Chapter 180: Let's Sleep Together

Qin Yu’s single remark of “previewing in advance” left Lin Xi completely speechless.

After dinner that evening, Qin Yu’s assistant returned, seemingly with some matter to discuss, and the two went outside to talk.

Lying in bed and not knowing what to do, Lin Xi eventually pulled out her phone to check messages in her work group chat, handling some trivial work matters online.

Cheng Si’s call came in at that exact moment.

Lin Xi glanced at it, pressed answer, put the phone to her ear, and freed her hands.

“How are you doing, Xi, baby? Is your body feeling better?”

“I’m fine. I can be discharged from the hospital tomorrow morning.”

Cheng Si let out a sigh of relief. “You mustn’t do that again next time. How can work possibly be more important than your health?”

“I know.”

“Is the Third Brother still with you?”

“He is.”

“Tsk.”

“So when did the Third Brother arrive?” Lin Xi couldn’t help asking.

“Going by your time zone, it should have been this morning?” Cheng Si explained. “You know there’s a time difference, and I hadn’t received any news from your end. Who knows how the Third Brother found out.”

“The Third Brother took a temporary flight to the UK on business last night. He probably found out that something happened to you the moment he landed, and flew straight from there to your place.”

“If tomorrow doesn’t work out, go back to the hotel and rest for another day. I’ll arrive the day after tomorrow.”

“Actually, I could be discharged today, but the Third Brother told me to stay under observation for another day. I’ll definitely be fine tomorrow and back to work as usual, so Boss can rest assured.”

“What is there for me to rest assured about?” If they were on a video call, Lin Xi was certain she would see him rolling his eyes.

Catching a figure by the doorway out of the corner of her eye, Lin Xi said to Cheng Si, “Let’s leave it at that for now, see you the day after tomorrow.”

“Alright.” Calculating the time difference, Cheng Si quickly hung up the phone so as not to disturb her rest.

***

“Who were you on the phone with?” Qin Yu pushed the door open and entered.

“Fourth Brother, asking how I’m doing.”

Putting down her phone, Lin Xi looked him up and down.

“What? Speak if you have something to say.” Recognizing her intent, Qin Yu placed a cup of water by her hand. “Take your medicine before you sleep.”

“Oh.” Lin Xi obediently finished her medicine, coughed lightly, and then said, “You suddenly came all this way to see me... is everything okay with your work in the UK?”

“It’s fine.”

He answered casually, and Lin Xi couldn’t tell whether he was telling the truth.

“I have no problems here anymore, I’ll go back to work tomorrow, so the Third Brother should go back too.”

She guessed that when the assistant came to see him earlier, it was most likely to discuss this very matter.

“We’ll see how your physical condition is tomorrow.” Qin Yu didn’t lock down his words. “If you have no issues, I’ll take the afternoon flight. If you’re not well, I’ll stay for another two days.”

Knowing she couldn’t win against him, Lin Xi said, “Alright.”

“Sleep.” Qin Yu drew the room’s curtains one by one and turned off the lights, leaving not a sliver of light behind.

There was only this one bed in the ward.

In the darkness, Lin Xi followed the sound of footsteps, trying to locate where he was. “Where is the Third Brother sleeping?”

After her eyes adjusted for a moment, she managed to make out a silhouette on one side. It was a fair distance away from her, and if she weren’t careful, it would blend right into the thick night.

“The sofa.”

There was still an empty sofa in the ward, but Lin Xi had looked at it that morning, and it wasn’t very big—just a two-seater.

With Qin Yu’s height, sleeping there would be far too uncomfortable.

After pondering for a long time, Lin Xi clenched and relaxed the hand by her side. After repeating this a few times, she raised her voice and called out to him.

“Third Brother.”

“Hmm.” The man was in the midst of taking off his coat. He draped his coat over a nearby armrest and asked her, “Do you need something?”

“Don’t sleep over there. My bed here is very big, let’s each sleep on one side.”

She was lying on a double bed, and since she didn’t take up much space to begin with, accommodating a Qin Yu was an absolute breeze.

The person remained silent for a moment, his tone entirely level: “If I sleep in the same bed as you, will you even be able to fall asleep?”

Before Lin Xi could reply, she heard him say to himself: “Even if you can fall asleep, I won’t be able to.”

Lin Xi: “……”

“Then should I go sleep on the sofa? That sofa is just the right size for me to sleep on.”

In truth, she would still need to bend her knees to fit.

So, if even she had to do that, the picture of Qin Yu sleeping there was even harder to imagine.

Qin Yu said nothing, his attitude clearly one of disagreement.

Seeing this, Lin Xi let out a breath. “Everyone has things to do tomorrow, so let’s just sleep a bit more comfortably tonight.”

“I’ll lean over to the side and stay far away from you, is that alright?”

Qin Yu: “……”

Previously, he certainly wouldn’t have been able to hear such words from Lin Xi’s lips.

She had always been keeping her distance, or rather, “avoiding danger.”

Let alone getting closer, she would have preferred if the two of them had been separated by a hundred thousand miles.

Now, she seemed to have truly let go of her guard.

Although the two of them hadn’t yet returned to the state they were in during that year in Linshi, it was still better than before.

In the end, Qin Yu compromised, walked around to her side, and lay down.

A very wide distance separated the two of them. She kept far away, and he didn’t draw closer either.

With a tacit understanding, each lay on their own side.

Such a distance was fine too. At first, Lin Xi was still very nervous, but upon hearing his even breathing, drowsiness overtook her, and she quickly drifted off to sleep.

What she didn’t know, however, was that Qin Yu wasn’t asleep at all.

Resting his head on his arm, and sensing that she had fallen soundly asleep, he turned his neck to look over at her.

Once Lin Xi fell asleep, she was generally very well-behaved; she wouldn't toss and turn and would basically maintain a single posture the entire night.

She liked to sleep on her side, hugging the quilt in her arms—it was the only way she could fall asleep.

Just like now.

Perhaps because she trusted him, she was lying on her side facing him, her breathing long and steady.

It was just a single movement, yet it inexplicably brought peace to Qin Yu’s heart.

***

Early the next morning, feeling no discomfort, Lin Xi was directly discharged from the hospital.

Qin Yu drove her to the exhibition venue. Lin Xi pushed open the car door, stepped one foot out, then pulled it back and turned to look at him.

“Is the Third Brother taking the afternoon flight? Should I send you off then?”

“My flight is at four in the afternoon, there’s still plenty of time. You focus on your work, I’m heading to the branch office now and will leave directly from there this afternoon.”

In fact, his branch office wasn’t far from the exhibition near her alma mater; it was right along the way.

Since he had already put it that way, Lin Xi didn’t insist. “Alright, then.”

She got out of the car, waved at him through the car window, and said, “See you back home.”

The car window rolled down a fraction, revealing the man’s face before her. His thin lips parted slightly, and he gave her a faint smile as he said, “See you back home.”

During the lunch break, Lin Xi sat down in a chair and dozed off for a bit.

Just as she drifted to sleep, several voices reached her ears. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw Dou Yangyang and the others walking in from outside.

Dou Yangyang’s hair was slightly disheveled. Lin Xi asked, “Is it windy outside?”

“Yeah, the weather suddenly changed.”

The exhibition wasn’t outdoors, so Lin Xi had no way of seeing what conditions were like outside from within.

Because she wasn’t allowed to eat solid food yet, she hadn’t gone out with them for lunch.

“It’ll probably rain in a little while.”

Hearing this, Lin Xi opened her phone to check the weather forecast. Confirming there was no rain expected around four o’clock, she put her phone away and didn't give the matter another thought.