Volume One, Chapter Five: This World Will Get Better

As soon as Lin Chen stepped into the hospital, the old lady’s call came through.

“Aunt Li, did you need something from me?” Lin Chen said with utmost courtesy.

He already knew the old lady’s name: Li Xiulan, sixty-eight years old.

“Xiao Chen, thank you,” Li Xiulan said, her voice trembling with excitement.

“Auntie, how can you say that? If anyone should be thanking anyone, it’s me thanking you!”

He meant it from the heart.

If not for the old lady, how could he have repaid his debts so easily, and even ended up with such a beautiful wife?

Though she was still lying in bed now, Lin Chen believed everything would get better.

“This morning, I got a call from Doctor Zhang. He said Tang Tang moved a finger yesterday. That’s a very good start...

“I never expected the effect to be this good on just the first day, so I’ll still need to trouble you to go keep her company more often, talk to her more. As for money, that’s no problem. As long as Tang Tang can truly recover, you can have as much as you need.”

Li Xiulan’s voice was thick with emotion.

Doctor Zhang’s words had given her hope again.

“Aunt Li, you don’t need to worry about that. I’m already at the hospital now, and in a little while I’ll go keep her company. Besides, I’m now Xu Mi’s husband. I will do everything in my power to wake her up. That is my duty as her husband.”

“Good, good, good.”

The old lady said “good” three times in a row, enough to show how overjoyed she was. “Back then, I didn’t misjudge you. I really didn’t. From now on, I’m entrusting Tang Tang to you.”

“Aunt Li, just rest easy.”

After hanging up, Lin Chen looked up at the newly risen sun.

A wave of emotion washed through him.

Who would have thought I’d be a married man too?

When the feeling subsided, he went to Xu Mi’s room.

“Wife, your little husband is here.”

“Did you miss me after one night apart?”

Lin Chen sat down beside Xu Mi with practiced ease, took her delicate hand, and began chatting to himself.

“You definitely didn’t miss me, but I missed you terribly... I even dreamed of you last night. I dreamed you woke up, and we lived together every day, our days sweet and happy.

“Wife, your name is Xu Mi; life ought to be sweet already... If your days have been bitter, then it’s only because you never met me.

“I’m not bragging, but your little husband may be young, yet I know plenty. I can do housework, I can massage, and I can even cook very well.

“So, wife, what do you like to eat? When you wake up, I’ll make it all for you, okay?”

After saying all that, Lin Chen turned to Xu Mi, waiting eagerly for some reaction from her.

Unfortunately, she still lay there quietly, motionless.

Lin Chen felt a little disappointed.

“Wife, are you still not out of bed? You little sleepyhead, time to get up. The sun’s already shining on your backside.”

“Oh, and last night my mother called me—yes, your best friend Zhao XiuXiu. She was pestering me about marriage again, saying I absolutely have to bring a girlfriend home by the end of the year.

“I didn’t tell her about our marriage. Tell me, should I tell her or not? That way, she won’t keep nagging me about it.”

As soon as Lin Chen said this, Xu Mi’s eyelids twitched on the hospital bed.

Seeing her respond, Lin Chen was delighted.

This trick really worked.

“Wife, I saw you move. Do you mean I should tell her?”

“Huh, your finger moved again. Looks like you think so too.”

“Huh? Why is your finger moving so fast?”

Seeing Xu Mi’s finger twitching nonstop, Lin Chen couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

“Hahaha, wife, why are you getting anxious? I was joking. I won’t tell my mother. Even if I do, it’ll only be after you’ve woken up and agreed to it.”

After Lin Chen finished, Xu Mi’s fingers finally grew still.

Lin Chen smiled with quiet understanding.

This old baby was quite the odd one—unafraid even of death, yet somehow frightened by something like this?

And speaking of death, Lin Chen suddenly thought of something and murmured, “Wife, I don’t know what you went through before, to the point where you had no more attachments to this world.

“But now that we’re married, I won’t allow you to be like that anymore... Whatever we face in the future, I’ll bear it with you, and enjoy it with you—poverty or wealth, happiness or pain.

“We’re married now. We should become the most important attachment in each other’s lives. Wife, you have to recover properly. You have to get better soon.

“This world will become better.”

Even Lin Chen didn’t know why, but as he spoke, he grew a little sad.

At the most emotional part, he leaned forward, cupped her face in both hands, and studied her intently.

It was also the first time he had ever done something so intimate to a woman.

His own cheeks burned hot.

If Xu Mi were not a vegetative patient, lying there so obediently, he really wouldn’t have dared to be so bold.

“Wife, you’re really beautiful. How was I so lucky, that on my very first blind date, I met you...”

“Wife, since I’m already this lucky, I’ll surely keep being lucky from now on, won’t I? You’ll wake up, and then we’ll live a shamelessly wonderful life.”

Whether it was an illusion or not, after he said that, Lin Chen felt Xu Mi’s cheeks grow warm.

He quickly pulled his hand back and touched his own face.

It was warm too.

For a moment, he couldn’t quite tell.

“Wife, I thought you were blushing there, and you nearly made me happy for nothing.”

“Anyway, I looked up a lot of information last night. It said that massaging a vegetative patient every day helps with recovery later on. From now on, I’ll massage you every day...”

With that, Lin Chen stood up, rolled up his sleeves, and began massaging Xu Mi.

First her calves, then her thighs, then her arms, shoulders, and neck.

By the time he finished the whole routine, Lin Chen was gasping for breath and drenched in sweat.

Afterward, he had only just sat down to rest for two minutes when the door was pushed open and a young nurse came in with a trolley.

“Room five, the patient needs her nutritional drip now.”

“Oh, all right.”

Lin Chen hurried to his feet and clumsily helped from the side.

After the nurse set up the IV, she did not leave immediately. Instead, she looked at Lin Chen with curiosity.

“Are you the patient’s family? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“Uh...” Lin Chen scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “I’m the patient’s husband. We just got our marriage certificate yesterday.”

“Oh, I get it. So you’re that Lin Chen, the one who married for good luck?” The nurse looked enlightened.

“Yes.” Lin Chen nodded.

“Young man, you’re really handsome.” The nurse studied Lin Chen seriously. “Your wife is beautiful too. I’ve worked at this hospital for so many years, and I’ve never seen anyone this pretty. Even more beautiful than the stars on television. And honestly, you two really do look like a married couple.”

“Thank you, thank you for the compliment.” Lin Chen replied with a grin.

“Oh, right. Just now my wife’s finger moved again. In her condition, does that mean she’s about to wake up?”