Chapter 212: Chapter 208: Taking Advantage of My Soft Spot for You (Part 3)
"But I want you to accompany me," Gu Lingyi pouted.
"I have important business to attend to," Rong Mochen replied indifferently.
"Is it so urgent it can’t be postponed? It’s alright to push it back a little, isn’t it?" Gu Lingyi clung tightly to Rong Mochen’s arm, "Brother Mo Chen, won’t you play with me? Please...?"
"Lingyi." Rong Mochen suddenly spoke in a cold voice, his eyes icy as he looked at the startled Gu Lingyi, his voice devoid of emotion, "I do not like women who throw tantrums!"
Gu Lingyi opened her mouth, a deep sense of confusion and defeat in her eyes, "I...I’m not trying to throw a tantrum. I just...I just want you to spend some time with me. Brother Mo Chen, you are my fiancé; can’t you fulfill this small request of mine?"
"Fiancé?" Rong Mochen repeated the word coldly.
Gu Lingyi was stunned again, her lips paling, "Y-yes."
Rong Mochen suddenly lifted Gu Lingyi’s pale chin with his finger, staring coldly into her fearfully trembling eyes, "What if I told you, I never intended to get engaged to you?"
"..." Gu Lingyi’s face instantly turned ashen, her dark pupils seemed to have been stabbed by a knife, the color of blood swiftly spreading across the corners of her eyes.
In disbelief, she moved her lips, speaking haltingly, "Mo Chen, brother, w-what are you saying? What do you mean you never intended to get engaged to me?"
Rong Mochen withdrew his finger, took a sheet of paper from the tube on the coffee table next to him, and wiped his fingers, his voice extremely indifferent, "You understood."
"No, no, I don’t understand, I don’t get it." Unable to bear it, Gu Lingyi held Rong Mochen’s hand, tears streaming down, "You clearly used to say you liked being with me. You do like me."
Rong Mochen sneered slightly, pulled his hand back coolly, and wiped his hand again with a tissue.
Gu Lingyi noticed, a look of humiliation crossed her pale face, "Brother Mo Chen, why are you treating me like this? Did I do something wrong? Before we talked about the engagement, everything was fine, it was good."
"Did I say I enjoyed being with you?" At this moment, Rong Mochen was like a tyrant devoid of flesh and feelings, each word like an icy dagger stabbing into Gu Lingyi’s chest, yet he remained utterly calm.
Gu Lingyi’s heart ached sharply, tears falling endlessly, "Yes, you didn’t say it directly, but I could feel it. You do like me. Brother Mo Chen, why are you denying it?"
"Why admit to something that isn’t true?" Rong Mochen cruelly curled his lips.
"..." Gu Lingyi looked at his cold, calm face, wanting to convince herself that everything he said wasn’t genuine, but each gaze, every icy line on his face, told her that what he said was sincerely meant.
He truly never intended to get engaged to her!
Within mere minutes, everything Gu Lingyi had come to believe had been mercilessly overturned and shattered.
Gu Lingyi said this before turning and running out of the coffee shop.
Rong Mochen watched her back, a deep indifference in his dark eyes.
Jian Liangtong took a cab away from the coffee shop, circled Huai Sheng Grand Theater, and then bought fruit to go to the hospital.
Arriving at the VIP ward where Xu Ruyao had originally stayed, she found that Xu Ruyao had already been discharged.
Jian Liangtong stood for a moment at the door of the empty ward before lowering her eyes and turning to leave.
"Is it Miss Ye?"
Jian Liangtong was startled, looking up at the male doctor in a white coat approaching.
"Does Miss Ye not remember me?" The male doctor asked upon seeing Jian Liangtong looking at him with a confused expression.
Jian Liangtong blinked, smiled and shook her head, "Of course, I remember you. The injury on my back last time, you treated it."
"Ahem, I didn’t do much. It was mostly Professor Ying’s careful care that helped Miss Ye recover so well," the doctor said.
Jian Liangtong’s eyes flickered but she said nothing.
The doctor glanced at the fruit basket in Jian Liangtong’s hand, "Miss Ye is here to visit a friend?"
Jian Liangtong lowered her lashes, "Sort of."
The doctor glanced at the ward next to her, hesitated, and said, "Miss Ye came to see Mrs. Ying?"
Jian Liangtong nodded, "It seems Mrs. Ying was discharged already."
"Mrs. Ying was only admitted due to a momentary emotional distress, just needed a bit of rest and could be discharged that night," the doctor said, pausing as he looked at Jian Liangtong suspiciously, "Didn’t Professor Ying tell you about Mrs. Ying’s discharge?"
"..." Jian Liangtong’s face slightly stiffened as she smiled lightly at the doctor, "You’re busy, I won’t disturb you, goodbye."
"..." The doctor hesitated for a moment, seemingly understanding something, then nodded awkwardly, "Ah, alright, Miss Ye, take care."
Jian Liangtong curled her lips, tightened her grip on the fruit basket, brushed past him, and left.
The doctor watched Jian Liangtong’s thin back hesitantly for a few seconds before taking out his phone from his white coat and dialing a number.
Jian Liangtong felt lost upon leaving the hospital.
In this vast city, she suddenly felt a vague sense of not knowing where to go.
Standing at the hospital entrance for a long time, Jin Jumo moved her stiff legs, took out her phone from her bag, and opened the contact list. Jian Liangtong’s number was prominently displayed as the first contact.
Jin Jumo pressed her lips, just about to dial.
But suddenly, the phone vibrated in her palm.
A mysterious number appeared on the screen.
Jin Jumo frowned in confusion and answered.
As soon as the call connected, there was a prolonged silence, only the faint sound of electric waves sporadically transmitted through the phone.
Jin Jumo took the phone down to look, seeing the call hadn’t ended, she put it back to her ear, "Hello..."
"Miss Jin, it’s been a long time."
The gentle voice seemed to come through the phone, as if it was just behind her.
Four years apart, Jin Jumo found she was not unfamiliar with that voice at all.
On the contrary, it was so familiar as if it had been etched into her bones and merged into her blood.
Jin Jumo’s breathing gradually tightened, and the color on her face slowly froze along with her constricted breathing.
The moment her fingertips dug into her palm, she didn’t even realize.
With fiery red eyes, Jin Jumo stiffly straightened her back, slowly turned around, tremblingly lifted her dense lashes, gazing at the delicately fragile woman standing not far in front of her, dressed in a white blouse and a light-colored coat.
The woman had a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips, slowly taking her phone from her ear, putting her hands into the pockets of her coat, walking towards Jin Jumo on pointed heels that seemed to step right onto her heart.
"Miss Jin is still so young and beautiful."
The woman smiled warmly at her, speaking softly.
Jin Jumo bit down hard on her lower lip, leaving a distinct white mark from her teeth, her fiery eyes blood-red, her voice low and hoarse, "Miss Tang Ruan must have found the past few years quite pleasant and happy, right?"
Tang Ruan softly lowered her lashes, elegantly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with long fingers, her voice gentle as if a breeze could disperse it, "It’s still the same."
Jin Jumo tugged at her lips, but blood began to well up, her fingers tightly clenched, making the lean knuckles stark white, "Then I really must congratulate Miss Tang Ruan."
"Thank you."
Tang Ruan lowered her hands, lady-like resting them on her abdomen, softly smiling as she looked at Jin Jumo, "After the car accident four years ago, we all thought Miss Jin was no longer with us, feeling truly regretful, especially since Miss Jin was already over six months pregnant at that time."
Car accident?
Jin Jumo furrowed her brows tightly, a deep curiosity on her pale face, "Why would Miss Tang Ruan say such a thing? In this world, Miss Tang Ruan is probably the one who most wanted me, along with the child in my belly, to disappear, right?"
"Why would you think that, Miss Jin?"
Tang Ruan shook her head, "The child in your belly is Mo Chen’s, which is equivalent to mine. How could I harbor such a malicious thought? Besides, ever since I married Si Nan, I’ve always hoped Mo Chen would find his own happiness. Lucky for him, he has you. Seeing you together and planning your wedding, I sincerely wish you a long-lasting union."
"Whether you have such thoughts or not, you and I both know well. There’s no one else here, Miss Tang Ruan, who are you pretending for?" Jin Jumo said, her lips pulling into a dark sneer.
"Pretending?"
Tang Ruan widened her beautiful eyes in surprise, "Miss Jin, do you have some misunderstanding about me?"
"Misunderstanding?"
Jin Jumo pressed a swollen corner of her eye with her hand, the curve of her lips seemed to stick with blood, "Actions have consequences; heaven sees everything, and karma is unforgiving. Heaven will not spare anyone guilty. I’m waiting."
Waiting to see you all face retribution!
Tang Ruan stared at Jin Jumo’s gloomy face for a long time, then sighed lightly, "It seems Miss Jin harbors deep misunderstandings about me. Had I known Miss Jin would dislike seeing me so much, I shouldn’t have agreed to Si Nan’s request for me to come to S City to persuade you. It might just make things worse between you and Mo Chen."
Jin Jumo looked at her exquisite makeup and the calmness in her gaze, as if she had never encountered unpleasant experiences in her life. The pain and memories hidden in the depths of her heart clamored wildly in her mind at this moment.
The more her heart ached, the more indifferent Jin Jumo’s expression became, eventually leaving no emotion at all, looking coldly at Tang Ruan, her voice like icy blades, "So, Miss Tang Ruan came to S City to persuade me to reconcile with Mr. Rong, is that right?"
"..." Tang Ruan deepened her gaze, her lips still curved in a gentle smile, "Of course."
"Well then. I will seriously, carefully, redefine my relationship with Mr. Rong. I won’t let you down, Miss Tang Ruan," Jin Jumo said with a faint smile tugging at her lips.
Tang Ruan’s hands tightened slightly on her abdomen as she watched Jin Jumo’s expression grow stiff, her lips parted lightly, yet she said nothing.
Jin Jumo abruptly released her clenched fingers, raised her eyebrows, "If Miss Tang Ruan has nothing further, I’ll take my leave."