Back Then, I Adored You

……

Qin Zhi’ai had no idea how long she had been sleeping in the dark. She only knew that, when she regained consciousness, she was dying of thirst, with her throat burning and her mouth extremely dry.

Her eyelids were as heavy as lead, and she couldn’t open her eyes at all.

She moved her lips, trying to call out for a glass of water but, no matter how hard she tried, no sound would come out.

In a daze, she felt a warm hand touching her forehead and then heard a gentle voice. “Qin Zhi’ai? Qin Zhi’ai?”

The voice seemed to have come from a very distant place but from someone she knew.

Before she could wake up, the man left but, after a while, his low voice returned, as if he was talking with someone on the phone.

“Well, she’s still in a fever… She’s slept all day and night, but she still hasn’t woken up. Call the medical director of your hospital, and ask him to come over now. I want him to give her a thorough exam again.”

Who’s having a fever? Who’s slept the entire day and night?

Qin Zhi’ai began moaning uncomfortably. Still with no idea of where she was, she could hear several people around her talking now, but their words were confusing.

A needle pierced her wrist, and then footsteps faded away from her. It was quiet again.

Eventually, she heard another familiar voice. “Brother Sheng, I’ll take care of Xiao’ai. You go rest first.”

She still had doubts, but then she heard more familiar voices.

“I’ll go with you to your ward, Master Gu.”

“Brother Sheng, I’ll stay here with Nuannuan. Don’t worry.”

Whose voices are those?

Qin Zhi’ai struggled for a while trying to figure it out.

That was Xiaowang who said ‘Master Gu’ and Lu Bancheng who said ‘Brother Sheng.’ Why would they be standing around me?

Someone gently tucked in her quilt. She smelled a light fragrance.

Xu Wennuan…

She suddenly felt at ease a bit.

Maybe the medicine is working…

Gradually she was tired again, but she couldn’t sleep soundly and kept waking up from time to time.

She knew that a nurse had come to pull out the needle, and she also knew that Xiaowang had come to ask Xu Wennuan and Lu Bancheng to leave.

She was left alone in the room, and everything was silent again.

The medicine eventually made her fall asleep again. As if far away, she heard a door being pushed open.

Her body temperature was still high, and she kept dreaming.

She dreamed of her childhood and her days in high school.

She dreamed about what happened when she was Liang Doukou’s body double.

She dreamed suddenly of several men surrounding her… teasing her… humiliating her…

She tried desperately to make the dreams go away, but she couldn’t.

She could only hopelessly watch as her gown was being ripped off her body by that man.

She clearly saw the lust and indecency in his eyes, and then she saw a man taking off his clothes while coming toward her…