Chapter 267 - 118: Goading

Chapter 267: Chapter 118: Goading

"Actually, I haven’t given it my all yet."

"Oh, please. What do you mean, ’give it your all’? Is that supposed to be a joke? I already talked to Qiumian and straightened things out. She’s completely moved on. What’s the point of saying that now? Can you just stop pestering her? You want to ’give it your all’ by sending another ’How are you?’ text? Save your data. Besides, she has bodyguards and her dad at home. What does she need you for...?"

But before she could finish, he cut her off.

"That’s not what I mean by ’giving it my all.’ You don’t understand."

"What don’t I understand... Hey, hey, what are you doing?"

She saw him raise his hand, and her gaze followed. He was pulling out the needle in his hand. Only then did she realize he seemed to be in a hospital, hooked up to an IV drip.

His voice was low, yet it became forceful, sharp and decisive:

"I mean, you don’t understand what I meant when I said I haven’t given it my all, and you don’t understand what I’m doing. But that’s okay. It’s enough that I understand."

It was as if he had suddenly become a different person. He grew colder, yet also more resolute.

The phone’s camera angle rose, and Xu Zhiruo met Zhang Shutong’s dark, black eyes.

He had already yanked the needle out. The sight made her suck in a sharp breath, but he just gave her a small smile:

"Thanks for everything. I’ve already messed up a lot of things. I can’t mess this one up too."

He added:

"I’m hanging up. I need a free hand to press on the vein, or they’ll be sticking the needle in my foot tomorrow."

Then he ended the call.

Zhang Shutong finally understood what he had been waiting for.

’Persistence, accountability, pride—it was all a lie.’

’I was just hesitating.’

’Since her father was here, this matter was no longer my responsibility.’

’Why?’

’It was nothing more than petty scorekeeping.’

’I was calculating who should be in charge of it all. Since someone more powerful had taken over, didn’t that just mean I wasn’t needed anymore?’

’The ridiculous part is that after all that scorekeeping, I just backed down.’

’The saddest thing in life is to deceive yourself.’

’People are always getting bogged down by whether something is ’worth it.’ But why was I considering all that? Whether the girl was naive or shrewd, whether I’d be treated like a lunatic, whether there was trust or not... Those were never the things I should have been worrying about.’

’What I should have been focused on was how to get that girl out of the villa. Whether by appealing to her emotions or reasoning with her—hell, even if I had to kidnap her—I absolutely could not let her stay in that villa tonight, in that room on the second floor.’

His condition wasn’t great. His head felt heavy, his body was cold, and his technique for pulling out an IV was far from professional. Beads of blood were seeping from the puncture in his skin. If he could, he would have just fallen asleep and never woken up.

’But have I really given it my all?’

’No. Not yet.’

’There’s still gas in my motorcycle. My body can still move. My brain is still working.’

’So why was I so fixated on midnight, on just doing a drive-by of the villa?’

Zhang Shutong just didn’t want to see that silver hair clip fall to the ground. That would be a cause for regret.

’What’s this about waiting for a chance at midnight?’ He rubbed his face, forcefully pressing a piece of tape over the puncture. ’The only chance is right now.’

It was ten o’clock sharp. He had two hours to get Gu Qiuyan out of the villa.

Zhang Shutong started running again.

He had long legs, so he ran fast. He was out of the hospital room in just a few strides when a young nurse, hearing the commotion, rushed over.

"Hey, hey, hey! Are you kidding me? Why are you running off again?"

"Sorry, I’m going after that girl!" Zhang Shutong yelled, his voice echoing in the empty hospital room. "I know I’ll have to bother you for another IV tomorrow, but a man can’t be all talk...!"

The young nurse behind him was exasperated, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, but Zhang Shutong had no time to explain.

He flew down the stairs, clutching his black down jacket, and swung himself onto his motorcycle. With his other hand, he opened his contacts and found Gu Qiuyan’s number. He hadn’t called it in twenty-four hours. He was just about to dial.

However, a call came in at that exact moment.

It was from Gu Qiuyan.

Zhang Shutong’s heart gave a violent lurch.

A sense of foreboding washed over him.

It felt as if he were about to receive some terrible news.

...

But to his surprise—

"Are you outside right now, tearing around on your motorcycle?"

Zhang Shutong froze, instinctively looking around.

"How could you be so stupid! Didn’t I tell you I’m fine?! I’m fine! If I hadn’t called, were you just going to keep lying to me? Ride around outside all night until dawn, and then collapse somewhere with a fever?"

"Haven’t I told you a million times to go home and rest?! Not to hide things from me! Why won’t you ever listen?!"

"I..." Zhang Shutong felt like Gu Qiuyan and her friends must have psychic powers. ’How do they know where I am?’

"Ever since that day, you’ve been trying to get me to leave, acting like something bad would happen if I stayed home. But no matter how I asked, you wouldn’t say a word!"

"Calm down and let me explain..."

"But I don’t want to calm down! I don’t want to be rational! And I don’t want to hear your explanation!"

For some reason, her voice was trembling, and it was as if her heated breaths were traveling right through the phone to his ear:

"Come get me. I’ll go with you right now!"