248: Chapter 249 The Business Queen Sheds Her Armor!

The afterglow of the setting sun penetrated the bulletproof glass of the intensive care ward, staining the pristine white bedsheets with a soft, orange-red hue.

Following the strict instructions of the top military surgeon, Shen Du, whose stomach had been empty for an entire day, did not overeat.

He leaned against the headboard, calmly finishing a bowl of bland lotus seed porridge without any seasoning.

He then slowly swallowed a hard-boiled egg.

The warm food slid into his stomach, finally dispelling the last trace of cold lingering in his limbs and bones.

Shen Du handed the empty bowl to Hong Yun at his bedside, looking at the dark circles under her eyes that seemed impossible to fade, his voice hoarse yet exceptionally gentle:

"Go back and get some rest early. It's very safe here, and you've been up for a day and a night with me."

"Clack!"

Hong Yun's hand, which was in the middle of packing up the food container, froze abruptly, and the plastic lid fell to the floor.

The powerhouse woman who had still been forcing a smile...

...at the moment that understated "Go back and get some rest" fell, her psychological defenses, which she had struggled to maintain all day, collapsed instantly.

She didn't even bother picking up the lid from the floor.

Instead, she lunged toward the bed, gripping the hem of Shen Du's hospital gown tightly with both hands, and buried her face in his chest.

The sobbing she had suppressed for so long finally spiraled out of control, turning into violent wails.

"Do you have any idea... when I was outside just now listening to them describe how you fought your way out, I was scared out of my wits!"

Hong Yun's shoulders shook violently, and her scalding tears quickly soaked the front of Shen Du's hospital gown.

She bit her lip hard, her tone filled with trembling dread and irrepressible resentment:

"I told you not to go!

Couldn't you have just let General Manager Chen Shengqiang take people to Europe to negotiate that kind of mess?!"

She suddenly raised her head; those eyes that were usually filled with shrewdness and decisiveness were now full of vulnerability and panic:

"If you had really had an accident in the Kabul Valley, what was I supposed to do alone?!"

Feeling the warmth and moisture gradually seeping into his chest, Shen Du did not speak.

He lowered his head slightly, looking at the woman in his arms who was crying to the point of collapse.

In her daily life, Hong Yun was a decisive business queen who managed the country's largest multi-billion-level live-streaming center.

But ever since she had returned to Zhejiang with Shen Du that year and had been truly accepted by Shen Du's mother,

she had long since shed all her armor in her heart, tethering her entire being and future firmly to Shen Du alone.

To her now,

no multi-billion empire or commercial landscape was worth as much as this man in front of her breathing safely and steadily.

Facing his lover's tears and her fearful reproaches,

Shen Du did not talk to her about "great power games," nor did he explain how irreplaceable this negotiation was for the breakthrough of the domestic semiconductor industry.

He simply raised the hand that still bore the bruise from the IV needle and gently stroked Hong Yun's hair.

"When I'm discharged from the hospital, we'll start preparing for our wedding."

This calm sentence, without any superfluous preamble, shattered the oppressive sobbing in the ward.

Hong Yun's sobbing stopped abruptly.

She suddenly lifted her head from Shen Du's arms, not even bothering to wipe the teardrops hanging on her cheeks.

Her red, swollen eyes stared fixedly at Shen Du's face, filled with incredulous shock and hope:

"...Really?"

Shen Du met her gaze; there was not a trace of the weakness of someone who had just survived a disaster in his eyes, but rather an extremely frank composure.

He curled the corners of his mouth slightly and reached out to wipe the tear stains from the corners of her eyes:

"Of course it's true."

"I told you before I left that as long as I came back this time, we would arrange the wedding."

Shen Du's tone was firm, every word carrying immense weight:

"I think now is the time."

This promise, which left no room for retreat and cut straight to the core, instantly swept away all the panic and anxiety in Hong Yun's heart.

The gloom in her eyes vanished, and the corners of her mouth lifted uncontrollably.

Hong Yun didn't say another word of nonsense.

She leaned forward directly and planted a passionate kiss on Shen Du's slightly chapped lips.

Afterward, she neatly wiped the tear stains from her face.

She turned around, picked up the insulated cup on the bedside table, and, feeling satisfied and light-footed, pushed open the ward door and strode out.

"Click."

The heavy soundproof door closed again, completely isolating Hong Yun's light footsteps outside.

The ward fell back into a deathly silence.

At the very moment the door closed,

the layer of ease and composure that Shen Du had forcibly feigned to soothe his lover instantly peeled away.

He slammed his eyes shut, his head hitting the back of the hospital bed hard, and gritted his teeth.

"Buzz—!"

A sharp ringing suddenly erupted deep within his otherwise quiet brain.

Immediately afterward, the shadows of the brutal battlefield, which he had forcibly suppressed deep within his rationality, came rushing back frantically!

Bloody slices of scenes flashed across his retinas continuously.

Limbs torn into blood mist by machine cannons across the mountains and plains, hot sand and dust mixed with the thick smell of gunpowder and burning stench.

And the terrifying sonic booms that threatened to shatter his internal organs when the multinational coalition force's heavy howitzers carpet-bombed the area...

Shen Du's chest began to heave violently, his breathing becoming heavy and intermittent.

His hands gripped the white bedsheet beneath him tightly.

Veins bulged on the backs of his hands, and his knuckles turned a shocking, deathly pale from the excessive force.

Having forcibly fought his way out of that desperate situation of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, this body had long since been imprinted with violent stress responses.

He needed to be alone right now.

He needed a quiet space without any external stimuli to forcibly swallow and digest this violent energy he had contracted on the edge of life and death.

However, before he could fully suppress this post-war trauma that was rampaging in his chest,

"Step, step, step..."

Outside in the corridor, there was a sudden, extremely steady and powerful sound of leather shoes treading.

The footsteps, without any hesitation or attempt to soften, walked straight down the corridor and stopped outside the door of this intensive care ward.

There was no knocking to ask for permission, nor any hesitation.

"Bang."

The heavy, specially-made ward door was pushed open decisively by a large hand.

As the cold white light from the corridor flooded in,

a middle-aged man in a dark gray trench coat with a heavy, reserved aura strode in.

The person who arrived was none other than the eldest son of the Shen Family, and also Shen Du's eldest uncle.

Shen Che.

Shen Che's gaze swept calmly over Shen Du, who was covered in cold sweat on the hospital bed and still struggling to suppress his heavy breathing.

He did not put on any high-and-mighty elder airs.

Instead, he casually dragged a metal attendant chair from the side, pulled it to the bedside with a "screech," and sat down in a domineering, wide-legged stance.

"Kid, you've got a tough life. You managed to survive even that kind of death trap."

Shen Che's voice was deep and resonant, carrying a unique sense of gravity.

Shen Du forcibly cut off the hallucinations of gunpowder smoke churning in his mind to see who had arrived.

He braced himself against the edge of the bed, subconsciously wanting to sit up straight: "Banker Shen, why are you here?"

"That's enough, just lie down properly."

Shen Che extended a broad palm and pressed it firmly onto Shen Du's shoulder, steadily pushing him back against the backrest.

He took the opportunity to pat Shen Du's leg, his tone revealing no ripples:

"I originally came to keep an eye on those two stubborn mules outside who refused to go for debridement.

Since I found they weren't in the corridor, I just came in to see you."

There were no hypocritical pleasantries or small talk.

Shen Che stared sharply into Shen Du's eyes and delivered his verdict without hesitation:

"You are a hero.

Whether it was you snatching success from the jaws of danger in Europe to finalize the negotiations, or risking your life to lead the domestic semiconductor industry to forcefully break through its barriers.

With such a great contribution, the higher-ups will definitely not treat you unfairly.

It is only right that I came to see you today."

Shen Du did not respond.

His tightened jawline and the stress-induced bloodshot eyes faintly twitching beneath his eyelids could not escape the eyes of an old hand like Shen Che.

Shen Che saw through it but did not point it out; he leaned forward slightly, his tone revealing a kind of empathy unique to men:

"I know that after truly crawling out of that kind of war-torn hell of corpses and blood, your mind certainly doesn't feel good.

That murderous energy cannot be suppressed in a short while."

"When I first led a team to the border for a live-fire anti-narcotics mission, I watched with my own eyes as the people beside me were blown apart.

For a whole week after I returned, I would subconsciously reach for my gun whenever I heard a door close.

It's exactly the same as you are now."

Shen Che's eyes became profound, as if he were examining a peerless, murderous weapon that had just been sharpened and still carried the smell of blood:

"But men, well, they always have to go through these things to grow.

You are now in a high position, holding the livelihoods of thousands of people and national interests in your hands.

In the future, you will more or less encounter situations where you are targeted by all sorts of monsters and demons."

Shen Che paused, his tone suddenly rising a notch, delivering his words with immense power:

"To be able to forcefully fight your way out of that desperate situation.

You've crossed this hurdle.

This courage, having seen real blades and guns, is a massive asset that ordinary people will never experience in their entire lives!"

Shen Che's guidance, filled with the strong scent of iron, blood, and gunpowder, without any concealment or hypocrisy,

precisely shattered the battlefield noises that were crazily circling in Shen Du's mind.

That manic, violent energy that had been stuck firmly in Shen Du's chest, making it hard for him to even breathe,

was miraculously and forcibly suppressed and smoothed out in front of this family elder who had truly experienced life-and-death trials and held great power.

Shen Du's back muscles, which had been so tense they were almost cramping,

finally relaxed bit by bit, sinking into the soft backrest of the hospital bed.

His eyes, which had originally been filled with bloodshot veins and revealed a stress-induced defensive state like a dying beast,

also gathered clear light once again, like a night sky whose gloom had been blown away by a gale.

Shen Che's seasoned eyes extremely keenly captured the complete transformation in Shen Du's aura.

"That's it."

Seeing this young oriental tiger finally stabilize his mind completely by relying on his own resilience,

Shen Che did not continue with any heavy topics.

He stood up very decisively.

His broad palm patted the back of Shen Du's hand, which was resting on the quilt, heavily, and he let out a hearty chuckle:

"I won't disturb you, the great hero, from resting anymore.

I need to go to the surgery department to keep an eye on things.

Let's see if those two stubborn mules next door have finally been obediently pinned to the debridement bed."

"Sorry to trouble you."

Shen Du exhaled a long breath of stale air, and the corners of his mouth finally curled into a relaxed smile.

He did not offer any hypocritical thanks, but simply nodded solemnly at this eldest uncle whom he had not yet formally acknowledged.

"Click."

As Shen Che turned and pulled open the ward door,

the sound of his striding footsteps gradually faded into the distance, and the ward returned to absolute silence once again.

But this time, that suffocating battlefield oppression and stress-induced auditory hallucinations had dissipated somewhat.