Chapter 150: Chapter 148: A Change in Attitude

Anxiety instantly colored Wang Xinxin’s voice as she took half a step forward.

Her eyes darted all over Chen Zhengnian before finally landing on his bandaged arm.

Sunlight slanted through the window, casting a small shadow on her slightly furrowed brow.

Her anxious demeanor made the few comrades watching the scene from the side want to laugh to themselves.

Chen Zhengnian looked at the reddened corners of her eyes, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

He was about to expose his comrade’s nonsense when a cough from behind him cut him off.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his comrade winking and nudging, secretly making a “play along” gesture with his hand.

Chen Zhengnian frowned slightly, wanting to refuse. But as if possessed, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and decided to just go along with it.

“It’s nothing serious. Just scraped my arm a little.”

“A scrape keeps you in the hospital for seven or eight days?”

Wang Xinxin was clearly skeptical. She reached out to touch the gauze, but just as her fingertips were about to make contact, she snatched her hand back as if afraid of hurting him.

’Why am I so nervous? I have nothing to do with Chen Zhengnian.’

’Wang Xinxin, have you lost your mind?’

To cover up her momentary embarrassment, Wang Xinxin tried to find something else to say.

“Did you hurt the bone? I heard from my cousin-in-law that when you guys train, you often get hairline fractures hidden under superficial wounds…”

She rambled on, reciting the medical knowledge she’d heard from Su Tang.

Watching her earnest profile, Chen Zhengnian suddenly felt that his comrade’s offhand lie wasn’t so bad after all.

He raised a hand to rub the back of his neck, his voice a little lower than usual.

“It’s really nothing, they’re just teasing you. The doctor said I could leave after they treated the wound. It’s just that my comrades thought it was a rare chance to rest, so they wanted me to stay a few more days.”

Hearing Chen Zhengnian’s words, Wang Xinxin’s eyes immediately went wide. She turned to look at the comrades who were stifling their laughter.

“How could you joke about something like this? What if something serious was actually delayed because of you?”

The way she scolded them was rather fierce, but the worry she couldn’t hide in her eyes made her seem exceptionally cute.

Her questions left the comrades looking at each other, speechless. Finally, the rowdy soldier who had started it all scratched his head and laughed.

“We just wanted to let Chen Lü rest a bit more. You see how hard he pushes himself in training. Besides, you came all this way. We couldn’t just let you watch him leave as soon as you arrived, right?”

That sentence seemed to touch upon the girl’s secret feelings, and Wang Xinxin’s cheeks instantly flushed red.

She turned her face away to look at the pothos on the windowsill, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. “I… I just came by to see him. It has nothing to do with whether he leaves or not.”

Chen Zhengnian watched the tips of her ears turn red, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curve upward.

He cleared his throat and deliberately put on a stern face. “Don’t you all have work to do? Don’t you need to get back to training?”

As soon as he said that, the onlookers scattered like birds and beasts, not forgetting to give Chen Zhengnian a “go for it” gesture before they left.

The hospital room fell silent in an instant, leaving only the TICK-TOCK of the wall clock.

Only then did Wang Xinxin remember what she had brought. She quickly pushed the mesh bag on the table forward. “These are the pickled cucumbers I made, and some corn cakes I just steamed yesterday. If you don’t mind…”

“I don’t mind.”

Chen Zhengnian picked up a corn cake. The warmth spread from his fingertips, mixed with the faint fragrance of corn, and an inexplicable warmth filled his heart.

He took a small bite, watching as Wang Xinxin nervously clutched the hem of her clothes. Suddenly, he felt that this accidental injury might have been a stroke of good fortune.

Wang Xinxin only stayed for a little while before she had to leave.

Chen Zhengnian wanted to say something to make her stay, but he didn’t know what to say.

He could only watch as Wang Xinxin walked away.

’I shouldn’t have any feelings for Wang Xinxin, so why did I feel a secret sense of joy when I saw her just now?’

Humming a tune in a good mood, Wang Xinxin returned home, only to find Lu Xiao and Su Tang sitting there.

Her cousin was peeling an apple, and her cousin-in-law was reading a book.

’Those two aren’t in their own room; they’re in the living room. Don’t tell me they’re waiting for me?’

“Xinxin, you’re back? Come, have a seat.”

Su Tang smiled and gestured for Wang Xinxin to sit. Wang Xinxin didn’t know what was going on, but she had a bad feeling.

But she couldn’t say anything, so she had to brace herself and sit down.

“Cousin, Cousin-in-law, what’s wrong?”

The words had barely left her mouth when Lu Xiao snorted coldly. “What’s going on between you and that Chen Zhengnian?”

At his words, Wang Xinxin’s cheeks turned so red they looked like they could bleed. “Cousin, what nonsense are you talking about! Commander Chen and I are just… just regular friends!”

“Regular friends?”

Lu Xiao placed the peeled apple in Su Tang’s hand.

“Would ’regular friends’ have you running a long distance with pickled cucumbers first thing in the morning? Would ’regular friends’ have you giggling foolishly at his photo for half the night?”

Wang Xinxin’s eyes went wide as saucers. ’Damn it, how does my cousin even know about that!’

Su Tang coughed lightly from the side and secretly kicked Lu Xiao’s ankle. “You’re her cousin. How could you go through a young girl’s things?”

Lu Xiao sheepishly rubbed his nose, but his tone didn’t soften.

“I’m her cousin. If I don’t look out for her, who will? Besides, who went through her things? She didn’t put it away properly; it was just sitting on the table. I saw it.”

“That Chen Zhengnian is eight years older than her, and he’s a tough-as-nails soldier. What does he know about taking care of someone?”

“Commander Chen, he…”

Wang Xinxin wanted to defend him but didn’t know where to start.

’Do I like him?’

’Perhaps the answer was already there; she just hadn’t admitted it yet.’

’But she and Chen Zhengnian were worlds apart, whether in age or status. Was it really possible for them?’

Su Tang took Wang Xinxin’s hand, her gentle words soothing her somewhat uneasy heart.

“Xinxin, be honest with your cousin-in-law. Do you have feelings for him?”

Her voice was as light as a feather. “I just think… he’s a good person.”

This admission nearly made Lu Xiao jump to his feet.

But Su Tang just smiled and used the fruit knife to cut the apple into small pieces. “Then there’s no rush. Wait until you’ve figured out your own heart.”

“Matters of the heart can’t be forced, anyway.”

Wang Xinxin’s eyes brightened as if stars had fallen into them. “Really?”

“Why would I lie to you?”

Su Tang pushed the fruit plate toward her. “But your cousin’s worries are also valid. The military has strict discipline. If you two are really interested in each other, you’ll have to take it slow.”

She herself didn’t think it was a big deal. Aside from that matter with Chen Man, Chen Zhengnian was a great catch on his own.

But she was worried about whether Wang Xinxin would be able to get along with Chen Zhengnian’s family.

Everyone said Chen Zhengnian was a great catch.

And with Chen Man in the picture, would she just let things be?

These were all things Wang Xinxin would have to face in the future. At the end of the day, as her cousin and cousin-in-law, this was as much as they could help.

If she really chose Chen Zhengnian, then every step she took from now on would be her own choice.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep