Chapter 60: I Want Anling... by My Side

The second floor of the hospital was filled with the smell of disinfectant.

In the IV drip room, a man sat alone in his seat. Dressed in a sharp suit, with handsome and refined features, his innate sense of nobility seemed completely out of place here.

His long legs were bent, and his eyes were cast down at the floor. The blue cooling patch on his forehead was conspicuous, making his solitary figure look somewhat pitiful.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached.

A patch of white fabric appeared in his line of sight, and a familiar male voice came from above.

"Why is our Chairman Shen sitting here all alone getting an IV? You look so pitiful."

Shen Linyan snapped out of his daze. He lazily lifted his eyelids for a glance, casually peeled the cooling patch off his forehead with his slender fingers, and indifferently lowered his gaze. His hoarse voice carried little emotion. "What do you want?"

"What kind of question is that? As a doctor, isn't checking on a patient standard procedure?"

Liang Chen sat down next to him, hands in his pockets and legs crossed. "An Ling left?"

"Yeah." The man closed his eyes and lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Liang Chen turned to look at him.

"You're really weird. Since you've already gone this far, why didn't you ask her to stay? Wasn't deliberately skipping your medicine just for this?"

But in the end, he only had An Ling accompany him to the doctor and then quickly let her go.

Shen Linyan was silent for a moment before speaking softly, "There was no need. She has to work tomorrow."

He just wanted to spend a little time with An Ling today.

Stealing a brief moment of her care by playing the pity card was enough to satisfy him.

Liang Chen knew they were divorced, though he wasn't entirely sure why. But looking at the situation, it definitely wasn't because they hated each other.

More importantly, there was one thing he couldn't understand at all.

"What do you want? From the looks of it, you clearly can't forget her. Is there no chance of remarrying?"

What did he want?

Shen Linyan opened his eyes and quietly stared at the IV bottle on the stand. His feverish, muddled head was terrifyingly clear at this moment.

His eyelashes fluttered slightly as he opened his mouth to answer softly:

"I want... An Ling's companionship."

Not fondness, nor love.

He went to such great lengths just to have the simplest form of companionship, the kind even a friend could have.

And he would only accept An Ling's companionship.

If so, perhaps one day, these illusions of dependency would unconsciously transform into genuine love.

He wanted to fall in love with An Ling.

If he could only love one person in his lifetime, he hoped that person would be An Ling, and it could only be An Ling.

When that day truly arrived, he could pursue An Ling and propose remarrying.

It was a very foolish, even extreme method. Who would force their own body and mind to love someone?

But this was the best method Shen Linyan could think of.

He could only use this way to learn how to love someone.

Hearing this, Liang Chen felt a complex mix of emotions.

He glanced at the nearly empty IV bottle, sighed, and stood up, patting his white coat.

"Alright, I'll go call the nurse to change your IV bottle. I still have patients, so I can't stay long. Make sure you rest."

Catching a glimpse of the untouched dinner on the floor out of the corner of his eye, he pointed at it. "Secretary Chen bought it for you, so just eat a little. You're not studying abroad anymore. Working at such high intensity every day without eating... your health really isn't great right now. And you even sent Secretary Chen back. Now look at you, without a single person to take care of you."

Shen Linyan's habit of skipping dinner started when he was abroad. At the time, his family didn't give him any money, so he worked four jobs a day. Half of what he earned went to his studies and daily living expenses, while the other half was entirely invested in the stock market.

The man didn't reply, simply leaning back against the chair with his eyes closed.

Liang Chen knew he wouldn't listen, so he just put his hands in his pockets and turned to find the nurse.

A few minutes later, footsteps approached.

The nurse's voice sounded by his ear.

"Mr. Shen, I'm here to change your IV bottle."

Shen Linyan opened his eyes, turned to check the time on the wall, and suddenly spoke up to stop her. "Can you just take it out? I won't do the rest. I feel pretty much fine now, and I have things to do later. I'm in a hurry."

It was taking too long, and he still had documents to review at home.

The nurse didn't pause her movements.

"I'm afraid not. Dr. Liang just told me that if you made this request, I shouldn't agree to it. He also said that if you're bored, I should put the TV on for you. Do you want to watch?"

"..."

He had a feeling Liang Chen was doing this on purpose. Taking some pills would have been perfectly fine.

Shen Linyan pressed his temples with a headache. "No need, thank you."

The nurse withdrew her hands. "Alright then, Mr. Shen, please rest well. I'll come back later to change the next bottle."

There weren't many people in the IV room; only three patients were getting fluids.

One of them was a little boy sitting diagonally behind Shen Linyan.

He had been watching cartoons, but after hearing the conversation between Shen Linyan and the nurse, he looked up. His big, round eyes blinked, and then he turned to his parent beside him.

"Mommy, does that uncle not want his injection because he doesn't have a TV to watch?"

Shen Linyan froze, turning his head slightly with a complicated expression.

...Uncle?

He was only twenty-seven and already being called an uncle?

The boy's mother had noticed this man of extraordinary temperament much earlier and quickly offered him an apologetic smile.

She lowered her head and said gently, "The uncle isn't doing it because he has no TV. He's just very busy."

"But you still have to get your injection even if you're busy, otherwise you won't get better." The little boy swung his legs. "I'm very busy too. I have to go to kindergarten, but I still came to get my injection."

"That doesn't count as busy."

The boy's mother wiped his nose and took away the phone. "The uncle is different from you. Alright, stop playing on the phone. Ten minutes are up. Are you sleepy? How about Mommy holds you while you sleep?"

The little boy nodded and sat on his mother's lap.

A moment later, he suddenly spoke up slowly again:

"Mommy, I know why."

"Why what?"

"The uncle doesn't want his injection because he has no one to keep him company. Look, we all have someone with us, and the other adults have people with them too. The pretty sister who came with the uncle earlier left. I even wanted to say hi to the pretty sister."

The crisp, childish voice was exceptionally clear in the IV room, and the space instantly fell completely silent.

A young couple nearby, where the boyfriend was keeping his girlfriend company during her IV, also looked over.

Shen Linyan: "..."

The boy's mother covered his mouth with a stiff expression. "Go to sleep. Stop talking."

She then gave Shen Linyan an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, kids just say whatever..."

Shen Linyan shook his head. "It's fine."

He checked the time, confirmed it would still be a long while, and closed his eyes, leaning gently against the chair back to rest.

He didn't know how much time had passed when the sound of footsteps reached his ears.

Shen Linyan assumed it was the nurse coming to change the IV bottle and didn't open his eyes.

But right after, a blanket was gently draped over him, and a familiar fragrance drifted to his nose.

Someone sat down softly in the chair next to him, making a faint sound.

Shen Linyan's eyelids fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes to look over.

In the next second, the familiar side profile of a woman instantly filled his vision.

His pupils shrank slightly. He stared blankly at the scene before him, thinking he was dreaming, not even noticing the blanket slipping off his body.

Sensing the movement, the woman paused her action of untying her scarf. She turned her head and smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Did I wake you?"