The Person I Love Who Has Been Missing For Three Years - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Her Cat Likes Her…

Seeing Lin Rong approach, Song Xiangwan’s first instinct was to run away.

But she desperately wanted to know Ming Jin’s current condition. Her feet were glued to the floor, and she didn’t move an inch.

“Miss Song is here. What good show are you waiting for?” Lin Rong’s tone was slightly elevated, with a hint of sarcasm.

Song Xiangwan was subconsciously angered by the rude tone and opened her mouth to snap back, but the white coat she was wearing forced her to suppress it.

“I want to know… how she is…”

The hedgehog’s quills instantly vanished, revealing a soft, vulnerable, and pitiful underbelly.

The phoenix eyes staring at Lin Rong were filled with a teary sheen, which she tried hard to suppress, making them red and bruised, like a crushed sunset shattered into pieces.

“What exactly is her situation?”

“Her legs, and her body…”

“Is she undergoing treatment now?”

“When will she get better?”

“Patient privacy. You have no right to know, and I have no right to disclose it to you.” Lin Rong smiled slightly. “What, suddenly you care now?”

“Where were you three years ago? Miss Song, cut the pretense.” Lin Rong’s words were like sharp thorns, stabbing into Song Xiangwan’s heart one by one.

Usually, if anyone provoked her like this, she would never back down and would fiercely retaliate.

But at this moment, Song Xiangwan only felt a tightening in her chest.

Three years ago… when they were in a cold war, did something happen then?

“Miss Song can leave now. Standing here is pointless. President Ming doesn’t want to see you.” Lin Rong finished speaking, waved her hand, and turned to leave.

It was like a bucket of ice had been dumped over her head, instantly chilling her to the core.

That’s right, Ming Jin didn’t want to see her.

She stood there until her feet felt numb, then slowly slid down to squat against the wall.

Her mind was filled with Ming Jin’s bloodless face just now, and the instinctive, almost involuntary, push that sent her away.

Things were different now. They were no longer intimately involved.

She didn’t know how long she squatted there until her phone buzzed in her pocket. Cheng Cheng’s anxious voice came through the phone: “Sister Wan, where are you?”

“Just went for a walk, I’m fine. I’m heading back now.” Song Xiangwan stood up, flexed her ankles, and took one last look at the ward’s door sign.

Inside the ward, Lin Rong leaned against the window, peeling an orange. She carefully picked out the white pith and casually tossed a segment into her mouth.

The phone on the windowsill buzzed. It was a message from the bodyguard outside.

She twirled the phone in her hand and casually tossed it into the pocket of her white coat.

Lin Rong said, “Alright, mission accomplished. I successfully drove her away. President Ming owes me a favor. You can’t always make me the villain.”

“I know,” Ming Jin’s voice was faint. “Thank you.”

Ming Jin’s brow slightly furrowed as she registered Lin Rong’s words: “Drove her away? What did you say to her?”

The heart rate on the cardiac monitor suddenly spiked. Her eyes, fixed on Lin Rong, held deep displeasure.

“Didn’t say anything…” Lin Rong spoke vaguely. “I just told her to leave.”

The shallow brown eyes settled. Ming Jin took a long, soft breath. Her voice was extremely light: “Forget it. I won’t pursue this one time.”

Based on her understanding of Song Xiangwan, Lin Rong must have said something harsh for her to leave obediently.

Song Xiangwan would inevitably be sad for a while.

But this was the only way.

“Next time, don’t do this. I don’t allow anyone to bully her,” Ming Jin said faintly, her eyes distant.

Lin Rong: “…” She acted as the villain and now was being reprimanded for bullying someone.

Oh well, she already knew that this little canary held an unusual place in Ming Jin’s heart.

“I haven’t told the little girl yet. I’ll be the villain again then.” Lin Rong scoffed lightly. “President Ming, I need a raise.”

“We can discuss it.” Ming Jin’s eyes were distant. Although she was talking to Lin Rong, her mind was clearly not on the matter.

“I’m leaving. Call me if you need anything.” Lin Rong stood up, having finished the orange, and brushed the remaining pith off her clothes.

Ming Jin closed her eyes but couldn’t sleep. Her chest felt heavy, like it was pressed by a stone. The muscles and bones in her lower back and waist were throbbing with pain.

The emotional distress, compounded by the preliminary signs of heart failure, left her without the strength to even lift a finger.

Her mind was full of Song Xiangwan—laughing, being playful, holding her hand and dancing lightly like a butterfly circling her, bright, vibrant, and graceful.

Ming Jin raised her hand and looked at her fingers, pale, thin, and bloodless. Why should a person in a withered state provoke a butterfly?

Song Xiangwan was subdued all day. Cheng Cheng was so worried he wanted to drag her for a full physical, fearing her condition had worsened.

After dinner, as the two of them were strolling downstairs, Song Xiangwan’s steps suddenly stopped, and she gazed intently upstairs.

“What is it?” Cheng Cheng stopped too. “Is there something there?”

She followed Song Xiangwan’s gaze but didn’t see anything, just the external wall of the inpatient building, with lights shining from the windows.

“The third floor doesn’t seem too high…” Song Xiangwan muttered softly.

Cheng Cheng’s mind buzzed. She grabbed Song Xiangwan’s arm: “Sister, my sister, my living ancestor, what are you trying to pull now?”

She wanted to climb up and sneak a look into Ming Jin’s room.

The contemporary Spiderman assessed the difficulty of climbing the external wall. It would be very difficult, almost impossible.

Lin Rong’s quick entrance into the ward today made her feel very uneasy.

But she certainly couldn’t tell Cheng Cheng about this idea. She only vaguely said, “Nothing, nothing.”

“Sister, I beg you, stop doing adventurous things like this. Falling from the third floor, even if you land wrong, can be fatal.”

Cheng Cheng was genuinely scared: “Next time, can we please think logically and find another way?”

“You’re the ones who blocked my path, and now you blame me for taking risks?” Song Xiangwan was irrational but confident.

Cheng Cheng: “…” She reasonably suspected that all of Song Xiangwan’s previous assistants were scared off.

After some thought, Song Xiangwan gave up the idea of climbing the wall. After sending Cheng Cheng away, she dashed upstairs, planning to knock on the door directly.

The bodyguards immediately blocked her: “Miss, unauthorized persons are not allowed in here.”

The two bodyguards exchanged glances, but their blocking arms didn’t move an inch.

“I don’t care, move aside.” Song Xiangwan pressed her hands against their arms, intending to force her way through.

“Miss, don’t make this difficult for us.” The bodyguards stood like two mountains, blocking Song Xiangwan’s way.

Song Xiangwan pushed hard twice, but couldn’t move them. Instead, she stumbled and almost fell.

But her eyes were still aggressive, like an arrogant, disdainful peacock. She adopted an imperious posture: “Do you dare to lay a hand on me? Do you?”

“I’m telling you, no one in the entire Ming Corporation dares to block me.”

“When I enter the Ming Corporation, it’s like walking into my own backyard.”

“I advise you to move aside right now.”

She spoke confidently, without a hint of guilt. Coupled with her professional acting skills, she genuinely managed to intimidate the two bodyguards.

Song Xiangwan certainly wasn’t feeling guilty; she was speaking the truth. In the past, no one dared to stop her from entering the Ming Corporation. She walked in as if it were unpatrolled territory.

There was no one else in the room. Ming Jin leaned against the headboard, a knit sweater draped over her shoulder, her pale, long hands resting casually in front of her on the clean white bedding.

The inner patient gown highlighted her fragile appearance, but her eyes were still sharp and authoritative. Her straight back exuded the presence of a person in a position of power.

She raised her eyes and looked over quietly, her tone calm and slow: “I’ve made myself clear. Why are you here again?”

Those words from the female doctor were truly Ming Jin’s intention. Song Xiangwan felt a slight catch in her throat.

She felt a little pathetic, being driven away and still forcing her way back, essentially trampling her own dignity.

She pursed her lips, lifted her chin, and met Ming Jin’s eyes: “I lost an earring. I suspect it fell here. Can’t I look for it?”

“It’s not here.” The attitude was dismissive.

“I think it is here.” She was unreasonable but self-assured.

Ming Jin retracted her gaze, picked up a book from the bedside table, lowered her eyes, and opened it: “Then take your time looking.”

There was no fluctuation in her eyes. She stopped looking at Song Xiangwan, treating her as if she were invisible.

Song Xiangwan stood still, staring blankly at Ming Jin, her vision slightly blurring.

She was truly this cold.

Everything before had really been erased, as if nothing had ever happened.

She didn’t search, and Ming Jin didn’t urge her, slowly moving her gaze across the characters and calmly, casually turning a page.

However, the hand pressed beneath the book couldn’t help but tighten. Cold sweat broke out on her back, wetting the patient gown and sticking to her skin.

Keeping her spine straight forced the old injured area to be rigidly aligned. The pain surged, and her heart rate seemed to accelerate erratically.

But she knew Song Xiangwan was watching her. She seized the opportunity of looking down to quickly close her eyes and take a deep, steady breath.

When she looked up again, her expression was still indifferent: “Did you find it?”

“It’s a small item. Don’t bother looking. What style is it? I’ll have someone buy a new one and send it to you.”

“Leave now. I need to rest. Don’t waste my time.”

Song Xiangwan tried to detect something on Ming Jin’s face, but there was nothing. Aside from a face that was excessively pale due to illness, those eyes looked at her without a trace of emotion.

“You don’t need to buy me anything. I don’t accept unsolicited favors.” The hedgehog raised all its quills, and her words were hurtful.

Ming Jin’s brow slightly furrowed, and her body seemed to sway.

Song Xiangwan instinctively rushed forward, firmly supporting Ming Jin, her words urgent and fast: “Are you alright? Do you want me to call a doctor?”

“No need.” Ming Jin suppressed the dizziness and pushed Song Xiangwan’s hand away. “Leave.”

Her tone was flat, but Song Xiangwan couldn’t believe it. Her face looked far too ill: “If you tell me to leave, and I leave, wouldn’t I look completely weak?”

Remembering the command to roll from the daytime, Song Xiangwan was still stewing in anger. But this time, she absolutely wouldn’t leave.

Not only did she not leave, but she plopped down on the edge of the bed.

Sitting there, she cautiously watched Ming Jin’s face, full of anxiety and fear.

But when Ming Jin’s gaze swept over her, her expression hardened. She raised her chin, looking willful, overbearing, and dramatic.

Ming Jin sighed softly, feeling a touch of helplessness.

The spoiled temperament she had indulged was now coming back to haunt her, and she had to endure it.

Concealed by the covers, Ming Jin slightly shifted her waist, changing the point of pressure. Her breathing paused for a moment as she adjusted to the taut posture.

“What will it take for you to leave?” Her tone was level.

She understood Song Xiangwan. She was theatrical, and there must be a condition.

Song Xiangwan felt a little wronged. Why did this person always want to drive her away? But now she had found a chance to ask the questions she wanted: “Answer my questions, or I won’t leave today.”

“Three years ago, what exactly happened?”

“What is your current…”

Her throat tightened, but she continued to ask: “What is your current condition?”

“A car accident, an unforeseen incident.” The response was cold and detached, pushing her away immediately. “It won’t get better.”

“I’ll be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life.”

She briefly closed her eyes. A deep sense of despondency seemed to darken her face: “Did revealing my wounds satisfy you? Is there such hatred between us?”

Song Xiangwan’s fingertips stiffened and slowly tightened.

“I didn’t mean…” Her eyes instantly turned red.

She was at a loss. She only cared about her health. She wanted to know…

“A-Jin…”

“Leave. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

Her tone was flat. She lowered her eyes to the book in her hand, acting as if the other person in the room didn’t exist.

The door closed. The person was gone.

The tightly held strength instantly gave way.

The thick book slid off the covers and fell to the floor, the scattered pages hitting each other, stirring up a gentle breeze.

She didn’t dare to lean fully against the pillow, only lightly resting against it for a moment, constantly aware of the erratic pounding of her heart.

Ming Jin didn’t dare to call anyone. She didn’t know if Song Xiangwan had truly left this time.

She forced herself to sit up. Waves of dizziness rushed over her. Her vision swam. Her hands shaking, she fumbled for the nasal cannula under the pillow. After several attempts, she managed to hook it up.

Having spent all her strength, she instantly collapsed back into the pillow.

Even the soft pillow didn’t prevent her from letting out a muffled groan from the sudden impact of the pain.

She gritted her teeth and slowly recovered. Under the effect of the oxygen, the restless heart rate gradually calmed down.

She lacked the strength to even open her eyes. Ming Jin gently closed her eyes, allowing herself to drift into darkness.

She recalled those helpless, instantly reddened eyes.

They were full of concern, giving her a momentary sense of disorientation.

Her cat likes her.