Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)

Chapter 264

Cold, very cold...

The icy cold water enveloped her.

It seemed that she heard something. She had heard Lingye calling her...

Is Lingye back?

Sinking deeper, she felt a strong pair of arms hauling her body out.

She had difficulty breathing, but as of that moment, she had felt someone pumping air into her, soft lips planted against hers.

Fu Lingye, is that you?

.........

“Rui, Rui! Wake up! Wake up! Do not sleep! Rui, wake up!”

Fu Lingye had then continued to perform chest compressions on Mu Tongrui. However, it was to no avail, as she did not seem to be able to expel the seawater in her lungs.

Fu Lingye's eyes were red and his voice shook, “Drive a little faster!”

In the dark of the night, Xu Kun pressed down on the oil brakes, causing the black Maybach to speed across the road..

“Boss, don't worry. We are reaching the hospital!”

“Mu Tongrui! Wake up!”

Fu Lingye had not been able to keep track of the number of chest compressions that he had performed until Mu Tongrui had finally managed to expel several mouthfuls of the seawater.

“Cough cough cough...Cough cough...”

Eyelids fluttering open, she had seen a blurred, shaky figure standing in front of her. The figure was soon revealed to have possessed a familiar handsome face.

“Lingye...”

She had managed to curve her mouth upwards into a smile on her pale face, thinking that it had been just another figment of her imagination...

At this instance, Fu Xiao was about to be engaged to Yao Zhiyue. Why would he have appeared in front of her?

She was pulled into a tight embrace.

“Rui, I'm sorry that I've arrived so late.”

Mu Tongrui's tears were streaming down her face. She was still unconscious and her voice was weak, “This is great... I've dreamed of you again... Lingye... I am so tired...I want to stop Fu Xiao from getting engaged to Yao Zhiyue... but I'm so tired... My stomach hurts... I can't run in hopes to catch up anymore...”

“Don't talk anymore.”

Pressing his thin lips against her temples, he murmured softly, “We'll reach the hospital soon. It'll stop hurting soon. Be good and bear with it for a little longer. We'll be there soon.”

Overwhelmed with exhaustion, Mu Tongrui had struggled her hardest, to be able to catch a few more glimpses of Fu Lingye. Ultimately, she had been unable to overcome the fatigue, causing her to succumb to the weight of her eyelids.

He gazed at her pale face, calling out to her softly, “Rui, Rui?”

.......

Mu Tongrui was pushed into the emergency room.

Smashing the hospital wall with his fist, Fu Lingye waited impatiently outside the emergency room.

His fist had started to bleed, but he was void of pain.

Jiang Xinghe walked over and consoled him, “This isn't exactly your fault. Don't be too hard on yourself.”

Fu Lingye closed his eyes and sighed, “Perhaps Fu Xiao will appear again. He'd only hurt Rui repeatedly. I didn't want to offend anyone and I hadn't wanted to get married, but I'd become selfish the moment that Rui had stepped into my life.”

In spite of the fact that it had been Fu Xiao who had harmed Mu Tongrui, Fu Lingye was forced to admit that Fu Xiao was indeed a part of his conscious body and mind. He had to bear the consequences, to take responsibility for his actions.

Pursing his lips, Jiang Xinghe professed, “Even though your other personalities had appeared in the past, it is indeed known that they would have only appeared for a short time. You would usually revert to normal after you'd fainted. However, this time, Fu Xiao had almost managed to replace you, becoming your dominant character. He would've been able to control your behavior and actions, Lingye. Fu Xiao is becoming stronger. Thus, you must be careful.”

Fu Lingye clenched his fist tighter, his knuckles turning white.

Unaware of how long he had been waiting outside the emergency room, Fu Lingye noticed that the doctor in charge of the surgery had just departed.

Fu Lingye did not dare to ask for a brief moment.

He had never thought that he would have acted in such a cowardly manner.

“Doctor, how is my wife?”

The doctor adjusted his glasses that were propped on his nose. He took a breath before saying, “Mrs. Fu's progesterone level is low, coupled with overstimulation and bleeding. Even though she has managed to retain the fetus, she is prone to experience a miscarriage if she feels depressed and agitated again. She needs to be well taken care of. This must not happen again in the future.”

Fu Lingye drew in a deep breath before he had finally released a slow, long exhale.

He had also felt much calmer.

Mu Tongrui was wheeled into the VIP ward. Fu Lingye stood outside for a long while. He did not dare to step in.

Jiang Xinghe asked, “Aren't you going in to see her?”

“There is something that I need to ask you for, a favor.”

“What is it?”

“Please allow Lu Jiahe to take care of Rui for a while.”

Jiang Xinghe frowned, “Then what about you?”

“I will head back with you to the medical facility. Before I am fully treated, I...”

Jiang Xinghe interrupted him, “What if you cannot be treated? Do you not intend to see Mu Tongrui at all?”

Fu Lingye's eyes sank as he admitted in a deep voice, “Even though Fu Xiao is the one hurting Rui, he is still a part of me. I have the responsibility to protect her. I don't know when Fu Xiao will appear, so it is best for you to lock me up at the medical facility.”

.....

Before Fu Lingye left, he entered the ward to sit beside Mu Tongrui.

He held onto her hand, planting a long, deep kiss on her ring finger.

Mu Tongrui had felt insecure in her sleep, her eyebrows beginning to furrow. Just as Fu Lingye was about to get up and leave, she grabbed ahold of his hand, “Lingye, please don't leave...”

Fu Lingye's eyes sank. He gazed at her hand reaching out helplessly for him, but he was determined to let go.

.....

“Lingye...”

“Lingye...”

“Lingye...!”

Mu Tongrui opened up her eyes to see that she was grabbing onto Lu Jiahe's hand instead.

Lu Jiahe asked her with full concern, “Tongrui, did you have a nightmare?”

Mu Tongrui looked towards the door to see no one standing there.

“It was really just my imagination...”

“Tongrui, what're you talking about?”

Mu Tongrui shook her head, letting out a bitter laugh. She recalled that she had fallen into the sea. Her fragmented memory had revealed thoughts of her baby as well.

She brought her hand over, gently rubbing her belly.

Lu Jiahe consoled her, “Tongrui, don't worry. Your child is okay! However, the doctor has said that you would need to rest and recuperate well. You cannot withstand any more agitation.”

“Who... saved me?”

Was it Fu Xiao? However, why would Fu Xiao have rescued her? He was simply a jerk who could not wait for her to disappear from his life.

“Hmm.... yes. Hades Jiang and I were the ones who'd saved you! Have you forgotten? When we had headed to your house, we'd seen that you were not around. Upon seeing traces of struggle, we'd guessed that Fu Xiao and Yao Zhiyue must have sent someone to capture you. Good thing that we'd managed to get there in time. If not, things could've been far worse!”

“Was it really you and Doctor Jiang who'd saved me?”

Was it really... not Lingye?

So, did that mean that it was merely her imagination when she had heard someone calling her “Rui” so many times?

“Yes, that's right! Tongrui, you have just woken up. I will go and call the doctor!”

When Lu Jiahe headed out to call the doctor, she had made a call to Jiang Xinghe.

“Master, Fu Lingye is already back. Why won't you allow me to tell Tongrui about this? I feel so suffocated!”

“This is what Lingye wants. This is because we aren’t able to determine when Fu Xiao will appear again. Nobody would be able to bear the consequences if Fu Xiao were to continue to hurt Tongrui. What Lingye is doing is right. The best thing to do now is to isolate Mu Tongrui and him.”

“But... but who Tongrui needs right now is not me, nor is it someone else. The person whom she needs the most is Fu Lingye!”

.....

The doctor left after examining Mu Tongrui and checking that all was well.

There was a television in the VIP ward. Lu Jiahe was worried that Mu Tongrui would be in a bad mood, so she switched the television on, hoping to divert Mu Tongrui's attention.

However, when she switched on the television, there was a piece of news broadcasted on Bei City's Satellite TV——

“At 5pm last evening, Fu Corporation's CEO Fu Lingye had disappeared from his engagement ceremony! The engagement ceremony will now be postponed...”

Lu Jiahe wanted to switch the channels, but Mu Tongrui had stopped her from doing so, “Didn't Fu Xiao get engaged with Yao Zhiyue? Where did he go?”

“I... I also do not know. Fu Xiao has so many tricks up his sleeve. Who knows what he's thinking? Do you think that he might have made some new plans?”

Mu Tongrui frowned, “But where did he go?”

Fu Xiao's body ultimately belonged to Fu Lingye. She could not help but be worried.

“Jiahe, can you please get Doctor Jiang to send someone to search for Fu Xiao?”

Mu Tongrui grabbed ahold of her hand, pleading with her.

Lu Jiahe saw that she was so worried and could not control herself anymore, “I can't take this anymore! I would rather just tell you everything! I can't stand seeing you two lovebirds being unable to meet each other! Who cares about Fu Xiao!”

“What... what do you mean?”

“Fu Lingye is back already! It was Fu Lingye who saved you when you fell into the sea last night!”

Mu Tongrui's heart lurched, “Then, then where is he?”

“He is afraid that Fu Xiao would come to hurt you again, so he's followed Jiang Xinghe back to the medical facility to seek treatment!”

.....

At the medical facility.

Fu Lingye laid on the bed, his entire body covered with digital instruments that would collect data. Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

Jiang Xinghe was observing Fu Lingye's body data on several computer screens.

“I have a bold idea. If we cannot eliminate Fu Xiao, we can instead create and fuse more personalities. However, it will be a long treatment process. Oh yes, how did you appear yesterday?”

Fu Lingye recalled last night's events and said, “I felt like I was in deep sleep for a long time. Then, I'd vaguely heard that something had happened to Rui. I was worried and anxious, so I'd appeared.”

“That meant that you were activated when something bad had happened to Mu Tongrui. So was that how you were able to regain consciousness?”

Jiang Xinghe looked at numerous figures, deep in thought.

“Could it be that... Qiao Sang is not the one who induces a personality change in you? The one who's really able to induce a significant change in your personality is actually Mu Tongrui!”

“That year, I was at a loss when Qiao Sang died. To me, my memories that year were a blur. That was because someone else had been taking over me.”

Jiang Xinghe frowned deeply, “I remember that you've told me this before. Mu Tongrui interacted with one of your personalities, and it had felt great while it'd lasted. Whose personality is this?”

That personality was definitely not Fu Xiao's.

Slowly, the door to the medical facility opened.

Mu Tongrui and Lu Jiahe rushed in.

Mu Tongrui immediately caught sight of Fu Lingye, who was receiving treatment while lying on the bed.

With a simple glance, she was able to discern that it was Lingye who had been lying down over there.

Hot tears flowed down.

Jiang Xinghe got up and removed the digital instruments on Fu Lingye's body before saying, “Take this time to catch up with each other.”

Jiang Xinghe held onto Lu Jiahe's back collar, pulling her out.

Mu Tongrui inched nearer towards him. Her gaze was fixed on Fu Lingye, her tears clouding her vision.

When she had finally reached him, Fu Lingye lifted his hand and wiped away her tears with his fingertips. He smiled plainly and uttered, “It's been a long time, my Rui.”