Chapter 17: Three-in-One

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First, he kissed the corner of her lips; then he kissed her ankle. He was being outrageously presumptuous. Gu Yao’s expression turned cold, and she swung her right foot forward, intending to kick him down onto the floor.

Su Yu was faster. His large hand clamped around her foot like a pair of pincers. “You’re still injured. You shouldn’t make such large movements.”

Gu Yao ignored him completely and pulled herself free, planting both feet firmly on the ground. “I need to use the bathroom.”

She extended an arm to the side, signaling for him to support her, like some wealthy lady from an earlier era waiting to be attended to.

Su Yu was not annoyed. He helped her slowly into the bathroom.

This was a VIP ward on the top floor, equipped with every amenity. It looked almost like a hotel. Gu Yao had no idea why she had been brought here, but it was certainly connected to Su Yu.

Everything she needed, including liquid soap, was arranged on the broad, spotless sink. As she reached over to wash her hands, she caught sight of the detachable faucet beside her, the kind used to rinse one’s arms. On impulse, she picked it up, aimed it behind her, and pressed the switch.

A stream of water burst forth. In the mirror, the tall man stood perfectly straight without attempting to dodge. His white shirt gradually became drenched, revealing the faint outline of his honey-toned muscles beneath. Droplets clung to his short black hair, making it appear even darker and giving him an inexplicably seductive air.

He slowly wiped his face, then stepped closer. Reaching past her from the side, he shut off the faucet, brushing against her back and dampening it as well.

He did not retreat. Instead, his large hand came to rest on the sink, trapping her between his arms. The two of them silently stared at each other in the mirror for a moment before Su Yu finally said, “Quite a temper, don’t you think?”

His tone was teasing.

Gu Yao drove her elbow sharply backward, forcing him to retreat a little. Only then did she turn to face him. “I’m warning you. Don’t touch me without my permission!”

The two of them differed in height by nearly a head, so the man had to lower his gaze slightly to look at her. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I’m sorry. I don’t think I did it deliberately. I simply couldn’t help myself.”

He deliberately slowed down over the final four words, making them sound distinctly suggestive.

What an excuse—he simply couldn’t help himself!

Gu Yao was even more displeased. She was about to say something else when he turned and walked out.

He paused by the door, then looked back at her. “I’ll wait for you outside the ward.”

The door closed. Gu Yao leaned against the sink and remained silent for quite some time. After steadying herself, she finally managed to suppress some of her anger.

The clothes on her back were wet, and she had nothing to change into. Irritated, she spent a long time drying them with a hair dryer until they were finally dry. Then she splashed water over her face before walking out and sitting down on the bed.

She closed her eyes and thought for a moment.

As things stood, the security in this ward was excellent—more than sufficient to keep her safe.

Ever since Su Yu’s father had been admitted, the entire top floor had been booked by him. Bodyguards patrolled around the clock, and no one except designated doctors and nurses was allowed in. Ultimately, they were guarding against a possible attack.

Now that his father’s surgery had finally succeeded, he would likely regain consciousness within a few days, and perhaps his memory would return as well. Once that happened, surely everything would return to normal.

She opened her eyes and glanced at the door. “Come in.”

The door opened, and Su Yu walked in. He had changed his clothes, though his hair was still slightly damp. A bodyguard’s figure flashed past outside.

After closing the door and sitting down in a chair, he heard Gu Yao say, “There are still quite a lot of guards.”

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“Because the danger hasn’t passed.”

Su Yu casually picked a pomegranate from the fruit basket on the table. With a light stroke of a fruit knife, he divided the rind into six sections, then pried it open. After placing a small bowl beneath it, he tapped the rind with the back of the knife, sending the seeds tumbling out.

Gu Yao watched his practiced movements, mesmerized. She stared for a while before continuing, “Then when exactly will the danger be over?”

“When Su Xingshui is in prison, his power will collapse and his followers will scatter. Once he loses his money and resources, naturally no one will continue obeying him.”

As he spoke, he handed her the bowl. A small spoon lay inside.

Since she had nothing else to do, Gu Yao accepted it and began scooping out the seeds one by one. She rather liked pomegranates; she was simply too lazy to peel them herself.

After finishing, Su Yu rose and went to the bathroom to wash his hands. When he returned, he dried them and said, “In a few days, once my father has recovered a little, the police officer who handled the case involving your fall into the sea will come to take your statement. With the victim’s testimony, Su Xingshui will soon be brought to justice. Of course, he has committed plenty of other crimes as well. Once they are added up one by one, he may well spend the rest of his life in prison.”

“Then congratulations in advance.”

Gu Yao nodded. The pomegranate tasted sweet in her mouth, which naturally improved her mood a little. “Bad people will eventually receive the punishment they deserve.”

“Thank you,” he said calmly, without any sign of joy on his face. “But the harm suffered by my family and me cannot be undone because of it.”

“That’s true.”

Gu Yao nodded, then changed the subject. “I want to stay in the hospital from now on. First, the security here is good enough to ensure my safety. Second, this is where I work, so I won’t have to travel back and forth. It’s convenient, and I can keep an eye on your father’s condition at any time.”

She spoke decisively rather than as though she were asking permission. Whether he agreed or not, she had already made up her mind.

Su Yu regarded her silently for a while. “I’ll have someone bring your luggage over.”

He rose and walked out of the ward.

Gu Yao placed another spoonful of pomegranate seeds into her mouth and leaned back against the headboard, reasonably satisfied. At least he knew better than to stop her.

Her injured ankle was somewhat painful. She lowered her head and examined it for a while. It was swollen and slightly red, and it looked terribly ugly. She had no idea how that man had found the courage to kiss it just now.

A foot fetish—or a fetish for ugly things?

No, that was not it. When he had kissed her earlier, she had clearly seen that there was no infatuation in his eyes. Instead, his expression had been almost sacred and solemn, as though he were handling an exceedingly precious treasure.

She narrowed her eyes, lost in thought.

She spent the night in the ward. The next morning, someone brought over her suitcase. Her clothes and other necessities had been packed very thoroughly, along with several books she often read in her room.

The auntie who had always cooked for her downstairs came as well, carrying a large box filled with steaming dishes fragrant enough to fill the room. There was also a thermos of bone broth.

The auntie smiled as she served Gu Yao a bowl. “Mr. Su said that you should eat what you injure, so he asked me to make sure you drink plenty of soup.”

Gu Yao accepted the bowl. “What kind of bones did you use?”

“Pork leg bones and pig’s feet. Mr. Su specifically instructed me to make it that way.”

“Oh.”

Gu Yao nodded and took a sip. It tasted wonderful, but she could not help wondering about the speaker’s intentions.

He kissed pig’s feet too?

That afternoon, after going to the outpatient department to have her dressing changed, Gu Yao went downstairs to make her rounds. She deliberately walked past the neurology ward, but the girl who had caused a commotion by threatening to jump from the building the previous day, Chen Xiyue, was not there.

She asked a nurse and learned that Chen Xiyue had been transferred to psychiatry.

Gu Yao was not surprised in the slightest. She had studied psychology as an elective at university, and the girl’s symptoms were clearly those of depression. Worse, she had never received proper treatment.

Her mother might not have been unaware that something was wrong with her daughter, but she had continued deceiving herself. She had even brought the girl to the hospital demanding surgery, convinced that some growth had formed inside her brain.

Remembering the promise she had made the day before, Gu Yao took the elevator to the psychiatric floor. After asking which ward Chen Xiyue was in, she learned that visiting hours were underway, so she knocked lightly and entered.

The room was stark white. To prevent patients from attempting suicide, the window was covered by dense bars and could open only a narrow crack. There was no unnecessary furniture. The bed was a sturdy iron frame, with restraints nearby.

Chen Xiyue was half reclining on it in a hospital gown. After only one day, she seemed to have grown much thinner. The medication had left her looking listless.

Gu Yao sat beside her and called her name twice. Only then did Chen Xiyue slowly turn her eyes toward her. After staring for a long while, a trace of hatred surfaced in her gaze. “Why did you lie to me? Why wouldn’t you let me die?!”

“Because your negative thoughts are caused by your illness. They aren’t what you truly want.”

Gu Yao looked at her without anger. “I once diagnosed you, so you can consider yourself my patient. You may not know this, but most of the patients I’ve treated have improved. I’ll treat you too.”

“You’re lying.”

Chen Xiyue turned her head away again and stared blankly out the window.

“Whether I’m lying or not, you’ll know in time. Didn’t you say yesterday that you wanted to talk with me? Would you like to do that now?”

Gu Yao moved a little closer and asked softly.

Chen Xiyue gave a tiny nod, so slight that it was almost imperceptible.

“All right. Then let’s talk.”

Gu Yao caught the movement with her keen eyes and immediately took the next step. “You come from a wealthy family and have never had to worry about your basic needs, so the problem troubling you isn’t money or material comfort, is it?”

“Mother once said she would send me to live with a poor family for a few days, so I could experience hardship and become normal again. She said I was born into privilege without knowing how fortunate I was.”

The words struck a chord with Chen Xiyue.

“But I’m guessing that, in fact, you would rather live that kind of life, wouldn’t you?” Gu Yao asked.

Chen Xiyue turned to look at her. “Sometimes I even envy the children begging by the roadside. At least they seem free.”

“Then you aren’t free?”

“I don’t know. Every year my parents take me traveling to beautiful places, and I do feel happy—but only for a very short time. I have no friends. I never have. Mother won’t let me associate with people from bad families, but the girls from good families are all so proud. I’m not happy when I’m with them.”

“Mother has always controlled me very strictly. Ever since I was little, she made me learn all kinds of skills, and I was never allowed to neglect my schoolwork. Every year we had to visit Tsinghua University, and she would tell me that it was where I would attend college in the future. But I’m stupid. I studied hard, yet I still failed the entrance examinations this year…”

Under Gu Yao’s guidance, Chen Xiyue gradually lowered her guard and began to speak. It seemed she had kept everything bottled up for far too long, with no one to confide in. Her words came in halting fragments, but she never stopped, continuing for more than half an hour.

Throughout it all, Gu Yao offered only brief responses to show that she was listening, careful not to interrupt the girl’s train of thought.

Chen Xiyue continued speaking. One particular incident left a deep impression on Gu Yao.

This was how she described it:

“When I was little, in the third grade of primary school, I had a friend. Her nickname was Beibei. Her family wasn’t as wealthy as mine, and her parents had gone to great lengths to send her to that elite school. Once, a group of children from especially rich families bullied me. Beibei came to help me, but in the end, both of us were beaten until our heads were covered in bumps. The next day, the teacher called both our parents to the school.”

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