Chapter 7

The application for destructive sampling progressed slowly through the cumbersome process, forcing Xia Wan to focus on other non-destructive verification work. Like two tireless worker ants, she and Xiao Zhao moved through the massive and dangerous steel structure, measuring and recording.

Every day is like walking on the edge of a knife.

She must concentrate completely, scrutinizing every piece of data with the strictest standards and constructing every computational model with the clearest logic. This not only concerns the client's interests, but also her own professional dignity. The intense workload and immense mental pressure have left her already thin face even more sunken, and the pale blue circles under her eyes more pronounced. Only her slightly raised almond-shaped eyes, when focused on her work, remain as sharp as a knife.

Jiang Yu only showed up once, at the beginning, and then never again. But his presence was omnipresent. His assistant's phone call, like a precise alarm clock, arrived at 4:00 PM every afternoon, asking about the review's progress. His tone was polite yet distant, as if he were completing a cold task. After each call, Xia Wan felt the tightening of an invisible gaze on her back.

Occasionally, while reviewing a key data point in Jiang Yu's report, she would be mesmerized by the familiar, powerful handwriting. Those precise numbers, the rigorous deductions, the cold charts... all from the hand of the man who had once left a burning mark on her, yet had then, in the coldest of ways, pushed her away. This profound sense of disconnection often left her feeling dizzy and absurd.

That afternoon, Xia Wan needed to review a critical node located high up in the factory building, next to a crane track. The space was cramped, dimly lit, and the scaffolding was steep. She refused Xiao Zhao's offer of help and insisted on climbing up on her own.

"Mr. Xia, it's too dangerous. Let me do it!" Xiao Zhao shouted worriedly from below.

"It's okay. I'm used to working at heights. Hold the ladder for me and record the data." Xia Wan's voice came through a simple protective mask, muffled but with undeniable determination. Her tall, slender figure moved agilely and steadily across the narrow scaffolding.

Just as she was concentrating on aiming the laser rangefinder at the target point, a severely rusted steel plate under her feet suddenly made a teeth-grinding "crunch" sound! Then, the entire plate suddenly tilted downward!

"Be careful!" Xiao Zhao shouted in horror from below.

Xia Wan's heart suddenly stopped! Her body instantly lost balance and she fell backward uncontrollably! Below her was a nearly ten-meter-high, cold concrete floor!

In a split second, her survival instinct forced her to thrust out her arm at the critical moment, firmly grasping a thick, oil-stained supporting steel column nearby! The immense force of the impact caused severe pain in her arm, and her body slammed into the cold steel column like a pendulum, making a dull thud.

"Mr. Xia!" Xiao Zhao was so frightened that he rolled and crawled up.

"Don't move!" Xia Wan endured the excruciating pain in her ribs and the numbness in her arms, gritted her teeth and shouted, "The ladder is unstable! Don't come up! I'm fine!"

She clutched the steel column tightly, steadying herself, breathing heavily. Cold sweat instantly soaked through her clothes, and her heart pounded wildly in her chest, threatening to burst. The momentary feeling of weightlessness and the icy breath of death had left her limbs limp.

She gathered herself, carefully moved her feet, avoiding the loose steel plate, and regained her footing. The pain in her ribs came in waves, making her gasp.

"Mr. Xia! How are you? Where are you hurt?" Xiao Zhao was so anxious that he was about to cry.

"It's okay... maybe I just bumped into something. Just take it easy." Xia Wan tried to keep her voice steady, but the trembling at the end betrayed her shock. She held onto the steel column and slowly crouched down, ready to go down and deal with it first.

At this moment, a burst of hurried and heavy footsteps came from afar, with an unusual anxiety, breaking the silence in the factory!

Xia Wan subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound.

Jiang Yu's tall figure, at a near-running pace, traversed the shadows of the crisscrossing steel frames below, sprinting towards the scaffolding where she stood! His dark gray coat was open, his steps no longer as leisurely as before, his face replaced by a tense, almost uncontrollable look of tension! His deep eyes locked with her from above, surging with a fierce, unwavering fear and rage that Xia Wan had never seen before...?

Xia Wan was stunned, and her fingers gripping the steel pillar tightened unconsciously.

Why is he here?

Jiang Yu rushed to the scaffolding and looked up. He ran a little fast, his breathing was a little rapid, and his chest rose and fell slightly. His eyes swept over Xia Wan's body like a physical object, from her pale face, to her slightly trembling hands grasping the steel column, to her body slightly curled up in pain, and finally fixed on the place where her ribs were hit by the steel column. His gaze was so sharp that it almost pierced her.

"Come down!" His voice rang out, no longer a cold command, but with an uncontrollable hoarseness that was almost a growl. Every word seemed to be wrapped in gravel. "Now! Immediately!"

The urgency and undeniable strength in his voice stunned both Xia Wan and Xiao Zhao. This was completely different from his usual aloof and indifferent demeanor.

Xia Wan opened her mouth, wanting to say, "I'm fine, I can get down on my own," but when she met his eyes, filled with turmoil, all the words stuck in her throat. She could clearly feel the intense, almost explosive anger emanating from him, and a deeper sense of... fear?

She remained silent, holding onto the cold steel frame, enduring the pain in her ribs as she carefully moved down. Her movements were slow and stiff due to the pain.

Jiang Yu stood at the foot of the ladder, his head tilted upwards, his gaze like a net, closely following her every move. His jawline was taut, his thin lips pressed into a cold, hard line. When Xia Wan's feet finally touched the solid concrete floor, he almost immediately reached out his hand!

That bony, slender, and powerful hand suddenly grabbed her arm with irresistible force! The movement was fast and urgent, even a little rough, as if afraid that she would disappear or fall down in the next second.

"Ugh..." Xia Wan's arm was hurt by his grip and she couldn't help but groan.

Jiang Yu seemed startled by her cry of pain, and his grip loosened a bit, but he still didn't let go. He dragged her along and strode towards the brightly lit, relatively safe area of ​​the factory without saying anything, completely ignoring Xiao Zhao, who was standing there stunned.

"Jiang Yu! What are you doing! Let me go!" Xia Wan staggered as he pulled her, the pain in her ribs intensified, she was frightened and angry, and struggled hard.

Jiang Yu ignored her struggles. His strength was astonishing, his arms like iron clamps. He dragged her to a safe area away from the scaffolding and steel columns before he suddenly stopped and turned around.

He still gripped her arm tightly, so tightly that Xia Wan suspected her bones would be crushed. His chest rose and fell violently, his breathing was heavy, and his deep brown eyes were burning with terrifying rage, staring directly into Xia Wan's face.

"Xia Wan!" His voice was practically a roar, filled with uncontrolled violence and a deep pain that Xia Wan couldn't comprehend. "Are you fucking crazy?! How dare you climb up a place like that alone?! Do you know how rusted that steel plate is?! Do you want to die?!"

His questions rained down like hail, each word laced with searing fury and a kind of... near-desperate fear. Those usually calm, sharp eyes were now a fiery crimson, churning with a complex mix of emotions that frightened Xia Wan—a lingering fear, a surge of rage, and a bottomless, almost painful panic.

Xia Wan was stunned by his yelling. The sharp pain in her arm and the grievance in her heart instantly broke through the dam of her rationality.

"What's it to you whether I live or die?!" She suddenly raised her head and yelled back with all her might. Her voice was sharp and distorted by excitement and pain. Tears instantly filled her slightly raised almond-shaped eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. "Jiang Yu! Who are you to me?! What qualifications do you have to yell at me here?! Let me go!"

She tried to pry open his fingers that were wrapped around her arm, and her nails scratched several red marks on the back of his hand.

Jiang Yu's body suddenly stiffened, as if struck hard by her question. He looked at the tears in Xia Wan's eyes, the undisguised anger and alienation, her body trembling slightly from struggle and pain, and the obvious discomfort in her ribs... The terrifying rage in his eyes, like being splashed with a basin of ice water, suddenly solidified, then bit by bit... shattered and extinguished.

Instead, there was a deep, almost dead fatigue and a kind of fragility that Xia Wan had never seen on his face before...?

The grip he had on her arm gradually loosened, and finally, slowly and with great difficulty, he let go.

Xia Wan immediately took a step back, keeping her distance as if escaping from the plague, rubbing her arm that was pinched so hard by him, and glared at him warily and angrily.

Jiang Yu stood there, his tall figure looking a little lonely in the empty factory. He lowered his eyelids slightly, avoiding Xia Wan's gaze. The heaving of his chest gradually subsided, but his tightly pursed lips and still tense jawline indicated that the storm within him had not yet completely subsided.

Silence. A suffocating silence hung between the two of them.

After what felt like an eternity, Jiang Yu very slowly raised his head. His gaze fell on Xia Wan again, but the surging emotions within him had subsided, leaving only a bottomless exhaustion and an... indescribable complexity. His gaze lingered for a moment on her hand, which was clutching her ribs.

"...Go to the hospital." His voice was low and hoarse, carrying an unmistakable fatigue. It was no longer an order, but more like a statement. "The ribs might be injured."

Xia Wan bit her lip and turned away: "Don't worry about it. Xiao Zhao will take me there."

Jiang Yu didn't say anything else. He simply gave her a deep, intense look. That look was so complex it made Xia Wan's heart flutter, as if it contained a thousand words, yet also seemed to contain nothing. Then, without saying anything, not even glancing at the petrified Xiao Zhao beside him, he turned and, with a much heavier stride than when he'd come, walked step by step towards the factory entrance. The figure in the dark gray coat, nestled against the massive steel structure, looked especially desolate and... lonely.

It was not until his figure completely disappeared in the dazzling light at the door that Xia Wan's tense body suddenly relaxed. The severe pain in her ribs made her bend down and gasp.

"Mr. Xia! How are you? I'll call a taxi right away!" Xiao Zhao finally reacted and rushed over to support her.

Xia Wan waved her hands, indicating that she could still walk. She clutched her ribs, but her eyes involuntarily turned to the direction where Jiang Yu had left.

What's wrong with him?