The rhythmic sound of machines echoed in Dong Enyu’s dazed mind… Beep—beep—beep— When she opened her eyes, her vision was blurry and unfocused.
Dong Enyu lay in a room filled with a strange smell, feeling the bed was a bit hard, and the ceiling was quite white.
It took her a while to realize that the strange smell in the air was the scent of disinfectant.
She blinked her sore eyes, feeling aches all over her body.
Despite her exhaustion, she couldn’t sleep.
She vaguely knew she had been asleep for a long time.
Just as she tried to sit up, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, a bit noisy.
“She’s awake! Nurse, quickly get the doctor!” The door opened, and a nurse came into view.
She placed some medicine on the table.
“Miss, what’s your name? Do you have any other relatives?” She gently pressed Dong Enyu back down as she tried to sit up, speaking softly.
The nurse spoke a bit quickly, making it hard for Dong Enyu, who had just regained consciousness, to keep up.
Name… “Dong Enyu.” She slowly spoke, her voice hoarse and low, like a crushed plastic toy, making a pitiful broken sound.
She remembered everything but couldn’t keep up with the speed of speech.
After a while, the doctor arrived.
He performed a preliminary check on Dong Enyu, and after confirming there were no issues, he instructed the nurse to remove all the equipment from her.
Her head felt heavy as she watched the nurse give her an injection and remove some sensors stuck to her body, then push the constantly beeping machine out of the ward, which made Dong Enyu feel a bit better.
“How are you feeling now?” The doctor moved Dong Enyu’s face, checking the bruises on her cheeks, which seemed to have mostly healed.
“Headache.” Dong Enyu coughed a few times, finding it a bit difficult to speak now.
“Well, you have a mild concussion and need to be observed for a while.
Besides that, do you feel pain anywhere else?” The doctor adjusted his glasses and explained the concussion situation to Dong Enyu, noticing her looking at her arm, which was already in a cast and suspended.
“Your left arm is fractured and currently in a cast for stabilization.
It’s not in bad condition, and you can have it removed in about a month.”
Dong Enyu listened somewhat blankly.
She didn’t care if her hand or foot was broken; what she cared about was, “Who brought me here?”
At this moment, the nurse, holding a set of clean sheets, smiled and said, “It was Miss Huo who brought you here.”
…Miss Huo? Dong Enyu leaned back on the pillow, pondering.
She didn’t recall knowing a woman with the surname Huo.
Could it be the person who hit her? She remembered being in a low mood, walking on the street without watching for cars, and then getting hit.
She was partly at fault.
“Speak of the devil, Miss Huo is here.
You can ask her yourself.” The nurse nodded at Dong Enyu and greeted Miss Huo as she and the doctor left the room.
Dong Enyu looked at the newcomer.
Miss Huo walked into the ward in high heels.
She was tall and slender, wearing a well-fitted women’s suit.
Her black attire highlighted her fair skin, and her long hair, reaching her waist, was neatly draped behind her, exuding a soft sheen.
The woman’s features were distinct, clean, and sharp, with a subtle sense of pressure.
She lightly pursed her lips, and her Asian phoenix eyes added a touch of Chinese beauty.
A tear mole under her right eye added a classical aura to her, making her appear reserved, dignified, and serious.
…and with a hint of an ascetic vibe.
Dong Enyu didn’t recognize her at all, but she was grateful to the woman for bringing her to the hospital.
“Thank you for your help.
I’ll repay all the medical expenses.” Her throat was dry, and her voice was still a bit broken, making her sound very embarrassed.
She wanted to invite the woman to sit down, but the pain in her body made it difficult.
Even speaking a few more words made her breathless.
“My name is Huo Ai.” The woman spoke, her voice naturally husky, sounding quite pleasant to the ear.
“My name is…”
“Dong Enyu, I know.” Huo Ai interrupted her, leaving Dong Enyu, lying in bed, a bit stunned.
She thought carefully, wondering if she had seen this woman before.
At Star Diamond? At the venue? With which big brother? Or which female public relations officer? None of it seemed right.
Dong Enyu pursed her dry lips.
She truly didn’t know this woman.
The name Huo Ai was so unfamiliar to her.
“Do we know each other?” She suspiciously stared at the woman, whose serious demeanor made Dong Enyu a bit nervous.
“You don’t know me, but I know you,” Huo Ai stepped forward, standing by Dong Enyu’s bedside, looking down at her.
“Manager Dong.”
…Manager Dong.
In an instant, Dong Enyu’s eyes widened.
The only people who called her manager were her brothers in the underworld.
Could Huo Ai be sent by Luo Ye to catch her? Or sent by the Boss? Instantly, Dong Enyu struggled to get up, but the cast on her arm got caught on the metal frame.
As she moved, it made a loud noise.
Just as she reached for the call button on the table to summon the nurse, Huo Ai pressed down on Dong Enyu’s shoulder, swiftly taking the call button away.
“Calm down, I’m not here to inform on you.” Knowing Dong Enyu didn’t mean she was one of the brothers in the underworld.
Dong Enyu clearly couldn’t calm down.
She had been pulled back from the brink of death, not to atone for some unfounded crime.
Her intense struggle left her panting, cold sweat dripping from her forehead.
The injuries on her body left her with no extra strength.
Huo Ai’s grip wasn’t strong, merely preventing her from moving.
“This is a private hospital. No one will find you here.” Huo Ai only withdrew her hand when she saw Dong Enyu stop moving.
Private hospital? Dong Enyu realized that this ward didn’t resemble a regular hospital.
The decor was luxurious, and outside the window wasn’t a road but a garden courtyard.
She didn’t know where she had been taken, only that it seemed to be in the suburbs.
Looking out, the skyscrapers in the city seemed distant and far away.
Why? After waking up, there was another unexpected development.
Her identity was now special, essentially being wanted by Wutang.
Then she got hit by a car, and a woman named Huo Ai appeared.
Now she was in a private hospital.
Dong Enyu lay back on the pillow, her head aching.
The smell of disinfectant in the room annoyed her, making her wish she could leave this place immediately.
Huo Ai didn’t try to understand Dong Enyu’s irritation.
She picked up the water jug on the table and poured her a glass of water.
“Drink it.” She held the cup to Dong Enyu’s lips, her tone neither good nor bad.
She didn’t drink, fearing the woman might have poisoned it.
She hadn’t been this cautious before, but now Dong Enyu had to be wary of those around her.
She had been bitten by a mad dog and was scared.
“Drink it. I have something to ask you.”
Huo Ai knew her voice was hoarse, so she wanted her to drink water first.
“You want to ask… mmph!” As her lips parted slightly, a cold liquid was poured in.
Huo Ai wasn’t too rough; she let Dong Enyu drink all the water, then took a tissue to wipe the droplets from her lips.
This left Dong Enyu even more confused.
Was this woman trying to interrogate her or gather information? …Was it something related to Wutang? Thinking of this, Dong Enyu couldn’t help but suspect that Huo Ai had some connection to Wutang.
“Why did you save me?” After the water moistened her throat, Dong Enyu could finally speak properly.
Although her breath was unsteady, it didn’t sound as strange.
She looked at Huo Ai, whose phoenix eyes were very beautiful.
The whole person seemed like a woman from an ancient painting, with a gentle yet not weak aura, quietly looking back at her.
“Because you ran a red light and damaged my car, I need someone to compensate me,” Huo Ai said directly.
Dong Enyu hadn’t noticed the traffic light that day, only focused on avoiding Luo Ye and recklessly crossing the street, resulting in a head-on collision with an oncoming car.
Saying she damaged the car was an exaggeration, but this traffic accident seemed like a meticulously arranged encounter by fate, allowing Dong Enyu to meet Huo Ai.
“Sorry, I’ll compensate you for the medical expenses and…” Dong Enyu paused, then said lightly, “the car repair costs.” Could she really have damaged the car? Knowing Huo Ai was trying to extort her, she didn’t say much more.
Huo Ai pulled a chair over and sat down, folding her hands on her lap, staring at Dong Enyu for a long time.
The two didn’t speak, and Dong Enyu didn’t look at Huo Ai.
She felt that Huo Ai wasn’t hostile, but her gaze made Dong Enyu uncomfortable.
The more she thought about it, the dizzier she felt, so she simply closed her eyes to pretend to sleep.
Just as she pulled the quilt over herself, Huo Ai adjusted the air conditioning to a lower setting, a small gesture that made Dong Enyu open her eyes to look at the person holding the remote.
…Considerate?
“If you feel unwell, speak up immediately,” Huo Ai told her not to push herself, but her face showed no expression.
Dong Enyu felt a warmth rise within her, not quite joy, but being cared for was a good thing.
“You’re not in good shape; I’ll come back tomorrow to talk to you,” Huo Ai said, interpreting Dong Enyu’s closed eyes as a need for rest.
Just as she was about to return the chair to the wall, Dong Enyu suddenly waved her hand.
“Wait.” She called out to Huo Ai, feeling a bit embarrassed by her sudden interruption.
Huo Ai stood at the foot of the bed, looking at her with eyes so calm that Dong Enyu felt at a loss.
Dong Enyu didn’t want Huo Ai to think she was difficult, but after everything that had happened, she didn’t have the courage to easily trust a stranger.
She knew Huo Ai wanted something from her, but she was still hesitating.
Should she get involved in this mess? Maybe Huo Ai could help her turn things around, or maybe she would push her into the abyss.
Should she accept it?
Huo Ai seemed to see the struggle in Dong Enyu’s eyes.
She approached the bedside, her phoenix eyes always fixed on Dong Enyu.
Calm and pure black, like ink from a classical painting.
“Do you have something to say to me?” Huo Ai asked, wondering if Dong Enyu had more to say.
Of course, she did, but she didn’t know how to start.
Maybe she was overthinking it? Was Huo Ai just after compensation money? But Huo Ai knew her and even called her manager… What kind of conspiracy was this?
Dong Enyu choked on her words, feeling a bit irritated by her tangled emotions.
Huo Ai watched her, patiently gazing at her, but it only added to Dong Enyu’s pressure.
“How much… how much is the compensation?” After a long time, she finally squeezed out a sentence unrelated to her troubled thoughts.
Still couldn’t ask.
Huo Ai looked at her, holding up one finger, “Not much.”
Dong Enyu squinted, confused by her.
“A million?” She didn’t know what the “one” gesture meant, blurting out a million as a starting point.
But Huo Ai shook her head, her voice slightly hoarse, “A deal.”
