Since Shi Che had yet to say anything to Ling Chuxia, then... she must find a way to stop him. She narrowed her eyes slightly and thought for a moment before responding softly, "Don’t worry, Mrs. Shi is already out of danger."
Mrs. Shi is not in danger anymore... Hearing this bit of news, Ling Chuxia indeed let out a huge sigh of relief. It’s good that Madam is fine, good that she’s fine.
But this "already"...
Ling Chuxia couldn’t help but ask, "Madam’s surgery, was it already completed?"
She had just now deliberately used the word "already," because she wanted to know if Ling Chuxia had truly been waiting for Shi Che. Unexpectedly, that single word had allowed her to probe for the answer.
The fact that Ling Chuxia could ask this question definitely meant she was waiting for Shi Che. How could she... let Ling Chuxia wait for Shi Che?
"Yes, in the afternoon, the doctors said the situation had stabilized, and there were no longer any problems," Ling Chuxia replied with measured precision, word by word.
In the afternoon... but now it was already past ten at night. Shi Che had asked her to wait for him, yet now that Mrs. Shi’s surgery had finished and her condition had stabilized, he still hadn’t come back...
The hand holding the cell phone tightened slightly, and Ling Chuxia’s voice involuntarily lowered. She swallowed hard before speaking again, "Then, nothing’s wrong with Shi Che, right?"
"Nothing’s wrong, he’s been with us the whole time." When Ling Yunshu said "us," her tone inadvertently carried a hint of shyness, "In fact, Shi Che had a lot of work to handle at the company today. I thought, since Madam’s condition stabilized, I could stay here with her myself, but Shi Che still wanted to stay. He said he couldn’t rest easy leaving me here alone."
Those sweet words, each one, reached Ling Chuxia’s ears, turning her face pale in an instant. Her hand suddenly felt weak, and the phone dropped from her grasp onto the soft bedding below.
Shi Che had told her to wait for him, that he had something to say to her, to wait for his return. But he hadn’t come back; instead, he was on the other side, with Mrs. Shi, with elder sister.
She had seriously listened to his offhand remark, and then foolishly waited.
How could she... be so foolish? Foolish enough to think that when Shi Che said, "I won’t let go of you," he meant something more. In the end, it was probably just her own wishful thinking.
Indeed, she tends to read too much into things, to be prone to wishful thinking. Otherwise, why would every bit of kindness Shi Che showed her make her wonder if he might like her a little?
She tried to curve her lips into a smile, but found it impossible to do so. The smile that she forced upon her face looked uglier than if she’d cried.
Her hands involuntarily covered her face, tears slipping through her fingers, drop by drop.
Ling Yunshu called out "Chuxia" several times, but there was no response from the other end, and soon, a low sobbing was heard. Ling Yunshu’s hand paused, and then, she ended the call.
It seems Chuxia likely won’t be waiting for Shi Che anymore.
The corners of Ling Yunshu’s lips curled up slightly as she looked at the call log, her finger moved, and she tapped delete.
Curled up into a ball, Ling Chuxia sobbed into the silent night, knowing that crying was futile, but unable to help herself.
She thought, just let her indulge this one last time; after this bout of crying, she would see reality clearly. She would not be sad for Shi Che anymore, nor would she shed another tear for him.
She didn’t know how long had passed when the ringtone of her cell phone suddenly sounded again.