Although he felt impatient, he still tolerated everything in order to ease his wifeâs anxiety over his health. These two days after he woke up also gave him some time to reflect on his fight with his sister and what happened during his coma.
He and his sister still hadnât spoken about their fight. Long Jinjing only informed him today that she and Iris also fought when he fell into coma.
âI apologized to Xiulan and we already made up,â she told him. âBacon and Ketchup are also speaking to me again. But I feel that Brother-in-law Liwei still acts cold to me.â
Lu Zihao snorted at the mention of Jin Liwei. âDonât worry about that jerk. Heâs not someone important to us.â
She pouted at me. âDonât say that, Nikolai. Heâs the one who managed to wake you up when so many of us had failed. Iâm forever grateful to him because of it.â
He rolled his eyes but chose not to argue with her about Jin Liwei. As much as he wanted to deny the manâs role in waking him up and insist that it was just a coincidence, it was still a fact that he had heard Jin Liwei goading him into matching Long Jinjing with different men while he was still comatose.
Alric Bauer and Amanpio Kileksky.
These two men didnât affect him much. They were nerds who would put more attention on their projects than their lovers. Long Jinjing might be timid and clumsy but she was wise enough not to choose this kind of men.
Then Jin Liwei, the asshole, just had to add René Alejandro into the mix.
What the fuck, man?
It was pure nonsense! Bullshit!
As soon as he heard Jin Liwei suggest pairing the damned Spaniard with his wife, the fury he felt literally had filled him up with enough energy to drag himself out of his comatose state. He wanted to punch Jin Liwei in the face but all his limbs felt too heavy at that time. What a shame!
He also couldnât forget Jin Liweiâs smirk as soon as he opened his eyes. So annoying! Just remembering it was enough to make him feel violent.
Even though he knew that the things Jin Liwei spouted then were all baloney, Lu Zihao still felt jealous of those three men. He stared at his wife as she sliced an apple for him to eat.
âWhat?â Long Jinjing asked after noticing his heavy gaze on her. âIs there something on my face? Do you find meâŠugly?â
He scowled. âWhat ugly? Did you hear me say that? Donât put words in my fucking mouth, Jinjing.â
âThenâŠam IâŠp-pretty?â She immediately turned red after asking this. It took her a lot of courage to even say the words.
âOf course.â There was no hesitation in his reply.
âR-really?â
He wasnât good with saying any mushy words so he decided to just show it instead. He reached over and pulled her before smashing his mouth on hers. His tongue snaked inside her mouth and declared its sovereignty. Her body went limp as she started moaning.
When the sudden open-mouthed kiss ended, Long Jinjing was dazed. He smirked at her.
âDo you still doubt me?â he asked her in a low, devilish voice.
Her amoeba-level brain took a few seconds to register what he said. She shook her head.
âYouâre soâŠh-handsome,â she stammered like a stupid idiot.
His devilish laughter filled her ears and went straight to her core. For a moment, she had the urge to become pregnant and give birth to his child again as soon as possible. Then she caught herself.
What in the world was she thinking?
Their twin sons were only a few months old and she was already thinking about giving birth to the next one?
âAre you crazy, Long Jinjing?â she mentally asked herself.
âYes, Iâm crazy,â she also mentally answered herself. âIâm so crazy in love with this man that my brain sometimes malfunctions and becomes dumb.â
She could only sigh at her embarrassing thoughts.
âWhy are you sighing?â he asked.
âNothing.â
He raised an eyebrow.
She smiled and pulled away from his embrace with great reluctance. Then she continued slicing an apple before feeding it to him.
âYou feel a littleâŠuhm, different,â she commented while observing him eat the apple slices.
He paused. âHow so?â
âYou feelâŠuh, how do I describe it? Less intense? Less threatening? Something like that. I feel a bit more comfortable with you than before. I donât know. Maybe itâs because I missed you so much while you were in coma and Iâm so happy now that youâre awake.â
He fell silent.
She didnât notice anything amiss from his reactionâor lack thereof. It was just commenting on something trivial. She didnât think much of it.
After finishing all the apple slices in silence, he asked, âDo you like me better now then?â
âHuh?â His sudden question stumped her.
âYou say that you feel more comfortable with me now than before. So does this mean that you like me better now?â
She thought about it first. âI donât think that the matter of me liking you more is directly related to me feeling more comfortable with you now. I just like youâno. I just love you, thatâs all. I love you more now after experiencing a taste of losing you when you suddenly became comatose. I felt soâŠhelpless, especially since we havenât been married for that long and our sons are still very young. Theyâre still babies. I donât want to lose you so early. Neither do I want our babies to lose their father so soon.â
He reached his hand and touched her face. âWhat if Iâm gone someday?â
She freaked out. âWhat are you saying? Are you planning on leaving me? Our family? You canât, Nikolai!â
âNot leave. Just gone.â
She became even more frightened. âWhat do you mean by gone? Like missing? Or dead? Whatâs happening, Nikolai? Did something happen to you that I donât know about?â
He sighed before giving her cheek a light pinch. âNothing. Itâs just aâŠrhetorical question. Donât worry about it. Itâs nothing serious.â
âNikolai, donât joke about something like that!â She pulled his hand from her face and slapped it. âYouâre going to give me a heart attack someday, I swear!â
âMy sons have become too fat,â he said out of the blue.
Long Jinjingâs brain lagged for a couple of seconds at the sudden change in topic. She glared at him but still went along with him even though she knew that it was deliberate on his part.
âThe doctor says that their weights are still within the normal range,â she replied. âTheyâre fine. Xiulanâs breast milk is just too nutritious, I guess.â
He nodded.
âYou should talk to her,â Long Jinjing suggested. âI donât think the two of you have resolved your fight yet. Both of you are acting civil since you woke up butâŠI can still feel some tension. You were so close before.â
He grunted.
She wasnât sure whether it was a yes or a no.
âActually, just like you, I feel that Xiulan somewhat changed recently as well,â she said.
âYou also feel more comfortable with her?â he asked.
âNot exactly. To be honest, I feel that she has become moreâŠuhm, intimidating. But not in a bad way, I guess. Intimidating in a sense of being calmerâŠand more detached? Something like that. You know how she can get really emotional especially when she was pregnant, right? Sheâs not so much like that anymore. I feel like we can fight with her and sheâll still hold it together without losing an explosive temper. Isnât that scarier than usual?â
âHmm.â
Lu Zihao thought about it. Based on what his wife told him just now, an image of his sister popped in his mind. Not the Evelinka who was Long Xiulan now but the original Evelina Vetrova in their past life.
Due to her resistance to joining the family organization, Evelinkaâs personality had grown extremely detached from everyone and everything except for him, her brother, and her passions such as music and computers. It was initially her defence mechanism brought by their family environment but soon became a large part of her personality.
Her detachment gave others the impression that she was a cold and indifferent person even though this was far from the truth. He knew that she was kind, warm and loving.
An angel among a family of devils.
This was how he had always known his sisterâs personality. Imagine his surprise when he met her as Long Xiulan. She had become so outgoing, expressive, emotional and passionate in a way that he had never known her before.
A big part of him was happy for her. This was her dream lifeâto be free to pursue her own passions and showcase all her talents to the world without being tethered by her identity. He wanted her to live in joy, peace, and more importantly, freedomâsomething that she never had before as Evelina Vetrova.
However, there was still a tiny part of him that felt resentful. He had always denied this part of himself and pretended that it didnât exist. It only came to light and exploded in the open during his fight with his sister.
Then he fell into another coma. He reflected on a lot of things during and after being comatose.
One of the most important things that he reflected on was the resentment he had with his sister. Indeed, he needed to address it with her as soon as possible.