Chapter 14 Lu Zhenyu ran away again
These days, for the sake of the Shen family, Shen Jingsi has been running around, begging people and praying to Buddha, just to get the men of the Shen family out of prison, even if it means giving up all his family's wealth.
But no one would step in to help at this critical juncture, not even the Duan and Feng families, who had been friends for many years.
Because they know that a new official's first act upon taking office is either to not set off at all, or to burn it out completely.
In this situation where there seems to be no way out, the only solution is to make the Zheng family back down.
Fortunately, Grandpa Zheng had no sons in his life, but in his final days he was blessed with a grandson, whom he truly doted on.
Zheng Yaozong liked her and had wanted to snatch her from Shen Jingsi and make her his own for many years.
At this point, only one path lay before Lu Zhenyu.
Lu Zhenyu reached out and touched the sleeping face.
From thick, well-defined eyebrows to eyes, bridge of the nose, and finally lips.
She got up and kissed it lightly, with such deep affection and reluctance.
She wished time could stop at this moment, so she could stay with him a little longer, just a little while longer.
Lu Zhenyu likes Shen Jingsi; she's liked him for a long time.
But the girl couldn't say.
She started working for the Shen family when she was three years old, and has been doing so for twenty years.
Even if she was naive, she could see through Shen Jingsi's mother's attitude towards her and Shen Jingsi's relationship over the past twenty years.
The kindness of raising and nurturing is heavier than Mount Tai.
A self-disciplined, respectful, filial, and kind girl would not allow herself to do anything that would cause distress or disappointment to her adoptive parents.
“Shen Jingsi, Lu Zhenyu said she would protect you the way you protected her. She didn’t just say it, she really did it.”
Looking at that peaceful sleeping face, Lu Zhenyu's lips trembled as she tilted her head, tears streaming down her face.
She wanted to use the faint light from the window to get a good look at that face.
I saw it all, I kept it in my heart, and I remembered it firmly.
If she never has the chance to see him again in this life, then she will wait until the next life to find him.
"Shen Jingsi, five years. Wait for me for five years. If I come back alive, I will tell you my secret."
"If not, just assume Lu Zhenyu is dead, okay?"
After a choked sob that went unanswered, she quietly departed as the man slept peacefully and contentedly.
-
Lu Zhenyu woke up around 3 a.m., and there was no one in the ward.
She lay there, staring at the ceiling.
Until her eyes stung and tears streamed down her face, she knew this was not a hallucination, and she was not lying in a Los Angeles hospital.
She really did escape; according to that do-or-die plan, she escaped alive from Zheng Yaozong's clutches.
The moment she realized it wasn't a dream, a sharp headache struck, followed by the scene from that afternoon at the Shen family home, where Shen Jingsi had embraced Duan Xier and said those words.
Sitting there with her hands hanging down, she rubbed her temples and suddenly chuckled softly, unable to describe her feelings, only a deep sense of powerlessness.
The ward was dimly lit, while a suppressed argument could be heard coming from the brightly lit rest room across the street.
"Feng Manman, I'm not in the mood to argue with you right now."
"You talk as if I'm in the mood for this. I'm determined to transfer Zhenzhen to another hospital. Who knows if your mother and that bitch are pulling some strings behind the scenes at your Shen family's hospital, plotting to kill Zhenzhen!"
"What's wrong with you? Are you delusional, thinking that everyone in the world except you is a bad person and wants to harm your Zhenzhen?"
It was Shen Jingsi's voice; Lu Zhenyu recognized it.
“No one is that malicious. Don’t take out all the heartbreak you suffered with Duan Yu on Duan Xi’er. He is him, and his sister is his sister.”
"You can't raise two kinds of people in one family: one incompetent and stupid, and the other treacherous and cunning!" Feng Manman said with undisguised sarcasm.
"And please stop disgusting me. Do you know how much it makes me want to vomit when you say the name Duan Xi'er?"
Amidst the endless debate, Lu Zhenyu glanced at the IV drip in her wrist.
A moment later, a mocking laugh escaped his lips, and he numbly pulled the syringe out completely.
Barefoot, she slipped on disposable slippers and slowly walked out of the ward, holding onto the wall for support.
She didn't want to hear about Shen Jingsi and Duan Xier anymore, nor did she want to get involved. Perhaps coming back this time was a mistake.
Let's go, hide far away. On the day we successfully get the divorce certificate, at worst we can leap into the sea of clouds, which is better than staying here.
It doesn't matter who Shen Jingsi, the Shen family, or Duan Xi'er are anymore.
She has repaid the kindness of 25 years of nurturing and the protection and love of more than 10 years with these 5 years of suffering.
These people's lives are so dazzling, it's blinding.
From then on, she and the Shen family went their separate ways, never to be related again.
-
The endless argument finally ended, and Shen Jingsi pushed open the door to the ward with a gloomy face.
When he looked at the empty hospital bed again, his eyes widened, and he rushed over and lifted the empty blanket.
"Lu Zhenyu!"
"What are you howling about in the middle of the night? Zhenzhen is being bullied by you..."
Feng Manman stopped and rushed over after her, asking, "Where's Zhenzhen?"
"Nothing's there." Shen Jingsi strode back from the restroom and questioned Feng Manman, "Where is she?"
"You're asking me? Brother, we were together just now, weren't we!"
Feng Manman really wanted to curse, but luckily there was still the calm and collected Shen Jinchuan there. "I'll go check the surveillance footage. Brother Manman, you guys go downstairs and look for them first."
Soon, all the available nurses and doctors in the hospital were put to use, searching the entire building for the missing person.
The surveillance footage only showed her hailing a taxi outside the hospital; where she went remains unknown.
Lu Zhenyu has run away again.
The taxi arrived at the villa in Jinyun Bay. It was too cold in the early morning, so Lu Zhenyu huddled up after paying the fare and walked towards the row of two-story villas.
This house has quite a story.
Back then, she often rescued stray cats and dogs, but her mother was allergic to animals and couldn't keep them at the Shen family home, so Shen Jingsi gave her this house as a birthday gift.
"This will be our home from now on. You can do whatever you want, keep whatever pets you want, stay up all night or eat ice cream, or even hug me and sleep here."
Although Shen Jingsi was unruly and difficult to tame back then, he would drive away the women surrounding him, leaving his capriciousness and position solely for her.
Lu Zhenyu rolled her eyes at him and turned her back while holding the kitten.
In reality, she couldn't hide her happiness and smiled, but she stubbornly insisted, "It's nighttime now, stop daydreaming."
But later, she did indeed make it their home.
When I was in college, I secretly arranged to be a day student behind my mother's back, and I would hang out here with Shen Jingsi after school.
They truly shared a sweet and happy memory, and he supported her. Even when they severed their ties with a knife, the pain felt like it was out of time.
It had been five years since she last visited. After Lu Zhenyu entered her fingerprint, the door automatically opened.
I thought it would be desolate after being left unattended for so long, but surprisingly, it has hardly changed at all.
A blanket draped halfway down the sofa, a book two-thirds of the way through the pages on the coffee table, a branch stuck in a vase above the fireplace, and a whole fallen, withered camellia.
She gave away the pets before the wedding, but the villa still seemed to retain a faint sense of human presence.
The door to the master bedroom was pushed open, and past memories came flooding back.
That large bed, still covered with light blue silk bedding, was where she and Shen Jingsi once rode each other.
Actually, she deliberately provoked him that night and gave herself to him.
The thought was that since everything was already irreversible, why not indulge myself and do whatever I wanted?
Looking back over the years, she only indulged herself this once.
At least in the countless lonely, sleepless nights that followed, what kept her alive was that absurd yet beautiful night.
The moment I plugged my phone in to charge and the screen lit up, countless missed calls flashed in.
Lu Zhenyu cleaned up the screen, only called Feng Manman to let her know she was safe, and then lay down on the big bed, exhausted.
The hand with the bruise from the needle prick gently rubbed against the silky, cool sheets. Time seemed to rewind to that night five years ago, when she and Shen Jingsi loved each other deeply and without reservation on this very spot.
That night, Shen Jingsi said he would protect her and love her.
Now, he has given all that favoritism to another woman.
It also caused that tiny, lingering hope that she kept hidden deep in her heart, yet was sometimes too ashamed to peek at, to gradually fade and shatter.
She turned to her side, bent her legs under her hospital gown, curled up, and slept like that for a long time.
He didn't care that the weather outside was about to be turned upside down by Shen Jingsi.
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