Chapter 76076 A Heartache
Chapter 76
Meng Yuning refused to admit that she had done it on purpose. She feigned surprise and said, "Oh, did I hurt you? I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Your Highness, please don't take it to heart."
As he spoke, he reached out and rubbed his skin.
Seeing how seriously she was acting, Qi Jingyan couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.
Then he pulled his arm out of her hand and put it on her shoulder. With his other hand, he held the edge of the bathtub, exerted force with his arm, and stood up.
Meng Yuning was worried that his legs wouldn't work, so she quickly stood up straighter, supporting most of his weight with her shoulders, and helped him up the steps next to the tub. She didn't let go until he sat down on the top step.
Qi Jingyan stretched out his hand to reach his shoes, but because his legs couldn't bend, he couldn't touch them after trying several times.
"Let me do it." Meng Yuning squatted in front of him and helped him take off his shoes and socks neatly.
Looking at the girl's fluffy hair, Qi Jingyan's heart softened and he said softly, "Thank you, An Ning."
Meng Yuning clapped her hands and stood up, unconcerned. "It's just a small favor, Your Highness, you're welcome."
She pointed at the tub and asked, "Your Highness, can you do it yourself?"
This bathtub was specially made by Mu Jiu for Qi Jingyan. It has several steps outside and inside the bathtub to make it convenient for Qi Jingyan to get in and out.
Qi Jingyan said firmly: "I can do it."
Meng Yuning said softly, "Then I'll go out first. Your Highness, please call me if you have anything."
Qi Jingyan nodded slightly: "Okay."
Meng Yuning turned around and went out, leaving the bathroom door ajar, leaving a gap.
She walked back to the bed and took a look. Seeing Yi'er sleeping soundly, she touched the little baby's hand, then walked back to the couch by the window and leaned on it casually. She seemed lazy, but her ears were quietly perked up, listening attentively to the sounds in the bathroom.
But after a moment, the sound of gurgling water was heard, and it was obvious that Qi Jingyan had safely taken a bath.
Meng Yuning felt relieved, took off her shoes, curled up her legs on the couch, raised her toes, and closed her eyes to rest.
About two cups of tea later, there was a sudden "click" sound in the bathroom, as if something had fallen to the ground.
Meng Yuning sat up with a start, not even bothering to put on her shoes, and ran to the bathroom barefoot.
When I pushed the door open, I saw Qi Jingyan sitting in the bathtub with his upper body naked, his wet black hair sticking to his broad shoulders and neck. He was stretching out a strong and smooth arm, trying to reach the pajamas on the clothes rack two steps away.
The box of bath beans that was originally placed on the table next to the bathtub fell to the ground, and no one knew where the bath beans rolled away. The clothes he had taken off were thrown casually next to the bathtub.
Seeing that it wasn't someone else who fell, Meng Yuning patted his chest, breathed a sigh of relief, and said softly, "It's okay, it's okay, you scared me."
Qi Jingyan paused slightly with his arm hanging in the air, and looked sideways.
In the misty air, his voice was as gentle as jade: "A Ning, are you afraid that I'll fall?"
The candlelight was hazy and the steam was rising, casting a hazy glow on his moist skin, as if he was not a real person.
Meng Yuning was a little distracted for a moment, but when she heard him speak, she nodded and walked forward: "Your Highness, do you want to get some clothes? Let me do it."
Qi Jingyan slowly withdrew his arm, and the water in the bucket rippled slightly: "Thank you, An Ning."
Meng Yuning walked to the clothes rack, took down his pajamas, and picked up a clean towel and handed them to him.
Qi Jingyan reached out to take it, but paused, then said softly, "Please, An Ning, hold it for me first, and then pass it to me after I sit down."
Meng Yuning remembered that he now relied more on his arms to move around, so she nodded in agreement, held the clothes in her arms, and waited for him to move up the stairs step by step.
But the man still sat steadily in the water, without moving an inch, only his deep eyes looked at her quietly. The candlelight danced on the water, reflecting the unclear emotions in his eyes, as if, there was a little resentment?
Meng Yuning was confused: "What's wrong?"
Qi Jingyan said in a low voice with a helpless smile: "Excuse me, An Ning, could you please turn around first?"
Meng Yuning suddenly realized that he was probably naked at the moment. His cheeks flushed immediately. He hurriedly hugged his clothes and turned around. He felt his ears burning.
There was a sound of dripping water behind him. Qi Jingyan supported himself on the steps with both hands and moved up step by step. The sound of water droplets splashing was particularly clear in the quiet night.
Meng Yuning imagined the scene behind her and felt her ears getting hotter. She subconsciously took a step forward.
Qi Jingyan slowly moved to the top step and sat down. Then he reached out his hand from Meng Yuning's side and said in a gentle voice, "A Ning, give it to me."
"Oh, okay." Meng Yuning turned slightly sideways and handed the clothes over without looking away. She silently repeated in her heart, "Don't look at what is indecent," "Don't look at what is indecent," but her eyes couldn't help but glance quickly.
The first thing that caught her eye was a sea of white. She was a little surprised because he had washed it while wearing his underwear.
The moment she withdrew her gaze, she couldn't help but want to take a look at his abdominal muscles. Unexpectedly, Qi Jingyan seemed to have noticed it long ago. He used the ball of pajamas in his hand to subtly block her view and asked softly, "A Ning, is there anything else?"
Hearing the smile hidden in those calm words, Meng Yuning didn't dare to look up at him. She said "I'll go out first" and ran away in a hurry.
Looking at the slender figure hurriedly walking away, Qi Jingyan's chest trembled slightly, and he finally couldn't help but laugh softly.
Meng Yuning, who had escaped to the door, heard the extremely joyful laughter coming from inside. She felt annoyed and rolled her eyes.
Laugh, laugh, laugh, just laugh every day!
She originally wanted to wait for him to finish getting ready before going to bed together, but now she was too lazy to wait for him, so she simply climbed onto the bed first, hugged Yi'er and closed her eyes.
It was late at night and everyone was asleep, but she had no desire to sleep. She just listened quietly to the movements in the bathroom.
After a long time, the sound of a wheelchair turning was finally heard.
Meng Yuning opened one eye a little and took a peek. Sure enough, she saw Qi Jingyan appear at the door in a white pajamas.
She quickly stopped patting Yi'er's hands, closed her eyes and began to doze off.
Qi Jingyan turned his wheelchair and walked to the side of the couch first. He bent down to pick up An Ning's strange-looking shoes, held them in his hands and looked at them for a moment, and couldn't help but smile.
These shoes were specially made by An Ning and were only worn indoors. They were just two cloth straps tied diagonally to a soft sole, and could not really be called a complete pair of shoes.
But Aning looked relaxed and comfortable wearing it, walking like the wind, and even jogging a few steps. Every time he saw her smug look, he couldn't help but smile.
He smiled, put his shoes on his knees, and turned his wheelchair to the bedside.
He first bent down to put his shoes neatly in place, then adjusted the direction of the wheelchair, supported himself on the bed with one hand and on the wheelchair with the other, and moved steadily onto the bed.
After moving his legs onto the bed, he lay down on his side, picked up a palm-leaf fan at the head of the bed, and slowly fanned Aning and Yier.
The night wind is slightly warm, and the fan brings a cool breeze.
Meng Yuning couldn't pretend any longer. She yawned lazily, opened her eyes, and pretended to have just woken up. Her voice was still sleepy: "Your Highness, aren't you sleepy yet?"
Qi Jingyan replied gently, "Not sleepy yet."
Meng Yuning rolled over and lay down, looking at him with sparkling eyes: "Then Your Highness, please tell me what Thirteen and the others have found out."
Originally, she didn't want to inquire about these things, but first there was the tragedy of Qiulian's family, and then there was the experience of Aunt Lin's family. She really wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Before she could finish her question, she caught sight of a large wet patch on the chest of his pajamas. She sat up straight and reached out to grab the soaked fabric: "Why is it still wet?"
Qi Jingyan smiled nonchalantly: "It's okay, it's hot, it will dry in a while."
Meng Yuning imagined the scene of him changing clothes inside just now...
He sat alone on the steps of the tub, struggling to dry himself, then struggled to get outside. The steps outside must have gotten wet too, and then he frantically put on his clothes and even his pants...
Speaking of pants, she knelt up and leaned over to take a look. Sure enough, she saw that a large area of his pants was wet from the waist back.
Her heart suddenly ached, and she felt a surge of nameless anger.
After a moment of silence, she went downstairs with a stern face, stepped on the strange pair of soft shoes, and walked to the closet with a "clack clack". She dug out a set of clean pajamas, brought them back to the bed, threw them to him, and said in a low voice: "Hurry up and change."
After saying that, without even looking at him, she walked to the window and sat cross-legged on the couch, looking out the window at the moon hanging in the sky.
Qi Jingyan followed his instructions, picked up his dry pajamas, slowly sat up, and carefully changed his clothes. He then folded the wet clothes he had taken off neatly and placed them on the bedside table. Then he said softly, "A Ning, I'm done."
Meng Yuning stood up from the window, returned to the bed, climbed up from the foot of the bed, and said in a softer tone: "Your Highness, don't be so stubborn next time."
Qi Jingyan coaxed her gently, "Okay, I'll remember that. Don't be angry, An Ning."
Seeing his submissive attitude, Meng Yuning blamed herself: "It was my carelessness just now. I shouldn't have let you wash by yourself. If you fall, your leg might be..."
Qi Jingyan reached out and touched the top of her head: "A Ning, I know what's going on."
For those who have practiced martial arts since childhood, falling and fighting are common occurrences. Even if they fall, they will not let themselves hurt their legs again.
Meng Yuning still refused: "Until your leg is healed, let Mu Shan and the others help you."
Qi Jingyan smiled casually: "If this leg doesn't get better, I have to learn..."
"Nonsense!" Meng Yuning didn't like what he said. She slapped his hand that was pressing on her arm away and widened her eyes. "Your leg will definitely get better."
Seeing her fierce look, Qi Jingyan couldn't help but laugh: "Okay, it will be fine."
Meng Yuning, however, got serious: "If you keep talking about something, you'll get it. Don't say such depressing words from now on, remember?"
Qi Jingyan nodded: "I remember."
Meng Yuning: "Come, repeat after me, 'My leg will definitely get better.'"
Qi Jingyan was so amused by the serious look of the girl in front of him that he couldn't stop laughing and couldn't make a sound.
Meng Yuning glanced at the sleeping Yi'er and said in a low voice, "Be quiet. Don't wake Yi'er up."
But Qi Jingyan still couldn't stop smiling, his shoulders trembled slightly, causing the curtains to rustle.
Meng Yuning was at a loss, so she patted him on the shoulder and then twisted his arm to help him stop laughing physically.
Qi Jingyan felt pain and suppressed his laughter. He followed her wishes and said softly, "My leg will definitely get better."
Meng Yuning was finally satisfied and lay back on the pillow: "That's more like it. Now tell me what Thirteen found out."
Qi Jingyan raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and briefly recounted what Mu Shisan had investigated.
His tone was calm, but when he mentioned that someone had disappeared without a trace and was afraid that they had been murdered, Meng Yuning was immediately filled with righteous indignation and sat up abruptly: "How could there be such a vicious person in the world!"
She hated gamblers the most, and even more so those villains who set up traps to lure people into gambling.
When she first started working in self-media, she met a very compatible friend who also came from the countryside. Her parents were divorced, and she went to a big city alone and worked hard, and finally saved up some money.
But she has a father who is addicted to gambling. Originally, he just played small games in the village, such as mahjong and poker. Because he had no money, he could not lose much money throughout the year.
But later, he was lured by someone with ulterior motives and started borrowing money online. He also learned to gamble online and ended up in debt.
Later, when the debt collectors came to his door, he gave away all the money his family had saved with great difficulty, but it was still not enough.
Those people threatened and intimidated her every day, and the shameless beast was so scared that he revealed her friend's address in the city to the debt collectors, saying that he wanted to ask his daughter for the money because his daughter had money.
The debt collectors began an endless harassment—phone bombarding, splattering paint on doors, forcing her friend to move repeatedly. Later, they even found her social media account, which she had run for several years, and insulted and threatened her in comments and private messages.
Her friend called the police, but the response she received was unsatisfactory. She had no choice but to change her phone number and reluctantly stop updating the account she had painstakingly managed for four or five years.
Her friend was so angry that she went back to her hometown and chased her father with a kitchen knife, intending to kill him.
The shameless man started out complaining that he had raised an ungrateful person, but when he saw that she was serious, he started crying and begging for mercy, saying that as long as she helped him pay back the money, he would promise not to gamble again.
With all the neighbors present, she couldn't really hit him. Ultimately, she forced him to write a letter of severance, threw him tens of thousands of yuan, saying it was for future alimony, and forced him to write a receipt and put his fingerprints on it before leaving.
Since then, her friend has disappeared.
A long time later, the friend contacted her and said that she had settled in the Northwest and was living well, but would never come back. In order to avoid being found by the vampire's father, she would no longer show her face on the Internet.
Just because of the word "gambling", a good girl was forced to leave her hometown, and she lost a partner who shared the same feelings and supported each other.
It makes me angry just thinking about it.
Seeing An Ning's cheeks flushed with anger, Qi Jingyan also sat up and gently stroked her arm with his warm palm: "An Ning, don't be angry. These people will be settled sooner or later."
Meng Yuning frowned and sighed, "Your Highness, I'm afraid this matter will be very difficult."
Qi Jingyan's eyes were calm, but his voice was firm: "No matter how difficult the task is, as long as you are determined and take it step by step, you can always accomplish it."
Meng Yuning grasped his sleeve and said, "Your Highness, I naturally trust you. However, can we deal with those people from Canghai County first?"
The flickering candlelight made her eyes shine brightly like stars. Qi Jingyan's heart softened, and he said softly, "Tomorrow Mu Jiang will bring people to smash the gambling house and the brothel."
"Really?" Meng Yuning's eyes suddenly lit up, and she tugged at his sleeve and shook it, "Can I go with you and take a look?"
Qi Jingyan had originally not planned to attend such a small-scale scene, but seeing Ah Ning's excitement, he finally curled his lips and nodded lovingly: "Okay, tomorrow we will find a teahouse nearby, and I will accompany you to watch it."
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