Wen Baozhu finally began to realize that this was not reality.
It was a dream.
In the dream, she had a mother who loved her, a father who made up for his past mistakes, a still - healthy grandmother, and a harmonious family.
She sat in the middle of the dining table, looking at the familiar and warm smiling faces in front of her. She lifted the corners of her lips, forcing a smile on her face.
Since it was a dream, she should enjoy it.
During her days in Hong Kong City, she rarely had beautiful dreams.
Especially a scene of family reunion like this. She had never had such a dream in the past two decades.
But when she inadvertently looked up, she saw a man standing outside the picture. He was dressed in all black, looking like a solemn and murderous ghost, his eyes fixed on her without a blink.
She frowned, trying to see the man's face clearly, but it was too far away and she couldn't make it out.
Wen Baozhu had no choice but to stand up and walk towards the man. It was not until she walked right in front of him that she recognized his face.
It was Fu Lian.
The shadow cast by the man's tall figure completely covered her body, wrapping her up tightly.
He drooped his eyes, and the coldness and nonchalance in his eyes were familiar to Wen Baozhu.
How strange.
It was such a warm and happy dream, yet she dreamed of him.
Wen Baozhu looked at the man's face, opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.
Suddenly, the man sneered, his eyes filled with a cold, eerie light.
He said, "Had enough of this dream? It's time to come back."
Come back?
Back to where?
Wen Baozhu was confused, chewing over the meaning of the man's words.
In an instant, time and space began to twist. The originally warm scene started to be swallowed by black clouds. A bolt of lightning split the sky, and Wen Baozhu was back on the deep - black sea.
There was thunder and lightning, and the wind and rain were lashing down.
She was panicked, instinctively flailing her arms and calling for help, but could only watch herself sink deeper and deeper...
Wen Baozhu suddenly opened her eyes.
What she saw was a white ceiling. A transparent breathing mask was covering her face. She gasped for air, and clearly heard the beeping of the surrounding instruments in her ears.
The feedback from the dream was so real that she was still a bit dazed when she woke up.
It took a few seconds for her to recall that she had been thrown into the sea before.
She didn't know who wanted to kill her, nor did she know who had fished her out of the sea.
Suddenly, she realized that during her time in Hong Kong City, she had actually been walking on the edge of a knife every day.
She thought she would be safe under Fu Lian's protection; but she didn't know that if someone wanted to kill her, it would be as easy as crushing an ant.
The despair of nearly drowning and the sight of herself sinking before she lost consciousness kept replaying in her mind, leaving a deep mark in her memory.
From this day on, Wen Baozhu began to fear the sea.
She didn't have much time to let her mind go blank. Wen Baozhu heard approaching footsteps outside the ward.
She immediately closed her eyes again, pretending to still be in a coma.
Fu Lian followed the doctor into the ward. The doctor checked the instrument readings, then turned to inform Fu Lian, "At present, we can determine that the patient suffered short - term cerebral hypoxia due to drowning. There are no other external injuries on her body. As for whether there is any damage in her brain, we have to wait for the results of the full set of examinations."
"There may be a high fever later. But since she is pregnant, we can't use antibiotics and antipyretics. She has to endure it with her willpower."
Fu Lian lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on Wen Baozhu's face.
Her cheeks were pale from excessive hypothermia, and her lips were tightly pursed. Lying there, she looked like a sleeping beauty.
There was a coldness in his eyes, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking.
After a moment, he asked the crucial question, "Can the baby be saved?"
"We still have to wait for further examination results." The doctor looked a bit embarrassed. "Actually, her physical condition is quite good. As long as she recovers well later, there will probably be no sequelae for her. But it's hard to say about the fetus..."
"What could the results be?"
The doctor sighed, "If she's lucky, we can still try to keep the baby; if not, the fetal heart may stop."
Hearing this result, Wen Baozhu's heart froze.
The doctor said, "She'd better not move around for the time being. Stay in the hospital for further observation. If the fetal heart does stop later... she'll have to prepare for a curettage."
After a long silence, the man replied, "Got it."
After giving the doctor's orders, seeing that Fu Lian intended to stay and accompany the patient, the doctor didn't stay any longer. He opened the door of the ward and left.
The ward fell silent again.
Wen Baozhu kept her eyes closed. She didn't dare to open them immediately, because judging from the other breathing sound in the room, there was still someone there.
"How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?"
Wen Baozhu's heart skipped a beat.
Sure enough, nothing could be hidden from this man.
She had no choice but to open her eyes, pretending to have just woken up, and turned to look at the man standing beside the bed.
He was still wearing the same suit he had worn when boarding the ship before, but it was no longer neat and tidy, looking a bit disheveled.
Wen Baozhu looked at the man who had disrupted her dream standing in front of her. For a moment, she just stood there, stunned.
Maybe it was really because she had been in the water for too long, but her brain seemed to be working more slowly.
"Did Mr. Fu save me?"
"Who else do you think it could be?" Fu Lian said coldly, "Just anyone can take you away. Wen Baozhu, you're really stupid enough."
The second half of the sentence was scolding her, but Wen Baozhu didn't pay attention.
All her attention was on the first sentence.
Yes, it was completely redundant for her to ask this question.
Of course it was Fu Lian who had saved her. Who else could it be?
On such a huge luxury yacht, it was no wonder if someone just disappeared.
She should have said "thank you", but those two words just couldn't come out of her mouth.
Maybe she was already starting to have a fever. Her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, swollen and unable to utter a single word.
Fu Lian stared at her, his tone calm, "Why don't you say thank you? Aren't you always so fond of saying thank you?"
She couldn't say it.
Even if she was stupid, she knew why she had fallen into the sea.
She was just a country girl, with no name, no status, and no one to rely on. She could never be a thorn in the side of any of the wealthy businessmen on the ship.
To put it bluntly, she wasn't even as important as a single hair on any of the people on this ship.
Didn't the socialites on the ship say that there was nothing to be afraid of about a country girl like her?
How could she express her gratitude, as an innocent victim?
Originally, she didn't have to go through all this suffering.
She was silent for a long time, and finally gave in, " ... Thank you, Mr. Fu."
This "thank you" was really insincere, and Fu Lian could tell.
The man frowned slightly. Considering that she had just survived a near - death experience, he forcibly suppressed his annoyance and changed the topic, "You heard what the doctor said just now, right?"
"Yeah." Wen Baozhu's voice was soft.
"Since you know you've suffered a great loss this time, stay in the hospital obediently recently. Don't run around. Wait for the examination..."
Wen Baozhu lowered her eyes, her voice very soft, "I'd like to ask Mr. Fu, do you really want to keep this baby?"