Proofread by Zhou Zhijie

Seeing her slightly heaving chest, Zhong Shaoting feels relieved. When walking closer, he finds her face sickly pale. Her big eyes, which used to be bright and full of spirit, are now wearily closed, with somewhat sunken sockets. Besides, her cheekbones have become prominent and her red lips have turned pale. Taking an overall look, her whole body is much thinner than before.

Zhong still remembers the first time he saw Ding Manman. At that time she and Fang Hao were sweetly selecting wedding photos when her exquisite little face was full of happiness. Her smile was so fascinating that he couldn't control the desire to destroy it little by little!

But now, looking at Ding who is so weak, Zhong doesn’t want to torture her any longer. “Just give her some time to restore her health,” he says to himself, as he can get even with her later.

Zhong acts as he says. From that day on, Ding has been treated like a normal patient whose life becomes routines, sleeping and eating. What’s more, all the food she eats is nutritious and restorative.

Zhong Shaoting stops appearing suddenly in front of her to get her tortured. And even if he meets her, he says nothing humiliating, which makes Ding rather confused.

Because of the serious wounds on her hands, Dr. Liu told her not to move casually until the wounds are healed. Now she is like a paralyzed patient who is put in bed and is totally taken care of by others while eating, drinking and washing. If Ding didn’t know clearly that she is in Zhong Shaoting’s villa, she would think that she is in a dream.

Sun Ling’er often comes to see her. Whenever seeing her hands bound up tightly, Sun can’t help but scold her brother fiercely. Ding Manman really wonders where the Sun Ling’er, who was so afraid of her brother the first time they met, has gone. But she knows that Sun is just trying to please her by dispraising her brother so harshly that he appears unbearable from head to toe.

Every time Sun mentions Zhong Shaoting’s name, Ding will frown unconsciously, with her face getting darkened as well. Therefore, Sun has to avoid mentioning him.

A week later, Ding Manman’s hands have almost recovered. But Dr. Liu still tells her not to get out of bed. Actually Dr. Liu is supposed not to have the power to restrict her freedom. However, to her surprise, no matter what Dr. Liu tells her to do, the servants will absolutely make sure to carry out the orders, just as they are ordered by Zhong Shaoting himself. Although Ding is kind of confused, she doesn't ask anything.

One night, Ding feels a little thirsty after waking up, but the maid on duty has already gone to sleep. She has to go to look for some water downstairs in the fridge on her own.

While descending the stairs, Ding sees Zhong coming back from outside. They haven’t seen each other since she woke up from her faint, which is at least considered by Ding Manman.

Standing awkwardly at the end of the staircase, she can neither go forward nor draw back. It is Zhong Shaoting who looks away first after a brief glance at her. He then takes off his suit and randomly puts it on the clothes stand. After changing into his slippers, Zhong sits down in the sofa and turns on his laptop, starting to handle some files.

Viewing the whole process, Ding Manman just stands still there as she unconsciously feels afraid every time she sees the man.

After a while, Ding remembers that she actually is the victim. She doesn't need to be afraid at all. Considering this, she raises her head and crosses the living room with sufficient courage, totally ignoring Zhong’s presence.

The two keep silent until Ding Manman reaches the kitchen. With no reasons, Ding Manman feels it quite strange to get along with Zhong like this, but she doesn't know where it is strange.

Unfortunately, she then encounters a problem: as her hands are bound up, she fails to open the cap of the bottle after several attempts. When she tries to pour water from a water jug, she only ends up spilling it onto the floor. It is the first time she has felt so powerless.

Suddenly, Zhong appears in the kitchen, which takes Ding aback when she turns back. Her sufficient courage disappears in a second. Is he going to torture her again? Ding can’t stop thinking of this. After all, he still won’t let her go, so the peace that has lasted for so many days is just a fake impression.

In a short moment Ding has got prepared for the worst. But Zhong only opens the fridge and takes out a bottle of mineral water. After opening the cap, he looks dissatisfied. Casually putting the bottle of water aside, he leaves with a cup of coffee in his hand.

Ding goes rigid and overwhelmed with fear and relief. She has thought that she was going to be tortured again, but it has turned out that he only came for a cup of coffee.

When Ding is about to leave the kitchen in spite of her thirst, she sees the bottle of mineral water put aside by Zhong, its cap open. Looking at the bottle of water and Zhong, whose attention is focused on handling the files in the living room, she hesitates for a long while before she lifts the bottle and takes a sip.

Ding then ponders that since the water has been drunk by her, Zhong, who is obsessed with cleanliness, will absolutely not touch it anymore. Therefore, she takes away the mineral water with satisfaction.

When passing by the living room, Ding sees that Zhong shaoting is still tackling files. She also notices that the coffee he took is left untouched, but she doesn’t care much about it.

On hearing the door closed, Zhong takes his eyes off the laptop and looks in the direction of the kitchen. After he finds that the bottle of mineral water has disappeared, the corners of his mouths form a perfect curve.

In fact, Zhong Shaoting had intended to ignore her and force himself to focus on the files. But as his ears were out of control, he couldn’t help but listen to the sound in the kitchen.

When he “unconsciously” saw her fail to open the bottle with her clumsy hands, he decided not to do anything! But the next second he found himself in the kitchen, getting a cup of coffee he didn't need at all. Besides, he even helped her open the cap of a bottle of mineral water.

This decision was just as spontaneous as the one to sit in the sofa instead of going back directly to the study as he originally intended when seeing her coming downstairs.

The reasons are that he hates mineral water and at that time compared with going back to the study room, he just preferred to sit here. So it is absolutely not because he cares about her. After thinking for a while, Zhong persuades himself in such a self-deceptive way.

But when thinking of the bottle of mineral water taken away by Ding, Zhong Shaoting can’t help curving up the corners of his mouth. She is such a clumsy girl that she can’t even open a bottle of water.

The next day, Ding is lying in bed watching the news on TV. The news says that recently many companies have been closed down under the impact of the financial crisis. In particular, some small companies have suffered the most, and many of them have gone bankrupt directly. Only a small number of big companies still run on with their operation.

Seeing this, Ding remembers that Zhong seems very busy lately. Is his company also affected by the financial crisis?