Li Yan was a bit surprised by Wen Qianyi's reaction. He was actually afraid she might stomp on his hand with her high heel. Later, seeing her lock the door and anxiously check the peephole, he guessed her thoughts and couldn't help but feel touched.

He had only intended to pretend to be asleep so she couldn't drive him away, but it turned into him pretending to be dead.

Li Yan really wanted to get up immediately, but after a moment of contemplation, he realized that his relationship with Qianyi was delicate. After finding out about Hai Fu, he wasn't sure what she was thinking. Since he was here to mend their communication today, pretending to be dead for a little longer might help a bit.

However, even he felt a bit shameless. He had used this trick on Zhang Yurong before as well. Was this considered taking advantage of their concern?

A moment later, Wen Qianyi came over, crouched in front of him, patted his face, and softly asked, "Li Yan! Wake up!"

Li Yan remained motionless, not daring to even slightly open his eyes and could only guess her movements based on his senses.

Soon, he realized Wen Qianyi had unzipped his jacket and was touching his chest. He felt a bit embarrassed—was Qianyi taking advantage of his "unconscious state" to cop a feel?

He shouted in his heart: Go ahead openly! I won't refuse!

Of course, speaking now would only frighten her, so he continued to play dead, enjoying the tender touch of Wen Qianyi's hand on his chest.

After a while, he felt ashamed of his lewd thoughts. Wen Qianyi's true purpose wasn't to grope him, but to feel his left chest and check if there was a heartbeat!

Generally, people check for signs of life with breathing and heartbeat. Breathing is something one can control; if you hold your breath when someone puts a hand under your nose, you can pretend to be dead. But a heartbeat is something one can't typically control, making it a bit more convincing.

Realizing this, Li Yan felt a bit regretful—he had thought he might get a round of artificial respiration from Qianyi, but now it was all exposed!

However, it seemed Wen Qianyi hadn't realized he was pretending. After checking his heartbeat, she let out a small sigh of relief, realized he couldn't stay on the cold floor, and continued to pull him towards the bedroom.

Once in the bedroom, she couldn't drag him any further. She could only help him take off his coat and then struggled to pull him onto the bed.

Get in bed? I like that!

Anyway, this would be a good place for communication!

Even though Li Yan was pretending to be dead, he cooperated subtly, allowing her to move him onto the bed more easily.

After getting him onto the bed, Wen Qianyi quickly covered him with a quilt. She didn't know how long Li Yan had been unconscious at the door, fearing that his body temperature had significantly dropped. After ensuring he was warm, she touched his forehead—he seemed to have a fever, but wasn't overly cold, and she let out another sigh of relief. Then she checked his breath—it was a bit weak, but seemingly not an issue.

Having completed the simple check, Wen Qianyi got up and went out. A moment later, she returned with a cup of hot water, took off his shoes, and picked up his coat. After a careful inspection, there were no tears or bloodstains on the coat, making it unlikely he had been stabbed or shot.

She then returned to the bed, lifted the quilt and checked Li Yan's body, finding no obvious injuries, leaving her a bit puzzled. With no signs of injury, was he knocked out from behind? If that were the case, how did he make it to the door?

If not, then it was probably an act!

But if it was an act, getting dragged around the room couldn't have been pleasant, right?

Wen Qianyi recalled something from a few months ago when Yu Xiaodi had sought her help in convincing Li Yan to go for a health check-up, mentioning some unexplained fainting.

That check-up wasn't just accompanied by Yu Xiaodi, Hai Fu was also there. The result was that everyone was fine—Li Yan was healthy, without any old injuries or hidden ailments.

Could something have been missed in the examination?

She felt a bit worried… 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Li Yan didn't dare open his eyes, couldn't see her expression, and didn't know her thoughts, but guessed she might now be suspecting he was faking it. He sighed inwardly, thinking, Qianyi, please just give me artificial respiration! As soon as you do, I'll 'wake up' and not pretend anymore. Or you could just feed me some hot water mouth-to-mouth…

After a while, none of the things he was hoping for happened, and instead, he heard Wen Qianyi dial three numbers on her phone.

"Is this the 120 Emergency Center? I have a person here unconscious… yes, right now… about half an hour, possibly…"

Li Yan felt a headache—she was actually going to send him to the hospital!

If that really happened, it could cause a lot of trouble, and the doctors would find nothing wrong; she might inform Yu Xiaodi and Hai Fu too…

Helplessly, he had to pretend to unintentionally move slightly, making a sound. "Uh… where is this?"

As he spoke, he opened his eyes, looking at Wen Qianyi sitting by the bed with a dazed expression.

Wen Qianyi hung up the phone, smiling as she looked at him, "You're awake? Are you okay?"

"Qianyi? I'm fine. How did I end up here?" Li Yan could only continue the act.

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a hand slip under the blanket, pinching his flesh hard through his clothes.

"Hiss... It hurts! What are you doing?" Li Yan glared at her, reaching out to try to remove her hand.

"Does it hurt? I just wanted to check if you had any feeling!" Wen Qianyi said innocently.

"Oh, well, I can feel it now. You can stop pinching me, right?" Li Yan smiled bitterly.

Wen Qianyi sneered, "Keep pretending! Can't keep pretending after hearing 120 being called, huh?"

With that, Li Yan understood. She had seen through it! The call to 120 was probably fake, just to make him confess.

Li Yan blushed, smiling awkwardly, "Hehe... actually, I wasn't pretending to be dead; I just feigned sleep because I was afraid you'd kick me out. Then you thought I was dead, and that look of panic warmed my heart. I couldn't resist pretending to be out cold just to enjoy your care."

"Do you find messing with people fun?" Wen Qianyi sneered and continued pinching harder, even using her nails!

Li Yan grimaced, surprised that even through his clothes, she could pinch so accurately and with no sign of letting up. "Please, can you let go first?"

"Aren't you enjoying it? I'll let you keep enjoying it!"

"..." Li Yan sighed, "Alright, then can you at least switch to the other side? You're going to make me swell."

"Hmph!" Wen Qianyi spat and pinched him again with her nails before finally letting go, satisfied.

Li Yan rubbed his mistreated chest with a bitter smile, thinking to himself: Damn you, Little Yi, one day, I'll pinch you back!

"Thinking of revenge, huh?" Wen Qianyi seemed to read his mind, delivering a slap toward his lower region!

Li Yan groaned, "You're too ruthless, aren't you?" Even through the blanket, through his pants, it still hurt a little...

Little did he know, his thoughts of retaliating against Qianyi caused a slight reaction, making Wen Qianyi blush as she slapped down, and she couldn't help but scold, "Yelling in pain and still reacting, you're such a pervert!"

When she said this, she also turned her head away and withdrew her hand, grabbing the water she had prepared for Li Yan and drinking it to cover her embarrassment.

Li Yan had just calmed down when he heard her comment. Feeling a bit awkward, he wanted to say, 'I get no pleasure from pain; I reacted because I was thinking of you,' but he thought Wen might just throw hot water on him, so he held back.

"Well… pervert, you see, the top of 'per' plus the bottom of 'vert' forms 'love.' It means perversion is the essence of love; without it, there's no romance. Your intimate touch made me feel your love, and my perverted reaction was normal." Li Yan fabricated a reason on the spot.

The top of 'per' plus the bottom of 'vert' forms 'love.'

Perversion is the essence of love; without it, there's no romance.

This theory left Wen Qianyi dumbfounded, and calling her punishment an intimate touch left her feeling disoriented and flustered.

Spraying water in his face was fine, but she didn't want to choke herself, so Wen Qianyi put the cup down. She then slapped the bed and scolded, "Since you played dead, get up now! You're dirtying my bed!"

Given her understanding of Li Yan, she thought he'd surely stay in bed, but as soon as she finished speaking, Li Yan reflexively sat up, his head right in front of hers! Startling her, she couldn't help but lean back a little.

After sitting up, Li Yan dropped the facade and said seriously, "I came to find you today to talk about something! Do you dare to face it?"

Wen Qianyi knew it was a ploy, but still pouted, "What wouldn't I dare?" as she prepared to stand up.

Li Yan quickly said, "If you dare to face it, then don't back down. Let's face each other directly!"

With her hips just a few inches off the bed, Wen Qianyi could only sit back down. Standing up would be seen as retreating, and she'd be three steps behind in momentum.

"Talk about what?" She instead took the initiative to ask loudly.

"Talk about... love."

"...!" (To be continued. For more chapters, please log on to www.qidian.com to support the author and enjoy legitimate reading!)