RMM – Chapter 61 Tenderness

No one knew how much time had passed, but night had already fallen. Away from the noise of the city, the moon hung in the suburban sky, casting a cool, pale light over the trees and rooftops—quiet and lonely.

Only now did the third-floor room in Shiyuan finally fall silent. The only sounds were soft breaths, flowing gently like the moonlight outside the window.

Looking at the freshly asleep Su Ruo, Xi Yuechen gently pulled her closer, heart aching. He tenderly brushed the damp strands of hair stuck to her face, his fingers carefully tracing the lines of her petite features, filled with infinite compassion.

He got up quietly from the bed, picked up the medical kit on the floor, and slowly removed the bandages he had wrapped earlier. He cleaned and disinfected the wound again before reapplying the medicine and wrapping it up anew. His movements were so gentle, as if even the slightest disturbance would be too much.

Luckily, upon checking earlier, there hadn’t been any glass shards embedded in her flesh. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been as simple as cleaning and disinfecting.

Once he was done, he put the medical kit back in place, went back to the bedroom, picked up his blood-stained T-shirt, and headed to the bathroom to scrub it clean.

Only after finishing all this did he finally lie back in bed, wrapping his arms around Su Ruo. She must’ve been exhausted—so much had happened in just one day. How could a small woman like her bear such a load?

He wondered how Su Heng and the others were handling things. And those people—how did they end up targeting Su Ruo?

Xi Yuechen deeply regretted not arriving sooner, letting the little woman be frightened for so long. But what he hated more was his own carelessness. If only he hadn’t let her go alone, or if he’d sent her off himself, none of this would have happened.

In all his years, this was the first time Xi Yuechen had felt such regret.

Thank goodness, nothing worse happened. Otherwise…

He let out a breath, his heart still shaken. This was the first time his emotions had spiraled so out of control. Just imagining something happening to her made his heart twist painfully, overwhelming him with rage and helplessness.

Thinking this far, how could Xi Yuechen not understand what it meant? This little woman had clearly and silently walked into his heart. She now occupied such a large space there that he could no longer get her out.

The feeling was unfamiliar, yet tinged with joy. His heart felt warm, as if something tender had quietly been added to his life.

He could feel the warmth of Su Ruo in his arms. Her soft breaths tickled his chest, radiating comfort. Even the room seemed to take on a touch of spring; the very air felt warmer.

Unlike the warmth here, the air around Liang Bo’an was frozen—silent and lonesome.

Staring at the light on the lawn below, stubbornly holding on in a patch of darkness, Liang Bo’an felt it reflected his own state of mind—cold and desolate, yet quietly persistent.

Just like this time. It was always like this. He and Su Ruo kept missing each other, again and again, drifting further apart. But what could he do? Su Ruo had long been etched into his bones, dissolved into his blood. Unless he died, every breath, every blink, would be filled with thoughts of her.

He pulled out his phone without caring how late it was and dialed a number. It was answered quickly.

“By tomorrow morning, I want the full report on the Hong Group.”

After all these years, he was used to standing in this place. Ha—how could he not see how much Su Ruo relied on Xi Yuechen today? It was in these unguarded moments that true feelings were most clearly revealed.

Su Ruo was his tribulation. No matter how much of his life he poured in, he could never escape it.

The night passed quickly. Xi Yuechen hadn’t slept long when he opened his eyes to sunlight streaming into the bedroom.

He glanced down at Su Ruo still sleeping soundly in his arms. Last night, under the influence of the drug, things had gotten a little out of hand. Her skin now bore countless marks—bruises of blue and purple scattered all over. It looked… quite pitiful.

He couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. The little woman would surely explode when she woke up and saw this. Not only was her body sore, but she’d also clung to him over and over again last night. Though driven by the drug, that side of her was truly intoxicating—how could he have resisted?

The woman in his arms would probably sleep for a while longer. Xi Yuechen didn’t want to wake her. He slowly withdrew the arm beneath her head, trying to get up. But as soon as he moved, Su Ruo frowned, let out a faint whimper, and snuggled closer to his chest, instinctively wrapping her arms around his waist and drifting back to sleep.

Watching her reaction, Xi Yuechen’s expression turned subtle. He was moved by her reliance on him. Smiling softly, he stopped moving, letting her rest against him as he gently wrapped his other arm around her and simply lay there, gazing at her sleeping face.

Meanwhile, Su Heng had already woken up—or rather, he hadn’t slept at all. After calling Xi Yuehui home yesterday, the two of them talked all night and only rested at dawn.

“How are we going to deal with that bastard?” Su Heng asked first thing in the morning, referring to Hong Shirong.

Yesterday, after kicking Hong Shirong, he’d wanted to continue the beating, but Xi Yuehui and Lu Yue had stopped him, saying that another hit might kill the man. Blood was already flowing from the reopened wound on Hong Shirong’s wrist. Another round might have caused him to die from blood loss even if not from the beating.

Once everyone understood the full story, they were seething. How dare Hong Shirong repeatedly target Su Ruo? Attempting to drug and kidnap her—unforgivable.

It wasn’t enough to punish just those involved. Fortunately, nothing major happened to Su Ruo. Otherwise, Su Heng would’ve smashed Hong Shirong to pieces. Still, even now, his anger hadn’t subsided. Yesterday, they had taken Hong Shirong to a friend’s club to be held under watch.

Xi Yuehui’s face was equally grim. Now that Su Ruo had married into the Xi family, she was one of them. How could they let anyone bully her? This wasn’t something they could let go.

Both men hesitated—should they tell their families? It wasn’t a minor incident, but bringing it up without Xi Yuechen’s word might cause upheaval. So they decided to wait for Xi Yuechen’s decision. Regardless, this matter wouldn’t end easily, and the families would find out eventually.

After a pause, Xi Yuehui finally said, “It seems Liang Bo’an is getting involved too.”

“Liang Bo’an? What does this have to do with him?” Su Heng frowned.

“Lu Yue told me yesterday that Liang Bo’an was asking about Hong Shirong and his company. Sounds like he’s planning to act against the Hong Group.”

“What does it have to do with him? Why does he stick his nose into everything related to my sister?” Su Heng snapped. “Are the Su and Xi families not enough to handle this? Do we need to rely on him for revenge?”

“You know how he feels. When it comes to your sister, he’s always serious,” Xi Yuehui replied, his voice also tinged with displeasure.

“My sister’s married! Why won’t he give up? What’s the point of him forcing himself in? Someone needs to tell him to stop. We can handle the Hong Group ourselves,” Su Heng said sharply.

Xi Yuehui said nothing more. Between his brother and Liang Bo’an, he would always side with his brother. Though he sometimes pitied Liang Bo’an—what was the point of all this?

“Su Heng, Yuehui! You two up yet? Hurry up and come out for breakfast, or your dad’s going to skin you alive!”

Zhang Huaqing’s voice suddenly rang out at the door, startling the two.

“We’re up, Mom! Coming right now!” Su Heng quickly replied.

Only after she left did the two breathe a sigh of relief. Neither of them spoke again and rushed to the bathroom to wash up.

Still, both had headaches thinking about how to face Zhang Huaqing and Su Feng. If they found out what had happened to Su Ruo—and that the two of them had hidden it—they’d probably break their legs.

Su Ruo didn’t wake until it was nearly afternoon.

She rubbed her head against Xi Yuechen’s chest before slowly opening her eyes, blinking blankly at the bare torso in front of her.

“You’re awake?” a low voice came from above her head.

Only then did she fully regain awareness and recall the events of yesterday. Biting her lip, she buried her head deeper into Xi Yuechen’s chest, her cheeks burning.

Seeing her shy, rarely-seen expression, Xi Yuechen couldn’t help but laugh. The tremble of his chest made her face itch slightly.

What’s so funny?! Irritated and embarrassed, Su Ruo glared at his chest and then bit it.

She hadn’t expected his muscles to be so firm—it took two tries before her teeth sank in. She let out a few hums and bit down harder.

That’ll teach you to gloat! What’s so funny, anyway? Just because she was… ahem, overly passionate last night.

“Okay, okay. Stop messing around,” Xi Yuechen said, trying to stop her. The tingling sensation was getting out of hand, and after last night, the little woman needed rest.

“Hmph.” Su Ruo released him with a snort, only to feel embarrassed at the sight of her own saliva glistening on his chest. She turned away, refusing to look at him.

“Rested enough? Lie down a bit longer. I’ll go prepare something to eat.”

“Chief…”

Just as Xi Yuechen was about to get out of bed, Su Ruo called him.

“Hm?” He turned to look at her.

“About yesterday… what happened afterwards?”

Her voice was stiff, clearly still affected. Even though it was over, just thinking about it made her want to kill someone.

Seeing her pale face, Xi Yuechen gently stroked her hair. “Don’t worry. It’ll be taken care of. Don’t think about it,” he said, his voice carrying a trace of suppressed anger.

“Mhm.” Su Ruo buried her face in the pillow, saying nothing more.

Xi Yuechen didn’t press her. Right now, she needed to process things on her own. Only when she was ready to let it go would she truly be at peace. As for those responsible, their retribution would come.

Clothes were strewn everywhere from the night before. Naked, Xi Yuechen picked up and put on his clothes. Su Ruo’s undergarments were still in the room, but her torn dress was outside—useless now.

After tidying up, he glanced at Su Ruo one last time before gently closing the door behind him, leaving the space to her.

Only after she heard him leave did Su Ruo let out a long sigh. Though nothing terrible had happened, she still felt a lingering sense of dread. It had been too close.

Forget it. It’s over. She was fine now. No need to dwell on it—anything more would just be melodrama. She, Su Ruo, had weathered her share of storms. Still, she’d make sure to settle this debt. Being bullied wasn’t her style.

With her thoughts settled, she no longer felt conflicted. Gazing at the sunshine outside the window, she muttered to herself: Next time I’m going anywhere, I’m definitely bringing bodyguards. Another incident like that and I’ll have a breakdown.

She stretched her arm out from under the covers. Her wound was well taken care of, wrapped in clean, white gauze. It still throbbed faintly. She remembered she had quite a few cuts—who knew how long they’d take to heal?