Chapter 67 I'll Protect You After the Fire Starts

"I'm fine."

Chi Yu pressed her hand down and took out some ointment from the bag. "I'll apply the ointment to your wound first."

Several hours later, the red marks on Xinmian's neck became more noticeable and looked shocking.

Chi Yu's expression was frighteningly cold, but his movements as he applied the medicine to her were very gentle.

The man's fingertips were warm. He melted the ointment, applied it to the area, and gently rubbed it in circles.

It was a little itchy, and Xinmian instinctively flinched, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

Little Dimple was still nestled in her arms. Noticing her movements, she thought she was about to leave and hugged her even tighter.

Just as the ointment was applied, Yang Chengjing arrived with Li Ke, Liu Haoyuan, and Qin Shengtian.

Little Dimple was tired from crying and was resting on Xinmian's shoulder with her back to them; it was unclear whether she had fallen asleep.

The group of people subconsciously slowed their footsteps.

Xin Mian looked up and saw them. She gently stroked Xiao Liwo's back and asked softly, "Xiao Liwo, are you asleep?"

Xiao Diwo paused for a few seconds before slowly shaking her head.

"Should we look up and see who's here?"

Xiao Liwo instinctively hugged Xin Mian tightly, afraid that she would leave her behind.

Xin Mian quickly hugged her back and gently coaxed, "It's okay, we'll just take a look."

"Teacher is here. As long as you don't want to leave, teacher will hold you forever, okay?"

Her voice was so gentle that it slowly soothed the fear in Xiaoliwo's heart.

Little Dimple sniffed, then lifted her tear-reddened cheeks and looked towards the door.

Just one glance, and my eyes immediately welled up with tears again.

She pouted and reached out her hand to Li Ke, "Brother..."

“Brother is here.”

Li Ke felt extremely distressed and ran over to take her from Xin Mian's arms.

"Waaah..."

Little Dimple burst into tears, clinging tightly to Li Ke's neck with her tiny hands, "Brother..."

"I'm sorry, brother, you're late."

Li Ke wiped her tears with his sleeve, patted her back gently, and coaxed her patiently in a low voice.

On the other side, Qin Shengtian rushed to Xin Mian and grabbed her hand, "Mianmian, are you hurt?"

"Is anything bothering you? Should we go to the hospital for a checkup?"

Seeing how nervous she was, Xin Mian smiled gently and said, "I'm fine."

As soon as she spoke, Qin Shengtian noticed the marks on her neck and instantly flew into a rage.

"That bastard Li Ruifa! Where is he?!"

She rolled up her sleeves, making as if to rush inside, but Yang Chengjing grabbed her, saying, "Calm down."

"Li Rui was found in the hospital."

Everyone immediately realized that with Chi Yu around, Li Rui would most likely be carried into the hospital sideways.

"Does it hurt?" Qin Shengtian's eyes were red as she stared at the marks on Xin Mian's neck, her heart aching more and more. "Have you applied any medicine?"

Xin Mian nodded and comforted her in return, "The medicine has already been applied."

"I'm fine, don't worry."

After Director Fang and the security guard finished signing the interrogation record, a group of people gathered in the lobby of the police station.

Officer Wang briefly explained the current situation.

My colleague from the hospital just called; Li Ruifa is seriously injured.

He broke a rib, and his hand and foot bones were dislocated. He also had many superficial injuries and will probably need to stay in the hospital for a while.

The tricky part is that he is the biological father of Xiaoliwo.

Even if Little Dimple doesn't want to go with him, the kindergarten doesn't have the right to force her to stay.

Li Ruifa is the guardian of Xiaoliwo and Li Ke, which is a crucial point that cannot be ignored.

Based on this, even if he is ultimately convicted to the greatest extent possible, Li Ruifa may still receive a suspended sentence because Li Ke and Xiao Liwo are minors.

Chi Yu had anticipated this outcome.

After all, we had already come to the police station several times before to deal with various accidents involving this scumbag.

But Xinmian had never experienced this before, and her mind was still a little dazed when she heard the result.

The matter had been explained, and everyone had given their statements. Officer Wang told them to go home first.

Chi Yu put his arm around Xin Mian's shoulder and pulled her into his arms. "Let's go home first."

As soon as she saw Xinmian was about to leave, Xiaoliwo pouted and asked her to hug her.

"Teacher Xiaomian..."

Xin Mian felt sorry for her and turned to look at Chi Yu, "How about... Little Dimple sleeps with me tonight, okay?"

Chi Yu lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on her face. After a few seconds, he looked back at Li Ke and said, "Let's go to Dongpu Lane tonight."

Given the current situation, I'm not entirely comfortable letting the two children go home by themselves tonight.

Xiao Liwo can sleep on the third floor with Xinmian, and Li Ke can sleep on the second floor.

After all that commotion, it was already 8 p.m. when they left the police station. None of them had eaten dinner yet, so Qin Shengtian called home and asked her parents to prepare some food.

After dinner, Chi Yu and Xin Mian took the two of them home.

With Li Ke around, Xiao Liwo wouldn't just stick to Xin Mian. After a meal, her mood was noticeably better than before.

As soon as the courtyard gate opened, Fat Orange strolled over, wagging its tail. When it saw Li Ke and Little Dimple, it paused, then swaggered around their feet.

Little Dimple's attention was immediately drawn to it, and she squatted down to pet it, saying, "Fat Orange, long time no see."

The chubby orange cat rubbed against her palm and meowed.

Hello, little one.

Hearing the commotion in the yard, Chen Xiulian came out of the living room and was taken aback when she saw Li Ke and Xiao Liwo.

However, when her gaze met Chi Yu's, she roughly understood what was going on.

"Little Dimple and Li Ke are here, come in quickly."

Chen Xiulian chuckled, "I just made some white fungus soup tonight, everyone should try some."

Hello, Grandma.

Li Ke greeted everyone politely, and Xiao Liwo followed suit.

Hello, Grandma.

Chen Xiulian invited them to wash their hands and go to the restaurant for some white fungus soup.

Xiaoliwo is still in kindergarten, but she is already a 6 or 7-year-old child. Li Ke had previously asked Aunt Lü to teach her how to take a bath by herself.

But today we're in an unfamiliar environment, and Xinmian is worried, so she stays by the bathroom.

By the time the two children finished washing up, it was almost 11 o'clock.

Chi Yu originally wanted Li Ke to sleep in the bed in the room on the second floor, but the boy insisted that he would sleep on the sofa in the small living room on the second floor.

Chi Yu glanced at him but didn't insist any further.

It was already December, and the nights on Wangshui Island were cool. He took a clean, thick quilt from the wardrobe and gave it to Li Ke.

Xiao Liwo went to a room on the third floor with Xin Mian.

Xinmian's room is decorated in warm colors, and there are dolls she bought herself on the bed. No child can resist the allure of dolls.

Little Dimple stared at the little rabbit on the bedside table for several moments. Although she liked it, she knew she couldn't just take things that weren't hers.

Seeing that she liked it, Xinmian put the rabbit in her arms, tucked the blanket in, and said, "Go to sleep."

With the little rabbit around, Xiao Liwo seemed to feel safe, snuggling closer to Xin Mian and obediently closing her eyes.

Xinmian leaned against the headboard and gently patted her arm to comfort her.

Not long after, she fell into a deep sleep while holding the little rabbit.

At midnight, the door to the third-floor room was opened.

The main light in the room was off, leaving only a small, warm yellow lamp by the bedside, casting two faint shadows on the bed.

The bed behind her collapsed, and Xinmian slowly woke up. Before she could look back, she fell into a warm and firm chest.

"Chi Yu?"

She spoke softly.

"Yes, I'm here."

Chi Yu responded softly, then came up from behind and pulled her into his arms.

Xin Mian thought that since Xiao Liwo was also here tonight, he probably wouldn't come up, but unexpectedly...

"Aren't you sleeping on the second floor?"

Although her bed is 1.8 meters wide, it still feels a bit cramped when you add a tall and long-legged person like Chi Yu.

Chi Yu did not answer her question, but lay down behind her, his breath coming close and falling on her neck.

Xinmian could feel his nose brush against hers, and then she heard his deep voice.

"sorry."

Her heart suddenly ached and swelled, and the tip of her nose turned a little red.

So much happened today. From the moment they went to the police station, there were other people around them the whole time, and it seemed like they were suppressing their emotions and couldn't express or vent them.

In the stillness of the night, the sound of a heartbeat gradually amplified.

Chi Yu held her in his arms, carefully placing a kiss on the back of her neck, his fingertips gently caressing the red marks on her skin.

He asked in a hoarse voice, "Does it still hurt?"

Xin Mian had her back to him and couldn't see his expression, but she could tell from his voice that he was in a bad mood.

She shook her head gently and whispered, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Chi Yu used considerable force when he punched Li Ruifa. There were wounds on the back of Chi Yu's hand, which he re-bandaged himself after taking a shower. At this moment, his right hand was wrapped with gauze.

The sensation was very noticeable when she pulled me into bed.

Xinmian's hand also reached into the quilt and gently covered him, but he grabbed it and pulled his fingers apart, their fingers intertwined tightly.

Neither of them took their hands out; they just held hands under the blanket.

Although she couldn't see it, she seemed to be able to clearly feel the movement of every inch of the lines on his hands.

"Chi Yu," she gently stroked him and asked softly, "Does it hurt?"

In the quiet night, her voice was soft and gentle, like a slowly flowing stream, gently covering everything.

Chi Yu tightened his grip, holding the person even closer, and whispered, "It doesn't hurt."

How could it not hurt...?

Xinmian wants to say that you are a fool.

"They're bleeding."

"Did something scare you when you were in kindergarten?"

Now, when he thinks back, all he can picture is her crying, her eyes blurry with tears, clinging to him tightly.

“A little,” Xin Mian honestly admitted, “It was the first time I’d ever seen you hit someone…”

Every punch lands hard, and the violence is insidious and vicious.

At the time, I was genuinely afraid that he would beat Li Rui to death.

"But I know you're doing this to protect me."

She gently squeezed his fingers, her soft fingertips caressing his well-defined knuckles.

"But..."

"Chi Yu, you must take good care of yourself too."

Forces are reciprocal; how could he not feel pain when he hit Li Rui so hard?

Chi Yu did not answer, but listened quietly to her speak, only occasionally kissing the back of her neck.

After kissing her, he rubbed against her again, then tightened his arms around her, as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones.

From an angle she couldn't see, the man's gaze was incredibly deep, his eyes like an abyss, yet containing the deepest fascination.

He lowered his head to smell the fragrance in her hair and whispered, "Wouldn't it be good if you protected me from now on?"

The two were so close that Xinmian could even feel the vibration of his vocal cords and the frequency of his Adam's apple bobbing back and forth when he spoke.

His body heat enveloped her.

On a quiet early winter night, embrace your loved one and soothe each other with warmth.

Peaceful and beautiful.

Xin Mian's heart suddenly collapsed, and the hand he was holding tightened involuntarily.

After a long silence, she covered her rapidly beating heart and responded to him softly.

"Okay, I'll protect you from now on."

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The author says: Winter is the time to hug your lover [hugs]