"Step aside," Gu Yizhou said coldly, fixing his gaze on Manager Cen; his expression was as frigid as if dusted with a layer of frost.
A mere glance at his face was enough to make Manager Cen's heart pound with terror, yet he still mustered his courage. "President Gu, just give me three minutes. If you aren't satisfied with my explanation..." Su Mianmian was just about to see what fresh lies Manager Cen could concoct to exonerate himself when, suddenly, a large hand covered her eyes.
"Easy now—don't look." No sooner had the words left his lips than Su Mianmian felt Gu Yizhou's body—which was holding her close—give a sudden, violent jolt. The very next second, the thud of a blunt object striking the coffee table rang out, followed by the clatter of wine bottles being knocked over in the collision.
Immediately afterward, a muffled groan was heard, followed by Lin Can's startled cry: "Uncle!" The private room instantly erupted into chaos once more—screams and cries of pain filled the air—until, a short while later, as the door to the room was slammed shut, everything fell silent.
Gu Yizhou held Su Mianmian close as he and Gu Jingyu boarded the ambulance together; Song Zhi, meanwhile, insisted on staying behind to explain the situation to Gao Ze. Inside the ambulance, the medic performed a preliminary cleaning of the wound on Su Mianmian's forehead.
The wound wasn't deep, but the laceration was quite long, resulting in a significant amount of blood loss. The medic advised that once they reached the hospital, a CT scan of her head would be necessary to rule out any potential concussion.
Noticing that Gu Yizhou kept his eyes fixed on her without uttering a word—and realizing he must be consumed with worry—Su Mianmian decided to try and lighten the mood; she gently tugged at his sleeve.
"I told you, I've got a hard head! If that had happened to an ordinary person—getting whacked with a wine bottle like that—their skull would have been cracked wide open. All I got was a little cut." Su Mianmian finished speaking, only to see that Gu Yizhou's expression hadn't brightened much at all. It was Gu Jingyu, standing nearby, who still looked visibly shaken—his face betraying the lingering fear he felt over the incident. "Sister-in-law, you call *this* just a 'little cut'? You have no idea how much blood you were losing earlier. When I first saw you, I honestly thought you were about to die!" "Gu Jingyu!" Gu Yizhou shot Gu Jingyu a cold, withering glare. "If you can't say anything sensible, just keep quiet."
Gu Jingyu pouted, thinking to herself: *I said 'almost,' didn't I? It's not like she actually died—why is he suddenly being so fierce?* Pouting again, she silently scooted a little further behind Su Mianmian, not daring to utter another word. The hospital already had staff waiting specifically for them.
After the trio stepped out of the ambulance, they were escorted directly to the various examination rooms. When the results came back, they confirmed a mild concussion—which explained why Su Mianmian had been feeling dizzy and nauseous. Gu Yizhou immediately instructed the hospital to admit Su Mianmian as an inpatient.
Although Su Mianmian felt it was entirely unnecessary, seeing Gu Yizhou's perpetually grim expression, she didn't dare object. Once she was settled comfortably in her hospital bed, Gu Jingyu returned after finishing her own check-up. Aside from a slight sprain in her wrist, she had suffered no other injuries.
Hearing this, Su Mianmian finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Gu Jingyu had accompanied her to the scene; if anything had happened to her, Su Mianmian wouldn't have known how to explain it to Uncle Gu. "Sister-in-law, Big Brother looks really angry—he's being so intimidating."
Su Mianmian silently glanced toward the doorway, where Gu Yizhou was currently speaking with a doctor to inquire about post-treatment care. He was typically impeccably dressed, yet at this moment, his shirt looked slightly disheveled. His already sharply defined features appeared particularly stern and forbidding, accentuated by his complete lack of a smile.
Su Mianmian couldn't quite figure out why he was angry. After all, when he had held her just moments ago, his arms had gripped her so tightly that she had briefly thought it was a sign of how much he cared for her. Now, however, it seemed that wasn't the case.
Su Mianmian pursed her lips. "It's probably just because I've caused him some trouble, so he's upset." As Su Mianmian spoke those words, Gu Yizhou happened to walk back into the room. As if he had caught what she said, he paused mid-stride, then turned his gaze toward Gu Jingyu. "I've sent a car for you; go on home now and let your sister-in-law get some rest." Gu Yizhou was looking so stern that Gu Jingyu, who had already been itching to make a getaway, seized the opportunity. Waving at Su Mianmian, he said, "Alright then, Sis-in-law, I'll come back to see you tomorrow." With that, he bolted out of the hospital room in a flash.
Seeing that Gu Jingyu had left, Su Mianmian silently rolled over, turning her back to Gu Yizhou as she lay on her side. When she heard the sound of steady footsteps rounding the foot of the bed to approach the side she was facing, Su Mianmian quickly squeezed her eyes shut.
Su Mianmian heard the scrape of a chair being pulled out and the sound of Gu Yizhou sitting down; moments later, a large hand gently came to rest upon the crown of her head. "Are you angry?" The moment she heard Gu Yizhou's voice, Su Mianmian felt an inexplicable surge of grievance; the corners of her eyes turned red, and her voice grew thick with emotion. "No."
Gu Yizhou's large hand slid from the top of her head down to her cheek, giving it a gentle pinch. "Su Mianmian, even a small child knows that when they see people fighting, they should step aside and take cover. Why, then, did you insist on rushing right into the middle of it?"
Gu Yizhou's voice was low and deep, his tone resembling that of an elder lecturing a disobedient child—stern, yet tinged with helplessness. Su Mianmian felt as though Gu Yizhou was blaming her; her eyelashes fluttered rapidly as tears welled up and trickled down the corners of her eyes onto the pillow, making her voice sound muffled and thick.
"It wasn't just some random stranger fighting—it was Zhizhi! She's my best friend. Was I really supposed to just stand there and watch while someone bullied her?"
Gu Yizhou let out a soft sigh. Su Mianmian—this young girl who usually appeared so soft, gentle, and timid—turned out to be more decisive and courageous than anyone else when a crisis struck. "And what was the result?" "What?"
Not understanding what Gu Yizhou meant, Su Mianmian opened her eyes, revealing the redness in the whites of her eyes. Gu Yizhou gazed quietly at her. "You were worried about your best friend being bullied, so you rushed in to help. But what was the outcome?"
Su Mianmian froze. The outcome? She had been struck over the head with a beer bottle, had her mobile phone snatched away, and was threatened not to call the police. Finally grasping the meaning behind Gu Yizhou's words, she bit her lip and remained silent. Gu Yizhou withdrew the hand he had been stroking over Su Mianmian and spoke slowly, unhurriedly.
"There were many ways you could have saved your friend—calling the police, calling me, or at the very least, seeking help from others. Yet you chose the stupidest method of all: taking the beating yourself."
"Su Mianmian, even Gu Jingyu had the sense to go fetch security guards; are you really less capable than a high school student?" Hearing this, Su Mianmian felt deeply wronged. After all, she had just risked her own safety to save a friend; if he wasn't going to praise her, fine—but how could he scold her like this?
Tears streamed ceaselessly down Su Mianmian's face. "What do you mean I'm 'less capable than a high school student'? Jingyu *did* go to get the guards, but the guards and the manager were cut from the same cloth; when they arrived, they actually refused to let us leave! Zhizhi even tried to call the police, but in the end, they snatched her phone away!"
Su Mianmian's arguments were completely illogical—nothing more than irrational rambling—yet Gu Yizhou remained patient. "Mianmian, the things you're describing are low-probability events; you won't encounter such terrible circumstances every single time."
Su Mianmian pouted. "Well, I guess I just have rotten luck, then—I happened to run right into it! Besides, haven't you ever heard the saying, 'Concern clouds judgment'? When it comes to people you're close to—if they're in danger—you naturally don't stop to consider the consequences; you simply choose the most direct way to help them."
Tears still flowing, Su Mianmian finished her long-winded speech, leaving a large wet patch on her pillow. Gu Yizhou's heart ached at the sight, yet his tone showed no signs of softening. "Then did it ever occur to you that *you* have a family, too? If something were to happen to you, what would your family do?"
Gu Jingyu had said that the moment she saw Su Mianmian's face covered in blood, she thought Su Mianmian was dying. But the moment *Gu Yizhou* saw Su Mianmian's face covered in blood, he felt as though his own heart had stopped beating.
In that instant, he was suddenly reminded of his father—specifically, the moment the firefighters lifted his father's body off of him, revealing his father's face, which was also stained a vivid crimson. He truly, deeply loathed that feeling. Upon seeing the sudden shift in Gu Yizhou's expression, Su Mianmian read the deep concern reflected in his eyes. Reflecting more carefully on what Gu Yizhou had just said, she realized that she truly *had* acted recklessly today; her tone softened involuntarily.
"I wonder who it was this morning who promised they'd never be harsh with me? Look how little time has passed, and you've already gone back on your word."
Gu Yizhou furrowed his brows and let out a deep sigh. "Mianmian, I'm not being harsh with you. I'm telling you this in all seriousness: you must cherish your health and prioritize your own safety above anyone or anything else."
Su Mianmian let out a soft "Oh," wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "But if the person being bullied back there had been *you*, I still would have rushed in to protect you without a moment's hesitation."
She really was—utterly incorrigible, stubborn to a fault.
Yet, at that very moment, Gu Yizhou felt his chest swell with emotion at hearing those words. He knew Su Mianmian wasn't just paying lip service; back at the ancestral estate, she had indeed stood firm and shielded him behind her own body.
Unable to utter another word of reproach, Gu Yizhou sat down on the edge of the bed and gathered Su Mianmian into his arms. His large hand gently brushed against the gauze bandage on her forehead. "Does it hurt much?"
Su Mianmian gave a muffled "Mm," her voice thick with emotion. "A little."
She hadn't really felt it earlier, but now that the wound had been treated and bandaged, the pain actually seemed to have intensified. She recalled when Gu Yizhou had injured his forehead; his wound had been far deeper than hers, yet every time she changed his dressing, he hadn't let out a single cry of pain.
As the two were speaking, the door to the hospital room suddenly burst open. Song Zhi entered—her voice preceding her arrival.
"Mianmian, my beautiful girl! I heard the doctor say you have a mild concussion—is everything..." She cut herself off mid-sentence as her gaze fell upon the two figures half-embracing on the hospital bed; her large, almond-shaped eyes went wide as saucers. "M-Mianmian? You... you and your brother-in-law...?"