But what could be the real reason?
Xuxu looked puzzledly at the man who was frowning with annoyance yet had an air of helplessness on his face.
She was struck with a thought and her heart softened.
Where did you get this boat?
Why do you care so much?
Surely he hadn't agreed to pluck coconuts for them in exchange for the boat?
She really couldn't believe that Yan Rusheng would give in to the women's demands in exchange for borrowing the boat.
But other than this possibility, she couldn't think of another reason.
After going through four trees in short order, Yan Rusheng put his pole down as it seemed like he'd gathered enough coconuts. He reached down and began to put the green coconuts into a basket that had been prepared in advance.
The women were huddled together at a corner and they kept gesturing at him. They had either criticized him for being too slow or the coconuts weren't good enough and so on.
"There's one more here." The old lady spotted a coconut at the back of a coconut tree and screamed at him in anger.
"I saw it!" Yan Rusheng snapped impatiently.
His white t-shirt was stained with sand and soil and when had his unbelievably good-looking face ever been this dirty?
"Pfft." She saw that Yan Rusheng had furrowed his eyebrows, causing deep wrinkles on his forehead. He was obviously unwilling yet he was left with no choice—he looked like a young daughter-in-law who was being bullied. Xuxu couldn't stop herself from laughing.
She leaned against the coconut tree and watched him, this prideful man who had always treated others with contempt, squatting subserviently to pick the coconuts from the ground. Her heart softened at the sight.
Despite being an occasional jerk, Yan Rusheng suddenly didn't seem so terrible and callous.
"Two baskets, all filled."
He put the coconuts into the baskets, straightened his back and harshly informed the group of women.
Wen Xuxu's head was spinning due to the fever and she was about to doze off as she leaned on the tree. When she heard Yan Rusheng's voice, she opened her eyes.
She knew that he was getting ready to leave, so she turned around and ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction of the coconut forest.
Despite having to endure the hardship, that fellow was bent on preserving his pride. He sent her away first because he was afraid that if she knew he was being detained by these old women to pluck coconuts, she would ridicule him.
If he knew that she returned to snoop around, he would definitely explode with anger and throw a tantrum.
Wen Xuxu darted out of the coconut forest without stopping. She stepped barefoot on the beach and her soles were burning.
Suddenly without warning, her legs gave way and her body softly collapsed.
What a strong smell of medicine!
Wen Xuxu wrinkled her nose and slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a rusty IV drip stand with medicine bottles hanging from it.
Her head felt heavy and dizzy and her vision was still blurred. She pressed on her temples and gradually regained consciousness.
Was she at the hospital?
She scanned her surroundings and saw empty and neat beds on both sides.
"How did I get to the hospital?"
After she was sure that this was a hospital, Wen Xuxu mumbled doubtfully to herself as she tried to sit up.