Chapter 38 Warmth "Won't Be a Moth to a Flame"
38
The icy touch quickly stung her senses, and a feeling of suffocation surged over her. Meng Yao instinctively struggled violently, her hands frantically scratching behind her, trying to find a sliver of air.
The owner of those hands playfully loosened her grip slightly, but just when she thought she could get rid of the iron-like hands on the back of her neck, those hands tightened their grip again.
The person didn't seem to be coming with a ruthless intent to kill; it was more like a cat playing with a mouse. As her struggle weakened and she was about to choke on the water, the person suddenly and forcefully pulled her out of the water.
"Cough! Cough cough cough!" Without having time to think about who she had offended, Meng Yao greedily inhaled a mouthful of the fishy, sour air mixed with water vapor. Her vision blurred, and she coughed incessantly.
However, before she could even catch her breath, that immense force struck again, mercilessly shoving her underwater once more!
Once, twice...
In her daze, Meng Yao gradually realized that the other party did not intend to kill her immediately, but simply enjoyed the process of torturing her. Her physical strength could not withstand such depletion, fear tightly wrapped around her heart like iron wire, and a ruthless rage, driven to the brink of despair, surged from the bottom of her heart.
On the eve of the fourth time it was brought up, she forced herself to calm down and struggled to open her eyes underwater to scan the location of the blurry figure behind her.
When those hands loosened their grip again, she used all her strength, combined with the buoyancy of the water, to twist her waist sharply, her head and neck breaking free at an almost tricky angle. At the same time, her right elbow, carrying all the accumulated anger and fear, slammed fiercely into that blurry direction!
"Ugh!" A muffled groan came from behind her, and the grip on the back of her neck suddenly loosened!
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Meng Yao quickly turned around and broke free from control, staggering as she climbed out of the edge of the pool. Icy water dripped down her hair and clothes, making her teeth chatter from the cold.
She wiped the water off her face and saw the person's face clearly. Her pupils suddenly contracted: it was the same reporter who had been at the charity banquet and appeared today!
At that moment, the man was clutching his ribs, which she had injured, his face contorted with pain and rage.
Seeing his fierce gaze directed at her, Meng Yao's alarm bells went off. She turned and tried to run towards the streetlights and people passing by, shouting, "Help... uh!"
However, the suffocation and struggle had exhausted her strength, and the cold pool water further weakened her. She had only taken two steps when her legs gave way and she collapsed heavily to the ground.
A piercing pain spread down her knee, and her legs felt like they had lost control; she couldn't muster the strength to get up again.
The reporter had already stood up, clutching his ribs as he slowly approached. His hand, which had been in his pocket, had somehow produced a gleaming knife, and his eyes were filled with barely contained malice.
Meng Yao's heart sank to the bottom, and she shrank back helplessly. The man, as if completely out of his mind, brandished the knife in his hand, his voice distorted with pain and rage: "You bitch, didn't you receive the package I sent you last time? Do you think I'm a pushover, daring to swagger around like that!"
Meng Yao's pupils constricted. So the bloody package from before also came from this person! Was he a fan of Lin Yue?
However, she had no time to think further. A huge fear enveloped her. Although the instinct for survival was still trying to suppress her unease, her weak legs just wouldn't regain their strength.
She could only try to stall for time with words, not just because of the cold, but also because of fear and anger. Her voice trembled more than ever before: "You're too presumptuous! Lin... Lin Yue herself has made a public statement, and the matter is over! What right do you have... what right do you have to make decisions for her!"
"Shut up! She was forced into this state by you bunch of bastards!" Unexpectedly, the man wouldn't listen at all and brandished his knife, lunging at her!
She was so frightened that she quickly closed her eyes and covered her head, feeling a chill run through her.
Just at this critical moment, a pair of burning hot hands suddenly pulled her up, and she fell unsteadily in another direction. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel how timely the force was. The cold blade almost grazed her ear; a second later and it would have easily pierced her body.
She opened her eyes in shock, only to be pulled up by that force again. She fell into a warm embrace without any chance to resist, and a large hand tightly covered her head. Before she could react, the sound of a blade stabbing through the air rang out again.
Startled, she instinctively hid in his warm embrace, but the expected pain did not occur. At the same time, a muffled groan suddenly came from above her head.
Meng Yao finally opened her eyes in surprise and looked up to see Fang Huaixu's face, which was right in front of her.
He appeared there at some unknown time, his cold gaze fixed on the direction of the assailant. At this moment, one hand was firmly protecting her head, while the other hand was pointing straight forward.
Meng Yao looked in the direction of his hand, but was shocked by what she saw: Fang Huaixu raised his arm to block the blade, and bright red blood was dripping down his arm.
"square……"
When Meng Yao opened her mouth, she was almost speechless. Her heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand. Behind her, Fang Huaixu's body was heaving violently, burning hot. The wound that was constantly bleeding was even more shocking.
The thug seemed stunned by the sudden turn of events. Fang Huaixu's gaze was firm. He took a deep breath, ignoring his wound, grabbed the thug's wrist, released Meng Yao, and used the force to throw him to the ground!
"Ugh!"
The blood-stained knife fell to the ground with a thud, and the man let out a loud scream.
Fang Huaixu was breathing heavily, looking down at him with little expression on his face, but he still didn't let go of him. The next second, he skillfully grabbed the man's arm and twisted it backwards!
"Aaaaaah!!!"
The piercing scream almost shattered the sky. The person fell to the ground, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets from the pain.
Meng Yao almost heard the sound of bones breaking during that movement, and her eyes were filled with confusion and bewilderment.
Fang Huaixu finally got up and let the man go, allowing him to roll miserably on the ground. He glanced in Meng Yao's direction, and apart from the slight panting at the end of his sentence, his voice was calm and steady: "It's nothing serious... It's just a fracture, otherwise he would have run away before anyone came..."
Meng Yao stared at the person on the ground whose screams were gradually fading, speechless with shock.
At the same time, a commotion came from not far away, and Chen Jie led several bodyguards to rush in and quickly brought the situation under control.
"Mr. Fang! Your injury!" Chen Jie was the first to notice the bloodstains on Fang Huaixu's arm, and his expression changed drastically.
"It's alright, I know how to handle it." After saying that, he calmly turned to leave.
Meng Yao finally reacted and rushed forward to try to stop him: "Wait, you..."
Don't touch it.
He dodged slightly to the side as if afraid of getting burned, ruthlessly avoiding her hand that was about to catch up.
Her hand froze awkwardly in mid-air, and he even deliberately took another step back, widening the distance between them.
Meng Yao was stunned.
Fang Huaixu didn't turn around. He casually pressed the wound on his left arm with his uninjured left hand. Blood quickly seeped out from between his fingers, but he acted as if nothing was wrong. He quickly instructed Chen Jie, "My wound can only be treated at the hospital. Have the doctor who came with you treat her wound, call the police, and send her home to rest."
He didn't say a word more, and didn't even glance at Meng Yao again. After finishing speaking, he walked straight to his car by the roadside.
Meng Yao stood frozen in place, watching his resolute departure and the glaring crimson on the ground. Her heart felt colder than her body, as if the burning heat from his fingertips and the lingering warmth behind him were all an illusion.
She didn't know how she was taken to get her wound treated, because an ambulance had been following the team throughout the event, and she only suffered minor injuries that were treated quickly.
The doctor instructed Chen Jie that comforting her after she was frightened was the more important thing, but Meng Yao has been looking distraught ever since Fang Huaixu left.
Filled with worry, Chen Jie arranged for someone to take the thug away. He then sat down next to Meng Yao and cautiously asked, "Ms. Meng... do you want to go home?"
Meng Yao, with mixed feelings, slowly nodded: "Mm..."
She was filled with indescribable sadness, and the scene of Fang Huaixu avoiding her kept replaying in her mind. It was such a small distance, but she felt as if they were thousands of miles apart.
Even just deciding that she wanted to like him was difficult enough for her.
She had sworn an oath when she was young and suffered humiliation in the Lin family that she would never let anyone belittle her, let alone entrust her joys, sorrows and trust entirely to others.
But in the end, her feelings were just an ethereal thing, something that others could easily discard.
But only she knows how precious and difficult it is for her to express her feelings.
Even though she had the idea of wanting to stand by his side, it was already difficult enough for her.
She even felt that her current anxious state made her particularly repulsive. She wanted to rush up to him and tell him how hard she had tried to maintain her self-esteem over the years, how indifferent she was to others, how many admirable qualities she had, and how she was never short of suitors... Her heart was almost roaring, roaring about how precious her feelings were.
Cherish me.
When those words echoed in her heart, she felt both pathetic and ridiculous.
She hated that she wasn't a dazzling diamond, so precious to him that he would want to hold her in his arms at first glance.
But the truth is that he has everything she never had, and everything about her seems insignificant in his life.
His glory, whenever it shone on a dark corner of her heart, was enough to pierce her with pain.
She longed for that sunshine, and desperately wanted to bask in its warmth, but she dared not move forward, fearing that the next step would be like a moth drawn to a flame, burning to ashes.
I'd rather maintain a stable and respectable life, rather pretend nothing's wrong, than give anyone the chance to hurt me.
Only she knew how difficult it was for her to make this decision. Today, she finally decided to walk in his direction, but he left without looking back.
Normally, she would have been able to manage her emotions and calm down.
Having just survived a life-or-death struggle, she wasn't strong enough to quickly compose herself. Reaching the car, she barely had the strength to get in, her mind and mouth repeating the same name: "Fang Huaixu...when are you coming..."
Chen Jie heard her almost delirious voice and almost blurted out, "President Fang went to the hospital to treat his wound, don't worry. He's been... sigh, I don't know why he hasn't been with us lately. He might not be in a good state lately, I can't quite figure him out. Why don't you go back and rest first?"
She slowly raised her head, a bitter smile curving her lips, her voice light and self-deprecating: "I can't figure it out... I can't figure it out either, Assistant Chen, tell me... what exactly is his attitude towards me?"
Chen Jie was momentarily stunned by her question, but quickly responded, "Of course I care about you the most!"
Even though there was an element of comfort in those words, Meng Yao's lifeless heart still stirred slightly at their words: "...Is that so?"
Chen Jie could tell from her desperate expression that she didn't believe him at all, and he was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Finally, he made up his mind, feeling that if he didn't say a few good words for his boss, the two would only get colder: "Hey... President Meng, I really don't know what happened between you two. I'll just tell you the truth, I've never seen President Fang care about anyone like this before. Not to mention caring, before you came, he didn't even have that many expressions on his face! Tianmu has never hired a spokesperson in all these years because they don't want any uncertainties to get involved. Last time you were able to attend the charity gala, and the subsequent arrangements were all made by President Fang against everyone's wishes... Even these past few days, while you were having a cold war, he was still holding meetings at the company for several days in a row to discuss giving you shares..."
Now Meng Yao was completely awake, her eyes widening: "...What?"
"It's because Mr. Fang really cares about you!"
Chen Jie, having gone all out, lowered his voice: "Originally, President Fang said this was a gift prepared for you after you passed your postgraduate entrance exam, and he didn't want me to tell anyone. But seeing the two of you like this, it would be really inappropriate for me not to say a few words... Remember the charity banquet, the day President Fang left early? It was because he was called back for an afternoon meeting about the equity issue. President Fang is truly a rare good man. Although I don't know how you two argued, he has been worried about your situation. He just heard that you didn't get in the car and went over there first..."
Author's note: Almost there! [doge head with rose in hand] Love needs a big-mouthed security guard.
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