1206 Don’t Be Afraid

The corridor was silent.

Gu Tinglan had a slightly shocked expression on his face.

“Ah Li, you–”

She already knew?

But, she had never asked about it before this!

Gu Tinglan’s heart gradually sank when his gaze met those extremely calm peach blossom eyes. She had really known about it a long time ago.

Shen Li seemed to have read his mind. She paused and said calmly, “I happened to see his medical records in Grandpa Lu’s study before. It was in April of this year. However, I didn’t open the case file, so…”

She looked at Gu Tinglan quietly.

“Now, can you tell me about it?”

Gu Tinglan was stunned for a long time, and his throat tightened.

It turned out that she had long known that there was something wrong with Lu Huaiyu and knew that Lu Huaiyu went to his place for consultations. However, she had never asked about it even after so long.

It was no wonder that when she had suddenly appeared at his office previously and seen Lu Huaiyu there, she had not asked him anything.

She knew, yet she did not.

Perhaps she had been waiting for Lu Huaiyu to tell her, or perhaps she had understood that they did not want her to know so she had obediently pretended not to know.

Gu Tinglan closed his eyes. He suddenly felt that all the things he had tried to cover up in the past were absurd and ridiculous.

She cared so much for Lu Huaiyu. How could she not have noticed it all this time?

That was until now, at this very moment, everything could no longer be hidden.

His lips moved slightly, but Fang Yunyi spoke first.

“Let me explain.”

Gu Tinglan looked at her and frowned.

Wouldn’t it be torture for Fang Yunyi to talk about those things again?

However, Fang Yunyi did not seem to care.

She exhaled lightly.

“Ah Li, come.”

…

At the end of October, the weather in the Capital had already become very cold. Coupled with the autumn rain, it was even colder.

The room was very quiet, so quiet that every word could be heard so clearly.

“Ah Li, you’ve been with Huaiyu for so long, but have you never seen him drive?”

Fang Yunyi asked in a soft voice.

Shen Li’s heart tightened.

“Yes. Except for… today.”

In the past two years, she had indeed never seen Lu Huaiyu drive.

In the beginning, she had not thought much of it.

Perhaps he simply did not like it or did not want to drive. After all, with his family background, it was normal to have a driver whenever he went in and out.

That was until one time when Lu Huaiyu had gone to LY with her. When Lu Siyu had seen Lu Huaiyu, he had been very excited and said that he had seen Lu Huaiyu race cars before and admired him a lot. However, looking between the lines, it seemed like he was avoiding mentioning something, so he had hidden it and refused to say more.

In fact, he was not the first person to mention this.

Even earlier, while they were in Hong Kong, Yu Cheng had said something similar, but he had said it in a provocative manner.

He had said that Lu Huaiyu had not touched a car in a very long time.

All these things had made her vaguely sense that something was wrong.

She had asked casually about it, but Lu Huaiyu had merely smiled and said that he was not interested in it anymore.

After that, she had not probed further.

She closed her eyes.

“Is it because of… the car accident from three years ago?”

The air seemed to have frozen.

Gu Tinglan’s face was filled with shock.

According to the previous situation, she did not seem to know that both she and Lu Huaiyu had been present during the car accident at Yanhui Mountain.

Shen Li’s fingers tightened.

“When I was on the mountain, I remembered something. I was there when a car accident involving multiple cars happened at Yanhui Mountain, and Second Brother was there too, right?”

The dusty images had finally become clear.

“At that time, my car was following behind and I managed to avoid the accident. However, the few cars in front were unable to brake in time because the first car hit the rock wall, causing a serious rear-end collision. I got out of the car to save someone, and that person… was him.”

It had been in the afternoon and the weather had been good. However, after they began to ascend the mountain, it had suddenly started to rain.

The summer rain in Lincheng always came suddenly, but it also left quickly.

By the time Shen Li had gotten out of the car to save Lu Huaiyu, the rain had already stopped.

However, seven or eight cars had rear-ended her, and the scene was so chaotic that she did not have time to think about anything else.

In fact, she had not even taken a closer look at who she had saved.

Moreover, Lu Huaiyu had been wearing a helmet at the time, so he had not been able to see his face at all.

All she remembered was that he had hugged her tightly, and the strength he used was still deeply etched in her mind.

She had been worried that his injury would worsen, so she had not broken free. Instead, she had held his hand.

She still remembered the sticky blood that covered his hands.

It was at this moment that she clearly felt the tension leave his body, although he had not reduced his strength at all.

Even when they placed him in the ambulance, he refused to let go.

The two of them were in a stalemate, and the emergency personnel tried to forcibly break the grip of his hand on her.

He had refused and held onto her tightly.

The smell of blood was mixed in the humid air after the rain. The setting sun dyed the sky orange-red, and half of the light shone on their clasped hands, making the blood look even more intense.

For some reason, she had asked the emergency personnel to let go of him. She had lowered her head slightly and said in a low voice, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

His hand finally loosened then.

And then-

Then, she had turned around and left.

She did not know him, and since the ambulance had arrived, there was no need for her to continue accompanying him.

After taking a few steps, she had stopped for some reason.

Her hand still seemed to feel some of his strength, and she could still smell the faint smell of blood.

She turned around to look…

However, just as she turned her head and before she could see the scene behind her, someone in front of her called for help.

She paused, withdrew her gaze, and walked forward.

At that time, how could she have known that it was him?

Gu Tinglan let out a long sigh.

“It seems that you know everything about the accident. Yes, Second Lu’s inability to drive is indeed related to that accident.”

Shen Li moved her line of sight and looked over at him.

After some deliberation, Gu Tinglan spoke, “He… has traumatic stress disorder due to the car accident.”

Shen Li’s breathing became lighter.

“Usually, this is a stress-related disorder that occurs when an individual faces an abnormally strong mental stress state. The common symptoms are trauma re-experience, increased alertness, and avoidance or numbness.”

Gu Tinglan pursed his lips.

“Lu Huaiyu’s symptoms are mainly reflected in the first two points. When he sees a scene related to the car accident, he will feel a strong phantom pain. And because of this, he is extremely alert whenever he faces danger, and his reaction will be intense. It is very easy for him to lose control of his emotions, and his attack power is extremely strong.

“He has serious insomnia. For a long time, he had to force himself to take pills in the afternoon just to sleep. Because…”

“Because that was the time of the accident.”

Shen Li said softly.

Gu Tinglan paused for a moment.

“Yes.”

She sat there in a daze.

“But… he has been sleeping in the afternoon for the past two years, no, three years…”

In other words, day after day, he had repeatedly experienced the suffering, pain, and torture.

However, even after all this time, she still had not known.

Whenever he had been in pain, she had not known anything.

“Is it because of that car accident?” She murmured.

The room was silent for a moment.

Fang Yunyi closed her eyes.

“No,” she said.