Chapter 23 Grudges "So scared you forgot to breathe?"...

Qin Man no longer cared about where Jiang Xuchi had gone.

Qin Chen's face was covered in bruises, with a deep red mark on his upturned nose. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his upper arms, revealing skin covered in marks.

Qin Man's mind was filled with only this one question:

Who did this? Who dared to beat up Qin Chen?

Qin Chen took the phone, which was covered in a diamond-encrusted case, out of his pocket and handed it to Qin Man, saying, "Keep an eye on your things. Don't let anyone who shouldn't be eyeing them have any designs on them."

The edge of the phone case was cracked from the fall, and it felt a bit sharp when I picked it up. Qin Man didn't care about such a small thing and kept her eyes fixed on Qin Chen.

Seeing her tense and defensive posture, Qin Chen found it somewhat amusing. "Are you mute?"

"I thought you died in New Zealand," Qin Man's lips parted slightly, her words dripping with venom, "but what floats before me is a ghost."

"I'm really sorry to disappoint you." Qin Chen dusted off the hem of his clothes, which was covered in dust from when he was beating someone up. "The banquet isn't over yet, you should go back."

Qin Man then asked, "Did you get into a fight?"

Qin Chen remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"Who did you beat up at our school?"

"So stupid, you can't even guess that."

Qin Man was speechless for a moment, then said in disbelief, "Jiang Xuchi?!"

Qin Chen chuckled, his meaning clear: it was him.

Qin Man's mind went blank.

Oh no, oh no, oh no!

He beat up Jiang Xuchi again.

Why did I suddenly come back and, without doing anything, rush to cause her trouble?

Where is Jiang Xuchi now?

"You still want to go see him? Dream on." Qin Chen pointed at her nose and said impatiently, "You're not allowed to associate with him."

Qin Man tilted her head back and bumped into his hand, forcing him to pull it back. Her voice rose, "You still have the nerve to tell me what to do? Do you know what hitting him means? I'm graduating soon, can't you just let me have some peace and quiet!"

Qin Chen chuckled, as if he had heard a joke.

"Okay, you can date anyone before you graduate, just don't date him."

"Who said I'm dating him?"

Qin Man didn't know how Qin Chen had misunderstood, but she didn't want to explain too much. What right did she have to explain? Her brother was simply insane.

Qin Chen clearly didn't believe it. He was too lazy to talk to his sister, especially now, as his wound was burning with pain and standing here in the wind was simply unbearable.

"It's best if you didn't talk about it," Qin Chen said.

Qin Man: "Tell me first what happened to Jiang Xuchi!"

“You’d better be nicer to me,” Qin Chen said, “otherwise who’s going to pay your charity money tonight?”

A Porsche suddenly drove up behind Qin Chen and stopped on the side of the road not far away, with its hazard lights on.

Qin Man had a gut feeling that they were there to pick up Qin Chen. Sure enough, Qin Chen heard the noise, turned around, glanced at them, and then walked in that direction.

The driver, a pretty woman, rolled down the window and was smiling at the two of them.

"Hey, Qin Chen, make this clear first."

Qin Man followed him, intending to stop him from getting into the car.

Qin Chen couldn't close the car door, so he could only look at her and say, "Jiang Xuchi is definitely going to the hospital. It's a miracle that that kid is still alive after I beat him up twice."

Then, taking advantage of Qin Man's dazed state, he closed the door and disappeared into the distance.

Qin Man didn't even have a chance to ask, "Are you still going home?"

...

Under the arrangement of the student council, the entire hall was decorated with dazzling lights. The cocktail table was full of parents of students. Qin Man walked around and picked out a piece of chocolate mousse from the dessert table.

Her mind wasn't on enjoying the dessert; her thoughts were wandering.

Should we go to the hospital, or just ignore it?

Even though it was Qin Chen who beat him up, what did it have to do with Qin Man?

The more Qin Man thought about it, the more depressed she became. In the end, she simply stopped eating, grabbed her bag, and got up to leave.

Qin Man flagged down a taxi at the school gate, got in, and gave the driver the address of Jiang Xuchi's hotel.

Qin Man guessed that Jiang Xuchi definitely wouldn't go to the hospital.

She understands him.

When she arrived at the hotel reception, she couldn't use the elevator because she didn't have a room card, so she simply took out her phone and called Jiang Xuchi.

The call was disconnected instantly.

Qin Man wasn't angry. Instead, she felt a sense of defiance, thinking, "I must see you in such a sorry state today," and started sending him messages.

After sending a few messages, the person at the front desk suddenly came over.

"Miss, the gentleman on the 20th floor asked me to take you up. I'll swipe your card for you."

Qin Man put away her phone, smiled, and nodded. "Thank you."

Upon arriving at the door, I found it slightly ajar.

Jiang Xuchi did not actually shut her out.

Qin Man walked in, her eyes scanning the room, and spotted a figure from behind on the sofa in the corner of the living room.

Jiang Xuchi was facing the floor-to-ceiling window as he wrapped bandages around his hands. The hotel food he had ordered was on the table, but he didn't touch it.

He looked just as badly injured as Qin Chen; both of them had sustained considerable injuries. He had several scrapes on his arms, a bruise around his mouth, and his hair was disheveled.

"You got into a fight with my brother again."

Qin Man walked over, unceremoniously tossed the small bag onto the table, placing it alongside his pile of alcohol and medicine, and then sank into the single sofa opposite him.

I didn't intend to help him, nor did I show any sympathy; in fact, I even had a somewhat accusatory attitude.

Jiang Xuchi didn't even look up, continuing what he was doing.

Qin Man leaned closer, resting her elbows on her knees and her hand on her chin, asking as if rubbing salt into her wound, "How did you get beaten so badly?"

These words did not hurt Jiang Xuchi's pride, and he replied calmly, "He's in a worse situation than me."

"He just got back, what did you do to upset him again?"

Although the words were in Qin Chen's favor, Qin Man could sense the underlying concern in Jiang Xuchi's tone. Seeing Jiang Xuchi like this made her feel even more suffocated, especially by his wounds.

Before Jiang Xuchi could speak, the doorbell rang abruptly.

"Qin Man, could you get my takeout for me?"

"Aren't you going to eat dinner at the hotel?" Qin Man said, but still stood up and walked towards the door. She took the food boxes brought by the delivery robot, opened them one by one, and placed them in front of Jiang Xuchi. "Eat."

"I bought this for you."

Qin Man was taken aback for a moment, but then she didn't stand on ceremony and broke the chopsticks in half, handing them over.

"Won't you try some?" Qin Man recognized it; it was a delivery from the old private kitchen downstairs. It was delicious, and she really liked their food.

"My hands are weak right now," Jiang Xuchi said truthfully, not feeling ashamed at all.

He finished bandaging himself, seemed to feel hot, and tugged at his collar. Several buttons on the front of his shirt had long since fallen off, leaving it wide open and revealing large patches of skin covered in bruises.

Qin Man blinked, subtly averted her gaze, and then picked up a piece of meat to eat herself.

"Hey me."

Jiang Xuchi's hands were weak and every finger joint was aching. He wanted to smoke, but in the end, he looked at Qin Man and said those words.

Qin Man paused for a moment, then turned her chopsticks around and fed the ribs to Jiang Xuchi.

She felt a little guilty and wanted to resolve the grudges through this kind of care.

Jiang Xuchi chewed a few bites and said, "This place is getting better and better."

"I don't think so." Qin Man took a few more bites and felt that the taste hadn't changed.

However, eating could ease the awkwardness to some extent, and Qin Man was also hungry, so she simply finished off the takeout he had ordered. As she drank the soup, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Jiang Xuchi's hands were still trembling involuntarily.

"Have you thought about going to the hospital?" Qin Man asked. "Don't you have a private hospital? Wouldn't it be better to go there?"

"No need." Jiang Xuchi also realized that his hands were trembling, so he got up and stood by the window, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and said, "I'll have one."

The wound was so painful that he had to smoke to suppress it; otherwise, Jiang Xuchi wouldn't smoke when Qin Man was around.

Qin Man sensed that he might be seriously injured. "Come with me to the hospital. What if you've damaged a nerve?"

"Why don't you ask us who won?" Jiang Xuchi chuckled. "Why are you suddenly so concerned about me?"

Qin Man choked, and images of Jiang Xuchi being beaten up by Qin Chen and covered in bruises flashed through her mind. It seemed that the outcome was never in doubt.

"Why are you asking so many questions? Are we going to the hospital or not?"

Qin Man became anxious and reached out to grab Jiang Xuchi's arm. However, she pressed her hand too hard and accidentally pressed it onto the wound.

Jiang Xuchi gasped in pain instantly.

Qin Man was speechless: "See, you still said you weren't going?"

"I'm not going." Jiang Xuchi took her outstretched hand, wrapped it around her wrist, and pulled her towards him.

Qin Man stumbled and almost knelt in front of him. She was still wearing her light blue dress and makeup, her earrings were dangling, and a red ring quickly appeared on her wrist.

Jiang Xuchi saw this and couldn't help but laugh, "I'm not like you, with delicate skin that turns so red when you're pressed."

His breath brushed against Qin Man's ear, and the two were so close that their heads were almost touching.

"I didn't mean it..."

"You think you can just back down and let this go?"

Jiang Xuchi's casual words struck Qin Man's heart like a heavy blow.

The guilt Qin Man felt was instantly overshadowed by shame and indignation. "Then what do you want?"

Give me a kiss.

Qin Man thought she had misheard. "What?"

"Doesn't Qin Chen hate it when you hang out with me?" Jiang Xuchi reached out and stroked her hair, his fingers running over it, wrapping strands of her hair around his hand. "Then let's hang out with him and show him."

"Let go of me." Qin Man pushed him away, her face flushed red with embarrassment and anger. "Jiang Xuchi! You've gone too far!"

Jiang Xuchi smiled, a handsome and refined smile that belied his true nature as a scoundrel.

“We’re not really related,” Jiang Xuchi said. “I was just trying to scare you.”

After he finished speaking, he stood up, put his hand on Qin Man's shoulder, and pushed her back onto the sofa.

Qin Man was so angry she wanted to kick him, but thinking about his injuries, she froze, her mind went blank, and she dared not do anything.

A wet sensation followed by a sharp pain appeared near her ear; Jiang Xuchi had bitten her ear like a dog.

Not content with just biting, she ground her teeth together, her tongue tracing her earlobe. The sticky, moist texture made her feel like a stopped pendulum, losing her ability to breathe, and time itself seemed to freeze at that moment.

By the time she came to her senses, Jiang Xuchi had already released her, his fingers toying with her pendant, gently heaving it.

"So scared you forgot to breathe?"

Qin Man woke up with a start, exhaled sharply, and then slapped him.

It didn't hit Jiang Xuchi's face, but his arm.

Jiang Xuchi was clearly in a lot of pain, but because he was in a good mood, he didn't feel like he couldn't bear it. Instead, he laughed and said, "If you slap me again, my arm will be ruined. You'll have to compensate me for that, won't you?"

"You...you shameless!" Qin Man didn't know what to say. She felt as if all her strength to curse him had been drained, and in the end, she could only stare at him helplessly.

Jiang Xuchi looked at her, but what he was thinking was that Qin Man might never know how alluring she looked.

Jiang Xuchi chuckled, got up and walked to the hotel's refrigerator, taking out two bottles of wine.

"You still want to drink?" Qin Man asked incredulously, wondering if this person had any awareness of being an injured person.

Jiang Xuchi ignored her and pulled the tab on his own. Thick bubbles rushed out. He took a few steps closer and rubbed the bubbling beer onto Qin Man's face.

The cool, wet, and slippery touch made Qin Man turn her head to try to avoid it, but Jiang Xuchi touched her and then pulled away, leaving her face pressed against him for a moment before tilting his head back and drinking it all in one gulp.

Qin Man, teased by him, couldn't help but curse, "You're crazy, drinking like this when you're injured like this."

Jiang Xuchi replied lazily, "Your brother really hit hard, it really hurts. You should have a drink."

Qin Man felt a little uncomfortable again.

She didn't want to take the blame for Qin Chen, but she felt like she had to bear some responsibility for Qin Chen beating someone up.

Thinking of this, she lowered her eyelashes and remained silent.

Jiang Xuchi crushed the empty can and threw it into the trash can. Then he knelt on one knee in front of Qin Man, reached out and pinched her cheek, forcing her to look up at him.

"Have a drink with me, Qin Man," Jiang Xuchi said calmly. "This is what you owe me."

Before Qin Man could refute, Jiang Xuchi took out a red velvet box from his pocket. He opened it and found an exquisite diamond and pearl necklace.

"Do you like it?" Jiang Xuchi asked.

Qin Man opened her mouth, about to say something, but swallowed it back, her eyes widening in surprise.

She really liked the new models from this store, but they were all priced in the seven figures, which she couldn't afford right now.

Jiang Xuchi personally put the necklace around her neck.

"I won't lie, I really like this." Qin Man reached out to stop his hand, telling him to stop. "But don't give it to me."

Jiang Xuchi smiled and asked, "Feeling guilty?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Man immediately lost her temper. "What did I do wrong?"

"What do you think?" Jiang Xuchi pressed her hand down and chuckled softly, "You'll look great in it."

Qin Man wanted to return the things to him, so she grabbed his arm and used some force. She heard Jiang Xuchi take a deep breath, as if he was in a lot of pain.

“I’m injured,” Jiang Xuchi emphasized.

His arm had been pressed three times by Qin Man today, and it was now bleeding profusely, a shocking sight.

Qin Man: "..."

She let go, finally becoming obedient and remaining silent.