pjbooks Chapter 12: Fifteen Days and Nights of Emotion
Chapter 12: Fifteen Days and Nights of Emotion
"This is just the beginning..."
Chen Mo stepped on the gas, and the engine emitted a deep roar. The car shot off swiftly and steadily like a beast awakening from its slumber.
Lin Shiyu gazed at the rapidly receding street scene outside the window and suddenly asked, "Chen Mo, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Chen Mo did not answer immediately.
He gripped the steering wheel, staring straight ahead, and after a few seconds of silence, he said, "I want to do a lot of things. But before that, I have to do one thing first."
"What is it?"
"Let my assets exceed 100 million within a month."
Lin Shiyu's eyes widened.
Assets exceeding 100 million in just one month?
If anyone else had said that, she would have just dismissed it as boasting. But when Chen Mo said it, his tone was as calm as if he were simply commenting on the weather. His confident and composed aura made it impossible not to believe that he meant what he said.
"Then... what can I do for you?" she asked.
Chen Mo glanced at her and smiled, "Make sure you bring your driver's license first. You'll drive next time. As the boss, I need to learn to enjoy life."
Lin Shiyu was so amused by his words that she laughed so hard she almost fell over, tears welling up in her eyes.
She hadn't laughed like that in a very, very long time.
As the car crossed the riverside bridge, Chen Mo's phone rang.
It was an unfamiliar number.
He put on his Bluetooth headset and answered the call.
"Feed?"
"Chen Mo? Is that Chen Mo?" A hurried female voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding vaguely familiar.
"Yes, that's me. And who are you?"
"I'm Guan Yao's colleague! Something happened to Xiao Guan; she fainted on the plane and has been taken to the airport hospital. Could you come over?"
Chen Mo paused for a moment on the steering wheel.
Guan Yao fainted?
"What's wrong with her?" His voice remained calm, but his fingers gripping the steering wheel tightened slightly.
"The doctor said it's acute appendicitis and she needs surgery. She has no family here, and your number is the only one saved in her phone contacts... Can you come over?"
Chen Mo remained silent for three seconds.
Send me the address, I'll be there in twenty minutes.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Shiyu looked at him with a hint of worry in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"Guan Yao is in an accident and is in the hospital."
Lin Shiyu's expression changed slightly.
Guan Yao.
The name was like a fine needle, gently pricking her. She knew Guan Yao was Chen Mo's ex-girlfriend, and she also knew they had been together for over four years and had a deep relationship.
"Then go ahead," she said, trying to keep her voice calm. "I can take a taxi home myself."
Chen Mo shook his head: "You're coming with me."
"Huh?" Lin Shiyu was taken aback. "I...Isn't it inappropriate for me to go?"
"What's wrong with that?" Chen Mo turned on the turn signal, made a U-turn at the intersection, and drove towards the airport. "You're my assistant, this kind of thing will happen often in the future. You'll get used to it."
Lin Shiyu opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed her words.
She leaned back in her seat, watching the street scene rushing past the window, a feeling she couldn't quite describe welling up inside her.
Guan Yao.
That woman who had made her jealous for four whole years. Aloof, elegant, and proud, like a lotus blooming atop a snow-capped mountain, beautiful from afar but untouchable. Countless boys in university secretly admired her, yet she chose Chen Mo.
Lin Shiyu had wondered countless times if the outcome would have been different if she had struck first.
But now, she doesn't think about any of that. She just wants to do her job well and not cause Chen Mo any trouble.
As for Guan Yao...
Lin Shiyu took a deep breath and told herself: No matter what happens, you must stay calm. You are Chen Mo's assistant, not his girlfriend. You have no right to be jealous or envious.
You just need to do your own thing.
That's it.
It was noon when the car entered the airport hospital.
Chen Mo parked his car at the entrance of the emergency building and strode inside. Lin Shiyu jogged after him, her flat shoes clicking rapidly on the tiled floor.
The emergency room lobby was bustling with people, the smell of disinfectant mixed with an invisible sense of anxiety. Chen Mo went to the front desk and gave Guan Yao's name; the nurse pointed to a ward at the end of the corridor.
He walked quickly over and pushed open the door.
In the ward, Guan Yao lay on a narrow hospital bed, her face as pale as paper, with a fine layer of sweat on her forehead. Her uniform jacket had been taken off, leaving her in only a white shirt with the cuffs rolled up to her elbows. An IV needle was inserted into her arm, and the liquid in the IV tube dripped down slowly.
Her eyes were closed, her brows were furrowed, and her lips were pressed into a thin line due to the pain.
The monitor by the bed was beeping regularly.
A woman in a flight attendant uniform was sitting on the edge of the bed. When Chen Mo came in, she immediately stood up.
"Are you Chen Mo?"
"I am."
"I'm Zhao Xue, Xiao Guan's colleague." The woman glanced at Chen Mo, her gaze scrutinizing him. "Xiao Guan only has you saved as a contact in her phone, so I can only call you."
Chen Mo nodded, walked to the bedside, and looked down at Guan Yao.
She looked much more haggard than she had on the plane yesterday. Her pale complexion accentuated her features, making her cheekbones more defined, and her eyelashes cast heavy shadows under her eyes.
"What did the doctor say?" he asked Zhao Xue.
"Acute appendicitis requires immediate surgery. But Xiao Guan refuses to sign the consent form, saying he needs to wait for someone to come..."
Zhao Xue glanced at Chen Mo at this point, then hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.
Chen Mo understood.
Guan Yao was waiting for him.
He leaned down, whispered in her ear, "Guan Yao, it's me, Chen Mo. I'm here. Focus on the surgery, I'll take care of everything."
Guan Yao's eyelashes trembled.
She slowly opened her eyes, her gaze unfocused for a few seconds before finally settling on Chen Mo's face.
"Chen Mo..." Her voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, "You...why are you here?"
"It was your colleague who called." Chen Mo grasped her hand; her fingers were icy cold, and her fingertips trembled slightly. "Don't talk, let's do the surgery first."
Guan Yao looked at him with a complicated expression.
There was surprise, there was emotion, there was a slight, almost imperceptible sense of guilt, and something else that was hard to explain.
"Shouldn't you...be at home for the New Year?" she asked.
"The New Year isn't important," Chen Mo said. "You're more important."
He was slightly taken aback when he said those words.
He didn't intend to say that.
But when he saw Guan Yao lying on the hospital bed, pale-faced and all alone, unable to even find anyone to sign the surgery consent form, his heart softened.
Regardless, this woman had been with him for over four years.
A relationship built over 1,500 days and nights cannot be severed so easily.
Guan Yao's eyes reddened, and she bit her lower lip, trying her best to hold back her tears, but they still slipped down her cheeks and disappeared into her hair.
"I'm sorry..." her voice trembled, "What I said to you on the plane last night..."