63 Fall Into the River (2/2)

”No need. I am not scared of him. If he comes at me again, I will just let loose another stream of curses at him.” Ye Jiayao ruthlessly snapped off a willow branch. When she went to toss it into the river, she almost came with it.

Xia Chunyu slapped a hand to his forehead. It was no wonder that Helian Xuan got so mad at her. She actually cursed at him! Xia Chunyu could hardly imagine what that scene must've looked like.

”Yaoyao, you shouldn't go against him like that again. It's not good to mess with that guy,” Xia Chunyu advised well-meaningly, finally understanding what had happened.

Helian Xuan did not know that Yaoyao was the person who brought Little Jing back to Jin Ling. He must have heard that Little Jing was close to a chef and thought that he was turning into Zhao Qixuan. That must be why, even with the immensity of his anger, Helian Xuan couldn't explain what was going on. It was a good thing that Yaoyao mentioned his name, otherwise, Helian Xuan would've truly destroyed Yaoyao in a fit of his temper.

Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes at him and mumbled, ”You guys are terrible.”

”How did I get dragged into this? I wasn't asking for trouble when you almost maimed me,” Xia Chunyu said innocently.

That one well-placed kick put him in bed for two days. He wasn't even sure if he could still function well.

Ye Jiayao stared at him in disbelief for a moment before shouting furiously, ”I haven't even started with you yet! You broke your promise! Even when I was knocked out and locked in a small dark room, I thought about your safety! I was afraid that you got hurt by the army so I searched everywhere for you. I shouldn't have. If I had just left you all alone, I wouldn't have had to listen to what you really think of me. I trusted you and you lied to me. You're a liar Chunyu. A goddamn liar!”

Her tears fell from her eyes involuntarily, her chest tightening with anger, hurt, and betrayal. She felt so wronged.

”Everyone said that Second-in-charge was cruel, and yet when he was facing death, he protected me. He shielded me from all the arrows and gave me time to get away. Where were you then? Huh? You were with your troop, weren't you? Because that's what you only cared about - your achievement.”

Xia Chunyu felt her words cut through him like a knife. He could only imagine how terrified and helpless she had been as she looked for him. He could picture how heartbroken and desperate she was when she heard him denounce their connection. She was right. When she was facing death, all his thoughts were on catching the leader of the bandits. All his efforts were focused on adding to his achievements.

”Xia Chunyu, I hate you. You know why I didn't hate my stepmother and sister when they sold me? It's because I never loved them. They're my blood but they're not my family. You - I really believed in you. You promised me that you won't leave me alone and I believed you.”

Maybe it was because she was drunk, or maybe it was because she had had enough, but Ye Jiayao just exploded. She was so mad, so hurt, so... tired.

Xia Chunyu took a few steps toward her, his heart aching. He wanted to wipe her tears, unable to bear seeing her so broken.

Ye Jiayao slapped his hands away that was reaching for her. ”You f*cking prick! Why now? Why are you still bothering me? Go live your royal life! I don't want to see you anymore!”

”Yaoyao, Yaoyao…” Xia Chunyu wanted to hold her against him.

Ye Jiayao pushed him away angrily. ”Stop calling that! You don't get to call me by that name.”

In her need to get away from him, and also her drunkenness, she fell back into the river.

”Yaoyao!” Xia Chunyu cried out and tried to pull her back only to end up falling in with her.

There was a reason that people don't go swimming drunk. Ye Jiayao was an excellent swimmer, but the alcohol had numbed her hands and feet. She tried to paddle up the water but she had no strength.

Fortunately, Xia Chunyu got his bearings together quickly and was able to pull Ye Jiayao up from the water. It was hard to swim to the dock with a heavy weight on him, but Xia Chunyu managed to get them both to dry land.

The water was cold, Ye Jiayao thought giddily as she floated about. Her head lolled around, sleep claiming her.

Xia Chunyu panicked when he saw her eyes closed. He slapped her face but she didn't even so much as flinch.

He put his fingers in front of her nose, relieved when he felt her breathing. He then made her lie down on his legs and shook her a few times until she spat some water out.

Ye Jiayao mumbled, ”I feel terrible.”

He murmured softly, ”Don't worry, you will be fine soon.”

Xia Chunyu didn't take anyone out with him today because he didn't want anyone to see him get berated like a naughty child, so he had no help. He decided to just bring her back to Laifu Motel since it was closer than his mansion. She needed to get dry and rest as soon as possible or she would get sick.

Little Yang sat in front of the motel, waiting for Little Brother Li. It was already so late and he was wondering why Little Brother Li hasn't come back yet.

Suddenly, a man carrying another guy, drenched from head to toe, came rushing over to him. ”This is Li Yao, he fell into the river.”

Little Yang was horrified.

”Hurry, take him to the room. I will call the manager.” Little Yang let them in.

”No need to call the manager, just bring clean towels and cook some ginger soup. Which one is his room?

Little Yang pointed at the corridor and said, ”On the left of earth room, the innermost room.”