Chapter Ninety-Eight

The doctor examined Xiao Jian’s condition and said he was already out of danger. He only needed rest and should not be disturbed. The doctor also marveled that the boy could accept the fate of losing both legs through amputation without collapsing into despair. Hearing this, Lin Xiaxin finally felt much more at ease. Since the doctor said Xiao Jian needed rest, she decided to come back the next day and then left the ward.

News of Xiao Jian’s amputation had already spread through the group chat. Aside from Yu Xingyue, everyone else was shocked. When they had cared for Xiao Jian, they had never lifted the blanket, so they had no idea what his condition was now. To them, it had all happened far too suddenly, and the grief in the chat left everyone silent. No one knew what to say.

In the hospital, Xiao Jian stared at the stars outside the window. The instant a meteor flashed past, he propped himself up against the headboard with both hands, pressed his palms together, and prayed for something. Then a mysterious smile appeared on Xiao Jian’s face, a smile full of hidden meaning, and he lay back down to sleep.

When Xiao Jian woke again, someone was sitting by his bed peeling an apple. Startled, he cried out, “It’s you!”

Lin Xiaxin looked up with a smile. “Who else would it be? If my sister hadn’t told me about your condition, I still wouldn’t have known you’d been hurt. I really have to thank her for that.”

“Your sister?” Xiao Jian asked suspiciously. How would Lin Xiaxin’s sister know about him? But his mind worked quickly. Lin Zimo, Lin Xiaxin... and he immediately said, “Is your sister Lin Zimo?”

Lin Xiaxin nodded with a smile. “That’s right. I didn’t expect you to be such a clever person. I didn’t even say anything, and you figured it out. Looks like my judgment of people really isn’t wrong.”

In truth, they were just friends on WeChat.

With Lin Xiaxin helping him, Xiao Jian managed to sit up against the wall with ease. After leaning back against the headboard, he reached down and touched the stumps of his amputated legs. They still hurt a little.

“Hiss... I didn’t feel any pain in my legs while I was asleep, but the moment I touched them, it hurt so badly.”

Lin Xiaxin said, “Don’t keep touching them. That will only make it hurt more and more. The best thing is to leave them alone. After a while, the pain will fade. Look at you—you’ve gotten so thin in just one month.”

She gently touched his cheek. Xiao Jian had been nourished during his month-long sleep, but the emaciation could not be reversed. His face had become all skin and bones.

The moment Lin Xiaxin touched his cheek, Xiao Jian’s whole body jolted. Had she just touched his face like that? But what surprised him even more was that, if an ordinary girl had wanted to touch his face, he would have refused a hundred times over, thinking it would wound his pride. Yet when Lin Xiaxin touched him, he did not resist. Instead, he went strangely quiet. And with the faint fragrance on her body, sleepiness began to rise in him.

“Hey, hey, hey, I just finished peeling your apple—don’t you dare fall asleep! Eat the apple before you sleep, it won’t kill you.” Seeing Xiao Jian growing drowsy, Lin Xiaxin panicked. She had worked so hard peeling it for him, and he was about to doze off. Then an idea flashed through her mind. It would hurt a lot, but the only way was...

Lin Xiaxin looked toward Xiao Jian’s legs. Beneath the blanket, she gently moved his left leg just a little.

The moment she did, Xiao Jian let out a piglike scream. He was holding back as hard as he could so as not to disturb the other patients, but the look of pain on his face was impossible to hide. His features had twisted completely.

Lin Xiaxin hurled the apple aside and hurried to embrace him, trying to ease his suffering. It really had been painful, but she had never expected it to be this bad. Guilt flooded her eyes with tears. Xiao Jian, held in her arms, felt the dampness on her shoulder and knew she was crying. Instead of comforting him, Lin Xiaxin was the one being comforted.

He endured the pain and forced out a smile. “See? I’m fine, aren’t I? Didn’t you say not to touch these legs anymore? Maybe even you were curious about how much it hurt. Don’t worry, I’ll be all right.”

Lin Xiaxin left his arms and wiped away her tears. “I know you’re trying to comfort me, but I’m really so sorry. I made you suffer like this. I didn’t think about your feelings at all and just touched your legs without asking.”

“I should be the one at fault. If I hadn’t been so captivated by looking at you, and if you didn’t have such an easy, comforting presence and that unique fragrance that made me sleepy, I wouldn’t have become so weak after sleeping for a month. You could say my resistance has gotten worse.” Xiao Jian was trying to console her, saying in effect that his endurance and even his charm had both declined.

That seemed to amuse Lin Xiaxin. She covered her mouth and turned away from Xiao Jian. He could not tell what she was feeling, but he was certain she was smiling. Then she turned back toward him, and he saw the blush on her face was unmistakable. Not understanding what was going on, he asked, “Why is your face so red? Should I call a doctor for you?”

Lin Xiaxin laughed and scolded him, “I really don’t know which of us is the patient. Just close your eyes first.”

“Why?” Xiao Jian asked.

“I told you to close your eyes. Didn’t you hear me? Don’t make me angry!”

“Fine, fine, I’ll close them.” Xiao Jian obediently shut his eyes, afraid of upsetting her.

“No matter what happens, do not open them. Do you understand?” When she said this, Lin Xiaxin sounded distinctly awkward, and her voice grew much softer.

“Are you shy?” Xiao Jian asked.

Before Lin Xiaxin could answer, he had no more chance to speak. She had told him not to open his eyes under any circumstances, and he did not dare disobey. It felt as though some mysterious force were preventing him from looking, but the situation he could faintly sense now only made him want to open his eyes even more.

He could not feel anything anywhere else, but his lips suddenly met something warm. The sensation made his heartbeat quicken. In about ten seconds, the warmth vanished, and he did not hear Lin Xiaxin’s voice again.

With no sound, Xiao Jian opened his eyes on his own and found that Lin Xiaxin had already left. He touched his lips. Was that feeling just now really Lin Xiaxin? Or had it been some kind of prank? But his senses told him it had been a kiss, mouth to mouth.

Back home, Lin Xiaxin blushed all the way from the hospital, covering her flaming cheeks in embarrassment. What she had just done to Xiao Jian left her utterly mortified. For more than a month, aside from her days off, she had spent most of her time taking care of him, and in that time she had gradually developed feelings for the man who had once helped her. But she had never been able to say them aloud.

She hoped this way would let Xiao Jian understand how much she liked him. If even this did not make him realize it, then his emotional intelligence truly must be zero.

After learning of Xiao Jian’s condition, Zhou Ruoxue set aside her own work to take care of him. When Xiao Jian saw Zhou Ruoxue, he felt both joy and sorrow. The joy came from seeing a former teammate again. The sorrow came from a real concern that Zhou Ruoxue’s caretaking skills were rather questionable. Though, in truth, this seemed to have little to do with skills at all.

Yu Xingyue came to visit him mostly at noon, hoping that talking with him would help Xiao Jian escape the agony of no longer having legs. But Yu Xingyue was overthinking things. Not only was Xiao Jian not sorrowful, he was even in high spirits. And when he saw Zhou Ruoxue, he was both surprised and delighted.

Zhou Ruoxue was taking care of someone else?

In the past, it had always been others caring for Zhou Ruoxue, never the other way around. Back then, she had been fragile, her heart so delicate it seemed it could shatter at the slightest touch. Over the years, she had experienced so much that she had grown too, and no longer cried so easily.