Jiang Chuting and Lin Zhi didn't expect to run into the father and son again at the stairwell when they stayed at the inn that night. The young man, holding the hand of the child who kept looking around, walked up the stairs in front of them without glancing at them.
He always seemed to have this stern and unsmiling demeanor, giving people the feeling that he was in a very bad mood at all times.
After Jiang Chuting went upstairs, she found that their room was right next door.
The soundproofing here wasn't very good, and since martial arts practitioners have better hearing than others, it wasn't long after entering the room that one could hear the man scolding the child. After cursing for a while, he started coughing violently, and after coughing, he started cursing again.
Hearing the commotion, Lin Zhi couldn't help but look at the wall next to him. He thought to himself, "This person is so angry, and he always takes it out on the child. Could it be that he was abandoned by the child's mother and is venting his hatred?"
Lin Zhi felt that his guess was about 80-90% correct.
However, putting myself in Chu Ran's shoes, if I were the one being abandoned by Chu Ran, I would be much more upset than just angry.
Thinking of this, he immediately grabbed Jiang Chuting's hand and said solemnly, "Chu Ran, you must never leave me in the future."
Jiang Chuting looked at him and said gently, "As long as you want, I will always be with you." If possible, she would certainly not leave his side, but only if he was willing.
Lin Zhi smiled sweetly and kissed the back of his hand.
That evening, Lin Zhi was unusually quiet, snuggling in Jiang Chuting's arms and whispering to him, occasionally asking for a kiss. The atmosphere was just right when suddenly they heard a child crying next door.
She cried for a while, sometimes loudly and sometimes softly, but other than that, she didn't hear anything from the young man.
Lin Zhi drew circles on Jiang Chuting's chest with his finger, continuing to speak in a lazy voice. Jiang Chuting raised his index finger, making a shushing gesture. Lin Zhi grabbed his finger and put it in his mouth, biting it.
Jiang Chuting let him be, listening carefully to the sounds, and noticed that the child had opened the door to the next room and come out, the whimpering even clearer than before.
Jiang Chuting put on a coat, got up, and opened the door. The little boy, who was crying and looking around blankly with his bare feet on the ground, seemed to remember him after seeing him once before. He ran over, grabbed Jiang Chuting's clothes, and raised his wet little face. "Daddy, Daddy is sick. I can't wake him up. I'm scared. I'm so scared."
So that's how it is. No wonder I didn't hear the man's voice. Jiang Chuting bent down, wrapped the child in her coat, picked her up, and quickly went to the next room. The young man was lying motionless on the bed, his cheeks flushed, and when she touched his forehead, it was frighteningly hot. Perhaps he had been sick for a while, but his expression was always blank, so it was impossible to tell that he was actually unwell.
Because Lin Zhi's injuries hadn't fully healed, he had brought many pills with him on this trip, including some for reducing fever. Jiang Chuting carried the child back to the room and handed him over to Lin Zhi to watch over, then took a pill and fed it to him.
The medicine was extremely effective. Within fifteen minutes, he began to sweat, and after a while, he slowly woke up.
When he opened his eyes and saw Jiang Chuting by the bedside, he was taken aback for a moment, then slowly sat up, exhaling hot breath as he abruptly turned to look at the person beside him.
Seeing this, Jiang Chuting knew: "I heard the child running out crying, so I asked him what was wrong and found out you were sick. He's in the next room now, being watched over, so there's no need to worry."
The young man remained silent for a long while before saying in a slightly stiff tone, "Thank you."
"It's alright." He was already awake, so Jiang Chuting didn't linger. He got up, went back to the room, and brought the child back to him. The child was overjoyed to see him awake and kept calling out, "Daddy, Daddy!" He opened his arms, wanting a hug, but the young man ignored him. He called to Jiang Chuting, who was about to leave, and stubbornly stuffed some money into his hand. "Did you feed me the medicine just now? I don't like owing people money. Here, take the money."
He insisted on giving it to her, and Jiang Chuting accepted it without refusing, then left.
As soon as he returned to his room, Lin Zhi, who was sitting on the bed waiting for him, hugged him and chuckled as she said, "You have no idea, that kid was so funny just now. He insisted that he was born from his father's belly. When I corrected him and said that wasn't true, he got angry and said I was bad, hahaha."
Jiang Chuting smiled upon hearing this. She had just seen him staring at the child, and thought they were locked in a stalemate without speaking. It turned out that the child was upset by him and didn't want to talk to him.
"It was probably just a slip of the tongue by the child."
Neither of them would take the child's innocent words seriously. Lin Zhi nodded, then cupped Jiang Chuting's face in her hands, her eyes brightening slightly as she looked at him and sighed softly, "Chu Ran, I've learned a lot from following you these past few days. No matter how big or small the matter, you always lend a helping hand. I can never reach your level in this lifetime." Kind but not blindly so, she had her own principles, truly as pure and beautiful as she remembered.
Hearing his praise, Jiang Chuting said gently, "It was just doing some things within my ability, nothing much."
Lin Zhi smiled, "Luckily you're this kind of person, otherwise, I wouldn't have met you, and if I hadn't met you, I... wouldn't have been able to become your husband." Saying this, Lin Zhi leaned closer, her bright black eyes looking at him: "Chu Ran, would you like to call me 'husband'?"
Lin Zhi had no strange quirks when he was in bed. He took good care of him and respected him. At most, when they were done, he would hug him and whisper very bluntly in his ear things like, “Baby, you are so amazing, I love you to death,” “You are so wonderful, I don’t want to come,” “Doing this with you is so pleasurable,” which made Jiang Chuting want to cover his ears.
This was the first time Lin Zhi had shown such anticipation regarding the form of address, and he still maintained a serious and earnest expression.
Jiang Chuting hadn't expected such a request, and his eyes widened slightly. He was genuinely uncomfortable with this and couldn't bring himself to call him that, yet he didn't want to disappoint him. Just as he was pondering what to do, Lin Zhi puffed out his cheeks, "You won't call me that? Fine then." Lin Zhi had actually been secretly hoping for this nickname, especially during intimate moments; it would definitely excite him even more. However, he knew that this man was rather upright in some ways, and making things too difficult wouldn't be playful, but rather excessive.
So when one attempt didn't work, Lin Zhi immediately changed his approach: "Then call me Que'er again. It's been a long time since I've heard you call me that."
"Of course, no problem," Jiang Chuting smiled happily, stroked his cheek, and softly called out, "Que'er."
Lin Zhi immediately felt as if a spring breeze was blowing on her face, and closed her eyes contentedly, "I want to hear more."
Jiang Chuting called out three more times as instructed. Lin Zhi was initially quite happy, but after a while, Jiang Chuting noticed that the corners of his mouth, which had been turned up, gradually fell back, and his eyes, which had opened, were tinged with a dark color.
Jiang Chuting asked, puzzled, "What's wrong with you?"
Lin Zhi paused for a moment before whispering, "Didn't I tell you before that I used my father's name when I was a child? I just suddenly remembered him."
Hearing him mention Zi Que, Jiang Chuting's heart skipped a beat.
"I haven't told you about him yet, have I? He died before I was born, and I've never even met him." Lin Zhi's tone grew colder as if she had just remembered something. "My parents' relationship was ruined by a man. That shameless man came to seduce my father a few days before our wedding and was caught in public, which almost caused my mother to miscarry. Later, my father passed away, and my mother has had a miserable life all these years, all thanks to that man. I don't know why, but my mother has always forbade me from going after that man."
Jiang Chuting clenched her trembling fingers, barely managing to maintain a calm expression. "Then...didn't you ask her why?"
"I asked, but she wouldn't say. She's just too easily swayed by emotions. My mother is such a good person, yet my father was bewitched by a male vixen. It's truly incomprehensible."
Jiang Chuting couldn't help but say, "Lin Zhi, adults don't necessarily tell children everything that's going on between them."
“It’s not just my family, everyone else says so too, many have witnessed it with their own eyes. And my father did indeed die because of his influence.” Lin Zhi snorted coldly, then continued, “I didn’t listen to my mother, I still secretly went to find him and stabbed him. And, you don’t know, he did something even more disgusting, he actually…” Lin Zhi realized something and stopped, finally saying only, “In short, that person is just despicable.”
Jiang Chuting's face paled slightly, and she lowered her eyes, remaining silent. Even if she tried to comfort him as Chu Ran, it would be futile.
Lin Zhi thought he was tired, so she kissed his forehead, pulled him down to lie down, and said, "Okay, I won't say anything anymore, let's rest."
Even without Lin Zhi causing any trouble that night, Jiang Chuting still kept her eyes open and didn't fall asleep until very late.
The next day, when Jiang Chuting and Lin Zhiyi opened the door, the little boy from next door was standing at their door. He was very happy to see them and sincerely handed them two steaming hot buns with both hands.
Lin Zhi chuckled and said, "For us?"
The little boy nodded. "Yes, yes, you saved my dad."
Lin Zhi said with a clear understanding, "Oh, so this is your thank-you gift?"
Jiang Chuting smiled, not wanting to disappoint his kindness. She knelt down on one knee, reached out and took the child. Just as she was about to speak, a person rushed up the stairs. Upon seeing the child, he shouted angrily, "You stupid thing, if you run around again I'll break your legs! Get over here right now!"
The little boy ran over hurriedly, "Daddy, don't give birth to me, I'm here." Then he was dragged away by his hot-tempered father. Before he disappeared, he struggled to turn back and wave to Jiang Chuting and Lin Zhi.
Jiang Chuting handed one of the steamed buns in her hand to Lin Zhi, saying, "It's a token of the little guy's appreciation, so have one too."
Lin Zhi finished the meal in two bites, then went downstairs to eat some more. He walked outside with Jiang Chuting and soon discovered that there were many more martial arts figures carrying knives and swords on the streets today. Jiang Chuting recognized several of them as well-known and influential figures in the martial arts world.
Lin Zhi glanced around and asked curiously, "What's going on here? Is this a martial arts tournament?"
Jiang Chuting said, "The martial arts gathering wouldn't be at this time; it's probably because of some other matter." Upon inquiring, it turned out that tomorrow was indeed the full-month celebration for the son of Qiao Xun, the owner of the renowned Changliu Manor in Jiangling. Jiang Chuting had heard of Qiao Xun; he was only in his early twenties and had only assumed the position of manor owner in the last two years. He was smooth-talking, good at making friends, and had many acquaintances, so it wasn't surprising that so many people were attending his child's full-month celebration.
Jiang Chuting had no intention of getting involved in this kind of fun, and Lin Zhi was just curious; once she found out, she forgot about it.
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