He Su glared at him fiercely. "Don't you slander me. I didn't touch her. Stop stirring up trouble here!"
"What, feeling guilty?" Huo Jinyan sneered, raising an eyebrow. "Hit the nail on the head, didn't I?"
"Enough!"
A man's deep voice cut them off. "Shut up and eat, or get out!"
Ever since they'd crossed paths the day they met, every encounter was either bickering or fighting, never a moment's peace.
An Che was stunned, wide-eyed. Shen Xingrou had been hit by Dr. He? That was a lot to take in, and he couldn't process it all at once.
An Ruo knocked on Shen Xingrou's door. After waiting a long time with no response from inside, she had to call the girl's phone.
"Xingrou, are you in your room? Breakfast is ready. Do you want to come have some?"
The girl on the other end had a heavy nasal voice, sounding weak and listless. "Sister-in-law, I'm not feeling well. No appetite..."
"Are you catching a cold?" An Ruo grabbed the door handle to her room. "Open the door first. Let me check on you."
"The door's not locked. Come in."
With her permission, An Ruo turned the handle and pushed the door open.
Shen Xingrou's face was pale, curled up in bed looking sick and tired, with tissue stuffed in her nose. She sneezed several times after An Ruo entered.
An Ruo walked to the bedside and reached out to feel her forehead. It was a bit warm—a low fever. Clearly, she'd caught a cold from sweating and then cooling down too fast yesterday.
"When did this start? In the middle of the night?"
The girl nodded, wrapped in her blanket.
"Why didn't you call us, or ask the hotel staff for some fever reducer?" An Ruo held back from scolding her, standing up instead. "Let me go ask if they have cold medicine."
Shen Xingrou felt something strange in her heart, her voice muffled. "Thanks, sister-in-law."
Earlier, she'd been hostile toward An Ruo, disapproving of her marrying Shen Xiaoxing, worried she had ulterior motives for entering the Shen family. Now, seeing how beautiful she was, with a good personality and a sense of propriety, no wonder her brother had fallen for her so quickly.
An Ruo went to the front desk to ask for medicine. Luckily, this resort had basic medications on hand for the skiers' emergencies.
After getting the medicine, she passed by the restaurant on their floor. Entering, she saw they hadn't started eating yet. The men's faces looked odd, and the atmosphere was tense.
Shen Xiaoxing's expression softened when he saw her come in. "Where's Xingrou?"
"Xingrou has a cold, with a slight fever. She's too weak to move. I'll bring some breakfast up to her." As she spoke, An Ruo picked a few light dishes and had the server bring them over.
"She's sick?" He Su frowned. "Has she taken medicine?"
"I just got some cold medicine from the front desk..."
"Let me see."
An Ruo paused, remembering he was a doctor with experience in this area, so she handed him the medicines she'd gotten.
The man looked them over and gave his opinion. "Don't take these two. Just brew this granule and drink it. She's young with a good constitution and her own immunity. Getting some exercise and sweating it out would be better than medicine."
With that, still uneasy, he pulled the medicine back from An Ruo, stood up, and took the tray from the server. "I'll go check on her."
An Ruo stood frozen, taking several seconds to snap out of it, frowning. "What's gotten into him?"
"Nothing good comes from sudden kindness!" Huo Jinyan sneered. "He must have done something to Xingrou yesterday, or why would he be so nice?"
Sheng Nanzhou raised an eyebrow. "Old He's got a sharp tongue, but he wouldn't lay a hand on a woman... or a girl, would he?"
Huo Jinyan snorted coldly. "You think that bastard can do anything decent?"
"..."
The two of them went back and forth, leaving An Ruo feeling awkward. Weren't they like brothers, close enough to share a pair of pants? Yet the moment he left, they were digging a hole behind his back.
Shen Xiaoxing took a sip of coffee, casting a cold glance as a warning. "Keeping your mouth shut would be the best thing you could do."
Huo Jinyan and Sheng Nanzhou pursed their lips. They started eating heartily once An Ruo sat down, but halfway through, she grew uneasy about He Su taking care of Shen Xingrou, afraid they'd start fighting again.
She grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth. "I'll go check on Xingrou."
"I'll go with you." The man's large hand held her as she was about to stand.
An Ruo pushed him out of the restaurant. Sheng Nanzhou took a deep sip of milk, his gaze dark, and said in a low voice, "Don't you think Old He has a thing for the Shen family's third miss?"
"What kind of thing?"
"Calling Ah Xing 'brother-in-law'—ugh!" Sheng Nanzhou was still stuck on An Che calling Shen Xiaoxing that, and slipped up. "I mean, like wanting to be his brother-in-law."
"You're saying that bastard He Su wants to be the Shen family's live-in son-in-law?"
"...Something like that."
Huo Jinyan snorted coldly. "He's not even qualified."
No matter how much of a jerk Shen Yu was, he still had a brain. He doted on his precious daughter too much to ever consider a loser like He Su!
...
Someone knocked. Shen Xingrou sat cross-legged on the bed, wrapped in her blanket, and called out in a muffled voice, "Come in."
He Su strode in with the tray. Shen Xingrou looked up, saw it was him, and immediately lost her good mood, giving him a cold glare. "Who let you in?"
"I knocked, and you said to come in."
The man set the tray on the table beside her. "It's just the right temperature. Eat it while it's hot."
"None of your damn business. Get out!"
Hmph, this girl was pushing her luck.
Considering how she'd stayed by his side all night when he was sick, and now she was the patient, and he'd lost his temper and scared her yesterday, He Su let it slide. On second thought, why bother arguing with a bratty little girl?
"Once you've eaten breakfast and taken your medicine, I'll leave."
"Don't you hate me?" Shen Xingrou loved going against him, refusing to do as he wanted. "Wouldn't it be better for you if I died without taking medicine? Why pretend to be a good person here?"
"..."
He Su's handsome face darkened.
Did he really hate this girl? Not really, did he?
He knew deep down this was a battle between Shen Xiaoxing and their second branch. Even the man at the center could show her mercy, so why would he hate her over it?
Honestly, he didn't mind Shen Xingrou bickering with him every day. It actually felt relaxing—a different feeling from that peacock Huo Jinyan.
When he heard she was sick, he suddenly tensed up, his heart skipping a beat without thinking. He'd even grabbed the medicine from An Ruo and rushed over without a second thought.
"Why do you think I hate you?"
Shen Xingrou paused, then suddenly realized, "Yeah, why should you hate me? You're the one who deserves to be hated!"
"..."
"For a pittance of money, you sold out your ethics as a doctor, colluding with my brother—birds of a feather!"
"..." The pinnacle of insults was dragging her own brother into it.
He Su stared straight at her. "Is that how you see me?"
Shen Xingrou shot him a malicious glance. "Isn't it?"
All those shady things he'd done with her brother Shen Tingfeng over the years—didn't he have a clue?
He Su was unusually patient, not bothering to argue about useless things. He'd known he'd be misunderstood when he agreed to work with Shen Xiaoxing. Huo Jinyan looked down on him for the same reason—thinking he'd stoop to any low for a bit of money.
They probably all thought his actions betrayed the ethics of a medical professional.