Chapter 401: The Scars

She hugged onto him tightly, fearing that he would disappear if she let go.

Li Lei patted her gently on the back and said, "Don't worry, Xiao Ling. I'm here, aren't I? You've suffered in this period that I was gone."

The tears that she had managed to hold back started to fall uncontrollably.

He lovingly caressed her face. "Crying like a little kitten."

Her tears fell even quicker, and she choked through her tears. "You finally came to find me! Do you know how much I've missed you?! I was so afraid, so worried..." She was worried about his injury, fearing that he was not doing as well as Chu Chen and Sister Mai Na had made it out to be. She could not sleep well if she did not see how he was doing for herself.

Li Lei wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "I'm sorry for making you worry." He did not look well and was skinnier than before. He also looked tired with red eyes and his lips slightly purple, as if he were still recovering from a big illness. Yet, he still comforted Xia Ling.

Xia Ling also observed that he was looking rather frail. She recalled that Chu Chen had said that he was seriously injured, and his spine had been damaged. It was miraculous that he had not become crippled from the fall. She hurriedly looked him up and down, asking with concern, "How are your injuries? Are you recovering well? Is there still pain anywhere?"

As she spoke, she sat up on the sofa, wanting to check his injuries.

Li Lei raised his hand to block her. "I'm alright. The injuries are all recovered already." He smiled and said, "I can run and jump. How about you? Are you okay?"

Was she okay? She thought of the child she was carrying and did not know where to start.

However, before she checked on his injuries, she had no mood to explain her side of the story to him. She avoided his question and reached out again to him. "Let me see." If she did not check for herself if he were recovering well, how could she set her heart at peace?

Li Lei smiled before shifting from his position on his side to lie on his back. He accurately caught her hand that was about to unbutton his shirt. "I told you I'm fine. Don't take advantage of me."

"No, I want to see." She insisted. She was more suspicious that he was lying about his condition since he refused to let her see for herself.

"I'm really fine."

Xia Ling glared at him angrily. Since when did this person become so petty, refusing even to let her have a glance? Why was he acting all shy? It was not like she had not seen his body before.

"Li Lei, are you going to let me see or not?"

"I know my body is good, and I like your enthusiasm." He crossed his arms behind his head to form a makeshift pillow. He smiled innocently and said, "But you have to rein it in a little. Xiao Ling, we're in Feng Kun's office. Control yourself, what if someone sees us?"

While she was angry, she could not help but turn red at his suggestive joke.

She sheepishly looked towards the door. Thankfully, the door was closed.

"Oh yes." She recalled and asked. "How did you get in here?" This was Imperial Entertainment's office, and security was tight. From the garden out front to the office building, he had to go through rounds and rounds of security and identification checks. How was it possible that he was able to appear so quietly in front of her?

"Feng Kun." He lazily replied.

She understood. Even though Feng Kun was working for Imperial Entertainment, he was on her side and had no reason to stop Li Lei from seeing her. However, she knew that he had probably set down quite a lot of conditions to create this opportunity for them.

She was touched. This was a risky move for Feng Kun that could offend Pei Ziheng.

She was indebted to him.

"What are you thinking about?" Li Lei asked.

Xia Ling was pulled back from her drifting thoughts. Seeing that he still refused to remove his shirt, she bristled at him. "Go, get off the couch! Don't squeeze here with me with your jacket on. It's filthy! Go wash up."

There was sand on his clothes, which made her wonder what he had been through to get to her.

Li Lei lowered his head to look down at his clothes. It could not be helped. Old Master Li was afraid that he would come to look for Xia Ling and had placed many bodyguards around him to monitor his actions. With difficulty, he had snuck out by jumping out the window and climbing over a fence. It would be a miracle to do all that and still remain clean.

He felt wronged since his beloved Xia Ling was keeping him at arm's length. "I'm not dirty."

She kicked him gently away.

He felt more upset. "How am I to find a place to wash up in this office?"

She kicked him gently again and pointed in the direction of the washrooms with her foot.

Seeing that she was adamant on him washing up, Li Lei grudgingly got up and went to the washroom. He turned on the tap and started to clean himself.

Xia Ling timed herself after he had left the room.

She got up at the opportune moment and walked to the washrooms. She did not believe that Li Lei was completely fine. If he were, why wouldn't he let her see his injuries? She needed to verify for herself.

The office was quiet in the night, and the corridor was empty.

She held her breath as she walked stealthily to the men's washroom, pushing open the door carefully. It was locked from the inside. Xia Ling was more certain that something was amiss. She ran over to the recording studio next door where Feng Kun was sleeping and woke him up. She asked, "Do you know how to open the men's washroom door?"

"What's going on?" Feng Kun looked at her confused.

"I don't have time to explain." She said. "Quick, tell me how to open it. I need to go in right now."

Seeing how anxious she was, Feng Kun did not ask anymore but rang the security officer on duty, asking him to release the lock on the men's washroom on this floor. Imperial Entertainment's facilities were high-classed, and the electronic lock was installed in case of emergencies so that it could be opened through the security system if required.

The instant the lock was opened, Xia Ling rushed to the men's washroom.

She pushed open the door and entered. She saw a man's half-naked upper body under the washroom lights, lean and well-built.

Li Lei's reaction was quick. He had turned the moment he heard her enter, and his back was turned to her. However, Xia Ling still saw the big scar that ran across his back — it was a deep and long scar that weaved across his back from his waist to his shoulder like it was cutting his body in half. There was another deep surgical incision scar located near the scar on his back. It was terrifying, and Xia Ling could not bear imagine the struggle he had gone through to survive.

"Xiao Ling, you..."

Li Lei wanted to say something, but she had already run over and embraced him from behind. Her tears were falling uncontrollably from a mix of emotions — guilt, pain, sadness.

He stood there stiffly letting her hug him in front of the mirror, before turning around and pulling her into his arms. "Silly Xiao Ling, I'm really fine. Why are you crying so hard?"

More tears fell as Xia Ling buried her head in his chest and did not look up.