”You’re upset,” Jiang Ying Yue said next. “That’s why you’re saying that. But I know that you don’t really blame your own sister for what happened to your husband.”
Dom nodded. “Boss cares about Big Brother Boss and vice versa!”
Long Jinjing avoided all of their gazes and just focused on the closed door of the hospital room where the doctor was still performing various tests on the comatose Lu Zihao. Her emotions were all over the place. If something happened to her husband at this point of her life when she just gave birth to their children, she didn’t know what to do.
Grandpa Lu who had been silent all this time slapped his thigh. The sound startled almost everyone except for the cold-faced Iris. “This already happened before to Haohao. He woke up back then so I know that he’ll wake up from this again soon. Jinjing my girl, stay strong! I know that you love my grandson but there’s no need to blame anybody about this matter. This old man suspects that falling into coma is one of the sequelae resulting from his serious ski injury back then.”
Long Jinjing continued sobbing.
The old man sighed. “Dom, Ying Yue, accompany Jinjing my girl, alright?”
The two agreed.
Grandpa Lu stood up and patted Iris’ shoulder next. “Don’t mind your sister’s words just now, my girl. She’s just upset.”
Iris didn’t reply but still nodded. Even so, Long Jinjing’s accusation still affected her. She didn’t want to stay here anymore and left.
Grandpa Lu looked like he wanted to tell her something but decided to let her go. Dom and Jiang Ying Yue looked worried but they didn’t stop her either. Long Jinjing didn’t even glance at her.
Well, Iris didn’t look at her either.
She encountered her husband at the hospital wing’s entryway. Jin Liwei had been waiting for her. His expression looked dark…and furious.
Looking at him, she understood. “You heard?”
”Long Jinjing is too much!” Jin Liwei didn’t appreciate what the woman said to his wife.
He had thought highly of Long Jinjing before this because of her kindness and competency at work. Now, however, his impression of her had plunged down the drain. It was understandable that she would be upset because of what happened to her husband but that wasn’t a valid reason to blame his wife.
Jin Liwei felt so indignant for his wife’s sake. He almost marched to Long Jinjing when he overheard what she said to his wife and wanted to slap the woman’s face. It was only because he noticed his wife maintaining her composure despite the hurtful words that he managed to restrain his temper. He knew by instinct that his wife wouldn’t want him to interfere in how she handled her friendships. Nevertheless, he still couldn’t stop himself from boiling in anger.
”You just arrived?” Iris asked while taking his hand and interlacing their fingers together.
”En. I rushed home from the company as soon as I heard what happened to my brother-in-law.”
The two of them left the hospital wing and headed to the indoor forest. Both of them were upset. They didn’t want to bring this kind of negative energy around their babies. It was better to cool their heads off first before seeing the twins.
”How do you feel?” Jin Liwei asked as they walked through the lush vegetation in the indoor forest.
Iris touched a hibiscus blossom along the trail where they were walking. She didn’t reply—no, she couldn’t reply because she honestly didn’t know how to name all the exact emotions that she was feeling at the moment. Everything felt so chaotic.
Jin Liwei stopped walking, forcing her to stop as well. He pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back. “Everything will be okay, baby. Whatever happens, you’ll always have me.”
”Yeah.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and tried to let go of the weight bearing down on her shoulders even for just a few moments.
Ever since her fight with her brother yesterday, she felt awful. When her brother fell into coma today, she felt more horrible. Then when Long Jinjing blamed her for what happened, it was like gravity tripled for her, pressuring her down until she almost fell flat on the ground.
”I hope Big Brother wakes up soon,” she murmured.
”En.” Then Jin Liwei added, “I also hope that Long Jinjing wakes up soon from her sudden foolishness.”
She sighed. It seemed that her husband was truly upset with Long Jinjing this time. Well, she was also upset but she also understood why Long Jinjing said those hurtful words to her.
Long Jinjing’s mental health hadn’t been that good since she gained a lot of weight throughout her pregnancy. Her self-esteem almost hit rock bottom. The weekly therapy appeared to be helping but what happened today might have been too much for her already fragile mental state. This might be the reason why she lashed out at Iris and blamed her.
Even though Iris could understand Long Jinjing’s situation, she didn’t have the energy to defend her in front of her husband. She was also affected. It was only because her mental state was tougher that she didn’t crumble like Long Jinjing.
”I’m not 100% certain but I suspect that my brother fell into coma because of the original Lu Zihao’s remnant again,” Iris said as they continued walking around the indoor forest. “His experience has been very different from my experience with the original Long Xiulan’s remnant, so I can’t really predict what’s going to happen with him this time.”
Jin Liwei was quiet for a few seconds as he processed what he could about this out-of-the-ordinary situation.
Then he finally said, “My fifth brother isn’t someone vicious. Among us five sworn brothers, he’s the most open-minded and inclusive. I’m sure that he doesn’t discriminate against Nikolai because of his criminal background. If Fifth Brother is acting against Nikolai like this, then he must have been triggered in some way. I think that he disliked how Nikolai fought with you yesterday.”
”That’s…possible.”
Iris didn’t really know the original Lu Zihao so she could only construct a version of the man’s personality in her mind based on her husband’s anecdotes about his much-loved fifth brother.
In addition, she could also tell a little what the original Lu Zihao was like after observing how her brother acted in front of everyone else before he bulked up from his thin, sickly self after returning to the country from Canada. Even when her brother began acting more and more like Nikolai Vetrov later on, she noticed that his personality was no longer exactly the same compared to how he normally acted back in their past life.
Just like how she was no longer the same Evelina Vetrova now that she became Long Xiulan, her brother was also no longer the same Nikolai Vetrov when he became Lu Zihao in this life.
Even though her mind and emotions were chaotic, she still appeared calm on the outside. Jin Liwei also noticed this.
He kissed her forehead. “I feel like you’ve also changed a little.”
She raised an eyebrow.
”You’re less…volatile than before.”
”Oh? I feel like I’ve always been like this. Wait.” She paused and thought about it, frowning. Then her eyes widened as she realized something. “I’ve always been like this when I was Evelina. It just feels natural so I didn’t really think about it much recently. Now that you noticed it, I was indeed very emotional, and yes, volatile like you said, especially when I just became reborn as Long Xiulan. It might be because the original Long Xiulan’s personality has been deeply embedded in this body even when I no longer sense the remnant.”
”I see.” Jin Liwei stroked a lock of her long, silky hair and twirled it around his finger. “So it’s like this.”
She looked at his eyes. “Would you still love me if my personality continues changing like this? Even I can’t control it.”
”Of course. You can doubt whatever you want in the world but please don’t doubt my love for you.”
”Really?”
”En.” He pulled her in another embrace while still looking at her face. “I love you, Evelina. So much. You might be living as Long Xiulan but it’s you who I love.
Her heart shook. She couldn’t help it. This was the man she loved. He was declaring his love for her once again. She would never get tired at him telling her he loved her.
Then Jin Liwei changed the subject which Iris welcomed because it made her temporarily forget about Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing.
”Long Tengfei always say that our Little Mochi is like Long Xiulan, the original Long Xiulan. Our eldest twin son is demanding, craves attention, and already a little narcissistic. Have you seen how he would stare and smile at his own reflection in the mirror?”
Iris chuckled. Indeed, she also noticed that about their son. It was adorable.
”But that’s okay,” Jin Liwei continued saying. “It’s because he’s our son. Through him, I feel like I’m beginning to really understand the original Long Xiulan’s not-so-pleasant personality on a much deeper level than before. And even appreciate it. She wasn’t necessarily a bad person. What made her grow that way was her upbringing.”
”I feel the same way,” Iris replied, nodding. “In a way, it’s like we’re raising another newer version of the original Long Xiulan through Little Mochi.”
