Hello, Comrade. I'm Here to Marry You!

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: The Second Male Lead Appears

Su Zhaozhao paused, quietly gazing at Xie Huaizheng.

Something stirred deep in her heart.

Then, she dodged Xie Huaizheng’s touch, the corners of her lips lifting. "Why can’t I smile?"

"Aren’t you in pain? Isn’t it tiring to put on an act?"

The man’s gaze was sharp, as if he had seen through her every thought in an instant.

The hand Su Zhaozhao kept hidden beneath her hospital gown involuntarily clenched.

’She hadn’t expected Xie Huaizheng to see right through her.’

"The pain is manageable. It’s just a little wound; I’m not afraid."

But she was also a little flustered at having been found out.

She knew she was a people-pleaser.

Because she was highly empathetic, she couldn’t stand to see the people around her suffer.

Sometimes, she would rather endure the pain herself if it meant helping others.

Once, her parents had been so busy with work that she had to live with relatives for a long time.

During that time, she was always forced to give way to her cousins.

Over time, it became a habit.

She also knew this mentality wasn’t healthy. As a psychologist, no one understood the dangers of a people-pleaser personality better than she did.

"You will get hurt," Xie Huaizheng said, and it was unclear if he meant physically or emotionally.

He reached out and took hold of Su Zhaozhao’s arm.

The young woman’s arm was slender and fair, her skin as soft as a baby’s.

He didn’t dare to apply much force; the slightest pressure might make her skin flush red.

"Your skin is too delicate. It makes you more susceptible to injury, and it will hurt more than it would for an ordinary person."

Su Zhaozhao looked at Xie Huaizheng in surprise. "You even know about that?"

"Why do you think we train ourselves to be so tough and calloused?" Xie Huaizheng scoffed. Sometimes, these thick calluses and hard muscles were a form of protection for them.

His palm was rough, covered in calluses from training—the complete opposite of Su Zhaozhao’s.

As it brushed against Su Zhaozhao’s skin, the coarse texture made her feel a bit strange.

An inexplicable tickle spread through her heart.

Xie Huaizheng’s gaze fell to where his hand was intertwined with hers.

His skin was dark, a bronzed color, while Su Zhaozhao’s was very fair.

Seeing them together now, the stark contrast made his gaze darken.

Just then, a voice came from the doorway. "Brother Zheng, is our sister-in-law okay?"

Su Zhaozhao turned her head and saw Xiao Yuanming and Wang Guofu standing in the doorway.

’Sister-in-law?’ Su Zhaozhao’s eyes lit up when she heard the term.

With her other hand, she couldn’t help but grab Xie Huaizheng’s.

"He called me sister-in-law!" A radiant smile spread across her face.

Even though her face was still a little pale and haggard, that smile made her seem like a brilliant, blooming flower.

Xie Huaizheng’s heart began to hammer like a drum.

’This feeling is so strange.’

He snatched his hand back and turned to look at the two people standing in the doorway.

"Who gave you permission to call her that?"

Xiao Yuanming, holding a basket of fruit, froze. "Brother Zheng, the news has spread to everyone. You took a risk last night and even got hurt, all to go find Zhaozhao. A lot of people also saw you hug her the moment you saw her."

"You also took care of Zhaozhao all night. How can we not call her our sister-in-law after that?"

"Brother Xiao, the way you say ’sister-in-law’ is music to my ears. I love it, say it more. But in that case... does this mean I can’t call you Brother Xiao anymore?" Su Zhaozhao immediately interjected. She moved around Xie Huaizheng, who was blocking her view, and spoke with a wide grin.

"That’s fine, you can call me Little Xiao."

Although Su Zhaozhao was younger than him, her seniority was now greater.

Besides, she was his boss’s partner.

"Xiao Yuanming, do you find your recent training too easy?" Xie Huaizheng’s chilly voice rang out.

Xiao Yuanming paused, then said at once, "No, no, Brother Zheng, you’ve misunderstood me! I was just concerned about you."

"You’ve paid your visit, so you can go back now," Xie Huaizheng said to Xiao Yuanming.

Xiao Yuanming put down the fruit. Wang Guofu added, "Sister-in-law, please take good care of yourself."

"Okay, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to rest up and recover well."

After they left, Su Zhaozhao was still all smiles.

She even said to Xie Huaizheng, "Huai Zheng, I want to eat a pear. Can you feed me?"

’They called me sister-in-law!’

’I’ve finally been acknowledged by the people around the male lead!’

Hearing her sweet, soft voice, Xie Huaizheng couldn’t help but scoff. "You really are something. Give you an inch and you take a mile."

"It’s not like that. I’m just sick right now and need to get some more vitamins in me."

Though Xie Huaizheng’s expression remained impassive, he still peeled the pear for her, cut it into chunks, and even stuck a toothpick in one. "Here, eat."

Su Zhaozhao hadn’t expected that. ’Xie Huaizheng seems like such a tough guy, but he’s actually very thoughtful when it comes to things like this.’

But Su Zhaozhao decided to push her luck a little further.

"You feed me. I have no strength," Su Zhaozhao said, leaning toward him.

Xie Huaizheng glanced at her, his eyes dark and his thin lips pressed together, as if he were impatient.

"Pleeease? Fiancé," Su Zhaozhao called out softly, her hand once again resting on Xie Huaizheng’s arm.

Xie Huaizheng glanced at her hand and froze.

The back of her hand was swollen from the IV drip, and the bruise on it was incredibly conspicuous. Against her fair skin, it looked like a dirty ink blot.

Xie Huaizheng frowned. Seeing her injured, he felt even worse than when he was injured himself.

"Open your mouth," Xie Huaizheng finally said.

Su Zhaozhao smiled. ’She knew Xie Huaizheng would listen to her.’

As she ate, she praised Xie Huaizheng with a smile. "Camp Commander Xie, you’re handsome, gentle, and considerate. It’s enough to make a girl swoon."

This came from a fascinating psychological experiment Su Zhaozhao had once read about: training a man the same way one would train a dog.

When a man did something good, you had to give him plenty of rewards. That way, he would do more of the things she liked in order to receive more praise.

In the modern world, no man had ever caught her eye, so she had never tried it.

She just wasn’t sure if it would be effective on Xie Huaizheng.

Who would have known that in the next moment, Xie Huaizheng would shoot her a sidelong glance. "How fake of you, fiancée."

Su Zhaozhao: "..."

’Oh, well. My acting is just too terrible.’

Xie Huaizheng left after he finished feeding her the pear, as he had other matters to attend to.

As Su Zhaozhao hadn’t fully recovered, she stayed in the hospital for another day.

Soon, a doctor and a nurse came in to check on her.

When Su Zhaozhao saw the doctor, she froze.

The doctor, dressed in a white coat and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, was handsome and refined, but his eyes seemed to be covered in a thin layer of frost.

He was handsome, yet exuded an indifferent chill.

The nurse took Su Zhaozhao’s temperature. "100.6. You still have a bit of a fever."

The young male doctor said to Su Zhaozhao, "Drink plenty of water and get lots of rest. Call us if you feel any discomfort. And pay close attention to the wound on your hand."

Su Zhaozhao nodded.

But her gaze remained fixed on the doctor before her, unblinking.

The nurse was used to this kind of scene. After all, their Doctor Lin was so handsome that plenty of people at the hospital had a crush on him.

"Doctor, what’s your name?" Su Zhaozhao asked, her big, dark eyes wide as she looked at the doctor.

"My name is Lin Shumo. You can just call me Doctor Lin." The young doctor hadn’t expected the girl before him to be so bold as to ask for his name directly.

Su Zhaozhao’s eyes lit up. ’Yes, that’s right! That’s the name. The second male lead from the book!’

’To think I’d actually run into him.’