Chapter 466: Peaceful and Beautiful Times (7)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGemLu Jinnian paused for a moment, while Qiao Anhao completely snapped back to reality and instinctively pulled away from his arms. She lowered her blushing face, and straightened her clothes. She made a sound to the other side of the door, glanced at Lu Jinnian, and walked out first.

“There are two cars stopped at the door. They say that they’re here to pick you both up…” said brother Chen’s wife, as she pointed at the courtyard. Qiao Anhao stared blankly for a moment, then when she stepped out and saw who was standing outside, she instantly smiled.

“Sis, Brother Jiamu!”

Lu Jinnian, who was originally following behind Qiao Anhao, stopped in his tracks for a moment when he heard the two names she called out. After a while, he stepped out of the house and saw the three of them chatting and laughing away.

Xu Jiamu probably knew that Qiao Anhao had hurt her leg, so he supported her over to the stool under the tree. Then, he crouched down in front of her and rolled up her trousers to check on the wound.

They probably assumed someone would be injured, and so they specially brought a medical kit with them. When Qiao Anxia ran over to the car to get it, Xu Jiamu remained crouched and rubbed the herbal medicine to disinfect the wound. He added on a layer of ointment before bandaging it up.

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Xu Jiamu lifted his head. Who knows what he asked Qiao Anhao, but she smiled at him and shook her head.

The bright rays of sun happened to shine on her face and her smile, which pierced Lu Jinnian’s eyes. He instinctively turned his head in pain, and stood by the door a little fazed, until his assistant walked over and called out to him, “Mr. Lu”.

Lu Jinnian hurriedly snapped back to reality and turned his head towards brother Chen and his wife in the house. He said, “Thank you”, and soon after, glanced at his assistant, who immediately knew to take out an envelope.

Lu Jinnian took the envelope and handed it to brother Chen and his wife. “Thank you so much for taking care of us. Here’s a little something as a token of goodwill.”

Brother Chen took the envelope, and saw a pile of red notes. He immediately pushed it back, wanting to return it to Lu Jinnian, but in the end, the assistant came forward, and reasoned with them. Finally, he convinced them to accept the envelope.

“Mr. Lu, should we be on our way now?” asked the assistant. After he finished thanking the Chen family, he turned his head and walked over to Lu Jinnian, who stood dazed to one side, staring at an empty space outside the house.

Lu Jinnian diverted his eyes and gave a light nod.

The assistant immediately rushed over to the three who were chatting away to one side, and reminded Xu Jiamu with a respectful tone, “Mr. Xu, we can head out now.”

“Wait one moment, let me say goodbye to brother Chen and his wife.” Qiao Anhao got up from the stool and rushed over to the house.

Xu Jiamu stood still on the spot, before calling out “Bro” to Lu Jinnian, who stood inside the house.

Lu Jinnian greeted him with a silent nod, then his eyes fell on Qiao Anhao, who came out of the house.

Probably because of the pain in her leg, for two days, she was quite slow and limped when she walked.

It had just rained, and so there were quite a few puddles on the ground. She walked a little cautiously, perhaps to avoid getting her shoes wet.

Now, she walked for about five meters before suddenly stopping.

Qiao Anxia cried out in curiosity, “Qiao Qiao?”

Qiao Anhao didn’t turn her head but raised her hand to rub her forehead. Then, without any warning, her body went limp, and she dropped to the ground.

Chapter 467: Peaceful and Beautiful Times (8)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGem“Qiao Qiao!”

“Miss Qiao!”

“Miss Qiao!”

Everyone screamed in shock at practically the same time.

Lu Jinnian was the first to rush over to Qiao Anhao, followed closely behind by Xu Jiamu. However, Xu Jiamu was far closer to where Qiao Anhao had fallen than Lu Jinnian was, so it didn’t matter how fast he ran. Xu Jiamu was the first to reach Qiao Anhao, and he crouched down, propping her up.

Xu Jiamu lightly slapped her face and gently called her name twice. Yet Qiao Anhao was resting weakly on his shoulders without the slightest reaction.

Lu Jinnian, who had originally lunged forward, stopped sharply in his tracks. He looked over at the pale-faced Qiao Anhao with her eyes shut, nestled in Xu Jiamu’s arms. His eyes were rather astounded.

Just now, because he ran over so abruptly, his breath was a little unsteady, and his outstretched hands lingered still, mid-air.

Brother Chen and his wife, Qiao Anxia and the assistant had already come over.

“What happened to Miss Qiao? How did she suddenly faint?” said brother Chen’s wife, as she looked over at her husband.

“Qiao Qiao, Qiao Qiao!” Qiao Anxia shook Qiao Anhao’s arm, then impatiently cried out to Xu Jiamu, “Xu Jiamu, what are you doing, blanking out? Hurry up and take Qiao Qiao to the hospital!”

With Qiao Anxia’s cries, Xu Jiamu abruptly snapped back to reality, then hurriedly carried Qiao Anhao out. He turned and rushed out the door.

Qiao Anxia hurriedly left with the words, “Thank you for taking care of Qiao Qiao.”

She then ran away in her ten centimeter shoes and caught up with Xu Jiamu. As she opened her handbag, she pulled the car door and outstretched her arms to push Xu Jiamu, who was setting Qiao Anhao down, into the car. With bossy aura, she ordered him, “Hand me the keys, you get in too. I’m driving!”

Without even waiting for Xu Jiamu to search for his keys, Qiao Anxia ardently reached her hand out and scoured through his pockets, to which Xu Jiamu cried out, “Qiao Anxia, what the f*ck do you think you’re touching?!”

With the car keys in her hand, Qiao Anxia shot Xu Jiamu a scornful look, as though she couldn’t be bothered to answer him. Then she put the key straight in the car and started the engine up.

“Bro, you lot hurry and catch up!” screamed Xu Jiamu into the courtyard behind him, and then, he got in the car. Before the car door was even closed, Qiao Anxia stepped on the accelerator, causing it to jump. The dirty water by the road flew on Xu Jiamu’s face, and he howled in rage, “Qiao Anxia, could you just be normal!”

The car door then abruptly slammed shut, and as the car started up with a roar, it quickly disappeared.

“Mr. Lu, shall we also be going?”

With his assistant’s reminder, Lu Jinnian quickly came to his senses. He lowered his eyelids, masking the sadness beneath his eyes, then straightened up. He silently pulled back his arms that were ready to hold Qiao Anhao and turned to say a few words to bid brother Chen and his wife farewell. However, the words never came. In the end, he gently nodded, and strode over the the courtyard doors.

Brother Chen and his wife saw Lu Jinnian and his assistant to the door, but Lu Jinnian still didn’t say a word. The assistant enthusiastically said his goodbyes to the couple, then started up the car, and chased after the car in front.

Lu Jinnian’s car followed closely behind Qiao Anxia. They stopped at the entrance of a local hospital downtown.

Chapter 468: Peaceful and Beautiful Times (9)

 Paperplane Editor: DarkGemThe car hadn’t even come to a complete stop when Lu Jinnian pulled open the door and got out. He took big strides towards the car in front, but before he even got there, Xu Jiamu had gotten out with Qiao Anhao in his arms. He rushed over to A&E, as Qiao Anxia hurriedly locked the car and caught up.

Lu Jinnian’s footsteps stumbled for just a moment, then he caught up to them.

There were many people in the hospital. They took Qiao Anhao immediately to the operating room.

Xu Jiamu sat on a chair in the waiting room with an anxious expression, whereas Qiao Anxia sat restlessly in her seat. She eventually got up and paced up and down in front of Xu Jiamu every now and then.

Her pacing made Xu Jiamu feel agitated. He couldn’t take it anymore and raised his head. “Qiao Anxia, could you sit and be quiet for a moment?”

“Xu Jiamu, your wife is lying in there, could you look a little worried?” retorted Qiao Anxia.

Xu Jiamu didn’t react to her retort and just waved his hand, wearing an expression that said he couldn’t be bothered by her antics.

The assistant instinctively glanced over at Lu Jinnian, who stood around five meters away from the window, when he heard the two words “your wife” from Qiao Anxia’s mouth.

Lu Jinnian appeared exceptionally quiet, as though he hadn’t heard what was just said,. He stood still, staring out the window. However, the assistant noticed that his hand on the window sill had clenched into a fist. Because he had used excessive force, white lines had formed around his knuckles.

About half an hour later, the doctor emerged from the operating room.

Qiao Anxia was the first to rush over to him. “How’s my sister?”

Xu Jiamu followed closely behind, walking up to the doctor.

Lu Jinnian, who stood in his spot without moving, just slightly turned his head towards the two.

The doctor removed the face mask and said, “The patient is fine. Perhaps she hasn’t been resting well lately, and when exposed to the cold, it triggered an inflammation in her body. Now, she has a high fever and her blood pressure is low, which is why she fainted. We’ve given her some fluids for now.”

After a pause, he added, “If one of you is available, please proceed to patient registration for overnight stays.”

Lu Jinnian glanced at his assistant, who instinctively knew to walk up to them. “Miss Da Qiao, Mr. Xu, I’ll go.”

Xu Jiamu and Qiao Anxia didn’t reject his offer, and nodded. The assistant took the form, ready to go downstairs, when Lu Jinnian stretched out his hand and took it from him, walking downstairs.

After Lu Jinnian came back, Qiao Anhao was given a private room at the hospital. When she fainted, her clothes had become completely dirty. Now, she’d changed into a hospital gown and lay quietly on the bed with an IV drip in her arm. Xu Jiamu sat by her bed with a clean towel in his hands, wiping her hair and clearing the dirt from her face.

Lu Jinnian stood in the corridor, staring at that scene for a long time. In the end, he didn’t go in but gave his assistant the money for the hospital bill, then turned to go downstairs on his own.

It was already evening by the time Lu Jinnian came back with a handful of bags.

The needle in Qiao Anhao’s arm was already removed and replaced with a plaster. She was deep asleep on the hospital bed.

When Xu Jiamu, Qiao Anxia, and his assistant had received Lu Jinnian’s call yesterday, the three of them had rushed overnight, so they hadn’t slept all night. On top of that, after a day of torment at the hospital, they were so incredibly exhausted that they couldn’t take it anymore and also fell asleep.

Chapter 469: Peaceful and Beautiful Times (10)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGemXu Jiamu lay spread out by the bedside. As for Qiao Anxia and the assistant, one was on the sofa, while the other was on the chair.

Lu Jinnian tried not to disturb them when he gently placed the things he’d bought on the table. Then he walked over to Qiao Anhao’s bedside and stroked her forehead to find that she still had a fever.

He walked softly into the bathroom, where he grabbed a towel and ran it under cold water. When he squeezed it dry, he walked back into the room again and placed it on Qiao Anhao’s forehead.

The cold soothed her a little, and her furrowed brows began to slowly relax.

Lu Jinnian didn’t leave her bedside, whilst he stared at her with soft eyes. After quite some time, he stretched out his hand and stroked her head.

After he returned with the wet towel, he hadn’t dried his hands of cold water. With her high temperature and his freezing touch, she couldn’t help but to give in to the cold, wet palm of his hands.

At her sweet, obedient look, Lu Jinnian couldn’t help but slowly curve the corner of his lips into a slight smile. With his thumb, he gently stroked her cheeks a little, but then, he glanced over at Xu Jiamu, who was spread out at her bedside, fast asleep. His eyes twitched a little, and he pulled his arm back and walked away.

Xu Jiamu, Qiao Anxia, and the assistant didn’t wake up until the nurse came around to give them food.

Whilst they ate, the nurse used that time to check Qiao Anhao’s temperature. She still had a fever, and so the nurse put her on another drip.

It was already eight in the evening when they finished their dinner. When Xu Jiamu saw Qiao Anxia’s fatigued, sleepy face and the cramped hospital room, he said, “How about you guys find a hotel to get some rest, and I’ll be fine here.”

Lu Jinnian wanted to stay here so bad, but Xu Jiamu was around. What gave him the right to take care of her?

He stared at Qiao Anhao in bed with a serene look on his face, then after a long a while gave a light nod and said, “All right.”

Before he left, Lu Jinnian pointed at the bag he had brought in the afternoon. “Those are clothes for her.”

“Mm.” Xu Jiamu nodded and said, “Got it.”

Lu Jinnian glanced over again at Qiao Anhao in deep sleep, then strode out the door.

–

The assistant found a hotel near the hospital and made reservations for three rooms.

Lu Jinnian stood in front of the window and smoked around three cigarettes before realizing that he’d finished the pack. He laid down on the bed, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t fall asleep. In the end, he changed clothes and walked out the room.

He went to the convenience store by the hotel and bought a pack of cigarettes. As he came out the store, he lit one up. Standing in the unfamiliar street of the town, he took two deep drags.

The night breeze blew past and fused with the dry summer heat. Nights in the little town seemed notably peaceful. There were practically no cars on the street, and even the shops on both sides of the road were closed for the night. Every now and then, one or two motorbikes would speed through the street.

Lu Jinnian stood there for a while, but in the end, he strode all the way to the hospital.

When he reached the in-patient’s block, he put out the cigarette in his hand.

The corridor was very quiet. All that Lu Jinnian could hear was the sound of his own footsteps echoing in the long corridor.

He stopped outside Qiao Anhao’s room but didn’t enter. He leaned against the wall and, through the glass window, stared at Xu Jiamu overlooking Qiao Anhao. There he was, sitting by her bedside, raising his arm to adjust the IV drip.

Lu Jinnian couldn’t help but lift his head up at the lights above him that made his eyes dry and obscured his vision. An irrepressible bitterness tossed around in his chest.