"Actually... there's something I want to confirm with you, especially with Dr. Qiao," Zhou Jinglan said hesitantly.
"What is it?" Qiao Xinruo asked.
Compared to Zhou Jinglan's stammering and indecisiveness, she was much more straightforward and decisive.
That's exactly why I came here.
The sooner we expose Leng Yinghong's scam, the sooner we can leave, so we don't have to stand awkwardly in this ward any longer.
"Do you remember, on the ninth day of the lunar month fifteen years ago, when you climbed the mountain, you saved a little boy?" Zhou Jinglan asked, giving the exact time and place.
"Fifteen years ago?" Qiao Xinruo was only eight years old at the time.
Climbing mountains on the ninth day of the lunar new year must be during the Lunar New Year period.
It seems she did go hiking with her parents and brothers, but did she rescue anyone along the way?
"Could you tell me more information?" Qiao Xinruo asked.
There's no way she could remember every single person she's saved without detailed information.
"I was climbing a mountain when I suddenly fell and broke my leg. The place was quite secluded, and no one had passed by or heard my cries for help until a girl with braids appeared. She was leaning on a small wooden stick and said she was an explorer..."
Little braid?
An adventure?
As soon as these two keywords appeared, Qiao Xinruo immediately had a picture in mind.
That was the year!
Qiao Xinruo never liked wearing pigtails, but she couldn't resist Liu Yuying's fondness for it. Her mother had to coax her for a long time before she agreed to wear pigtails and a bright red new dress. When she went out, she even threw a tantrum because she felt she looked too ugly, like a New Year's picture doll.
So, after they went up the mountain, her older brother whittled a small wooden stick for her to lean on so she could save energy. He also said she could go on an adventure, which cheered her up again.
“I remember now, you hurt your ankle and kept crying,” Qiao Xinruo said.
She finally recognized him. Zhou Jinglan, who was wrapped up like a rice dumpling, looked just like the skinny little boy she remembered from her childhood who was always crying.
Zhou Jinglan: "..."
Crying continuously?
What do you mean he kept crying?
Zhou Jinglan was both amused and exasperated. It turned out that in the heart of the little goddess he had been longing for, he was just a crybaby.
He clearly didn't cry continuously at the time, especially when he realized that the little goddess seemed very afraid of him crying, so he tried his best to hold back!
"I don't think I've been crying the whole time, have I?" Zhou Jinglan stubbornly insisted, unwilling to admit his image as a crybaby.
"Oh, so I mistook you for someone else?" Qiao Xinru shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.
Zhou Jinglan: "..."
We've been manipulated!
"That's right!" he said anxiously. "You were the one who saved me, right? You carried me down the mountain and left me by the roadside, which gave me the chance to wait for my parents, right? It was you?"
Qiao Xinruo has now remembered everything.
It was indeed different from the version Leng Yinghong had mentioned, but she remembered and had some recollection of Zhou Jinglan's version.
"I'm not kidding you, it's me," Qiao Xinruo said.
Actually, she found it quite novel.
That skinny little boy, whom she could carry for such a long distance, had actually become a soldier, and—
Qiao Xinruo recalled the scene she saw when she was treating Zhou Jinglan's wounds.
Well, I'm not skinny anymore.
It has everything you'd expect.
"Thank you! I didn't expect you to save me twice. I already owe you two lives," Zhou Jinglan said, his feelings extremely complicated.
"Please don't—" Qiao Xinruo quickly said.
She doesn't like the idea of owing someone a few lives; she saves people not for their gratitude.
As a child, she admired her father and always pestered him to teach her. She was happy to have the opportunity to show off her skills, and she was even grateful to those who needed her help, as it was a way to demonstrate her abilities.
Now that she is a doctor, she needs even less gratitude from patients. This is part of her professional ethics and a reflection of her personal value. She will do it regardless of whether patients thank her or not.
“You’re exaggerating. Whether it was that time when I was a child or this time recently, you don’t need to take it to heart. I’m a doctor, saving lives is my daily job,” Qiao Xinruo said.
So, is this why Zhou Jinglan is so obsessed with her?
I saved him once, and he's got a grudge against me. Now I've saved him again...
Qiao Xinruo suddenly felt a little scared.
Could it be that he's gotten entangled with her now?
However, I feel that this person should be reasonable, as long as things are explained clearly, right?
"To you, it might just be a casual act of kindness, but to me, if you hadn't appeared and saved me back then, I might not be where I am today," Zhou Jinglan said.
Moreover, it was because of that rescue and the "disdain" for his thinness that he worked hard to train and eventually became a soldier.
Qiao Xinruo: "..."
"Whatever you want," Qiao Xinruo said, too lazy to say more.
Zhou Jinglan looked at Qiao Xinruo with complicated emotions. He had a lot to say, but at this moment, after confirming her identity, he felt that he didn't need to say anything more.
He thought of his fiancée—
absurd!
The reason he proposed to Leng Yinghong in the first place was because he thought she was a goddess. However, he now realized that he had mistaken her for someone else and made a fool of himself.
Perhaps this is nothing to Qiao Xinruo; judging from her attitude just now, she doesn't care about the past.
But for Zhou Jinglan, the past is meaningful.
He cares a lot!
Zhou Jinglan looked at Qiao Xinruo carefully, as if trying to imprint her current appearance in his mind.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that Qiao Xinruo was extremely beautiful...
He remembered that whether it was the nurses or the doctors who introduced Qiao Xinruo to him, their evaluation of her was that she was an extremely talented and brilliant doctor.
Therefore, his little goddess is not only beautiful, but also so outstanding.
And what about him?
Perhaps he once deserved the title of "outstanding," having risen to the rank of battalion commander through his own efforts, and his future seemed bright. But now—
He lay on the hospital bed like a cripple, his legs almost broken, and he had extensive burns all over his body. Even if he recovered, he would become a terrifying ugly monster.
Zhou Jinglan had never thought that a person's appearance was that important. As long as someone had good character and was hardworking, they were worthy of respect.
He still thinks that way, but he can't help but despise himself for becoming ugly.
In such a disheveled state, how could he possibly stand next to the dazzling Qiao Xinruo? How could he possibly confess his little crush on the little goddess?
He doesn't dare, nor is he worthy.
A person can have nothing, but they must never lack self-awareness!
"Dr. Qiao, I know you don't care about these things, but I still want to sincerely thank you twice. One is for the help you gave me back then, and the other is for the help you pulled me back from the brink of death."
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