Chapter 19

Standing in front of the vending machine, Jiang Wanwan watched as yet another purchase failed, her mood growing increasingly irritable.

She followed the instructions posted above exactly, but why can't she succeed?

Suddenly, a tall figure appeared beside me, with striking light golden hair.

He bent down, opened the glass door of the pickup slot, and several bottles of water immediately rolled out with a gurgling sound.

He took out four bottles of water, held them in his hands, looked at the dumbfounded woman in front of him, and said with a grin, "Sister, you bought so many bottles of water?"

He clearly saw that Jiang Wanwan didn't know how to operate the system, which was why she mistakenly bought so many items, but he didn't point it out.

Jiang Wanwan was so angry at herself for being so stupid. She only knew to pay, but forgot to open the pickup slot herself.

Normally, she would never make such a basic mistake, but today she was already distracted and didn't think about it carefully when faced with this situation.

A hint of annoyance flashed in her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by surprise.

"Are you here for a medical checkup too?" Jiang Wanwan noticed a small piece of gauze on Kuang Ye's forehead, which was quite conspicuous.

Kuang Ye twitched the corner of his mouth, as if he thought this minor injury was nothing to worry about. If Song Tang hadn't insisted on bringing him to the hospital, he wouldn't have come to this annoying place.

"I'm fine, I just tripped and fell."

He wouldn't tell her that he got injured in a fight, otherwise she would probably put on airs and lecture him, and he wouldn't want to embarrass himself.

But Jiang Wanwan's reaction was rather cold today. She simply nodded, took the two bottles of water from his hand, and prepared to leave.

"Sister, there are still two bottles left." Kuang Ye called out to the woman as she hurried away.

Jiang Wanwan paused, slowly turned around, and said, "Thank you for your help earlier. Please have some water."

The white fishtail skirt drew a perfect arc, and the woman's eyes were like dazzling stars. Especially when she spoke, there was a faint smile on her face, which seemed to be able to strike straight to one's soul.

Although the hospital was filled with doctors and nurses in white coats, only Jiang Wanwan's white coat caught Kuang Ye's light brown eyes, making all other shades of white pale in comparison.

The woman at the top of the stairs had long since disappeared, but Kuang Ye stood there unconsciously for a long time.

His smile gradually cooled, and there was no gratitude in his eyes, only indifference and apathy.

This is his true self; his previous enthusiasm and cheerfulness were just a facade.

He is like a fox in sheep's clothing, who likes to use an innocent appearance to cunningly deceive the world, and then secretly carry out his schemes and hunts, taking pleasure in making people laugh and bewilder.

After a long while, the man chuckled and handed the two bottles of water to an old man in the waiting area.

The old man was flattered and accepted the water, immediately expressing his gratitude: "Thank you, young man, you are such a kind person."

Is he a kind person?

That's ridiculous.

Kuang Ye thought to himself that he just didn't want to give the trash can a free lunch. If he gave it to the old man, he could at least hear a few nice words. The trash can can't talk, so he wouldn't do such a losing deal.

Back outside the operating room, Lu Dachuan's eyes lit up when he saw the woman.

The surgery was still in progress. Although Lu Dachuan had remained calm, he was, after all, a recent graduate and this was the first time he had encountered something like this, so he was inevitably a little nervous.

Having someone accompany him during the process made him feel a little more at ease.

Jiang Wanwan handed him a bottle of water, and he quickly unscrewed it and took a few sips.

"Snap—" The operating room light went out.

Upon seeing this, the two immediately got up and went to the operating room door, staring intently at the door.

Finally, the injured male student was pushed out.

"Doctor, how is he?" Jiang Wanwan asked impatiently, her eyes filled with anxiety.

The doctor looked at the identical expressions on the faces of the man and woman in front of him and sighed deeply.

Hearing the sigh, Jiang Wanwan's legs went weak, but luckily Lu Dachuan supported her so she wouldn't fall.

Seeing Jiang Wanwan's condition, the doctor knew she had misunderstood, so he quickly said, "Don't worry, the surgery was a success."

Hearing this, Jiang Wanwan finally felt relieved. Why was the doctor breathing so heavily? He had almost scared her to death.

She really couldn't imagine how devastated she would be if the vibrant life that was just beside her not long ago were to actually stop breathing.

But before she could even feel relieved for two seconds, she heard the doctor continue, "However, this child's spleen was damaged, and even with proper care, it will not be able to fully recover to its previous state."

The spleen is very close to the abdominal cavity. Jiang Wanwan recalled that the boy was stabbed in the area near his spleen.

Her eyes showed sadness and pity; the boy was so young, yet he had to endure such pain.

Thinking of this, Jiang Wanwan's mood was like that of a roller coaster about to end, suddenly plummeting to the bottom on the last steep slope.

Lu Dachuan thanked the doctor and asked about some precautions in detail.

Ultimately, the injured boy was transferred to the inpatient department.

Shortly after they arrived at the ward, the boy's parents, homeroom teacher, and school leaders all arrived.

A group of people flooded into the ward, making the already small ward even more crowded.

Lu Dachuan described what had happened to them, and everyone who heard it was greatly shocked.

At this moment, the boy's mother suddenly flew into a rage. She grabbed Lu Dachuan by the collar with both hands and yelled, "Why didn't you stop those people over there! What kind of teacher are you—"

Perhaps feeling unsatisfied, the mother slapped Lu Dachuan across the face again.

A crisp slap rang out, and the ward fell silent instantly.

The sudden turn of events left everyone somewhat bewildered.

Lu Dachuan, in particular, was caught completely off guard and took a hard slap.

Although Lu Dachuan had a mild personality, he wasn't one to be bullied for no reason. He immediately frowned and tried to talk back.

He already made it very clear that he rushed over with all his might, but still couldn't catch up. Why would this parent still attack him?

But just as Lu Dachuan was about to speak, a school leader quickly interjected, "Teacher Lu really didn't do a good job. Please don't take it to heart. Let's take care of the child first."

After saying that, he gestured to Lu Dachuan with his eyes, telling him to leave quickly.

Faced with this result, Jiang Wanwan was equally confused. It was clearly not Lu Dachuan's fault, yet he was slapped for no reason.

"Lu Dachuan did nothing wrong, you..."

Jiang Wanwan wanted to speak up for Lu Dachuan, but the school leader next to her twitched and immediately and forcefully ordered her to leave.

"Teacher Jiang, you should come with us first. We'll take care of things here."

The deliberately raised voice successfully drowned out Jiang Wanwan's rebuttal. The boy's homeroom teacher was still comforting the parents. Jiang Wanwan bit her cheek and finally left the ward with Lu Dachuan, feeling helpless and unwilling.

Ten minutes after leaving, Jiang Wanwan received a message on her phone from her homeroom teacher in the ward.

The superiors first expressed their gratitude to them, and then instructed them not to spread the matter to others, so as to avoid causing any negative impact.

Jiang Wanwan understood their meaning—from this moment on, this matter had nothing to do with her and Lu Dachuan, and they should stop interfering.

Since they were at the hospital, Jiang Wanwan bought Lu Dachuan an ice pack to apply to his face. The boy's parents had hit him hard, and Lu Dachuan's face was swollen.

"Is this considered a work injury?" Lu Dachuan noticed that Jiang Wanwan was in a bad mood, so he pulled on the other half of her face, which was intact, in an attempt to cheer her up.

Lu Dachuan's most prominent personality trait is that his emotions come and go quickly. Just a short while later, he seemed to have forgotten that he had just been slapped and even started joking around.

Jiang Wanwan really didn't know how he developed such a personality. Looking at his funny expression, she said speechlessly, "I guess your injury will be healed before the assessment results come out."

Lu Dachuan laughed heartlessly twice, threw the ice pack into the trash can, and said loudly, "Let's go back to school."

Watching the man's relaxed figure, Jiang Wanwan felt a mix of emotions, but she could only hurry to catch up with him.

Back at school, Jiang Wanwan arrived just in time for her afternoon class. Without even taking a break, she grabbed her textbooks and went straight to class.

After a long day, Jiang Wanwan was too exhausted to move when she got home.

She sank into the sofa, her eyes sweeping over the snacks on the coffee table, and suddenly remembered the bag of food she had bought at the supermarket at noon.

She was in such a hurry that the bag of food fell to the ground, and it's probably long gone now.

Well, perhaps it was fate that she couldn't eat rainbow sour candy, just like childhood; once that time is over, it can never be returned to.

People always want to use something to commemorate the past, but little do they know that what they are commemorating is just a form and a process, and that feeling is ultimately hard to touch again.

Suddenly, the kitchen sliding door was opened.

A man wearing an apron and holding a spatula saw Jiang Wanwan on the sofa, raised an eyebrow, and said in a cool tone, "I made pan-fried dumplings, do you want some?"

The aroma wafted over, and Jiang Wanwan's nose twitched. She immediately reacted like a puppy seeing a bone, "Eat, eat, eat! Ah Xiao is so amazing, he can even make pan-fried dumplings!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Mingzhu's ears turned slightly red, and he coughed lightly before saying, "I learned it online."

He pointed to the phone on the table. He had lost his phone before, and this one was bought for him by Jiang Wanwan.

Although the dumplings were frozen and he had only pan-fried them, his vanity was greatly satisfied when he heard Jiang Wanwan praise him like that.

Jiang Wanwan wasn't too particular; seeing the golden-brown, fragrant pan-fried dumplings being served, she was instantly tempted.

She picked one up with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth, the oil dripping down the chopsticks. "So delicious!" she mumbled, her eyes unusually bright.

I never expected that Boss Xiao could cook. I thought he never lifted a finger and his cooking wouldn't be very good.

Xiao Mingzhu noticed the woman's reaction, a fleeting look of pleasure flashing in his eyes, which made him eat even more heartily.

Lately, certain fragments have been flashing through his mind, but whenever he tries to investigate them, he gets a splitting headache.

However, judging from the fleeting glimpses of the scene, it seems he has never eaten fried dumplings and rarely sits down to have a proper meal.

Now that he has lost his memory, according to Jiang Wanwan, someone seemed to be chasing him before, so he doesn't dare to go out easily now, lest he attract a deadly disaster.

The woman seemed innocent and kind, and treated him fairly well, so he decided to stay there temporarily until he regained his memories.

In order to keep Jiang Wanwan in check, he didn't mind getting along with her.

When Jiang Wanwan saw the man stop eating and look at her, she thought he was also jealous.

So after she finished pouring the vinegar, she turned the vinegar bottle around and poured it directly into the other person's bowl, saying with a smile, "You've never eaten it like this before, have you? Try it, it's delicious."

Jiang Wanwan thought to herself, "Boss Xiao has lived abroad since he was a child, so he probably has never experienced the deliciousness of dumplings dipped in vinegar."

Thinking of this, she lost her grip on the door and poured in half a bottle.

When Xiao Mingzhu tasted it, his face contorted with accusation as he looked at the woman with a reproachful expression.

Seeing this, Jiang Wanwan chuckled twice and quickly lowered her head to eat her rice.