See through him

Zhuang Yu'an, wearing a dark gray shirt and black trousers, walked in, carrying a black four-wheeled cart in his hand.

Zuo Xiao was so captivated by the gadget in his hand that he forgot about his embarrassment for a moment. At first glance, the bike looked like a baby walker, but a closer look revealed a pedal above the front wheel, a wide groove in the center of the seat, and high-set handlebars.

"Has Jinghao gone out yet?" Zhuang Yu'an changed his shoes, pulled the cart with one hand, and said as he walked.

"Yeah, I just left a while ago. What is this?"

As he spoke, Zhuang Yu'an came closer and put the bike away. "This is a walker. You can sit on it, or kneel on the seat with your right leg and push off with your left leg. Do you want to try it?"

Zuo Xiao became excited when he heard this and sat up by holding the armrest of the sofa.

Before she could find the crutch, Zhuang Yu'an had already pulled the bike to her feet.

He helped her sit down, then squatted down, held her calf, gently placed her right foot in a walking boot on the pedal, and then pushed the bike to an open space.

"Give it a try," Zhuang Yu'an said with a hint of encouragement. At his feet, Peter Pan was grunting excitedly, his tail wagging vigorously.

Zuo Xiao curled his lips, pushed with his left foot, and the car slid forward a long distance.

It was such a long-lost feeling! She screamed with excitement.

When the car stopped, Zhuang Yu'an had already arrived. Zuo Xiao, still immersed in the excitement of free skating, nodded repeatedly when he heard him say, "Don't go too fast, be careful not to fall."

Next, she tried turning and kneeling. Within two minutes, Zuo Xiao had completely adapted to her new mode of transportation, which also doubled as her new toy. Zhuang Yu'an watched her gliding around the living room, his lips gradually curling up, his eyes and eyebrows brimming with smiles. This kind expression caught Zuo Xiao's eye, and he thought to himself, this piece of wood is quite helpful.

Zuo Xiao was skating with great enthusiasm, and the accompanying Peter Pan followed him with great enthusiasm, also having a lot of fun. Both the man and the dog were having a great time.

The accident happened at this moment.

Peter Pan was running too fast, suddenly jumping in front of the car and turning a corner. Zuo Xiao watched helplessly as the wheels of the car were heading towards him. Without time to think, he suddenly grabbed the handlebars and swung it to the side.

"Ah!" She screamed when she suddenly lost her balance, and her mind was filled with "It's over, it's over."

The expected sharp pain did not come. Her upper body fell into the broad embrace, and her legs were lifted high by one hand.

“Thump, thump…”

Zuo Xiao was still in shock, and it took her a moment to realize that it was Zhuang Yu'an who caught her. At the moment the car was about to overturn, he knelt on his knees, opened his arms to protect her, and stopped the car with his body. He even used one hand to lift her legs.

"Woof woof!"

Peter Pan ran over and circled around the two of them.

"Are you okay?" A trembling voice came from above my head.

Zuo Xiao took a few quick breaths and said, "I'm fine." Subconsciously, she turned her head to look into his eyes, "Are you okay?"

"It's okay." Zhuang Yu calmed down, then changed his position and picked her up. Zuo Xiao turned around and saw that he looked normal, so she felt relieved.

Zhuang Yu'an put her on the sofa, looked at her hands and feet, and said, "Rest for a while and continue after dinner."

When he turned and left, Zuo Xiao suddenly realized that he had not said sorry or thank you.

Today's dinner only had two fewer dishes than yesterday's. Zhuang Yu'an ate silently and didn't speak.

Zuo Xiao felt awkward. She was in the home of a man she barely knew and with whom she had a past grudge, eating his cooking. It would have been fine at any other time, but tonight Zhuang Jinghao wasn't there, leaving them alone. And she had even received a huge favor from him...

No... If it weren't for their dog suddenly rushing out, she wouldn't have flipped the car to avoid it. Besides, the car was provided by him, even the driving floor was his... If she took two steps forward, she still twisted her ankle while playing basketball with him!

Zuo Xiao's habit of "resolutely avoiding external friction and never internal friction" once again came into play: Yes, the Zhuang man was the instigator. All grudges and grievances were wiped out!

"I consulted a friend who specializes in sports rehabilitation," Zhuang Yu'an suddenly said. "He suggested seeing a sports medicine specialist as soon as possible and starting rehabilitation early to avoid muscle atrophy caused by prolonged sitting and lying down."

"Yeah, okay. I'll go see it next week."

Zuo Xiao thought to himself: I'll move out this weekend. In a rental house, I don't have to climb stairs; I can just use my car to get around. If I need to go out, I have a cane, so I can take care of myself. I can't just shamelessly continue living in someone else's house just because I want their three meals a day, right?

When Zhuang Yu'an lowered his head to clean up the dishes, Zuo Xiao suddenly noticed that there was an abnormal area of ​​skin on his neck below his ear, which seemed to be coated with brown iodine.

She went straight to the point: "Were you scratched by the walker just now?"

He was slightly startled and said, "I accidentally got it while exercising last night. It's nothing serious."

Zuo Xiao frowned and said in a tone that brooked no refusal, "Come here and let me take a look."

Zhuang Yu'an remained silent, continuing to clean up. She said impatiently, "Hurry up. Stand next to me."

The other party paused, and finally put down what he was holding, wiped his hands, and walked over obediently.

Zuo Xiao felt a little happier: For some reason, she just had a kind of confidence that Zhuang Yu'an would definitely listen to her.

A man about 1.9 meters tall stood beside her. She sat up and looked up at him, but it was difficult to see him clearly. So she gave the order again: "Bend down and bring your head closer to show me."

Seeing Zhuang Yu'an standing there motionless, Zuo Xiao became impatient and said, "Hurry up." He raised his hand and hit him on the lower back.

The other person's body trembled violently, as if frightened by her slap. Zuo Xiao was a little proud and said with a smile: "Hurry up!"

Zhuang Yu settled in for a moment, quietly brought a chair over, sat down next to her, and then turned his face to the other side, as if he was a bad-tempered employee who met a wicked boss and did not dare to resist but did not want to obey completely, so he had to resort to this last resort.

Zuo Xiao didn't bother to dwell on this detail. He leaned in closer, carefully examining the mark beneath his ear. It was indeed a scrape, breaking the skin. It looked about the same thickness as the handlebar of the walker.

At this moment, her mind was as clear as a mirror: everything made sense.

However, it still needs to be verified.

"Are you stupid?" she scolded. "You were just scratched while saving me. What's there to hide?"

His already stiff neck tensed even more, the veins throbbing vigorously. This man was clearly trying hard to suppress his emotions.

Zuo Xiao laughed. She was very familiar with this scene.

Growing up, she and Chen Liqing had argued countless times, mostly because he was a bit of a jerk, but also a little bit because of her. Whenever Chen Liqing came to make peace, his standard procedure was to first offer her something, like "My mom made you some fried cakes," or "I found the pencil case you lost last month," and then turn his head away from her. But in reality, every fiber of his being was screaming, "Come and make peace with me!"

Zuo Xiao pursed her lips, feeling the urge to turn his face around and force him to look directly at her.

"Thank you." She smiled and said, "You are so kind to me."

The body beneath his eyelids trembled slightly, and then a large area from ears to neck turned red. Zuo Xiao leaned forward to look at his face, and when he caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye, he turned his whole body to the other side.

She snickered and then asked, "Why are you so nice to me?"

Zhuang Yu'an finally couldn't sit still anymore. He pulled his body up, but she pressed him down again by holding his shoulders.

"Why are you running?" she laughed. "I'm not going to beat you."

The other person remained silent. She thought for a moment, then continued, "Are you feeling guilty and wanting to take responsibility for me on behalf of your sister?"

Zhuang Yuan paused and nodded.

Zuo Xiao scoffed, "So it's because of guilt... Then you took me to the hospital, paid for my medical bills, bought me protective gear and a stroller, and even cooked for me. That's pretty good. Let's even things out, okay?"

The other party was stunned for a moment and nodded.

"Now that we've settled the new scores, let's settle the old ones," Zuo Xiao said. "You inexplicably targeted me before, hated me, told me to stay away from Xiao Jing, and even threatened me, saying you wouldn't rule out letting me see your dark side... Oh, and you even exposed me. You remember all this, right?"

Zuo Xiao noticed that his breathing was disordered and his hands on his legs were clenched into fists.

Is it tension? Or anger?

Don't worry, there will be an answer soon.

She softened her tone: "You did such a cruel thing to me, causing irreparable damage to my spirit. Shouldn't you apologize?"

He took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice after a long while, "I'm sorry, it's really my fault. Please forgive me."

Zuo Xiao’s eyes suddenly widened: She made the right bet!

She curled her lips: "Do you still hate me now? Will you regard me as your enemy in the future?"

The other party paused and shook his head.

She pressed on, "Do you want to put aside your past grudges and be my friend?"

The other party paused again, and after a moment, nodded slowly but firmly.

"For Xiao Jing's sake, it's not impossible..." Seeing his body tremble again, she became even more proud and chuckled, "I've always been very generous. As long as you compensate me with practical actions, the previous grudges will be written off. How about it?"

"How to compensate?" His voice was hoarse, probably because he was too emotional.

Zuo Xiao pretended to be displeased: "Are you going to keep talking to me with the back of your head?"

He was completely motionless, as if in a trance. Zuo Xiao was in a good mood, so he didn't rush him and waited patiently for him.

After a long time, he finally turned around.

Zuo Xiao saw that his face was as red as Guan Gong's, his lips pressed into a line. His eyes moved around helplessly, unable to find where to look, and finally drooped down to the back of his hand resting on his knees.

Zuo Xiao found it increasingly amusing. He tilted his head and chuckled for a moment before saying, "What are you feeling guilty about? Why don't you dare look at me?"

The tall and strong man in front of her said nothing, his eyelids trembling with embarrassment. Zuo Xiao felt that if she pressed him further, he might faint in front of her, so she stopped in time.

"How do you want to make it up to me?" she said softly.

"I can do anything," he said in a deep voice, "as long as it's within my ability."

"Well...how about you double my salary?"

"Uh…that's against the rules."

"cut!"

"You want money? Sure, I—"

"Stop! I'm kidding! Can't you hear me? I'm really impressed..."

"sorry……"

Seeing his dull and cowardly look, Zuo Xiao suddenly felt bored and didn't want to tease him anymore. However, after talking about this, it would feel like a loss if he didn't take advantage of him...

She thought for a moment and said, "How about this, if you give me a one-stop service, I'll forgive you."

He paused and said in a muffled voice, "What do you mean by one-stop service?"

Zuo Xiao smiled and said, "Give me a shoulder massage, a leg rub, and then a performance. How about that?"

"Is it that simple?" He raised his eyes and said hesitantly, "You can ask for higher standards."

Zuo Xiao was a little unhappy: "Who do you take me for? Am I the kind of person who asks for too much?"

Zhuang Yu'an shook his head slightly: "Okay, I'll do as you say."

That's more like it. Zuo Xiao smiled and said, "Then let's get started."

He washed his hands and stood behind her.

"I'm going to record a video, you can't hide."

"good."

As he spoke, he put his hands up and kneaded her trapezius muscles with a force that was neither too light nor too heavy.

"Wow, that's quite comfortable." Zuo Xiao narrowed his eyes. "Do you often give people shoulder massages?"

"Yes, I often pinch it for my grandparents."

"Oh..." Zuo Xiao said, turning on the front camera of his phone, "I'm going to start recording, don't stop."

Zhuang Yu'an kept working. Zuo Xiao turned the screen sideways and raised her right hand far enough to fit both her face and his on screen. There was clearly an extra pair of hands on her shoulders; could she tell he was massaging her shoulders?

She made a "yeah" gesture with her left hand and silently said three words to the camera:

"Good grandson."