10. He Did Not Care for Her Proposal

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Ji Qingran called out to Su Yiyi.

The young girl turned around, blinking at her with a look of innocence. “Sister Qingran, is there something you need?”

“Where did the watch on your wrist come from?”

Su Yiyi smiled lightly, casually showing her wrist to Ji Qingran.

“Are you talking about this watch? Senior Brother gave it to me. I just mentioned once that it wasn’t convenient to check the time during exams, so he gave it to me. He even put it on my wrist himself.”

Seeing Ji Qingran’s expression grow increasingly unpleasant, Su Yiyi’s smile only grew brighter. “Actually, I’m not particularly fond of this watch, but since Senior Brother gave it to me, I have to wear it.”

With that, she tilted her chin toward Ji Qingran with a full measure of provocation. “What do you think, Sister Qingran?”

Ji Qingran’s gaze remained fixed on Su Yiyi’s wrist, silent for a long while.

Only when Su Yiyi called her again did she avert her eyes, speaking wearily, “This watch is something I gave to Lu Tingyuan. Since he no longer wants it, give it back to me.”

After a pause, she added deliberately, “You wearing something I gave to Lu Tingyuan must be uncomfortable for you.”

The pain in her injured area throbbed sharply, and her head was growing dizzy. These past days, she hadn’t been well; a concussion often brought bouts of dizziness and nausea.

That she managed to speak so calmly to Su Yiyi was already the limit of her endurance.

Yet her composed reaction did not satisfy Su Yiyi.

With Lu Tingyuan no longer present, the young girl shed her pretense, strutting arrogantly in her little shoes up to Ji Qingran. She shook her wrist disdainfully and said loftily, “Sister Qingran, you care so much about this watch because… it’s special, isn’t it?”

Ji Qingran’s eyelid twitched, but she did not respond.

Su Yiyi’s lips curled, and she slowly took off the watch.

Ji Qingran thought she meant to return it, raising her hand to receive it, but Su Yiyi suddenly pressed the watch’s dial.

With a soft “click,” the dial popped open, revealing a ring hidden inside.

Ji Qingran’s face instantly turned awkward.

“This is what you really want back, isn’t it, Sister Qingran?”

Su Yiyi pulled the ring out and idly twirled it on her fingertip, a mocking smile playing on her lips. “People online say this watch has a hidden compartment. When you bought it, Sister Qingran, was it because of this? You really went to great lengths.”

Her eyes gleamed with a mix of triumph and challenge. “Such a small trick—I could discover it easily. Sister Qingran, do you think Senior Brother wouldn’t notice after wearing it so long? Then why has he been pretending not to know?”

Ji Qingran’s face darkened further. Without looking in a mirror, she knew her expression was utterly defeated.

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Su Yiyi hit her sore spot, each word delivered with biting precision. “Sister Qingran, Senior Brother is very sentimental. You’ve been with him for six years. Some things he can’t say out loud, so you should be tactful. It’s better not to waste effort on little schemes like this.”

As she spoke, her wrist suddenly shook—

Both the watch and ring slipped free.

“Bang—”

The watch crashed onto the hospital floor, shattering with a piercing crack, spiderweb fractures spreading across the dial.

The ring bounced several times before rolling under the bed, vanishing from sight.

Ji Qingran went pale.

Her hand still extended, eyes burning with restrained fury, she hissed, “Su Yiyi! Was this on purpose?”

“No, Sister Qingran, I meant to give it to you. You just didn’t catch it.”

Feigning innocence, Su Yiyi crouched down to look beneath the bed, only retrieving the broken watch and tossing it before Ji Qingran.

“Sister Qingran, I can’t find the ring.”

She said this without a trace of guilt.

Ji Qingran’s chest heaved violently, dizziness worsening, as the suffocating sensation surged anew.

She gritted her teeth, voice trembling, “Su Yiyi, you’d better find that ring right now, or—”

Su Yiyi laughed softly, disregarding the threat. “Or what? You want to tell Senior Brother? Do you think he’ll blame me?”

“If Sister Qingran cares so much, she should find it herself.”

With a raised brow, she bid farewell and skipped out of the ward in her little shoes.

Her crisp footsteps echoed down the corridor like blunt hammers striking Ji Qingran’s heart.

Biting her lip until a metallic taste filled her mouth, tears streamed uncontrollably, falling hot onto the back of her hand as if to scorch her skin.

She had harbored secret hopes, no denying that. Lu Tingyuan had even bought their wedding home; she thought this time he would finally relent.

But he never mentioned marriage, so she thought maybe she could take the first step.

She had saved for a long time, scraping from her living expenses bit by bit, to buy the watch as a birthday gift for Lu Tingyuan.

She had imagined how he would feel when he accidentally discovered the ring—would he be stunned for a moment, then excitedly call her? Would he laugh and say, “Ranran, I’m willing”?

She had even rehearsed his tone in her mind, gentle yet earnest.

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She waited and waited, for a very long time. Even after returning to the country, Lu Tingyuan showed no sign.

Foolishly, she thought he simply hadn’t found the ring, blaming the watch’s cleverly hidden compartment for being too secretive.

Now she knew the truth—it wasn’t that at all!

He had discovered it long ago but didn’t care!

All her hopes and anxieties had been a one-sided performance from the start.

Tears blurred her vision as Ji Qingran staggered out of bed. Dizzy beyond control, her body swayed violently as she tried to stand.

Slowly, she knelt on the floor, inch by inch searching under the bed.

Even if the ring was not accepted, it was not something to be discarded lightly.

Later, overwhelmed by dizziness, she steadied herself against the wall and walked step by step toward the door, intending to call a nurse for help.

When she opened it, she saw Lu Tingyuan and Su Yiyi standing at the far end of the corridor.

Su Yiyi’s face was streaked with tears, her voice full of guilt. “Senior Brother, I’m sorry. I accidentally broke the watch you gave me.”

Lu Tingyuan pulled her into his arms, gently wiping her tears, soothing her softly: “It’s just a watch. If it’s broken, it’s broken.”

Su Yiyi shook her head in disagreement. “But the watch was a gift from Sister Qingran. How will you explain that to her?”

Lu Tingyuan chuckled lightly, unconcerned. “What’s there to explain?”

Su Yiyi, still with red eyes, said, “But if Sister Qingran finds out, she’ll be upset. She’s your girlfriend, so she’s more important than me.”

Lu Tingyuan focused on comforting her, then smiled and pinched her nose, saying, “You’re more important.”

Hearing this, Ji Qingran quietly closed the door behind her.

Leaning against the wall for a moment, she took out her phone and made a call.

“Can you help me arrange a hospital transfer?”