Ch. 1021..1030

Nothing To Give But My Heart Chapter 1021

Her bath lasted approximately half an hour before she finally felt clean again.

When she walked out wrapped in a towel, her mother was sitting on the sofa and talking on the phone as she wiped away tears. “I never expected something like this to happen. Zhou is really unlucky; right now, he is still in the intensive care unit. The doctors said that he has to be under observation for 48 hours…” Crying as she spoke, she saw Yan come out of the bathroom from the corner of her eye. Then, she hurriedly continued, “Anyway, I have something going on here; talk to you later.”

Hanging up the phone and wiping away her tears, she walked toward Yan. She stood in front of Yan, then carefully sized her up. The sorrowful expression she had from before was nowhere in sight.

Yan did not find it strange; it was not that her mother did not care for her father. She cried because she was truly feeling sad, but now she did not show any signs of being upset because she did not want to let her emotions carry into the time she spent with Yan. Her mother had always been a person who distinguished between her emotions clearly—it might be cloudy and overcast in one moment, and bright and sunny in the next. Thus, the years passed peacefully.

In the past, Yan had been brought up according to her mother’s beliefs and mottos, but… in the end, she still got trapped in the palm of a man. She was afraid of letting her mother find out about it; if her mother knew, she would be ridiculed for the rest of her life.

“At least you look decent now. What was with that appearance before? If the old man guarding the entrance downstairs didn’t know better, he would have thought I had kindly taken in a beggar.”

“Mom… we haven’t met for so long; can you not ridicule me from the moment we meet?”

Luo Huimei blinked innocently. “What? I’ve never made fun of you over the phone before. We haven’t met in so long; are you unhappy just because I said a few words to you?”

“Nope!” Walking toward her room with a wooden expression, she wanted to put on her clothes. When she opened her closet and saw the clothes kept neatly there, she nearly fainted. The clothes she thought looked good five years ago now looked immensely childish and immature. In an instant, she could think of nothing to say as she slammed the closet door shut with a bang.

Luo Huimei, who had walked in with her and saw the entire thing, couldn’t help retorting, “What’s the matter? Are you not going to wear any clothes? Do you want to walk around naked?” Then, she noticed her daughter staring at her; the gaze made her slightly uncomfortable. “Why are you looking at me?”

“Mom, I realized that your clothes look better than mine. Can you lend me something to wear?”

“Are you crazy? Why is a young girl like you wearing an old lady’s clothes?”

“Old lady?” Yan rolled her eyes. Her mother was not that old; besides, she had a baby face and liked to act cute. Hence, her clothes were very fashionable, though it was a little different in style from what Yan normally wore. However, Yan believed that it was still better than the childish clothes in her closet. Moreover, she had decided that she was going to start over today. In the future, she would not be sad, much less shed a single tear over a man. If I feel sad or cry over a man again, I’d be the ugliest and fattest pig in the entire world!

Starting over must begin with a change. Firstly, it would start with her dress sense; she wanted to get rid of her childish and immature clothes. She was going to be a mature woman in both appearance and mind! “Mom, won’t you lend me something to wear? I don’t want to wear these; I want to wear yours.” She stepped forward and hugged Luo Huimei’s arm as she acted coy.

“Good grief! If you wear my clothes, people might think that you are married! How are you going to get married in the future?” Speaking of marriage, Luo Huimei seemed to recall something. She stared suspiciously at her daughter, who was holding onto her arm. “That’s right; in the five years you were overseas, when did you come back? How long have you been back? Why didn’t you tell me? Furthermore, it’s been so long; you must be in a relationship, right? How does your boyfriend look like? When are you bringing him home to meet me?”

Bringing up the topic about relationships made Yan’s gaze waver; she avoided her mother’s stare as she smiled and said, “Mom, you’re asking so many questions; I don’t even know where to start. I need to put on some clothes; won’t you lend me something to wear? I’ll tell you everything that happened in the past when I’m free.”

They were mother and daughter after all; how could Luo Huimei fail to notice Yan’s eyes guiltily avoiding hers when talking about these matters? Coupled with Yan’s appearance today, she put two and two together. Feeling like she had figured out a secret, she gloomily looked at her daughter as she asked, “Yan, did you get dumped?”

As soon as Yan heard those words, she reacted like somebody had stepped on her tail, yelling, “What nonsense are you talking about, Mom? Who was dumped? Your daughter is so beautiful; who would dump me?”

Luo Huimei understood her daughter very well. Seeing her reacting so strongly, she muttered, “Looks like you really were dumped.”

“Mom! It really isn’t like that!” Yan wailed.

“How does he look like? Is he handsome? How long were you together? Why did you guys break up?”

“Mom!”

Luo Huimei stared at her steadily. Staring at each other for a long time, Yan finally gave in. She sat down by the edge of the bed dejectedly. “He’s handsome, but we never got together, and never had a breakup.”

“Hmm?” Seeming to pick up on some information from her words, Luo Huimei quickly walked over and sat down beside her. “You didn’t manage to ensnare him? Then, why are you feeling so down?”

Yan was not in a good mood, and she did not want to talk about it. “Mom, please don’t force me to talk about it. I’ve decided I won’t bring it up again. From today onward, I’m going to forget that person. In the future, I’m going to become a brand-new me.”

Looking at the determination in her daughter’s eyes, Luo Huimei knew that asking further would only rub salt in her wounds, so she nodded her head. “Alright, alright; it’s fine if you don’t want to tell me. I will wait until you have gotten your act together and are ready to talk about it.”

Looking at her mother as if she was staring at a monster, Yan muttered, “Why are you acting so gentle all of a sudden? I’m not used to it!”

“You brat! What do you mean you’re not used to it? I’m the one who can’t stand you right now!” Luo Huimei slapped the back of her head again as she spoke. Yan clutched her head in pain and yelped. “Can you stop hitting my head like this, Mom? What if I sustain an internal injury from this?”

“It’s better if you get an internal injury from it. For you to not come home for so many years, it feels like we raised you for so many years for nothing! Sob, sob, sob…”

“Alright, alright, didn’t I come back? Don’t worry, when Dad wakes up, I’ll kneel before his bed and admit that I was wrong, okay?”

Kneeling is impossible, and so is admitting that I was wrong. However, she did hope that her father would wake up from his coma; otherwise… she would hate herself forever! All these years, she had refused to back down—not even once.

Nothing To Give But My Heart Chapter 1022

In the end, Yan’s mother—the marvelous lady, Luo Huimei—refused to lend her something to wear. Without a choice, Yan donned the childish clothes she had from before, then went back to her place to pick up her luggage. When she entered the house, she was taken aback by the sight that greeted her. Additionally, the stench in the room was so bad it made her knees go weak.

F*ck… I’ve lived like a pig recently. Thereafter, she reprimanded herself in her heart for turning Muzi’s house into the current condition it was in. Then, she hurriedly cleaned and tidied the house until she was so tired she became out of breath. After a short rest, she packed up her belongings.

When this house was bought, it was registered under two names, but… at the end of the day, it was not hers. She owned a small apartment in the city which her father bought for her as part of her dowry. After the huge quarrel between father and daughter, she had not gone back to the little apartment. Still, she had no plans to return to the apartment yet. She planned to return home and live with her mother for the time being as it was nearer to the hospital, making it more convenient for traveling to see her father. It also allowed her to care for her mother.

Having finished packing up all her belongings, Yan dragged her luggage out the door. Holding the house keys in her hand, she stared down at them in a daze. Initially, she wanted to hand it over to Muzi, but… she did not want to meet with anybody for the time being. After pondering over it, she put the keys away and left with her luggage in tow.

On the other side, Han Muzi had almost gotten her company’s affairs in order, while the affairs of the Ye Group were concluded for the time being. Coincidentally, it was a Sunday, so the two of them went to the Ye Family manor.

Receiving this news, Xiao Su was overjoyed. Having yet to complete the assignment given to him by Ye Moxuan, he felt like he had been stuck in a deep abyss of suffering for the entire day. Due to his lack of literacy skills, he had been unable to put it into words. Thus, he decided to hire someone to help him with it—a ghostwriter. The ghostwriter was skilled; she could put anything into words.

However, Xiao Su was unable to tell the story. It was easy to conjure the events from his memories in his mind, but when he wanted to describe the events to somebody else, it was an altogether different challenge. Watching the minutes and seconds slip by as the deadline for his assignment loomed closer, he became restless.

Looking at his anxious behavior, the ghostwriter tried to comfort him. “Don’t be so anxious; just think of yourself as an outsider in these events. Tell me everything you know about the major events and I will join them together into a story. Afterward, you just have to go through it to see if there are any mistakes.”

Outsider? Think of myself as an outsider?

Xiao Su gave a light cough. Why didn’t I think of that before? After that, he seemed to have found his inspiration and, one by one, relayed everything that happened in the past to the ghostwriter.

Listening intently, the ghostwriter couldn’t help sneering when the story came to an end. “Wow. How did you manage to bear a man like that? Right now, I feel like killing him myself.”

Xiao Su warned, “You better not have such thoughts in your head. Be sure to be careful about what you write, and don’t vilify this character. If the documents do not satisfy me, I won’t pay you.”

The ghostwriter replied, “Don’t worry; I will put my all into writing this. I can even beautify it if you want me to.”

“You don’t need to beautify it. Just write it like how I told you—it has to be the truth.” After all, this was written for Young Master Ye, and not Young Lady Ye, so why would there be a need to beautify the story?

The ghostwriter nodded nonchalantly. She had no choice; it wasn’t easy to be a ghostwriter in this day and age. Furthermore, the price Xiao Su was offering was extremely attractive. After finishing this project, she would be able to live like a queen for quite a while.

After that, the two of them did nothing else except work on this project for the entire day. When night fell, the ghostwriter went home and Xiao Su stayed behind to go through the documents. A glance through it nearly shocked him to death—the ghostwriter had conveyed Young Master Ye as… a particularly hedonistic and self-indulgent man. F*ck! Feeling sick, he called the ghostwriter immediately.

After working hard throughout the day, the ghostwriter was just about to go to bed when she received the call from Xiao Su, and she instantly became nervous. “Mr. Xiao? It’s late; is something the matter?”

Xiao Su raged. “No, I should be the one asking you that question. What are you trying to do? What do you mean by all this?”

Puzzled, the ghostwriter said nothing.

“I told you that all you had to do is accurately write down everything I say, didn’t I? So, why did you embellish the story?”

The ghostwriter denied. “I didn’t add in anything; those were things you casually mentioned, weren’t they, Mr. Xiao? I thought it was pretty interesting, so I wrote it down too.” Then, she couldn’t help adding a compliment. “In the beginning, I thought the male protagonist was a wicked person while listening to your story. Afterward, when you talked about the smaller incidents, I realized that he is gentle and kind-hearted inside. He is cold on the outside and warm on the inside. That’s why…”

“So, you modified it? Are you not afraid of death, or do you not want to be paid?”

The ghostwriter quipped, “I want both—my life and my money!”

“Then why did you write this bullsh*t?!” Xiao Su snarled. Lowering his head, he read the words the ghostwriter had used to depict the man: ‘A leery smile played around the corner of his lips; his gaze was as scorching as fire; his large hands…’ Enough. Unable to stomach any more of it, he was practically gnashing his teeth to bits. “Don’t treat this like a novel manuscript; this is just something I have to hand over to my superior at work. You—”

“Don’t be angry, Mr. Xiao. You are not your boss; how do you know that he wouldn’t enjoy my creation? As an author, I believe that writing it this way is more realistic and vivid. It would allow your boss to quickly become engrossed in the story; he might even be transported into that world. I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

Speechless, Xiao Su realized that the ghostwriter was digging her heels in. Closing his eyes, he gritted his teeth and asked, “Are you going to correct it or not?”

“I won’t change anything!” The ghostwriter said determinedly, “This is my principle; I can’t just change it because you asked me to. It would lose its artistic integrity.”

“Where do you stay?” asked Xiao Su.

“The third floor of Sunshine Community…” Halfway through, the ghostwriter seemed to think of something, then asked warily, “What are you planning to do?”

“When I find you, I’m going to kill you.”

“Don’t be so impulsive! It is illegal to kill; you will go to jail for it. If I die, you will pay for it with your life,” the ghostwriter yammered.

“Hah!” Xiao Su burst out into scornful laughter. “You’re right; it’s illegal to murder somebody, but if I hand in this document to my superior, I’d die either way. I might as well drag you down with me tonight; at least that way I won’t lose out.”

The ghostwriter trembled in fear. F*ck! What kind of madman have I provoked?

In the end, Xiao Su asked, “Are you going to revise it?”

“Fine, I’ll do it! I’ll revise it!” the ghostwriter replied.

Xiao Su sneered coldly, “You should have said so earlier.”

“However, it’s too late today; I’m going to sleep. I’ll edit it for you tomorrow morning, is that okay?” the ghostwriter asked.

“That’s fine; if you don’t do it well, I’ll kill you,” Xiao Su warned.

Hearing those words, the ghostwriter made a crying expression.

Nothing To Give But My Heart Chapter 1023

Just like that, the night passed. The next morning, Xiao Su realized that he could not get in touch with the ghostwriter—the calls he made went unanswered, and the messages he sent received no reply. After waiting for nearly 30 minutes, he rushed to the third floor of Sunshine Community in a frenzy. When he arrived, he realized that he did not know which house belonged to the ghostwriter. Seeing as the deadline to deliver his assignment was fast approaching, he called up someone to investigate the room number of the ghostwriter.

While waiting for the results, he decided to take the initiative to call Ye Moxuan—just in case. The moment Ye Moxuan answered the phone, he heard Han Muzi’s voice coming from the phone. “The first floor doesn’t have much traces of our daily activities, so let’s go up to the second floor.”

This is… Xiao Su mulled over it for a bit, then hesitantly asked, “Young Master Ye, are you and Young Lady Ye at the Ye Family manor?”

Ye Moxuan’s cold voice sounded through the phone. “Yeah.”

Hearing his reply, Xiao Su was overjoyed, but he did not express it. Instead, he continued to ask hesitatingly, “Young Master Ye, about the documents you wanted me to prepare…”

“I’m not free right now.” As Ye Moxuan spoke, he noticed Han Muzi watching him. “Who is on the phone with you?”

“It’s nothing.” He ended the call and walked toward her calmly. “It was a wrong number. You were talking about going up to the second floor, weren’t you?” As he spoke, he stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

Han Muzi nodded her head. “Yeah, let’s go to the second floor.” Pausing, she seemed to think of something. “I wonder if the elevator can still be used.”

“Let’s take the stairs; it’s safer.”

“Okay.”

On the other hand, Xiao Su, who was hung up on, was not the slightest bit angry; in fact, he was feeling extremely happy about it. To him, hanging up on him meant that Ye Moxuan was currently too busy to bother about other issues. Therefore, even if he failed to bring out the required documents at this time, Ye Moxuan was too tied up with other matters to reprimand him for it. So, he now had some time to deal with something else.

Right at this moment, Xiao Su received the results of the investigation. Accordingly, he pressed the doorbell of the room number. The doorbell rang once, then twice, but there was no reaction. Ringing on the doorbell, he proceeded to call the ghostwriter on the phone.

At the thought that she had promised him last night, but was not answering any of his calls or messages this morning, he felt a wave of rage crashing over him. Then, he began pressing the doorbell with increasing urgency.

Xiao Su was not sure how much time had passed before he heard, with some satisfaction, the sound of rapid footsteps coming toward the door and accompanied by a roar. “Who is it?! It’s so early in the morning; can’t you let a person sleep in peace?”

Whoosh. When the other party opened the door and saw him standing there with a stern expression, she was utterly shocked. Then, approximately two seconds later, she slammed the door shut again.

Slam! He was just about to step forward and enter the house when she slammed the door in his face in horror. As the door slammed shut, it nearly hit him in the nose. Luckily, he had not taken a step yet; otherwise, the door would have slammed into his face directly.

“F*ck! Open the door!” After snapping back to his senses, Xiao Su pounded against the door with both his hands; it made a loud sound. “Open the door! Do you hear me?! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?”

However, there was no response from the other side of the door. Calming down, he sneered, “Do you want me to kill you? Let me tell you; I’ve been looking for you all morning. Right now, I’m very angry. You better open the door immediately; otherwise—”

Whoosh. In the next moment, the door opened and the ghostwriter stood there with a hopeless expression on her face. As their gazes met, Xiao Su said mockingly, “Finally willing to open the door, Miss Ghostwriter?”

The ghostwriter flinched at the look in his eyes, then helplessly reached up to rub her ears. She whispered weakly, “Mr. Xiao, it’s 7 in the morning. I came back at midnight last night.”

“So?”

“I didn’t get home until midnight last night; by the time I washed up, it was nearly 1 in the morning. However, just as I was about to go to sleep, you called me again. So, I didn’t get much sleep early last night and only managed to fall asleep much later. Therefore… bothering others this early in the morning can’t be good, right?”

Xiao Su jeered, “You haven’t done what you promised to do, but here you are, sleeping to your heart’s content; that can’t be good, can it? Are you a qualified ghostwriter?”

The ghostwriter said nothing; she knew that no matter what she said, he wasn’t leaving anytime soon and would force her to edit the documents right now. Feeling slightly defeated, she said, “I got it. Come on in.”

Meanwhile, at the Ye Family manor, Han Muzi and Ye Moxuan went upstairs. Today, they did not bring anybody else along with them. When they arrived, they met the security guards at the entrance to the manor. Other than that, people were patrolling the road outside.

Upon asking, they found out that Xiao Su had arranged for these people to be here. The place had been vacant for a long time; after the incident the other day, he was worried that something similar would happen again, so he increased the security measures in consideration of Han Muzi’s safety. Han Muzi was very pleased with his arrangements. So, when she and Ye Moxuan went upstairs, they were unguarded.

As she headed upstairs, she looked at every brick and tile of the place and felt like time had warped around her. At times, it felt like it had been five years ago; at other times, it felt like it was just yesterday. Sometimes, she could not tell when or where she was. Rounding a corner, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and stared straight ahead.

Not too far ahead was Ye Moxuan’s room. She recalled that when she first married into the family, he had been extremely cruel to her and wanted her to get out of the Ye Family residence. However, she refused to leave; later, she even camped outside the manor for the night. At that time… she was dumb and stubborn. Thinking back about it now…

Han Muzi was so deep in her memories that she did not notice Ye Moxuan frowning next to her. Looking at the familiar scenery before him, something seemed to flash across his mind. As he approached the room, he felt as if a memory was coming back to him, but as to what it was, he could not recall. His head began to hurt, but he was afraid that Han Muzi would be worried, so he held it in.

“This room is where you used to live.” Coming back to the present, she stepped forward in excitement. “I can’t believe that nothing has changed.” As she spoke, she noticed a small cabinet in the corner and immediately became dumbstruck. That cabinet…

She bought it for herself because Ye Moxuan had refused to let her put her clothes together with his. At first, she kept all her clothes in her luggage, but she later bought the small cabinet for herself.

However, Han Muzi had assumed that the small cabinet would have been thrown out after she left because the small cabinet stuck out like a sore thumb in this room—both in workmanship and appearance.

Nothing To Give But My Heart Chapter 1024

Unexpectedly, it remained in mint condition despite how many years had passed. All of a sudden, Han Muzi’s emotions became complicated. Despite the swirling emotions inside, the corners of her mouth curled upward. When I left five years ago, Ye Moxuan did not get rid of the small cabinet. That must mean that at that time, he…

As her thoughts trailed off, she reached out and softly touched the surface of the cabinet, then slowly opened it. Upon opening the cabinet doors, she discovered that the contents in it overlapped with the image she had in her memory. Her hand that held the cabinet door shook as she stood frozen in place. It isn’t just the cabinet; everything I left in it is still there.

The cleaning staff Xiao Su had hired were professionals. He had instructed them to only clean the house, and leave every other thing—from big to small—untouched in their original state. Looking at it now, a wave of emotions moved her heart.

When Ye Moxuan saw the small cabinet, his headache intensified. Leaning against the door, the scenery in front of him seemed to change slowly. Initially, in his eyes, there was only Han Muzi crouching beside the cabinet, but now, there was a figure of another person.

A tall and large man was sitting in an office chair. In a quiet room, he sat not too far from the cabinet, his gaze never once leaving the cabinet. To those who were unaware, they would not know what he was looking at. However, at this moment, Ye Moxuan clearly understood that the cabinet was the only memory she had left behind in this room after she left. Since she never came back to retrieve her items, the contents of the cabinet had remained, and thus, became a memory to him.

In an endless cycle, he had gone to and from work every single day, searching for news of her whereabouts and staring at the only memory of her in this house. As soon as he came into the room, he would sit in his office chair and blank out. Then, memories of the past when they still lived together would surface in his mind; every word and every smile of hers filling up his heart and his mind. Alas… he did not know how long had passed, but he stopped coming to this place. Still, everything in here had been left just as it was—completely unchanged.

These memories flashed through his mind quickly—like fireworks on New Year’s Eve—then vanished without a trace again. His headache intensified. Pursing his lips, his brows furrowed deeply, forming three deep lines on his forehead. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

Ye Moxuan calmed himself down and extricated himself from his memories with great difficulty. As his vision cleared, those scenes disappeared as well. Before his eyes, only Han Muzi, who was standing in front of the cabinet in a daze, was left. It seemed that she, like him, held a special attachment to the cabinet.

Watching her as she stretched out and gently touched the clothes with her white fingertips, another wave of pain came over him. Unable to bear it any longer, he almost groaned out loud. If she saw him like that, she would worry again. So, without any hesitation, he turned around and left.

Han Muzi was immersed in her memories and did not notice his absence. Touching the clothes one by one, something fell onto her arm. Lowering her head, she realized that it was a drop of tear. Subconsciously, she froze to the spot; she did not dare to reach out to wipe away the tears on her face. She did not realize she could be moved to tears by a cabinet. If he saw her now, he would definitely laugh at her. No, I must not let him see.

Pretending to reach inside, she hid her face among the clothes and wiped away her tears with the clothes. Then, taking a deep breath, she steadied her emotions and went back to normal. Perhaps she was feeling guilty, so when she turned her head, there was a smile on her face. “I can’t believe this cabinet is still here. At first, it had not been easy for me to get this cabinet for myself. You were…”

Halfway through her sentence, she stopped talking because Ye Moxuan was nowhere to be found. Stunned, her expression was full of surprise and doubt. Wasn’t he just standing right there? In the time I was staring at the cabinet, he disappeared? Did something happen? As the thought crossed her mind, her expression changed, and she hurriedly stepped forward to look for him.

After leaving the room, she noticed him standing at the end of the corridor by the window. At present, his back was facing her and he had one hand on the window. Walking toward him with uncertainty, she did not call out to him. As she approached, she saw that the veins on the back of his hands were popping out.

Ye Moxuan endured the pain that came crashing down on him wave after wave as he tried to suppress it. In the blink of an eye, his back was drenched in a cold sweat. Not only did his headache fail to subside, but it was also increasing in intensity. At this moment, he heard soft footsteps approaching him from behind. His pupils contracted, and a change came over his expression immediately. Wiping away the sweat with his bare hands, he turned back to look at Han Muzi. “Are you done?”

His gaze was calm and his voice was as usual—nothing seemed out of place—but she stared at him unblinkingly. Smiling faintly, he walked up to her. “What’s wrong?”

Saying nothing, she continued to stare at him. Finally, she asked, “Isn’t that what I should be asking you? What’s wrong with you?”

Hearing that, his thin lips curved upward slightly. “What do you mean what’s wrong with me?”

Looking at him in his current state, she couldn’t help frowning. She chewed on her bottom lip as she watched him. “Are you feeling unwell again?”

“No, I just came out for some air and admired the scenery while I was at it,” he replied.

He lied through his teeth as if the man who was clutching the window in pain from before was a completely different person. His attitude made her mad and sorrowful at the same time. She was angry at him for hiding it away from her and letting her be oblivious to his pain. On the other hand, she felt sorrowful that he was in this condition, yet he was still hiding it from her. Are you afraid that I will worry?

The more she mulled over it, the more her heart hurt for him. She wanted to scold him soundly, but he was already in such a poor condition. If she unleashed her temper on him, he would have to comfort her instead. If he, who was already in so much pain, still had to comfort her, how much more pain would he be in? Contemplating it, she smiled lightly. Then, acting as if she believed him, she asked softly, “What’s there to see downstairs? Did you have a look at the cabinet I showed you just now?”

The cabinet… At the mention of the cabinet, his head throbbed again.

Noticing a slight twitch at the corner of his eyes, Han Muzi realized she should not bring up the cabinet. Therefore, she changed the topic. “Oh, yeah! I just remembered that there is a garden at the back. Why don’t we take a stroll there? The air should be better there.”

Ye Moxuan’s pale lips split into a smile as he nodded gently. “Sure.”

Nothing To Give But My Heart Chapter 1025

In his current state, it took a lot of effort just for Ye Moxuan to remain standing while keeping his expression neutral. When he agreed to go to the garden at the back with Han Muzi, she seemed to notice something was wrong. Hence, she strode over and held his arm. As she was afraid of him falling over, it was more accurate to say that she was supporting him by the arm rather than holding on to him.

Noticing her support, his frown deepened. So, she knows. But she hasn’t outed me. He did not want her to see him suffer and let her worry, but she was already aware of his intentions. Instead, she decided to accept and acquiesce to his methods, then quietly use her methods to correct his ways. My woman sure is well-intentioned.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks and did not take another step. Surprised, she promptly spoke up, “Why don’t you wait here for me? I’ll go by myself. Don’t worry; I’ll be back soon.” Although she had deliberately changed the topic, he was probably still desperately enduring the pain. As long as she was here, he had to pretend that nothing was wrong and was unable to remove his façade.

At this moment, his pale lips twitched as he lowered his head to look at her. “I’m not feeling well.”

The forced smile on her lips froze, and she stared at him blankly. As she did not expect him to come clean with her, she did not know how to react and simply stared at him while dumbstruck.

“Don’t go, okay?” Leaning down, he buried his face in her neck. Taking in the sweet scent that belonged to her, it felt like his headache seemed to become less severe. It took her a while to react to his unexpected confession, followed by his plea for her to stay. Coming back to her senses, she reached out and hugged him. “Alright, I won’t go. Why don’t I… accompany you to the room to rest?”

“Okay.”

Alas, Ye Moxuan entered the room with her support. Noticing that his complexion was still poor after letting him sit down, Han Muzi turned around. “I’m going to get you a glass of water.”

In the throes of his pain, he lifted his eyes to look at her. Watching her frantic footsteps, he could not help but frown. He wanted to chide her, but the scene before his eyes seemed to change. He leaned back weakly on the sofa.

Despite her hurry, her footsteps were steady. She was always being careful as she was conscious of her pregnancy. Going into the kitchen downstairs, she found that there was no hot water available—the house had been vacant for so long after all. Moreover, the kettle had been kept away. It took her a long time searching before she found the kettle in a cabinet. Then, she washed it, boiled it once to clean it, and then put another kettle to boil. As it had been so long since it was last used, she was worried there might be a problem with it. While waiting for the water to boil, she decided to go back upstairs. When she got to the door, she turned around again and picked up the kettle and a cup, then she brought them upstairs with her.

Lying on the sofa, Ye Moxuan’s narrow eyes were closed and his eyelashes trembled lightly in the air. Ever since he had discussed simulating reality with Jason, then tried to forcefully stimulate his memory, his mental health seemed to be deteriorating day by day. Under normal circumstances, he would not face any problems, but as long as his memories were stirred up, even by a bit, his psyche seemed to collapse from a huge shock.

The feeling of his memories close to returning, yet he was still unable to remember them was breaking his spirit. Muzi… isn’t back yet. Staring at the white ceiling, his lips curved upward slightly.

Although doing so was extremely hard on his mental health, his memory was gradually returning bit by bit. This was especially evident after returning to China—the first time was meeting Meng Xueyou and now it was because they came back to the Ye residence. He recalled a lot of things, but it still wasn’t everything. When will I finally remember everything?

When Han Muzi returned, Ye Moxuan was sitting upright again. Sitting with his back straight, his appearance was no different from a normal person—besides his poor complexion. Placing the kettle on a table nearby, she plugged it in and turned it on, then walked over to him. “Since it has been vacant for so long, there is no hot water. We’ve no choice but to boil some right now, so wait for a bit.”

Sitting down beside him, she used her hand to wipe away the sweat on his forehead while explaining it to him. In the short period she went downstairs, his forehead was beaded with so much sweat; he must have felt horrible. Worried, she bit on her lip then asked, “Should we… go to the hospital?”

Smiling faintly, he caught the hand that was wiping the cold sweat off his forehead and pulled it down before him. Then, he took out a white handkerchief and carefully wiped down her hand.

“What…” Not understanding his intentions, she looked at him strangely.

“It’s dirty,” he explained as if perceiving her doubt.

She understood then—he meant that the act of wiping away his sweat for him was dirty, so he wiped her hand clean for her. The reason instantly made her speechless and a little annoyed. She said, “What are you talking about? I’m not disgusted by you at all.”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I know.” However, I am disgusted at myself. Putting aside his memory loss, his constant headaches made the pregnant Han Muzi worry and fear for him. If he could, he wanted to solve it on his own, but… he was unable to hide anything from her. After all, they live together.

Despite telling her he understood, he was still wiping her hands; his actions were immensely gentle but firm. Seeing him like that, Han Muzi pulled her hand back from him and wrapped her arms around his neck; she then kissed him repeatedly all over his forehead.

Ye Moxuan was stunned by her kisses. By the time he came back to his senses, she had gotten up. After that, she stared at him closely, her eyes and her expression displaying her displeasure. “If you continue acting like this, I’m going to get angry. I told you I’m not disgusted by you, yet you continue to wipe my hands. Why are you doing that?”

If she didn’t hate it, then so be it. However, he did not expect her to prove it to him like this. The idea was so innocent and stupid that it caught him off guard. He stared at the woman standing so close to him; she was pouting and staring angrily at him. Desire surged through him as he reached out his hand to capture her and pull her into his embrace.

“Ahh…” Before Han Muzi could react, he pulled her into his embrace and she sat down in his lap. She had been hugging his neck previously, but now that she was sitting in his lap, the posture became very ambiguous.

Closing the distance between them, Ye Moxuan caressed her face; his thumb stroked across her lips with a feather-light touch, and his eyes gradually darkened. “Since Mrs. Ye is so passionate, I should respectfully respond in kind.”

Nothing To Give But My Heart Chapter 1026

Ye Moxuan pinched her chin and kissed her. His pale lips carried a faint coolness—like falling snowflakes—but after it met with hers, it gradually became searing hot.

Han Muzi watched as he closed his eyes in concentration and his hands moved from pinching her chin to holding her face. Kissing her with all his heart and emotions, if not for the thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead, she would have believed that this was a beautiful moment for him. It was a pity, but she felt her heart aching for him as she took it all in through her eyes. A kiss may excite him, but can it make him forget the pain?

As the thought passed through her mind, she blinked. Didn’t we agree before: he’s not allowed to kiss me without my permission. But, it’s an exception right now. Should I just… respond in kind?

Deep in her thoughts, the feeling of his lips on hers disappeared suddenly. Coming back to her senses, she saw him staring gloomily at her. Ahem… Don’t tell me, I was too focused thinking about other things, and he realized that I was distracted?

Feeling awkward, Han Muzi subconsciously chewed on her lower lip, then took the initiative to kiss him. Ye Moxuan’s pupils dilated considerably. In the next moment, he dangerously narrowed his eyes, then pressed the back of her head and took control of the kiss. As they kissed passionately in the manor, the sweetness of the kiss steadily chased away the uneasiness and pain he felt.

On the other side, in a house at the Sunshine Community, Xiao Su was leisurely sitting on a sofa, sipping the coffee made in the ghostwriter’s house. Then, he lifted his eyes to look at her; she was sitting with her back to him, working on her laptop.

She had been sitting there for close to half an hour. When he was done with his coffee, he got up to pour himself another cup. As he was refilling his coffee, he noticed that, although her house was not big, she knew how to enjoy life. Her kitchen was very large and was filled with all sorts of appliances—a coffee machine, a bread maker, and a cake mixer among others; she had everything. Furthermore, the fridge was filled to the brim with ingredients. In the past, he heard that ghostwriters were deadbeat homebodies—it was either instant noodles or takeaways. However, seeing as her fridge was filled with fresh ingredients, she probably cooked her meals.

Drinking his coffee, he suddenly thought of something; he looked toward the back of the ghostwriter. Something isn’t quite right. She had been sitting there for 30 minutes. Why has she not said a single word or even got up for a bit? Furthermore, he only asked for a revision; did she need that much time to do it?

Frowning, he placed the coffee cup down, then called out to her, “Hey.”

There was no response.

Xiao Su arched his eyebrows. Is she seriously focused on her work? Why do I feel as if something is amiss? After waiting for a few more minutes, she continued to remain motionless. This is too unusual. With no other choice, he stood up and walked over to her. “Are you done? Why are you taking so long to revise a single document? Are you really a professional ghostwriter?”

While speaking, he circled around to face her, then casually glanced at her laptop before looking up at her face. The ghostwriter was sitting there, but her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly ajar—she was sleeping soundly.

Xiao Su was confused. Who could tell him what was going on? Wasn’t she revising her draft? Why was she asleep in front of her laptop? How did she manage to fall asleep while keeping her back straight? In her sleep, she smacked her mouth. Then, she tilted her head and went back to sleep.

Speechless, he thought, Great; she’s very good at sleeping. Unable to rein in his anger, he reached out and rapped against her desk.

Knock-knock-knock! As if she did not hear it, she continued to sleep soundly.

Losing his patience, he rapped against the desk forcefully. Knock-knock-knock! This time around, he had used quite a lot of strength. If she still did not wake up, then she was truly amazing…

His guess wasn’t wrong; she showed no reaction at all. She almost seemed like an immortal cultivator deep in meditation—unable to hear any sounds or disturbances from the outside. As his confusion reached its peak, he saw a wad of cotton stuffed in her ears.

Smiling mockingly, he reached out to pull out the wads of cotton from both her ears. He planned to take out the cotton, wake her up, and demand that she took care of business. However, when he reached out to pull out the cotton, her hair got caught in his fingers, and he accidentally pulled out a small fistful of hair instead.

“Ow!” In the next second, the house rang out with a shriek that sounded more pitiful than the squeal of a dying pig.

Looking down at the small fistful of hair in his hand, he unwittingly swallowed nervously. It was… an accident.

“F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!” Waking up from her sleep, she immediately took in the fistful of black hair in his hand, then exploded in rage. “What is the meaning of this, Mr. Xiao? I was just slacking off for a bit! I made the revision you wanted, didn’t I? What do you have against me? Why did you attack me?!”

Xiao Su was so confused he couldn’t reply.

“Why did you have to pull out my hair?! Do you know how precious hair is to people like me who write for a living? Trying to come up with writing material every day has caused my hair to fall out drastically, yet you still pulled out my hair… Sob sob sob…”

Hair loss was the nightmare of every girl—especially for people with a high hairline. Moreover, Jiang Xiaobai not only had a high hairline, but she also experienced hair loss. More importantly, ever since she started writing, her hair fall became more severe than before.

Despite scouring the internet every day looking for ways to grow more hair, her hair was like a temperamental creature. No matter what she did, it failed to show results, and her hair fell out steadily, day by day. In the first place, she did not have that much hair, so it felt like she was going to turn bald soon. And now… Xiao Su had pulled out a fistful of her hair.

Her trembling fingers reached up and tenderly touched the sore spot on her head. She felt her fingers touch her scalp—there was no hair left in that spot.

Jiang Xiaobai burst into tears. Stepping forward, she grabbed him by his shirt collar and screamed resentfully. “Tell me; just what do you have against my hair?! Why did you have to do that to my hair?!”

He was a man of reason, however, he had pulled out a small fistful of a lady’s hair; even if he had a legitimate reason, it was useless now. It was so unexpected that, despite being questioned and grabbed by the collar, he could not come up with a reply.

“I’m telling you; if you don’t give me a satisfactory answer today, I won’t let you go! Don’t think I’ll help you revise this draft either! Don’t even hope to take one step out of this house today!”

Xiao Su said nothing and looked at her a little exasperatedly. Is this the same girl as before? How did she turn into such a dominatrix in the blink of an eye? Is it all because of a fistful of hair? However, looking at the amount of hair she had… Xiao Su apologized with some difficulty. “Sorry, it wasn’t intentional. I just wanted to help you remove the cotton, but—”

“You were just waiting for an opportunity to get back at me! How could you have messed up my hair if you were trying to take out the cotton?!”

Nothing To Give But My Heart Chapter 1027

Xiao Su said nothing; he wanted to deny that he was waiting for an opportunity to get back at her, but looking at the small fistful of hair in his hand, he could not think of what to say in his defense. In the end, he simply said straightforwardly, “Look, it has already happened. Since it is my fault, I will apologize for it; you can get angry or do whatever you want.” Pausing, his gaze fell on the laptop screen. “However, can you finish the revision of the draft first?”

Jiang Xiaobai became indignant at his words. “Mr. Xiao, can you be a little more humane? Do you know how precious our hair is to us writers? Look at my hair… I don’t have that much hair in the first place; pulling out such a large chunk of it, does your conscience not hurt?” She pointed at her hair while ranting.

He had not paid any attention to her hair before, but now that she said it, he stole a glance at her hair. Although her hair was not thick, he noticed that it was not quite as little as she claimed it to be; in fact, it looked rather normal. Thus, he spoke bluntly, “You look like you have a decent head of hair on you.”

She said nothing in response.

Pressing his palms together, he continued, “I’m sorry. I’m very sorry. It was all my fault, but it really wasn’t deliberate. As long as you help me revise the draft, I will provide you with adequate compensation as well as an apology. Is that okay with you?”

Looking at his anxious expression which held no remorse over pulling out her hair, she snorted coldly, “I won’t do it. It was already an exception when I promised you to revise the draft. Now that you have offended me, I refuse to do it.”

Saying nothing in response, Xiao Su was about to go crazy. Although Young Master Ye and Young Lady Ye had gone to the manor, he was not sure how long they would stay there. He knew he was safe as long as he completed it before lunch. However, what about after lunch? They couldn’t possibly hang around the manor all day long, could they? They would come back for lunch, and after lunch, Young Master Ye might come looking for him for the documents. If the ghostwriter refused to revise the document, was he supposed to hand over the current version—the overbearing and wicked romance novel—to Young Master Ye?

This is all my fault. He shouldn’t have searched for a ghostwriter online, nor should he have chosen one out of urgent need without performing a background check on what she normally wrote. There was no other way to sugarcoat it—he had dug his own grave.

“It really wasn’t intentional. Why don’t we do it like this; just revise it for me first and you can request higher pay or something later. I will accept your conditions.”

Initially, she wanted to resist until the end, but when she heard him mention money, she narrowed her eyes. “Who do you think I am? Increase my pay? What do you take me for? Do you think I’m a money-grubbing person?”

Xiao Su began, “I—”

“Triple the amount at least!” Before he could speak, Jiang Xiaobai held up three fingers at him.

Stunned, he fell silent for a moment; then, he lowered his eyelids. Fine. Money makes the world go round; humans are no different.

“Okay! Revise it now.”

“Sure.”

In a flash, she put the issue about her hair out of her mind. Sitting down in front of her laptop, she became active. The initial payment was already quite considerable. Now that it was tripled, she could take a break from writing for a while. I can’t stand having to write a piece every day.

Working quickly, she removed all the unwanted sections. It was the only thing he could not stomach anyway, so she only needed to remove the phrases that were unacceptable to him. Standing by the side, Xiao Su occasionally voiced out. “This passage is unnecessary; I don’t think it will help him. Also, this, and this… are unnecessary too.”

While deleting it, she glanced over at him and could not resist asking, “By the way, the Young Master Ye you mentioned, did he lose his memories?”

Startled by her words, he stared at her dangerously. “How did you know?”

She was just an author, therefore, he did not mention the Young Master Ye’s current condition to her. He only mentioned the events he wanted her to write and addressed Young Master Ye by his title only without revealing his real name. Still, for her to ask about this…

Instantaneously, she felt a dangerous aura coming from him followed by a heavy pressure that pressed against her. It scared her so much that the hand holding her mouse trembled. Feeling speechless, she replied, “Come on, if he did not lose his memories, why would you want me to write all these? It’s so simple I can figure it out with my toes.”

Xiao Su kept quiet. Is that so? How does she think with her toes?

“My imagination is very good. Let me tell you something else that would blow your mind away. Your Young Master Ye not only lost his memories, but he is also desperately trying to recover them right now. Moreover, he has put in a lot of effort and suffered tremendously while trying to regain his memories. On the other hand, your Young Lady Ye must be the one who went through the most pain. However, your Young Master Ye is unwilling to let her suffer, so he is quietly trying to bear with it. Am I right?”

Xiao Su looked at her in shock—everything was exactly as she had said. To think she had guessed it all, but how was her guess so accurate?

Seeming to notice his confusion, she went on, “Once I know the beginning, I’ll know the ending too. Your Young Master Ye truly has lived a colorful and dramatic life with so many twists and turns in the plot. How about we discuss it a little? If you give me the creative rights to the story, I won’t charge you any money today. What do you think?”

“Creative rights?”

She nodded. “That’s right; allow me to use it for my novel. As you are aware, I’m an author, and I think this idea will work very well.”

Considering her status, he immediately shook his head and rejected the idea. “You can’t.”

“Why not? I won’t take your money either.”

With a cold expression, he said, “Trust me, if you spread this information out, the person you will offend is extremely terrifying. Don’t even talk about letting your novel see the light of day; you won’t even be alive to see the sky.”

Every word he said was scary, and he successfully terrified her. “I understand!” Forget it. Having a novel might be nice, but she was just a lowly writer. If she offended someone, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy a good life in the future.

Soon, the revision of the draft was completed. Without batting an eye, Xiao Su transferred three times the amount he initially offered over to her bank account. Then, he took the documents and left.

After he left, Jiang Xiaobai washed her face, then lay down and went back to sleep.

Ever since Yan started staying at home, she had been practicing a daily routine of early to bed and early to rise, cooking with her mother, and going to the hospital to visit her father. The 48 hours observation period had ended, but her father had yet to open his eyes. Even so, the doctors said that he had safely passed the dangerous period, so she and her mother were relieved.

Hearing those words, Luo Huimei let out a breath of relief. “That’s great. Yan, when your father wakes up, you better go and apologize to him. Don’t upset him.”

Yan nodded her head gloomily. “I got it, Mom.” In the past, she had a stubborn streak. After being stubborn for all these years, if her father had not gotten into an accident, she might not have known what it feels like to lose something precious.

Nothing To Give But My Heart Chapter 1028

People tend to regret things only after they have lost them. She would not want to experience something as dumb as this again. When Dad wakes up, I’ll treasure my time with him, apologize to him, and spend more time with him in the future.

As the mother and daughter were talking, Luo Huimei began to wipe her tears. “I hope your father can wake up as soon as possible. As long as he’s not awake, my heart can never be at rest.”

“Mom, the doctor has told us that he’s past the critical stage. He should be awake within a day or two.” While Yan was talking, she grabbed her handbag and stood up. “Let’s go to the store. We should get all the groceries ready before Daddy wakes up. After he’s awake, we can cook something nutritious for his recovery.”

Luo Huimei immediately grabbed her bag and headed out with her. When they were on their way down, they bumped into the middle-aged woman living next door, who had just come back from the store.

“Eh, Yan’s back home?” When the middle-aged woman living next door saw Yan, she looked surprised. “Yan, how many years have you not been back? I heard from your mother that you’ve been abroad for the past couple of years. How’ve you been doing? I heard those who went abroad end up with a Caucasian boyfriend; have you found yours?”

Yan was rendered speechless. Since she had been back for so many days, this was her first time bumping into Mrs. Zhang. Mrs. Zhang was known for being the neighborhood gossip—she was especially nosy. Whenever Yan was home back in the days, she would always run into Mrs. Zhang. At that time, Mrs. Zhang would always ask her if she had a boyfriend and whether or not she wanted her to introduce someone to her.

The next day after Yan rejected her offer, Mrs. Zhang would bring a guy to her place and say that she wanted to match-make them. This was a terrifying experience for Yan, who had since then started to avoid Mrs. Zhang whenever she saw her. Now that they met again, if Yan let her know that she was still single, how would she be able to have any peaceful days going forward?

At this point, Yan immediately responded, “I’m back, and my boyfriend’s still abroad as he didn’t come back with me.”

When Luo Huimei heard that, she squinted at Yan suspiciously. “Is your boyfriend still abroad? Didn’t you say it was over? And you…”

Before she could finish, Yan’s expression changed. “Mom!”

Luo Huimei covered her mouth, realizing that she almost exposed the fact that someone had broken up with her daughter. She still wanted to save her face, even if her daughter did not. Luo Huimei then played along, “She’s right. Her boyfriend’s still abroad. It’s because of what happened to Zhou that she’s visiting.”

“She’s right. Mrs. Zhang, we have to go get some groceries. We’ll be going.” As she finished, Yan put her hand around Luo Huimei’s arm and proceeded to walk downstairs. They had decided to stop entertaining Mrs. Zhang.

On the other hand, as the two were leaving, Mrs. Zhang was seen murmuring behind them, “What’s this? If she really has a boyfriend, she would’ve brought him back to show off. How could she afford to leave him there? I think she came back because someone has broken up with her.” She had murmured in a low voice, but it was loud enough for Yan to hear it.

Yan immediately frowned. As she was about to stop walking, Luo Huimei dragged her to continue walking while commenting, “Don’t try to argue with her. Don’t you know how nosy she is? If you get upset with her and start to argue with her, she’ll definitely say something that irritates you even more.”

Very quickly, Yan was dragged all the way to the ground floor. She was furious. “So, I don’t get to respond at all while she talks sh*t behind my back?”

Luo Huimei looked at her faintly in response. “Just let her be. After all, she’s not wrong either.”

Yan did not know how to respond. “Mom, are you really my mother? Why would a mother treat her daughter like this?”

“Yan, let me tell you. I’m your mother, and I’m not a hypocrite. What I care about is being genuine.”

Yan could not help but roll her eyes. She responded helplessly, “That’s very genuine of you.”

After they bought the groceries, they brought them home. While Luo Huimei was putting them away, she commented, “You can go to the hospital first, and I’ll take care of everything at home. Otherwise, when your father wakes up, no one would be around to take care of him.”

Thinking what she said made sense, Yan nodded. “Okay. I’ll head to the hospital then.”

“I’ll bring you some food at noon.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Yan proceeded to grab her handbag from the house and left for the hospital.

Mr. Zhou had been transferred to the normal ward ever since he passed through the critical stage. When Yan walked in there, Mr. Zhou was still unconscious. To Yan, Mr. Zhou looked especially thin and weak at this moment—probably because of the illness. The sight of this saddened her. Then, Yan pulled out a chair, sat down next to the bed, and quietly looked at the person on the bed. Gradually, her eyes became teary. If I’d been a little more filial and came home during the new year, things would not be how they are now.

Yan still remembered the first thing she was told when she met her relatives.

“Yan, how can you not see your father for so many years? As a daughter, how can you not maintain contact with him? Your parents raised you and that’s how you repay them? I won’t sugarcoat my words now; if something horrible happens to your father, you’re to blame.”

“That’s right, Yan. If something happens to him, you will be separated forever. Life is unpredictable, so please don’t be so stubborn next time.”

As much as Yan was certain that her father would be fine at that time, the things that her relatives said to her did terrify her and instill fear in her. I know I’m wrong. I really do.

She never should’ve been this stubborn. So, she had made up her mind this time around; as soon as her father woke up, she would immediately apologize to him. She would move back home to take care of him and her mother in the future and not leave again.

Yan began to tear up and her tears began rolling down her cheeks. She wiped off her tears with her hand, took a deep breath, and lifted her head. Once again, her gaze fell on Mr. Zhou’s face, but this time it fell on a pair of eyes that looked pale and aged.

This startled Yan, who was sitting there stolidly, even though she was giving herself a hard time in her heart.

Thump-thump…

Mr. Zhou woke up earlier. When he opened his eyes, he was not able to move much, and the lights in the room made him feel uncomfortable. After a moment of adapting, he was gradually able to open his eyes again. He saw his daughter sitting in front of him—the daughter whom he had not seen for five years.

He felt that he was still in a trance; he was unable to remember anything about the accident. The only thing he remembered was that the daughter he had not seen for five years was still mad at him and refused to see him. But now that she was right in front of him, Mr. Zhou felt like he was in a dream. Be it dream or reality, as long as Mr. Zhou could see his daughter, he would never take his eyes off her. “Yan?” He called on Yan in his hoarse voice.

The tears that had just ceased shedding rolled back out. She stood there idly for three seconds before pouncing over and hugging him. “Dad, you’re finally awake!”

Nothing To Give But My Heart Chapter 1029

Mr. Zhou felt like it was a dream the moment he was hugged by Yan as it had been years since his daughter last hugged him. Ever since she grew up, she felt that there should be a proper separation between males and females, so they grew apart. Even though Mr. Zhou loved his daughter, he could no longer coddle and pamper her every day now that she was an adult.

Coupled with the fact that the two had had a big fight, they had not seen each other for so many years. Mr. Zhou always reckoned that Yan was reluctant to see him, and as much as he missed his daughter, he was not able to lay aside his ego to ask her to come home, since he was the one who wanted to sever their ties. If he were to ask her to come home, would that not be like slapping himself in the face? Mr. Zhou cared about his image, but Yan cared about her image even more.

After the silent treatment the two had been giving each other all these years, right now, Yan was the one jumping on him to hug him. Furthermore, her warm tears even dripped on his face.

“Is that really you?” Mr. Zhou gently put out his hand to try to touch Yan’s hands while she was in tears.

All of sudden, she seemed to have remembered something, so she quickly retreated. “Look at how excited I got and immediately forgot that you’re still injured. Dad, did I hurt you? Are you feeling unwell? Would you like some water? Or, should I get you the doctor?”

Yan asked many questions and had also answered them herself, leaving no opportunity for Mr. Zhou to respond. Once she finished, she quickly ran out of the ward.

Looking at her, Mr. Zhou helplessly let out a sigh. This isn’t a dream. If this is a dream, how can she be so real? Though so many years have passed, my girl is still a little girl—always in a rush and lacking patience.

In a short amount of time, Yan was able to bring the doctor in. It was the doctor’s charge to bring him over once the patient woke up. The moment Yan thought about this, she instantly went to look for the doctor in charge.

After the doctor came in, he did a full checkup on Mr. Zhou. He asked a few questions and turned to look at Yan. “Ms. Zhou, your father is recovering fine. What he needs right now is to recuperate for some time. During this time, he should avoid eating anything too greasy or spicy; the blander the better to aid his injuries.”

Yan nodded quickly. “Thank you, doctor. I understand. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. If you have any other questions, please come and find me.”

The ward became quiet after the doctor left. After Yan had returned from walking the doctor out of the ward, she did not react the same way as before. Right now, her ears and face appeared to be somewhat red; it was probably because she felt embarrassed about what she did earlier.

After all, they had not seen each other for so many years. As soon as he became awake, she immediately jumped on him. At this moment, Yan felt like she was brought back to her childhood, even though she was already a grownup. Suddenly, she took out her phone—as if she just remembered something. “Let me give Mom a call to tell her that you’re awake.”

Just as she was about to leave, Mr. Zhou suddenly called on her. “Yan.”

Yan paused and stood there, unmoving. At the same time, she started to feel emotionally overwhelmed as her eyes turned teary.

“I haven’t seen you in a while. Come and sit down so I can have a good look at you.”

Covering her mouth, Yan suddenly felt choky and was unable to utter a word.

Her full name was Zhou Xiaoyan. But since she was little, her father always liked to call her Yan. Before she realized, Yan had become what she went by. She did not expect that after all these years, she could still hear her father calling her by this name.

Zhou Xiaoyan was choking with sobs that she could not even bring herself to turn around. Mr. Zhou could only see her stand there with her back facing him, shivering; the suppressed sobbing poked his heart like fine needles. Recalling how the two had not been in contact for the past five years, Mr. Zhou also began to tear up.

After shivering for a while, Yan managed to say in a choking voice, “I-I will get you some water.” When she finished talking, Yan left the ward for a long time before returning. Mr. Zhou waited for a long time for her to come back, but he did not blame her for that as her emotions were out of control earlier.

Now that everything was fine, Yan held a glass of water and walked toward him, appearing to be calm. Apart from her red eyes, she looked normal and calm. “Dad, let me help you up to drink some water.” Yan held him and stuffed two or three pillows behind him. It took some effort as Mr. Zhou had been lying horizontally for so many days, so his body had stiffened.

When Yan passed the glass of water to him, he tried to take it from her with his shaking hands. Seeing the pair of shaking hands made her tear up again. She quickly stood up. “Dad, your hands need more time; let me help you.” She then bent over, brought the glass of water to him, and slowly helped him drink it.

At the same time, Mr. Zhou did not resist. After all, she was the one he had been missing dearly all these years. Now that she was willing to come back to see him, and even stay here to look after him, he was satisfied.

After drinking some water, Yan followed up, “Dad, are you feeling unwell?”

Mr. Zhou shook his head.

“If you’re feeling unwell, please let me know so I can call the doctor.”

“Don’t worry. I’m fine. Didn’t you hear the doctor say earlier that I’m recovering well?”

“That’s what he said, but—”

“Alright. Don’t be too worried. Didn’t you say you were going to give Mom a call? Go for it and tell her that I’m awake so that she’ll stop worrying at home.”

Yan was supposed to make that call earlier but had forgotten about it the moment she broke down. Now that Mr. Zhou had reminded her, she quickly took out her phone and gave Luo Huimei a call.

Meanwhile, Luo Huimei was cooking lunch in the kitchen. The moment she heard that Mr. Zhou had awakened, she immediately turned off the stove. “He’s awake? Really? I’ll head there now.”

“Mom!” Yan called out to her. “Don’t get here in a rush. It’s almost mealtime, so why don’t you come over after you’ve finished cooking. The doctor told me earlier that in the future, Dad’s not supposed to eat anything too greasy; the blander the better. So…”

“I understand. I’ll go and prepare something for you and your dad, then I’ll go to the hospital to look for you guys. Please take good care of your dad and don’t agitate him; do you understand?”

Zhou Xiaoyan responded, “Mom! I’m not that kind of person.” Even though she was stubborn, she knew when and where to behave that way. Right now was not the time for that sort of behavior.

“Alright, alright. Just wait there for me with your dad.”

Yan let out a sigh of relief after she hung up the phone. Then, she slid the phone back into her pocket. “Mom said she’d come over after she’s done with the cooking.”

“Mm-hmm.”

The ward became quiet again. Yan felt somewhat uneasy, so after some thought, she said, “Dad, why don’t I help you wipe your face?”

Nothing To Give But My Heart Chapter 1030

Mr. Zhou was startled when she asked to wipe his face. Before he could deny Yan’s offer, she had already turned around and headed to the bathroom to get some water. After that, she came out of the bathroom with a little tub. The tub was half-filled with water and a white towel sat in it. She brought these items from home so that they could be used after her father woke up.

Yan placed the tub on the cabinet next to the bed and wrung out the towel, getting ready to bend over and wipe Mr. Zhou’s face.

It was probably because they had never been so close ever since Yan grew up, for just as Yan moved to help wipe Mr. Zhou’s face, he felt somewhat awkward.

After a while, Mr. Zhou commented, “Yan, let me do it myself.” As Mr. Zhou finished, he lifted his hand to take the towel from her. As a result of this slight movement, his injuries were affected and caused him much pain. He was in agony.

“Dad, are you okay?” Yan panicked. “Are you hurting? Shall I go get you the doctor?”

Mr. Zhou gathered himself gradually and shook his head. “It’s all good. I think I might have irritated my wounds when I lifted my hand.”

Yan let out a sigh of relief. “I told you to let me help wipe your face. Why do you insist on doing it yourself? You should just lie there quietly. Plus, I’m your daughter, and not just anyone else; why would you deny my offer?” Yan’s tone became serious as she said these. Then, she turned around and rinsed the towel again just so that she could continue to help him wipe his face. She commented, “You’re not worried that I won’t be able to do a good job, are you? Don’t worry. I’ll do it a couple of times so that when Mom arrives later, she’ll be satisfied.”

Mr. Zhou looked at his daughter, who was right in front of him. It had been five years. He had not seen his daughter for five years. But right now, she was right next to him, wiping his face, and even talking to him with a serious tone. Mr. Zhou had on numerous occasions pictured how it would look like when the two met again. He reckoned Yan would still refuse to listen to him, and he would still be stubborn. Yet, the two had reconciled with each other just like that.

At this juncture, a comforting look was seen on Mr. Zhou’s hoary face. “My daughter has finally grown up and knows how to give instructions to her father.”

Yan paused as she heard what he said. Her gaze fell on Mr. Zhou’s loving eyes, and she began to feel bad again when she recalled that she had not seen him even once throughout all these years. She bit her lower lip and her voice choked. “Dad, I’m sorry…”

Mr. Zhou was taken aback.

“I shouldn’t have treated you that way five years ago. All these years… It’s my fault. Will you forgive me? In the future, I’ll stay by your side and never leave anymore.”

Mr. Zhou did not expect her to become so understanding. As she said these words, his eyes turned teary. “Yan, I don’t blame you, so stop blaming yourself.”

“Really? But these five years…”

“Would you like to know what went through my head when the car accident happened?” Mr. Zhou looked at his daughter’s face and let out a smile before resting his gaze on the white ceiling.

“When the accident happened, I was full of regrets that throughout these years… I’ve never given you a call. If… I had called you, we wouldn’t have to wait five years to see each other again. Fortunately, God was gracious enough to let me survive this.” And see you again.

Yan had just composed herself before she heard these moving words, so she tried to hold in her tears. “Dad, stop it. I feel the same way, so let’s not fight again in the future, okay?”

Mr. Zhou nodded with a gentle smile on his face.

“I won’t be stubborn anymore and I won’t be going abroad again. I’ll stay by your side and take care of you.”

This struck Mr. Zhou as Yan had become a completely different person this time around. And as for Yan, she did not have a choice. She was emotionally hurt by Han Qing, and before she could get over that, her father got into a car accident, which was truly a blow to Yan. At that point, she realized that nothing was more important than her parents’ lives. Not her career; not her love life. Nothing weighed more than her parents. So, she decided to pull herself together.

At noon, when Luo Huimei came over to deliver lunch, Yan personally fed Mr. Zhou the porridge the former made. As he had just regained consciousness, his digestive system was not fully functional yet, so he could only take in a small amount of light and bland fluids.

Yan fed him slowly and cautiously. Standing next to them, Luo Huimei saw that and asked, “Are you two good now? Did you talk it out?”

“Of course we did, Mom. Otherwise, why would I be feeding Dad?” Yan threw a glance at Luo Huimei; she looked annoyed, wondering why her mother had to bring that up. She shouldn’t be bringing up this sensitive subject.

When Luo Huimei was about to continue, Yan interrupted her right away. “Mom, did you eat already?”

“Not really. I’ve been busy cooking and forgot about eating. But I brought some food with me for both of us to eat.”

“You can go ahead first.”

“Oh, alright.”

Luo Huimei was not too fussed and began eating. As she was eating, she thought of something and turned to look at Yan, commenting, “Oh, right. When I was on my way to the hospital, I bumped into Mrs. Zhang again.”

This name annoyed Zhou Xiaoyan.

“Mrs. Zhang shared with me about someone’s daughter marrying a rich businessman, and how she started going to all these high-end social places and buying many extravagant things for her parents at home.”

Right now, Yan became even more annoyed. What was Mrs. Zhang trying to get at in telling my mother all these things?

“Mom, don’t tell me you’re also hoping that I could marry a rich businessman and buy expensive things for you and Dad?”

“Come on!” Luo Huimei added, “What kind of person do you think I am? It’s a marriage, not a sale. What’s so good if he’s merely wealthy and nothing more? I heard that even though they’re wealthy, they fight with each other a lot, and sometimes, the daughter would even return to her parents’ home crying. Not that we’re gossiping, but rumor has it that her husband has an affair, which explains why they fight so much. So, what’s so good about being able to afford extravagant stuff? After all, they’re not happy.”

Her words rendered Yan speechless.

“Mom, what are you trying to get at?”

Embarrassed, Luo Huimei put down the bowl in her hand and rubbed her hands. “I just wanted to know how you and your boyfriend broke up.”

Yan responded, “Mom! Didn’t I tell you we weren’t a couple? Please stop asking me about this.” At this point, she lowered her voice. “Plus, Dad’s around.”

Mr. Zhou let out a happy smile as he was called out. He did not seem surprised to hear that but willingly listened to the mother and daughter duo argue with each other. Scenes like these that warmed his heart had not happened in a long time.

“Your dad is no stranger, so why are you reluctant to let him hear this? You’re all grown up now, and not to mention, turning into an old woman soon.”