Chapter 98 Can we...start over...?

“From that day on, he went to the hospital to be with you every day, contacted experts all over the country who treat vegetative state patients, and tried different treatment options, until now.”

After hearing Wen Heng's words, Wen Chu fell silent.

She really felt like she had just had a long sleep, but why had so much time passed in the outside world?

Recalling the way Lu Ming looked at her in the hospital, she felt a strange stirring in her chest, though she couldn't pinpoint why, she just felt unwell.

Out of the corner of her eye, she accidentally saw the ring on the middle finger of her left hand, and her heart skipped a beat.

"This is also something he gave me... to put on my finger?" She spread her fingers and looked at the diamond ring, still feeling a chill run down her spine, and quickly took it off.

Seeing this, Wen Heng teased, "What, you're not planning to forgive him?"

"Why should I forgive him?" Wen Chu looked at the ring and said indifferently, "Why should I forgive him just because he regrets it? Mom, brother, I don't like him anymore."

In her memory, they had a good relationship for a while and were almost together, but as soon as Wen Xue came back, he chose to sever ties with her without hesitation. The feeling at that time was as if it had just happened and was still deeply etched in her heart.

Just thinking about it makes my heart ache.

She didn't want to repeat the same mistake.

Wen Heng also looked at the ring, a trace of loneliness flashing in his eyes: "I really thought you wouldn't wake up, and I was afraid that you would wake up many years later and see that he was already married and had children, so I agreed to his request. I didn't expect you to wake up so soon. So what you do next is entirely up to you. I only have one request: put yourself first. You can tell me anything."

Back home, Wen Chu went to her room, where Wen Heng had carefully placed her phone on the bedside table.

Wen Chu charged her phone, which had been switched off for a year, and turned it on. Several text messages popped up quickly.

It was sent by Lu Ming.

Do you have any other discomfort? Remember to go to the hospital for regular checkups.

[It's so good that you're awake.]

Could you... meet with me?

Wen Chu ignored him, wanting only to get some sleep.

When she woke up, she received many more text messages. While she was downstairs having dinner, she received some tonics sent by the other party – all very precious medicinal herbs used to replenish qi and blood, nourish the brain, and restore the body.

The man put it down and left, not giving her a chance to refuse.

Wen Chu pursed her lips speechlessly, thought for a moment, and decided to make things clear to the other person all at once. So she finally replied to the other person's text message and set the time and place for a restaurant the next day.

That evening, the family of three enjoyed a delicious meal together. They also called Wen Xue, who was far away overseas, to let her know they were safe. Wen Chu wasn't exactly close to Wen Xue, but his attitude had softened considerably. After all, you can always sense whether someone truly cares about you.

The next day, she simply changed into a loose shirt and went to the agreed restaurant. Lu Ming had already arrived and was standing at the door. As soon as he saw her, his gaze followed her like an invisible fly, impossible to shoo away, making Wen Chu very uncomfortable. It took her a while to back the car into the parking space.

He opened the door for her and sat down at the reserved table, remaining silent for a moment.

"Is there anything else that's bothering you?" Lu Ming asked first.

"No, please don't ask anymore. It's annoying to ask too many times. My brother will contact a doctor for me if I feel unwell," Wen Chu said calmly.

The waiter came over, and Lu Ming paused his speech, handing her the menu. Wen Chu casually ordered a few dishes. After the waiter left, the two faced each other, eyes downcast, silently staring at the unremarkable tablecloth on the table.

"Can we...start over?"

"No." Wen Chu answered decisively, saying the words she had already prepared in her mind: "Thank you for taking care of me this past year, but after this meal, let's not contact each other anymore."

She took the wedding ring out of her bag and pushed it in front of him: "Here, take this back. My brother was too impulsive back then, that's why he agreed to what you said. Now that I'm all better, and neither of us is old, you don't need to be responsible for my marriage. Let's just put the past behind us and not blame each other. You should keep this for the right person."

Lu Ming gazed at the ring and whispered, "You are the right one." His tone carried a hint of obsession.

"I'm not. If I were, this wouldn't have caused such a stir."

Lu Ming concealed the emotions in his eyes and looked up at her again: "Can you give me a chance to pursue you again?"

Wen Chu twitched the corner of her mouth. "There's no need for that. I can't take it. My brother has told me everything about you and me, but I really can't remember anything. I don't have any feelings for you anymore. I want to start a new life, and I hope you can let go too."

After she finished speaking, the person opposite her didn't respond for a long time. He just sat there, looking at her, and seemed to have a pitiful feeling of being abandoned.

Unable to bear the other person's burning gaze, Wen Chu subtly shifted her gaze to the window, her hands clasped on her lap unconsciously tightening.

I had mentally prepared myself before coming, and I was calm, but when I was actually facing a man, my heart started beating much faster.

"I can't let go." Lu Ming paused, then repeated in an even more stubborn tone, "I can't let go."

Wen Chu found it both infuriating and amusing. She scoffed, not wanting to say anything more: "That's your own business, it has nothing to do with me. After all, you never cared about my life or death before, so you have no reason to expect me to be responsible for your personal thoughts, right?"

The waiter brought the dishes at just the right moment.

Lu Ming stopped talking. He lowered his eyes, seemingly lost in thought, but he had already picked up a knife and fork and started cutting her steak.

"You don't need to cut it for me, I can do it myself," Wen Chu said directly.

Lu Ming remained silent, continuing to focus on cutting.

Wen Chu took a deep breath to steady herself. The other person's aura was gloomy and oppressive, making her chest feel tight.

"Is it really impossible for us to meet again?" Lu Ming asked in a low voice, his eyes lowered.

There's no need to say it.

"What will it take... for you to give me another chance?"

"Nothing will work."

Lu Ming fell silent again.

Wen Chu assumed that the other person was slowly giving up, so she lowered her head and silently ate her meal, hoping to finish early and go home.

In the short time it took her to look down and lose focus, she heard a crisp sound as the knife and fork scraped against the plate opposite her. She looked up and saw that the man's left thumb had been cut open at some point, and blood was gushing out. The bright red blood quickly dripped onto the meat on the plate and spread along the grain of the steak.

The smell of blood instantly mingled with the aroma of the steak and the flavor of the black pepper sauce, creating a pungent and eerie odor.

But the person involved simply stopped moving and stared at the wound without any emotion, as if he wasn't the one who was injured.

Those lifeless eyes instilled a sense of fear in Wen Chu.

But most of the reaction was one of surprise and shock at the sight. "What happened? Quick, grab some tissues and press it down!"

She hurriedly stood up, pulled out a few sheets of paper and handed them to him, but he didn't take them.

"Don't worry about it, it'll stop flowing in a bit." Lu Ming ignored the blood-stained knife, fork, and plate and put his left hand on the table, whereupon the blood flowed down his hand and onto the table.

The guests at the next table turned to look at them and were all startled. Some even hurriedly called for a waiter.

"How can we ignore this? The amount of bleeding clearly indicates that an artery has been damaged!" Wen Chu was anxious. The blood made her heart pound, but the person involved was unmoved. She quickly grabbed his arm and pressed a tissue firmly against his fingers. The tissue was quickly soaked with blood.

How could someone cut their hand like this with just a sliver of a sharp edge on this knife?

But she didn't have time to think about any of that. She took the towel from the waiter who rushed over, pressed it against the person's hand, and quickly pulled them outside, saying, "Let's get to the hospital right away!"

Lu Ming didn't resist and followed her outside. He looked at their clasped hands and said pitifully, "You're pressing on my hands a little too hard."

Wen Chu wanted to roll her eyes at him. He hadn't uttered a sound when he was cut, but now he felt pain?

The meal went from oppressive to tense, to silent, and finally to a "river of blood"—it was an extremely thrilling experience.

When they arrived at the hospital, the nurse who was bandaging Lu Ming was saying in bewilderment, "How did it get like this? The flesh is all torn open."

Lu Ming remained silent throughout, while Wen Chu listened attentively to the instructions and occasionally chimed in with the nurse's words.

As soon as she spoke, Lu Ming looked up at her, like a large feline eyeing its prey. His gaze was calm and deep, but he didn't seem to be about to attack immediately. Instead, he seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Wen Chu felt uneasy under his gaze. Taking advantage of the moment when the nurse turned her back to change the dressing, she couldn't help but raise her hand and push the man's face, trying to turn his head to the other side, and whispered a warning: "Don't keep staring at me like that!"

But soon, the man turned his head back and continued to sit close to her, looking at her.

………

Afterwards, they walked out of the hospital. Wen Chu walked ahead, holding the anti-inflammatory medicine prescribed by the doctor, while Lu Ming, with his thumb wrapped in gauze, followed behind. Suddenly, he asked, "I'm sorry, I messed up lunch. Can we still have dinner together tonight?"

"No, I need to go home for dinner."

"Then I won't eat it either."

Wen Chu paused for a moment, "I said I was going home for dinner, when did I say I wasn't going to eat? What did you mean by 'also'?"

"I can't eat without you."

Wen Chu hissed. It sounded really awkward for someone to say such cheesy words. She still wasn't buying it: "Then don't take it. Take this medicine and take it twice a day. I'm leaving."

Lu Ming reached out his injured left hand to take it, but Wen Chu couldn't help but scold him irritably, "Use your right hand!"

Lu Ming then switched to his other hand.

"That's it. I've made myself perfectly clear." Wen Chu glanced one last time at the injury on Lu Ming's hand, then turned and left without looking back.

Lu Ming stood there, staring blankly at Wen Chu's departing figure, gripping the medicine box in his hand tightly, as if trying to feel the warmth left behind by the woman.

Only after the other person disappeared did he murmur, "Wen Chu, we can go back to the way things were before."