The scenery outside the car window kept changing, but Jiang Lai no longer cared about what passed by outside. Right now, all she wanted was to get her foot back.
They had agreed she would just show the swelling and redness on her ankle, but in the end, she wasn’t allowed to pull her foot back at all.
All of Jiang Lai’s attention was now focused on that restless hand of Xu Ruobing.
That hand was tightly holding her foot. Feeling the obvious overstepping of boundaries, Jiang Lai knew she should have pulled her foot back immediately.
But being held by Xu Ruobing’s cool little hand like this, Jiang Lai felt her whole body heat up, and a faint excitement rose from deep within her heart.
She felt as if every one of her senses was running in overdrive, every nerve stretched taut. Every move Xu Ruobing made seemed magnified several times, and the sensation she caused became especially sensitive.
Yet from start to finish, Xu Ruobing didn’t do anything truly out of line.
At most, she just held Jiang Lai’s smooth, jade-like little foot in her hand, occasionally tapping her toes gently with her fingertips, and even picked up her phone to search for which kind of nail polish would look best on her toes.
Jiang Lai was nearly scared witless by this almost hooligan-like act.
It was clearly her own foot, but why did it feel like Xu Ruobing was about to do whatever she pleased?
Besides, it had just come out of her shoe—didn’t it have a smell?
Even though it was winter and she’d worn her shoes for most of the day, there should at least be a faint odor, right?
But Xu Ruobing treated it as if it were a precious treasure.
“This isn’t your foot. Even if you look up nail polish online, I’m not letting you paint it.”
Xu Ruobing just smiled calmly, teasingly pinching Jiang Lai’s foot. “Miss Jiang’s foot was injured because of me, so it’s my duty and responsibility to take good care of her.
Who told her owner not to cherish her?
The ankle’s already swollen and red, yet she pretends like nothing’s wrong.
Even an injured foot has the right to choose who treats her best.”
Xu Ruobing’s words were a double entendre.
On the surface, she talked about the swollen ankle that no one cared for, but more importantly, she took the chance to remind Jiang Lai that if the most important people around her didn’t care or cherish her, she could completely let them go.
Jiang Lai’s personality was like a papaya: straightforward, kind-hearted, not one for twists and turns, and with a very strong sense of responsibility.
She could even risk her life to save someone she’d only met twice—both times being teased by that person—someone who could completely be considered a stranger.
People with such a strong sense of responsibility and such high moral standards for themselves were the easiest to be bound by rules and conventions, because Jiang Lai probably cared a lot about her reputation.
Even if her fiancé treated her badly, she would still bear the humiliation for the sake of her innocence.
Although these guesses were a bit wild, Xu Ruobing had drawn these conclusions from subtle observations.
If Jiang Lai’s marriage was happy, she wouldn’t have come to a bar to drown her sorrows, nearly having a one-night stand with a stranger.
If she was happy, why was there no ring on her hand to symbolize happiness?
Kind people like Jiang Lai were easily bullied, taken advantage of, and continually drained of their worth.
No matter what, Xu Ruobing had made up her mind to help her out of this sea of suffering. Of course, if she could take advantage of the situation, that would be even better.
But Jiang Lai didn’t catch any hidden meaning in Xu Ruobing’s words.
Deep down, she just felt that it was clearly her own foot, but Xu Ruobing was acting as if her whole body belonged to her.
Aside from feeling that Xu Ruobing was eyeing her foot like a hungry wolf, Jiang Lai didn’t think she’d done anything else inappropriate.
Seeing this, Jiang Lai didn’t say much more, because at least Xu Ruobing’s intentions were good.
Just that bit of concern for her was enough for Jiang Lai to tolerate a lot.
Minor things would be forgotten in the blink of an eye.
The two Traffic Policewomen dropped them off at the hospital entrance and left, as they needed to hurry back to the Police Station to report the incident and also to note when Xu Ruobing would come in for her statement tomorrow.
So, after getting out of the car, the only person Jiang Lai could rely on was Xu Ruobing. But Jiang Lai felt she didn’t need anyone’s help at all; it was just a twisted ankle, not a broken leg.
When Jiang Lai tried to stand up and walk a few steps, Xu Ruobing forcefully pressed her back down into her seat, not allowing her to do anything.
Jiang Lai sat there awkwardly on the bench in the corridor, quietly watching Xu Ruobing’s busy figure bustling about. To avoid causing a stir because of herself, Xu Ruobing had come fully prepared: baseball cap, flat glasses, black mask—everything in place.
But this nearly perfect disguise only made her stand out more.
At the very least, she was more eye-catching than ordinary people, though it was much better than showing her real face.
However, Xu Ruobing seemed like she’d never been to a hospital before.
She didn’t even register at the front desk and just barged right into the Doctor’s Office.
Only after the Nurse explained things to her did she foolishly follow the steps she found online, doing everything one by one.
Jiang Lai was a bit surprised, but it made sense. Xu Ruobing was a top-tier Celebrity in the country.
Whenever something happened, there would always be someone to help her out.
She’d never have to obediently register and queue up at the hospital like an ordinary person.
In this situation, it was really hard on her. Watching Xu Ruobing’s silly, clueless appearance, the stunningly beautiful Jiang Lai couldn’t help but smile a little.
Xu Ruobing had busied herself for a whole hour over Jiang Lai’s accidentally twisted foot before they finally got in line to see the doctor.
But after queuing for an hour, the actual consultation took only a minute.
The specialist doctor who examined Jiang Lai’s ankle even overthought it for a moment.
After checking for ten seconds, he realized that the patient before him had nothing but a simple sprain.
It was so unbelievable that the doctor even wondered if Jiang Lai had any internal injuries.
After a thorough examination lasting several minutes, he found it was just a very ordinary, very minor sprain, and even started lecturing Xu Ruobing: if it was only a simple sprain, there was no need to register for Specialist Registration.
Not only was it a waste of money, it also wasted medical resources.
Xu Ruobing just kept her head down and admitted her mistake the whole time, showing none of the airs of a Celebrity rumored online.
Instead, she seemed much more like an ordinary person—just one with very little common sense.
When the two of them left the hospital, Jiang Lai looked at the bottle of Red Flower Oil in her hand, then at Xu Ruobing who was still sticking close to her.
“I’m really fine, so you don’t have to worry about me all the time. I’m going home now. Are you planning to follow me back?”
But it was as if Xu Ruobing had been waiting for this question.
She nodded lightly.
“What if you hurt your foot again on the way home? Let me take you back.”
That way, she could finally see the person Jiang Lai was always longing for—just how good was he, to the point that she could even reject Xu Ruobing?
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