Chapter 055: Encountering the Brother—It’s All My Fault! I’m Sorry!

He gazed at her, staring fixedly for a long, long time at the woman who shielded Qiao Yu, standing protectively before him. At last, his deathly pale lips curved in a smile—a smile full of mockery, devoid of any warmth, a cold sneer that could plunge a soul into an icy abyss.

Then he strode forward, stopping before them. He bent down, that icy smile still on his lips, and reached out—no longer with gentle hands—but with a force that was hard and unyielding, seizing her chin and forcing her to look at him. His voice was as cold as steel: "You refuse to come home with me because of him, isn't that right?"

Shi Runrun was silent, her reddened eyes blinking, her breath caught in her throat, pain tightening cruelly in her chest.

Seeing her silence, he took it as tacit admission. He kept on laughing, coughing, then released her chin and straightened up. His reddened eyes glinted with a twisted amusement. "Very well, Shi Runrun. Very well."

He turned away, not looking back, and step by step, descended the stairs. His tall, slender figure retreated from her sight, farther and farther, until it finally vanished.

Shi Runrun watched, her heart seized by panic. She hurriedly stood and called after him, "Xiao Xuezheng! Wait—"

But he no longer wished to hear her voice. Without a backward glance, he continued down the stairs.

She stood there, dazed, staring at the suddenly empty staircase. A voice echoed in her mind: This time, she had lost him for good...

Yet just then, a loud bang rang out from downstairs! Immediately after, a voice filled with alarm came from Yu Nan: "Xuezheng! Xuezheng, what's wrong?!"

Something had happened!

Shi Runrun's whole body trembled, her tearful red eyes widening in shock. She dashed down the stairs without a second thought.

Sure enough, at the base of the stairs near the apartment building’s exit, the man who had only moments ago sneered at her with such biting words now lay collapsed and unconscious on the floor.

Shi Runrun's heart leapt into her throat. Sobbing, she rushed over. "Xiao Xuezheng! What’s wrong?! Wake up! Don’t scare me!"

But the man lying on the ground was deathly pale, his eyes shut, his breathing faint, utterly senseless. Fresh blood was already welling from his forehead.

The sight of that shocking red blood made Shi Runrun’s heart pound with dread.

"Brother Yunan, how could this happen... why did he suddenly collapse?!" Shi Runrun was beside herself, weeping and clutching Ji Yunan’s sleeve, desperate for him to find a solution.

Ji Yunan’s brows knit in concern. He had no idea what had happened upstairs. Wasn’t he just going to bring his wife home? How had he ended up like this?

But quickly, Ji Yunan regained his composure. He seized Shi Runrun’s hand and said steadily, "Sister-in-law, don’t panic. Let’s get Xuezheng to the hospital first!"

Soon, the wailing siren of the ambulance echoed in the night. The doctors and nurses leapt out to lift the unconscious Xiao Xuezheng onto the stretcher. Shi Runrun tried to follow, but was stopped by Ji Yunan.

"Sister-in-law, Xuezheng was already unwell before coming to see you. The doctors and nurses may need to give emergency treatment on the way. You should come with me in my car to the hospital instead!"

Hearing this, Shi Runrun stared at him through her tears, scarcely able to believe it.

He had already been ill when he came to find her?

No wonder he had looked so exhausted and frail. Yet even so, he had swallowed his pride and begged her to come home...

And yet she... she...

Her face drained of all color, her body stiff and lifeless. She could not begin to imagine how he had dragged his sick body to find her.

At last, as if all strength had been drawn from her, Shi Runrun’s will crumbled. She collapsed weakly to the ground, sobbing and clutching her aching chest.

Seeing her fall, Ji Yunan hurried to help her up, his voice grave: "Sister-in-law, you must hold on! Now that Xuezheng has been taken by ambulance, you can’t fall apart too! Come, let’s go to the hospital!"

With that, he led her to the black Bentley parked by the roadside. They climbed into the back seat, and at Ji Yunan’s command, the driver sped into the night toward the hospital.

After they left, Qiao Yu, his face bruised and bleeding, staggered down from upstairs. He stood by the road, gazing at the direction the Bentley had disappeared, and murmured softly, "Runrun... the one you love, after all, is still him..."

An hour later, as midnight approached, Shi Runrun and Ji Yunan received shocking news, even before they reached the hospital.

Xiao Xuezheng, who had been taken ahead in the ambulance, had been rushed into surgery!

Ji Yunan spoke with the doctor on the phone. Shi Runrun, sitting numbly beside him, only caught a few words—"taken to surgery," "lung infection," and "rupture, immediate operation required."

Her face grew even paler, tears spilling endlessly from her eyes.

On the way, Brother Yunan had also told her: after she left the capital for City B, Xiao Xuezheng and he had set out to follow her. Because of flight restrictions, they drove for three days and nights. The whole way, Xiao Xuezheng refused to let anyone else drive. Upon arriving in City B, he fell ill at once—high fever, lung infection—and even this afternoon, before seeing her, he was still on an IV in the hotel.

As she listened, Shi Runrun’s ears buzzed, unable to believe a single word. She could not imagine that Xiao Xuezheng had dragged his ailing body all the way from the capital just to find her...

Nor could she fathom the kind of obsession he must have harbored to push himself to such an extreme, just to see her...

Yet only moments before, she had stood before him, defending Brother Qiao Yu...

She had wounded his heart, delivering the final blow when he was at his weakest...

It was her, her actions that had brought him to this brink between life and death...

Unable to hold it in any longer, Shi Runrun burst out sobbing in the car, crying out in anguish, "Brother Yunan, it’s all my fault! It’s all my fault! I didn’t know he was so seriously ill... I really didn’t know... I’m sorry... I’m so sorry..."

Ji Yunan’s heart ached as he tried to comfort her, "It’s alright, it’s alright. Sister-in-law, Xuezheng is a good man—he’ll pull through! Don’t panic. We’ll listen to what the doctors say when we get there. The phone call was unclear—we’re almost at the hospital!"

Shi Runrun listened numbly, but her sobs would not cease. No matter how hard she tried, she could not stop the tears.

She felt she had committed a terrible, terrible wrong...

How could she have pushed Xiao Xuezheng to the operating table?

She felt utterly wretched.