Chapter 567: This Way You'll Have Stamina

Leng Ruoli's eyes were dull and lifeless, completely devoid of any spirit.

Father Leng stroked her head, comforting her. "Don't be sad. Let's go home first. We'll need our strength once we're home."

Leng Ruoli wanted to speak but held back, choked with emotion. She refused to leave.

Just then, the latest news arrived.

The black box had been recovered.

Search and rescue workers on the ocean had already found the plane wreckage and some human tissue.

No survivors.

The news struck like a bolt from the blue.

Leng Ruoli's breathing became labored. She felt her mind go blank, her vision darken, and she fainted on the spot.

"Ruoli!" Father Leng was frantic. He caught her immediately.

—

By the time Leng Ruoli woke again, she was in a hospital room.

The smell of saline in the air was sharp and pungent, making her frown.

She opened her eyes weakly and saw Father Leng beside her, haggard and worn.

"Dad…"

"Ruoli, you're awake!" Father Leng was overcome with emotion.

He immediately grasped her hand, unable to hide the exhaustion on his face.

Leng Ruoli asked dully, "Where's Muye?"

"Muye, he…" Father Leng trailed off and shook his head.

"Ruoli!" Xiang Shan rushed in from outside.

She had also received Father Leng's call and hurried to the hospital.

Seeing Leng Ruoli lying pale in the bed, her heart ached.

"Are you alright?" After all, this was the flesh of her flesh. When Xiang Shan learned that Leng Ruoli had fainted, she had been frantic with worry.

She stroked Leng Ruoli's face.

But tears—clear, transparent tears—spilled from Leng Ruoli's eyes.

She could hardly contain the pain in her heart. Biting her lower lip and clutching her chest, she said, "Help me find Muye, please? He must still be alive. He wouldn't leave me behind…"

Father Leng looked at Leng Ruoli's agonized expression and let out a long, deep sigh.

Xiang Shan's brow furrowed tightly.

In the past, she had thought her daughter's relationship with Jiang Muye was just a simple romance, a passing infatuation. But now, seeing her daughter so pale and hollowed out…

She suddenly understood that her daughter loved Jiang Muye desperately.

"Ruoli, things will get better. If you can't forget in a year, then two years. If not two years, then ten. Eventually, the day will come when you forget. Someone more suitable will be waiting for you. We… need to accept the facts," Xiang Shan said bitterly, trying to counsel Leng Ruoli.

"Smack—"

Leng Ruoli pushed Xiang Shan away.

She was extremely agitated. "Are you even my mother? Right now, you're probably the happiest person here. You never accepted us being together from the very beginning! Now that something's happened to him, your dream has come true!"

"How can you say that!" Xiang Shan couldn't understand.

Father Leng also reproached Xiang Shan. "This is the hardest moment for our daughter. You shouldn't say things like that."

"Then what am I supposed to do? Tell her to keep waiting for Jiang Muye?" Xiang Shan's throat was dry. "People have to look forward. I don't want to watch her keep degrading herself and suffering."

"Mom, he's not dead. He fell into the deep sea. He can swim. He'll survive. He's waiting for me to find him, Mom. He'll come back…" Leng Ruoli's eyes were red.

She deeply prayed that he would return to her side with the sunlight.

"I have no way to turn back now."

Leng Ruoli placed her hand on her belly and said stubbornly, "I'm pregnant too. I'm going to have this child, and I'll wait for him to come back."

After hearing Leng Ruoli's words, Xiang Shan was stunned. Instinctively, her gaze fell to Leng Ruoli's belly. "You're actually pregnant?"

She was entirely unprepared for something so outrageous to happen.

And Leng Ruoli was a very stubborn person.

Since she had said so, she wouldn't give up easily.

Father Leng's gaze was deep. "Dad respects your choice."

As a father, he was certainly unwilling to let his daughter bear the child of a man whose fate was unknown, even if Jiang Muye was outstanding and the son-in-law he thought most highly of.

But Father Leng loved his daughter too much. Even if having this child would invite gossip from the outside world, even verbal humiliation…

He would respect her choice.

Leng Ruoli smiled faintly. It was her greatest comfort.

"Dad, I want to eat. I need to pull myself together. The child can't be harmed. That's the Jiang family's child." Leng Ruoli had found a conviction.

She absolutely could not collapse before Jiang Muye returned.

"Alright." His daughter wanting to eat was a good thing.

Father Leng immediately went to have food prepared.

A lavish spread was laid out before Leng Ruoli. She pulled herself together and, holding her chopsticks, ate her way through dish after dish.

Though it tasted like wax, Leng Ruoli forced herself to keep going, as if driven by a single-minded purpose, shoveling food into her mouth.

Even when she was choking back sobs near the end, she kept eating without pause.

She had to live on healthily.

Let the child be born safely into this world.

And then she would let the child know what an outstanding person his father was, and make the child proud of him.

Xiang Shan watched Leng Ruoli's desperate effort and felt a pang of sorrow.

She was somewhat moved. In the past, she had always thought Leng Ruoli was immature, still a naive little girl.

But now she finally understood—Leng Ruoli had grown up long ago.

She was not a puppet to be controlled step by step. Her daughter had her own mind.

After Leng Ruoli forced herself to finish the meal, she forced herself to sleep.

The moment Leng Ruoli held her phone and was about to drift off, it rang.

An unfamiliar number, from overseas.

Leng Ruoli trembled.

She jolted awake and answered the call.

"Hello…" Leng Ruoli said.

There was static on the other end.

"Ruoli?"

Leng Ruoli's breathing immediately became rapid.

She covered her mouth excitedly.

"You… you…"

"What's wrong? Don't recognize me? I'm your husband."

The familiar, low voice instantly brought tears to Leng Ruoli's eyes.

She wept with joy. "This dream is so real… sob… I miss you so much… I miss you, come back…"

"You're not dreaming. It's me."

Leng Ruoli was stunned. She checked the number again.

It wasn't from Jiang Muye's phone.

Still an unfamiliar number.

Was she really not dreaming?

Leng Ruoli pinched her own face and let out a yelp—it hurt.

She really wasn't dreaming!

Leng Ruoli immediately sat up in bed.

In the darkness, Leng Ruoli's voice was agitated. "Muye, where are you? I'll come save you."

"No need to save me. I'm fine."

"How can that be… Weren't you on the plane?" Leng Ruoli asked, confused.

"I didn't get on the plane. I was the only passenger who didn't board." Jiang Muye told her solemnly.

When Leng Ruoli heard Jiang Muye's words, she trembled. She found it too incredible.

The sole survivor was actually Jiang Muye!

"How is that possible? Didn't you say you were going to board the plane back then?" Leng Ruoli asked anxiously.