Chapter 33: The Domineering Secretary Bai Yueguang 12 Sprained Ankle
After a few seconds of silence, Ji Hanlin's voice suddenly rang out, right above her head: "Don't worry about it, just keep going forward."
Huh? Didn't you recognize her?
Wen Qianning pretended to be calm, keeping his head down the whole time, poking at the food on the plate, but his heart was beating like a drum with nervousness.
She heard Jian Yi say "OK", and then the sound of their footsteps continuing to move forward. Only when the sound disappeared at the other end of the restaurant did she dare to slowly raise her head. Her back was already soaked with cold sweat.
She looked back at where the group of people were standing. Ji Hanlin was talking to the restaurant manager with his back to her. The light fell on his shoulders, outlining his cold and hard outline.
It seems that the hero and heroine are making good progress, and they look quite harmonious together. Wen Qianning thought so. No matter what, this time the plot will be successfully advanced according to the original script.
"Ma'am, your food is here." The waiter came over with a tray, his face full of concern. "Are you okay? You don't look well."
"It's okay." Wen Qianning forced a smile, picked up the fork and stirred the food on the plate, but he had no appetite.
She finished her meal in a hurry, paid the bill and walked out of the restaurant.
If she wanted to go out, she had to pass by Ji Hanlin and the others. Wen Qianning lowered her head deliberately, covering half of her face with her hair.
But what Wen Qianning didn't know was that after she passed, the man's gaze was fixed on her back. His eyes, previously calm, were now swirling with a thick, dark color, as if hiding a turbulent undercurrent. His eyelashes drooped, hiding the paranoia that flashed across his eyes.
*
After leaving the restaurant, Wen Qianning casually strolled around the mall. She had been feeling uneasy since meeting Ji Hanlin and the hostess. The shopping spirit she had before leaving was now gone.
So she sighed, didn't shop any longer, and walked out of the mall.
The girl was wearing slender high heels and walking slowly along the roadside. The evening breeze blew on her face with a bit of coolness.
After walking for about ten minutes, Wen Qianning realized that there seemed to be a faint sound of an engine following behind him, not far away but not near.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she slowed down her pace. She turned her head and glanced back out of the corner of her eye. A black car was following behind her, driving very slowly.
Wen Qianning turned around abruptly, the headlights making her squint. The moment her sight fell on the license plate, she froze in place... This was exactly Ji Hanlin's car.
Words like "ghosts seeking revenge" and frame by frame of crime scenes of murderers on dark and windy nights suddenly emerged in her mind... Wen Qianning couldn't help but wonder why the male protagonist was following her. Could it be that he really couldn't let this go and was going to kill her?
She was so scared that she subconsciously took a step back, but she missed a step and her body tilted. She felt a piercing pain in her ankle and her face turned pale in an instant.
The black car stopped, the door opened, and the man got out.
Ji Hanlin stood condescendingly before her, his figure stretched out long under the streetlight, casting a shadow over her. He looked at the girl who had fallen to the ground, a mocking smile on his lips, his tone undisguisedly cold: "I didn't bump into you, so why are you trying to scam me?"
"Wen Qianning, long time no see."
However, the girl who fell to the ground did not answer. She lowered her head, and her long black hair slid down from her shoulders like a piece of scattered silk, just covering most of her face.
Ji Hanlin frowned. This didn't seem like an act, but rather... was she really scared? Feeling a little irritated, he leaned forward and reached out to pull her up: "Get up."
Just as his fingertips were about to touch her arm, the person on the ground suddenly moved. Wen Qianning slowly raised her head, her long hair sliding to both sides with the movement, revealing a tear-filled face.
The girl's eyes were very red, her eyelashes were wet and stuck together, and she bit her lips, like a wounded little animal that was stubborn and refused to make a sound.
His hand stopped in mid-air, and his heart seemed to be gently bumped by something, and the gloom in his heart instantly dissipated.
Looking at her like this, Ji Hanlin suddenly couldn't say a single harsh word.
What the hell? She was the one who dumped him without saying a word, and now she’s making it seem like he bullied her.
"It hurts..." Wen Qianning had no intention of caring about the man's inner thoughts at this moment. She felt like crying in so much pain. Her eyes fell on her originally fair ankle, where a small swelling had quietly appeared.
Ji Hanlin's gaze swept across the red corners of her eyes and stared at her swollen ankle. His Adam's apple rolled inexplicably, and he changed the direction of his outstretched hand and picked her up sideways without saying a word.
"What are you doing?" She was startled and quickly hugged his neck.
"Didn't you sprain your ankle?" He said expressionlessly as he carried Wen Qianning into the car. "I'll take you to see a doctor."
The car did not drive towards the nearby hospital, but turned into a secluded tree-lined avenue. At the end was a carved iron gate. After slowly opening, it revealed the scattered green plants and a magnificent villa inside.
After Ji Hanlin turned off the engine, he carried her straight up to the second floor and placed her on the bed in a spacious bedroom.
"Stay here and don't move." He said this and turned and walked out.
Wen Qianning sat on the bed and looked around. She tried to move her ankle, but a piercing pain made her gasp and tears welled up in her eyes again.
Soon, the doorbell rang downstairs. A few minutes later, Ji Hanlin walked in with a middle-aged doctor in a white coat. The doctor, carrying a medicine box, greeted Ji Hanlin respectfully, then walked to the bedside and gestured for Wen Qianning to stretch out her feet.
"Miss Wen, let me take a look." The doctor carefully examined Wen Qianning's ankle and gently pressed the skin around it. "Does it hurt?"
Wen Qianning bit her lip and nodded, beads of sweat oozing from her forehead.
After a careful examination, the doctor took out a blood-activating ointment and a bandage from the medicine box. As he applied them, he explained, "There's no bone damage, just a strained ligament. It's a little swollen. I'll apply some medicine and bandages for you. Try not to walk for the next few days and just rest well."
Ji Hanlin stood aside with his arms folded against the wall, watching the doctor treat Wen Qianning's wound. His eyes fell on her furrowed brows and pale lips, and a barely perceptible fluctuation flashed in his eyes.
The doctor treated the wound, gave a few more instructions, packed up the medicine box, and left. Wen Qianning and Ji Hanlin were the only ones left in the room. The air instantly grew quiet, with only the sound of each other's breathing to be heard.
He looked at the girl curled up on the bed. Her face was still as dazzlingly beautiful as before, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind uncontrollably - she broke up with him unilaterally and left without saying goodbye, even throwing away the job at Ji's that she had worked so hard for.
Even when I called her later, she hung up ruthlessly. As if I was afraid of being pestered by him, I cancelled all contact information.
"Let's talk." Ji Hanlin looked down at her, his face expressionless and his tone cold.
"What are you talking about?" The girl shuddered, then tried to lie down and pretend to be dead to avoid the man's scrutiny. "Why do I suddenly feel so sleepy? I want to go to bed. Good night, see you tomorrow..."
Seeing such poor acting skills, the man couldn't help but laugh inwardly and snorted coldly: "Wen Qianning, how long are you going to run away?"
Wen Qianning was exposed by him, her body stiffened, and she simply buried her face in the pillow, leaving only half of her white neck exposed.
Ji Hanlin sat down on the chair beside the bed and tapped the armrest with his fingertips, making a regular sound, as if counting down to her silence.
"You sent me a text message saying we were breaking up, and then you left without even saying anything. I called you, but you hung up without even saying a word," he said, his voice low, yet filled with an undeniable sense of pressure. "Did you ask for my opinion? Did I agree to break up?"
The person in the pillow still didn't move, only his shoulders moved slightly, as if in silent resistance.
The man suddenly leaned over and pinched the back of her neck. The girl's eyes were still misty and her lips trembled, "I... I don't have anything to say."
"Nothing to say?" Ji Hanlin raised an eyebrow and touched the skin on the back of her neck with an ambiguous expression. After a while, he withdrew his hand, leaned back in his chair, and remained silent for a moment.
"Have you encountered any difficulties?" His tone softened. "If you need anything, or have any other questions, you can tell me."
Wen Qianning suddenly looked up at Ji Hanlin, her eyes full of disbelief.
How could he say such a thing? Did the hero forget how she broke up with him? How could the hero, who seemed like a favored son of heaven, suddenly be so kind to her again...
And when she was in the restaurant just now, she clearly saw the heroine next to him, and the two seemed to be getting along very well and everything was going well. Why was Ji Hanlin entangled with her again now?
"No need." Wen Qianning took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind. "You and I have nothing to do with each other anymore. My affairs... are none of your business. Thank you, Mr. Ji, for taking me in. I will leave tomorrow."
Ji Hanlin's eyes sank instantly, and the air pressure around him was so low that it made him breathless. He stared at her for a full half minute, then suddenly stood up.
There was nothing he wanted to know, including her debt situation, Gu Yanran's instigation, the benefits given by Lin Haozhe, and even which country and place she had fled to. He just wanted to give her a chance to say it herself.
But in this situation, Wen Qianning would rather curl up in the quilt and pretend to be dead than tell the truth, let alone open her heart to him.
Is their relationship so unreliable that she's unwilling to try to rely on him no matter what? How does she really see herself? She doesn't really love him, but is just a plaything that can be summoned and dismissed at will. So, she won't feel any pain at all when she breaks up with him?
The little bit of patience left in Ji Hanlin's heart sank little by little, and an indescribable possessive desire surged up.
Lock him up.
Once this thought came to mind, it was completely unstoppable. Lock her up in this villa, imprison her, so that she could never escape, so that she could never escape his sight, so that she could only watch him, wait for him...
Even if she resented him for this, it didn't matter.
The man looked at the bulging quilt with a gloomy expression. In the end, he said nothing more, turned around and gently closed the door.
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