Qin Shu had stood at the precipice between life and death before. She could relate, to an extent, with some of the thoughts a person had while toeing the edge. Therefore, Jun Li’s present morbidity was not unfamiliar to her.

“Cherish the present and see the beauty of things rather than dwell on the many ‘ifs’.”

Jun Li threw her a reassuring smile. “I understand. You don’t have to worry.”

Jun Li’s voice carried a calming quality. A simple sentence was enough to put people listening at ease.

Qin Shu returned to her room. Before she could enter, Fu Tingyu opened the door, leaning against the frame with his raven-black hair still dripping. His fair, jade-like skin had turned red from his hot shower. A white bath towel covered the lower half of his body just below his mermaid line.

Fu Tingyu was undeniably an attractive man.

Qin Shu gulped, and the image of an adonis stepping out of the showers came to her mind unbidden.

In the fog of her wandering mind, she did not notice when Fu Tingyu appeared by her side, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a fierce hug. Qin Shu felt a sudden rush of heat crawl up her neck, causing her to flush. Was it just her, or did the temperature around her suddenly increase?

Noting Qin Shu’s reaction to his rather bold action, Fu Tingyu sighed in relief. “I thought you ran over to sleep with Xiao Jiu.”

He returned from a chat with Gu Yan moments earlier but did not see Qin Shu when he arrived at the guestroom. He thought she was trying to avoid him.

With Qin Shu’s appearance, Fu Tingyu felt the knot in his heart loosen a little. It made him happy.

Qin Shu blinked away the haze clouding her thoughts. Placing her hands against his chest, she tried pushing him away but met with resistance in the form of his muscular chest. The heat from contact with him was scalding to her touch. “I came to retrieve my clothes.”

Fu Tingyu grabbed Qin Shu’s hand before she could pull away. He dragged her into the room, not giving her a chance to protest. “It’s getting late. Let’s go to bed.”

Qin Shu was wearing a thin nightgown. As Fu Tingyu hugged her, she could feel the firm contours of his body pressing against her through the thin fabric. His temperature was frighteningly high. It made her recall the previous night when he insisted on hugging her to sleep.

She knew better than anyone else how bad Fu Tingyu’s self-control was.

It made her feel uncomfortable, and she made it clear.

Qin Shu took two steps to the side, her nightgown brushing past Fu Tingyu’s covered knees. “I don’t think so. I think we should sleep separately. It’s obvious you need some time to calm yourself.”

Fu Tingyu knew the cause of Qin Shu’s resistance. What happened the night before was not lost on him, and he knew he could not push his luck. It seemed he would have to settle for second-best. “I’ll sleep on the sofa while you sleep in the bed. Of course, I wouldn’t mind if you’d like to sleep together.”

“…” Qin Shu was used to Fu Tingyu’s overbearing attitude. It gave her a headache, and she did not want to argue with him. “Fine.”

She strode to the bed, lifted its covers, and rolled under them. Just as she was making herself comfortable, she noticed Fu Tingyu had followed her. “Didn’t you say you would sleep on the sofa?”

Fu Tingyu adopted a pitiful expression. “Would you be so cruel as to force your hubby to sleep on the lumpy sofa?”

Qin Shu almost snorted out of sheer anger. “Hah! You say that, but you don’t seem to have any qualms having your way with me while I’m asleep.” Something felt odd about her choice of words, so she quickly amended, “Can you guarantee that you won’t behave like some hoodlum if we shared this bed?”

Qin Shu’s words amused Fu Tingyu. “You are my wife, so it’s normal. If you were any other woman, I would be Like Liu Xiahui, sitting at the edge of the bed, flustered and unsure.”

“I’m going to sleep,” Qin Shu declared. She had neither the time nor the energy to play his games. She threw the covers over her and closed her eyes.

She knew better than anyone what kind of person Fu Tingyu was.

Fu Tingyu stood by the bed, looking at his wife’s sleeping form. He had a wife and a bed they could share, but one she would not let him sleep in with her. Who could be more miserable than him?

He sighed, helpless. He shuffled to the sofa with slow, sad steps and tried to make himself comfortable on the cold, mocking couch. Fu Tingyu tossed and turned but did not feel sleepy at all.

The room sank into silence as Qin Shu slept. It had not taken much effort to fall asleep; she was so tired that she could have slept anywhere.

Midnight…

Fu Tingyu’s pitch-black eyes fluttered open from their previously half-lidded state. In them was a reflection of the small bulge sleeping in bed, dead to the world. Long, black hair pooled over the edge of the bed, falling in gentle waves. As he stared at his wife, a hint of gentility entered his gaze.

Despite the hour, Fu Tingyu did not feel sleepy.

In the three hours since she fell asleep, he had spent it reminiscing the day they met.

He still remembered how she knocked him down and sat on him, how she looked so much like a porcelain doll with her snow-white skin and round cheeks—those bright eyes shining like obsidian pearls and those long eyelashes that curled in on themselves.

It suddenly reminded him of when he met his sweet Cutie Pie when he was only eight.

That Cutie Pie had been obedient and well-behaved. As for her…

At first, he had thought Qin Shu would be the same, but that changed as soon as she fell on top of him with her clothes torn and in disarray. It was clear she was a feral creature.

However, every time he saw her and Han Xiao together, she would act very obedient, especially when standing beside him. She held onto Han Xiao’s clothes with one hand and looked up at Han Xiao with eyes filled with adoration. It was a look so similar to the one he had received from his Cutie Pie.

The more he thought of the past, the less tired he felt.

He stared at the large bed. He could hear it now, beckoning him. Ensnared by the sweet promises whispered in his ear, he shook off his quilt and slipped into his slippers, padding over to the bed.

Qin Shu had her back towards him.

He gently raised to covers and crawled under the blanket, lying beside her. In an instant, his arms were around her, pulling her smaller body against his. Fu Tingyu’s actions were seamless, flowing with practised ease from one to the next as if he performed it daily.

Fu Tingyu rested his chin against Qin Shu’s soft hair, inhaling the sweet fragrance of her shampoo. He felt much more at ease now. Not long after, he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Fu Tingyu woke up earlier than Qin Shu. He did not want her to know he had slept with her last night.

After breakfast, Qin Shu took advantage of Fu Tingyu’s absence to secretly pull Gu Yan aside. “How is Jun Li’s body?”

Gu Yan looked at Qin Shu in confusion. “Didn’t you lose your memory? Why are you still…” He paused, a thought popping to mind, “Did Tingyu tell you?”

Qin Shu did not know how she would explain herself, but Gu Yan’s words provided her with the perfect alibi, and she nodded.

Gu Yan hesitated but then remembered that Qin Shu had lost her memory. It should not matter much whether he said anything or not.

“I can’t feel Jun Li’s pulse, though his life isn’t in immediate danger. I’m just afraid there will be side effects from the treatment method.”

Qin Shu asked, “Side effects? What do you mean?”

“Gu worms aren’t a conventional treatment method, and its nature is opposed to most traditional treatment methods. It is… unclear how his body will react.”

Gu Yan answered very conservatively because this was different from detoxification. An antidote would suffice in most situations involving poisoning. Gu worms were a whole new kettle of fish altogether.

Qin Shu suddenly felt a little uneasy when she heard this. Detoxification and Gu worms were different. If anything happened, Gu Yan would not be able to do anything since it was not within his area of expertise.

“We can only let nature take its course. Without those Gu worms, Jun Li would not be alive at all. He’s already fighting for every second he can,” Gu Yan comforted.

When Fu Tingyu came back, he saw Qin Shu and Gu Yan standing behind the pillar as if having an illicit conversation.

A dark look flashed in his eyes.