Chapter 55 - Blue

Shao Lin decided to visit her sister-in-law right after visiting her mother.

She had brought two sets of fresh flowers.​​

She gave one to her mother, and the other, she was to put it in Long Mei's treatment room.

Whenever Shao Lin visited Long Mei, she would replace the flowers in her vase and speak to her one-sidedly, even though she would not respond.

It was something Shao Lin did routinely, knowing they would have been close friends since the beginning had they met before.

Shao Lin hummed a tune to herself as she neared the door of Long Mei's room that was left ajar. She slowed, stepping through the entrance, finding a man she'd never met before standing next to the bed, watching her.

The man's expression was aloof and solemn, and there was something like gloominess that had worn his face.

Who was he?

She went to turn away quickly when she accidentally bumped into a moving cart.

The man came over quickly, startled. "Are you okay?" he questioned, taking her hand.

Woah. Shao Lin thought as she accepted the man's help. The man had a handsome head of blond hair. His eyes were hard as steel but tranquil beneath the depths of them. She recognized that gaze. It was the same one that Long Yat-sen wore around others when he was not sure if he should be indifferent or wary.

"I'm all right. Thank you, Mr…?"

"Jin Qing," he replied with a friendly smile and a slight bow of his head.

Shao Lin gaped. Her eyes widened. Long Xia's fiancé?

She shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Jin Qing. I'm Long Yat-sen's wife, Lin."

He smiled. "Very happy to meet another member of the Long family."

Damn, Shao Lin thought. She was so against Long Xia'a engagement to Jin Qing that she did not expect him to be so cordial.

She knew about the mutual feelings between Long Xia and Yuan Bojing, but she could not help but like this Jin Qing.

If this was the man her sister-in-law chose to marry, then her dear friend, Yuan Bojing, had serious competition.

No wonder Long Xia had accepted his proposal. Shao Lin had a feeling her sister-in-law would not give into a match so easily unless she felt like anyone else besides Yuan Bojing was the right person.

"You came to visit Mei?" Shao Lin questioned him.

"Yes," he replied, glancing at the woman on the bed once more. "I am the one investigating her case, and I wanted to see how her progression is coming along. She seems to be doing well, so when she wakes, I anticipate, she will be able to tell us the details of what happened."

Shao Lin nodded. "I hope she wakes up fine, and I am happy you will be able to get the people who did this to her."

He looked at her with deep-set eyes. "I will do what I can for your family and for her. I promise."

Shao Lin smiled.

At that, Jin Qing checked the time and said, "I should be on my way." He looked at Long Mei once more before he parted ways with her and left.

Shao Lin stayed in the room to replace the flowers in the vase when the nurse stepped in. "Oh, another visitor. Did you just see Mr. Jin?"

"Ah, yes," Shao Lin replied. "He just went out."

The nurse went toward Long Mei. "That's nice," she replied. "Mr. Jin is a very kind gentleman, isn't he? He visits Miss Long every week, and he would stay here for hours, talking to her."

Shao Lin widened her eyes. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I figured Mr. Jin was her lover. At least, I thought so and hoped he wasn't," she blushed. "But then I found out he was engaged to the other Miss Long," she sighed. "Which makes sense because only people within the Long family can visit this room, and although Mr. Jin isn't in the family yet, he will be one day."

Shao Lin's mouth fell open.

Jin Qing had been visiting Long Mei while being engaged with her sister! Why?

But Long Xia was also in love with another man. Shao Lin felt like her head was spinning.

She took a seat to wrap her head around it.

She doesn't know what Jin Qing's intentions are with the sisters, but she suspected she knew what it was, and she didn't know what to do or say.

She had to tell Long Yat-sen!

Shao Lin stood up. She was about to leave when she swore she saw the figure on the bed twitch. She froze.

The nurse's eyes widened as she stood and stared for a few moments before she went to call the doctor immediately.

It was a hazy blur for Shao Lin as she watched her sister-in-law slowly move her fingers, her limbs.

Her eyes fluttered open, and that stunning, unclear blue gaze fell onto her.

Shao Lin couldn't move.

She was stunned, and part of her felt like she shouldn't be here. It should have been her mother-in-law. It should have been Long Jie. Long Yat-sen or Long Xia.

Long Mei didn't get up or speak as she looked around, confused and disoriented.

An entire medical support team had stepped in, and Shao Lin stepped out of the room to give them space. She remained frozen for what felt like fifteen minutes until she saw Long Yat-sen come toward her. "Lin, is it true?" he asked.

Shao Lin glanced at her husband's expression. He looked happy, worried, and scared all at the same time. She hugged him. "She's awake..."

He shook her in arms, his weight leaning forward. She balanced him, knowing that when he had been contacted, he must not have believed it, not until Shao Lin told him herself.

Not long after, Long Xia had come, then the twins and their parents, all mirroring the same expression Long Yat-sen wore.

They had to wait.

In the sitting area, Long Yat-sen wrapped his arms around her, holding her. "How did she look?" he asked, making circles over her thigh to distract himself.

Shao Lin took a deep breath. "Confused. Lost," she began. "But it was her, Yat-sen. I've only seen that shade of blue with only a few other people." It was the colour of the coldest ice, the hottest flames.

Shao Lin never knew the colour of Long Mei's eyes before. It could have been brown, like their mother's, the twins. It was the dominant colour, but Long Mei inherited the famous colour in the Long family.

She remembered what Long Jie told her. The rumour where the strongest offspring in the Long family had often inherited those eyes. She had seen it with Long Yat-sen and Long Xia, but she never expected it with Long Mei. But it was all superstition anyway since eye colour would never define what a person ought to be.

"Will you stay with me until we can see her?" Long Yat-sen asked.

Shao Lin glanced at him. "I would never leave you, especially not a time like this."

And regardless of his family surrounding them, Long Yat-sen kissed her.