Chapter 45

Warning: *contains mild content about violence*

By the time Pei Yueran came to, it was already late at night. She opened her eyes and tried to focus. She could not recognize where she was just from the ceiling patterns.

Then she smelled antiseptics and disinfectants, and guessed she was in a hospital. That triggered memories of the assailant disguised as a delivery man, her suspicions, their scuffle and his eventual stabbing.

After she opened the door, the man gave her a sealed brown box that felt very light. When she looked up to ask him for the receipt so that she could sign, she saw him wielding a knife.

Her self-preservation instincts kicked in and she tried to protect herself by pushing him away quickly, then closing the door. But he caught her outstretched arm with one hand and stabbed her with the other. He stabbed two more times in her abdomen for good measure, and then released her hand. Pei Yueran fell to the floor. As she fell, he stabbed her again and that landed on her thigh.

He bent down to stab her in a fatal spot when voices carried from the floor above them. The occupants for some reason decided to use the stairs instead. The assailant thought for a moment, then abandoned the idea and fled into the elevator, going to the ground floor.

The people coming down—a couple— went back up to retrieve something they forgot, and from there, decided not to go out anymore, so they ended up not seeing Pei Yueran.

She lay there in despair, trying to shout for help but having no strength to. She tried to call Li Chuanmo, but only got as far as the contact page before she fainted.

Pei Yueran sighed. Thankfully Li Chuanmo came in time.

She tried to move, but the action was painful, making her groan. The sound jolted Li Chuanmo, who was standing by the window, lost in thought. He came to her in quick strides.

"Ran'er, how are you feeling? Can you see me?"

"Like a truck just ran me over. Yes." Who knew she would one day sound like Han Yichen? But talking just took too much effort and made her dizzy.

"Sorry, my bad. Just rest well, I'll ring for the nurse. Do you need water or something?" Li Chuanmo asked, pressing the small switch that alerted the nurses at the nursing station.

"No. Thanks."

The nurse came in two minutes later, and seeing that Pei Yueran was awake, called the doctor. He came and examined her.

"How's she?"

"She's recovering well. She needs a lot of rest though, and we have to observe her further, so she'll not be discharged until at least forty eight hours. Even when she's discharged, she will still need bed rest. The nurse will change the wound dressing when needed."

Li Chuanmo thanked the doctor, who then left. He came to sit beside her, holding the hand that didn't have a needle in it. She was already falling asleep again, so he didn't say anything.

He texted Li Yuchen, "Take care of yourself, I'm not coming home tonight."

Li Yuchen paused his game and stared at the message. He then typed into Baidu, ' What does it mean if a man goes on a date with a lady and doesn't go back home?'

There was a bunch of irrelevant answers.

He thought again and decided to ask his grandmother. "Grandma, Dad went out to see my Goddess and he just texted me to say he's not coming back tonight. Do you think something happened?"

When Zhang Heying received his message, she and her husband were cuddling on the sofa, watching TV. She almost stood up in her excitement. She tapped Li Qianye and showed him the message. As both of them were celebrating, Li Chuanmo's call came in.

"Chuanmo, you still have time to call? we thought you would be busy by now", Li Qianye teased as soon as he greeted them.

Li Chuanmo wondered why that sentence sounded so weird, but he didn't dwell much on that. He informed them solemnly, "I'm currently at the hospital. Yueran was seriously injured and needed surgery, but thankfully the surgery was successful. She's resting now."

"What? What happened? How come?" Zhang Heying was very shocked.

Li Chuanmo gave a summary of what happened and what Gong Anwei found.

The Li couple were very angry. That girl again! She's so incorrigible! "What do you plan to do now?"

"Don't worry about it, leave that to me. She has to pay for what she has done."

Zhang Heying comforted, "Heaven helps good people, Ran'er will be fine. Make sure you get some rest as well. And don't forget to pack a bag for her, to make her stay in the hospital comfortable."

"Alright. Thank you Mother. Goodnight", He said, before ending the call.

The Li couple remained seated on the sofa, all vestiges of their earlier happiness and glee gone. Someone's life could have been lost just like that. People were really callous.

"Don't worry. Chuanmo has said he will handle it." Li Qianye comforted his wife, seeing how worried she looked. He knew how much she liked Pei Yueran.

They texted Li Yuchen that Li Chuanmo was fine and that he probably had business to attend to outside. Li Yuchen was not very convinced but he let the matter drop.

Hmph, did they think he was a kid? He would have had a girlfriend of his own by now if he wanted, only that he was not interested!

*****

Li Chuanmo didn't want to leave Pei Yueran alone, but he didn't want to send someone else to get her things. Someone had to invade her privacy since she was unable to go herself, but he just didn't like the idea of someone else rummaging through her house and touching her stuff.

Also, it was already late and he didn't want to disturb anyone, yet he didn't want her to be left alone for even a minute. He was a bit paranoid.

After deliberating for half a day, he decided to quickly rush to her place. Thankfully it was not far. On his way out, he thanked the nurses and told them to please check up on her frequently as he wanted to go get something.

The nurses agreed, blushing. Once Li Chuanmo walked out, the first nurse hit the second on her shoulder excitedly, "That man is so handsome! and he seems gentle too!"