Chapter 136: Child, Empty…

Mai Xijun could not have misheard, could she? The words had unquestionably come from Xie Yunting’s mouth. And she was certain they were the most laughable joke she had ever heard.

“I’m serious,” Xie Yunting insisted.

“So am I. You’ve come to the wrong person.” Mai Xijun’s expression darkened at once. This woman had no shame at all. What was she asking of her? Did she want Mai Xijun to help her win Shen Yanlie back? Did she not realize how absurd and ridiculous that was?

Was Mai Xijun really such a bored, idle person?

Besides, there were certain things she needed to make clear. On the hill behind the mountain, after Mo Shaoxing had left, the necklace she had found had not been Shen Yanlie’s alone. There had been another half to it—a lock. It was the very pendant Xie Yunting had once worn around her neck.

“No.” Xie Yunting hurriedly caught hold of Mai Xijun’s hand, behaving with the intimacy of a close sister she had known for years, as though they had merely encountered a disagreement and she was still trying desperately to persuade and retain her. “Don’t do this. I’m sincerely begging you to help me. You know that I love him more than anything. I can’t lose him. I’ve done so much for him. I truly can’t bear the thought that he may never come back to me. Please…”

Mai Xijun tried to shake off Xie Yunting’s hand, only to have her grip tighten.

“I’m begging you too. I really can’t help you.” At that moment, Mai Xijun felt nothing but irritation and turmoil, a confused ache in her heart. Ever since she had met Shen Yanlie, her life had been filled with far too many pleasures she had once never expected, yet also with the greatest joys and sorrows of the human world—things she had never experienced before. She had endured too many twists and turns.

Ever since she had fallen in love with him, one unexpected event after another had caught her off guard. She had learned to endure, and to shoulder everything as best she could.

But the woman before her was simply too absurd. Every word she spoke about the past felt deeply mocking to Mai Xijun. She could neither bear nor tolerate it. If Xie Yunting was one of the people who had hurt her Little Stone, then Mai Xijun would show her no mercy.

At present, Mai Xijun was merely powerless against Shen Yanlie. Her love and hatred were hopelessly entangled, and the loss of her own judgment only made her more troubled and irritable, though she had been doing her best to restrain herself.

“Xiaomai, I truly cannot lose him. Please, help me. I’ll kneel to you.” Tears filled Xie Yunting’s eyes. But in Mai Xijun’s world, once tears became cheap, they earned only contempt.

Mai Xijun struggled to wrench her hand free, but then she heard a heavy thud. The gentle, jade-like woman before her, as delicate and enchanting as a flower, had dropped to her knees.

In the midst of her panic and fury, Mai Xijun tried to pull Xie Yunting up, only for the other woman to cling to her even more tightly. Mai Xijun could not accept such an elaborate gesture; it felt as though Xie Yunting were trying to shorten her life.

“Please, Xiaomai. I don’t know what else to do. I can only beg you. You’re the only one who knows the way. You’re the only one who knows how to enter his heart again. Please, I beg you.” Xie Yunting pleaded bitterly, tears streaming down her face.

“I really can’t help you. I can barely manage myself. I truly have no way to help with your affairs, so you should find another solution.” As she spoke, Mai Xijun tried to help Xie Yunting to her feet, but the woman stubbornly let her body go limp, making herself impossible to move.

Mai Xijun’s pregnancy was now impossible to conceal. Xie Yunting could not fail to see it. Was she not simply bringing humiliation upon herself? Was she not deliberately making trouble for her?

Mai Xijun clenched her teeth. “I told you I can’t help you. Why can’t you understand?”

This time, Mai Xijun was thoroughly enraged. Bending over had already become difficult for her, and she felt a heavy pressure in her abdomen.

She liked people who were devoted and persistent, but love was not something to be obtained through kneeling and begging. Love had to possess dignity. Only love built upon self-respect and self-regard could last and remain whole.

She hated the way this felt. The scene made it seem as though Mai Xijun were the mistress, while the rightful wife had come knocking at her door—except this “wife” was behaving like a shameless concubine, clinging desperately to the mistress and begging her to leave her husband alone.

The sensation was intolerable. Mai Xijun could not bear it.

“I understand. I truly do. But I really have no other choice. I’m begging you, please—help me…” Xie Yunting gripped Mai Xijun’s wrists tightly. Mai Xijun tried to pry her fingers loose, but Xie Yunting only clutched harder.

Annoying. She was truly unbearable.

Mai Xijun wanted only to live quietly, to rest peacefully and nurture her unborn child. There would be plenty of time to make other decisions once she had sorted everything out. Why, then, did certain people insist on disturbing her peace?

“Let go.” Mai Xijun slowly closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. She felt as though she were on the verge of collapse—truly on the verge of breaking down.

Xie Yunting wept so pitifully that her face was streaked with tears. Under normal circumstances, Mai Xijun would have felt nothing but sympathy and pity. But now she had no strength left to spare for compassion. She felt wretched. Everywhere hurt.

Mai Xijun staggered two steps backward. The sound of that sobbing seemed about to split her head apart. She felt she could endure no more. With a sudden, violent tug, her hand came free—and then, all at once, she was lifted into the air.

Her heavy body abruptly became weightless. In an instant, she lost every point of balance and went flying.

“Ah!”

“Ah!”

Two cries rang out at the same time, but everything had already happened too quickly. There was no chance to stop it, no chance to undo what had been done.

“Thud!”

A heavy, muffled impact sounded as Mai Xijun’s body rolled down the staircase and slammed into the wall.

Blood—bright red blood—flowed recklessly from between her legs, staining her white cotton dress crimson.

Xie Yunting stared at the scene in panic, unable to make a sound. Her mouth hung open and her eyes widened, terror robbing her of all sense and direction.

There was blood. Mai Xijun was bleeding. There was so much of it…

Xie Yunting knelt helplessly on the floor. She crawled several steps, pulled out her phone, and tried to call an ambulance. But just as the call connected, she suddenly came to her senses and hung up.

If she sent Mai Xijun to the hospital, would Shen Yanlie learn that Mai Xijun had fallen down the stairs because of her?

Judging from Mai Xijun’s condition, there was a ninety percent chance the baby would not survive. If Shen Yanlie found out that Xie Yunting had caused him to lose his child, what would he do?

The moment Xie Yunting thought of that, her head began to ache—a pain so fierce it felt as though her blood vessels might burst.

At last, Yunting could bear it no longer. She seized her hair with both hands, clutching her head, and ran madly downstairs. As she passed Mai Xijun, she did not even dare to look at her.

“My baby… my baby…”

Even after help arrived and they began giving Mai Xijun oxygen, those remained her final words.

Yan Yuchen climbed into the ambulance and gripped Mai Xijun’s hand tightly, placing it within his broad, damp palm. He wanted to give her a little strength, a little warmth.

“My baby… my baby…”

“My baby… my baby…”

Mai Xijun repeated the words over and over, as though she would never grow tired. The sound broke the hearts of those who heard it.

“It’s all right. Everything will be all right, Junjun…” Yan Yuchen watched her, and for one fleeting moment, he felt an impulse to cry. Tears had already blurred his eyes.

If he had not arrived in time, what would have happened? Yan Yuchen did not dare imagine it.

If his wedding date had not already been set, if he had not decided to tell her anyway, would he have missed this scene? Would he have failed to discover that he still harbored so much longing and concern for her?

In his eyes, she was captivating. That day, she had appeared on the exhibition stage in a long dress and dazzled him in an instant. He had told himself clearly that he was already a man whose life had been set in place, a man with a future already mapped out. His life could no longer be changed.

And yet, at that moment, he had wavered. He had allowed a faint yearning for her to arise within him. But that stir of the heart had lasted only a fleeting instant.

He had never imagined that they would meet again. But from the moment they did, he had already lost.

From the instant she had wept openly in front of him, then kindly stopped a car for him and waved goodbye as she watched him leave, his heart had begun to race beyond control.

Yet after nearly thirty years of peaceful living and a life carefully planned, the desire to go mad just once was quickly ignited—and just as quickly extinguished. So he had chosen to become engaged. He had chosen to follow the path fate had laid out for him.

But when he had hesitated over whether he should marry, she had still been the first person he thought of telling. Without realizing it, he had driven all the way to the building where she lived.

When he had finally decided to see her, he had found her injured and suffering, tears at the corners of her eyes. In that moment, he had wanted to take her hand firmly in his—and never let go again.

“My baby. I want my baby…”

Yan Yuchen clearly saw the shape of Mai Xijun’s lips before she was wheeled into the operating room. Her pale face had lost all color, and her voice was so hoarse that she could barely make a sound. Fatigue had nearly forced her eyes shut, yet she still struggled to tell everyone what she wanted, what she was determined to protect.

Gradually, her consciousness grew hazy and indistinct. All the way there, she repeatedly tried to place her hand over her lower abdomen, only to have the nurse beside her pull it away each time. In the end, the nurse had to hold it down completely.

It was unbearable.

Her baby. She could no longer feel its heartbeat. She could no longer feel its blood flowing together with hers through her body. She could no longer feel it…

She wanted to touch it, just once. She wanted to caress it with her own hand. She had longed for a surprise. Her belly was still round and full, and sometimes she could even feel the baby stirring beneath her skin.

Empty. Empty…

With all the strength she possessed, she tried to twist her body and see whether the baby was still safe, but someone immediately pressed her down.

Sob, sob. My baby…

Empty. Empty…

Dangerous Chief: Woman, You Are Under Arrest — Chapter 136: My Baby, It’s Empty… Complete.