In the darkness, Xiao Xiao glanced at Zhang Jingzhi but did not answer.
Zhang Jingzhi then said, "When we have time, let's go pray to the Buddha and ask about our marriage prospects!"
Before Xiao Xiao could answer, her phone suddenly rang. The ringtone wasn't unpleasant to begin with, but it sounded jarring in the silence. Xiao Xiao answered the phone, "Yes, this is Xiao Xiao."
After hearing just two sentences, her body suddenly stiffened, and the cigarette in her hand fell onto the quilt, instantly emitting the smell of burning cotton.
Xiao Xiao
After hearing just two sentences, her body suddenly stiffened, and the cigarette in her hand fell onto the quilt, instantly emitting the smell of burning cotton.
Zhang Jingzhi was startled and quickly turned on the light. She hurriedly picked up the cigarette butt from the blanket, patted the blanket, and looked at Xiao Xiao with a nervous expression.
After listening to the phone call, Xiao Xiao didn't even bother to close it. Without saying a word, she just crawled off the bed.
"Xiao Xiao," Zhang Jingzhi called to her, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Xiao Xiao turned around and looked at her blankly, her face as white as a ghost. It was clear that she was trying hard to control her emotions, but her lips were still trembling slightly. "Something happened, a car accident, a collision with a truck."
"Who?" Zhang Jingzhi was startled and crawled under the bed, but her limbs felt weak. Xiao Xiao had just seen Wang Yuhan downstairs, and he was driving. Zhang Jingzhi didn't dare to think any further.
"Jiang Sicheng," Xiao Xiao said, running barefoot towards the door. Had she possibly survived a collision with an overloaded truck driving in the wrong direction? Xiao Xiao didn't dare think about it; her legs felt like they were about to give way. She knew Ah Song and Jiang Sicheng would be going drinking; how could she have forgotten to remind Ah Song not to drive? What was she thinking? Why, knowing he was upset, did she still let Ah Song take him drinking?
Hearing that it wasn't Wang Yuhan, Zhang Jingzhi visibly breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately felt ashamed of her selfishness. Her heart tightened, and she grabbed Xiao Xiao's clothes, following her to the door. "Xiao Xiao, don't rush, calm down, clothes! Get dressed."
Xiao Xiao was only wearing Zhang Jingzhi's camisole nightgown. She didn't take the clothes Zhang Jingzhi offered, but grabbed a coat from Zhang Jingzhi at the door and wrapped it around herself.
As Zhang Jingzhi put on her clothes, she called out, "Wait for me, I'll go with you! Shoes, you're not wearing shoes yet!"
Xiao Xiao's mind was already in complete turmoil, and she didn't care about waiting for her anymore. She opened the door and ran out.
It was already past 1 a.m., and it was hard to find a taxi at this hour. Moreover, the street in front of the house was so remote. Zhang Jingzhi had encountered the robbers on that street last time. Fearing that something might happen to Xiao Xiao again, she hurriedly ran to the kitchen, picked up the rolling pin that her mother used to roll out noodles. It was too big and inconvenient, so she quickly threw it down. She grabbed a watermelon knife from the knife rack and, while calling out to Xiao Xiao to wait for her, followed Xiao Xiao out.
Fortunately, Zhang Jingzhi was quick enough to catch up to Xiao Xiao's back when he reached the bottom of the building. He didn't dare to shout in the middle of the night, so he just kept chasing after her, thinking that two people were safer than one, especially since she was holding a knife.
In fact, judging from the situation at the time, Zhang Jingzhi was worrying for nothing. With Xiao Xiao running away like she didn't care about her life, even if there were bad guys, they probably wouldn't have had time to react before they darted past her. Moreover, Zhang Jingzhi forgot to count herself. If the robbers saw her again, they would probably turn around and run away as well.
The situation was very strange. Xiao Xiao was only wearing a trench coat and was running barefoot in high heels, while Zhang Jingzhi was also wearing clothes haphazardly, slippers, and holding a watermelon knife, chasing after her desperately.
The distance between us remained at 30 or 40 meters; we couldn't catch up or fall behind.
After running for nearly 500 meters down the narrow street and turning onto the main road, a taxi finally appeared coming from the opposite direction. The taxi driver seemed to know Xiao Xiao was in a panic; like a circus performer, he executed a beautiful drift, the car tracing a near-perfect arc before screeching to a halt beside her. The driver leaned out and shouted, "Get in!"
"Airen Hospital! Hurry!" Xiao Xiao said urgently.
Zhang Jingzhi was about to catch up with Xiao Xiao. Seeing that they had already left the compound, and not caring about disturbing others, she hurriedly called out, "Wait—" Before she could finish speaking, she saw the car carrying Xiao Xiao shoot off like an arrow.
The driver let out a long sigh and said, "These days, it's impossible to live like this. Even robbers are women now!"
Xiao Xiao was so anxious that she didn't notice Zhang Jingzhi chasing after her. When she heard the driver say that, she was stunned and turned to look at the back of the car. She saw Zhang Jingzhi carrying a knife and had already chased her to the street corner. He was stomping his feet in her direction.
Just then, the driver, a kind and talkative person, glanced at Xiao Xiao's attire in the rearview mirror and then at her distraught appearance. Suddenly, he had a look of realization on his face, clicked his tongue, and asked with some disdain, "Is she a mistress?"
Zhang Jingzhi watched helplessly as the car disappeared down the street, her heart filled with rage. But then she thought that she couldn't blame Xiao Xiao. Jiang Sicheng's life was hanging in the balance, and it was Xiao Xiao's fault that the accident happened. No wonder Xiao Xiao was so panicked.
Fortunately, although it was late, there were still taxis on the street. Seeing another one coming, Zhang Jing went up to flag it down. Unexpectedly, the taxi didn't stop in front of her and instead stepped on the gas and drove past.
"Damn it!" Zhang Jingzhi cursed. "Why are you running around if you're not going to pick up passengers?!" Suddenly, she remembered something, looked down at her appearance, and then at the foot-long watermelon knife in her hand. Zhang Jingzhi suddenly realized why the taxi hadn't stopped. Anyone in her situation wouldn't stop like that; someone might even call the police.
Zhang Jingzhi paused for a moment, then quickly threw the knife aside as if it were burning her hand...
Xiao Xiao had no money on her and couldn't pay the fare. Ignoring the driver's shouts from behind, she got out of the car and ran into the hospital. When she got to the information desk, she saw a young nurse on duty.
"Where are the people who were brought in from the car accident?" Xiao Xiao asked, her voice trembling slightly.
The young nurse seemed used to this kind of situation, and didn't even lift her eyelids: "The one who was just brought in is still in the emergency room, on the left, turn into the corridor—" Before she could finish speaking, the figure in front of her had disappeared.
Ah Song, with her arm in a sling, stood at the entrance of the emergency room, peering inside. When she saw Xiao Xiao, she couldn't help but ask in surprise, "How did you get here so fast?"
Xiao Xiao didn't speak, her legs stiff as she walked towards the door, each step feeling like she was stepping on a pile of cotton, unable to touch the bottom.
In the emergency room, a doctor was wrapping a bandage around a man's head. When the man heard Ah Song's voice, he turned his head to look at her, his gaze intense. It was Jiang Sicheng.
The two looked at each other, as if they were far apart, separated by a long time.
Suddenly, Xiao Xiao swayed, her legs gave way, and she sat down on the ground. Only then did she realize that her heart had been beating out of rhythm, that she was breathing rapidly and couldn't catch her breath, and that her heels were throbbing with pain.
Ah Song hurriedly reached out to help her, but she pushed him away.
"Get out of here, it's unnecessary!" Xiao Xiao shouted.
Ah Song glanced at Jiang Sicheng, smiled and shrugged, then gestured to the doctor: "Get out."
Once outside, the doctor pushed up his glasses and muttered under his breath, "I've never seen you guys play such a joke, forcing me to make that kind of call. This time I'm definitely going to be furious! I told you, you forced me to do this!"
Ah Song smiled and nodded, patting the bespectacled doctor on the shoulder reassuringly from behind, "I know, I know, I owe you a favor! I promise, next time we go out drinking, I definitely won't steal any girls from you!"
The bespectacled doctor laughed and cursed at Ah Song for a few more minutes, then said he was going to rest in the lounge for a while and went to the side.
Ah Song walked out alone, and just as he reached the corner of the corridor, he bumped into Zhang Jingzhi. He instinctively dodged his injured arm, and Zhang Jingzhi ended up crashing into his arms. His arm ached a little from the impact, and Ah Song grimaced as he pulled her out of his embrace, frowned at her, but couldn't help laughing.
Although she was dressed more warmly than Xiao Xiao, she looked more disheveled because Xiao Xiao was dressed less, only wearing an orange trench coat over her silk nightgown. Although it looked cooler, it wasn't bad-looking, and her long curly hair was loose and messy, but it still had a certain charm.
Zhang Jingzhi, however, had messy hair, her face was red and her neck was thick from running, and her forehead was covered in sweat. She was wearing an oversized men's jacket on top and white pajama pants on the bottom. She was barefoot and wearing slippers. She had run so far that her slippers were all crooked and messy, but she managed not to lose them!
Zhang Jingzhi was already out of breath from running, and the sudden collision made her vision blurry with tiny stars. It took her a while to make out the person in front of her, and she asked in surprise, "Ah Song? What are you doing here?"
Xiao Xiao hadn't graduated when she started dating Ah Song, so Zhang Jingzhi was familiar with him, but it was still a bit strange to see him here.
"Officer Jiang rode in my car, so why do you think I'm here?" Ah Song laughed. "Zhang Shunu, long time no see! You look quite unlike a lady these days!"
Ignoring his teasing, Zhang Jingzhi asked anxiously, "Where's Xiao Xiao? How's Jiang Sicheng?"
He then ran towards the emergency room.
Ah Song quickly grabbed him with her good hand: "Don't go, everything's fine, don't go and be a third wheel."
"Are you alright?" Zhang Jingzhi looked at him with suspicion when she heard him say that. She looked him up and down several times and found that his injuries were indeed not serious. He didn't look like he had been hit head-on by a truck at all. She asked, "Are you alright? Why did you scare Xiao Xiao if you were alright? Is this something to joke about?" As she spoke, her temper flared up. She glanced at Ah Song with narrowed eyes and asked, "Who called you? They made it sound so serious. Why didn't you call yourself?"
Ah Song smiled and said, "Of course it was the doctor who gave it to me."
Zhang Jingzhi looked at him thoughtfully, then suddenly realized, "Oh, I see! Xiao Xiao was too flustered to notice your scheme. Don't you realize that if you were both doomed, you wouldn't have notified her first! You silly girl."
Ah Song laughed, thinking to herself, "Aren't you the same? Aren't you stupid? Then why didn't you stop Xiao Xiao to analyze it? Instead, you followed her around like this."
Zhang Jingzhi's expression was unfriendly as she angrily retorted, "You even said we crashed head-on into a speeding truck? What a load of rubbish! You guys are really good at making things up!"
"It really was a truck that got hit!"
"Huh? Impossible!"
"A cargo tricycle was speeding towards me. I slammed on the brakes, and since we'd both been drinking, Officer Jiang wasn't expecting it and his head hit the windshield, breaking it. The other vehicle was driving against traffic, and seeing the accident, it fled the scene..."
Zhang Jingzhi gritted her teeth and asked, "Riding a tricycle is also considered fleeing the scene of a traffic accident?"
“Hmm,” Ah Song said seriously.
"And what about your arm? Can stepping on the brakes break your arm too?" Zhang Jingzhi pointed at his arm, which was draped around his neck with a bandage, and sneered, wishing she could step on it again to vent her anger.
Ah Song looked down, then looked up: "Oh, it's not broken, just a slight fracture. It wasn't from the impact; I fell while fighting at the bar. There were two of us against five thugs, but Officer Jiang was really good at fighting. He took down four of them by himself, and one escaped. He wanted to take me to the hospital for a check-up, but I noticed he'd had more alcohol than me, so I wasn't comfortable with him and thought it would be safer for me to drive, so I drove..."
Zhang Jingzhi was stunned for a long time before she could fully process Ah Song's words. Then she became completely enraged and somewhat frantic, frantically searching for her watermelon knife. Where was the knife? Where was the knife? She was going to chop this perverted man up! She was going to kill him! He had made her and Xiao Xiao rush to the hospital like madmen, and she even had a cold and a low-grade fever. Was there no humanity in this? Was there no justice?
Xiao Xiao
The emergency room was still quiet, so quiet that only Xiao Xiao's rapid breathing could be heard. After a long while, the panting gradually subsided.
A piercing pain shot through her feet. Because she had run too far barefoot in high heels, her heels were already blistered and bloody. Xiao Xiao bit her lower lip, supported herself with her hands to stand up, and without saying a word, turned and walked out.
Jiang Sicheng strode over and reached out to pick Xiao Xiao up from the ground, but Xiao Xiao raised her arms to block him and said coldly, "No need, thank you!"
She tried to walk a few steps with a limp, but it still hurt too much. Xiao Xiao looked down at her feet, smiled, and happily kicked off her shoes before walking outside.
Jiang Sicheng tightened his lips, ignoring Xiao Xiao's struggles, and picked her up in his arms.
"Put it down!"
"I won't let go!"
Xiao Xiao stopped struggling after hearing this, and touched Jiang Sicheng's face with a cold smile: "Officer Jiang, are you satisfied with the results of the exercise?"
Jiang Sicheng pursed his lips and remained silent.
Xiao Xiao scoffed, "Are you feeling particularly smug? Do you think you've tested my true feelings? Seeing me running over like this, you're both touched and excited, aren't you?"
Jiang Sicheng's face turned ashen as he gritted his teeth and said, "I didn't! It was Ah Song who made the call. I don't know anything about it."
Haha, look at this silly boy, he can't even lie properly. He doesn't know? If he doesn't know, how does he know it was Ah Song who made the call? "No?" Xiao Xiao chuckled, lightly patting Jiang Sicheng's cheek with her hand, making a "slap slap" sound. "But I'm quite satisfied, actually. I didn't know until I tried that I really care about you. When I got the call just now, all I could think was that you were going to die, that I was going to kill you. I immediately regretted it, regretted breaking up with you, regretted being cowardly, afraid to love again. In the end, you were killed by me. I thought, how could I be so stupid? Why did I only realize I should cherish you after I lost you? What if you died? What would I do? I didn't dare to think about it anymore. So I just prayed to God to save your life. I just want your life, whether you're missing an arm or a leg, I want it. I don't believe in gods, but I still prayed to every deity I knew, both in heaven and on earth. I prayed to them all. I said—"
Jiang Sicheng hugged Xiao Xiao tighter and growled, "Stop talking!—" His voice sounded like it was submerged in water, and he lost his tone after just three words.
Xiao Xiao, however, refused to give up. She smiled coldly and said, "Don't be in such a hurry, my prince. I haven't finished confessing my feelings yet. What's the rush? Where was I? Oh, right, I said that as long as you have a life, I will marry you, no matter whose son you are. I even thought that even if your father is a bit powerful, my family can still be considered a scholarly family. My grandfather may not have much power, but he is still somewhat famous. Although I don't see anything good in his paintings, there are people who like them. My mother may only know how to travel and enjoy life, but she comes from a distinguished family. A few generations ago, her family even produced a top scholar. In the old days, she would have been a lady of high birth! I thought that although we are not exactly a perfect match, at least we shouldn't bring too much shame to your family, right? Besides, aren't you already disabled? If we lower the bar a bit, I guess I'm not too badly matched with you."
Jiang Sicheng said painfully, "Spare me, please?"
Xiao Xiao looked up at him, seeing his pale face, thick eyebrows, eyes filled with panic, and slightly trembling lips. Her gaze finally softened, and her hand slowly traced his contours...
In the end, she still loved him. If she didn't, why would she care so much? Was she deceiving him or herself by sticking her feet like this? She was tired, really tired. What was she persisting for by working so hard?
Finally, she pressed her lips to his cold lips...
Jiang Sicheng's body stiffened visibly for a moment, then he kissed her recklessly, like a traveler long trapped in the desert who had finally found a spring of clear water—greedy, eager, even frantic.
The friction of lips against lips stirred up waves of heat in the body, and the entanglement of tongues drew forth a trembling embrace of the soul.
Xiao Xiao's feet slipped and landed on the ground, but her slender waist was tightly held by his iron arm, and her whole body was locked in Jiang Sicheng's arms.
His strong hands cradled the back of her head, pressing her head against his chest, as he whispered his love and longing for her through his lips...
When they parted again, his face was flushed and his breathing was unsteady, while her eyes were brimming with tears and her lips were red and luscious.
He pressed his forehead against hers and whispered hoarsely, "I won't let go... I'll never let go again, no matter what kind of woman you were before, no matter what you'll be like in the future, I just won't let go!"
"I love you, I really love you now," Xiao Xiao murmured.
Jiang Sicheng tightened his grip, unable to suppress the excitement in his voice, "I know, I knew when you came in. I love you too, I've loved you for a very, very long time, so much so that I don't know what to do, so much so that I—"
That silly child, he really knows how to bring up the most painful thing ever! He reminded Xiao Xiao that she had fallen for the biggest trap of her life! Women are naturally vengeful creatures! Xiao Xiao covered Jiang Sicheng's mouth with her hand, moved away from his forehead, and looked at him quietly, her eyes full of bitterness.
His eyes were somewhat flustered, and he looked at her helplessly.