Chapter 156 Moths to a Flame
Ruan Yi stopped only when she rushed into the nurses' station in the hospital lobby.
She took a deep breath, about to speak, "Hello, I'm looking for Fu..." but the words got stuck in her throat.
The words were left hanging in mid-air when the nurse behind the counter looked up, her pen hovering over the registration form, and gently asked, "Hello, are you here to visit someone in the hospital?"
Seeing Ruan Yi nod, the nurse looked down at the page, her fingertips tracing lines of information, before looking up to add more.
"Fu? Hmm, there are two Mr. Fus. May I ask which one you are looking for?"
Ruan Yi clenched her hands tighter by her sides, her knuckles turning white. She already knew the whole story and understood the two people's positions, but she was even more at a loss as to how to face them.
Should I question them, remain silent, or break up with them?
"Find... Fu Wang."
The nurse verified her identity information and then told her the ward number.
When she was still a few meters away from the ward, Ruan Yi stopped.
Clearly, someone had predicted her choice.
A tall figure stood in front of the ward door. The man had gauze on his forehead with faint bloodstains seeping from the edges, a bruise below his brow bone, and dried blood scabs on his lips.
Even his usual hairstyle was messed up, with a few stray hairs sticking to his forehead, but it still couldn't hide his aura.
If you're going to hit someone, why did you hurt their face like this?
At least she was alright, but Ruan Yi felt a little uncomfortable in her chest and subconsciously wanted to turn away.
But before she could take a step, a deep, hoarse voice rang out: "Xiao Yi, don't go..."
This was the first time she had heard Fu Jingchen speak in such a tone, lacking his usual ease and confidence, but rather as if covered by a layer of coarse sand, concealing unspeakable sorrow, and even a hint of cautious pleading.
Ruan Yi's steps froze completely. A few seconds later, she sighed softly and slowly turned around.
Her gaze fell on the gauze on the man's forehead, and she asked softly, "How did the fight start?"
Neither of them mentioned the unspoken truth, and the girl did not deliberately hide the tenderness in her eyes.
Fu Jingchen's Adam's apple bobbed as he looked at her distressed expression. He lightly gathered his sleeves with his fingertips, a gesture he would almost never make.
His usually calm voice was tinged with emotion, even carrying a hint of accusation.
He said I was selfish and that I didn't love you.
Ruan Yi didn't reply, but just stared at him intently.
The man before me had shed his cold, aloof demeanor. Blood still seeped from the gauze on his forehead. When he spoke of the misinterpreted words, there was no agreement in his eyes. He was completely different from his usual composed self.
Ruan Yi remained silent for a few seconds, her tone calm yet carrying an undeniable seriousness.
"And what about you? What did you say about him?" She asked this because she understood the personalities of these two people.
Fu Wang may seem straightforward, but he is actually quite perceptive. He wouldn't make the first move without a reason, so it's safe to assume that Fu Jingchen must have said something as well.
The girl's gaze fell heavily on his face, her expression like that of a teacher handling a children's dispute, insisting on hearing the whole story, otherwise she wouldn't believe either side of the story.
Fu Jingchen's thin lips parted slightly, and he was about to utter "I said he..." when he suddenly stopped.
Xiaoyi shouldn't have heard those hurtful words.
His Adam's apple bobbed repeatedly, but he ultimately didn't utter the words he had once said to Fu Wang again; he simply lowered his eyes.
Seeing the man's hesitant expression, Ruan instantly knew the answer.
She looked away and took a step to push him away and walk towards the ward, but Fu Jingchen grabbed her wrist.
His grip wasn't strong, but he refused to let go, his fingertips trembling as they brushed against the skin of her wrist.
Ruan Yi had no choice but to stop and look at him.
The man didn't speak, but kept his eyes downcast, the wisps of hair on his forehead obscuring the emotions in his eyes. Only his Adam's apple bobbed repeatedly, and the suppressed pain around him seemed about to overflow.
He was usually a man of his word, but at this moment he regarded her as a piece of driftwood in a vast ocean, unwilling to let go.
Seeing Fu Jingchen's almost out-of-control state, she ultimately couldn't bring herself to say "let go."
Ruan Yi understood why the fat, orange-haired emperor was able to repeatedly tolerate Consort Hua's constant harming of the other concubines in the harem.
When you realize that all of a person's obsessions and loss of control stem from their inability to control their love for you, your heart cannot harden.
Ruan Yi herself found the idea somewhat ridiculous, but when her fingertips touched the thin layer of sweat on his palm, she softened her stance.
If Fu Jingchen's actions were tinged with even the slightest bit of feigned scheming, Ruan Yi would have sentenced him to death.
The most foolish thing a man can say about all this is—"He just loves me too much."
What could she say, blame him for loving her so much?
Ruan Yi silently raised her hand, her fingertips gently touching the bruise on his brow bone.
The moment they touched, she felt the man's hand encircle her waist, his large, calloused hand gradually tightening, pressing her against his chest.
After Ruan Yi noticed, she pressed her fingertip hard on his wound. She immediately heard Fu Jingchen groan in pain, but he didn't let go. Instead, he hugged her even tighter.
He pressed Ruan Yi's face against his shoulder, his large hand unconsciously rubbing gently against her lower back. The man's actions were filled with an almost intoxicating attachment, seemingly an instinct that was completely out of control.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Ruan Yi's voice came from his shoulder.
Fu Jingchen nodded slightly and responded with a muffled "Mm," tightening his grip on her arm as if afraid she would run away.
Ruan Yi gently pushed him away, looked up into his eyes, and spoke with a hint of reproach in her voice.
"And what about when you hurt others? Fu Jingchen, it's not just once."
The girl pressed her fingertips against his chest, stopping him from getting any closer. "If your motivation is family hatred or revenge, then perhaps I have nothing to say."
"But you did all this just because you like me? That's not right. You shouldn't have committed a crime because of me."
Fu Jingchen didn't refute, but simply lowered his head and rubbed his nose against her forehead, carefully inhaling the scent of her hair.
How could it be "just" for you?
For him, doing these things for Ruan Yi was simply the most natural thing to do.
Revenge? He already had the ability to make Zhou Wan and Fu Wang disappear from this world completely.
All we need to do is find a new target for Old Master Fu and cut off Zhou Wan's reliance on him, and Fu Wang's status as the heir will fall apart on its own.
But the man didn't do that. On the very first day he had the ability to do so, he thoroughly investigated Zhou Wan's background.
Zhou Wan came from a poor family. Her father and brother disappeared after accumulating huge debts at exorbitant interest rates, leaving all the debts on the shoulders of that young girl in her early twenties.
In order to survive, Zhou Wan chose to attach herself to his father, but Master Fu had many lovers, and Fu Wang was not accepted when he was born. Everything Zhou Wan did was for Fu Wang's future.
His mother's descent into madness and suicide was not solely due to the relentless pressure from a third party.
It was also because... the mother regarded love as the entirety of her life, but ultimately lost to the indifference of her lover.
Even if we resolve this Zhou Wan issue, another "Zhou Wan" will emerge; the root of the problem is not a third party.
Rather, it was his father.
What's even more ridiculous is that, despite having seen through all of this long ago, he unknowingly followed in his mother's footsteps.
Perhaps it was hereditary destiny, or perhaps it was a cruel twist of fate, but like his mother, he regarded his lover as "the whole of his life."
He would have all sorts of uncontrollable, terrifying thoughts because Ruan Yi might leave; he would lose sleep over the way she looked at other people; he even once...
Fu Jingchen buried his face even deeper, as if only by filling his breath with her scent could he suppress those out-of-control memories of the past.
Perhaps he was even more pathological than his mother; he himself didn't even know just how extreme his love was.
Ruan Yi was held in the man's arms, letting his light kisses fall on her hair and between her eyebrows.
But looking at Fu Jingchen, who was immersed in his emotions, she felt increasingly uneasy.
Ruan Yi wasn't afraid of Fu Jingchen's current actions, but rather that he might actually go insane...
The man caught the fear in the girl's eyes.
Fu Jingchen's movements suddenly froze, his arms tightening around her for a moment, then loosening again in the next second.
His eyes reddened visibly, and his voice trembled violently: "Xiao Yi, don't be afraid of me..."
"No matter what happens, I will never hurt Xiaoyi, never, ever..."
He repeated the sentence over and over, his fingertips gently brushing against her cheek, as if to make sure she hadn't disappeared.
Looking at the man's reddened eyes, Ruan Yi suddenly had a thought and asked softly, "Is it possible... that you have hurt me before?"
"For example... in a past life? That's just a metaphor."
The moment those words were uttered, Fu Jingchen's breath caught in his throat, and the air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.
The next second, the man suddenly grabbed her waist, lifted her up effortlessly, and pressed his thin lips against hers.
The kiss was filled with a desperate panic and an undeniable determination. The man's hand was on the back of her neck, as if he wanted to merge with her. Indistinct sounds escaped from between his lips.
"No, that's not possible."
Unless, unless he has truly gone mad, completely lost his mind, and is being used as a tool...
Ruan Yi was almost breathless from his kisses, and gently pushed him away with her fingertips against his chest.
She looked at the man's reddened eyes, and her heart was pounding.
Fu Jingchen is one of the three people directly related to her death in her previous life.
If Gu Zhi and Pei Lian can recall something due to intense stimulation, then could Fu Jingchen have already...?
Ruan Yi spoke softly, "I guess you know what I'm talking about."
The man did not answer; his eyes were so red they were almost bleeding.
He didn't explain, but simply lowered his head and kissed her again, kissing away the doubts on her lips, his voice trembling with tears.
"It won't hurt Xiaoyi, it really won't..."
The dampness trickled down his cheek and onto Ruan Yi's face.
Uncontrolled emotions, scalding tears, and irrelevant responses are all the best proof.
Ruan Yi didn't ask any further questions, but simply looked quietly at the man's reddened eyes.
After a few seconds of silence, she spoke softly, "I believe you."
The man's body froze instantly, as if even the tears that had fallen were frozen on his face. He stared blankly at Ruan Yi, as if he hadn't heard her words clearly. His Adam's apple bobbed, but he couldn't make a sound.
He had anticipated her questioning, her escape, even her hatred, but not these two words.
The man couldn't believe his ears until Ruan Yi repeated, "I believe you won't hurt me, and I believe you love me."
Ruan Yi raised her hand, gently wiping away the tears on his face with her fingertips, and kissed his pale lips.
The kiss was gentle and comforting as she whispered against the man's lips, "Fu Jingchen, your love is so heavy... I think I need some time to fully accept and process it, but I never thought of pushing you away."
"The premise is—you have to learn not to push yourself to the brink. I want you to be okay."
The man's heartbeat suddenly went out of control, so fast it felt like it was about to shatter his chest. Each beat was scalding hot, spreading from his heart to every part of his body, with a force that seemed to burst through his flesh.
My heart, which had already been captivated, was stirred once again by the girl's words.
Fu Jingchen suddenly tightened his arms, holding Ruan Yi tightly in his embrace, burying his face in the crook of her neck, his tears once again soaking her collarbone.
By the time a man realizes it, his lover's name has already permeated every drop of his blood, every cell, and every nerve ending.
Even knowing they will get burned, moths still fly towards the flame.
But when he, like a moth, plunged headlong into the flame, he discovered that it wasn't fire, but rather Ruan Yi, this soft, fluffy cloud.
It was a little cloud that caught his obsession, held his hand, and led him back step by step from the brink of losing control.
His lover was never cold-hearted.
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