49. What I am waiting for is that I have loved you for a long time

After getting out of the taxi, Ling Ling rushed into the hospital. Seeing a long line in front of the elevator, she ran up to the sixth floor and rushed to the nurses' station. "Excuse me, which operating room is Yu Chuanbei in?" She gasped, like a dying fish. "Who?" a young nurse asked calmly. "Yu Chuanbei, he's in the hospital for emergency treatment after a car accident. Your nurse called me half an hour ago to let me know." Ling Ling spoke more clearly. The young nurse immediately rummaged through the transparent file bags under the counter, muttering, "Alas, Sister Zhang made another mistake." She pulled out a labeled transparent bag and handed it to Ling Ling, saying, "Yu Chuanbei's okay, just a broken knee. He's been treated by the doctor and should be in the ward now. There was a multi-car collision, and another patient named Yu in another car is seriously injured and still in critical condition." Ling Ling felt a sudden sense of relief upon hearing this. She silently said to herself, "Thank goodness, thank goodness he's okay." "Are you Yu Chuanbei's family member?" the nurse asked. Ling Ling nodded seriously. "Then you can take his personal belongings. The scene was a mess. Sign here." The nurse, after having her sign the registration form as a matter of procedure, allowed her to take the phone from the transparent bag. Ling Ling simply took the explanation, "The scene was a mess," as the nurse's apology for "Sister Zhang's" negligence. She didn't care about much else, and after finding out which ward Yu Chuanbei was in, she ran over. As soon as she ran to the corridor at the door of the ward, she saw him walking forward with difficulty, leaning on a cane and rubbing against the wall. She ran over, threw herself into his arms, and hugged his waist tightly. "It's okay, it's okay that you're okay!" She buried her face in his chest and cried. Yu Chuanbei was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that the person in his arms was Ling Ling. He stroked her hair, not knowing what was going on. "Lingling? Why are you here?" Lingling raised her tear-stained face and sobbed, "The hospital just called to tell me you were in a car accident and are in the operating room. I'm so scared. I'm afraid I'll never see you again! I'm afraid you'll leave me like my parents did. On the way here, I kept regretting it. I regretted not responding to your feelings, not having the time to tell you - I like you. Maybe I've liked you since the first time I saw you. I even often dream about us together. We originally agreed to meet tonight, and I'm afraid I'll never see you again. I regret not agreeing to be with you sooner. I..." Lingling hadn't finished speaking when she was...

After getting off the taxi, Ling Ling rushed into the hospital. Seeing a long queue in front of the elevator, she ran up to the sixth floor in one breath and rushed to the nurses' station.

"Excuse me, which operating room is Yu Chuanbei in?" She gasped heavily like a dying fish.

"Who?" a young nurse asked calmly.

"Yu Chuanbei came to the hospital for emergency treatment due to a car accident. Your nurse called me half an hour ago to inform me to come over." Ling Ling made herself speak more clearly.

The young nurse immediately began rummaging through the transparent file bag under the counter, muttering as she did so, "Alas, Sister Zhang made another mistake." She pulled out a labeled transparent bag and handed it to Ling Ling, saying, "Yu Chuanbei isn't seriously injured, just a broken knee. He's been treated by the doctor and should be in the ward now. There were several cars involved in the collision, and a patient in another car, also named Yu, is seriously injured and needs emergency treatment."

When Ling Ling heard this, she relaxed instantly. She said to herself, "Fortunately, fortunately he is okay."

"Are you Yu Chuanbei's family member?" asked the nurse.

Ling Ling nodded seriously.

"Then you can take his personal belongings away. The situation at the scene was too chaotic. Just sign here." The nurse asked her to sign the registration book as a routine and then let her take the mobile phone in the transparent bag.

Ling Ling only regarded the explanation of "the situation at the scene was too chaotic" as the nurse's apology for the dereliction of duty of "Sister Zhang".

She didn't care about anything else and ran over after finding out which ward Yu Chuanbei was in.

As soon as she ran to the corridor at the door of the ward, she saw him walking forward with difficulty, leaning on a cane and rubbing against the wall. She ran over, threw herself into his arms, and hugged his waist tightly.

"It's okay, it's okay that you're okay!" She buried her face in his chest and cried.

Yu Chuanbei was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that the person in his arms was Ling Ling. He stroked her hair, not knowing what was going on.

"Ling Ling? Why are you here?"

Ling Ling raised her tear-stained face and sobbed, "The hospital just called to tell me you were in a car accident and are in the operating room. I'm so scared. I'm afraid I'll never see you again! I'm afraid you'll leave me like my parents did. On the way here, I kept regretting it. I regretted not responding to your love, not having the time to tell you - I like you. Maybe I've liked you since the first time I saw you. I even often dream about us being together. We originally agreed to meet tonight, and I'm afraid I'll never see you again. I regret not agreeing to be with you sooner. I..."

Ling Ling hadn't finished speaking when he lowered his head and kissed her deeply. This time, it wasn't forced, there was no hesitation, just pure, intense love. It was also the first time she responded to his kiss, responding to his lips, teeth, and tongue.

I've waited so long, and now I've been waiting for you to say I've loved you for so long too. It couldn't be better.

But this is the corridor of the major trauma ward after all, and occasionally a person wrapped in bandages would be pushed past them.

They couldn't linger any longer. He gently kissed away the tears on her face, and she stroked his cheek carefully. "You are fine, that's great." She was grateful to God.

She supported him and they walked to the ward where he was.

Yu Chuanbei sat down against the headboard, and Ling Ling gently pulled his legs onto the bed. She sat on the edge of the bed, facing him.

He took her hand and looked at her palm, "Are the injuries from last time healed?"

She recalled the day at the printing factory when he suddenly appeared and looked through her palms as carefully as he did now. "Well, it's already healed. I'm not that delicate."

"I would rather you were more pampered, at least pampered to me. When I saw the message you posted on Weibo that day, I was so angry and worried about you when I thought about you running to that factory in the wilderness alone, with a bunch of strange men, and it was getting dark, and you were still carrying those torn flyers. That's why I didn't care and risked exposing my identity to find you." Yu Chuanbei is still very angry at her for not knowing her place when he mentions that incident now.

Ling Ling held his hand, her fingertips caressing the veins on the back of his hand. A happy smile filled her eyes as she said, "Originally, if you had dared to lie to me like that, I would never have forgiven you. But... I think back. Ever since we met, you've been trying to find a way to protect me that I'd be willing to accept. In my entire life, besides my parents, you're the only one who's been so attentive to me."

Yu Chuanbei gently stroked her long hair, looked at her deeply and said, "Although the process of pursuing you was difficult, I think that since I met you, everything I have done has been a way to slowly get closer to you. I greedily want this feeling to last a lifetime."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Then Ling Ling said sadly, "On the way here, I kept thinking back to the scene when my parents were rushed to the hospital after the car accident. I ran from school to the hospital and saw them lying on a simple iron frame, their flesh and blood all over. I felt like the whole world had collapsed, and I was squeezed into a narrow black hole. I felt like I had nothing but sadness. So I'm so afraid that you will be the same. I don't know if I can bear to lose you in the same way again."

Ling Ling's tears dripped onto the back of his hand, and his heart ached as well.

Yu Chuanbei pulled Ling Ling into his arms, gently patted her back, kissed her hair and said, "Don't worry, it won't happen. I worked so hard to get you, how could I bear to let you go so easily?"

Ling Ling was amused by him and smiled, sniffed and said: "Now that I think about it, I always rejected you. I thought it was out of my independence and strength, but it was actually just out of fear and cowardice in my heart. I dare not start an overly close relationship with someone. I always feel that starting means starting the countdown to loss. I am afraid of losing you, and I am also afraid of losing our good impression of each other. So I simply don't start. Fortunately, fortunately you are willing to wait for me, wait for me safely. You can't die in the future, especially not before me." She tightened her arms around his waist, and they got closer.

"So the threshold to be your boyfriend is so high. I'll try my best. Then we are officially together now. It's valid for everyone in the world and we can't regret it." Yu Chuanbei announced a little childishly.

"What does it have to do with the people of the whole world?" She raised her face in confusion.

"We can openly admit our relationship in front of anyone in the world, and tell the world that you and I are both taken, and no outside enemies can invade." He pinched her chin and responded domineeringly, but she was amused by him again.

She remembered the cell phone she had retrieved for him from the nurses' station, took it out of her bag and returned it to him.

He opened the phone's settings, took her hand, held her thumb, and pressed it on the phone to start setting up a backup fingerprint for unlocking. "Since we are already officially boyfriend and girlfriend, we must try to be honest with each other from now on and not hide anything. We can still have our independent selves, but when it comes to our relationship, I want to be transparent with you."

The buzzing sound of collecting fingerprints made her feel warm in waves.

She also took out her phone and used the same method to leave his thumbprint on the backup unlock fingerprint of her phone. "I won't look at your phone without your permission, but thank you for keeping the right to look at your phone; then I will do the same."

Ling Ling couldn't help but joked, "What we're doing is like exchanging rings at a wedding."

Yu Chuanbei said a little too seriously: "Then should we really get married?"

Ling Ling opened her eyes and said without hesitation: "Of course not!"

Seeing her irritating expression, Yu Chuanbei couldn't help but scold her: "Don't you even think twice before you say no? Do you have to blurt it out right away because you're afraid you'll forget it? Is marrying me so scary?"

Ling Ling guiltily tried to reassure him, "No, no, it's just too sudden. We've only been together for less than half an hour, and we're already talking about marriage. I find it ridiculous." Seeing his furrowed brows, she hurriedly corrected herself, "No, it's not ridiculous, it's magical."

Ling Ling recalled the thought as she threw herself on the bed the night after returning from the printing factory: "Next Monday, no matter what Yu Chuanbei says to her, as long as it's not a proposal, she will definitely agree."

Unexpectedly, at this moment he actually talked about getting married.

Author's Note

Liu Qiu

author

04-08

Writing is my island. No matter how awful the day, at night, in my own time, weaving stories I love and sharing them with people I love, is my most healing moment. Thank you for following along. It's wonderful to have you.