Undesirable Marriage - CH 7.3

Mo Chuan Ya was a little shocked but did not allow that to stop her. She walked into the ICU resolutely. “Doctor Zhu, how is my grandmother’s condition?”

When Zhu Xiang Lin looked back and saw it was Mo Chuan Ya, her eyes were filled with surprise. She was at a loss for maybe a second or two before responding in a low voice. “She is in a stable condition and will wake up in a few hours. If all goes well, she will be discharged from the hospital in a few days.”

“So soon?” She was surprised.

“That’s the amazing thing about OPCAB1!” Zhu Xiang Lin seemed to have deliberately spelt out the professional terms.

Although Mo Chuan Ya was not a medical student, she had learned some medical knowledge over these past two years since she had taken over the hospital’s affairs and knew that Zhu Xiang Lin was referring to the coronary artery surgery method which kept the heart beating. “Thank you.” She nodded and went to the bed, caressing her grandmother lovingly, running her fingers gently over the pale old face. “Grandma, sleep well, I’ll take you home when you wake up.”

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Zhu Xiang Lin watched her thoughtfully for a moment, then raised her voice leisurely, “You’re Mo Chuan Ya, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Mo Chuan Ya turned around and looked at her.

The women’s eyes met in the likeness of boxers’ in the ring, secretly measuring each other’s fighting capability and spirit.

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“R byhl.” Ys Ubwyd Zy’p vsdl oyp kdekqqlaldv. “Zsw’hl xlv kd Fswvb Gxlakny, aktbv?”

“Zlp, ol byhl ryavknkryvle kd vbl hszwdvlla plahknl sq Yéelnkdp Fydp Wasdvkèalp. El xlv obkzl alpnwkdt y oswdele xyd. Gv vbyv vkxl, ol bye fwpv plv wr nyxr kd vbl zsnyz yaly. Mbl liwkrxldv oyp hlau pkxrzl. El eked’v byhl ydu elnldv xleknyz liwkrxldv. Tsolhla, Dkdtald wple vbl vsszp yv byde yde rlaqsaxle y rlaqlnv srlayvksd sd vbl oswdele xyd, zkvlayzzu pyhkdt bkx qasx vbl bydep sq elyvb.”

Hbw Dkydt Nkd dyaayvle vbl vos rlsrzl’p lmrlakldnl sq jdsokdt lynb svbla, okvbswv nsdnlyzkdt bla yexkayvksd. “Tl kp alyzzu y talyv esnvsa, yde bl oyp csad vs cl y esnvsa.”

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“Fs usw pbswzed’v cl ps okzzqwz.” Hbw Dkydt Nkd czwdvzu lmralpple bla ekppyvkpqynvksd. “R’hl blyae kv yzz. Wkhl ulyap yts, usw bye yd ynnkeldvyz xkpnyaakytl yde czyxle Dkdtald qsa dsv nyakdt ycswv usw. Ebu esd’v usw vbkdj sq bkx? Tl oyp srlayvkdt yv vbyv vkxl, ps bso nswze bl cl ekpvaynvle? Rq usw yal y esnvsa’p okql, usw pbswze cl yczl vs wdelapvyde bkx.”

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Ys Ubwyd Zy’p blyav oldv knu nsze yde bla lulp lxrvu yp y cyaald pdsoqklze. “Rp vbkp yzz vbyv Dkdtald vsze usw?” Ebu eke bl vlzz bla ps xwnb? Ebu pbswze yd swvpkela xleezl kd vbl yqqykap sq y bwpcyde yde okql?

“Of course he didn’t complain to me about you, but I can see that he has been very distressed.” Zhu Xiang Lin grunted disquietly, staring at Mo Chuan Ya with a slight look of disdain. “If you can’t understand him, why don’t you just divorce him?”

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Divorce? !

Mo Chuan Ya was shocked, barely able to hold her cold, unmarked expression. Her jade hand tucked into her sleeve, quietly squeezing her palm. “Did Xingren tell you that he wants a divorce?”

“He didn’t say that.” Zhu Xiang Lin pursed her lips and seemed even more upset. “But you’ve been separated for five years, and in America, that would have been a condition for divorce.”

“But this is Taiwan.” She said one word at a time in a clear voice. “There are no legal provisions like this in Taiwan at the moment.”

“You don’t mean that you don’t want to divorce Xingren yet, do you?” Zhu Xiang Lin looked at her suspiciously. “Your marriage has no name at all.”

So what if it’s not real? It was none of her business! Mo Chuan Ya gritted her teeth in annoyance. She knew exactly what Zhu Xiang Lin meant when she said those words. She was afraid that this female doctor had been coveting her husband for a long while and was eager for him to regain his freedom as soon as possible. Did she think she would let them get what they wanted so easily?

“You don’t understand Xingren’s ideal, you shouldn’t be together.” Zhu Xiang Lin continued to lecture unceremoniously.

“So you know him well?”

“Of course, we’re both doctors and we have the same ideals.”

That was it! Mo Chuan Ya suddenly sneered, her eyes burning with fighting spirit as she swept her glare directly at Zhu Xiang Lin. She hadn’t wanted to act as a domineering queen but she would never let a taunt go without one of her own.

“Please listen, Miss Zhu, Dai Xingren is ‘my’ man.” She deliberately emphasised the key word. “We’re still married, and I might as well tell you that I won’t agree to divorce him.”

Zhu Xiang Lin sighed as she heard the words. “Do you hate him so much that you want to keep him tied up for the rest of his life, so he can’t get out of the palm of your hand?”

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“If you want to think so, I have no objection.” She spoke full of arrogance.

“You’re really crazy!” Zhu Xiang Lin stared at her in horror, treating her like a terrible monster.

This scene just happened to fall into Dai Xingren’s eyes. He came to check upon Mo Fang Shiqi’s situation, but unexpectedly encountered two women confronting each other.

“What are you talking about?” He hadn’t heard the conversation, but he could feel the tension in the air and asked sternly.

Mo Chuan Ya looked at him, the intensity of her glare scaring him.

“Do you want a divorce? Dai Xingren.”

“What?” He was stunned.

She glared intensely at him, her eyes full of resent and anger, and gradually the vibrant fire died out, leaving only smouldering ashes—

“I won’t agree to it.”

_________________

“Did you tell Chuan Ya that I want a divorce?” Dai Xingren, while on the treadmill, adjusted the rhythm of his breathing and sternly questioned the woman beside him.

She was exercising on another treadmill, dripping with sweat. The distaste that could be heard in his words hurriedly made her defend herself. “I didn’t say that, I just asked her why wouldn’t she divorce you, ok?”

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“Why would you ask her that? That’s a matter between me and her.” Remembering the look on his wife’s face at that moment, Dai Xingren’s chest tightened.

“Xingren, are you unhappy? I’m sorry, it’s my fault.” Zhu Xiang Lin apologised in a soft voice.

He glanced at her and saw her frown of panic, her dropped stance of begging for forgiveness, and the cold hard lines on his face softened slightly. “Don’t stick between mine and Chuan Ya’s affairs in the future, we’ll sort those out ourselves.”

“I see.” She docilely agreed, knowing that retreat is the way to advance. “I promise to stay out of your business, but it’s okay for me to stand as a friend and care about you and ask how you’re doing, right?

“What do you want to ask?” He slowed down on the treadmill as he grabbed a towel to wipe his sweat.

The sweat on his well-muscled arms glistened like dewdrops, and Zhu Xiang Lin stared, almost dazed, almost forgetting to answer. “I was wondering… uh, I mean, you two can’t just live apart like this for the rest of your lives, right? There has to be a solution to this marital relationship to see if it’s going to end or if it’s going to continue.”

“I have no intention of ending this marriage.” Dai Xingren responded gloomily.

“So, you want to continue?” Zhu Xiang Lin’s heart sank and her mood suddenly sank, but she was smart enough not to show her frustration in front of him. “But do you know what she said to me?”

“What did she say?”

“She said she hated you, and that she would tie you up for the rest of her life so you could not get out of the palm of her hand.”

“Did she really say that?” Dai Xingren was shocked.

“You know I don’t lie.” Zhu Xiang Lin raised her watery eyes and looked at him seriously.

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So, it was true. With a self-deprecating smile on his lips, Dai Xingren leapt off the treadmill and headed for the weights, silently performing a monotonous exercise to calm the sea of waves in his chest.

Chuan Ya hated him. He had expected it long ago, and was not at all surprised, even a little inexplicably glad.

It was better for her to hate him than to feel nothing for him, and it was better to refuse to set him free in order to punish him than to spill her guts and divorce him.

As long as she still held emotions over him, it meant that love was not all dead. He still had a chance to get her back and recover the love that once belonged to him.

He was very happy, happy that she still had the obsession to tie him down.

“Why are you smiling?” Zhu Xiang Lin approached him, shocked to see a faint smile fluttering at the corners of his mouth.

He didn’t explain, but kept on smiling. “Did you know that this hospital didn’t have a fitness centre before?”

She paused for a moment thinking about how obviously he was changing the subject, and gave him a cautious look. “It’s not often that a hospital has a fitness centre attached to it, so I should say this hospital is particularly strange, right?

“The professor told me that Chuan Ya insisted on having it. There was some debate at an internal meeting, but she said that as medical staff, they should have a healthy body and mind so that they can set a good example for their patients.”

Zhu Xiang Lin frowned, hearing a strange tenderness in Dai Xingren’s words, and she felt a pang of jealousy like a pin prick in her heart.

“Those were words I once told her.” Dai Xingren didn’t notice Zhu Xiang Lin’s frustration, but dwelt on the memories that had never faded.

“So what?” Zhu Xiang Lin’s voice was sharp.

“It means she still remembers what I said.” He whispered thoughtfully, his eyes glimmering with a tenderness that even he wasn’t aware of.

Even if she hated him, his words were still held in her heart and occupied a place in her memories. No matter how insignificant it was, as long as he still held a place in her heart, that was enough.

“That’s why I won’t divorce her unless she asks for it.” He solemnly declared.

“Even if she’s only doing it to punish you?” Zhu Xiang Lin pursued her lips in exasperation.

Dai Xingren nodded his head, his eyes resolute.

He would not leave her, even if he was not the man who could give her happiness. He would guard her until she achieves true happiness.