Chapter 42: The Gentle Him

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Everyone was taken aback by the sudden incident.

The scene was a mess.

Blood flowed from Xiang Wan’s hand and dripped onto the floor, forming a small pool of blood that was rather startling.

Xing Feifei seemed to have been scared silly. Her eyes were wide-opened in horror, and she was muttering repeatedly, “I didn’t mean it.” Her face was pale as she looked toward her father, obviously afraid that she would be berated.

“Goodness! This, this, this…”

The first one to come to Xiang Wan was her mom, Tan Yunchun.

All mothers would feel pain in their heart when they see their child hurt.

She was unable to blame anyone. She held Xiang Wan’s hand to look at the wound before she went to look for a first-aid box hastily.

Her eldest aunt and uncle hurried to help clean up the mess on the floor, picking up the pieces of glass while Fang Yuanyuan helped Xiang Wan over to sit on the sofa and blew softly at her wound, her expression distressed.

Her youngest aunt and uncle recovered from the shock and reprimanded their daughter’s carelessness. They asked with concern how Xiang Wan was doing, and when Tiantian cried out in fright, they turned to coax their son.

The house was in turmoil.

There were cries, sounds of coaxing, shock, as well as comforting words.

The one who was most unaffected was the victim, Xiang Wan, as well as their guest, Cheng Zheng.

After suffering the initial piercing pain, Xiang Wan soon felt numb from the pain although the pain got more intense as time went by. Besides watching in apprehension how her blood flowed out and the pieces of glass that were stuck in her flesh, she was looking coldly at her relatives in the house.

As for Cheng Zheng, he was most probably used to seeing death and blood, so his expression was the most composed and poised.

He was, after all, an outsider, and it was inconvenient for him to be involved. Hands in his trousers, he stood at the side. When Xiang Wan’s mom appeared with the first-aid box, she wanted to help Xiang Wan handle the wound. His eyebrows furrowed at the sight and took a step forward.

“Do you need help?”

Xiang Wan lifted her head. “No need.”

However, her mom was thrilled to hear that. “Yes, please!”

The pair of mother and daughter had different responses.

With that, Xiang Wan watched how her mother complimented and expressed her gratitude to Cheng Zheng. She happily got up from her spot as if she was throwing a piece of hot potato to him.

“Why didn’t I think of this? Captain Cheng majored in this. It’s great that you’re willing to help my little girl… Sigh, my daughter is clumsy all along, she hardly did any housework since young. She can actually get hurt from just a small thing like this…”

Blah, blah, blah…

She could not stop prattling on. Xiang Wan felt her scalp numb while listening to all of that.

Was she really her biological mom?

She was portraying her own daughter as a worthless person, while she praised him up to the heavens.

More importantly, did she really know what Cheng Zheng majored in?

At that moment, Xiang Wan wanted to know if her mom was treating her as a corpse?

Xiang Wan pursed her mouth tightly without saying a word. When she glanced sideways, she could see Fang Yuanyuan’s teasing face and felt helpless.

Cheng Zheng was now crouched in front of Xiang Wan.

He had a stiff expression as he meticulously removed the glass shards with utmost care using tweezers. However, Xiang Wan was frightened by him… She felt as though she was a corpse on his autopsy table, that he could find some useful evidence from her finger without batting an eyelid.

Xiang Wan felt cool where his fingers touched.

The weather was so hot, yet his hand felt so chilly.

He was unlike Bai Muchuan, whose fingers were burning hot like fire…

Nevertheless, in Xiang Wan’s opinion, this was in line with Cheng Zheng’s personality.

There was always a distant feel about him. He might look easygoing, but he was actually cold and detached.

He might be similar to Bai Muchuan, but they were completely different on the inside…

“… Tsk!”

The sudden pain from her fingers awakened Xiang Wan from her reverie.

She realized that she had unexpectedly thought about Bai Muchuan again. Her back started to break out in cold sweat.

It was really painful.

She twitched her face, blinked, and asked, “Gentler please?”

Cheng Zheng lifted his head and shot her a faint glance, his voice deep and slow. “There is no wound that is painless. Being pricked by a needle hurts, not to mention glass? Bear with it!”

“…”

But this is too painful , thought Xiang Wan.

“Captain Cheng, the fingers are linked to the heart!” said Xiang Wan, gritting her teeth.

Her forehead was also breaking out in cold sweat due to the pain. Her body was tense, and she couldn’t help trembling…

If not for the fact that she was currently watched by so many people, she could have been in tears due to the pain.

Cheng Zheng was now even slower and gentler than before, his eyes focused on the wounded finger. At times, he would make an occasional frown. From his side profile, his features seemed even more well-defined. He had an air of poised elegance, a different kind of masculinity which was different from Bai Muchuan, who was a dashing, cool, and bad*ss type of guy.

Within the house, there was someone who was staring at him.

But he did not say anything.

Finally, he helped to disinfect and bandage Xiang Wan’s wound.

“The fingers are not only linked to the heart,” he remarked, “the fingers are also of the same root.”

He was not loud but was enough to be heard by the people in the living room.

His statement clearly meant that Xing Feifei did it on purpose.

Despite Xiang Wan having the same conjecture, this was something that should not be said without any evidence…

Furthermore, he was just an outsider. How could he say it without any qualms?

This guy’s character… made them embarrassed.

Most of them were embarrassed.

Her youngest aunt, youngest uncle, eldest aunt, eldest uncle… as well as Xing Feifei.

She seemed to want to explain. She was so flustered that her face flushed red. However, Cheng Zheng did not specifically name her, so if she were to explain, it would be too deliberate and would be indirectly admitting that she had hurt Xiang Wan on purpose.

In addition, Xing Feifei did not want to offend and have bad blood with him.

“Cousin…” cried Xing Feifei who chose to pretend to be the weak and innocent.

She walked slowly toward her with a mournful face. Her lips pursed pitifully, and her eyes looked as though tears would flow at any moment. “Are you in a lot of pain? I’m sorry, it’s all my fault for being so clumsy and reckless that I’ve caused your wound… Cousin, why don’t you hit me once to vent your anger?”

Xiang Wan knew Xing Feifei for more than ten years.

This was the first time she saw her lowering her stance.

She was not used to this change as Xing Feifei was like an entirely different person…

Due to this change, she succeeded in forcing Xiang Wan to a situation where she had to forgive her.

The atmosphere felt a bit unusual, and everyone’s eyes were on Xiang Wan.

Youngest aunt and uncle were talking apologetically, alleviating the awkward atmosphere. Xiang Wan’s mom tugged on the hem of her clothes secretly, hinting at her to be good and obedient. Eldest aunt and uncle undoubtedly also wanted her to make concessions and avoid trouble while looking at her helplessly from the side.

Nobody wanted to lose face in front of their guest. What other choice did she have?

Xiang Wan smiled.

She did not know how exactly she was able to achieve that.

However, the moment she smiled, everyone was satisfied.

“It’s alright, you didn’t mean it. Who hasn’t been careless?”

Xing Feifei’s eyes lit up slightly at the sentence.

The next moment, she lowered her eyes due to her guilty conscience. “Thank you cousin, let me help you to the dining room.”

“It’s alright, my finger’s hurt, not my legs.”

Xiang Wan got up and walked past Xing Feifei. “Of course,” she sneered with a voice as soft as a mosquito, “for me, my hand is more important than my leg. So, I have to thank you for letting me rest for a few days.”

Now that her hand’s hurt, she was unable to type or write.

Failure to update would also mean her already meager amount of royalties would be even lower.

It was only natural that Xing Feifei was unable to understand her situation, and was stunned for a while upon hearing that.

Xiang Wan curled up her lips in disdain and did not even look at her. Instead, she intuitively sensed that Cheng Zheng gave her a complicated look.

Xiang Wan’s heart jumped.

She followed the line of sight she sensed, so as to “catch” him.

However, there was nothing.

Cheng Zheng had an indifferent, emotionless face as if he didn’t care about their domestic affairs at all. So much so that she even suspected that the accusatory remark he made earlier had not come from him.

He was wiping his hands.

He was cleaning his hands carefully with gauze dipped in the alcoholic solution.

It felt as if… he had dirtied his hands when he touched her hand earlier.

Such a scene…

Xiang Wan coughed lightly. “Captain Cheng, why not go inside to wash your hands?”

“No need,” said Cheng Zheng unhurriedly then he placed the first-aid kit on the coffee table. “Uncle Xing, Aunty Tan, sorry, I can’t eat this meal.”

“…”

What did he mean by he can’t eat?

Youngest aunt’s face went stiff for a moment. “The meal is already cooked. Little Cheng, is there something urgent?”

“Hm,” acknowledged Cheng Zheng with a polite smile as he nodded at everyone. He did not explain much but suddenly turned around to grab Xiang Wan’s hand.

To be exact, he grabbed Xiang Wan’s injured hand for another look.

“The blood has stopped for now. If there’s any symptom of hemorrhage, do go to the hospital for a checkup.”

Xiang Wan smiled in embarrassment. “Okay, thank you, Captain Cheng.”

Cheng Zheng said, “No need for thanks, I’m waiting for your update.”

Xiang Wan: “…”

Did that mean she got another fan for her book?

Sensing Xing Feifei’s not-so-friendly gaze, Xiang Wan’s lips turned upward. When Cheng Zheng released her injured hand, she waved lightly at him. “Alright, no problem. This author has decided not to fail to update even though my hand is injured just because of your words!”

Cheng Zheng furrowed his eyebrows, his gaze seemed like X-rays as he looked at her eyes in a fixated manner.

“I need to go. There’s a farewell lunch for Captain Bai at noon today, I have almost forgotten about it. I need to rush over now.”

Captain Bai?

Bai Muchuan?

What does he mean by farewell?

He’s… leaving?

Xiang Wan was stunned for a moment.

She wanted to ask further, but before she could do so, all that was left was Cheng Zheng’s back view.

He had left, leaving behind a group of embarrassed people in the house.

He also left a neat and tidy first-aid box which was organized and cleaned by himself, lying quietly on the coffee table…

…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep