Chapter 44

Li Chuanmo was serious when he said he would be at Pei Yueran's place in thirty minutes, but on his way out, Li Yuchen took one look at him and told him to go and change his shirt.

In his words, "You look like a dressed-up scarecrow. Are you going to attract birds?"

Li Chuanmo did a double take. He was going for casual without being too casual, but maybe he over did it a bit. Nevertheless, he leveled a death glare at Li Yuchen.

"If you don't talk, no one would think you're dumb." he said in an even tone, before going back to change.

On the third try, Li Yuchen went with him and finally chose a grey shirt. Li Chuanmo wore it, leaving the top two buttons open. With black trousers and a pair of white sneakers, he looked handsome enough to slay. He finally got a nod of approval from Li Yuchen.

Because of this brief delay, it ended up taking him about fifty minutes to get to Pei Yueran's house.

He waited for the elevator. When it arrived, a man wearing a black cap dashed out. He looked at him for a moment before entering the elevator. A sense of urgency was building up in him. He looked at the numbers as they changed on the elevator, indicating the floor they were currently on.

When the elevator finally opened, nothing could have prepared him for the sight on the fourth floor.

Pei Yueran's door was open, and she was slumped on the floor, her legs were outside the door, while the rest of her body could not be seen from his position.

He ran to her side. The first thing that caught his attention was the blood. Her dress was soaked with blood, turning the purple dress a jarring magenta.

Li Chuanmo panicked. His hands were shaking as he dialed 120. He tried to calm down as he reported the details and her address.

After ending the call, he looked her over. She had two wounds, one on her abdomen and one on her thigh. The one on her abdomen was bleeding copiously. He went into her apartment, took out two clean napkins from her kitchen and pressed them on the wounds to staunch the bleeding.

He tried talking to her but she wasn't responding. Li Chuanmo was shaking by now.

"Yueran, Yueran can you hear me? Please say something. Ran'er, Ran'er!" he shouted to no response.

He wanted to shake her awake but was afraid of stopping the pressure he was applying on her wounds. Thinking for a moment, he adjusted his position before nudging her face with his, "Ran'er", he called again. 'Let this work', he prayed.

After repeating that, Pei Yueran finally opened her eyes slowly and moved her hand. The movement drew Li Chuanmo's attention and he noticed that she was clutching her phone. The screen was lit, displaying his contact information.

Pei Yueran tried to say something, but it was too much effort. Li Chuanmo tried to dissuade her, "Just hold on, don't talk. The ambulance is coming. Save your strength. You'll be fine", he kept saying.

The elevator opened at that moment and two paramedics rushed out. They took over from there, putting a pulse oximeter on her index finger and carrying her onto the stretcher they brought and back into the elevator.

Li Chuanmo locked up her house and ran down the stairs in time to catch up with them.

On getting to the hospital, she was stabilized and sent into surgery. While he waited outside the operating room, he sent a message to Gong Anwei, telling him to investigate what happened. He also called Fang Bo, asking him if there anything suspicious happened to Pei Yueran recently or if anyone suspicious was seen around her.

Fang Bo couldn't recall anything, only that someone seemed to be tailing them the day before.

Li Chuanmo's eyes darkened in anger. He almost blamed Fang Bo for not telling him, before remembering that he was not his direct boss after all. He told Fang Bo to pay more attention and report immediately to the police next time.

He cut the call and buried his face in his hands. He felt so guilty. Why didn't he arrive earlier? Why did he even travel in the first place? He knew it was an irrational thought but he could help himself. He was terribly worried.

The lights in the operating room went off about two hours later. When the main surgeon came out, Li Chuanmo stood up to talk to him.

After confirming he was the guardian of the patient, the doctor explained, "The surgery went well. The patient was stabbed on the same spots multiple times and sustained injuries to her spleen and stomach —organs in the abdomen, and a laceration on her thigh.

"We have sutured all the cuts and she is stable now, though the anaesthesia is yet to wear off. She will be wheeled to the ward in a few minutes. She still needs to be observed in the hospital for a few days."

Li Chuanmo thanked the doctor profusely. At least she was now out of danger.

His phone rang at that moment. It was Gong Anwei.

"Chairman Li, I have sent a detailed report to your email, but in summary, Miss Fu Mengyao was behind this."

Fu Mengyao again???? She would not cry until she sees the coffin* right? Li Chuanmo was livid.

"Understood. Send all the evidence you have gathered to the police immediately. Fu Mengyao had better not be a free person by tonight!" She could not be enjoying her life while Pei Yueran fought for hers in the hospital.

"Right away sir."

"And one more thing"

"What is it sir?" Gong Anwei asked.

"You're getting a raise. Keep up the good work."

"Thank you sir." Gong Anwei smiled before ending the call.

His boss was very good.

* They don't cry until they see the coffin—describes someone who is so stubborn that they cannot accept they are wrong until they have absolutely failed, or it's too late.