#48: Cheng Mi Hugged Si Tingyan’s Waist

Two years ago, Jiacheng.

After a year, Si Tingyan was still in the hospital in this city.

The weather in Jiacheng was always rainy and foggy during that time. The sky was not sunny during the day, and there were no stars or moon at night.

The hospital corridor was dim and long, connected to the faint daylight at the end. The smell of disinfectant alcohol lingered, and the ward was steeped in dampness all day long.

Si Tingyan was born with a congenital heart defect. He had undergone a major heart surgery at birth. The surgery was half-successful and half-failed. Although there was no immediate danger to his life, he was unfortunate enough to have complications.

At that time, Si Tingyan had not yet been taken to the train station and abandoned. His father, Li Chengxun, had not yet remarried. His career was on the rise, and his biological mother was still alive. Si Tingyan was a little young master at home since childhood, and his health was always well taken care of.

But later, his mother passed away, and his father remarried after his business went bankrupt. His stepmother, Chang Mei, came into their home.

Si Tingyan had a serious heart condition. His stepmother, Chang Mei, considered him a burden. She kept delaying his treatment and finally took him to the train station and abandoned him.

After being abducted by human traffickers and adopted by an orphanage, Si Tingyan was finally adopted by Si Huiru. It was only then that he didn’t die young from his heart condition.

Si Huiru raised Si Tingyan as her own child. Any small change in Si Tingyan would make her nervous, and she spent all her money on treating Si Tingyan’s heart condition.

However, some of Si Tingyan’s minor illnesses had been delayed and turned into major problems when he was three or four years old, and his heart condition was recurring more and more often.

Two years ago, he was hospitalized in Jiacheng again, and the doctor suggested a major surgery.

But because the risk was too great and there wasn’t even a 20% chance of success, Si Huiru didn’t dare to take the risk, but she also wanted Si Tingyan to get better, so she was always indecisive.

During that time, Si Huiru’s sad and repressed sobbing could always be heard outside the ward late at night, as well as the low comforting voice of a man. Li Yeheng would occasionally find time to come over.

One day, Li Yeheng didn’t come. Si Huiru couldn’t get through to him on the phone, but she ran into him when she was pushing Si Tingyan downstairs for a walk and passed by the emergency room.

Si Tingyan was sitting upright in his wheelchair. Si Huiru didn’t push him forward.

At the end of the long corridor, the entrance to the emergency operating room was drowned in sadness, crying, and screaming.

Someone had died.

Li Yeheng was tightly hugging Li Chu, who had lost control of her emotions and was yelling at Cheng Mi.

“It has nothing to do with us. Why did you have to harm us? Why did you have to harm Jiang Xunzhi?”

Jiang Xunzhi’s death had already made Li Chu crazy. She was wearing Cheng Mi’s jacket and finally yelled at Cheng Mi in a heartbreaking voice.

“Why wasn’t it you who died!”

At that time, Cheng Mi would not have known that there was someone who had been watching her all along.

The side of her face was calm. She stood opposite Li Chu without saying a word, letting her curse. The hand hanging by her side was bloody.

Finally, Cheng Mi was taken away by the police in that corridor.

That was another time Si Tingyan was very close to her, only an arm’s length away.

Cheng Mi walked past him in handcuffs.

…

________________________________________

Cheng Mi didn’t know how Si Tingyan knew about Chen Zhaochi’s existence.

From beginning to end, Chen Zhaochi had not shown his face in the public eye.

Chen Zhaochi seemed to have understood what she was thinking and said: “He probably knows about the mess we had back then.”

He then blew a light breath on Cheng Mi’s face: “Go back and check. See how long he’s been watching you.”

Cheng Mi, who was in his grasp, didn’t care at all and slightly turned her head to avoid his breath.

She looked at Chen Zhaochi: “You are the least qualified person to talk about him.”

“What, you feel bad for him?” Chen Zhaochi said with a smile. “When the audio came out a while ago saying you were seducing him for Li Yeheng, why didn’t you feel bad for him then?”

Cheng Mi slightly composed herself and looked at him.

She remembered that Chen Zhaochi already had this head injury when he went downstairs to pick up Li Chu and recorded those audio files.

At that time, Chen Zhaochi was saying that Cheng Mi was seducing Si Tingyan to ruin Li Yeheng and Si Huiru’s relationship, but he had already had a confrontation with Si Tingyan.

In other words, Chen Zhaochi already knew that Si Tingyan was serious about her at that time.

Chen Zhaochi asked Cheng Mi: “Do you think I had Li Chu post that audio just to ruin your reputation?”

Cheng Mi didn’t say anything. Even if she hadn’t known that Chen Zhaochi had set a trap here before, she would have figured out why he did it now.

Rather than ruining Cheng Mi’s reputation, Chen Zhaochi was clearly targeting Si Tingyan, using Li Yeheng to provoke him.

In that audio, Cheng Mi didn’t say that she was seducing Si Tingyan because she liked Li Yeheng. She hadn’t denied it for a second.

She also hadn’t explained anything to Si Tingyan and had directly pushed him out of her world.

Chen Zhaochi said to Cheng Mi: “You really fell for it, didn’t you? You gave me a knife to stab Si Tingyan.”

He said: “How can you be so hurtful? He likes you so much.”

Cheng Mi’s tone was calm: “Aren’t you being too wishful? Do you really think Si Tingyan would care about these things?”

“Are you still pretending?” Chen Zhaochi had never thought Cheng Mi’s acting was so poor.

He moved closer to Cheng Mi’s eyes, and although his tone wasn’t harsh, it was firm: “I can tell you that the only person who can make Si Tingyan go crazy is you.”

Cheng Mi knew this without Chen Zhaochi having to say it.

She had seen Si Tingyan’s madness for her.

Chen Zhaochi moved a little further away from Cheng Mi: “You calculated everything, but you didn’t calculate that Si Tingyan would come to settle the score with me so quickly, did you?”

“And don’t pretend you’re not familiar with him. It’s useless.” Chen Zhaochi had an indifferent expression.

The more he acted like this, the calmer Cheng Mi became.

This was a reaction that made Chen Zhaochi a little unhappy.

But Cheng Mi could do it, and she really wasn’t afraid of him; she wasn’t faking it.

Cheng Mi’s almond-shaped eyes were calm at the moment, with a hint of mockery for Chen Zhaochi. She said: “Chen Zhaochi, can you be a man? If you have a problem with me, just come at me directly. I’m just a woman, and I’m saying this. Are you afraid?”

Chen Zhaochi’s fingers tightened slightly: “And then what? I’ll kill you now?”

Cheng Mi’s expression didn’t change. She smiled at him: “Yes.”

Chen Zhaochi let go with a grin: “No, I haven’t had enough fun yet.”

Zheng Hongkai was still mumbling something on the table. No one was listening.

“Even without you, Si Tingyan and I would still be enemies. I just want to mess with him,” Chen Zhaochi turned his wrist and looked at Cheng Mi again. “But don’t worry, Si Tingyan isn’t a good person either.”

Cheng Mi: “Fine, you’re not a man.”

Chen Zhaochi didn’t react to this. He just bent down slightly and opened a can of beer with one hand: “Do you know that we perverts are attracted to each other?”

He brought the beer to his lips and continued: “Playing with him is much more exciting than playing with you.”

Cheng Mi didn’t want to say anything more to him. She hadn’t forgotten that she came here tonight to take Li Chu home.

Li Chu had been standing next to her the whole time she was talking to Chen Zhaochi.

The white smoke from the barbecue grill was thick, and the smell was suffocating even from a few meters away.

Cheng Mi walked a few steps and stopped in front of Li Chu: “Was your phone on silent?”

Li Chu said simply: “What’s wrong?”

“Answer your phone. Auntie Huiru has been waiting for you to come back.”

“Oh, I see.”

At this moment, Chen Zhaochi sat down on the chair and said: “So you came to pick her up?”

Cheng Mi had nothing to hide. She looked at him: “What else? Let her hang out with a scumbag like you?”

Chen Zhaochi took a sip of his beer: “Sure.”

He raised his chin at Li Chu: “I allow it. You can go back if you want.”

Li Chu gave him a side-eye that looked like an eye-roll. She looked back at Cheng Mi, ignoring Chen Zhaochi: “I said I’d answer the phone. I didn’t say I’d go back.”

Cheng Mi’s tone was calm and flat. She didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point: “If you have any ideas, stop while you’re ahead.”

If she was trying to get back at Chen Zhaochi, she should stop immediately.

There was no need to be too explicit. They both understood.

But Li Chu insisted on asking. She crossed her arms: “What ideas?”

It was not good to talk about this in front of Chen Zhaochi. If he got upset, it would be bad for Li Chu, but Li Chu said it herself.

She slightly tilted her head toward Chen Zhaochi: “To get revenge on him?”

Cheng Mi and Li Chu were about the same height. They stood facing each other, and neither of their auras was diminished.

Li Chu asked Cheng Mi in return: “Why would I do that? Because of you?”

She was being blunt. Cheng Mi didn’t feel embarrassed: “It’s best if it’s not.”

Li Chu said: “I don’t have a reason to do that.”

Cheng Mi looked at her.

Li Chu: “Also, you should know that if I don’t like someone, I won’t even give them a second glance.”

She was laying it all out.

Not only Cheng Mi, but Chen Zhaochi next to them also glanced at her.

But after a few seconds, his gaze seemed to be drawn elsewhere. His eyes were on Cheng Mi’s back, and then he let out a sneer.

Cheng Mi was still looking at Li Chu. When she heard the sneer, she suddenly had a bad feeling.

She turned around.

Many of the shops on the street had already closed. Only a few lights, bright and dim, were left. Si Tingyan was walking toward them.

Her first reaction was not why he would be here with her.

Cheng Mi didn’t have time to be shocked. After her gaze landed on Si Tingyan for a second, she turned around, wanting to take him away from this place immediately.

Just as she took a step back, her arm tensed.

She was violently pulled back by Chen Zhaochi, who had stood up from his chair.

Immediately after, Cheng Mi’s breathing was cut off. Chen Zhaochi’s hand was on her fair neck again, facing Si Tingyan’s direction.

This time, his grip was not weak. Cheng Mi’s words were all sealed in her throat.

She saw Si Tingyan’s face freeze instantly in the distance.

Chen Zhaochi leaned in behind her ear, his eyes fixed on Si Tingyan in front of them: “Why are you running?”

“Are you that afraid of me doing something to him?”

Chen Zhaochi’s voice was a little hoarse from the alcohol. He was calm, but there was a vicious force in his hand.

The blood vessels in Cheng Mi’s neck were throbbing. Her eyes were fixed on Si Tingyan.

Chen Zhaochi was using her to provoke him.

Si Tingyan must have known that, but he was still walking toward them without hesitation.

If this continued, something bad would definitely happen.

Cheng Mi didn’t know where she got the strength from. She suddenly reached back with her hand, accurately digging her nails into Chen Zhaochi’s eyes. Her entire body’s weight simultaneously dropped.

Chen Zhaochi was caught off guard and fell to the ground with Cheng Mi.

Li Chu was standing next to them, watching with a cold eye, not helping anyone.

Cheng Mi had already aimed for the small wooden stool next to her. She didn’t care about anything else. She grabbed it and violently swung it back.

A rush of air immediately entered her throat, and Cheng Mi coughed violently.

Chen Zhaochi cursed: “Cheng Mi, are you trying to get yourself killed!”

Cheng Mi quickly broke free from Chen Zhaochi and ran toward Si Tingyan.

After running a few steps, they met. Cheng Mi hugged Si Tingyan’s waist, using herself to shield him, and held on to him tightly.

The feeling of suffocation hadn’t subsided. Her chest was heaving violently, but what she said was soothing and rational.

“Si Tingyan, let’s go home.”

Si Tingyan’s forward momentum was strong despite her attempts to stop him. Even though his expression didn’t show extreme rage.

Si Tingyan’s eyes were dark and gloomy, and his tone was even very calm: “I don’t want to hear that right now.”

After saying that, Cheng Mi was pulled to the side by him.

She couldn’t hold on to him. Si Tingyan walked toward Chen Zhaochi with determined steps.

Chen Zhaochi’s forehead was bleeding.

Si Tingyan grabbed Chen Zhaochi’s collar from the ground and slammed him onto the table.

The cans on the table instantly clattered and rolled everywhere, their sound particularly jarring in the quiet night.

The can of beer that Chen Zhaochi had been drinking from fell over, and the beer spilled all over the table.

Si Tingyan’s face was cold and still. Without any opening words, he gripped Chen Zhaochi’s neck tightly.

An eye for an eye.

Si Tingyan was going to make Chen Zhaochi pay for the way he had choked Cheng Mi.

And Chen Zhaochi didn’t even move. The back of his head was in the beer foam. A smile even appeared on his lips. His calm demeanor showed a hint of terror.

The next second, he pulled a small folded knife from his pocket.

His move was blatant. Si Tingyan couldn’t have not known.

But he didn’t care at all.

Chen Zhaochi sliced Si Tingyan’s wrist with one clean swipe.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Cheng Mi’s mind went blank with the sight of the blood seeping out. She immediately ran over: “Si Tingyan!”

Si Tingyan’s expression didn’t change. He let the blood flow from his wrist.

He was holding Chen Zhaochi’s neck, and his five fingers, with their well-defined knuckles, were tightening more and more.