14 Jealousy

◎No, I'll do it myself◎

The group of people who caused the disturbance at the hospital were quickly taken away by the police who arrived at the scene.

Song Qinggui was carried off on a stretcher by the emergency room staff and examined from head to toe. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured; he suffered a mild concussion and soft tissue injury to his right abdomen.

When Xue Lu arrived at the hospital, Song Qinggui had already been transferred to the internal medicine ward.

She had just returned from Cangcheng, and after a long and tiring journey, she rushed back to the hospital without having a chance to rest. Then she encountered this unfortunate incident, and ended up falling asleep in her hospital bed.

Xue Lu arrived at the ward, asked the attending physician about her injuries, and only then did he feel a little relieved and sit down on one side of the bed.

He looked at her peaceful sleeping face and reached out to tidy up a stray strand of hair that had fallen onto her cheek.

Feeling the touch, Song Qinggui couldn't help but flinch in her sleep, trying to turn over, but the pain from her abdominal injury made her groan.

But she was too tired, and even so, she still didn't wake up. Only a fine layer of sweat appeared on her forehead, proving that her pain was real.

Xue Lu's heart clenched with pain. His hands wandered helplessly around her body, unsure of how to alleviate her pain. In the end, he could only gently pat her back after she stopped moving.

Song Qinggui found the action very helpful; the furrowed brows caused by the pain gradually relaxed, and he fell asleep once again.

Song Qinggui slept for a full seventeen hours.

Xue Lu dared not close his eyes, fearing that she would develop a fever or faint, and he had to take her temperature every hour.

After a restless night, Xue Lu finally collapsed and fell asleep next to Song Qinggui at four in the morning.

When Song Qinggui woke up, he had just raised his hand when he touched a furry head.

Xue Lu sat up abruptly as if startled. He rubbed his bloodshot eyes and looked at Song Qinggui: "Awake?"

Xue Lu's head, ruffled by Song Qinggui, resembled a bird's nest. Song Qinggui had known him for so many years, and he was always handsome, clean-cut, and impeccably groomed; this was the first time he'd seen him with such an inappropriate hairstyle. Yet, it only accentuated Xue Lu's rare childlike innocence.

Song Qinggui found it amusing and couldn't help but smile.

Xue Lu was momentarily dazed by that smile; his eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly: "What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing," Song Qinggui said with his smile unchanged. "Any news from the police?"

“Hmm.” Xue Lu got up and helped Song Qinggui sit up, then poured him some water. “They’ve already been detained. I asked a friend at the police station, and he said that the couple was completely ignorant of the law. A young man in their town who deals in fake documents heard that their child had passed away and they wanted to cause trouble for the hospital. This young man suggested that they forge a DNA test report. The couple fell for his trick and spent three thousand yuan to buy one.”

Mentioning the couple, Xue Lu felt a surge of anger. If it weren't for them, Song Qinggui wouldn't have been injured. He couldn't get over this grievance without putting them in jail for life.

Song Qinggui took the water from Xue Lu and looked relaxed: "This young man is quite capable. The format of the identification report is correct. If you're not an industry insider, you might really be fooled. It's just that the gene overlap rate is too outrageous."

"His skills are nothing." Lawyer Xue rarely swore. "The police arrested him yesterday afternoon, and he confessed last night. He found a picture of an appraisal report online and copied it. He couldn't imitate a handwritten signature, so he simply used a computer-generated one, and he even cleverly changed all the original data in that report. You can say he's stupid, right? He knows how to change the data. You can say he's smart, right? He changed it to 39.99%."

"Heh..." Song Qinggui chuckled. It was the first time he had seen Xue Lu so emotional and say so much at once.

At this moment, the head of internal medicine walked in with several doctors and nurses.

"Director Ding," Song Qinggui greeted him.

Director Ding nodded with a smile, but still greeted Attorney Xue first: "President Xue has arrived."

Xue Lu nodded.

Director Ding turned his gaze back to Song Qinggui: "Director Song, did you sleep well last night? Did you feel dizzy this morning? Did the stomachache affect your sleep quality?"

Song Qinggui shook his head: "She slept quite well."

"Let me examine you. Please lift up your clothes a little," Director Ding said gently.

Song Qinggui did not act immediately. The ward she was in was full of female doctors, and right now the room was full of people except for Xue Lu, a grown man, who was standing there.

Song Qinggui suffered a significant area of ​​soft tissue injury in her abdomen. She could roughly estimate the location of her injury based on the pain she felt. The injury was no longer limited to her abdomen; there should also be a piece in her hip bone.

Song Qinggui looked at Xue Lu and said bluntly, "Please excuse yourself."

Xue Lu remained unmoved: "Why?"

Song Qinggui frowned: "I'm embarrassed."

Xue Lu remained unmoved: "I'm your man, what are you embarrassed about?"

Song Qinggui felt a surge of heat rush to his face: "You..."

The doctors making rounds had never seen handsome men and beautiful women flirting like that before, and they immediately exchanged knowing smiles.

Director Ding gently lifted Song Qinggui's shirt: "You two have such a good relationship."

"What a load of crap," Song Qinggui cursed inwardly.

Before she could grumble further, when Director Ding gently touched her injury, she hissed and gasped in pain.

When Xue Lu approached, the ease on his face was gone, replaced by an overwhelming sense of guilt and an undisguised heartache.

Song Qinggui's entire right abdomen was covered in bruises, which were about to spread to her thighs, making her look particularly frightening compared to the fair skin of the rest of her body.

After Director Ding finished his inspection, he put Song Qinggui's shirt down.

"Although we've done ultrasounds and other tests, and there aren't any major problems with your internal organs, the soft tissue injury area has a high surface temperature, redness and swelling around the injury, and your blood count is also high, indicating an infection. You'll need to continue with anti-infection treatment. I'll also prescribe some ointment for you later; apply it twice a day to reduce inflammation and swelling. Since it's an external injury, I'll have the head of surgery come for another consultation later, just in case."

"How long will the injection take?" Song Qinggui asked.

“At least three days,” Director Ding replied, “but a standard course of anti-infection treatment should be seven days.”

"Play three first..."

"Seven days of treatment." Before Song Qinggui could finish speaking, Xue Lu interrupted, "Since we're going to treat him, let's treat him thoroughly."

"The Health Commission is coming to inspect in a couple of days... I..."

"Is there no one else in the medical department besides you?" Xue Lu said firmly, "If everyone else is this useless, then they should all quit and get out of here."

Just then, Xiaoqian, who was carrying fruit to see Song Qinggui, came in. Upon hearing Xue Lu's words, she couldn't help but curse inwardly, "What leader is good? No matter how handsome he is, he's still a dog."

But she still expressed her loyalty verbally: "Who says we can't do it? Sister Qinggui, you can rest assured. We've almost finished sorting out the materials, haven't we? The few of us can handle it."

After Xiaoqian finished speaking, she put the fruit on the bedside table and said, "Qinggui, several senior directors from the obstetrics, pediatrics, and ultrasound departments said they want to treat our department to dinner. Please set a time when you have some free time. I'm going back to work now."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work lately." Song Qinggui nodded.

"President Xue?" Xiaoqian looked at Lawyer Xue: "I'm going back to work?"

Xue Lu nodded awkwardly, his face dark.

Song Qinggui couldn't help but laugh. It has to be the post-2000s generation; if they really reformed the workplace, they'd immediately retaliate if they were wronged.

After reviewing the nursing record, Director Ding instructed his doctors to write out the medical orders and then prepared to leave.

Before leaving, she looked earnestly at Song Qinggui: "Director Song, on behalf of all the frontline staff in the clinic, I thank you for firmly upholding our legitimate rights and interests, and... for upholding the dignity of us medical staff."

Song Qinggui: "It's just my duty. Similarly, if it really is our medical staff who are negligent, I will also speak up for the patients. Of course, we should be punished for making mistakes, but if we are not wrong, we should stand tall and be proud."

Director Ding nodded, somewhat moved.

Before leaving the ward, several young doctors quietly gave Song Qinggui a thumbs-up.

After everyone left, the ward returned to silence.

A little while later, the nurse brought over a jar of ointment and reminded Song Qinggui again of the usage and dosage.

The nurse left the ward, and Song Qinggui reached out and took the ointment. Just as he unscrewed the cap, Xue Lu sat on the edge of the bed and took the ointment from him.

He tore off the aluminum foil from the ointment and scooped out two fingers of it: "I washed my hands, they're clean."

Song Qinggui's pupils dilated: "What are you doing?"

"I'll apply the medicine for you," Xue Lu said matter-of-factly.

“No need. I can do it myself,” Song Qinggui firmly refused.

She reached out to snatch the ointment from Xue Lu's hand, but as she pulled, a dull pain shot through her abdomen.

Xue Lu quickly reached out to support her, his voice slightly annoyed: "Song Qinggui, why are you trying to be tough with me?"

Song Qinggui stopped struggling, too painful to move.

"I'll be gentle, be good."

Xue Lu lifted her shirt and gently touched her wound with his fingertips. The cool sensation followed by warmth made Song Qinggui flinch.

Xue Lu was focused on his work and didn't see that Song Qinggui's face was already flushed with embarrassment.

A moment later, a thin layer of ointment had been applied to the wound on the abdomen. Next, it was the groin area... Lawyer Xue needed to pull Song Qinggui's pants down a bit...

He tentatively reached out to touch her waist, but Song Qinggui, realizing his intention, quickly said, "No!"

Xue Lu stopped what he was doing and looked up at Song Qinggui. He saw her amber eyes and her slightly flushed cheeks. This was a look of Song Qinggui that he had never seen before.

Her pride and arrogance vanished completely at this moment; she was now just a shy woman who had been frightened.

Xue Lu was completely absorbed in watching.

So, Song Qinggui, is your current flutter of the heart and your shyness due to the exposure of this small part of your body, or is it because... the person seeing your body... is me...?

Song Qinggui took a deep breath and regained his usual composure.

“I’ll do it myself,” Song Qinggui said.

Seeing Song Qinggui cool down quickly, Xue Lu withdrew his gaze somewhat disappointedly. He handed her the ointment, then got up and went to the bathroom to wash off the remaining ointment stains on his fingers.

When he returned to his hospital bed, Song Qinggui had already applied ointment and draped a blue medical towel over his waist and abdomen.

The atmosphere between the two was somewhat awkward.

Song Qinggui broke the ice by saying, "I slept for a long time. Apart from the hospital, nothing else happened, right?"

Xue Lu's eyes dimmed. He lowered his gaze and pondered for a moment before answering, "Yan Fengqian came last night. He sent that bouquet of flowers."

Song Qinggui followed Xue Lu's gaze and saw the peonies she liked.

Silence again.

What could Song Qinggui say? She couldn't very well ask her current husband what her ex-boyfriend had to say to her or how he was doing lately.

While there was no true love in her marriage with Xue Lu, men are creatures that cannot withstand stimulation, and Song Qinggui was not crazy enough to use her ex-boyfriend to provoke Xue Lu.

"I'm fine here, you go to work, I'm going to sleep a little longer."

After a while, Song Qinggui issued an order to leave.

"Don't contact Yan Fengqian anymore," Xue Lu finally spoke.

Song Qinggui looked at him, but the stray hairs on his forehead obscured his eyes, so she couldn't quite see his expression.

"Don't worry," Song Qinggui said, "Since I'm married to you and receiving a salary from you, I have no doubt about my loyalty..."

“I’ll be jealous,” Xue Lu said in a low voice.

"What?" Song Qinggui didn't hear clearly.

Xue Lu did not repeat the sentence, but said dejectedly, "You go to sleep first, I'll go back to the company to sign a few documents and I'll be right back."

Song Qinggui watched Xue Lu's retreating figure.

Did she mishear?

He seemed to have just said...

He...was jealous...