When the Male Lead Finds Out I’m the Transmigrator Trying to Win Him Over - Chapter 18

Yun Ruo curled up in pain, clutching her belly.

There were cursing voices in her ears; he had fallen painfully and got up only after struggling twice.

But what about her?

“Yun Ruo!” Footsteps drew near. Someone crouched in front of her, cautiously reached out to touch her and then quickly pulled the hand back. “Are you okay? Yun Ruo? Yun Ruo?”

The last syllable trembled unnaturally.

Yun Ruo forced her eyes open and realized it was Jiang Yufei. She clutched her abdomen. “Call 120…”

“What?” Jiang Yufei hadn’t heard clearly at first — she was terrified. She tried to help Yun Ruo up, but her whole body shook so badly she couldn’t steady herself.

The reporters who had been chasing Yun Ruo had by now realized what had happened. Realizing they had caused Yun Nuo to fall, and that Yun Ruo was carrying Meng’s family’s first grandchild, the man who’d been steady a moment ago went suddenly weak.

This is bad. If anything happened to Yun Nuo, Meng’s family would never let him off.

Everything’s over.

At that moment Jiang Yufei had no time to care about the reporters; all she could think of was saving  Yun Ruo. Seeing Yun Ruo collapsed — and knowing the baby in her womb was Meng’s family’s long-awaited heir — snapped something inside Jiang Yufei. The hatred she’d harbored suddenly didn’t feel as deep as she’d imagined. “Yun Ruo, don’t be afraid. You’ll be fine. I’ll call 120, I’ll call 120…”

Her hands trembled as she fumbled for her phone. Before she could dial, a car pulled up beside them, and someone forcibly moved her aside. Jiang Yufei turned sharply toward the intruder.

“Han Qi?”

Han Qi’s face was cold. He didn’t answer. He’d just finished a dinner and was on his way home, still smelling faintly of alcohol. Passing by and seeing someone collapsed, he’d stopped to see if he could help. When he got out of the car he saw it was Yun Ruo.

And the person guarding Yun Nuo was Jiang Yufei.

Not knowing the whole story, his first reaction was to pull Jiang Yufei away. He placed Yun Ruo carefully in the back seat. Just as he was about to close the door, Jiang Yufei rushed up, insisting she come along. She tried to calm herself. “I’ll go with you. It wasn’t me… she fell and I was too far away to stop her…”

Han Qi glanced at the reporters strewn on the ground. This wasn’t the time to talk; he told Jiang Yufei to get in, took the front passenger seat himself, and the driver headed for the nearest hospital.

That night the city center was hosting an event and many roads were congested. Han Qi’s first move after getting in the car was to call traffic control and ask for a green corridor — Yun Ruo looked like she wouldn’t last long. Then he called the hospital to have staff waiting at the entrance. He couldn’t afford to waste a second.

Only after that did he ask Jiang Yufei what had happened.

Jiang Yufei was watching Yun Ruo’s condition closely. Yun Ruo looked very uncomfortable, sweat on her face and throat; Jiang Yufei wiped her with tissues as she explained to Han Qi.

“…that man pulled her and they both fell. I was too far away to stop Yun Nuo…”

Han Qi cursed under his breath.

Jiang Yufei went through one tissue after another, yet it never seemed to dry the sweat. “Yun Ruo, Yun Nuo, how are you?”

“We’re on our way to the hospital. Hang on; you’ll be alright.”

Yun Ruo opened her eyes and looked at Jiang Yufei as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn’t make a sound. In the end she only managed to tug the corner of her mouth up.

Jiang Yufei’s eyes instantly reddened.

She tried not to cry; she wanted to stay calm and help, to do something meaningful — but other than praying, she could do nothing.

She hated Yun Ruo. She was furious that Yun Ruo had used improper means to compete with her, but the child had nothing to do with her.

She didn’t want Yun Ruo dead; she only wanted to strike back and force Yun Ruo to admit she was wrong and apologize sincerely.

“System 5499— Yun Ruo has a system helping her. She won’t have anything happen to her, right?”

When 5499 had bound Jiang Yufei, it had said Yun Ruo had relied on her own system to marry Meng Tingmo; Jiang Yufei had asked 5499 if Yun Nuo would detect that Jiang had also bound a system, and 5499 had said she wouldn’t — Yun Ruo’s system wasn’t as strong, it couldn’t sense 5499’s presence.

She’d told Meng Tingmo, as an excuse for their shared dreams, that perhaps Yun Ruo’s system had glitched or gone offline — but that was a lie.

She had never expected Yun Ruo’s system to actually be detached.

Yun Ruo was getting no help.

The usually responsive 5499 was silent this time. Jiang Yufei didn’t notice anything unusual; she was only panicked and wanted someone to respond.

You have a system, Yun Ruo — make it help! Hurry!

The car sped through the streets. Yun Ruo felt every breath like a stab.

She forced her eyes open: beside her was Jiang Yufei, in front was Han Qi. She hadn’t expected these two to be the ones by her side on the day of the birth.

Outside the window the neon lights blurred into a splash of color she couldn’t see. Time became a murky, indistinct stretch. A phone started ringing in her bag.

Jiang Yufei handed the phone up. “It’s He Xitong.”

Xitong? Yun Ruo moved a finger. She couldn’t answer, so Jiang Yufei put the phone to her ear.

“Yun Nuo.” He Xitong’s voice came through, awkward and hesitant, as if he couldn’t say the next words.

“I saw your birthday gift… you—”

Yun Ruo didn’t have the strength to parse what He Xitong said. “Xitong,” she said, just giving her current status: “I’m going into labor.”

He Xitong stopped short.

Jiang Yufei took the phone. From the other end came a flurry of clattering, then He Xitong’s urgent questions: “How are you already in labor? You’re not due yet!”

Jiang Yufei gave the hospital name. The car stopped shortly afterward. She hung up and helped medical staff carry Yun Ruo inside.

At He’s residence He Xitong didn’t even have time to change out of his nightclothes; he threw on a coat and dashed downstairs. He was impatient and panicked, more childlike than composed. “I have to see her. I have to see her.”

“Take the driver,” his mother said, scolding him as she was chatting in the living room. “Look at what you’re wearing. Can’t you change?”

He Xitong, fastening buttons frantically, could only shout as he ran out. He didn’t wait for the driver — every minute mattered.

He barreled off. He was delayed by traffic for a few minutes but finally arrived at the hospital to find only Han Qi and Jiang Yufei waiting by the operating room.

“How is she?” He Xitong didn’t know whom to ask.

Jiang Yufei pointed inside. “She fell. The doctors said it’s dangerous.”

Face down.

He Xitong shook his head in disbelief, then remembered another question: “Where’s Meng Tingmo? Isn’t he coming?”

“He’s on a business trip. His calls aren’t getting through.”

Jiang Yufei had tried calling Meng Tingmo on the way; he’d intended to accompany Yun Ruo for the birth but had been on a shortened business trip — three days instead of a week — and his workload had become overwhelming. He couldn’t make it back.

He Xitong knelt on the ground and stared at the OR door. He kept glancing back at the two people behind him, the empty space around them filling with a wordless ache.

He called Yun Jia.

Yun Jia wasn’t in the dorm; he was still in the lab waiting on data. When He Xitong’s call came through, Yun Jia answered half-asleep.

“Your sister’s in labor. It’s not going well.”

The sudden words stunned Yun Jia.

“He Xitong, I don’t know how you and she are now, but do you want to come to the hospital… see her?”

In too-sharp a voice He Xitong insisted. Yun Jia was stunned for a few seconds, then sprang up and toppled a chair in his rush. His labmates stared. Yun Jia hurried out, shouting that he’d leave the data behind.

This was more important than anything — Yun Ruo’s safety mattered more than data, exams, everything.

He sped to the parking lot. The car Yun Jia drove had been the gift Yun Ruo gave him the year he entered graduate school; he’d always driven that vehicle and Yun Ruo had told him to be careful with it. He’d said, “This car was a gift from my sister; it will keep me safe.”

Those words remained crisp in his memory. He forced himself to steady his hands and slammed the accelerator.

In the OR, Yun Ruo heard many voices — doctors — but the words blurred. She tried to make them out, but the cramping pain wouldn’t let her. She tried to think of anything to distract herself. Would He Xitong come? She remembered his phone call. Would Yun Jia come? Yun Jia was busy and had just graduated past a point of clinging dependency since their parents died; he’d matured some lately, but he still cared about her.

Who else? There was Jiang Yufei — thinking back to how Jiang had looked worried in the car, Yun Nuo felt complicated emotions. Even after all the quarrels, when she needed help, Jiang had put aside resentment and reached out.

And there was Han Qi.

Han Qi had always been reliable. She’d known him longer than Meng Tingmo, although she and Meng had married. Every time they saw each other they merely nodded politely.

She suddenly thought of Meng Tingmo.

Even at this moment she couldn’t help but think of him. Meng hadn’t even come to the hospital; he didn’t even want to come see her once.

Yun Ruo let her thoughts meander. She thought of the moment the system severed its bond with her. She’d told the system she’d stay in this world — her friends and family were here. The system had tried to dissuade her.

“If you lose the bet, you might end up with nothing.”

“This isn’t your home.”

She nodded stubbornly and declared she loved Meng Tingmo, that he loved her, that she wouldn’t lose. The system’s counsel couldn’t change her. The last thing it did before logging out was wish her “a smooth remainder of life and a peaceful, happy future.”

But now she felt she had no remainder of life left, much less happiness.

Pursuing Meng Tingmo had exhausted all her strength.

Outside the OR, Han Qi stood silent by the door. Jiang Yufei sat curled up, her hands and feet cold. He Xitong paced tens of times and finally broke into tears.

“Yun Nuo, Yun Nuo, I was wrong. You must be fine. I’ll stop being petty with you.”

“We haven’t finished so many things. You are my lifelong friend; I can’t live without you —”

On the road, Yun Jia’s panic rose until he felt dizzy; the road seemed endless, the trees along the roadside looming like something sinister in the shadows. Every glance increased his fear. He tried to force calm: “Goddamn it, calm down, calm down!” He shouted at himself but it did nothing. The panic spread through his body and, finally, to his hands. With a crash, his car plowed into a roadside greenbelt.

— Don’t be afraid; this car was a gift from my sister. My sister will keep me safe.

Yun Jia lifted his head from the driver’s seat. People rushed over to help, but he suddenly started shouting: “Save my sister! Save my sister!”

Back in the OR, Yun Ruo felt her heart sink to the ground.

“Come on, baby, breathe,” a voice said.

A medical staff member emerged, carrying a baby.

“The baby is out…”

“…there’s no breathing.”

Outside the OR, He Xitong caught the change in the air. His stifled crying turned into a wail; he collapsed to his knees. She had been through many desperate moments, but this time she had no Yun Ruo to stand beside her.

On the road, Yun Jia’s panic grew and grew. The road’s length stretched into an awful infinity. He couldn’t control it, and then the car crashed. People ran toward him, but he shouted uselessly: “Save my sister! Save my sister!”

Inside the OR Yun Ruo felt her soul sink into an abyss.

No breath? Her baby hadn’t survived?

All her endurance in that instant felt like a joke. She groped to open her mouth, but managed only one small cough.

The doctors’ faces turned pale and urgent.

Yun Ruo’s vision blurred; scenes of her life flashed before her like a lantern show: happiness, sadness, pain, excitement, and finally Meng Tingmo’s handsome, intense face from their wedding day.

“You are my only choice.”

No — she was no longer the only choice. She had been wrong.

Everything she had suffered was of her own making.

Yun Ruo felt herself grow so tired. Maybe not just a little — very tired. This past month had exhausted her.

— Yun Ruo, marry me.

— I will love only you for this life.

All lies.

She stopped thinking of Meng Tingmo. At this point she already understood her mistakes. She had always relied on others and now she had swallowed the consequences.

Meng Tingmo — there would be no next time.

A strange sensation in her abdomen: the doctor lifted the baby out.

“The baby is out…”

“…no breathing.”

Outside, He Xitong’s suppressed sob became a full cry; he collapsed and wailed.

On the road, Yun Jia’s panic finally broke and the car crashed. People ran to rescue him as he screamed for his sister.

In the OR, Yun Ruo felt the weight of the world drop away.

No breathing. Her child had not survived.

All her standing, all her holding on, in that moment dissolved into ridicule. Yun Ruo opened her mouth but scarcely anything came out; she coughed once.

The doctor looked at her, fret showing on his face.

Yun Ruo’s eyesight blurred and she began to drift. Memories and moments flashed — weddings, promises. And then a mechanical voice, after three years’ silence, reactivated in her mind.

[SYSTEM LOADED]

[SYSTEM LOGGED IN]

[Hello, host. Long time no see.]

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