“They’re very severe. She had broken her legs and her ribs. However, she’s already undergone an operation and she’s resting in her ward now. Her injuries weren’t caused by Zong Jingyi, though. Her mother was the one who had had her beaten up. I reckon he must have just abducted her and dumped her there.”
An Xiaoning asked, “Have you informed the Mu family yet?”
“No, she begged me not to. She didn’t let me call her boyfriend either.”
“So… did you pay for her medical bills?”
“Yes, I paid using my card.”
An Xiaoning smiled and said teasingly, “Ah, I really didn’t know that our Shixin is so kindhearted.”
Fan Shixin blushed and said, “What else could I have done? I can’t possibly leave her in the lurch. It’s a life we’re talking about. Also, she said that she’ll return the money to me.”
“What if she doesn’t?”
“I don’t think she’s such a person. Even if she really doesn’t pay me back, I’ll just take it that I bought a lesson with my money. Money is only superficial anyway. I can just earn it again.”
An Xiaoning was heartened to hear how positive he was. “She doesn’t know that Zong Jingyi was the one who had dumped her there, does she?”
“Seems like she doesn’t.”
“Okay. Her mother was the one who had broken her legs? How could she do that to her own daughter? Since she doesn’t want her family or boyfriend to know about her hospitalization, look after her for the next few days. It’s not appropriate to just dump her in the hospital either.”
“I thought so too.”
“You’ve been exhausted after such a long day. I shall not disturb you any further. Hurry and go get some rest.
“Okay, goodnight, Young Madam.”
“Yes.”
——
News of Mu Wansheng going missing began to spread amongst the Mu family members. Mrs. Mu woke up to discover that her daughter had gone missing. Thinking that Mu Wansheng had fled on her own, she thought to herself, She definitely wasn’t beaten hard enough.
When she finally caught sight of Zong Jingyi, she thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her. After all, she frequently had nightmares about Zong Jingyi.
She initially thought that Mu Wansheng had gone to look for her boyfriend. Thus, she sent her bodyguards to look into the matter, only to hear that her boyfriend could not contact her at all since the night before.
Mrs. Mu did not think much of it for she simply thought that her daughter had gone into hiding.
However, Mu Wansheng’s boyfriend, Xing Wei, was extremely worried about his girlfriend, whom he could not contact. He headed to the possible places where Mu Wansheng could be bright and early in the morning. He even tried to look for her at her friends’ homes, but his efforts were futile. At last, he had no choice but to call the police.
Shortly after, he received a notice from the police.
“We’ve found your girlfriend, but she told us that she can’t see you at the moment. She’ll come to meet you once she’s recovered, and she wants me to tell you not to look her up.”
Greatly taken aback by the policeman’s words, he had no choice but to head home.
He continuously tried to call his girlfriend, only to hear the automated robot voice that kept telling him that she could not be reached at the moment.
While he was fretting over the lack of communication, Mu Wansheng was in great pain and agony at the hospital.
Mu Wansheng began shrieking hysterically due to the unbearable pain in her legs that consumed her once the anesthetic had worn off.
That was not all.
She could relieve nature’s calls with ease since she had a urinal tube attached to her. However, she could not manage to do a number two and had to call for the nurse’s help. She could not hold it in for long either.
Thus, she settled it right on the spot in bed.
One can only imagine how terrible that felt.
No one showed up even after her voice had turned hoarse from all the yelling.
Mu Wansheng could barely move an inch, and she was both physically and emotionally traumatized. She even felt like she would be better off dead.
Fan Shixin heard her hoarse voice when he arrived in the morning.
He immediately rushed inside. The moment he opened the door, the unbearable stench attacked his senses and he instantly knew what had happened. Without hesitation, he placed the container of food onto the table and apologized, “I’m sorry, I should have sent more nurses here last night. I thought that the nurses would do their rounds routinely, I didn’t expect…”
Feeling extremely awkward and embarrassed, Mu Wansheng said, “You’re not to blame. I tried to call for help several times but no one appeared, I feel…” Tears streamed down her face like a broken tap. She continued, “I just feel so ashamed and embarrassed…”
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Give me a moment.” He exited and asked the nurse for a clean set of hospital attire and bought lots of tissue paper as well.
He instructed the nurse to clean up after her.
Despite being extremely disgruntled and unwilling to do it, the two nurses had no choice but to proceed reluctantly.
Fan Shixin used the time in between to buy a new mobile phone from a mall next to the hospital.
By the time he returned to the hospital, the nurses had already left and the room was filled with the fragrance of air freshener. The windows were wide open too.
He opened the box and took out the pink mobile phone inside. “I bought you a new mobile phone and a SIM card. Call me if there’s anything you need when I’m not around. I’ll give you my number later.”
“I have a SIM card…” said Mu Wansheng, who was surprised by how meticulous he was.
“Where is it? I’ll place it inside together with the new SIM card. This is a dual-core mobile phone.”
“It’s in the pocket of my clothing,” she said, pointing at the bag on the table.
Fan Shixin took out the SIM card from her old mobile phone and placed it into the new one. Noticing that the battery percentage was at half, he input his mobile number and plugged the mobile phone to the charger. He then placed it on the table.
“I’ll arrange for a nurse to come and look after you later,” Fan Shixin said while propping her up against the bed, after which he removed the lid of the container of food.
“Okay… Chief Fan, I really don’t know what I should say. A simple ‘thank you’ is not enough to express my gratitude toward you.”
“I didn’t do this because I wanted you to thank me. Don’t dwell on it. C’mon, have some food.”
——
Three days later…
Mrs. Mu was in the midst of a gathering with her friends when she received a letter delivered by a courier.
She didn’t think much of it at first. However, she turned pale the instant she opened it and read its contents.
After the gathering ended, she freshened up, grabbed her purse, and headed to a tea house nearby.
Mrs. Mu gasped in shock the moment she opened the door. She only realized that she wasn’t just hallucinating that night when she saw the man before her.
“You…”
“Have a seat.”
Mrs. Mu closed the door. For some reason, she felt like Zong Jingyi appeared exactly the same as he did sixteen years ago. He didn’t seem to have aged a day at all, though she wasn’t sure if her eyes were just playing tricks on her because of the lighting.
Why?
No matter how much effort I put into my skincare routine, time still leaves its trace on my skin. Why does he…
After taking a seat opposite him, she finally asked, “Are you… human or a ghost?”
“Can’t you see clearly who I am? Can’t you see that I’m still alive?”
A lump formed in Mrs. Mu’s throat, and she questioned agitatedly, “Why are you still alive? How can you still be alive!?! Weren’t you already executed back then!?!”
“Seems like you’re really hoping for me to be dead. However, you’re destined to be disappointed. Do you think I’ll take what happened back then lying down?”
