117: This girl is determined to force herself upon him.

What should I do? Should I call Yiyang? But my signal transmitter... Maybe I should try one more time.

Watching the person before him lean in slowly again, Yichen’s eyes darkened slightly. What exactly does she want? Is she truly fond of me, or is she willing to stop at nothing because of my status?

Once again, Xiao Qi failed; she was pushed off-balance by him.

"Look here, Mr. Lin, since it’s come to this, why don't you just give in to me?"

Yichen’s body had reached a temperature no human could withstand. He was clearly at his limit, and if this continued... he had to get to a hospital immediately.

Having failed twice, Xiao Qi grew bolder. She didn't care; she had to retrieve her signal transmitter no matter what.

"Lin Yichen, just give in to me this once. I promise, the moment I get my item back, I will leave you immediately."

Yichen didn’t catch the first part of her sentence, only the final three words: "leave you."

Suddenly, the crisp, laughing voice of a young girl seemed to echo from a distant time and space in his mind. "Yichen, you don’t know my name yet, do you? I’m Ye Xiyang. 'Ye' as in the leaf, 'Xi' as in the morning sun, and 'Yang' represents the sunlight. My name is like the rays of the morning sun shining over the entire earth."

"You are called Yichen, I am called Xiyang. Put our names together and you get 'Morning Sunlight.' Listen, aren't they a perfect match?"

"Xiyang..."

Yichen let the two syllables escape his throat, but the potency of the drug made his voice faint and weak. Xiao Qi didn't hear him at all. She looked up at him. His deep, dark eyes were like a vast starry ocean, capable of drowning her within them. It was as if... she were the woman he cherished most in the world. Such an intense, focused gaze was enough to make any woman fall for him, heart and soul.

*Good grief, his look is just too...*

Xiao Qi immediately averted her gaze, telling herself not to look into his eyes. Then, she closed her own and lunged once more toward his thin lips.

"What is going on here?"

Xiao Qi had been so focused on retrieving the signal transmitter that she had forgotten to close the car door. Two men saw the scene inside the car and their immediate thought was that this girl was trying to force herself on him. Without a word, they called the police.

Ten minutes later, both were taken to the police station. Xiao Qi felt miserable. *Great! The drug was administered, the man was offended, I didn't get the signal transmitter, and now I’ve been branded as someone who forces herself on others.*

***

Anna checked the time; it was past nine. She called Yichen again. Still powered off. Frowning, she called Fang Li.

The other end picked up quickly. Anna asked directly, "Is Yichen still working at the office?"

Fang Li hesitated for a moment before speaking bluntly, "Mr. Lin left after work with Miss Ye, and they haven't returned yet."

Hearing this, she tightened her grip on her phone. "Did Yichen say when they would be back?"

"Mr. Lin didn't say. However, he did mention that he was not to be disturbed by anyone until he was finished."

"If he returns, please tell him that I have been waiting for him, and I will continue to wait."

The call ended. A waiter approached, "Miss, shall I serve the meal now?"

"No, wait a little longer."

"Very well!"

Anna stared at her phone for a long time before sending a text to Yichen: "Yichen, as long as you remember that I am waiting for you, no matter how late it is, I will keep waiting."

***

In the hospital ward, Yichen lay on the bed, his face pale and haggard, his brows furrowed even in sleep. Xiao Qi, sitting in a chair, watched him for a long time. Her fingers unconsciously traced his tightly knitted brows, then brushed over his eyelashes. She imagined that if he were awake, these eyes would look at her with nothing but loathing and indifference.

She truly never expected things to turn out like this.

"Lin Yichen, I'm sorry. I never intended to hurt you, yet I have truly caused you to end up in a hospital bed."

"Lin Yichen, if only we had never met. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have saved you, I wouldn't have stayed here, and you wouldn't be in the hospital."

Xiao Qi sighed silently. Seeing his coat by the bed, she stood up to fold it, but a wallet fell out of the inner pocket. As it hit the floor, it landed open, revealing a photo of Yichen and Ye Xiyang.

She paused, then picked it up to look. The photo had faded, showing the two of them wearing matching couple shirts—clearly a snapshot from their college days. In the photo, Ye Xiyang wore a bright, radiant smile, her uneven short hair making her look all the more playful and cute. Yichen was also beaming.

*Sigh, Zhuang Jia was right. Ye Xiyang will never know how much Lin Yichen loved her.*

As she prepared to slip the photo back into the wallet, her fingertips touched the back of the picture. She turned it over. It was covered in dense, messy handwriting. Xiao Qi stared at it, the frantic, scrawled script conveying the agitation and bitterness the writer must have felt at the time.

*Xiyang, I have lost. I have lost so thoroughly there is nothing left of me.*

*Xiyang, today Zhuang Jia said: She didn't lose to you; she lost to me. So, why haven't you come back yet?*

*Zhuang Jia also said: No one in this world can wait longer than I can. I can wait year after year even when there is almost no hope.*

*Xiyang, how many more years do you want me to wait?*

*...*

*"Quiet is the parting Xiyang, silent is the Cambridge of tonight."*

*Xiyang, you said this to me once. Were you already preparing to leave me back then?*

Seeing the final line at the bottom, Xiao Qi froze. She had said that very sentence herself on that day, as a sudden reflection. It felt as if something was about to break through its cocoon.

*Could it be that I...*

"Ye Xiyang, I really hate you." Yichen spoke suddenly, though his eyes remained closed. He seemed to be murmuring in his sleep. His voice was very soft and indistinct.

Xiao Qi leaned in to listen, "Every time you appear, you bring me trouble and give me a headache. We are clearly from two different worlds, so why do you always cling to me and refuse to leave? Do you know that every time I see you, a fire burns inside me? I want to drive you as far away as possible, but I just can't bear to."

"I shouldn't have been soft-hearted. I shouldn't have let you get close to me. I must stay clear-headed. Yes, I must be clear-headed and keep my distance from you."

*Did he remember me?*

Xiao Qi immediately called out to him, "Lin Yichen? Wake up!"

Suddenly, she was pulled down. Yichen had rolled over, throwing a leg over her and resting his head on her shoulder. Xiao Qi couldn't move!

"Hey! Lin Yichen, get up!" No matter how hard she pushed, he wouldn't budge.

Xiao Qi turned her eyes to his sleeping face. *Was he just talking in his sleep? Probably.*

Xiao Qi sighed again. *And here I thought he had remembered me.*

She pushed him again, but he remained motionless. The scent of a man wafted over her, lingering at her earlobe and making her heart race. *Must not look, must not look; if I look any longer, I’ll get a nosebleed.*

Xiao Qi immediately turned her head away, but that warm, masculine presence was still inches from her skin.