Return to before death

"Can you get out of bed?" It was still that weak voice, which made Yan Ran's heart tremble. "If you can get out of bed, please get me a glass of water. I'm thirsty."

If the first sentence was a question, the second sentence was a command, and it was said in the tone she hated most.

Under normal circumstances, she would have ignored him long ago, but he became like this to save her, and she wasn't him, so she couldn't repay kindness with enmity.

Yan Ran endured the pain in her body, got out of bed and made a glass of water for Sheng Xuanling. When she sat down in front of him, she was suddenly at a loss.

He was lying face down on the bed, his body and even his face were wrapped in gauze, and all his hair had been shaved off, leaving only his mouth, nose and eyes exposed.

Suddenly, a thought struck her. She put the water aside, grabbed the table, and stood up. "Wait for me, I'll be right back."

Before Sheng Xuanling could even respond, Yan Ran had already walked to the door, gently closed it, and gave him a reassuring look.

Her steps looked a little unsteady, as if she was about to fall at any moment, but she never fell and moved slowly and steadily, one step at a time.

After a long while, Yan Ran returned to the ward, but her hands were empty.

"What did you go to do?" Sheng Xuanling asked casually as she opened her eyes.

Yan Ran chuckled, didn't answer, but sat down and magically produced a straw, inserting it into the water glass.

"You can drink it now." She pinched a bit of the straw, placed it to his lips, and smiled smugly, clearly wanting him to praise her.

Sheng Xuanling bit the straw and sucked slowly, never expecting that she had gone out specifically to find him a straw.

But it shouldn't be like this, where you're gone for several hours at a time.

He remained expressionless, quietly drinking his water until the glass was empty.

Yan Ran was staring out the window and didn't notice.

Her thoughts drifted back to when she left the hospital. Whether it was fate or a cruel joke, the hospital happened to be the Zong family's hospital, and she happened to run into Zong Zhengqing.

"Ranran, please come back, I was wrong..." Zong Zhengqing looked down at her with his usual gentle gaze, the deepest part of which was intense passion.

He thought he would never see her again.

"I've already said it, we're getting a divorce." Yan Ran straightened up and said these words indifferently, especially the word "divorce," which seemed to be frozen in ice, cutting deep into his heart.

Just like when he crushed her heart, why does her heart still ache slightly?

"Ranran, stop making a scene. I will not divorce you." Zong Zhengqing's face was full of exhaustion. He reached out and pulled Yan Ran into his arms.

He gently stroked her hair. "Ranran, do you know how much I've missed you these past few days?"

Yan Ran frowned, neither breaking free from his embrace nor responding, letting him hold her like that.

She couldn't let him go in the end. How could so many years of marriage be destroyed by a divorce?

Unless... unless she never loved him at all.

That's obviously impossible.

"Ranran..." Seeing that she didn't struggle, Zong Zhengqing hugged her even tighter, wishing he could meld her whole body into his arms.

Suddenly, he heard her groan. He quickly let go of her hand and nervously looked her up and down. He then realized that she was still wearing a hospital gown. Although it covered some parts, the obvious wounds were still exposed.

"What happened to you? Who did this to you?" It's only been a few days since I last saw her, and she's already injured like this. If he hadn't been by her side, wouldn't that have been...?

No, he had to hide his Ranran away, so that no one could bully her or spy on her.

He gripped her arm frantically, knowing that if he let go, his Ranran would leave him, so he refused, he absolutely refused to let go.

"Zhengqing, don't be like this, listen to me." Yan Ran slowly pried his hands away, her eyes devoid of any emotion. "Ever since you pushed me out, you should have known that we could never go back to the way things were."

"Even if I come back to you, what then? Will I live like a puppet, a walking corpse?" A smile slowly spread across her face. "I won't like that, and you won't like that either, so this is the best choice for us."

"We're finished."

Yan Ran bypassed Zong Zhengqing, who was still in a daze, raised her head slightly, and looked ahead with disdain, walking towards her place like a victorious queen.

As she reached the corner, tears welled up in her eyes. She had told herself many times that this was the last time she would cry for him, but she couldn't help it whenever she saw him.

Zong Zhengqing, what exactly do you want from me?

"What are you thinking about? You seem so engrossed." Sheng Xuanling's voice successfully brought her back to her senses, and her eyes gradually regained their clarity at a visible speed.

Suddenly, his enlarged face appeared before her eyes, startling her so much that her hand trembled and she almost dropped the water glass.

“I was thinking…” Yan Ran looked at Sheng Xuanling, who was unable to move on the hospital bed, and a sly smile flashed in her eyes. “I was thinking that if a mummy walked on the street, would it attract a lot of attention? That way, I would have more opportunities to make friends, and who knows, I might even uncover some big secrets.”

"There's no way there's a big secret, but it'll definitely attract attention—the first person in history to walk around with a mummy." Sheng Xuanling calmly accepted the title, her smile so wide that it accidentally tugged at her wound.

Unlike hers, his injuries weren't something he could just recover from in a few days and go shopping.

Yan Ran looked at him with a smile, her eyes as bright as a sky full of stars.

"Then I'll tell everyone that this mummy is Sheng Xuanling, and I'm sure many people will come to thank me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the ward was pushed open with a force, and a woman appeared in the doorway, glaring fiercely at Yan Ran.

"Xuanling... what's wrong with you..." Her eyes reddened instantly when her gaze fell on Sheng Xuanling on the hospital bed. She rushed over and pushed Yan Ran away, reaching out to touch his face, but she didn't know where to start.

“Xuan Ling…” Liu Xinyin looked at him with heartache. She had never seen him so disheveled. Yan Ran, the name suddenly popped into her mind. She turned to stare at Yan Ran, who was slowly getting up from the ground.

"Was it you? Was it you who caused Xuanling to become like this?" Her tone was almost certain; even if it wasn't her, Liu Xinyin was determined to believe it was her.

Because she is her biggest rival in love; what are the other women compared to her?

After so many years together, would she really be deceived by Sheng Xuanling's facade? He's only doing this to make her give up, deliberately trying to anger her into leaving. That must be it.

Thinking of this, her eyes softened.

but……

Liu Xinyin's eyes sharpened. She wanted to take this opportunity to eliminate her biggest threat, so that Sheng Xuanling would be hers alone.

Liu Xinyin lunged forward and grabbed Yan Ran's arm tightly, her nails digging into her wound. "Tell me, is it you who caused Xuan Ling to become like this?"

Even if it wasn't true, she would still pin it on Yan Ran, and all she needed was a legitimate reason to get rid of her.