An image suddenly appeared in Lin Qingwan's mind: half a year ago, at a c.o.c.ktail party, she saw a man with startlingly vicious eyes.

"Could it be him, Su Zongheng?"

Lin Qingwan frowned. Su Zongheng really had the resources to have her a.s.sa.s.sinated, but why would he want to? She had nothing to do with him. Why would he want to have her killed?

Lin Qingwan considered this for a while. Just because she had no beef with Su Zongheng didn't mean her father was on good terms with him as well.

She immediately made a phone call to her father in the United States and found out that the two were indeed bitter rivals.

As for why, Lin Hongyuan would not tell Lin Qingwan in detail. He only instructed her to take precautions against Su Zongheng.

"d.a.m.n it. Su Zongheng is obviously the mastermind behind the plot, but we have no evidence to prove it..." Lin Qingwan yawned, "Ugh, I'm done. I need to get some sleep. Get well soon."

Lin Qingwan and Murong walked away, leaving Ye Fei alone and lonely in his ward. Not because no one stayed with him - Ye Fei was quite accustomed to being alone, he even preferred it.

He felt lonely because he lost his ancestral throwing knife.

The knife was stuck deep in Fire Dragon's throat and he had no time to retrieve it.

Now, both the throwing knife and Fire Dragon's corpse disappeared together. They must have fallen into the hands of the man behind the plot.

"If only I could use my breathing technique to control the throwing knife. I wouldn't have lost it..." Ye Fei sighed, and secretly vowed to reclaim his heirloom one day, come what may.

That throwing knife was not only bound to his own fate, but Zhong Mei's fate as well.

......

Ye Fei dozed off. After a while, Zhong Mei came in, carrying a large bag.

Zhong Mei sat down by the bed and took out a few boxes of hot food from the bag. "Are you feeling any better today? The doctor said some of the cuts came very close to your spine. You were nearly paralyzed for life!"

"I'm a lucky guy," Ye Fei smiled. "I can't get any work other than as a bodyguard, so if I really got paralyzed, I'd starve to death!"　

Zhong Mei lowered her head and whispered, "If you're really paralyzed, I... I will stay with you for the rest of your life." She didn't know if Ye Fei even heard her.

Ye Fei sat up and stretched some of his sore muscles. "I'm fine. The doctors like to exaggerate and then ask for more money. Don't believe them."

"Maybe you're right." Zhong Mei blushed a little. Revealing a gentle smile, she pulled out a pair of chopsticks. "Have some. I hope you like it."

Ye Fei was indeed getting a little hungry. "You are very considerate," he nodded appreciatively. "A spoiled rich woman like Lin Qingwan has no idea how to take care of someone. All she gave me was a peeled apple!"

Zhong Mei quietly lowered her head and started feeding him.

"Mmm, tastes great."

When he finished all the food, she stood up and started packing everything back into her bag.

"Hey, leave the chopsticks on the table," Ye Fei said. "If you have time, please go downstairs and bring me a few more chopsticks."

"Chopsticks? What are you going to do with them?" Zhong Mei was a little puzzled, but she still took the chopsticks to the small sink in the corner, washed them, and handed them to Ye Fei.

"If I'm going to be confined to this bed for too long, my muscles will start weakening and I'll become weak. So I have to continue practicing. The more I am injured, the more I have to practice," Ye Fei said. "Besides, my opponent now is very strong. I must hone my skills to meet the upcoming challenges."

Zhong Mei thought that sounded reasonable, though she still did not understand what he wanted to do.

Ye Fei picked up the chopsticks, twirling them in his fingers. "Zhong Mei, you can help me to practice."

She nodded. "Um, sure. But what should I do?"

He pointed to the basket of apples on the bedside table. "Throw these up."

"Like this?" Zhong Mei grabbed an apple and tossed it upwards lightly.

"Ha!" Ye Fei waved his hand, launching a chopstick at the airborne apple.　

With a juicy swish, the chopstick embedded itself deep in the flesh of the apple, sending it on a flat trajectory across the ward.

Zhong Mei jerked back with a yelp as a sharp gust of wind lashed at her face. Her foot landed in a small puddle of water on the smooth marble floor and she lost her balance.

Ye Fei instinctively reached out and yanked Zhong Mei towards him as she was about to fall backwards. She fell right on top of him.

"Aargh!!!" he roared in pain.

The door almost immediately swung open and Murong rushed in. "Ye Fei, what's going on?"

"What... What are you doing?" Murong mumbled in astonishment. "Cut that out! You're in a hospital! It's the middle of the day!"