Ji Wei froze for a moment, thinking that when he mentioned feeding her water, he meant bringing the cup to her lips, even though drinking water while lying down could easily cause choking.
However, she watched as Gu Moqian lifted the cup and took a sip himself.
Ji Wei stared at him blankly, her mind short-circuited, not understanding why he drank the water himself.
The next second, Gu Moqian suddenly leaned down, drawing closer to her.
Ji Wei’s eyes widened suddenly as she realized something.
Gu Moqian leaned closer and closer to her, his nose almost brushing against hers. His eyelashes, long and dense, framed his eyes, which carried a soft tenderness.
While she was still dumbfounded, his lips pressed against her dry and pale ones. The sensation of moisture brushed through, and then her lips were pried open as water slowly flowed into her mouth.
Forced to swallow all the water, Ji Wei looked at the man who had lifted his head, her face flushing with a bright red hue.
"Do you want more water?"
Gu Moqian asked gently.
Ji Wei nodded, then immediately shook her head.
Gu Moqian was briefly taken aback but then smiled faintly at her. "So, what you mean is you want to drink water but don’t want me to feed you?"
Mouth-to-mouth feeding... it was too overwhelming. In her current weak state, she couldn’t handle such stimulation.
She bit her lip, staring at him steadily, and after a long moment, she suddenly asked, "What time is it now?"
Gu Moqian raised his hand to glance at his watch. "Three in the morning."
Ji Wei slowly nodded. So, it was this late already.
He suddenly took her hand and lowered his head, pressing a kiss to the back of it. His voice was unusually tender, "Go back to sleep. I’ll stay here with you."
"Aren’t you going to sleep?" she asked.
Gu Moqian gave a faint smile and said, "I’m not tired."
But he must not have slept at all through the night. How could he not be tired?
Ji Wei looked at the man in front of her, his expression haggard, and his eyes faintly laced with bloodshot veins. A wave of sorrow welled in her heart, and tears suddenly streamed down her face.
"What’s wrong? Why are you crying?"
Gu Moqian seemed flustered by her tears and quickly raised his hand to wipe away the streaks on her cheeks.
"Mo Qian, I’m sorry for worrying you," she said, unable to stop the tears from falling. As thoughts of everything that had happened in the wine cellar that night filled her mind, she still felt a lingering fear.
If Gu Moqian hadn’t arrived in time, she might really have died.
"It’s my fault. I didn’t protect you well enough."
Gu Moqian’s voice was filled with guilt, his eyes slightly reddened as well.
His voice was hoarse, and his face was visibly worn.
Ji Wei knew that if she continued to bring up what had happened last night, Gu Moqian would drown further in self-blame.
She forced the tears in her eyes back, smiled faintly at him, and said, "I can’t fall asleep. Can you hold me while I sleep?"
Gu Moqian smiled at her, then lifted the blanket on her side and lay next to her.
He wrapped his arms around her, careful not to touch the wound on her arm. His heart was enveloped in endless tenderness and ache, and he whispered, "Ji Wei, I’ll never let you get hurt again..."
Ji Wei nestled her head against his chest and nodded softly.
Her body was still very weak, but lying in Gu Moqian’s embrace, she let down all her defenses and fell soundly asleep once more.
As Gu Moqian held the woman in his arms, he treated her like a treasure he had lost and found again, his heart unable to calm down for a long time.
If he had been even a second later, he truly didn’t know what the consequences might have been.
As he held Ji Wei, his heart was full of guilt, robbing him of any ability to sleep.
Just then, the phone on the bedside table lit up silently.
Gu Moqian’s eyes flickered slightly. He gently set the sleeping Ji Wei down, tucked her in carefully, and then picked up the phone, walking to the balcony to answer it.
It was Chen Ke calling. He returned the call.
"Mr. Gu, we’ve found the man who knocked out Miss Ji," Chen Ke said from the other end of the line.