Volume 1, Chapter 171: He just needed a little bit of comfort, just a tiny bit.

Xu Zhi had no idea a man's left hand could possess such immense strength.

Liang Muzhi’s hand felt like an iron vise. Even as she violently twisted her wrist and saw a fraction of an inch to escape, he gave a final, forceful yank, pulling her entirely behind the door of the emergency exit.

Feeling as though her wrist bone was about to be crushed, a surge of blazing anger rose within her, and she violently flung his hand away.

"Grandpa is in this condition, and this is what you're thinking about?!"

The stairwell was deathly quiet, so even though she tried to keep her voice down, it still echoed.

She panted, raising her eyes to look at him, but the moment she met his gaze, she froze.

The rims of Liang Muzhi’s eyes were crimson, and tears were silently tracing paths down his cheeks.

She fell silent. She had never seen Liang Muzhi weep before. His life had been far too smooth-sailing; even when occasional problems arose, they were resolved swiftly. He had never faced major setbacks, and she had never witnessed him in such a state.

Involuntarily, her gaze drifted down to his right hand.

The shoulder immobilizer had been removed, but his hand was still wrapped in thick layers of gauze. She could tell a splint was bound inside, making the entire hand look abnormally heavy.

Her lips parted, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she turned around. Just as she was about to leave, he reached out to grab her hand again.

She dodged, and in his desperation, he lashed out with his right hand.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Xu Zhi carefully caught his arm. "Do you honestly not want this hand anymore?!"

She could not fathom why he was acting this way, knowing full well he was injured yet completely reckless. If he injured it again, there was no telling what would become of the hand.

"I'm begging you..."

Liang Muzhi looked at her, tears leaving two clear, wet trails across his face.

He took a step forward, raising his hands in an attempt to embrace her. He just needed a little bit of comfort, even just a tiny bit.

Grandpa wasn't going to pull through this time; everyone knew it in their hearts. He felt like he was teetering on the edge of a breakdown, vulnerable as never before.

For all those years in the past, whenever he was in a foul mood, she had always stayed by his side—all the more so during a crisis of this magnitude.

Yet, he failed to embrace her.

Xu Zhi blocked his advance.

The two of them were locked in a rather bizarre posture. Unwilling to risk injuring him further, she could only press her hands against his arms to keep him at bay.

After a few seconds of stalemate, Xu Zhi gritted her teeth and exerted a bit of force, pushing his left hand away, though the hand blocking his right arm remained restrained and gentle.

"Will you stop making a scene?" she asked, frowning at him. "I don't know what you're trying to achieve... It was the same last time. You're injured, so why don't you take care of yourself?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, a wave of intense irritation washed over her.

Now was hardly the time to discuss such matters.

Yet the depths of Liang Muzhi’s gaze lit up with a faint shimmer. "Zhi Zi, you... you still care about me, don't you?"

She was reprimanding him purely out of concern for his health, and he would have welcomed even more of her scolding.

"No," Xu Zhi lowered her gaze. After a few seconds, she sighed. "I am sorry about injuring your hand last time..."

Back in the hospital room, Liang Jinmo had been right beside her. Liang Muzhi had always lacked a sense of security, and at that moment, she had resolved that her attitude in front of him must not waver by even a fraction. Her stance had to remain firm; she could not show any sign of weakness.

Coupled with Fu Wanwen’s aggressive bullying, the argument had escalated to that point. What she offered was already her utmost concession, yet Liang Muzhi had refused to compromise.

It was true that she found him deeply irritating, and she truly could never forgive him for what he had done to Liang Jinmo in the past, but she had never intended to inflict such severe harm upon him.

She continued, "However, that is solely because I have never even been in a physical fight from childhood until now... Even if it had been anyone else, if my actions resulted in such a permanent handicap, I would still feel a sense of lingering guilt. I expect you can understand that."

Liang Muzhi did not understand. He merely gazed at her with a greedy longing, realizing that she was not entirely indifferent to his injury.

Meeting his near-scalding gaze, Xu Zhi was forced to avert her face to avoid it, her brows knitting even tighter. "If it were anyone else, I might feel compelled to make amends. But you're different, Liang Muzhi. What you did to Brother Jinmo and to me in the past makes it impossible for me to treat you like anyone else... As long as your mother doesn't back me into a corner, I can offer this apology, but that is all it will ever be."

"There's no need... you don't need to apologize," Liang Muzhi said, his voice hoarse. "I... I'm fine. It's just one hand, and... it doesn't really affect daily life that much. I..."

His throat felt tight and constricted as he asked her, "Can we... can we still be friends?"

Xu Zhi’s face darkened. "Do you really think this is the time to be discussing this?"

The visible disgust and impatience in the depths of her gaze felt like a physical prick, and his hand slowly withdrew.

"I... I'm just in pain."

"I just wanted you to stay with me for a moment... Even for a minute. No... just a few seconds would be enough."

His eyes were webbed with red veins, his eyelashes drooping downward. "When Grandpa Xu passed away, I stayed by your side the entire time... Have you forgotten?"

Xu Zhi paused slightly.

Of course she hadn't forgotten.

She had been very young when Grandpa Xu passed away, and that period coincided with the time when Xu Heping and Zhao Nianqiao were frantically trying every possible method to conceive a son.

At that moment, Zhao Nianqiao was under immense pressure for failing to produce a male heir, resulting in a foul temper, to say nothing of Xu Heping's disposition.

In the Xu household, only Grandpa Xu had treated her with any degree of kindness. Therefore, upon his death, she was utterly heartbroken, spending those several days practically weeping through them, her eyes perpetually swollen.

Worried that she would ruin her eyesight from crying, Liang Muzhi had applied ice-water compresses to her eyes and coaxed her constantly, telling her that Grandpa wouldn't want to see her in such deep sorrow, and assuring her never to fear being alone in the future because he would always stay by her side.

Lost in these memories, Xu Zhi stood frozen for a moment.

It was precisely at this juncture that Liang Muzhi stepped forward once more, reaching out to pull her into a tight embrace.

Recovering her senses, Xu Zhi immediately moved to push him away. "Let go of me!"

"Just a few seconds..." he pleaded, his voice laced with desperation. "I'm begging you... Since you can pity him, why can't you show a shred of pity for me? We're the ones who grew up together..."

Despite her forceful shoves, he refused to release her, letting out a low, muffled groan of pain.

Believing she had struck his injury, Xu Zhi froze completely, her body stiffening to the utmost degree as she gritted out through clenched teeth, "Liang Muzhi... Enough is enough. Do you want me to despise you even more than I already do?"

He lowered his head, a tear finally escaping to fall upon her shoulder.

Out in the hallway, the exact moment Liang Muzhi pulled Xu Zhi into the stairwell, Fu Wanwen had caught a glimpse of their retreating backs.

A surge of anger had already flared within her chest, and though she wanted to give chase, hesitation held her back.

At such a critical juncture, she couldn't fathom what Liang Muzhi was thinking, abandoning his post outside the hospital room like this. Yet, she dared not leave her post either; if Liang Zhengog returned and found both mother and son absent, how could she possibly explain it?

She debated whether she should give Liang Muzhi a call, though she had no idea if he even had his phone with him...

At that moment, the door to the hospital room pushed open, and Liang Jinmo emerged.

His very first instinct upon coming out was to search for Xu Zhi.

Yet, after sweeping his gaze around the corridor, her figure was nowhere to be found.