Chapter 97: 097: Jiang Zhi: Ah Fang, please coax (first update)
At 10:40 p.m., Xue Bingxue ca out of the ergency room.
Old Lady Jiang, supported by others, rose to her feet, “Bingxue, how is Brother Zhi doing?”
Xue Bingxue pulled down her mask, “Seawater has caused aspiratory pneumonia; we need to proceed with anti-inflammatory and antiviral treatnts.”
“Is there a risk to his life?”
Xue Bingxue’s expression grew grave, “His cardio-pulmonary condition isn’t very good; we still need to observe him.”
Hearing this, Old Lady Jiang staggered.
...
The Gui Family hastily spoke soothing words, urging the Old Madam not to upset herself too much.
“Don’t worry too much. Once Brother Zhi’s condition stabilizes, I’ll inform you,” hesitated Xue Bingxue, “regarding the perpetrator…”
He stopped there, not continuing further.
When Old Lady Jiang heard the words “perpetrator,” her expression turned cold, “Ah Gui, call Fuxi over to attend to Brother Zhi.”
Gui complied, “Yes, Old Madam.”
Old Lady Jiang lifted her gaze and looked over her shoulder, “Lin.”
Jiang Xiaolin stepped forward and asked what was the matter.
“I heard from the servants below that Fuli also went to the wedding today,” the Old Lady seed to be hinting at sothing.
Jiang Xiaolin replied, “She did go.”
Aside from Jiang Zhi, those invited from the Jiang Family included the eldest of the first house, Jiang Xiaolin, the second house’s Jiang Fuli, and the Fifth Miss, Jiang Wei’er.
Even the subordinates from the Jiang Group had all co to the hospital, yet Jiang Fuli was nowhere to be seen.
Old Lady Jiang was visibly angry, “Brother Zhi was pushed into the sea, and she, as his cousin, didn’t even show her face?”
Jiang Xiaolin, hand on his suit, looked closely, several scratch marks visible on the back of his hand. His expression unchanged, his reply was composed, “She might have had business with the company and left the seat midway. She called just now, saying she would co over later.”
Clearly annoyed, Old Madam tapped her cane, “Tell her there’s no need to co!”
Jiang Xiaolin acknowledged he understood.
Old Madam then turned to look at Jiang Wei’er, completely ignoring the person beside her, “Wei’er, co with to the police station.”
Jiang Wei’er subconsciously looked back.
Standing behind her was Xiao Linsu. He hadn’t asked a single question about her relationship with the Jiang Family; he just followed her, accompanying her through all the hustle and bustle.
This was probably the first ti Old Lady Jiang had t him in person. Her deanor was indifferent, distant, and there was a hint of condescension, “We won’t trouble Mr. Xiao with our Jiang Family affairs.”
Jiang Wei’er was about to defend him.
But Xiao Linsu held her back, shaking his head.
Jiang Wei’er then refrained from arguing with her mother, feeling sowhat nervous, and instructed him, “Wait for my call.”
He replied, “Okay.”
At eleven o’clock at night, there were footsteps outside the ward.
The Gui Family hurried forward to greet the visitor, asking, “Is it Sister Xi?”
The newcor lowered her hood, with well-proportioned features, she looked dignified and stately, “It’s .” Her voice was gentle and soft, pleasing to the ear, “Is Brother Zhi awake?”
Jiang Fuxi was only older than Jiang Zhi by so months; they rarely called each other cousins.
The Gui Family answered, “Not yet.” Stepping forward to take the embroidered cloak from Jiang Fuxi, she conveyed the instructions from the Old Madam one by one, “The Old Madam and Fifth Miss have gone to the police station; Lin has returned to the old house. Before leaving, the Old Madam said that the Young Master doesn’t like strangers and asked Sister Xi to take good care of him.”
“I understand.”
Then, the two of them walked together to the intensive care ward.
Xue Bingxue just happened to be at the door.
Jiang Fuxi approached, “Dr. Xue.”
Xue Bingxue was not particularly close to Jiang Fuxi; she had been brought up by Old Lady Jiang’s side since childhood and rarely left ho.
Xue Bingxue nodded; they had little to say to each other.
Jiang Fuxi always spoke kindly, inquiring, “May I go in to see Brother Zhi?”
Xue Bingxue shook her head, her doctor’s white coat making her young-looking face appear more somber, “It’s not visiting hours right now. There’s a family waiting room outside; I’ll let you know once Brother Zhi is past the observation period.”
Jiang Fuxi thanked her and gazed toward the door for a while before leaving.
Once she was far enough away, Xue Bingxue put on her mask and entered the ward.
“How are you feeling?”
The person on the bed moved, “I don’t feel very comfortable.” The figure turned over, looking worried, “Third Young Master, what kind of dicine is this? Can it be administered even without any illness? Won’t there be any side effects? I feel like half of my body is all cold.”
This person was Lin Wanwan.
Her employer had slipped away, and she had been brought in to fill in, impersonating soone else was one thing, but this was a bit too realistic; her chest felt numb, could she be electrocuted by the monitor? And also this IV drip…
Dr. Xue comforted the ‘patient’, “It’s just glucose; it’s not harmful to the body.”
Ah Wan suddenly felt the cold on one side dissipate, “Oh, glucose.”
But what about the heart monitor? Could that electrocute her?
Ah Wan remained filled with worry.
anwhile, Jiang Zhi, who had slipped away from the hospital, was already on the expressway.
For the fourth ti, he urged, “Drive faster, cough cough cough cough cough…”
“It felt as if his lungs were on fire. Wrapped in a coat, he curled up on the back seat, coughing more and more violently.
Xue Baoyi glanced at him through the rearview mirror. His beautiful face was now as pale as a ghost’s, the rims of his eyes reddened, his expression listless, like a wilted flower, bereft of its vibrant beauty, leaving only delicate frailty.
It was heart-wrenchingly pitiful!
“We’re already going very fast,” Xue Baoyi, seeing his condition, couldn’t help but tease him, “If you keep this up, you’re going to lose that half a life you have left.”
Really, after all these years, I’ve never seen him act so recklessly.
Can a woman be more important than one’s own life?
Xue Baoyi couldn’t understand, feeling that Jiang Zhi was going overboard, “Brother Zhi, I an, do you really have to be this way? If you want to see her, just give her a call. If she doesn’t co, I’ll tie her up and bring her to you. Is it really necessary for you to personally drag yourself over in this state?”
This will only spoil her, and then she’ll be even more out of control.
Jiang Zhi, pinching his forehead, had fingers devoid of color, pale and translucent, truly bereft of strength, weakly said, “My head hurts a lot, stop nagging .”
Xue Baoyi humd, “Alright, I won’t talk anymore. After all, it’s not who’s being tornted by a woman.”
Jiang Zhi urged him to drive faster once again.
A forty-minute journey was completed in less than half an hour. The on-duty security guard, seeing the luxury car, asked a few questions before letting them through.
Xue Baoyi parked the car aside and unbuckled his seatbelt, “I’ll go call her down for you.”
Jiang Zhi pushed the car door open directly, “No need, I’ll go myself.”
He adjusted the coat around him and walked into the night.
The cold wind of a winter night was bone-chilling; within monts, his pale face flushed with a hint of rosy color. The cold was biting, the night devoid of pedestrians, and the dim streetlights cast splotchy shadows off the branch tips of a cedar tree, scattering points of light.
Jiang Zhi hadn’t reached Building 17 when the door on the ground floor opened abruptly without warning.
Zhou Xufang, wearing a black hoodie with a cotton coat thrown over it, holding a bag of sothing, stood at the door, staring blankly at Jiang Zhi.
He was looking at her too.
Behind him was a sliver of moonlight, peering through dispersing clouds, pale white, mingling with the lamplight, blending into a beautiful color, yet not as fetching as him, not by a fraction.
Zhou Xufang watched him for a long while before she turned her head away and stamred, “I ca down to take out the trash.”
Jiang Zhi didn’t expose her lie, standing still, the wind blowing his hair and the hem of his clothes, leaving only his weak and hoarse voice in the profound silence.
“Zhou Xufang, I don’t have the energy, co here to .”
She agreed, setting the trash bag down, and took steps toward him, stopping a ter away from him.
Jiang Zhi moved a step forward, extended his hand, and pulled her into his embrace.
Not far away, the overhead street light cast a pair of entwined shadows on the ground—he was much taller than her, and with his arms wide open, he could easily hide her completely in his embrace.
He tilted his head slightly, and his chin grazed the soft hair on top of her head, “Do you have any discomfort?”
Without moving, Zhou Xufang replied, “No.” She inford him, “I’m in good health.”
That’s good.
Jiang Zhi rubbed his face against her head, exhaling a long breath of relief.
Zhou Xufang tilted her head just a bit, “What about you?”
“I won’t die.”
He couldn’t afford to die, not now that he had her. He had to live a bit longer.
She was still worried about him, looking up to stare at his face, feeling as if he had gotten thinner, “It’s very windy outside—” she began to urge him to go back to the hospital.
Jiang Zhi knew too well, cutting her off, holding her without letting go, “Don’t rush , it wasn’t easy for to co here.”
“Jiang Zhi.”
He bent down, burying his face in her shoulder, “Let’s hug a bit longer.”
How bold she was, to leap into the deep sea.
He had drunk too much water and couldn’t rember details, only that she kept calling for him, and seed to be crying.
“Jiang Zhi.”
“Hmm.”
Zhou Xufang craned her neck to look at him, noticing his eyes were red.
She beca anxious imdiately, “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Zhi let go of her, hastily wiped his eyes, and made up a quick excuse, “The wind is too strong, it’s making my eyes hurt.”
She believed him and tiptoed to cover his eyes with her hands, shielding him from the wind.
She was a smart girl, yet sotis so naive.
Jiang Zhi caught her hand, bringing it to his lips.
She instantly pulled back, her expression timid and shy, stepping back a couple of paces, her cheeks reddening, too shy to look at him, she asked softly, “Are we reconciled?”
She rembered him being angry before.
Jiang Zhi, hands in his pockets, found her obedience quite pleasing yet still managed to suppress the smile curving on his lips, “No,” he argued illogically, “I don’t make friends with won. If you don’t beco my girlfriend, we can’t reconcile.”
Zhou Xufang’s eyebrows furrowed, her face quickly showing signs of disappointnt and sadness.
Jiang Zhi smiled, “Unless,”
She imdiately looked up.
He began cajoling, “If you coax , if you coax , then I’ll be friends with you.”
So she had to coax him to be friends.
“”
Shuangjiang also said she needed to coax him.
But how? She had never coaxed anyone before. Her eyebrows were furrowed for a long while before she finally said, “I have a gift for you.” The gift was at ho. “Can you wait here for , okay?”
Jiang Zhi said okay.
She hurried back, and when she reached the staircase, she looked back: “Do you want to wait here? There’s no wind.” He had just fallen into the water not long ago; his body must be very weak and couldn’t be chilled by the cold wind again.
Jiang Zhi, of course, would have wished for nothing better: “I can.”
Not able to enter her room, but at least he made it into her apartnt staircase.
Zhou Xufang ran up and quickly ca down again. The gift she brought Jiang Zhi was a bit… special.
“What’s this?”
She handed it over to Jiang Zhi with both hands: “Slippers.”
Jiang Zhi: “…”
This one from his family really didn’t follow the beaten path.
“Why give slippers?” And they were pink and tender at that—not only were they pink and tender, but there was also a huge rabbit head on the slippers.
Zhou Xufang obviously cherished these slippers, tenderly smoothing down the fur on the rabbit: “I bought a pair too; the pink color is very pretty and they’re especially warm.”
She felt that when sothing was good, she wanted to give it all to Jiang Zhi.
Jiang Zhi glanced at the girlish rabbit heads on the slippers and resisted inside: “These are won’s.”
“No, I asked the custor service, and they said size 42 and 43 are for n.”
Would a man wear such effeminate shoes?
Nevermind.
After all, it was his little girl’s kind intention, how could he not go along with it? He was rather pleased to accept the gift: “Have you bought these for anyone else?”
These slippers were hard to buy; they had to be reserved. She had wanted to buy them for Jiang Zhi for a long ti, and it took quite a while before they arrived. She shook her head: “No.” She had only bought slippers for him.
That’s more like it.
Jiang Zhi touched the rabbit head’s fur and found it more and more pleasing to the eye.
Then suddenly—
“ow!”
A cat’s ow in the middle of the night sounded a bit eerie.
Jiang Zhi turned his head and saw a grey cat erge from the old furniture in the stairwell: “Where did this cat co from?”
“It’s a stray cat.”
That grey cat lashed out at Jiang Zhi a few tis with its claws, then it went to Zhou Xufang’s feet and rubbed against her pant leg obediently.
Really unlucky—this cat was dressed all in pink, and the pink dress even featured a large rabbit head. And just so happed it looked exactly the sa as the one on Jiang Zhi’s slippers, definitely from the sa series at the sa store!
“Did you buy this stupid cat’s dress too?”
Yes, stupid cat.
Zhou Xufang nodded honestly.
Jiang Zhi’s face changed instantly: “Didn’t you say you didn’t buy it for anyone else?”
He was a little fierce, not very powerful, just like the grey cat usually acted when guarding its food.
Zhou Xufang didn’t know what he was angry about and didn’t dare to ask, only whispered in defense: “It’s a cat, not a person.”
Jiang Zhi was still unsatisfied and pointed to the pink dress on the cat: “How much did its dress cost?”
Zhou Xufang had a good mory: “Three hundred and forty-eight.”
Jiang Zhi then lifted his slippers to her: “And mine?”
Zhou Xufang was honest and straightforward: “One, hundred and ninety.”
Jiang Zhi: “…”
Fine, he was less worthy than a cat.
Damn, wanted to kill that stupid cat.
“ow~”
The cat that was baring its teeth just a mont ago was now shivering and hiding behind Zhou Xufang.
The ironclad straight girl Zhou Xufang couldn’t grasp what was in Jiang Zhi’s jealously sensitive young heart: “Are we good now?”
Jiang Zhi leaned languidly against the wall, appearing quite frail and delicate, huffy as he spoke with a tone that was anything but pleasant: “No.” His eyelids drooped as he glowered darkly at the stupid cat, “I’m not that easy to coax.”
Oh, not yet appeased.
Zhou Xufang imdiately asked: “What else do you want?” She would give it all to him!
Jiang Zhi turned away, coughing delicately with a flush on his skin and eyes misty: “Cough, cough… I want you to take back.”
“Okay.”
Zhou Xufang went directly to get the vehicle from the garage.
Jiang Zhi, looking at the vehicle and holding his slippers, was stunned for a few seconds: “What kind of vehicle is this?”
“An electric tricycle.”
Her SUV and sedan had been sent for maintenance, and they were a bit expensive—she didn’t dare to drive them in front of Jiang Zhi. Only motorcycles, electric scooters, and bicycles remained in the garage. This one had a rain cover, and Jiang Zhi couldn’t be exposed to wind, so she brought out the electric tricycle she usually used for her market stall.
Jiang Zhi stood in the draft, his blue hair blown into a wild disarray, his expression a bit… hard to describe: “Where should I sit?”
Zhou Xufang opened the rain canopy in the back: “You sit in the back under the canopy, I’ve laid out a blanket, it’s very warm.”
Captivated by the sight of the adorable bunny design on the blanket, Jiang Zhi: “…”
It was his first ti riding in such a posh vehicle as he had grown up.
On the way back, Xue Baoyi was driving while talking on the phone to her uncle.
Xue Bingxue was urging on the other end, “I’m coming, I’m coming.”
“Co out to et when I get to the hospital.”
Xue Bingxue instructed her to drive directly to the hospital’s parking lot.
So Xue Baoyi just said, “Oh, Jiang Zhi didn’t ride in my car.”
Whose car did he ride in?
Xue Baoyi drove the sports car at a snail’s pace, closely following the tricycle in front: “It’s Zhou Xufang’s vehicle.”
“It’s an electric tricycle, and Jiang Zhi is sitting in the yellow canopy in the back.”
“He’s also wearing a yellow helt for food delivery.”
It’s not that I don’t want to be a good bro and laugh at him; I just can’t help it: “Seeing him wrapped in a blanket and sitting in the back, I fucking want to donate to him.”
“He’s even holding a pair of won’s pink slippers.”
“The fussiness scared the hell out of .”
“He was afraid of making his woman angry and kept glaring at ; I was about to get sick from holding back my laughter!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… Jiang Zhi is ridiculously stupid!”
Fifty minutes later, Zhou Xufang, carrying the ‘ridiculously stupid’ Jiang Zhi, arrived at the hospital.
She parked the car in a concealed spot and then got out to open the canopy in the back: “Jiang Zhi, we’re here.”
“Mhm.”
Jiang Zhi didn’t move, waiting for her to assist him.
Zhou Xufang reached out her hand.
He obediently leaned on her, coughing lightly and gasping as he got off the car.
Zhou Xufang felt he was uncomfortable due to the illness and helped him with extra care, afraid that using too much force might hurt him: “Do you want to take you inside?”
“No need.” He didn’t want the Jiang Family to see her.
Zhou Xufang gave an “oh”: “Then I’ll be going.”
Jiang Zhi hadn’t let go yet, his hand resting on her shoulder, not putting all his weight on her, but leaning his entire body towards her, he looked down, making eye contact.
“Zhou Xufang.”
“Hmm?”
He touched the yellow delivery helt on her head, tucking a stray lock of her hair behind her ear: “Co to the hospital to see tomorrow.”
Zhou Xufang agreed: “Okay.” After a mont of silence, her tone suddenly beca solemn, and she looked at him intently, “Jiang Zhi, you need to stay healthy and not get sick.”
He bent down to tighten her helt a bit more: “Okay, I promise you.”
After giving his instructions, Zhou Xufang was about to say goodbye.
Jiang Zhi asked her: “Did you get your driver’s license?”
“I did.”
“How’s your driving?”
Zhou Xufang was very honest: “It’s great.”
Jiang Zhi glanced back: “Xue Baoyi, let her drive your car.”
Xue Baoyi climbed out of the flashy sports car: “Then what should I drive?”
Jiang Zhi pointed to Zhou Xufang’s electric tricycle: “Drive this.”
“…”
Xue Baoyi struggled desperately: “Can I refuse?”
Jiang Zhi took off the ‘ridiculously stupid’ yellow helt from his head and threw it to him: “Nope.”
Xue Baoyi: “…”
In the end, Xue Baoyi’s beloved sports car was still given to Jiang Zhi’s darling.
Everyone had walked away, yet Jiang Zhi was still standing in the draft, basking in the night as he watched his girl.
Xue Baoyi urged: “Okay, she’s out of sight now, let’s go in.”
“Cough cough cough cough cough…”
Jiang Zhi couldn’t hold back anymore, his body swayed, crouching to the ground, coughing out a mouthful of blood.
Xue Baoyi, seeing the pool of blood on the ground, panicked.
“Third uncle!”
“Third uncle, co quickly!”
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