me like this? I am Tianyi's fiancée. What's wrong with touching him? I also didn't expect his psychological barrier towards women to be so severe. Do you think I would intentionally harm him!"
Chen Ma was so angered by her that she sat down, clutching her chest.
"Miss Shu, you know he has psychological issues. At this time, you should avoid agitating him. You will have plenty of opportunities to be intimate with him after you get married." Xiao Anjing, thinking about Qin Tianyi in the ward and the potential consequences, was also very displeased with Shu Yan.
"Fine, you all stick together. Tianyi won't even let me touch him. I'm not going through with this marriage. Xiao Anjing, you deal with the matters in your group yourself. I won't let my father help your group anymore!" With that, Shu Yan turned to leave.
Xiao Anjing quickly said to Chen Ma, "You stay here and contact me if there's any change in Tianyi's condition."
He then immediately went to chase after Shu Yan, following her all the way to the parking lot at the hospital entrance, calling out, "Miss Shu, please wait."
Shu Yan heard him calling and stopped. She turned around, her expression cold, tears still on her face. "Is there anything else? I merely touched his face; it shouldn't be enough to kill him. What do you want?"
"That's not what I meant." Xiao Anjing walked closer and said, "We were all worried about Tianyi's safety just now, and we spoke a bit hastily. Please don't take it to heart."
"Oh." Shu Yan wiped away her tears and took a deep breath.
Xiao Anjing asked, "Are you really planning not to marry Tianyi? Have you stopped loving him?"
Shu Yan said with a heart full of grievance, "Since I was young, I've never been interested in any man. I've had plenty of suitors, but I happened to fall for him. But is my love for him useful? I can't feel any love from him at all. Moreover, I've realized that every time he sees me, he seems to despise me. In his eyes, I've become something disgusting! I… I really can't stand it…"
"As long as you still love him, it's useful. Perhaps you can help him get better." Xiao Anjing wanted to placate Shu Yan. They couldn't lose the alliance with the Shu family at this time.
"Really?" Shu Yan had always thought this way herself, believing she could change Qin Tianyi and make him fall in love with her.
But when she shared this thought with Huo Jin, Huo Jin thought it was impossible and that her idea was too naive.
Now, Xiao Anjing, one of Qin Tianyi's closest confidants, shared the same idea, giving her a great deal of confidence.
Xiao Anjing deceived her, saying, "Of course, you can do it. Never give up your love for Tianyi. Only your love can move him. He had severe trauma in his childhood. You are the woman who can save him!"
Shu Yan asked curiously, "What trauma?"
"He… when he was young, he accidentally saw his father with another woman. Later, this woman caused discord between his parents, and his mother was also killed. From then on, he hated being touched by women. As for what exactly he saw at that time, I don't know, but I only know that this problem started then and persists to this day."
Shu Yan was silent for a moment and said, "So that's how it is. He must have seen something a child shouldn't have seen."
Xiao Anjing nodded repeatedly. He hadn't lied to Shu Yan about this; it was all true. Qin Tianyi had mentioned it to him once. In short, Qin Tianyi had accidentally stumbled upon Qin Yangye and Jin Meiyao together when he was young. Initially, Jin Meiyao was deliberately seducing Qin Yangye.
Qin Tianyi must have witnessed the process of Jin Meiyao actively engaging in intimate acts with Qin Yangye, which is why he became so averse to women initiating physical contact with him.