Xia Mian looked at Xiao Feng, saw that he was still conscious, and smiled at him as she patted his head. Xiao Feng, seemingly knowing that they were about to be rescued, finally relaxed his body and smiled back at her.
“Xia Mian! Watch out!” Ning Shaobai’s urgent shout reached her ears just as she heard the crackling of intense flames overhead, accompanied by a choking heat. Instinctively, she shielded Xiao Feng tightly, and then felt a weight crash onto her, just as a loud bang echoed above, along with the presence of someone rushing in.
She didn’t feel any pain, only found it hard to breathe. Before losing consciousness, she seemed to smell the scent of burning protein…
Xia Mian wasn’t unconscious for long. When she opened her eyes again, an oxygen mask was attached to her face, and she found herself staring into a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes, looking serious and focused, and yet still infuriatingly charming.
But that sharp mouth quickly brought her back to reality.
“You won’t die, will you?”
The nurse standing next to them was shocked. Although Dr. Ning usually spoke bluntly, he rarely talked to patients so harshly, not to mention this young girl had just survived such a terrifying fire. What surprised her even more was that the girl didn’t seem vulnerable at all; instead of looking scared, she rolled her eyes at Dr. Ning.
The nurse: “…”
Well, this girl was probably not an ordinary person either. At least, she had never seen anyone roll their eyes at Dr. Ning before.
“Auntie!” Xiao Feng practically jumped out of another doctor’s arms.
Xia Mian was startled. “Xiao Feng!”
Ning Shaobai quickly caught the child and brought him over to Xia Mian.
She hugged him and let out a long sigh of relief. “You scared me to death.”
The doctor holding him earlier also looked relieved. “This little guy is surprisingly strong.”
“Auntie… Auntie…” Xiao Feng clung tightly to her neck and started crying.
For the first time, Xia Mian heard Xiao Feng cry out loud. He didn’t wail like other children, but the deep fear and sadness were palpable. It wasn’t the fire that scared him, but the fear of losing her. Xia Mian’s eyes reddened as she held the child tightly, stroking his back and kissing his forehead. “Don’t be afraid, it’s okay now. We’re both safe… Auntie told you, didn’t I? Auntie would never leave Xiao Feng alone.”
Regardless, they both needed to go to the hospital for a check-up. Since Xiao Feng refused to leave Xia Mian’s side, they were both placed on the same stretcher and rushed to the hospital. Thankfully, they were in the hospital dormitory, so there was no need for an ambulance. Four medical workers, one at each corner of the stretcher, moved swiftly to the hospital building.
As they picked up speed, Xia Mian gradually noticed something was off. She turned her head to ask Ning Shaobai, who was walking beside her, “Why does half of my head feel so cold…” Her face turned pale, and she dared not move. “Is my head split open?” Was her brain exposed? Why else would it feel cold in this hot weather…
Ning Shaobai’s gaze fell on her head, his expression becoming very strange as if he was struggling to hold back something…
Xiao Feng, still crying, lifted his head from Xia Mian’s embrace and took a careful look when he heard her words. He then sniffled, “Auntie, no hair…”
Xia Mian: “!!!”
“What?!”
Xia Mian and Xiao Feng cried together on the way to the hospital.
…
In the examination room, seeing the nurse approach with a shaving razor, the red-eyed Xia Mian made a last-ditch effort. “Is it really all gone? Can’t we save some of it?”
“A buzz cut, no, even a boyish cut I can somewhat accept…”
Ning Shaobai told the nurse, “I’ll handle it. You go ahead with your other tasks.”
The young nurse handed him the razor and left. Ning Shaobai started laughing as he looked at Xia Mian.
Xia Mian was furious. “You’re laughing! You’re actually laughing! Are you still humane?!”
Ning Shaobai pulled a small mirror out of his pocket. “Take a look yourself. However you want to salvage it, I’ll respect your decision.”
Xia Mian felt like crying when she saw her soot-covered face in the mirror, along with her now glaringly half-bald hair. It seemed that when the wooden beam fell, it slid off the fire blanket Ning Shaobai had held up and burned one side of her hair.
Xia Mian reached up to feel her scalp, desperate to find some hair left, but her hand came away covered in ash, revealing the white and tender scalp beneath…
Seeing the girl on the verge of tears, Ning Shaobai tried to console her while suppressing his laughter. “Fortunately, it only burned her hair. It’ll grow back, don’t worry. If your scalp had been burned, that side would be permanently bald.”
“Do you even know how to comfort someone? Don’t say ‘bald’! You’re the bald one!” Xia Mian said tearfully, “I still have hair on the other side…” However, her mind involuntarily conjured an image of living with a perpetual half-bald hairstyle, making her shudder.
Pushing the horrifying image away, Xia Mian began racking her brain for a solution. “Maybe I can shave the right side clean and comb the left side over it… Isn’t that what those middle-aged uncles with receding hairlines do?”
“My left side still has a lot of hair; it should be able to cover it,” Xia Mian said hopefully, looking at Ning Shaobai.
Before Ning Shaobai could respond, the door to the examination room was suddenly thrown open. A middle-aged man with a receding hairline, looking anxious, rushed in. “Doctor, which floor is the delivery room?”
Because he had been running so fast, his hair, normally slicked over from left to right, had been tousled, revealing his shiny, bald head with a few sparse strands of hair flapping on the side. Xia Mian didn’t know where to look; both the bald patch and the runaway hair were so goddamn eye-catching!
Xia Mian: “…”
Ning Shaobai, suppressing his laughter, answered, “It’s at the maternity ward on the third floor.”
After the balding man closed the door and ran off, Ning Shaobai couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. “Are you sure you want to do that?” He turned to Xia Mian and asked.
Xia Mian burst into tears, “Ning Shaobai, you’re such a big meanie!”
Ning Shaobai laughed heartily.
Xiao Feng, who had been getting checked on the neighboring bed, anxiously peeked through the curtain and rushed over. “Auntie?! What’s wrong?!” he exclaimed, scrambling to climb onto Xia Mian’s bed.
Xia Mian didn’t dare to cry anymore and quickly hugged the child, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Auntie is just a bit sad. Auntie doesn’t hurt and isn’t sick, okay?”
The nurse who looked after Xiao Feng chased after him and said to Ning Shaobai, embarrassedly, “I’m sorry, Dr. Ning, I didn’t catch him.”
Ning Shaobai waved his hand, saying it was okay. He then asked the pediatrician who had followed, “How’s the check-up going?”
“Almost done, just need to check the knee reflex,” the pediatrician replied, noticing how agile Xiao Feng was climbing onto the bed. “But I don’t see any issue.”
Ning Shaobai said, “Alright, please leave the rest to me. Thank you.”
By now, the hospital staff had learned that Dr. Ning had a good relationship with the aunt and nephew, so they didn’t say much and left.
Before leaving, the doctor and nurse couldn’t help but glance back at Xia Mian—more precisely, they were looking at her bald head.
Of course Xia Mian noticed their glance, but with Xiao Feng here, she couldn’t even cry. Her lips quivered, feeling extremely wronged.
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Translator’s Note:
Bonus chapter on Friday!
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