Volume One, Chapter Seven: Write a Letter of Guarantee for Him

Huo Tingxiao was furious, finding her utterly incorrigible.

This woman was truly shameless; first she had drugged him, and now she was crawling into his bed of her own accord. Did she really think that being beautiful meant she could do whatever she pleased? All this talk of having children to trap a man—he would never love such a hypocritical and brazen woman!

Just then, as she reached out to cup his cheeks and leaned in toward his face, he could no longer hold back. He flipped over and stood up from the bed, struggling to control his rising rage. His voice was deep and grim.

"Shen Qingran, I am sending you back to Xiaoqingshan Village tomorrow."

He looked at the person on the bed, who, having missed her mark, now lay there motionless. Huo Tingxiao’s head hummed with irritation—was she playing dead now that she had been caught? He didn’t coddle her; he reached out to pull her up. However, she happened to turn at that moment and nearly tumbled out of bed by inertia. Huo Tingxiao steadied her waist and pushed her back up. Fueled by his anger, he used a bit more force than intended.

Unexpectedly, Shen Qingran shuddered all over, as if she had been startled. She opened her eyes in a daze and sat up halfway. Those eyes, which usually looked so pitiful, were now devoid of any luster, filled only with confusion and terror. Huo Tingxiao’s brow furrowed; something about her state was wrong.

Before he could react, Shen Qingran’s body went limp, as if it had lost all support, and she collapsed. Watching her faint without warning, he called out, "Shen Qingran?"

She gave no response, lying there like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The room fell into a deathly silence. With a stern face, Huo Tingxiao opened the door and shouted outside, "Sun Feng, go get a doctor immediately!"

Sun Feng, who had been sitting on the floor copying discipline rules, was startled and dashed toward the attendant’s lounge. Moments later, a male doctor arrived, carrying a medical bag.

"Comrade, what happened to this young woman?"

Huo Tingxiao’s expression was cold and rigid, as if he felt ashamed of the recent events. Gritting his teeth, he gave a brief, pointed account of what had happened. The doctor paused, then leaned in to examine Shen Qingran.

"There is nothing wrong with her; her heart rate and blood pressure are fine. However, the symptoms you described sound somewhat like the 'soul-wandering syndrome' described in traditional Chinese medicine. We cannot provide a definitive diagnosis, but if possible, you should take her to a hospital for a check-up later."

Huo Tingxiao listened in silence, his dark eyes like the ocean in the dead of night,