To answer or not to answer.
‘I miss you,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘You’ve neglected me for a long time.’
‘Gu Jiao Wu… you’re like this and you want to…’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘In the future will you say yes?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked and smiled.
Gu Jiao Wu wanted to take advantage of his injury. He didn’t want Qiao Tan Yuan to slap him, kick him and knee him every time he touched her.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, are you saying if I say no, you don’t want to do it with me?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘On the island you won’t this good.’
Gu Jiao Wu laughed too much, and made his chest hurt.
‘You need to rest,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Do you know how worried I was about you?’
‘I’m OK,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘If I rest then you should rest too.’
‘Alright,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Tan Yuan took out a bedsheet from the cupboard to sleep on the sofa.
Gu Jiao Wu patted the bed.
‘Tan Yuan, sleep on the bed with me,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘I don’t want to,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘Don’t worry,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘I’m like this, I can’t do anything to you.’
‘I’m scared I’ll accidently hit you in my sleep,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘This injury is nothing,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Come sleep on the bed.’
A bullet into the lung was nothing? Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t want to argue with Gu Jiao Wu in his condition. She carefully laid on the bed next to him, and avoided his chest.
‘Are you hungry?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘I’m not hungry,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘It’s late. Let’s sleep.’
‘OK,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Tan Yuan closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
Gu Jiao Wu hugged Qiao Tan Yuan. The thought of how worried Qiao Tan Yuan must have been in the last two days made his heart ached. Then he thought about Cheng Yi, if Cheng Yi still had amnesia, he was worried Cheng Yi would come after Qiao Tan Yuan again. He shook his head, he needed to sleep to recover faster and protect Qiao Tan Yuan.
Gu Jiao Wu listened to Qiao Tan Yuan’s heartbeat, he breathed in her scent and his heart felt at peace. His last thought before he slept was his injury was worth the reward.
In the morning, Qiao Tan Yuan woke up before Gu Jiao Wu. She got out of bed, because she was embarrassed to let the doctors and nurses see her in bed with Gu Jiao Wu.
When Qiao Tan Yuan came out of the bathroom, Xiao Lam and the others entered Gu Jiao Wu’s hospital room.
‘Big sister,’ Xiao Lam greeted. ‘Is big brother awake yet?’
‘Late last night he woke up,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said and smiled.
‘That’s good news,’ Xiao Lam said. ‘Big sister, you can go home today. We’ll stay here to take care of big brother.’
‘I’ll stay here with him,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I’ll only worry if I go home.’
‘OK,’ Xiao Lam said. ‘Big sister, are you hungry? I’ll go buy breakfast for you.’
Gu Jiao Wu woke up, he looked at his assistants then he looked at Qiao Tan Yuan.
‘Big brother,’ Xiao Lam and the others greeted together.
‘Jiao Wu, how do you feel?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘Are you in pain?’
‘I’m OK,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘My chest doesn’t hurt as much as last night. Tan Yuan, can you go buy congee for me? I’m hungry.’
‘OK,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I’ll get you fish congee. What else do you want to eat?’
‘Fish congee is enough,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Make sure you eat before you come back. I don’t want you to starve.’
Qiao Tan Yuan nodded, picked up her bag and went to buy congee.
‘Big brother, Cheng Yi is awake and wants to leave,’ Xiao Lam reported.
‘Tomorrow bring him here to see me,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Don’t let Tan Yuan see him.’
‘Big brother, big sister doesn’t want to leave your bedside,’ Xiao Lam said.
‘I’ll ask Tan Yuan to go home and check-up on Xiao Bao,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. But he knew Qiao Tan Yuan wouldn’t want to leave him for too long. ‘I’m worried Cheng Yi doesn’t want to see me.’
‘OK, we’ll bring Cheng Yi here tomorrow to see big brother,’ Xiao Lam said.
‘Did Tan Yuan ask any of you about your identities?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘Big sister did ask me,’ Xiao Lam said. ‘But I told her to wait until big brother woke up, and for her to ask you to explain.’
‘Um, I understand,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘When Tan Yuan’s back, you can all go home. Next time don’t come together to visit me to avoid unwanted attention.’
‘Yes big brother,’ Xiao Lam and the others said.
Xiao Lam’s group said goodbye to Qiao Tan Yuan when she returned with congee, and they left the hospital.
‘Jiao Wu, I’ll help you sit up and I’ll feed you,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘Um,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Qiao Tan Yuan fed Gu Jiao Wu a bowl of congee then she tidied the room.
‘Jiao Wu, you said you would answer all my questions after I agree to believe you,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘What do you want to know?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘Why do your assistants call you big brother Jiao Wu?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘Who are they? They were carrying guns when they came with you to save me. Who’s Cheng Yi? Why does he want to kill me?’
‘Which question do you want me to answer first?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘It doesn’t matter what order,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I want to hear you answer all my questions.’
‘What if I don’t want to answer?’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘You promised me you would answer all my questions,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
End of Chapter 113