How could he look at her with such eyes?
Ming Zhi Rou’s body stiffened slightly as she slowly moved Ming Huai Zhi’s hand away.
She released his hand.
She sat by the bedside, her hair disheveled, falling onto her cheeks, making her eyes appear even more pained and sad.
Her teeth, as white as pearls, bit into her pale, bloodless lips, little by little.
She bit down hard.
So hard that it almost drew blood.
Tiny specks of crimson dotted her lips.
“I’m not impersonating my sister.”
Her voice, too, was filled with pain and sadness.
Still with that suppressed sob in her voice, she painstakingly, word by word, defended herself: “I’m not… I have no reason whatsoever to impersonate my sister.”
Ming Zhi Rou's current demeanor was that of a delicate white flower, misunderstood by Ming Huai Zhi but stubbornly strong.
If it were any other time.
It would absolutely make the Ming family start to doubt themselves… Could it be that he had truly misunderstood Rou’er?
But Ming Huai Zhi’s eyes remained cold and unchanged: “You say you took care of me when I was drunk, yet you have no recollection of anything I said to you in my drunken state.”
Ming Zhi Rou’s face paled further.
The teeth biting her lower lip tightened their grip.
Staining the pale color of her lips with a touch of crimson.
“It’s been so long, I don’t remember anymore.” Ming Zhi Rou took a deep breath and looked up. “I don’t know what my sister told you, but… that night, it was truly me who took care of you.”
After speaking, her gaze towards Ming Huai Zhi was filled with deep sorrow and grief: “Second Brother, what happened that day isn’t important at all, is it?”
His pampering of her.
Had continued from childhood until now.
And it hadn’t started that night just because she took care of him.
Why dwell on such a trivial matter?
“It’s not important.” Ming Huai Zhi suddenly let out a light laugh, a trace of cold indifference spreading in his eyes.
But Ming Zhi Rou didn't notice.
Upon hearing those words, she had just breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she heard Ming Huai Zhi’s cold, hoarse voice, speaking word by word: “Rou’er, you shouldn’t have deceived me.”
Ming Zhi Rou’s pupils trembled, she abruptly looked up, gazing at Ming Huai Zhi in stunned silence.
As if she didn't understand the meaning of his words.
Ming Huai Zhi continued coldly: “In my heart, you have always been a kind and innocent little princess, but… only now do I realize that all of it was a lie.”
“You have never shown me your true self.”
“You merely pretended to be gentle and sweet, kind and innocent, deceiving me, deceiving everyone in the Ming family.”
Precisely because of this.
Ming Zhi Rou seemed all the more terrifying.
If it weren't for her…
His relationship with Ming Zheng wouldn’t be so strained.
Those people in the Ming family and Ming Zheng wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
Ming Zheng would still be staying with the Ming family.
Their family would still be happy and joyful together.
“Second Brother!”
Ming Huai Zhi’s sharp words, forcefully ripped away the mask from Ming Zhi Rou’s face.
Leaving her filled with shame and embarrassment.
Her voice cracking, she looked at Ming Huai Zhi with reddened eyes.
Their eyes met.
The atmosphere in the hospital room turned stiff and tense.
Ming Zhi Rou’s face was a mixture of shame, anger, and pale, pained expressions, her gaze towards him becoming increasingly disappointed.
While Ming Huai Zhi remained indifferent and cold.
After a long while.
Ming Huai Zhi withdrew his gaze: “I’m tired, you can go.”
“Second Brother, are you sending me away for Ming Zheng now?” Ming Zhi Rou suddenly stood up, her reddened eyes flowing with tears. “Just because she’s Zheng Yu, just because her role is more important than mine, just because she can bring greater benefits to the Ming family, are you driving me away now? You want to bring Ming Zheng back, don’t you?”
She no longer called her sister.
She directly uttered Ming Zheng’s name.
The suppressed anger in her voice made the indignant emotions surge uncontrollably within her.
Ming Huai Zhi had no intention of answering her.
But silence often served as an answer.
Ming Zhi Rou suddenly began to laugh: “However, she won’t come back, she will absolutely never return to the Ming family…”
She slowly approached Ming Huai Zhi.
Her pale face, covered in tears, was now adorned with a peculiar smile.
Still as gentle and elegant as ever.
Yet, inexplicably, it carried a hint of strangeness.
“Ming Zheng now only wants to destroy the Ming family, to seek revenge on the Ming family, to bring ruin to the Ming family!” she said. “Second Brother, you only have me left, you can only choose me…”
“Get out!”
Ming Huai Zhi suddenly raised his hand and pushed Ming Zhi Rou, who was approaching him, away.
However, his body was weak and listless, so the force was not great.
Ming Zhi Rou merely took two steps back.
She looked at Ming Huai Zhi’s indifferent face.
Suddenly, she let out a low, soft chuckle.
“I know… I can’t compare to my brother’s real sister.”
“After all, I have no blood relation to you, so… if you don’t want me, you can discard me anytime…”
“I’m not as good as Ming Zheng in anything… not as good as her.”
Saying this, she turned and stumbled out of the ward.
With a “bang.”
Her head collided with a broad, solid chest.
Her body was embraced.
Ming Wei Zhou’s voice came from above: “Rou’er, where are you going?”
Ming Zhi Rou did not answer him.
Instead, she raised her head, revealing her plain, pale, bloodless face, streaked with tears.
Her eyes were red, her tears crystalline, still dripping bit by bit.
After meeting Ming Wei Zhou’s gaze like this.
She abruptly pushed Ming Wei Zhou away.
And ran out again.
“Rou’er?”
Ming Wei Zhou watched the receding figure of Ming Zhi Rou as she ran.
She was still wearing the white gauze evening gown from the concert, its hem trailing on the ground, her messy hair swaying slightly with her hurried steps.
Just a back view.
Was enough to stir a person’s heart with pity.
Ming Wei Zhou frowned and was about to chase after her.
Then he heard Ming Huai Zhi’s hoarse voice from the ward: “Let her go.”
Ming Wei Zhou looked at Ming Zhi Rou, then at Ming Huai Zhi, who lay on the hospital bed with a displeased expression.
In the end, he still stepped forward and entered the ward.
“What’s going on?” Ming Wei Zhou’s eyes were filled with exhaustion.
After he entered, he poured Ming Huai Zhi a glass of water: “What made Rou’er angry?”
Ming Huai Zhi stared at the cup of warm water handed to him, remained silent for a few seconds, then took it and drank.
See.
Ming Wei Zhou knew his throat was uncomfortable just from him saying a word and poured him water.
But when Ming Zhi Rou was here just now.
He had almost choked until he fainted.
Ming Zhi Rou had only offered verbal concern but no action.
Was this the difference between true concern and false concern?
Ming Huai Zhi’s throat felt a little better after drinking the water.
When he spoke again, the hoarseness and soreness were gone: “It’s not that I made her angry, but that she did something wrong and still hasn’t repented.”