Married in a Daze - Chapter 108
Chapter 108
When Lu Ruyun returned to the hospital room after making her phone calls, Zhang Yiyao was already sitting up. Leaning against the pillow, she looked at Lu Ruyun and spoke softly, "Ruyun, I've troubled you again."
Lu Ruyun put away her phone and picked up a cup from the side. "It's nothing."
She handed the cup to Zhang Yiyao, who took a small sip. The ward was quiet. Zhang Yiyao lowered her gaze and said, "Actually, I knew about it a long time ago."
Lu Ruyun looked at her, listening as she continued, "Someone sent me messages before, telling me to leave Qiuhan."
"I asked who she was, but she wouldn't tell me."
"Even if she didn't tell me, I knew. It was Qiuhan's assistant."
Lu Ruyun took the cup back, sat on the edge of the bed, and said, lowering her head, "You should have told Qiuhan about these things."
Zhang Yiyao shook her head lightly. "Forget it."
"I don't want to dig into the past anymore."
"Ruyun, I've been with him for so many years, and he's always taken care of me. I don't want to burden him anymore."
"Maybe people like us just aren't qualified to be with others."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ruyun only tightened her grip on the cup, her bright eyes holding a hidden light, remaining silent.
Zhang Yiyao turned to look at her. "Ruyun, how are things between you and Zhenzhen?"
Lu Ruyun looked up. "Pretty good."
Zhang Yiyao nodded, a light smile appearing on her face as she looked at Lu Ruyun. "That's wonderful. Ruyun, do you know that you remind me of how Qiuhan and I were when we first got together? We were so good back then too."
"Zhenzhen is a very outstanding girl. I hope things turn out differently for you two."
Having just woken up, her voice was low and faint. She let out a long sigh after speaking. Lu Ruyun changed the subject, "What would you like to eat tonight?"
Zhang Yiyao lowered her gaze. "I'm not hungry."
Lu Ruyun said on her own, "Shuangshuang will be here soon. I asked her to bring you some congee."
She stood up after speaking and walked to the coffee table to pour another glass of water. Zhang Yiyao frowned, "Shuangshuang?"
"Didn't Shuangshuang go abroad?"
Lu Ruyun gave an acknowledging hum. "I contacted her this morning. She's taking the earliest flight back and will be here soon."
Zhang Yiyao's expression was conflicted. She clenched her fists slightly. "Okay."
By the time He Shuangshuang arrived at the hospital, dusk was already painting the sky. Duan Qiuhan sat by the entrance, motionless like a statue. She quickly walked over, frowning, "What's going on?"
News was spreading all over the internet. Even though efforts were being made to manage it, the incident had still blown up quite a bit. Naturally, she had heard the rumors.
By reason or emotion, she didn't believe Qiuhan was that kind of person, but the photos online were real. No wonder Yaoyao had momentarily lost hope and resorted to harming herself.
Duan Qiuhan looked up. In just one day, he seemed to have aged several years. Seeing her old friend in such a state, He Shuangshuang felt a pang of sympathy. "You really didn't with that girl..."
"No."
He hadn't spoken for a while, and his voice was hoarse when he finally did. He Shuangshuang breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing his denial and sat down beside him. "Then what happened?"
Duan Qiuhan shook his head, his mind a complete mess, utterly chaotic. From last night until now, his nerves had been stretched taut, making normal thought impossible.
Seeing him like this, He Shuangshuang knew she wouldn't get answers by questioning him now. She simply stood up. "I'll go in and check first. You..."
"I'll just stay here," Duan Qiuhan said hoarsely.
"She doesn't want to see me."
He Shuangshuang nodded. "Okay."
Inside the ward, Zhang Yiyao was resting with her eyes closed. Noticing He Shuangshuang entering, Lu Ruyun spoke softly, "You're here."
He Shuangshuang placed the congee on the coffee table and moved closer to Lu Ruyun. "How is she?"
Lu Ruyun replied calmly, "Physically, she's fine. But her mental state isn't good. Vice Dean Ding suggested she stay in the hospital for a while."
He Shuangshuang let out a relieved sigh. "It's good she's okay."
Just as their conversation ended, Zhang Yiyao woke up. She blinked, a bit dazed from waking up, and called out hesitantly, "Shuangshuang?"
He Shuangshuang glanced at Lu Ruyun and walked to the bedside. "Are you hungry? I brought you some dinner. Have a little."
"Okay."
Zhang Yiyao struggled to sit up. He Shuangshuang set up the bed table for her and turned to Lu Ruyun. "Ruyun, you should head back first. I'll stay with her tonight."
"Is Ruyun leaving?"
There was a hint of dependence in Zhang Yiyao's eyes. She bit her lip. "You're not staying with me?"
Lu Ruyun met her bright gaze, paused for a few seconds, then averted her eyes. "Let Shuangshuang stay with you. I'll come by tomorrow morning."
Zhang Yiyao didn't say anything. He Shuangshuang looked at her, then grabbed Lu Ruyun's wrist. "It's fine. Me staying with Yaoyao is the same. You should head back early."
She pointed towards the door and added softly, "Tell Qiuhan to go back too."
Instead of sitting out there, he should think about what to do next.
If he wants to salvage this, he shouldn't adopt such a defeated posture.
If he doesn't want to salvage it, there's even less reason to stay here.
Sitting there idly isn't a solution anyway.
Lu Ruyun nodded. "Alright. Pay close attention to her during the night."
He Shuangshuang: "It's fine, I know how to take care of her."
Lu Ruyun turned, bid goodbye to Zhang Yiyao, and left. Duan Qiuhan was still sitting outside, refusing to leave. Lu Ruyun's beautiful face turned serious. "Qiuhan, do you think sitting in the hospital will make the problem solve itself?"
The online rumors were getting more exaggerated, and the unearthed 'evidence' was becoming more outlandish. In the afternoon, netizens had found his assistant's Weibo, which contained several seemingly ordinary, emotionally-charged posts. A couple of sentences expressing feelings, once linked to this incident, became impossible to explain away clearly.
Netizens even began to suspect they might have been involved long ago, and even more photos were subsequently exposed.
Yet Duan Qiuhan remained like a wooden puppet, sitting here doing nothing, letting the rumors snowball.
Lu Ruyun pushed Duan Qiuhan's arm. "Let's go. We can talk more back home."
Duan Qiuhan closed his eyes, saying in utter anguish, "Ruyun, I really don't know what I did wrong."
"Zhao Ke becoming my assistant—she agreed to it. She said she had been too unreasonable before, that one shouldn't be so petty, so she hired Xiao Ke as the assistant."
"I thought she meant it."
"I didn't know she minded so much."
Duan Qiuhan rubbed his forehead; his nerves, taut all day, hadn't relaxed yet. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Lu Ruyun grabbed his wrist. "Alright, stop thinking about it. Let's go back first."
"But Yaoyao..."
Duan Qiuhan turned to look at the ward. Lu Ruyun's gaze gradually darkened, her lips pressed into a straight line. "Let her rest for now."
Back at the apartment, Qin Zhenzhen was so bored she was watching yesterday's Spring Festival Gala. Ji Lu was worried she wouldn't eat and personally brought over plenty of food. Qin Zhenzhen simply asked her to buy a lot of snacks from the supermarket. The two of them were now curled up in the apartment, eating, drinking, and watching TV.
It had to be said, the comedy sketches were still quite amusing. Qin Zhenzhen watched the sketch on TV, laughing so hard she held her stomach, dropping potato chips on the sofa. Seeing her like this, Ji Lu twitched the corner of her mouth, feeling she must have imagined the sorrowful look on her face that morning.
The TV volume was loud. The screen of Qin Zhenzhen's phone on the coffee table kept lighting up, but it was obscured by a plastic bag, unnoticed by anyone.
Lu Ruyun had called several times, but no one answered. She saw the last message Qin Zhenzhen had sent her: You go ahead and take care of things.
She had sent two or three messages after that with no reply. At first, she thought Qin Zhenzhen was busy with New Year celebrations. But was that not the case?
A flicker of panic appeared in Lu Ruyun's bright eyes. She called Qin Zhenzhen's number again. Still no answer. She glanced at the darkening sky outside and drove towards the Qin family home.
Yin Lanfang and Qin Ye had just seen off their relatives. Before they could even finish clearing the dishes, they heard a knock at the door. Qin Ye looked up and called out, "Fangfang, get the door."
"Coming."
Yin Lanfang walked out of the room, muttering as she headed to the door, "Who is it?"
Lu Ruyun stood at the doorway. Hearing the door open, she lowered her head respectfully. "Mom."
Yin Lanfang was stunned. "Ruyun? What are you doing here?"
She then looked behind Lu Ruyun. "Isn't Zhenzhen with you?"
Hearing her question, Lu Ruyun froze for a few seconds before quickly recovering. "No, Mom. Zhenzhen had something to do and didn't come. I left in a hurry this morning and didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you and Dad..."
Yin Lanfang looked at the gifts in her hands again. "Zhenzhen already told us. It's fine if you had urgent matters to attend to. No need for formalities like goodbye; we're family now. Don't be so polite in the future."
"Have you had dinner?"
Unable to reach Qin Zhenzhen, Lu Ruyun had no appetite, but since Qin Zhenzhen wasn't here, she had no choice but to nod. "Yes, I have."
Qin Ye finished washing the dishes and came out, asking, "Who is it?"
Yin Lanfang smiled. "It's Ruyun."
Lu Ruyun looked up and smiled at Qin Ye. "Dad."
Qin Ye dried his hands. "What brings you here, Ruyun?"
Yin Lanfang smiled as she placed the items on the coffee table. "She left early this morning and felt bad about it, so she specially came to apologize."
Qin Ye chuckled. "You silly child."
"Have you eaten?"
Lu Ruyun nodded. "Yes, I have."
After speaking, she smiled at Qin Ye and Yin Lanfang. "Then you should rest, Mom and Dad. I'll be going now."
Yin Lanfang hurriedly said, "At least have a drink of water first. Lao Qin, pour some sweetened water."
As Qin Ye moved, Lu Ruyun smiled. "It's okay, Dad. I just came by to check in. I'll be on my way then."
Seeing her insistence on leaving, Yin Lanfang could only nod. "Alright. Drive safely."
Lu Ruyun hummed in acknowledgment. "Okay."
On her way downstairs, she called Qin Zhenzhen again. Still no answer. She started the engine and headed back to their apartment.
The living room was empty. She quickly went upstairs to find the bedroom exactly as she had left it. Lu Ruyun's heart tightened further. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she thought for a moment and remembered Qin Zhenzhen's previous apartment.
Qin Zhenzhen had just finished watching a comedy sketch and was directing Ji Lu to cut some fruit when the doorbell rang. Too lazy to move, she said to Ji Lu, "Go get the door."
Ji Lu muttered a little complaint and walked to the door. Peeking through the peephole and seeing Lu Ruyun standing outside, she opened the door without a second thought.
Having searched for Qin Zhenzhen all this way, Lu Ruyun finally heard movement inside. Just as she felt a wave of relief, her eyes slightly reddened, misty with emotion. The moment the door opened, she took two steps forward and hugged the person who answered.
Ji Lu was caught completely off guard by the hug.
She blinked in confusion, hearing Lu Ruyun's gentle voice, "Zhenzhen."
Ji Lu stiffened, clearing her throat softly. "Teacher Lu."
"Hmm?"
Ji Lu patted her hands away, jumping back three feet, and pointed at the woman on the sofa who was laughing uproariously. "Zhenzhen is over there."
Lu Ruyun looked over: ...
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