Chapter 498: 497 is not childish

“I’m downstairs, where’s Ranran?”

In the early morning, when all is quiet, Bai Xiaoxiao had left the speaker on, Mo Xiuchen’s voice, out of nowhere, intrudes into Wen Ran’s ears. It makes her heart suddenly skip a beat!

Her clear and bright eyes open wide in shock, staring at the mobile phone in Bai Xiaoxiao’s hand.

There is a moment of blankness in her mind before she registers what he has just said.

Bai Xiaoxiao, also startled, asks incredulously, “What did you say? You’re downstairs? Which downstairs?”

“Outside Wen Family’s villa.”

Mo Xiuchen’s voice is low and magnetic. Via the phone, it comes through clearly, like a sledgehammer, heavily pounding on Wen Ran’s only recently recovered heartbeat, messing up its rhythm.

Her gaze moves to the French windows, her body stiff on the bed, immobile.

Bai Xiaoxiao looks at Wen Ran’s complex expression and asks gently, “Ranran, Mo Xiuchen is downstairs, do you want to see him?”

He’s really come to her house so late in the night.

Wen Ran can’t describe the feeling in her heart. Reason and emotion are waging war, her mind seems to be a stampede, she simply can’t think straight or make any decision.

“Mo Xiuchen, when did you get here?”

Seeing Wen Ran just staring blankly without responding, Mo Xiuchen is still waiting on the other end of the line.

Bai Xiaoxiao can’t bear it, she asks casually, attempting to buy Wen Ran some more time to decide whether or not to take the call, or whether she wants to see Mo Xiuchen.

“I just arrived. Let Ranran take the phone, I want to say a few things to her.”

Mo Xiuchen knows that Wen Ran can hear his voice, but she doesn’t say anything and doesn’t want to take his call. He feels upset.

“Ranran?”

Bai Xiaoxiao uncertainly looks at Wen Ran, gently pushing the phone toward her. Wen Ran stares at the phone, listening to Mo Xiuchen’s voice, and a vivid image of Fu Jingyi’s malicious face intrudes her mind. The words he said to her intertwine with Mo Xiuchen’s voice, causing a sudden intense headache, as if her head is about to explode at any time.

“Ranran, what’s wrong?”

Seeing her suddenly clutch her forehead in agony, Bai Xiaoxiao grows worried, and words of concern escape her lips.

Downstairs, Mo Xiuchen feels a twinge of worry upon hearing this, his grasp on the phone tightens, his voice carrying anxiety unfolds through the phone, “What’s wrong with Ranran?”

“I’m fine.”

Wen Ran finally breaks the silence.

The furrows in her brow grow deeper as her headache seems to worsen the more she thinks.

Hearing her voice, Mo Xiuchen’s uplifted heart finally eases somewhat. When he speaks again, there’s more excitement in his voice, “Ranran, I just want to talk to you for a bit.”

“If you don’t answer his call, Mo Xiuchen will spend the night in the car downstairs.”

Bai Xiaoxiao’s words make Wen Ran’s expression change slightly. She extends her hand slowly to take her phone.

Overjoyed, Bai Xiaoxiao hands her the phone and says, “You can go and take the call in the next room. Don’t disturb my sleep.”

“Okay!”

Wen Ran replies softly, picks up the phone and walks out of the room. She enters the neighboring room to answer the phone.

Mo Xiuchen sits in the car, listening to her making her way towards the call. His heart finds an unusual peace and satisfaction in her footsteps. He waits patiently for her to enter the other room before he speaks, tenderly calling out, “Ranran!”

“You should not be outside at this hour.”

In contrast to his gentleness, Wen Ran’s voice is quite cold.

Nonetheless, Mo Xiuchen does not feel let down. On the contrary, he feels happy, eagerly explaining, “Ranran, I was very focused on driving, you don’t need to worry.”

“You should go back!”

Wen Ran seems to have ignored the excitement and happiness in his voice. She deliberately overlooks his desire to see her. Her voice is icy cold and devoid of her earlier warmth and love for him.

“Ranran, did you read the message I sent you?”

Mo Xiuchen does not directly ask her if she had a bad dream. He guesses that she did not know about Bai Xiaoxiao’s messages to him and thus does not want to betray Bai Xiaoxiao.

“No.”

“It’s okay, Ranran, I’ll just read the message out loud to you.”

“I don’t want to hear it, Mo Xiuchen, can you stop being so childish?”

Wen Ran interrupts him, her voice suddenly showing irritation. She’s scared that if he continues, she’ll waver in her resolve.

Mo Xiuchen ignores his disappointment, his voice remains gentle as ever, “Ranran, I’m not being childish, I just can’t live without you. I can’t sleep without you by my side. It feels hollow not only in my bed but in my heart.”

The last few words, his voice is very low. His gentle tone is replaced by a lost emotion and a despair due to her absence. Wen Ran tries not be affected by him, yet hearing words like these from him, her heart aches.

She forgets to respond, forgets to stop Mo Xiuchen.

After a pause, his deep magnetic voice resounds again. Even through the phone, she can feel his presence, almost as if he’s not downstairs, but right next to her. His voice falls in her ear, “Ranran, Ah Kai told me everything tonight. He said, you already know about your condition. You’re afraid you won’t be able to accompany me for the rest of my life, so you’re heartlessly choosing to leave me now.”

“But Ranran, consider this – if I were the one with the illness, would you be ready to divorce me? I love you, not because you can grow old with me. It’s because you are you, the woman I love. To be honest, none of us know how long we’ll live. Perhaps, I might die before you one day…”

“Mo Xiuchen, don’t you dare talk nonsense.”

Wen Ran, who is in a daze, suddenly snaps back to reality, once again interrupting Mo Xiuchen’s words.

“Ranran, see? You love me so much that you can’t bear to hear me say ‘Perhaps, I might die before you.’ How could you bear to leave me and let me live lifelessly without you day in and day out.”

Mo Xiuchen speaks very slowly. He can’t see Wen Ran’s expression, but he imagines how she might be looking at this moment. Her breathing on the other end of the call is somewhat unstable, he knows that Wen Ran must be conflicted.

He doesn’t say anything else, opting instead to wait quietly.

In the room upstairs, Wen Ran has not turned on the lights. She slowly walks to the French windows. She peels back the curtain, looking down through the window. She cannot see the person in the car in the dim light, only the car parked by the side of the road.

On the phone, all is very quiet, so quiet she can even hear his breathing.

She purses her lips, preventing herself from thinking about what he said just now, and speaks lightly, “Xiuchen, it’s late, you should go back.”

“I want to stay here with you.”

Mo Xiuchen’s voice is very soft, very gentle, making Wen Ran feel like everything he just said was just her hallucination or as though they weren’t on the brink of a divorce. Instead, it seemed like she just went home for a couple of days and he missed her so much that he followed her.

“I have Xiaoxiao with me, don’t worry about me. You have to work tomorrow, go back and rest.”

Wen Ran forcibly disregards the pain in her heart, her voice is not as cold as it used to be earlier and has a bit more calmness to it.