Chapter 12

Register, consult a doctor, get an X-ray, and pick up medication.

By the time this whole process was completed, the clock had already struck nine. The hospital was still busy, brightly lit and bustling with people. While Sang Nian was getting her medicine, she heard that a sudden heavy snowfall had caused a chain-reaction collision on the elevated highway, and all the injured had been sent to this hospital.

In comparison, his sprain seemed insignificant. Wen Yan had given him some basic treatment before he came to the hospital.

He helped Sang Nian up, and after seeing his pained and restrained expression, he said to him, "Wait a moment," before disappearing behind the design institute's door.

When he came out again, he was carrying an ice pack and a clean, soft towel. He wrapped the ice pack in the towel and then pressed it against Sang Nian's ankle. The movement was a bit too forceful, and Sang Nian cried out in pain.

Wen Yan looked up at him and saw the pain on his face, so she loosened her grip. "Does it hurt a lot?"

His voice was very pleasant, just as warm and gentle as it had been five years ago when he gave Sang Nian White Rabbit candy by the artificial lake. However, in this winter night, it suddenly carried a coldness that made Sang Nian frown in surprise.

He didn't remember ever offending this young master Wen. But he figured they weren't very close. He'd heard that Wen Yan was extremely serious and aloof in private, and his colleagues at the design institute were terrified of him. So today, only Sang Nian was looking forward to Wen Yan's return.

Thinking of this, Sang Nian couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips into a smile. Her dimples were shallow, yet hard to ignore, carrying a touch of playfulness, and a fleeting glint of eager anticipation flashed in her eyes. The lamplight made Sang Nian's face even more blurred, but the light in her eyes pierced straight to the heart.

He glanced at Wen Yan's hand holding the towel; his fingers were well-defined, long and strong, with clean, rounded nails, and slightly raised veins under his fair skin.

Like a work of art, Sang Nian couldn't help but take a few more glances.

He was so engrossed in watching that he completely forgot Wen Yan's question. Unable to get an answer, Wen Yan had no choice but to look up, but his gaze met Sang Nian's in mid-air. He saw a hint of panic flash across Sang Nian's face for a fleeting moment.

He frowned slightly, his eyes deep and unfathomable. Suddenly, he released his grip, stood up, took a step back, looked down at Sang Nian, and a voice devoid of any emotion rolled from his throat.

"Can we walk?"

After asking that question, he saw Sang Nian quickly raise her eyes, then quickly glance to the side, look at her foot, and whisper, "It hurts so much, I should go to the hospital to get it checked out." Then he glanced at the car behind Wen Yan, his intentions all too clear.

Wen Yan tightened his grip on his coat pocket, turned his back to the driver's seat, and said, "Get in, I'll take you there," before opening the car door and getting in.

Sang Nian stood there stunned for a few seconds before reacting. Ignoring Wen Yan's sudden coldness, he forced a smile and took a step forward. However, he underestimated the severity of his sprain; he couldn't even lift his left foot, and the slightest movement caused excruciating pain. Sang Nian frowned, glanced at the unmoving Wen Yan sitting in the car, gritted his teeth, and, standing on tiptoe, hopped across using only his right foot.

The car wasn't far, but even those few steps had exhausted him, and sweat was already beading on his forehead. After getting into the car, Sang Nian first whispered "thank you" to Wen Yan, then turned his head to the side.

It's strange. Wen Yan was quite friendly to him when they first met, but this time, his attitude changed completely.

He was unaware of what misunderstanding had occurred.

But no matter what, he has already taken this step, and he must overcome any difficulties.

His ankle was swollen, and the doctor sprayed some medicine on it, instructing him not to move it too much for the next few days and to remember to apply the medicine when he got home. Sang Nian felt a sudden surge of frustration thinking about what was supposed to happen tomorrow. He had only intended to fall and attract Wen Yan's attention, but he hadn't expected to actually get injured.

Looking at Wen Yan's reaction from the moment he arrived until now, Sang Nian suddenly felt that he had gained nothing but trouble. Wen Yan had disappeared after taking him to the hospital; he had probably already left. He sighed almost imperceptibly, put the medicine into his backpack, and then took out his phone, intending to call a taxi home.

The sirens of police cars and ambulances blared incessantly outside the hospital, giving everyone a headache. Sang Nian looked at the "73 people waiting" number on his ride-hailing app and sighed again.

When bad luck strikes, even drinking water can cause problems.

He fully understood the meaning of that sentence.

Amidst the heavy snowfall, another ambulance arrived and stopped at the entrance of the emergency building. The moment it stopped, a stretcher was pushed over, and a person covered in blood, whose face was obscured, was placed on the stretcher. The medical staff pushed the stretcher with great speed.

As he passed by Sang Nian, he smelled a strong stench of blood. As if recalling something terrible, all the color drained from his face in an instant, and even his lips, which he had bitten until they were red, turned an unnatural pale.

He covered his mouth and took a few steps back with difficulty, but unexpectedly, a middle-aged couple with anxious expressions ran up from behind and rushed into the emergency room. To avoid bumping into them, Sang Nian suddenly turned his toes to the side, but his left foot couldn't get any weight on it, and he stumbled. He was about to fall to the cold ground when a sudden force pulled him back and pulled him into their arms.

"What are you doing standing at the entrance of the emergency building? Don't you know it's crowded here?" An exasperated voice rang out from above him, instantly calming the panicked Sang Nian. He rested his head on Wen Yan's shoulder, smiled, and then took a deep breath.

It's a pity it's not citrus flavored anymore.

Sang Nian was somewhat disappointed. However, he was still happy, at least Wen Yan hadn't left immediately. Sang Nian couldn't help but cheer inwardly, pulling away from Wen Yan's embrace a second before he let go. He looked at Wen Yan and smiled happily.

"Thank you, Brother Wenyan!"

Sang Nian's voice, like him, was very beautiful, but to Wen Yan, it sounded somewhat grating.

Wen Yan originally intended to leave immediately.

Three days ago, he learned from Tao Youmin that Sang Nian had come to work at his design institute. At first, he didn't think much of it. After all, Sang Nian was Sang Ning's younger brother. If he came to work for him, he could take care of him.

Tao Youmin disagreed with his statement. She said Sang Nian definitely went there with an ulterior motive, and it was possible that his motive was you. She also said that Sang Nian liked men, so he shouldn't take it lightly. She added that Sang Nian was quite cunning and had been a wild child, so the Sang family didn't like him. Five years ago, he had disobeyed his elders and showed no remorse, so the Sang family had no choice but to send him abroad to study. Later, out of consideration for family ties, Grandpa Sang thought of bringing him back, hoping that he would at least be more stable. However, his return made Grandpa Sang sick again, and he didn't even visit him in the hospital.

And so on and so forth.

After finishing her sentence, Tao Youmin gave Wen Yan a meaningful look and said with a smile, "If you marry Ningning, you'll have a lot of trouble."

Wen Yan smiled but didn't say anything. He had never liked people who liked to gossip behind people's backs, so he ended the conversation unilaterally and slipped away from the awards ceremony under the pretext of having something to do.

Wen Yan had a fairly good impression of Sang Nian. In her memory, he was just a well-behaved child who would donate a kidney without hesitation for his brother's illness.

He naturally disagreed with Tao Youmin's statement.

When he came back last night, he was having dinner with Sang Ning and suddenly the topic of Sang Nian came up. So he repeated what Tao Youmin had said and then asked Sang Ning with a smile if it was true.

It's not that he cares about Sang Nian that much, he just wanted to verify it.

But when he asked the question, Sang Ning's eyes darted away, and he stammered, unable to utter a single word for a long time, looking very troubled.

However, this indirectly confirms Tao Youmin's statement.

Wen Yan immediately decided to keep her distance from Sang Nian.

Back at the design institute, Wen Yan asked his assistant to check on Sang Nian's work over the past few days. The feedback was that it was all normal, nothing special, and he was on time for get off work, which was not bad.

But it was precisely because of the fact that he was supposed to be at get off work on time that Wen Yan, who was half an hour late coming downstairs, thought of Tao Youmin's words when he saw Sang Nian's desk with the light still on.

"He was probably after you."

Wen Yan immediately turned and went upstairs, intending to see why Sang Nian was staying behind alone to "work overtime." After waiting for a long time, he saw Sang Nian turn off the lights, come downstairs, and leave. After estimating the time, he also went downstairs and drove away.

He just hadn't expected Sang Nian to be waiting at the door and to fall down. Wen Yan had considered that he might deliberately fall to get his attention, but seeing the swollen area, he still couldn't bring himself to do it.

So he applied a cold compress to him and took him to the hospital. After getting Sang Nian to the examination room, his task was complete.

He wasn't familiar with Sang Nian to begin with, and his childhood memories were hazy. He only thought of him as someone like Sang Ning, who had also felt regret and heartache over his abduction, but that was all.

Since Sang Ning doesn't like Sang Nian, he can only stay away from him. Besides, this Sang Nian really seems to have ulterior motives towards him.

Wen Yan didn't think he was particularly narcissistic, but Sang Nian's intense gaze on him made him overthink. For example, right now, after thanking him, Sang Nian kept staring at Wen Yan, her eyes crinkling with laughter, and her dimples appearing and disappearing at the corners of her mouth.

Wen Yan coughed lightly. To be honest, he was a little shocked by the words he blurted out when he saw Sang Nian about to fall, but he quickly composed himself and looked at Sang Nian again with a distant look in his eyes.

Sang Nian's smile faded, and he lightly swiped his finger across the phone screen. After seeing the few words clearly visible on it, he clicked his tongue in annoyance, then looked up at the night sky filled with heavy snow.

"The snow is falling so heavily." He sighed softly, but when he turned to look at Wen Yan, he smiled and said, "Thank you so much for today, Brother Wen Yan."

Wen Yan nodded expressionlessly.

"I'll treat Brother Wenyan to a meal in a few days when I'm better."

Wen Yan wanted to say no, but saw him looking down at his phone with a troubled expression. So Wen Yan followed his gaze and saw the queue time displayed on the ride-hailing app screen.

He glanced at the endless snow and blurted out, "I'll take you back." He immediately regretted it and was about to take it back when he saw Sang Nian look up in surprise and give him a big smile.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Wenyan!" With that, she quickly tapped the screen a few times to cancel the order, giving Wenyan no chance to regret it.