The calm smile on his face always makes my heart flutter. The calmness and composure he carries—ooo nooo, Zhao Shiza, what are you thinking? You are getting distracted. Just focus and ask him, I said to myself. Then my voice came out small from my throat, and I asked him, "Yuan, what was Dr. Feng saying, and what is this Rh null value blood group? I just heard about it today."
He smiled and said, "Even I explored it today only. It's a rare blood group—rarer than the O negative blood group. Only one percent of people have it. No doubt why you are so rare. I can understand it now."
"So does it mean that I need to be careful from now onwards?" I asked him.
"See, if you have this blood group running in your veins, it means you have to be careful. But honestly, even if your blood group was something else, you still need to be very careful," he said.
"Why?" I asked him.
"You are mine—Xu Yuan's girl. You need to be very careful in doing anything," he said.
I chuckled and said, "Your overprotective boyfriend mode is back. Ooo, how can I deal with it? Please, somebody save me."
"Done with your drama?" he asked.
I looked at him, smiled, and said, "No, not yet."
Yuan looked down at the floor for a second, then said in a broken voice, "You know what, silly girl… when that happened, I was so scared—scared like hell. I thought—" His voice cracked, but he still gathered the courage to continue. "I thought I had lost you. You were covered with so much blood. My hands were shaking when I lifted you up and brought you here. My whole body was shaking. I can't lose you. I knew something was wrong, that anything could happen, but still… still a ray of hope inside me kept me alive."
"What ray of hope?" I asked him.
He smiled while looking at me. His eyes were filled with so much love that I could see it clearly. "You, silly girl. You are the ray of hope inside me. Yes, you were motionless and pale in my hands, but something—something kept telling me that you'll be fine… that you will—"
Tears started forming in his eyes. I immediately cupped his face with both my hands and said, "Yuan, don't cry because of me. I don't feel good at all, you know that. I can't see you crying. You know that very well, so stop crying."
He smiled. His eyes became shiny as the tears could no longer be held back, and they flowed out. He hugged me like he was holding something fragile, something sacred. I could feel his heartbeat—beating so fast. I put one hand on his back, trying to calm him.
"See, your annoying girlfriend is totally fine. Nothing happened to me. So why are you crying, Yuan? Stop crying, Yuan. You never disappoint me. Every time, you make me feel that I am so right in calling you a crybaby. So my long-lost crybaby is back, right?" I asked.
He hugged me tighter this time and said, "You can call me crybaby or anything you want, but just promise me—promise me one thing."
"What?" I asked.
"Promise that you'll never take yourself for granted. Promise me that from now onwards you'll take care of yourself more than before. Promise me you'll never drag yourself into any problematic situations intentionally. Promise—promise me that you'll take care of my silly girl."
Then he broke the hug to look straight into my eyes.
"My silly girl," I repeated.
"Hm. Mine. Always mine. So mine," he said.
I forced a smile and said, "Yuan, I'm not made of glass. Many people have this blood group running in their veins. It doesn't mean—"
He cut me off mid-sentence, holding both my shoulders. "You don't know. You really don't know how fragile you are. Didn't you hear that your blood group is so rare? Only one percent of the population has it. You need to be very careful in the future—if not for yourself, then for me."
"For you?" I repeated.
"Yes, for me," he said, pressing his forehead against mine. "Please take care of yourself for me. I'm giving you this responsibility—to take care of my silly girl. Please don't let me down. I've told you many times before, and I don't like repeating it, but you made me say it again. I have very few people in my life, and you are one of them. I don't want to lose those few—or you—ever. Never."
I never thought I could experience his immense love like this in my lifetime. Being loved by him today carries such weight that I don't even know whether I can carry it through this journey or not. But who cares? My Yuan is right beside me. I know he'll handle anything and everything for me. It's not blind faith—it's trust. He is the definition of trust for me.
"Yuan, relax. Okay, okay, I promise. I'll take care of your girlfriend. Just don't be a crybaby anymore," I said while wiping his tears with both my hands.
He held my hands as I wiped his tears and said, "I just want to hold you a little longer."
I smiled, and to lighten the mood, I said, "Yuan."
"Hm?" he replied.
"Today is your anniversary, don't you know?" I said.
He looked at me quietly, amused.
"Ooo, I mean your character—Volunteer Li Qingyan—that you played in that drama. Today marks one year. See, it's trending all over Weibo," I said excitedly.
"Who gave you the phone?" he asked.
"Wang Ruoxi. When she came, she handed my phone back to me," I said innocently.
He snatched my phone from my hands and said, "You're weak. Don't stress your eyes or brain. Radiation is not good for your health right now. When you get discharged, only then I'll give it back."
"You are so bossy," I said, folding my arms.
He chuckled. "And you are so mine."
"I'm not a kindergarten kid," I said.
"But it seems like it," he replied.
"Yuan, you are bullying me. You are bullying a patient who is fragile and in a very sensitive state. How could you, Mr. Xu Yuan? How could you?" I said dramatically.
"So your drama has started again. Then I can finally take a sigh of relief," he said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because when you are like this, it means you are absolutely fine."
"Yuan, Yuan, Yuan—oo my lovely, overprotective, most handsome C-drama actor Yuan," I sang dramatically.
He smiled. "What do you want?"
I pointed toward my phone in his hand.
"No way. No chance," he said.
"Where is it?" I asked.
He looked shocked. "What?"
"Your degree. Doctor degree. Why didn't you tell me before that you are a TCM doctor?" I said dramatically.
"Oh, so you're being sarcastic," he said. "Okay, I'll show you my degree in TCM—Traditional Chinese Medicine."
"When?" I asked.
"When I get that one," he replied.
We both burst into laughter, forgetting all the pain we had just suffered.
He grabbed an apple from the table that Wang Ruoxi had brought and was about to cut it with a knife. I immediately held his hand and stopped him.
"What? Eat it, silly girl," he said.
"I will, just don't cut it," I said.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because cutting an apple is an insult. Li Qingyan always eats the whole apple raw, without cutting it. So cutting it is disrespectful—to the apple and to Li Qingyan," I said.
He tapped my nose and said, "You'll never stop being a fangirl, will you?"
"Never," I replied, taking the apple and eating it.
"Eat well. I'll be back," he said.
"Where are you going, Mr. Overprotective Boyfriend, leaving your girlfriend—sorry, fragile girlfriend—in this state? She needs you," I said dramatically.
He chuckled. "I'll be back soon. Till then, I'm sending your bestie to take care of my girlfriend. And one more thing—I'll answer your teasing when I come back. I've noticed you tease me a lot these days. You won't escape next time."
"And my phone?" I asked.
"Forget it for now," he said, walking out.
He walked out in his usual way—straight into the path of my heart. But how could I watch him when my phone was with him? At least I could have watched his latest promotional videos on Weibo. He is so strict.
While I was thinking all this, Wang Ruoxi entered the room.
"Wang Ruoxi, come here. Sit here," I said.
She smiled and sat beside me.
"Can I have your phone for a while?" I asked...