RMM -Chapter 180 Passionate Affection in a Picture Message

“Why? Missing her?”

He Wen shot Su Ruo a half-smiling glance.

Su Ruo felt a wave of goosebumps under that look. She shivered, shook her arms, raised her brows, and laughed. “Why does that sound a bit sour? Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”

While driving, He Wen made a gagging motion and said without looking away, “Sister, you’re not my man—can you please stop disgusting me?”

“Tsk, stop pretending. Your tone just now was clearly uncomfortable,” Su Ruo said with absolute certainty.

He Wen glanced sideways at her. “Fine then. If I really were uncomfortable, what would you do?”

Su Ruo actually lowered her head and thought seriously for a moment, then looked up and said, “Nothing much. She’s just someone I happened to meet who did me a favor. How could she possibly compare to you?”

Hearing words that sounded almost like a confession, He Wen wasn’t touched at all—instead she shuddered in exaggerated disgust. “At least you know your place. No matter how close she seems, she’s still an outsider. You’d better be careful in the future—stop going on about benefactors and selling yourself short.”

“It’s not that serious, is it? Besides, how many times have I even met her? You’re just blowing things out of proportion,” Su Ruo said dismissively with a smile.

“I wasn’t talking about Zhou Yunzhen. I’m warning you—giving you a preventive shot. Ever since you lost your memory, not only has your personality changed, even your brain seems to have gotten dumber.”

He Wen curled her lips as she spoke. As for Zhou Yunzhen, she didn’t plan to say much. She didn’t know why, but she just didn’t like her very much—especially after hearing Feng Weijia’s comments. That only made Zhou Yunzhen seem fake to her: too perfect. But those thoughts were only kept to herself; she couldn’t say them in front of Ruo Ruo.

He Wen knew that although Su Ruo and Zhou Yunzhen weren’t exactly close, Su Ruo definitely held a lot of goodwill toward her. So she decided not to badmouth Zhou Yunzhen in front of her. Anyway, just as Su Ruo herself said, they were merely passing acquaintances.

As long as Zhou Yunzhen didn’t harm Su Ruo, He Wen didn’t care whether she was fake or not.

Su Ruo just gave an awkward dry laugh in response. Wasn’t that true? How could her brain compare to the real Su Ruo’s? She was just a counterfeit knockoff.

The topic of Zhou Yunzhen quickly passed, and the two resumed chatting and laughing about other things.

Considering Su Ruo’s belly, He Wen didn’t dare let her get too tired. They hadn’t walked very far before she pulled Su Ruo into a café.

“With your belly the way it is now, exercise has to be gradual—take it slow. If you get worn out, I’ll be committing a serious sin,” He Wen muttered as she helped Su Ruo sit down, then sat across from her.

“Shut up. At home everyone nags me every day about exercising. I finally get out, and you’re still going on about it,” Su Ruo rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Tsk, I’m just telling the truth.”

He Wen had barely sat down before standing up again. “Sit here for a bit. I’m going to the restroom—back in a minute.”

“Go, go. Do you think I’m three years old?” Su Ruo waved her hand casually. Her due date was still a month away, yet they were already being this careful.

She was secretly laughing to herself when her phone buzzed. She took it out and saw that it was a picture message from an unfamiliar number.

She thought it was spam and didn’t want to bother with it. But glancing toward the restroom and seeing no sign of He Wen, she felt a bit bored—so, against her better judgment, she tapped open the message.

When He Wen returned, she immediately sensed that something was wrong with Su Ruo. No—not just wrong. Very wrong.

Her cheeks, which had been rosy just moments ago, were now deathly pale. Her eyes were locked on the phone screen, her lips bitten so hard they were nearly bleeding.

Her heart jumped. He Wen hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong, Ruo Ruo?”

No response.

He Wen grew truly alarmed. She reached out and grabbed Su Ruo’s slightly trembling hand, calling urgently, “Ruo Ruo?!”

Su Ruo finally reacted. She looked at He Wen in a daze, then glanced at her phone again. Her mouth opened several times before she finally said, “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

How could that possibly be “fine”? He Wen didn’t believe her for a second. “Is your stomach hurting? Tell me now!”

In her panic, her voice rose, drawing the attention of people in the café. But He Wen didn’t care—she tightened her grip on Su Ruo’s hand, her face full of anxiety.

“No, my stomach is fine,” Su Ruo tried to pull her hand back, only to find she couldn’t.

That overwhelming sense of weakness—she didn’t know whether it was because He Wen was gripping too hard, or because it was spreading from deep within her own heart.

“Then tell me—what exactly happened?” He Wen frowned, pressing her. Su Ruo looked far too alarming, her hand icy cold.

But Su Ruo had no mind to answer. Her face was full of panic and confusion, her eyes flicking repeatedly toward the phone.

He Wen noticed this and realized it might be related to the phone. Since Su Ruo wouldn’t answer, she reached out to take the phone and see what was going on.

Unexpectedly, the moment her hand touched the phone, Su Ruo reacted as if electrocuted—snatching her hand back and gripping the phone tightly.

“There’s nothing!” Su Ruo shoved the phone back into her bag, forcing herself to suppress the trembling in her hands. On her pale, stiff face she squeezed out a smile. “He Wen, let’s go back. I’m a little tired.”

Her reaction was so extreme that He Wen became even more certain the phone was the issue. But Su Ruo wouldn’t let her see it, which only made her more worried.

Aside from the time she was kidnapped, He Wen had never seen Su Ruo this out of control. What on earth was in that phone?

“Ruo Ruo, talk to me properly. What happened? You’re really scaring me,” He Wen said softly, frowning.

Su Ruo had already pulled her hand back, so He Wen couldn’t hold on anymore. She withdrew her own hand and looked at Su Ruo’s distracted face with concern.

“I’m fine. Let’s go back,” Su Ruo said impatiently, not wanting to talk anymore. She stood up, grabbed her coat, and headed for the door.

Seeing how unsteady Su Ruo was, He Wen was terrified. She didn’t dare ask any more questions and hurriedly stood up to support her.

“Alright, alright, I won’t ask. I won’t ask. Be careful.”

He Wen carefully helped Su Ruo out of the café, no longer pressing her about what had happened. She could feel how chaotic Su Ruo’s steps were—without support, she definitely would have fallen.

Though deeply worried, He Wen didn’t dare刺激 her further after Su Ruo’s earlier reaction. She could only drive her back to the military compound.

Unlike the lively chatter on the way there, the return trip was silent. He Wen kept a careful eye on Su Ruo. From the moment she got into the car, Su Ruo sat motionless, brows furrowed, eyes staring blankly ahead. Her hands clutched her bag tightly, knuckles faintly white from the force.

Knowing the problem lay with the phone, He Wen didn’t dare touch it again. All she could do was nervously drive Su Ruo home.

When they got out of the car, Su Ruo’s emotions seemed mostly recovered, though her complexion was still awful—much better than before, but far from normal.

“I’m really fine. Don’t worry. I’m just tired. I’ll be okay after I sleep for a bit,” Su Ruo said with a smile to the anxious He Wen. She probably didn’t realize how strained and ugly that smile looked.

“Ruo Ruo, if anything happens, remember to tell me. Don’t force yourself,” He Wen said.

She could tell Su Ruo wasn’t going to say anything no matter what, so she didn’t push further and got out of the car to walk her inside.

Su Ruo nodded, then raised a hand to stop He Wen from reaching out again. “I’ll go in myself. If my mom sees, she’ll worry.”

He Wen looked at Su Ruo’s absent-minded state, still uneasy. She remembered how Su Ruo had stumbled coming out of the café.

“It’s fine. You should go. I want to sleep,” Su Ruo insisted firmly. She knew she wasn’t in good condition. If He Wen helped her in and Zhang Huaqing saw, she’d definitely be frightened.

He Wen had no choice but to nod. “Then walk carefully. And whatever happens, don’t keep it bottled up. Take care of yourself.”

Su Ruo nodded vaguely and turned to go inside. By now she had calmed down quite a bit. Aside from her poor complexion and stiff movements, nothing else seemed obviously wrong.

Only after watching Su Ruo enter the house did He Wen get back into the car and leave. Her brows remained knitted tightly together—she was deeply worried. She had only been gone for a short while. What could have happened to leave Su Ruo so shaken?

“Huh? Why are you back so early?” Zhang Huaqing was watching TV in the living room and asked curiously when she saw Su Ruo come in.

“I got a bit tired, and there wasn’t much to shop for anyway, so I came back. Mom, I’m going upstairs to sleep for a bit,” Su Ruo said, deliberately not looking at her, afraid she’d notice something was wrong. She tried to keep her voice calm and natural.

All she wanted now was to be alone.

“You’re really lazy, you know. You just went out and you’re already tired? Be careful—you’ll suffer when it’s time to give birth,” Zhang Huaqing scolded lightly, not thinking much of it, and turned back to the TV.

Su Ruo carefully made her way back to the bedroom. After closing the door, all her pretense fell away. She leaned against the door for a moment, breathing lightly, as if she had used up all her strength just now.

Though she looked utterly exhausted, Su Ruo didn’t lie down to sleep. Instead, she stared fixedly at her bag, her expression blank, as if lost in thought.

After several attempts, she finally raised her hand, took the phone out of her bag, and hesitantly opened the picture message again.

They were several photos. The scenes were filled with neon lights—it was clearly some kind of entertainment venue. The photos looked like they’d been taken secretly; the subjects were a bit far away and not very clear. But how could Su Ruo fail to recognize who the people were?

The man wore a gentle smile, leaning toward the woman beside him as he spoke. Under the ambiguous lighting, his face looked almost tender.

The woman had her head lowered, her expression unclear, but she was pressed closely against him, looking shy and intimate.

It looked… intensely affectionate.

In the last two photos, the man’s face was especially clear.

It was unmistakably Xi Yuechen.