That night, Jiang Wanqing felt the man beside her tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She turned around and patted his arm.
"What's wrong? Insomnia? Ah!"
He suddenly rolled over and pinned her down, startling her. When she came to her senses, her eyes lit up.
"Are you ready?"
She blinked, slowly reached out to touch him, but he pressed her hand down, returned to his original position, and hugged her tightly.
"Go to sleep, it's nothing. I just rested too much during the day and can't sleep at night."
He dared not say it; he was so agitated that he wanted to end his own life, or even wanted her to be with him.
But he still has a job and the responsibility of supporting his family. Such a mentality is unhealthy, irrational, and immature. He quickly suppressed his anger and remained silent.
Jiang Wanqing almost couldn't breathe in his arms. She struggled, but he held her even tighter.
Even at such close range, she still didn't feel safe around him. She sighed, hugged him back, and gently patted his back.
"Go to sleep."
When Jiang Wanqing woke up early in the morning, she still didn't see Cheng Ran next to her. Smelling the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen, she guessed that he was probably busy again.
He only rested quietly on the first day after being discharged from the hospital, but now he can walk normally and can't stay idle for even a moment.
She casually tied her hair up, went outside, and went to the kitchen, where she found drops of blood on the floor.
She exclaimed, "Huh? You killed a chicken again?"
Cheng Ran's eyes flickered, but he didn't meet her gaze and simply shook his head.
"No, the chicken blood from yesterday wasn't drained completely, and some dripped onto the ground when I took it out today."
"oh."
She wondered why he couldn't even kill a single chicken properly. Suspecting that his hands were weak, she instinctively touched them, but he quickly withdrew his hand.
What are you doing?
"I... just wanted to take the knife. You go and rest, I'll take care of the rest."
It seems there was something wrong with his hands. He usually likes to roll up his sleeves when he works, but today he's wearing long sleeves, probably because he doesn't want her to notice anything unusual.
"No need, I can manage."
“I know you can, but I want to…”
"Didn't you hear me say I don't need it? Get out!"
Cheng Ran suddenly roared, and Jiang Wanqing looked at him in disbelief. How could such a temper appear in her, and why was it directed at her? She frowned, opened her mouth, and felt inexplicably aggrieved.
But the next second he put down the knife, his hands trembling as he hugged her, his voice choked with sobs.
"I'm sorry, I scared you. I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry, it's my fault..."
He apologized repeatedly, his tone full of remorse, which made Jiang Wanqing feel sorry for him.
In her past life, she was tormented, and the physical and emotional wounds once caused her to lose control of her mind. She understood this feeling. She thought that Cheng Ran was similar to her back then, and these actions were not what he wanted.
She patted him gently, her voice soft, and led him outside.
"It's okay, it'll be fine. I just wanted to make some breakfast that I like, that's all. Once I'm done, let's eat together, okay?"
She could only patiently explain to him, and while doing so, she hid the knife. As she helped him sit down, she rolled up her sleeve slightly, revealing a fresh wound. Jiang Wanqing's heart skipped a beat.
She remained silent, pretending not to see, suppressing her inner shock.
"I'll go to the kitchen and bring over the breakfast I've made. Don't touch anything."
Jiang Wanqing kept turning back to make sure he hadn't done anything out of line before entering the kitchen. Looking at the bloodstains on the floor, she seemed to understand something...
Her nose tingled, and she held back her tears. She sniffed and took the cooked porridge out.
If she shows it now, it will definitely provoke him even more. It's best to stay put and see if his condition can be alleviated. If not, he probably needs to go to the hospital.
The two ate breakfast quietly, with Jiang Wanqing occasionally putting side dishes on his plate.
"These are pickled radishes I brought from Beijing. They're my mom's specialty. You love them, right? Eat more. They're a nice balance of salty and sweet."
She had heard that people are happy when they eat their favorite food, and she hoped that he would feel the same way.
He hummed in response, looking rather uninterested. Jiang Wanqing watched him eat the porridge with pickled vegetables, bite by bite.
She was somewhat relieved when he took his first bite, a little excited when he took his second, and felt that things weren't as bad as she had imagined when he took his third, because he still had an appetite, which was a good sign.
But……
"vomit……"
Cheng Ran spat it all out as soon as the fifth bite entered his mouth, his eyes turning red instantly. Jiang Wanqing hurriedly patted his back to help him.
"It's okay, it's okay, it's probably too salty. It's salty to me too. Let's not eat it. We'll go out for lunch today to have something better."
She wiped away her tears behind Cheng Ran's back, and he waved his hand.
"I'm fine, I just feel a little nauseous, probably because of the medicine I took. I'm going out for a walk and I'll be back in a bit. You can eat slowly."
As he spoke, he got up and started to walk out. Upon hearing that he was going out, Jiang Wanqing's heart jumped, and she quickly followed him.
“I’ll go too. I’m not feeling well today, and I don’t even want to eat without you by my side. Let’s go and breathe in some fresh morning air together.”
She tried her best to control her emotions and said only kind words. Cheng Ran seemed to see something, frowned, but in the end he didn't say anything, only hummed in agreement.
"Okay, let's do it together."
Because of his health condition, the two did not go far, but just took a walk in a newly opened small park nearby.
It's called a small park, but it's really just a path that's been built on a small earthen slope for people to walk on.
She supported him as he walked slowly, his steps already quite steady, but he was in an off state, always silent, and even when she tried to strike up a conversation, he would always drift off into thought.
In the end, she stopped pressuring him and simply walked quietly with him.
Around 9:30, a car drove up.
This car doesn't look like it belongs to the military. In this day and age, people who own their own cars are not ordinary.
At first, Jiang Wanqing didn't think anything of it and assumed it was a relative of someone. Unexpectedly, the car stopped in front of her and Cheng Ran, and the person who got out was Du Heng.
He waved to the couple: "Comrade Jiang, Commander Cheng!"
Cheng Ran frowned, turned to her and asked, "Who is he?"
The man was very enthusiastic towards Jiang Wanqing, and Cheng Ran felt a pang of unease.
"He's Du Ming's older brother, Du Heng. I told you about him. He's probably here to talk to me about work. Shall we go back?"
"good."
It would be fine if we only talked about work. Cheng Ran clenched his fists and tried his best to remain calm.
When Du Heng saw the two approaching, he quickly opened the car door and began to speak.
“I was just about to go to the family compound to look for you, but I didn’t expect you to be taking a walk here. Perfect, let’s go together, it’ll save us a few steps.”
"Alright," Jiang Wanqing agreed.
She helped Cheng Ran into the car first, but then she was surprised to find a middle-aged woman inside, dressed simply.
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