Chapter 16: Don’t Force Praise When It’s Not Earned

Ke Xianbo ruffled her hair into a messy tangle, causing Pei Baoyuan to feel a twinge of annoyance.

The back of her hand was still covered with a bandage from the IV. When Pei Baoyuan noticed the red veins in Ke Xianbo’s eyes, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Ke Xianbo had been taking care of her all night.

Pei Baoyuan quietly tidied her hair by herself.

Ke Xianbo went to the restroom and came out with droplets of water still glistening on his face, his damp bangs dripping as well.

Pei Baoyuan silently handed him two tissues.

Ke Xianbo paused, glanced at them, took them, and said, “Thanks.”

Pei Baoyuan stared at him for a long moment before carefully speaking, “Thank you for bringing me to the hospital last night…”

Before she could finish, Ke Xianbo shoved a phone into her hand.

The screen was lit, displaying a very expensive private restaurant in the capital.

Ke Xianbo said, “Order whatever you want. Order something for me too.”

“No need. I’m already feeling much better now. I can go home to eat.”

Ke Xianbo looked at her a couple of times, silently took the phone back, and helped her complete the discharge procedures.

Twenty minutes later, Pei Baoyuan sat in the passenger seat beside Ke Xianbo.

His silence throughout the drive made her mistakenly think she had upset him, and she felt unusually uneasy in her seat.

She glanced at him furtively several times. Ke Xianbo kept his expression blank, eyes fixed on the road ahead.

“Um…” Pei Baoyuan cautiously probed, “I still want to thank you. When you’re free, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

“…”

“Or if there’s anything you want, I can get it for you.”

She kept watching his expression, completely unaware the car wasn’t heading toward her home at all.

Screech—

Ke Xianbo suddenly braked.

Pei Baoyuan’s mind blanked for a moment, then she saw the sign for “Lotus Fragrance Pavilion.” She turned to him, eyes full of confusion.

Isn’t this the same private restaurant Ke Xianbo showed her on the phone?

Ke Xianbo unbuckled his seatbelt. “I’ve been with you all night. You won’t even eat a meal with me?”

Pei Baoyuan hurriedly got out and followed his steps.

So he was upset because she refused him at the hospital?

She jogged to his side. “It’s not even mealtime yet. Are you sure they’re open?”

It was half past nine—a time awkward for both breakfast and lunch.

Ke Xianbo said nothing, leading her further inside.

Lotus Fragrance Pavilion was a famed private restaurant in the capital, specializing in Huaiyang cuisine. Rumor had it the owner was highly influential. To dine there, you had to book three days in advance; no exceptions were made for anyone.

She followed Ke Xianbo past the front hall and through the corridor, each step heightening her curiosity.

Ke Xianbo moved with the ease of a frequent visitor.

He led Pei Baoyuan to a room called “Su Mu Zhe” and settled them in. Soon, a waiter arrived to take their order.

Pei Baoyuan was still looking at the menu, while Ke Xianbo confidently recited a string of dishes.

Pei Baoyuan blinked.

Closing the menu, she asked, “Most of these aren’t even on the menu…”

Ke Xianbo casually rinsed the utensils with hot tea water, lifting his eyelids lazily as he said, “It’s the secret menu.”

Pei Baoyuan was speechless.

What private restaurant’s secret menu was just porridge?

Ke Xianbo neatly placed the steaming utensils before her and tore off two napkins to wipe his hands. “If you don’t believe me, come try it yourself next time.”

Before Pei Baoyuan lay a bowl of light porridge; Ke Xianbo’s own was seafood wontons, accompanied by several mild dishes suitable for someone recovering.

The seafood wontons truly contained seafood!

Shelled abalone, peeled crab legs, and even the meat inside the wontons Ke Xianbo bit into had shrimp.

The fragrant aroma eagerly invaded Pei Baoyuan’s nostrils.

She looked longingly at the wontons in his bowl, mechanically spooning porridge into her mouth.

Ke Xianbo sighed helplessly. “It’s not that I don’t want you to eat it. You’re not well yet. If you want it, we can come again next time.”

There was no delivery service for this dish, and eating there required a three-day reservation. Who knew when she’d get to taste these wontons again.

Wait.

Suddenly, Pei Baoyuan remembered the restaurant didn’t offer delivery. So what was the electronic menu Ke Xianbo showed her at the hospital?

Startled, she blurted out her question.

“You’re not the owner of this place, are you?”

“No.”

“Then how…”

Pei Baoyuan caught the look in Ke Xianbo’s eyes, and her voice instantly softened.

“The place is run by a friend of mine. I just have a small share. Sometimes when I’m too lazy to go out, I made a little app just for myself and ask him to deliver.”

“You can even code? That’s impressive.”

Pei Baoyuan had meant to casually compliment him—after all, gratitude made people soft, especially to someone who saved her life.

But when she saw Ke Xianbo pause while ordering on his phone and then look at her with a complicated gaze, it didn’t seem like a mere façade.

She heard him say, “I studied computer science in college.”

Her phone dinged. Seeing Ke Xianbo’s tense expression, Pei Baoyuan thought it wasn’t a good time to be on her phone. She smiled awkwardly, “Well, that’s really great of you.”

Ke Xianbo’s veins twitched visibly.

He clenched his teeth and took two deep breaths. “Pei Baoyuan, you don’t have to force compliments if you don’t mean them.”

Pei Baoyuan was speechless.

After returning home, she discovered the message from Lotus Fragrance Pavilion was actually sent by Ke Xianbo. Opening it, she found the delivery app she had seen before.

“The wontons looked so delicious, I want to eat them too. You rich people even have different wontons than us.”

“Isn’t Ke Xianbo the little tyrant of Port City? Why is he so nice to the secondary female lead? Does he like her?”

Pei Baoyuan froze when she saw this comment.

Ke Xianbo likes her?

Her mind turned into a chaotic jumble, and she suddenly felt a warmth spread through her body.

“No way. The secondary female lead was sent to the asylum, and even after the news of her death there, Ke Xianbo never showed up. How could he possibly like her?”

“Well, the plot has changed so much now, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ke Xianbo liked the secondary female lead.”

“Even if Pei’s father and son were imprisoned with no rescue, and the Song Corporation went bankrupt, Ke Xianbo never helped. If he really liked her, he couldn’t save her dad and brother, but he could have saved the Song Corporation with the Ke family’s vast resources.”

Pei Baoyuan was stunned.

So...

Was she just deluding herself?

Until she died in the asylum, Ke Xianbo never came to see her.

Logic told her Ke Xianbo had nothing to do with her; he had no obligation to help. But seeing those comments left her heart feeling empty.

She spent five minutes alone, digesting all these messages.

It didn’t matter.

At least now, she was slowly changing the story the comments spoke of.

She wouldn’t be sent to the asylum. In the end, who would—was still uncertain.