"I..."
Liu Ping'er uttered a mumbling sound, but a sharp grimace creased her brows as she strained her rib injury.
Li Chonglou's heart skipped a beat.
This woman was truly so soft and fragrant.
Fortunately, the police arrived. Otherwise, if this situation continued, even he would be unable to resist making a mistake.
After all, he was a man, and the love for beauty embedded in his genes was a natural instinct.
"Bastard, let go of her!" Xu Tianyou, leading his men, charged forward, his eyes blazing with fury, wishing he could beat Li Chonglou to a pulp right in front of the police.
"Tianyou, he saved me..." Liu Ping'er struggled to sit up, defending Li Chonglou. "And he's also injured."
She was an orphan.
From childhood, her only family had been the院长妈妈 (Dean Mother) and these siblings. Thus, deep down, she suffered from a severe emotional void.
This had led to her aloofness towards people she felt indifferent to, but a boldness in openly expressing her feelings for those who touched her heart.
Li Chonglou had given her an unparalleled sense of security.
She didn't know if this was a manifestation of love, but she wouldn't allow anyone to target him.
Xu Tianyou's face turned ashen.
He had pursued Liu Ping'er for so many years, and since they grew up, he hadn't even held her hand. Now, he was forced to watch her being taken away by someone she had known for only a few days.
The resentment in his heart was immense.
If it weren't for the presence of the police, he would have loved to land two swift punches on Li Chonglou.
Li Chonglou remained silent, observing everything.
At this moment, saying more would only lead to mistakes.
After the ambulance arrived and carried him and Liu Ping'er away, they left the club.
"Ping'er, make a copy of what you found for me," Li Chonglou said in a low voice in the ambulance.
Investigating Li Hanlong had unearthed such a significant matter.
Killers had come knocking, which was a testament to the preciousness of that evidence.
With it, he wouldn't need to lift a finger; the law would deliver a crushing blow to that scoundrel.
Upon hearing this, Liu Ping'er's face showed a conflicted and hesitant expression.
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she was contemplating.
Seeing this, Li Chonglou didn't press her.
Although they had only met twice, having gone through life and death together, their bond had already become extraordinary.
He believed that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Liu Ping'er would not refuse him.
But in the next second, Li Chonglou realized he had miscalculated.
The struggle in Liu Ping'er's eyes vanished, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can give you anything else, but not this."
"I don't want my brothers and sisters to die because of this!"
"As you saw today, only four people came. Perhaps their purpose was to intimidate rather than kill."
"This is telling me that if we dare to act rashly, we will die miserably..."
Liu Ping'er's voice carried a hint of sadness and helplessness.
While Li Chonglou was fighting the killers, she had almost been overwhelmed by guilt and regret.
If she could turn back time, she would never have hired that expert from the dark web to investigate such a matter.
She didn't want to implicate any more people.
Including Li Chonglou.
"Perhaps you are right," Li Chonglou said with a sigh as he lay flat on the stretcher.
Liu Ping'er had her own thoughts.
It was not wrong for ordinary people to have such a mindset.
They were not law enforcement officers, and money laundering and illegal activities were not their concern.
Li Hanlong was his primary enemy. As for the big shot involved in money laundering, as long as it didn't endanger his loved ones, it had nothing to do with him.
But based on today's events, the ruthlessness of this person's character likely far exceeded Liu Ping'er's imagination.
In fact, a war had already begun, and their mutual destruction was a foregone conclusion.
That person would not allow anyone to know his secrets, holding this ticking time bomb over them at all times.
Therefore, this was by no means a mere threat.
He had absolutely no fallback option.
If Li Hanlong and the powerful figure behind him were not eliminated first, his own relatives and friends would inevitably be implicated and suffer.
And Liu Ping'er's group, who came from the orphanage, wouldn't survive either.
Unfortunately, everyone had their own aspirations.
Since Liu Ping'er was unwilling, he knew he couldn't force her.
This woman, though appearing delicate on the outside, possessed immense inner strength.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have rushed out to stop him when he was on the verge of death.
She had saved his life, and even if he desperately wanted that evidence, he couldn't forcefully take it.
Li Chonglou considered himself not a person who would take advantage of someone's vulnerability.
He would have to find another way for this matter.
Upon arriving at the hospital and having the bullet removed, just as he finished giving his statement, Jiang Yuxin appeared in the ward with a bag.
"What are you doing here?" Li Chonglou asked, his face filled with surprise.
"I received a call from the hospital saying you were injured." Jiang Yuxin's beautiful eyes were filled with concern as she saw Li Chonglou's heavily bandaged thigh.
Seeing her like this, the pain in his leg immediately lessened by more than half.
Once upon a time, how much he had wished for Jiang Yuxin to shed her icy demeanor, to worry for him, to be anxious for him, to rejoice for him, to weep for him.
In the past, that was an absolute fantasy.
But now, that fantasy had become reality.
He could finally see genuine emotion in the eyes of this ice-cold beauty.
Li Chonglou didn't want her to worry, so he patted the edge of the bed and said, "Sit down, I'm fine."
"I'll be good tomorrow."
As the saying goes, it takes a hundred days for bones and muscles to heal.
But Li Chonglou was no ordinary person. With the sheepskin scroll cultivation method, as long as he wasn't dead, his healing speed was a hundred times faster than that of ordinary people.
Where others took a hundred days, he truly only needed one day.
At the very least, he would be able to get out of bed himself and his mobility wouldn't be affected.
"Glutinous rice balls, have some." Jiang Yuxin nodded, placed the bag in her hand on the bedside table, and took out the contents, opening them.
Then, she scooped half with a spoon and brought it to Li Chonglou's lips.
"Smells delicious," Li Chonglou praised after taking a bite.
He used to love glutinous rice balls, braised lion's head, and fish balls – round things. Perhaps it was related to his childhood longing for his father's return for a reunion.
After he married into the Jiang family, his mother-in-law extremely disliked such dishes.
As a result, he could only secretly eat them outside.
Once, when Jiang Yuxin saw him, she scolded him. From then on, he gave up his favorite foods.
He never expected that after more than two years, Jiang Yuxin would remember.
And even went out of her way to buy some.
"Eat it all if it's good. In the past, at the Jiang family, I was indeed too harsh on you..." Jiang Yuxin, at this moment, acted like a gentle young wife, apologizing sincerely.
Thinking about Li Chonglou's three years as a son-in-law and her and her mother's attitude towards him, Jiang Yuxin's face burned as if on fire.
Anyone else would likely have retaliated with resentment and kicked him while he was down.
Only Li Chonglou had repaid kindness with kindness, remaining steadfast and never abandoning her.
He had even helped the Jiang family from the brink of collapse.
Unfortunately, she herself was incapable of leading the Jiang family out of their predicament.
This had nothing to do with Li Chonglou.
"Thank you!" Li Chonglou, momentarily stunned, said those two words earnestly.
"You're being too formal, we're family..." Jiang Yuxin's face bloomed with a thaw.
Li Chonglou gently took Jiang Yuxin's hand, his expression one of affectionate intimacy.
At this very moment, outside the hospital room.
Liu Ping'er, supported by Xu Ling, looked through the glass window at the warm and touching scene inside, her beautiful eyes clearly clouded with a touch of sadness.
"Are you already married... That's fine, since I've fallen for you, I won't give up so easily!" Liu Ping'er's heart surged. After a moment, her dimmed gaze turned resolute. "Lingling, let's go back to the ward."
Xu Ling didn't understand why Sister Ping'er, despite being injured, still wanted to see Li Chonglou.
Even less did she understand why she stayed outside the door without going in.
She only knew that her brother was so angry he wasn't talking to anyone.
As a young girl whose heart had not yet opened, she couldn't comprehend the complex emotions of adults.
Liu Ping'er's appearance and departure hadn't escaped Li Chonglou's notice.
He deliberately held Jiang Yuxin's hand and acted affectionately precisely to show it to her, to dispel any expectations she might have of him.
After all, as a husband, one must fulfill their duties.
Loyalty was the primary element of marriage, and loyalty to oneself was the most important aspect of life.
Only men without foresight and those who were foolish would cheat.
Because cheating only brought a fleeting sense of emotional comfort, but the hidden dangers it brought were like a devastating flood.
It would cause irreparable harm to at least three or more people in the future.
He could restrain his heart not because he owed Jiang Yuxin, but because he had a clear view of the future development.
The Buddha fears cause, mortals fear consequence.
This was roughly what was being said.
From the spark of intention, one already knew what they would have to bear in the future, whether they could bear it. If not, one should extinguish the thought.
Li Chonglou was certainly not a Buddha; he couldn't achieve a state of complete absence of thought.
He could only apply the brakes in time to prevent unforeseen circumstances.
"Are we meant to go through eighty-one trials?" Jiang Yuxin, her hand held by Li Chonglou's warm and dry one, felt her heart flutter. Her pretty face flushed as she said, "When we were in Qinzhou, I thought we could live like normal people from now on..."
"I had even made plans for the future. Perhaps we should have a child and I could stay at home to be a wife and mother..."
"But heaven doesn't seem to want to see us too happy."
"Then this happened. In Yong'an, apart from Mom and you, I have no relatives, and I always feel unsettled."
After being rescued, she had immediately called her parents.
Their lives in Qinzhou were currently very difficult.
The Jiang family had gone bankrupt, creditors were at their door, and they were constantly hounded for debts.
Their house had been seized, and they couldn't return.
They could only stay in a hotel for the time being.
The thought of the elderly couple enduring such hardship made her heart ache unbearably.
"If you miss Mom and Dad, let's bring them over too," Li Chonglou suggested.
After three years of marriage, how could he not see what Jiang Yuxin was thinking?
In Qinzhou, besides her father and mother, what else could make her linger?
Although Yong'an was unfamiliar, if the family could be together, what cause would there be for worry?
"You agree?" Jiang Yuxin's beautiful eyes lit up, and she immediately began planning. "If they come, I'll go rent a place."
"We can't have them living at Brother Ning's place too."
"I know what kind of person my mother is. If we all live together, there will definitely be arguments."
Seeing her like this, Li Chonglou felt a surge of accomplishment, while also experiencing a mixture of emotions.
The once ice-cold beauty, the aloof and proud goddess who paid no attention to anyone, had now become so gentle.
How could he possibly let her suffer any grievance?
He patted her delicate hand and said, "No need to rent. I'll buy a place for your parents!"
"With the current housing prices in Yong'an, a two-bedroom, two-living room apartment of over eighty square meters is only a mere million yuan."
"I can still afford it."
With those words, Jiang Yuxin's beautiful eyes widened in shock. "Where did you get so much money?"
She had never known that Li Chonglou was so wealthy.
A mere million yuan!
How many more things were there about him that she didn't know?
At this moment, Jiang Yuxin felt no resentment, but rather a heart full of curiosity.