Chapter 111: Got Sick  

Actually, Tang Yun wasn’t sure if Jing Yichen still had the habit of carrying a white handkerchief with him. It was just a fluke that hit its target. Judging from Shangguan Ning’s expression, she knew that Jing Yichen hadn’t changed in this regard.

Tang Yun smirked.

“All those years ago, I was really into painting. I was a fine artist too, if I may say so myself. Invariably, I would get some paint on my face, in the process of working on a canvas. Initially, it happened accidentally but later I would smear some paint on my face, on purpose. He would pull out a handkerchief and wipe it off my face. That’s how he got into this habit of always carrying a white kerchief with him.The way he wiped off the paint from my face, was so endearing. Ah, those were the days!”

Shangguan Ning kept telling herself not to lose her temper – losing her temper would mean admitting that Tang Yun had won. What Tan Yun had said, might not have been true, and she didn’t need to believe her.

Her heart though, kept her restless.

“Oh, I even taught him to paint, you know. Haha. Initially, he painted terribly. He would paint bears that resembled pigs. I wonder how he did it. I still have many of his weird-looking works of art. Things have changed and he paints really well right now. He likes to paint sketches of me and he does a pretty good job of it, don’t you think ?”

Each word uttered by Tang Yun pierced into Shangguan Ning’s heart, like a knife.

She kept tolerating the pain, consoling herself, telling herself that all this was Jing Yichen’s past and she need not bother about it.

What Tang Yun said next, though, broke her composure.

“He doesn’t play tennis anymore, right? Guessing by your expression, I’m guessing he doesn’t. Do you know why he gave it up? Sigh.. of course you don’t. You are so pathetic. Of course you don’t know anything. You thought that you could have him, if you married him. To be honest, I had overestimated you. I had thought that you would definitely be a piece of work, who would atleast be able to match up to me, but sadly, you’re just a poor copy. You are just like those foolish women, who would hang around Yichen all the time. You are all the same. He doesn’t care about the likes of you, at all.”

As of that moment, Tan Yun was proud of herself.

Shangguan Ning had lost all confidence and patiently waited for Tang Yun to get done.

Tang Yun knew that this discussion had achieved it purpose. She thought she’d end it with a final blow to Ning, “Yichen played tennis because of me and gave up tennis because of me too. He stopped playing tennis after I went missing. He is perfect in every single way, except that he cares too much about the past. He doesn’t approve of me living in the USA. I wasn’t keeping very well, in terms of my health, so he forced me to move back to China, so that he could come see me and take care of me anytime, anywhere.”

If Shangguan Ning wasn’t so heartbroken, she would have found a loophole in Tang Yun’s explanation.

Tang Yun had said that she and Jing Yichen weren’t in touch for ten years. If she had been incommunicado, how did she know that Jing Yichen had stopped playing tennis, after she went missing?

Wasn’t it weird that all her knowledge of Jing Yichen was upto date, even though they hadn’t been in touch?

Unfortunately, however, Shangguan Ning’s minds wasn’t on these details, as of now.

She was so upset with Jing Yichen. She wished he were here with her, at this very moment, pacifying her and telling her that all of this wasn’t true.

At some point, in this dialogue, the glass of water that Shangguan Ning was holding on to, dropped onto the dull grey carpet but she wasn’t aware of it. She didn’t even feel the water that had splattered on her heels and trousers.

“In case you don’t know it, already – Yichen has always belonged to me. He will do anything and everything I ask him to, even if it means giving up his life. If you don’t believe me, you can call him right now and ask him about it. See what he has to say.”

Having said this, Tang Yun knew, her job here was done.

She thought to herself, “No one is allowed to rob me of my man. No one. No one is good enough to marry Jing Yichen, except for me.”

Shangguan Ning didn’t know when Tang Yun left. She didn’t even know how she got home, herself.

The rest of the day had passed in a daze. Shangguan Ning was numb with pain.

She sat by the large ceiling-to-the floor window in Jing Yichen’s study, for a very, very long time. The gentle breeze played with her short hair.

For some reason, however, Shangguan Ning didn’t cry at all. She didn’t shed a tear.

Maybe it was because her heart was stronger than it used to be, after all she had been through a similar episode, the last time she was engaged. She trusted Jing Yichen’s love for her and this time she genuinely believed that she had made the right decision by marrying Jing Yichen.

Shangguan Ning failed to get out of bed, the following day.

She struggled to get up and chose to lie in the sheets. She called Lu Qing, telling him that she might need a day off again.

Lu Qing said nothing but told her to take care of herself, before hanging up.

Shangguan Ning felt quite guilty towards her work and towards Lu Qing. He had, after all, been a patient and diligent teacher. He had taught her everything she knew about work. And here, she kept running into problems and taking days off from work. She shouldn’t have sat by the window for so long, last night. The wind was chilly and she was sure that she was coming down with something.

She found some medicine from the kit at home, took some pills and fell asleep shortly after.

The servants had no idea that she was unwell. They left her alone, seeing that she was sleepingin the bedroom. In the meanwhile, they laid the table and kept the food ready, so that she could eat whenever she chose to.

When Jing Yichen returned from Australia at midnight, he didn’t think much when he didn’t meet with Shangguan Ning. He assumed Shangguan Ning was just sleeping.

When he tiptoed into the room and took her into his arms. He instantly realised that something was wrong.

Shangguan Ning’s body was boiling hot. Her face was flushed. She was running high temperature.

She was still wearing her uniform, from the day before, instead of her pajamas. Had she not been seriously ill, she would definitely have changed her clothes before going to bed.

Jing Yichen panicked. He shook her gently and called her name softly. “Ning, wake up, it is me, wake up!”

Shangguan Ning squirmed uncomfortably. Dizzy, she forced her eyes open. She saw him and pushed him away, disdainfully. “Go away, leave me alone.”

The fever made her weak, but the pain in her heart refused to go away. She hadn’t forgotten what Tang Yun had said to her, the day before.

She lacked the stamina to push Jing Yichen away.

Jing Yichen didn’t know what was wrong and why was his Ning, behaving in this manner. He was also upset because she was so unwell and no one was aware of it. If he hadn’t come home early ...the consequences could have been too dire to imagine.

Ignoring her protests, he picked her up, went downstairs, laid her down in the backseat of the car and then drove to the hospital as soon as he could.

Landscape Compound was only a few minutes from Family Mu’s Hospital. Jing Yichen entered the hospital with Shangguan Ning in his arms.

Mu Qing happened to be on night duty. Seeing Jing Yichen carrying an unconscious Shangguan Ning, he knew something was wrong.

It was a good thing, Mu Qing had the presence of mind to inform the Emergency Ward of their arrival. Before Jing Yichen asked him for help, he had already started to do his job.