Chapter 89: Advising You to Remain Calm

“It was just because of this…” Ruan Li was full of surprise. She had thought of many possibilities but never considered it was just a surname issue.

“Why couldn’t you tell me earlier?” she asked.

Fu Huaizhou sighed softly, a hint of helplessness in his voice. “I was afraid I wouldn’t find your family. If I told you too soon, wouldn’t it have been a disappointment?”

Ruan Li remembered that day in his office when she almost ripped that marriage document to shreds in anger. Feeling a bit guilty, she mumbled softly, “You couldn’t just write one up first? You could always redo it if things changed.”

She suspected Fu Huaizhou was just being lazy about handwriting it.

No sooner had she said that than she received a light tap on her forehead. Holding her forehead with a face full of grievance, she looked at him.

A faint smile spread across Fu Huaizhou’s eyes, washing away the gloom of recent days. “For something this important, I wanted to get it right the first time.”

“Of course, that was my mistake. I wasn’t fully focused on you back then. Otherwise, I would’ve noticed your emotional changes during the pregnancy,” he admitted, glancing at the girl who was fiddling with her phone. “Is there anything else I don’t know? Tell me now.”

Ruan Li, seeing no point in hiding anything anymore, steeled herself and asked, “Then why did you go to the airport to pick up that young lady from the Ming family?”

Fu Huaizhou didn’t even hesitate, looking puzzled. “I never picked her up.”

Ruan Li gave a snort, flipping through her phone and pulling up a photo. She’d even asked Ye Mian to retrieve it from her old phone. She held it up in front of him. “Pictures, news reports, you still deny it?”

In her mind, if it had been due to Fu’s father’s request and it only happened once, she could accept it. But Fu Huaizhou must not lie to her.

Fu Huaizhou’s expression remained confused as he took her phone and looked at the old news. “What media is this?” he said, rubbing his brow with a hint of annoyance. “It’s a visual trick. I was several meters away from her, just getting off a flight back to the office. I wasn’t there to pick her up.”

Ruan Li was startled, looking at the photo again. It did look like they were walking side by side.

She angrily deleted the photo, muttering under her breath, “Stupid media. I’ll make sure they go out of business.”

Watching her flare up was amusing to Fu Huaizhou. He leaned in closer, speaking softly near her neck. “So you’ve kept that photo all this time?”

Ruan Li suddenly fell silent, hastily explaining, “I was reminding myself every day that Fu Huaizhou is a big jerk who shouldn’t be forgiven easily.”

The man next to her did not argue. Fu Huaizhou knew it had been a tough time, a situation where any explanation seemed like an excuse.

“Yes, Fu Huaizhou is a jerk,” he agreed.

He gently held her, savoring the feeling of having her back.

Shi Mu entered just then, coughing lightly to announce his presence. The hospital room was the highest class, and the bed was spacious enough for two.

Ruan Li, thinking it was a servant delivering something, quickly straightened up when she saw her brother.

“Brother,” she greeted softly.

Shi Mu nodded and looked at Fu Huaizhou, who was already looking much better. “The doctor said you could get out of bed in a few days, but it seems like you’re already fine.”

“So, when do you plan to return to the country?”

For people like them, leaving their companies and families to come abroad wasn’t easy, especially when the focus of the Fu family’s projects was back home.

Fu Huaizhou glanced at Ruan Li. “I’ll go back with her.”

Ruan Li shook her head. “You go first… I want to wait here until Shi Xun’s surgery is done.”

Shi Mu had been wrestling with this decision for a while whether to let Ruan Li stay. If the surgery succeeded, everyone would rejoice, but if… he was afraid Ruan Li’s already fragile emotional state wouldn’t hold up.

If that happened, it would truly be a farewell for their family.

“Ruan Li, you should go back to the country with him. I’ll take care of Shi Xun here,” Shi Mu said after some thought, deciding it was best to send her back.

“No.” Ruan Li gripped the bedsheet tightly, refusing to let go, as if afraid Shi Mu would send her away right then. “I want to wait until Shi Xun’s surgery is over, and then we’ll go back together.”

She seemed to think her reasoning was inadequate and quickly added, “Besides, if you’re not around, what if those people in Beijing or Fu Huaizhou team up to bully me? I have to go back with you.”

Shi Mu felt a headache coming on. He knew Ruan Li was making excuses, but her concerns weren’t unreasonable. Pregnant and already vulnerable, there was no telling how others might react to her return. Even with Fu Huaizhou’s protection, he might not be able to shield her from everything.

The room fell into an awkward silence until a loud noise suddenly erupted from Ruan Li’s phone.

“What surgery is Shi Xun having? I thought he went abroad for studies!”

Ruan Li looked stunned, staring at her phone. It turned out that when she had been browsing through the old photos, the screen had remained on her chat with Ye Mian, and she had accidentally dialed her.

“Ye Mian, don’t freak out. It’s just a minor surgery, nothing serious…” Ruan Li tried to reassure her.

But the call had already been cut off. Knowing Ye Mian, she was likely on her way to book a flight.

“I’m sorry…” Ruan Li looked dejected. “I blew Shi Xun’s secret.”

The others were just as caught off guard by the sudden call. Fu Huaizhou gently patted her head.

“It’s okay. If you were the one going into surgery, wouldn’t you want someone by your side?”

Ruan Li nodded emphatically. “I would.”

“Exactly. I’d also want to be there for you. Ye Mian will want to be with Shi Xun too,” Fu Huaizhou explained softly.

Shi Mu added, reassuring her, “He may say he doesn’t care, but deep down, he does. We’re Shi Xun’s brothers, so it’s not appropriate for us to make this decision. But you, as Ye Mian’s friend, are the perfect person for this.”

“I’ll handle Ye Mian’s arrangements,” Shi Mu said, turning to leave the room. Suddenly, he looked back at Fu Huaizhou, who was still holding Ruan Li close.

“The doctor advised you to stay calm and restrain yourself; it’ll help with the recovery.”