Looking at the tearful Cheng Yiyi in front of him, Zhou Wang was momentarily speechless.
After some thought, he reached out to pull her up.
"Get up first."
"I won’t... if you don’t forgive me, I won’t get up..."
Kneeling on the ground, Cheng Yiyi shook her head desperately.
"Cheng Yiyi, you’re overthinking it, I never really blamed you for anything."
Zhou Wang shook his head.
"Re... really?"
Startled, Cheng Yiyi immediately looked up, her eyes fixed on Zhou Wang, "You’ve forgiven me?"
Seeing the clear hope and anxiety in her eyes, Zhou Wang recalled what the female doctor had said earlier.
"Miss Cheng’s current issue is likely self-denial after extreme remorse... I learned about the whole situation; from Miss Cheng’s perspective, she feels she is the source of everything, believing she almost caused harm to you."
"Additionally, the family of the suspect, Miss Xu, may have approached her, saying some rather harsh things, making her feel as though her friends went astray because she wronged them..."
"From her recent behavior, she is very much the type that appears proud, yet is actually quite insecure."
"Simply put, her upbringing was relatively affluent, but because her friends are even wealthier, her underlying psychology has become twisted... of course, this may also be related to her parents’ misguided liberal upbringing."
"Mr. Zhou, I’m not sure what happened between the two of you, but from my observation, you hold a very special place in her heart, a sort of extreme sentiment born of affection, and perhaps you can help her."
"In any case, her mental state is very fragile now, and any further stress might lead to irreversible psychological issues..."
Zhou Wang sighed as he recalled this:
"Get up first, once you’re up we can talk, unless you’d rather I leave now?"
"No, don’t go... I’ll, I’ll get up right now."
Hearing Zhou Wang might leave, Cheng Yiyi immediately looked panicked, she hurriedly stood up from the ground, nervously watching Zhou Wang.
"Sit down."
"Okay, okay!"
Upon hearing Zhou Wang’s invitation, Cheng Yiyi, who was originally standing awkwardly, quickly sat down again.
Seeing her extremely obedient demeanor, Zhou Wang started to believe there might be something wrong with her... How could this possibly be the high-spirited Cheng Yiyi?
Recalling the doctor’s guidance, Zhou Wang tentatively asked, "How much do you remember about that night?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yiyi’s expression instantly turned to terror and regret.
"I, I remember a lot... I know, it was all my fault, right? Xu Jing and Zhao Yan were taken away, you were almost harmed by me, and Song Rui too, he was always so good to me, yet I brought him nothing but trouble, I almost... boohoo..."
As she spoke, Cheng Yiyi showed signs of breaking down again, hugging her knees as she began to wail.
Only then did Zhou Wang realize why the female doctor said her mental state was fragile. He thought for a moment and supported her shoulders.
"Yiyi, Cheng Yiyi, look at me!"
Zhou Wang intensified his tone, causing Cheng Yiyi to flinch but also momentarily stop crying, raising her head in a daze at Zhou Wang.
"We’re all adults, everyone is capable of independent thought, and needs to take responsibility for their actions, whether it’s Xu Jing or Zhao Yan, their current situations are the results of their own choices."
Zhou Wang gazed into her eyes, saying seriously, "Of course, I’m not saying this has nothing to do with you, but you’re not the key factor, understand?"
Cheng Yiyi stared blankly at Zhou Wang for a while before speaking: "Doctor Qin also said the same to me, you’re... you’re not just comforting me, are you? I know, in your eyes now, I’m just a patient..."
"Do you think with my personality, I would come here specifically to deceive you?"
Zhou Wang retorted disapprovingly.
"So what you’re saying is true?"
"Yes."
Zhou Wang nodded coldly, but this demeanor strangely offered Cheng Yiyi a sense of credence.
"So you’ve forgiven me?"
"If that’s how you want to put it, yes, I’ve forgiven you."
"That’s... that’s great, really great!"
Cheng Yiyi’s face immediately lit up with joy, though tears continued to stream, she wore a smile.
It was as if some burden had been lifted, visibly relaxing her body, and her eyes became brighter.
"Cheng Yiyi, what you need to do now is to stop overthinking, focus on getting well, your family will find out about this eventually, and you don’t want them to worry too much, right?"
"Okay, I’ll listen to you."
Cheng Yiyi nodded immediately.
"Then take good care of yourself, I’ll..."
Seeing Cheng Yiyi’s condition improve significantly, Zhou Wang, feeling his task was done, prepared to leave.
At this moment, Cheng Yiyi suddenly spoke up, her eyes anxious:
"Zhou Wang, I have one more question I’ve always wanted to ask you, can I... I won’t take too much of your time!"
"Go ahead... no need to be so cautious, just think of it as friends chatting, I’m not in that much of a hurry."
Zhou Wang paused, then sat back down.
"Friends..."
Cheng Yiyi pondered the word, her eyes growing brighter, "I want to ask you, do you really think I’m that terrible?"
Cheng Yiyi lowered her head, mumbled: "Is that why you disliked me so much from the start, and I kept doing things to make you dislike me even more..."