Chapter 18: Falling
Xia Cheng wanted to take a shower and rest, but Lin Minghe didn't seem to have any intention of leaving. His jokes came one after another, making Xia Cheng laugh so hard that she felt less tired.
The two chatted for a while before Lin Minghe took out his cell phone, touched the back of his head, lowered his head, and it seemed that his ears were drooping.
"Can you give me your contact information?"
Xia Cheng lowered her head. Lin Minghe couldn't see her expression, so he spoke carefully.
"Don't get me wrong, I just... I just... I lost your bracelet last time, so I bought you a new one. If you still like the original one, you can also wait until I find it and send you a message."
Hearing this, she secretly curled her lips, and when she looked up again, her smile faded, and she comforted him softly:
"It's okay, don't worry about it. It's not expensive anyway."
"Can I add it?"
"Of course you can. You are Xun Mo's friend, so you are also my friend. Besides, I have heard that you like Xun Mo. If you need my help, just ask."
Xia Cheng showed her the QR code, and Lin Minghe clicked on the private account. He heard Xia Cheng say this as soon as he scanned it, and explained hurriedly after adding it.
"No, that was ten years ago. I already..."
"Aren't you coming down yet? The game has been paused for a long time." Xun Mo didn't even knock on the door, but opened it directly. There was an unconcealable anger on her bright face, and her hair was messy, as if she had just exercised, like a grumpy little lion.
"You guys go play, I'm going to sleep."
Xia Cheng didn't wait for Lin Minghe to explain and drove the two away as Xun Mo wished.
She rarely saw Xun Mo express such distinct emotions. Could it be that Lin Minghe was very important to her? This piqued her interest.
She opened her phone and looked at Lin Minghe's profile picture, which was a kitten. People who use animals as profile pictures are generally soft-hearted and humorous.
She clicked on Lin Minghe's circle of friends and observed it carefully. Remembering that Lin Minghe was a swimmer, she took a shower, changed into pajamas, lay comfortably on the bed, and searched for women's swimsuits.
"Are you home yet?"
Yu Jingyuan sent a message at this time, and Xia Cheng replied with a smiley face.
"Home! How about you?"
"I'm home too. I forgot to tell you today. Don't worry about what happened online. If you need any legal assistance, come to me."
"Thank you, Brother Jingyuan, you are so kind."
Xia Cheng then remembered this matter. She opened the software and saw that the hot search had been removed. In less than a day, no one mentioned it anymore.
This is Xun Sheng's speed of doing things.
Xia Cheng felt a sense of relief for no reason, and she finally realized why her father trusted Xun Sheng so much.
She sent another message to Yu Jingyuan:
"By the way, after my foot is healed, let's go to the beach together! I love the sea, but I can't swim. Do you want to learn how to swim first? Brother Jingyuan, can you swim?"
"I can. I'll teach you how to swim first, and then we can go to the beach together."
This is exactly what Xia Cheng wants to see.
She held the phone and closed her eyes happily.
*
The next day, Xia Cheng woke up at nine in the morning. He Qing and Xun Youdong had already gone out to work.
He Qing manages a custom cheongsam brand and is well-known among the wealthy. Although Xun Youdong is gradually handing over the company to Xun Sheng, there are still times when he needs to be present. Recently, the subsidiary's performance has declined, and he needs to go to Xun Sheng to maintain order.
Since Xia Cheng was injured, except for the day they came to the hospital and Xia Cheng drank chicken soup, no one seemed to have paid special attention to her injury.
She found it strange—why would parents treat their children this way? But she also felt it was normal, because parental love is limited. With more children, there's less for each. Of their three children, two were the result of their meticulous care and education, and one was a latecomer. In comparison, blood ties weren't that important.
Xia Cheng finished washing up and prepared to go downstairs to eat. She called downstairs, hoping that Xiao Lai would come up and carry her.
But there seemed to be no one in the living room on the first floor. No matter how many times she called, the call was always on. She was bored and twisted the curled telephone cord. Her stomach was rumbling, so she could only pick up the crutch leaning against the door and plan to walk to the stairs to call the servant to bring up the meal.
Today's single crutch was a little unstable, and Xia Cheng felt it at the first touch.
She stopped and didn't notice that the screw on the single crutch was loose. She shook it left and right, thinking that the servant was just mopping the floor too diligently and sprinkled detergent a few more times, so she didn't pay any more attention to it.
She slowly jumped towards the stairs, but no matter how slowly she jumped, the accident still happened.
Something hit the floor with a rumbling sound. When Xia Cheng approached the stairs, there was a squeak and the gray-yellow silicone bounced out.
The smooth metal bottom edge of the crutch slid across the cold and hard tiles. After a harsh sound, the force Xia Cheng applied did not provide any feedback, but instead made the crutch even more disordered.
Because the stairs were on the left, her right leg was injured, and the crutch was also on the left. When the crutch slipped and could not support Xia Cheng's body, she lost her balance unexpectedly and rolled down the hard stairs, causing the cashmere carpet on the stairs to deviate from its original position.
"Ah!" She screamed and fell onto the platform between the third and second floors. The cashmere blanket on the platform was thicker, which increased the friction and prevented Xia Cheng from falling further.
But she didn't have much fat on her body, so even with the blanket's cushioning, she still fell pretty hard. First, her back hit the wall, then the back of her head, and then her right leg swung out violently.
Xia Cheng was conscious, but her whole body was in excruciating pain. Her throat became hoarse instantly, and she used all her strength to finally utter the word "Help".
She was gasping for breath and even her chest ached. She didn't dare to think about whether her ribs were broken or she would be paralyzed.
She thought of her adoptive father, who had become paralyzed from the waist down due to an accident and had been bedridden ever since. He even needed help with his urination and defecation. If he didn't clean up for a day, his body would start to smell foul.
When she was a teenager, she and her grandmother helped her father turn over and clean him. Her father always closed his eyes tightly at this time, and Xia Cheng had no way of feeling shy. Sometimes he even felt that death was the only relief for his father.
She didn't want to go back to that damp, dark little house that was attacked by mosquitoes, rats and ants in the summer and whose joints ached from the cold in the winter. But when she closed her eyes, she actually felt that it was a happy time in her mind.
At least, her grandmother and father there truly loved her.
Tears slid from the corners of Xia Cheng's eyes into her hair. The past that she deliberately forgot actually had beautiful moments.
Later, her grandmother and father passed away. During her most difficult time, a man unexpectedly broke in. He had a pair of sapphire blue eyes, more beautiful than fireflies. He asked her in a star-like voice if she wanted to leave with him.
"Da... Da... Da..." Someone came up the stairs with cheerful footsteps. They stopped a few meters away from her and screamed:
"Someone come quickly! My sister fell down!"
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