Chapter 148: Escaping Danger - Dedicated Additional Chapter for Mou Yue

I burst into tears, pulling Lu Ange’s hand, and blurted out, "You are not allowed to be anything, you are not allowed to be anything. Do you hear me? You are not allowed to be anything, Lu Ange, I beg you, wake up, listen to me say I love you, okay..."

In the end, the only words I kept repeating were I love you. I repeated them countless times, until I heard that single flatline tone stretch out very long, very long.

The scalpel dropped to the floor, and Brad took a step back. Two doctors supported him, one wiping the sweat from his forehead while another helped him change his mask.

He said something, and then two strong young doctors came over, hoisted me up, and tried to drag me out.

I wailed aloud, clutching the operating table with a death grip, refusing to budge. I had a premonition that if I left this way, the next time I saw Lu Ange, he might already be covered in a white sheet.

I could not allow such a thing to happen.

However, Brad barked a shout. The two doctors dragging me were so startled that they completely threw aside any notions of propriety between men and women, and simply hoisted me over their shoulders and carried me out.

The people waiting outside were taken aback, but the two doctors dumped me on the ground and left immediately, the heavy doors of the operating room closing automatically.

I threw myself against the cold, unfeeling doors, pounding on them and crying, begging them to let me in.

At a moment like this, I had to stay by Lu Ange's side. How could I possibly leave him behind?

The moment Gai Nie and the others saw my state, they knew the situation was dire. Zhou Yang slid down to the floor, clutching his hair and repeatedly bashing his head against the wall. Gai Nie grabbed me, his mouth opening, but his eye rims turned red.

Long Jue knelt on the floor and pounded on the door with me, but the doors were as unyielding as rock, and no one paid us any heed.

My throat ached from crying, feeling as though a heavy boulder was crushing my windpipe. I couldn't utter a single sound, yet I kept pounding on the door.

When my hands grew numb and ached from beating the door, I used my head instead. Gai Nie and the others tried to pull me back, but I shook them off and hurled myself against the door once more.

In the end, my hands were covered in blood, and my forehead was stained with crimson. I threw my arms around Gai Nie and the others, begging them to think of a way, begging them to save Lu Ange.

I was completely panicked and losing my mind. Numb to the physical pain, I only felt that if I could never see Lu Ange again, I might as well just drop dead right then and there.

The operating room doors finally swung open, but the people who emerged were not Lu Ange, but two nurses.

Then, several more nurses hurried in carrying blood bags. I lunged forward, but one of the nurses blocked my path.

I opened my mouth wide, screaming Brad’s name, but not a single sound came from my throat. I simply sank to my knees and hugged the nurse's legs.

Brad finally walked out. I rushed over, grabbed his legs, and begged him to let me in.

He squatted down, took off his mask, and looked at me. "Trust me."

I nodded. He stood up and quickly went back inside.

I checked the time. It had already been ten hours. Ten whole hours...

During all this time, I hadn't touched a single drop of water. Only now did my mouth feel parched and dry. A Mu poured a glass of water for me. As I took it, my hand shook, and the water spilled everywhere.

I squatted on the floor and sobbed bitterly, until suddenly, I felt a heavy blow to the back of my neck, and after that, I knew nothing more.

I was startled awake by a nightmare. In the dream, I was holding a child, searching everywhere for Lu Ange. I searched and searched, only to suddenly find myself in a desolate, barren wasteland. Finding no way out, clutching the child, I suddenly spotted a tombstone before me, with Lu Ange's name carved upon it.

Screaming his name, I bolted upright. Someone pressed me down. My eyes had long since swollen shut, leaving only narrow slits through which I could barely make out that the person before me was Zhou Yang.

I instantly understood what had happened and let out a cough. I had intended to ask whether the surgery was over, but tears cascaded down my face.

Zhou Yang was at a complete loss. "Please don't cry. The surgery isn't over yet, please don't cry."

Once I got outside, I discovered that Mei Xiuji and Yong Changzhi had all arrived, having rushed over the moment they received the news.

Seeing me, they stepped forward one after another to embrace me, comforting me that everything would be fine.

My hands were wrapped in layers of gauze, and a bandage was plastered across my forehead as I stood by the operating room doors. When Zhou Yang asked if I wanted to eat something, I shook my head.

Lu Ange was still suffering inside; how could I possibly have any appetite?

Long Jue handed me a bowl of plain rice porridge and shoved it into my hands. "Eat. If you exhaust yourself like this, you'll collapse before he even wakes up. Third Brother is still waiting for you to take care of him."

He was always the best at persuading people. I thought about it, realized it made sense, and managed to force down a little.

The surgery had already lasted seventeen hours. I had no idea what awaited me next, nor what Brad's first words would be when he came out and pulled down his mask.

In my mind, I ran through every conceivable scenario. What if Lu Ange suffered memory loss? What if he became a vegetative state? What if he died?

If he lost his memory, I would stay by his side until he remembered me. If he couldn't remember, I would make him fall in love with me all over again.

If he became a vegetable, I would massage his limbs every day and talk to him, waiting no matter how long for him to wake up.

If he died... If he died... I dared not think about it. I truly dared not think about it.

The instant the operating room doors opened, a crowd surged forward, surrounding Brad.

I clutched the wall and stood up, but after taking two steps, I suddenly felt entirely devoid of strength and had to sit back down.

Zhou Yang rushed over, threw his arms around me, and cried out excitedly, "Third Sister-in-law, he's fine! Everything's fine!"

I nodded. The moment my tears fell, I let out a low chuckle. "He's fine. Everything's fine."

Brad walked up to me. We looked at each other in silence for a moment, and then I raised my thumb to him in approval.

Lu Ange was transferred to a sterile ward. After changing into the proper attire, I went in to see him. It felt as though an entire lifetime had passed, but I finally got to see him again. From now on, no one could ever tear us apart—not even death could separate us.

Brad was the first to enter the ward. Seeing the hesitation on his face, my heart skipped a beat, yet I still asked him if he had something to say.

He spoke in fluent Mandarin, "Thank you so much. If not for you, the surgery could never have been this successful. You have no idea—in the past, whenever anyone even mentioned surgery, he would fly into a rage. Yi Lanshan..."

Seeing him look at me with a vague hint of worry in his eyes, my heart skipped a beat once more.

"Yi Lanshan, you know some people refuse surgery simply because they're terrified they'll never wake up again. His condition is under control now, but..."

"It's fine. Go ahead, I can take it."

He comforted me, telling me not to be nervous, and explained that under normal circumstances, anyone who underwent such major surgery would have a terribly foul temper afterward. They could be more capricious than a child and extremely difficult to coax. He advised me to remain patient, as this phase would last for nearly half a year. Moreover, the later stages would be accompanied by severe pain, requiring someone to be constantly by his side.

I listened patiently to the end and asked about various precautions. I told him I had long been prepared; his temper hadn't been any better during our time in Kangcheng.

Seemingly satisfied with my reaction, he smiled and walked out.

The moment the door opened, a wave of people flooded in. Led by Old Madam Guan, dozens of family members rushed toward the hospital bed. Being well-bred people, they didn't make a loud commotion, but murmured quietly amongst themselves.

Old Madam Guan grabbed my hand. "You've been wronged. I've heard all about it. If not for you..."

My voice was raspy. "Grandmother, I did all of this willingly."

For the first three days, Lu Ange did not wake up. Brad explained that the human brain possessed a self-repair mechanism, and sleep was the ultimate form of healing.

I dared not go anywhere, remaining in the hospital ward twenty-four hours a day.

Almost every hour, someone came to visit Lu Ange, which allowed me to meet the sprawling web of relatives in his family—his brothers and sisters scattered across the corners of the earth.

Of course, I also saw Lu Lianci. This time, his attitude toward me wasn't as icy as before. After asking about Lu Ange's condition, he looked at me and said, "You've had it hard too. Staying guard like this isn't a solution; you need to rest when you should."

I nodded, though I certainly didn't expect him to approve of my relationship with Lu Ange just like that; he was an even tougher figure to crack than the elder Commander Guan.

However, I soon met someone even more difficult to deal with than Lu Lianci—Lu Ange's father, Lu Mingze.

He walked in holding Shu Aiqing and Lu Anxin by the hand. The moment Lu Anxin saw me, she ran over and cried, "Third Aunt, Third Aunt, I've missed you so much."

Before I could speak, Shu Aiqing waved a hand and said, "Xin'er, I told you long ago, Miss Yi isn't your Third Aunt, she's your sister-in-law."

Lu Anxin tilted her head to look at me. "Third Aunt, is what Mommy said true? Are you not willing to be my Third Aunt?"

Shu Aiqing walked over, pulled the child to her side, and looked at me with a smile. "Lanshan, I'm so sorry. Children say whatever comes to mind."

I nodded and looked at Lu Mingze, whose face remained rigid. "Hello, Uncle."

His face was like ice. Shu Aiqing snuggled into his arms and chided playfully, "Mingze, what are you doing? You're scaring Lanshan. You know that if not for her this time, Ange's surgery could never have been so successful."

Lu Mingze smiled down at her, but the moment he raised his head to look at me, that smile vanished entirely.

I realized that in this regard, Lu Ange was quite like his father: whenever he was angry, he would frown and the corners of his mouth would curl up slightly, leading unfamiliar people to mistakenly think he was very happy.

Lu Anxin was adept at reading the room. Seeing how matters stood, she tugged on Lu Mingze's arm and cooed, "Daddy, Daddy, I want to go home."

After they left, I breathed a sigh of relief. Having gone without sleep for several consecutive days, I was on the verge of collapse.

Later, Gai Nie handed me a cup of warm milk. After drinking it, a heavy wave of drowsiness washed over me. I remembered a day when I was standing on the balcony, listening to a primary school student downstairs loudly reciting a textbook lesson: *The goat wants to climb the grass at the top of the mountain. The goat climbs and climbs, it gets tired, it... tired, tired, it's tired, tired...* She had forgotten the lines and hesitated, pacing back and forth. The child's mother prompted from the sidelines, *It can't climb anymore.*

I was like that goat, desperately trying to climb to the summit of the mountain. I had used every ounce of my strength, stumbling and scraping along the way, until I finally reached the peak.

I had long since exhausted all my energy, but I had to make it up there, because Lu Ange was waiting for me.

We had promised each other to watch the sunrise and sunset together, to share life and death, to get married and have children.

The next day, Shu Aiqing came to the hospital again. She came alone and invited me out for a stroll.

I naturally refused. Lu Ange had told me many times to stay away from her, and I didn't want to invite trouble.

However, she took my hand with an air of intimacy and said, "Lanshan, we're going to be family soon enough. If you're this guarded against me, outsiders might think I'm some kind of wicked mother-in-law. Ange won't be waking up anytime soon anyway; we're just going out for a casual walk and will be right back."