Ning Shaobai, clutching his arm, also sincerely said, “Thank you.” Without Xia Mian’s reminder yesterday, he wouldn’t have thought to call his sister, and would have been unaware that she had argued with Huo Xuewen and secretly bought a train ticket to see him.
If he hadn’t come to pick them up… Ning Shaobai couldn’t imagine the consequences.
“I owe you a favor,” Ning Shaobai said again. It was rare to see him so sincere. “If there’s ever anything you need help with, just ask.”
Xia Mian’s eyes lit up, “Really?!”
Ning Shaobai: “…”
“It must be a reasonable request.”
Xia Mian put on a feigned smile, “Do I, this cute little angel, look like someone who would break the law?”
The image of her skillfully swinging a brick came back to Ning Shaobai. Against his conscience, he shook his head and replied, “No, you’re a law-abiding little angel who dislikes violence.”
Xia Mian shyly pursed her lips and smiled at Ning Shaoyun. If one hadn’t seen with their own eyes how she easily disarmed a kidnapper and severed his tendons, her pretty and docile appearance might indeed be quite deceptive.
“Xiao Bai, how’s your arm?” Ning Shaoyun’s gaze fell on Ning Shaobai, concerned. “Let’s go to the hospital first.”
Ning Shaobai also gave his sister and nephew a once-over, “And you? Are you hurt anywhere?” As he spoke, he moved forward and also checked on Huo Yuchen. Although he had already given the boy a quick look, he was still not reassured.
The future male lead Huo Yuchen, currently still a little beanie, showed no signs of gloominess or heavy aura. “My arm hurts,” he sobbed pitifully.
Ning Shaobai quickly checked it, “It’s just bruised.”
“Either way, we should go to the hospital.” After checking on Huo Yuchen, Ning Shaobai also checked Xiao Feng’s forehead. “We should look after Xiao Feng’s health as well, so let’s have everyone examined.” He then led them to a military green jeep and swiftly drove to the People’s Hospital.
Huo Yuchen looked worriedly at Ning Shaobai’s arm, “Uncle, will your arm bleed?”
Ning Shaobai rubbed his head, “Don’t worry, it won’t.”
No sooner had he spoken than Xia Mian watched as a patch of blood seeped through the white shirt on his upper arm…
Huo Yuchen obviously saw it too, “Uncle! Blood!” He frowned and said distressedly, “You can’t drive.”
“Don’t worry.” Ning Shaobai chuckled, “I just drove the car here.”
Five minutes later…
Ning Shaobai, with his arm in a sling, went back to the police station and asked a police officer to help drive them to the hospital.
Huo Yuchen sat on Ning Shaoyun’s lap in the backseat and poked his head out, “Why is the police uncle driving? Are we in dange—…”
Ning Shaoyun hurriedly covered her son’s mouth, “Be good, okay? The police uncle is helping us, there’s no danger.”
Xia Mian also breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that she was superstitious, but this little male lead seemed to really have some sort of jinx attribute.
Earlier, Ning Shaobai had followed the police car in the jeep without any trouble, but after Huo Yuchen spoke, as he got in the car, his clumsy arm accidentally hit the steering wheel hard, exacerbating his injury, and he couldn’t lift it anymore.
Xiao Feng leaned on Xia Mian’s arm, quietly poking his head out to curiously look at Huo Yuchen, while Xia Mian couldn’t help but steal glances too. As the male lead of a romance novel, even at a young age, one could already see signs of his future stunning looks. With a pair of bright eyes and eyelashes that fan out like tiny feathers, he was equally adorable as her Xiao Feng — as long as he stayed quiet, of course.
The car sped all the way to People’s Hospital, and as soon as Huo Yuchen saw the doctors in white coats coming and going, he clung tightly to Ning Shaoyun’s neck, “Mom, I don’t want a shot.”
Ning Shaoyun comforted him, “We’re not getting a shot.”
Huo Yuchen might be young, but he was not easily fooled, “And no bitter medicine either.”
“And no bitter medicine,” Ning Shaoyun coaxed, “You have an ouchie, right? We’ll just apply some ointment, and it won’t hurt anymore.”
Little Huo Yuchen, cautious by nature, turned his gaze to Xiao Feng, “Does little brother have an ouchie too?”
“Little brother doesn’t have an ouchie; he’s just wet from the rain, we’re worried he might catch a cold,” Ning Shaoyun patiently explained.
Huo Yuchen immediately looked sympathetic, “A cold means bitter medicine, means shots…”
Ning Shaobai and Xia Mian exchanged subtly alarmed looks.
Half an hour later, Xia Mian held Xiao Feng and listened to Huo Yuchen’s heart-wrenching cries of “I don’t want to get a shot, mommy is a liar” from the consultation room, while feeding Xiao Feng hot ginger soup.
The jinx seemed to be effective, but her Xiao Feng appeared to have a counterattack ability. Xiao Feng’s physical condition was surprisingly good; in the urgent situation earlier, Xia Mian hadn’t been able to pay much attention to him, and he had gotten thoroughly soaked. She had thought Xiao Feng would really end up like Huo Yuchen said, with a cold and fever. However, he currently showed no symptoms, needing only to warm up a bit, whereas Huo Yuchen indeed had a fever.
A while ago, Teacher Mi and Engineer Chen, having gotten the news, arrived in a hurry with a thermos of hot ginger soup. Seeing Xiao Feng drink it without so much as a frown, Xia Mian tried a sip herself and instantly grimaced—she still hated the taste of ginger soup.
Xiao Feng looked worriedly in the direction of the consultation room, “Auntie, that big brother is crying.”
Xia Mian patted his head, “Big brother was almost taken away by bad people today, and now he has to get a shot. He’s scared and hurts.”
Hearing Huo Yuchen’s loud cries intermittently filled with angry accusations like “Mommy is a liar” and “Uncle is bad,” Xia Mian found it hard to associate him with the gloomy, cold, and somewhat harsh male lead in the book.
“Does crying mean he’s scared?” Xiao Feng asked curiously.
“Yes, crying means he’s scared.” Xia Mian gave him another spoonful of ginger soup, “Whether you’re happy, scared, in pain, sad, or even if you think ginger soup tastes bad, it’s okay to cry. Cry if you feel like it.”
Xiao Feng swallowed the ginger soup without a change in expression and looked up at Xia Mian, “Xiao Feng is good, Xiao Feng won’t cry.” Whenever he cried, the adults would get angry and scold him; he didn’t want to upset his auntie.
A pang of sorrow hit Xia Mian. She thought bitterly — maybe knowing he wasn’t cherished by anyone, this child had prematurely shed all his childlike nature…
“Xiao Feng is a good boy even if he cries.” Xia Mian assured, kissing his forehead. One day, she would spoil him until he was capable of throwing tantrums and crying.
After finishing the ginger soup and getting Xiao Feng to sweat, the doctor allowed them to go home. Teacher Mi’s house was still in disarray from today’s incident, so Xia Mian didn’t linger and quickly carried Xiao Feng upstairs for a hot bath. Although the doctor said there was no immediate concern, she still needed to keep an eye on him.
Lying in bed with Xiao Feng in her arms, Xia Mian carefully contemplated the matter of leaving the Zhang family.
< Previous | TOC | Advanced TOC | Next >
Wants more chapters?
Click this page for the status of sponsored chapters.
Click this page for advanced chapters TOC.
Thabks for the chapter ❣️