My Lovely Wife is a Forensic Doctor - Chapter 228
Chapter 228 Breakdown
“You went to Guangyang? Why did you go there?” Feng Rubing brandished the calling card in her hand and met the other’s gaze angrily. It was a calling card that the landlord’s son, who was a restaurant owner, had given Rong Jian; it had his restaurant’s address on it. Rong Jian hadn’t thought that things would be discovered this quickly. Being a bad liar, he was at a loss for words.
“Were you investigating me?”
“No, I just wanted to prove your innocence…”
“And did I ask you to do that for me?!” Feng Rubing promptly tore the card to shreds before brutally flinging the bits into Rong Jian’s face. “My business is my own! I don’t need you to stick your nose in it!”
Rong Jian hadn’t expected her to get so worked up over the fact that he went to Guangyang. He felt that there was more to the situation. When he plucked the shredded bits off his face, he decided not to hide things anymore and said to her directly, “Rubing, tell me what happened at Guangyang. Was there something about the incident with Li Jianyun—”
“Shut up!”
“Rubing!”
“I’m telling you to shut up! Go away! Now!” Feng Rubing screeched at him like a madwoman.
Rong Jian was completely startled. He never thought that the typically calm Feng Rubing would also have a furious side to her. Other than the time she left home after that argument with Feng Qiqi, Rong Jian had never seen her this angry before.
Still screaming, Feng Rubing stalked forward to pull at Rong Jian. When she realized he wasn’t budging, she released him and whipped around to head for the door.
“Rubing!” Rong Jian snapped back to his senses and hastily pulled her back. “You still haven’t recovered yet. You shouldn’t be walking!”
Feng Rubing glared at him harshly from the corner of her eyes, which were already misted over with anger. “Then you leave!”
“Neither of us will be leaving. Let’s sit down and talk things out properly, okay?” Rong Jian’s voice now had an undercurrent of pleading in it. He was already sure that Feng Rubing had met with unfortunate fate in Guangyang, so his heart ached for her. He hoped that she could compose herself and open up.
Feng Rubing saw through his thoughts and turned her head away, unwilling to accept his pity. “There’s nothing for us to talk about. Leave. I don’t want to see you.”
“Rubing!” A lamenting look came over Rong Jian’s face due to her stubbornness. “Please don’t be like this. You have to know that if you continue to stay silent about this. There’s a chance that you’ll be assumed to be the killer!”
A shudder rippled through Feng Rubing’s body, but her tone still remained flippant. “If you have proof that I’m the killer, then go ahead and get me convicted.”
“Feng Rubing!” Rong Jian was livid now. “Did you think that the police let you go home because they couldn’t convict you? It’s because I’m the one who’s been vouching for you! I promised the captain that I would find evidence to prove that you’re not the killer in a week, and that if I fail, I will leave the bureau for good!”
“And who asked you to make that promise to him? Who asked you to leave the bureau?” Feng Rubing had calmed down a bit now as she spoke to him, her tone neither sharp nor flat. “I told you already that my business has nothing to do with you. I don’t need you to keep meddling!”
Rong Jian eyed her with a level gaze before he questioned her with a shaky voice, “You would rather be branded as a murderer than have me look into your past? Is it because whatever happened back then is something that you’d rather not bring up?”
Feng Rubing’s body shook again, her already bloodless face turning an even paler shade.
Before she could speak, Rong Jian had already leaned in close to her and continued his spiel, enunciating each word clearly, “Your family moved from Linhe to Guangyang. You moved to such a remote place and didn’t interact with anyone there, not because you were ill, but because you were afraid that people would find out about your unspeakable past, right?”
Feng Rubing began to tremble. “No, don’t continue asking…”
“It’s because of that past experience that your personality went through a huge shift, yes?”
“Please, don’t continue this anymore…”
“And it’s also the reason why you loathe people like Li Jianyun with a passion; isn’t that right?”
“Stop it…” Feng Rubing was already close to collapsing.
Rong Jian grabbed her arm. “Tell me—what was your relationship with Li Jianyun?”
“Stop asking—” Frightened to no end, Feng Rubing flung away his arm with a hard swing before backing away with her hands on her ears, but she tripped over a stool and lost her balance, causing her to fall to the ground.
“Rubing!” Rong Jian quickly rushed over to help her up.
“Don’t touch me!” Feng Rubing continued to cover her ears as she screamed and knocked him away with her elbows.
He knew that he had infringed on a part of herself that she didn’t want to face due to his relentless questioning. Worried that she would break down, he didn’t dare to continue pursuing his own impatience. Instead, he quickly charged over and held her while apologizing profusely. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I won’t ask you about it anymore.”
“Get away! You jerk! Get away!” The trembling Feng Rubing was already sobbing as she shrieked at him.
“Rubing, it’s me, Rong Jian! I’m no villain or jerk. It’s just me! Rong Jian!” He held her shoulders tightly and gently shook her, forcing her to meet his eyes while he repeated his name in hopes that she would calm down.
It was now that he realized the meaning of ‘haste makes waste’. He deeply regretted his actions now.
Feng Rubing’s emotions were out of control already as she wept pitifully while struggling with all her might to break free.
Right then, someone opened the door to the ward, and medical personnel frantically rushed in. Upon seeing the situation, they surged over, attempting to help pull Feng Rubing up with Rong Jian, but she wouldn’t cooperate with them; she kept struggling in their grip, her crazed expression shocking them all.
“Why don’t we sedate her?” one of the nurses suggested.
Another slightly older nurse immediately looked at Rong Jian, seemingly asking for his opinion.
Just as he was about to nod, Feng Rubing suddenly spat up a mouthful of blood before passing out.
“Rubing! Rubing!”
Panicked and unsure what to do, Rong Jian reflexively shook her, but the nurses stopped him. The nurses quickly lifted Feng Rubing onto the bed, and the head doctor immediately began to perform a checkup on her, while Rong Jian was shooed out of the room. Anxious, he stood there stiffly by the entrance while his gaze bore holes on the door.
“What’s going on?”
It was as if Rong Jian were a drowning person who had found a lifeline when he heard his sister’s voice. He whipped around to clutch Rong Ying’s hands tightly, his voice hoarse as he pleaded, “Please, help me see how Rubing is doing!”
“Okay.” Rong Ying nodded solemnly before pushing him over to the side to sit. “Take a seat first. I’ll go in and look.”
“Ying…”
“Don’t worry. She’ll be okay with me around.” Perhaps Rong Jian’s panicked and rattled look had tugged at her heartstrings, for she consoled him with a tenderness that she rarely showed. She patted his shoulder before turning and walking into the room with quick strides.
Rong Jian once again stood up, but this time, he didn’t go back to the door of the ward. He simply stood where he was and stared at the door numbly.
Several minutes later, Rong Ying came back out.
“How is she?” Rong Jian immediately charged over to ask anxiously. He currently looked very much like a husband who was waiting outside the ward while his wife was in labor.
“She passed out temporarily due to the sudden shock straining her heart. She’s fine now. But she needs to rest.”
“Okay.” It was only then that Rong Jian breathed out a sigh of relief. However, guilt still remained on his face.
“Don’t prod her anymore.”
“I know. It’s just…” Rong Jian sighed again. “That case…”
“I don’t care about whether that case has anything to do with this, and who the murderer is. For me, the only thing that matters is the patient’s health. If you still insist on causing distress to my patient, then please leave with her immediately. I will not allow your deliberate exacerbation of her condition to affect the reputation of the Rong Family’s hospital.” Rong Ying had regained her usual indifference.
Hearing his sister emphasizing ‘the Rong Family’ made Rong Jian feel a little embarrassed, so he gave a wry laugh. “Don’t worry. I won’t keep prodding her anymore.”
“As long as it’s not my patient, you can do whatever.”
“Ying…”
A nurse poked her head out from the half-ajar door and said softly, “Mr. Rong, the patient wants to see you.”
“She’s awake? Is she emotionally stable?” Rong Jian was surprised yet nervous.
“She’s been awake for a while,” Rong Ying added blandly before leaving him a harsh warning. “If there’s anything you need to tell her, do it properly. If you make her faint again, I’m going to send her straight home.”
“I won’t, I won’t.” Rong Jian didn’t mind his sister’s relative lack of concern. After laughing sheepishly for a bit, he turned and entered the room.
Since Feng Rubing said that she had something important to tell Rong Jian, the other two medical personnel immediately left the room and closed the door when they saw Rong Jian enter.
“Sit.” Feng Rubing was half-propped up in bed as she pointed at the stool nearby. Her voice was even, making her seem like a completely different person from earlier.
Rong Jian slowly sat down and whispered, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have treated you like that earlier—”
“Since you so desperately want to know about that part of my past, I’ll tell you about it,” Feng Rubing cut him off frostily.
“Rubing, I—”
“I was sixteen then,” she ignored his unease and slowly said. “And I met a man who was more than twenty years older than me by chance. He paid for my food and wardrobe, and he even gave me some spending money. He cared for me and protected me like a father would. I trusted him so much. Not all that long after, I started dating him——you and I are already adults. You should know what I actually mean.”
Rong Jian didn’t dare to believe it. “You were only sixteen when you…”
“That’s right. At the age of sixteen, I gave my body to a man who could be my father.” There were no additional emotions to Feng Rubing’s voice. “He said that he would divorce his wife when I grew up a bit more and then marry me.”
Rong Jian was once again shocked. “He hadn’t left his wife yet?”
“Yes, he hadn’t. I was a meddler in their relationship. You can admonish me however you like.”
“You… sigh, you were really young and foolish!”
Feng Rubing ignored his lamentation and continued evenly, as though she was telling someone else’s story, “Our relationship was soon discovered by his wife. She slapped me, and after he had beaten her up, she asked for a divorce. However, he wasn’t willing to grant her that, nor was he willing to end his relationship with me. I only got to know about this later. Each time his wife brought up the matter of divorce, he would beat her. She had no way of leaving him, and she was furious about it. So she looked for my grandmother and told her about him and me. Grandma nearly blew a gasket at that and ordered me to leave the man. I had made up my mind then to stay with him and refused to listen to my grandmother. I went to find him, and I then lived with him. That was how my life as one of his two wives began.”
One man with two wives!
Rong Jian’s fists were clenched so tightly together that the knuckles were already making cracking sounds. He squashed the urge to murder that man and looked at her, waiting for her to continue.
“That day, after he went to work, Grandma found his house through his wife. She told me that he had a penchant for violence, so she wanted to take me and leave. At that time, I thought that he was sincerely treating me well, so I absolutely refused to go. In a fit of desperation, she had me pretend to leave him so that I could see him for who he really was.” At that, Feng Rubing fully sat up, her legs propped up. She buried her face into her knees, her voice shaking. “That was how my nightmare began.”