Chapter Five: The Accident

He drove steadily, his tone composed: "Lanshan, I know you're angry, but you still love me, don't you? Let's start over. Give me some time. I'll explain everything to your sister. We'll go abroad together and never come back. Wasn't that our plan? We'd have a son and a daughter. Didn't we—"

The more he spoke, the more outrageous he became. My head felt like it was about to explode. I reached over, desperately trying to get him to let me out of the car.

I couldn't reach him, so I unfastened my seatbelt and grabbed for the steering wheel.

The car swerved wildly out of control. Du Fanchuan began to laugh, holding my hand down. "Lanshan, let's be star-crossed lovers on the run. Even if we end up in hell, we won't be apart."

Furious, I struck at him, the screech of brakes rising and falling around us. Coming back to my senses, I saw our car hurtling toward a roadside utility pole.

Terrified, I screamed at Du Fanchuan to stop the car.

But at the crucial moment, he actually slammed on the brakes.

The pole toppled, crashing onto the hood. The violent impact shook my body; I was thrown down hard.

My eye struck something sharp, a jolt of pain.

The car didn't stop—it crashed through the guardrail and flew off the road.

The early spring moat was icy cold. I struggled for a moment before giving up, utterly powerless.

When I woke, thick bandages covered my eyes. Though I was afraid, I forced myself to remain calm.

Xia Qi clung to me, sobbing. "Yi Lanshan, you nearly scared us to death! Did you really love that bastard so much you didn't even care about your own life?"

Li Wanqiu asked where I was hurt. I shook my head—everywhere hurt, and nowhere did.

Qilin tried to comfort me: "Don't be afraid. The doctor said that although it's dangerous, you won't lose your sight. You just need to rest."

I took a deep breath and asked how long I'd been unconscious.

Xia Qi huffed, "It's the eighth day. We all thought you'd never wake up."

Only then did I learn that when those kind strangers pulled me from the water, my arms were covered in glass shards and my heart had stopped beating for a time.

Xia Qi said the doctor issued a critical condition notice; my grandfather fainted on the spot.

I asked if anything else had happened while I was comatose. Xia Qi and Li Wanqiu fell silent, but Qilin sneered. "Du Fanchuan has pulmonary edema now. Everyone's saying you just couldn't let him go, that when he drove you away, he was trying to cut things off for good. But you, in a fit of rage, wanted to die with him. Lanshan, what really happened?"

I shrugged. "They're not wrong. That's exactly it. I just couldn't let him go."

He sucked in a cold breath. "Don't I know what kind of person you are? You're terrified of death."

I collapsed onto the bed, weak and exhausted. "I'm not afraid of dying. I just wanted to die with him."

I took a long leave of absence, treating the hospital as my home and settling in quietly.

Perhaps because I had brushed so close to death, my father never scolded me again. Every day, he fussed over me, as if nothing had ever happened.

I couldn't stand it, though. So when he told me he'd brought back some medicine from abroad, I asked, "And what about those two?"

I couldn't see his expression, but after ten seconds, he sighed. "They'll be leaving in a few days."

I nodded. "Good."

We fell silent once more. After a long time, I called softly, "Yi Guangshan."

My father answered, asking, "Where does it hurt?"

I lifted my hand to my forehead, steadying my voice so it wouldn't tremble. "It's nothing. I just wanted to call your name."

I did my best not to cry, because the doctor had warned me—tears were strictly forbidden in my current state.

To shed tears for someone unworthy—what a waste.