Reborn to Redeem: Their Abusive Love-Chapter 71: Why don’t you want me?

"It’s very itchy."

The voice had matured, significantly distinct from his adolescent years. It was no longer tender, but as cold and distant as the hazy moonlight outside the window.

Upon hearing the voice, Xu Si’s hand trembled, and that bit of nostalgia instantly vanished, sinking into the darkness. Her deep, gray eyes suddenly opened wide, her gaze colliding directly with the man’s enchanting features, which were filled with an indefinable, captivating darkness and a hint of melancholy.

The words she spoke were the same—carelessly uttered, yet they could make one fall.

"Sorry for waking you," she said. "I heard from the doctor that you had a fever, so I came to check on you."

She pursed her lips, intending to withdraw her hand, but the man pressed it in place, immobilizing it.

"Come to see me? That hardly seems likely." Pei Zhen suddenly leaned closer, his sharp features magnifying before her. His gaze felt like tangible threads pulling at her eyes. "You ignored advice and snuck over here. You’re clearly worried about me, right?"

In an instant, Xu Si couldn’t define the feeling in her heart; it became a mess all at once. She recovered the heartbeats that had skipped for a second.

Her voice, echoing his particular cadence, sounded somewhat ethereal. "Do you feel any better?"

"You always change the subject." Pei Zhen’s lips were tightly pursed, his sharply defined brows furrowed. His beautiful gray eyes, neither smiling nor angry, showed only traces of melancholy.

Unsure whether he was referring to his physical condition or emotional state, he murmured lowly, "Headache."

Xu Si’s hand rested on his face. If not for the constant warmth flowing from him, she would have truly thought the man was faking; there was no hint of sickness on that handsome face.

Xu Si couldn’t figure him out. It was precisely because of this that her curiosity grew about what experiences could have forged him into the indestructible man he was now.

Struggling to free her equally burning hand, Xu Si got up and picked up the newly filled syringe.

"If it hurts, you need an injection. The doctor said this is for reducing fever. Once injected, it will work quickly. After you get better, we need to talk. I have something I want to discuss with you."

"You’re going to..." The moonlight casting on his face suddenly became very bright. He flipped the soft blanket aside and sat up halfway in bed, his eyes intently observing the syringe, examining it closely as if he was already waiting. "Alright, you help me."

The night was obscure, moonlight scattered everywhere.

Xu Si frowned slightly, glanced at him, then took a cotton ball to disinfect the needle. "You don’t know how? I’ve never done this. I’m afraid I might injure you permanently."

"I don’t know how," he said, propping his head on his hand and speaking leisurely. "Go ahead and inject me. If it gets botched, that’s fine. I’ve been planning on depending on you from the beginning anyway."

"You..." Xu Si took a breath, ignoring his relentless flirtations. This statement was obviously much more normal than him suggesting she stab him again.

She picked up the cotton ball, applied it to the delicate skin of his arm, and said, "This is my first time too, so try to bear with it."

As her words fell, the man suddenly shivered.

Xu Si raised an eyebrow. "You’re scared of this too?"

Pei Zhen curled his lips, concealing a smile, his voice nonchalant. "Yeah, a little."

"Don’t worry, it won’t hurt more than your current wounds," Xu Si reassured him, a rare occurrence.

But when she aimed the needle at his skin, her own hand trembled; the needle was so thin and fragile that she feared an accidental slip would break it off in his skin.

Just then, Pei Zhen spoke up. "Is there a reward after the injection? Like before."

This was the first time Pei Zhen had mentioned the past since their reunion. It was the perfect moment to mend their bond.

Xu Si paused her movements, seizing the opportunity to mentally prepare herself.

"Sure, what reward would you like?"

"The gemstone necklace, the one you’re wearing."

"That’s fine," Xu Si glanced down at the sapphire. Although temporarily down on her luck, she didn’t really care about such a small sum of money.

However, when she lifted the needle again and repeated the disinfecting process, it still hesitated, failing to puncture the skin. It wasn’t that she feared he would cling to her; it was because he held some weight in Xu Si’s heart, making her exceedingly cautious with every move.

"Heh, timid." Under the moonlight, the man let out a soft laugh.

It was unclear whether he had grown impatient from waiting or simply no longer wanted to put her in a difficult position. He bent down, took the syringe from her hand, and, without a change in expression, plunged the needle into the flesh of his arm. The blue liquid slowly disappeared as he pressed the plunger.

Xu Si was startled by his action, slightly lifting her head. Her clear, peach-blossom eyes watched the junction of the needle and skin, her complexion pale, her voice level, "Are you lying to me?"

This familiar way of injecting was clearly not his first time.

Pei Zhen’s gaze was cavalier, his expression faintly amused. "I really am scared. Why don’t you believe me? At your indecisive pace, when will I ever get my reward?"

"I remember I once told you that liars have to swallow a thousand needles. You were quite scared at the time."

"..."

As soon as the words were out, the man suddenly fell silent. He quickly pulled the needle from his flesh and casually placed it on the tray.

Pei Zhen became unhappy. It was obvious he was unhappy.

Under the dim night sky, her entire person was enveloped in his shadow, filled with a profound sense of threat.

Capricious.

He’s going crazy again!

With a familiar sixth sense, Xu Si almost subconsciously reached for her gun, but remembering he wasn’t afraid of death, she hesitated. She paused for only a second before the man swiftly confiscated her gun, effortlessly pulling it out and casually throwing it from the room. It rolled THUD, THUD, THUD across the carpet.

Xu Si bit her lip and slowly backed away.

The next second, the man stood up completely. His voice, suddenly close to her ear, was dark and hoarse as he gripped her frail, delicate wrist tightly. A more intense, palpable tension filled the entire bedroom.

"If you want to kill me, wait. Later, I’ll sit down and let you do it, as many shots as you like. But..."

His breath hitched. He seemed to be forcibly pulling Xu Si into his embrace, yet his posture suggested he was relying on her for support. The tearing pain from his wounds seemed to go numb, a wave of exhaustion washing over him. After a long moment, he managed to control his emotions and murmured desolately in her ear.

"Before that, can you first tell me why it was me who had to swallow the needles back then?"

Xu Si felt something was off about his question. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you send me away four years ago? Didn’t you say you’d never leave me?"

The man’s voice lingered in the night. His words, rolling from his throat, naturally carried a sinister yet alluring tone, devoid of blame, merely an inquiry.

Xu Si’s memory suddenly flashed back four years—to that clandestine factory and the stormy day. The maritime disaster, the car crash where Xu Si had sent over a dozen vehicles flipping, her own serious injuries, the hospitalization... When she woke up, he was long gone. She had sought revenge and searched for him, but all in vain.

She did harbor guilt. Perhaps she shouldn’t have sent him away. But in the end, she could only tell herself that everyone has their own destiny, and then she fled that place.

Now that it was brought up again, she could calmly say, "Sending you away was a necessary action, given the circumstances at that time."

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