The beautiful CEO falls in love with me
Chapter 771 - 747:

Chapter 771: Chapter 747:

Inside He Chuanliu Villa, Haozi had already settled Li Ruo in a room. The Clan Leader had ordered two maids to attend to her, and they changed her clothes as well. Li Ruo was still drowsy, overwhelmed by the severe fright, and her whole being felt exhausted. As she lay in bed, her mind filled with chaotic thoughts.

Li Ruo fell into a dream in which she seemed to be in Asura Hell. In that pitch-dark world, struggling souls surrounded her, imprisoned within their cells. Li Ruo wandered amongst them, terrified, and gazed in astonishment at the struggling souls.

"Save me..."

"Save me..."

The specters reached out their arms towards Li Ruo, who, panicked, didn’t know what to do. She wanted to run, but her legs felt as though they were weighted down with lead and she couldn’t move. Crying out in fright, she called, "Ye Chen, save... save me..."

Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared. In that brief moment, the white light annihilated all the spirits ensnaring Li Ruo. Darkness all around, only that beam of white light shone anomalously bright, like a holy light in the darkness. As the glow faded, a figure emerged from the ball of light, and Li Ruo cried out, "Ye Chen..."

"Xiao Ruo, with me here, no one can hurt you," Ye Chen said, resembling a saint. Stretching out his arm toward her, he continued, "Xiao Ruo, come with me, and from now on, we can gallop across this world together!"

"Ye Chen..." Li Ruo took hold of Ye Chen’s arm and then roamed the Nine Provinces.

The light slowly spread, making Li Ruo feel the brightness of the world extending endlessly. Then she opened her eyes, and upon waking, she immediately saw brightness outside. Two unfamiliar faces of women came into view. Li Ruo looked at them in astonishment and asked, "Who... who are you? Where am I?!"

"Miss, hello, we’re maids from the He Chuanliu Family. Rest assured, you are in a safe place!" The maids’ voices sounded quite reassuring. After hearing this, Li Ruo breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "Where is Ye Chen?"

"Mr. Ye is currently resting!" The maids spoke in Chinese, answering fluently in the language.

"Let me see Ye Chen!" Li Ruo struggled in urgency, the maids tried to comfort her and advised her to rest more, as the doctor had diagnosed that Li Ruo’s mind had been heavily stricken and needed more rest. However, Li Ruo was deeply concerned for Ye Chen and had no mood for rest. She scrambled out of bed and ran towards the outside.

The two maids were unable to stop Li Ruo and had no choice but to inform the butler, who also could not stop her, so they reported to the Clan Leader, who then hurried over with Haozi to console Li Ruo.

"Sister-in-law, Brother Chen is not in good shape right now, I think you should rest first!" Haozi said hastily.

"No, I must see Ye Chen today!" Li Ruo insisted, gritting her teeth, "No matter what has happened to Ye Chen, I have to see him!"

Haozi felt torn. Ye Chen had just undergone surgery in which twelve bullets were removed from his body. Fortunately, these bullets had not claimed Ye Chen’s life; each was stopped by his muscles, hard as iron. Inside Ye Chen, as the Old Patriarch had said, lay a dark power. As the leader of the Dark Organization, he had been implanted with the organization leader’s mental imprint from a young age. Once unleashed, his power would surge like a torrential wave.

The most critical injury was the one on Ye Chen’s leg, where Zhang Bufen’s bullet had hit him in the bone. This wound needed time to heal, and if he moved too early and caused issues with the bone, there might be complications later on.

"Sister-in-law, Brother Chen has just finished his surgery, I’m afraid he can’t see you yet!" Haozi looked at Li Ruo anxiously.

"Then... then can I just have a distant glimpse of him?" Li Ruo pleaded with Haozi. Taking a deep breath, Haozi turned to look at the Clan Leader of He Chuanliu, who nodded his head.

Immediately, the two of them led Li Ruo to the hospital within the villa. The villa had its own hospital and private doctors. Ye Chen was lying in a hospital bed, isolated in a sterile ward; Li Ruo watched from afar as Ye Chen was covered with various tubes, an oxygen mask on his face, cables attached to his body, and surrounded by all kinds of life-sign monitoring equipment.

From the life signs monitor, Li Ruo saw that Ye Chen’s vital signs were still very normal. So, she breathed a sigh of relief internally, at least Ye Chen was safe. Knowing this was enough for her. Li Ruo, drained of strength, asked, "How is Ye Chen now?"

Haozi glanced at Li Ruo, then said, "Twelve bullets were removed from Brother Chen’s body, the most serious injury is on his leg! But everything about Brother Chen is normal, so you don’t need to worry!"

"Mm," Li Ruo nodded. She stood outside the glass door, looking at Ye Chen from afar and muttered softly, "Ye Chen, this time, you saved me again! Do I really deserve your sacrifice? Am I truly a woman worth such a cost?"

Li Ruo stood there, tears sliding down her cheeks. From every little moment she had known Ye Chen, from every minute of being aware of each other, Li Ruo remembered every thread of their mutual bond. She knew her life was given by Ye Chen, yet she had almost led him to sacrifice his life several times, breaking his heart in the process. Whether it was Liu Baobao from the Shanghai Liu Family or Kong Haoran from the Apple Group, Li Ruo seemed to have almost broken Ye Chen’s heart because of these two men.

Perhaps some people give their humble love for money, for benefit; perhaps some give away their love for a fleeting happiness. But no one would give their life for love. Love is mutual; love is eternal.

Li Ruo took a deep breath, her eyes locked on Ye Chen on the hospital bed, deeply worried for him. Perhaps, this time Ye Chen had escaped a close call, but what about next time? Li Ruo hesitated, conflicted. She seemed to be a woman who only brought Ye Chen endless trouble and disaster.

"Sister-in-law, why don’t you go sit in your room for a while?" Haozi urgently suggested.

"No, let me just stay here quietly with him," Li Ruo shook her head. She just stood quietly there, and behind her, the Hechuan Liu Family’s Clan Leader, Haozi, and two maidservants stood in silence as well. Li Ruo did not move, so they did not move either.

A row of people stood outside the glass door, clearly hearing the beeping sounds of the life signs monitor from inside.

Beep, beep...

The rhythmic sound somewhat soothed Li Ruo. She turned to Haozi and said, "Let everyone go rest, it’s midday, go have lunch, you don’t have to worry about me, I’m fine!"

"Okay!" Haozi nodded and after instructing everyone to leave, all dispersed, leaving Li Ruo alone to stand quietly there.

Time trickled by, and Ye Chen lay quietly in bed—like a painting. The person inside adorned the eyes of the observer outside, and the observer outside decorated the dream of the person inside. They both maintained a close connection to each other, both deeply in love. It was a profound love; a love that came from the heart.

The sweetness and bitterness within Li Ruo’s heart brought to mind the story from Zhang Ailing’s novel "Half a Life," where the lovers Gu Manzhen and Shen Shijun, separated for over a decade, said the most touching, simple, and tragic phrase upon reunion—"We can’t go back anymore!" The desolation of the human world was encompassed in that.

This was an ultimate expression of Zhang Ailing’s writing: a single phrase, a few words, enough to evoke all the pain and unspeakable sorrow of the world. Often pondering over the desolate love of Gu Manzhen and Shen Shijun, who, years later, could not return to their former selves. Time aged their appearances and also the wild romances of their youth. Their once beautiful love had long been consumed by the separation of time and space. There was no possibility of return.

Li Ruo revealed a tragic smile, saying, "If I leave, will you finally find peace? At least I won’t be such a useless woman; at least I won’t hold you back anymore!"

Li Ruo wanted to leave but feared, just like the story in "Half a Life," that once she left, she might never return to what it was before.

"Xiao Ruo..." Inside the hospital room, Ye Chen murmured softly, dropping a bomb in Li Ruo’s heart. She exclaimed, "Ye Chen, I’m here, I’m here!"

"Don’t leave me..." Ye Chen opened his eyes as if he could feel Li Ruo’s inner turmoil, as if he touched her complex emotions. He reached out to Li Ruo, saying, "Xiao Ruo, don’t leave me!"

"No, no, I won’t leave you!" Li Ruo paced frantically outside the glass door, only wanting to get even one step closer to Ye Chen. Alas, the merciless door cut them apart by a thousand miles.

Finally, disregarding everything, Li Ruo pushed open the glass door and rushed in. She couldn’t care less about the sterile room, needing only to embrace Ye Chen. Li Ruo charged in and threw herself onto Ye Chen, sobbing uncontrollably. These past few days had indeed stretched her to her limits, first getting kidnapped, then being transported from the United States to Japan, to encounter the beastly Zhang Bufen.