In that lightning-fast moment, Jing Meng erupted with an incredible surge of strength. With keen eyes and a swift hand, she grabbed Pei Cheng's forearm and yanked him violently toward her!
Thud!
With a muffled groan, Jing Meng hit the ground hard, her body curled around Pei Cheng.
"Is the Little Young Master alright?"
"Quick! Someone call an ambulance!"
The sudden turn of events sent the crowd on the rooftop into a frenzy. Like headless flies, they swarmed forward in a chaotic rush.
Fearing for Pei Cheng's safety, Jing Meng used all her strength to press him into her embrace. As they fell, she tried her best to land on her back, but the downward momentum was too great. Her left shoulder slammed into the ground with a sickening thud, and at the moment of impact, she heard the cringe-inducing sound of a joint popping and bone cracking.
A cacophony of voices filled Jing Meng's ears. The dizzying sensation brought on by the agonizing pain made her vision fade to black.
She forced herself to scan the surroundings one last time and lifted her uninjured right hand to confirm that Pei Cheng was unharmed. Only then did her eyes close as she spiraled into unconsciousness.
"Waaah! New Mommy fainted! Someone save New Mommy!"
Pei Cheng scrambled off the ground on his chubby legs. Seeing Jing Meng lying there motionless with her hands limp, he immediately threw his arms around her neck and began to wail.
"Move!"
The huddled crowd was suddenly torn apart by a cold command. Pei Shiyi stepped forward, his face dark. His ink-black eyes, which usually remained calm and indifferent, were now clouded with an uncharacteristic gloom. He reached out, grabbed Pei Cheng by the back of his collar to move him aside, and leaned down to scoop Jing Meng up in his arms.
As he stood, his gaze swept over the servants. The suspicious maid who had been crowding Jing Meng just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.
"Find someone..." Pei Shiyi murmured, tilting his head slightly to whisper an instruction to the butler standing beside him.
With that, he walked out the door in long, hurried strides.
"Daddy, wait for me!"
Pei Cheng's short legs moved like a blurring firewheel as he sprinted after his father.
Autumn had not yet arrived, but the sky was already turning dark. A sliver of a crescent moon peeked through the clouds, spilling a faint, silver radiance into the hospital room. The light fell upon the pale woman on the bed, her striking features now tinged with a look of sorrow.
Pei Shiyi watched Jing Meng, whose brow remained furrowed even in sleep. It seemed that ever since he met her, she was always accompanied by an inseparable air of melancholy. It was a sadness that was impossible to decipher, yet it made one want to reach out and smooth it away.
She seemed trapped in a harrowing nightmare. Her face grew paler, and fine beads of cold sweat broke out on her forehead. Seeing her long eyebrows knitting closer together, Pei Shiyi reached out, intending to wake her.
"No... Don't... Let my family go!"
The woman on the hospital bed bolted upright, drenched in a cold sweat. Her face was as white as a sheet of paper. Under the moonlight, her distressed appearance was almost ethereal, like a ghost seeking its lost life.
Jing Meng took several deep breaths as her vision finally cleared.
She was lying on a pure white hospital bed. Above her was a crystal chandelier, and directly ahead was a flat-screen television. The rhythmic beep-beep-beep of an EKG monitor filled her ears. Judging by the decor, this was a VIP ward where even a single breath felt like it cost a fortune.
She subconsciously looked at her left hand, which was encased in a thick layer of plaster. A slight movement sent a piercing, bone-deep pain through her.
"The joint in your left shoulder is fractured, but it isn't broken. It'll recover after a month in a cast," Pei Shiyi explained quickly, noticing her confusion and concern.
Jing Meng nodded. "Thank you."
Recalling how Pei Cheng had been curled in her arms when it happened, she knew that as the Little Young Master, he would certainly be well-attended to, but she couldn't help asking, "How is... Cheng Cheng?"
Pei Shiyi gestured toward a corner behind him. Jing Meng followed his gaze and realized there was a partitioned alcove there.
"He just fell asleep. He ate two ice creams and three chocolate cakes," Pei Shiyi said. Speaking of his precious son, the iceberg-like facade he maintained all day finally softened with a hint of a smile. "I don't think anyone could be doing better than him."
He paused, then continued in a casual tone. "It's all thanks to you today. You saved his life. Honestly, I'm the one who should be thanking you."
"It was nothing," Jing Meng said, waving her right hand dismissively. Then, the memory of the woman who had bumped into her on the rooftop resurfaced. "However..."
"A life-saving debt cannot be easily repaid. You've just had your cast put on, and the hospital can only provide so much care. Why don't you come to my home to recover?" Pei Shiyi interrupted before she could finish. Perhaps realizing he had been too forward, he added another sentence.
"Cheng Cheng... he really likes you."
Jing Meng's train of thought was broken. Hearing Pei Shiyi's words, she found it a bit amusing. "He likes me? If he really liked me, why would he make such a scene on the rooftop, shouting that he didn't want a New Mother?"
Pei Shiyi's expression stiffened. Thinking of that little terror at home gave him a headache. Just as he was about to try a different approach, Jing Meng spoke up.
"There's a maid in your house who is quite strange," Jing Meng said, carefully recalling every detail from the rooftop. "Black hair, white clothes, ordinary-looking. She's a bit shorter than me. The only distinctive thing is a butterfly mark on her neck. She usually has very little presence from the moment she appeared until she left, it seemed like no one noticed her."
"She shoved me at the time, and it didn't feel like an accident. You should look into it. I'm worried she might try to harm Cheng Cheng again."
Pei Shiyi sat back with his long legs crossed, his eyes showing a hint of admiration.
"I've already sent people to look for her," he said, leaning forward to study her intently. "The scene was chaotic and you were injured. How can you remember so much?"
Pei Shiyi's dark eyes were deep. When he stared at someone, it was like a wolf looking down at its prey, making Jing Meng feel incredibly uneasy.
"Professional instinct," she replied, scooting back slightly. "Since you've already looked"
Knock, knock, knock—
A sudden knock at the door broke the quiet atmosphere in the room.
Pei Shiyi leaned back slowly. "Come in."
The assistant entered carrying a briefcase. He stood respectfully at Pei Shiyi's side, glancing at Jing Meng with a polite, inquiring look.
Pei Shiyi nodded. A flash of surprise crossed the assistant's eyes, but he quickly returned to a business-like tone to give his report.
"When the butler went to look for that woman, he found she had already left. I followed her phone's GPS location. By the time I found her..." The assistant pulled a stack of documents from his bag. "She was already dead. A car accident. The driver fled the scene."
Tucked inside the documents were two photos of the accident. The woman lay dead in the middle of the street, her eyes wide as if she couldn't find peace. Her clothes were torn, and the butterfly mark on her neck looked strikingly eerie under the streetlights.
"Find the driver," Pei Shiyi said, tapping the photo of the woman. "And her family."
The assistant turned and left. The hospital room fell into a stiff, heavy silence once more.
"Theoretically speaking, I still recommend you recover at my villa," Pei Shiyi said, casting a faint glance at Jing Meng.
Jing Meng kept her head lowered. She already had a rough idea of what was happening. Her hand gripped the bedsheet uncontrollably, her entire body trembling slightly from the tension.
"This person..."
"This person," Pei Shiyi finished her thought, "might just have been coming for you."
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