Chapter 38: Her Call

Was it because he was afraid she would be angry again that he would fulfill every word he had said to her?

But… he was injured.

Would he go to see a doctor? Would it be serious?

For the first time, she felt her heart pressed so tightly that she could hardly breathe, throbbing intensely.

Night was just beginning to fall.

Having taken a bath, Ji Shuyi sat blankly on the sofa, holding a dry towel and rubbing her hair somewhat aimlessly, her mind filled with Jiang Cheng’s appearance, and that muffled groan of suppressed pain when he was hit.

Clearly, he was injured, but in order not to let her see it, he had stubbornly pretended to be fine when they parted, making it impossible to see any trace of injury.

Scene after scene churned wildly in her mind, refusing to go away.

Finally, she couldn’t help but take out her phone, wanting to call him and ask about it, but only when she took out her phone did she remember that she had already blacklisted and deleted his number.

Ji Shuyi hesitated for a moment before calling Yan Yan.

————

Jiang Cheng, who had also taken a bath, was letting Song Yu treat the wound on his back.

“This injury of yours really came at the right time,”

Song Yu rubbed medicine on the wound while sullenly asking,

“Did you forget about your racing competition next week? Because of school, you haven’t competed this semester. This time, it’s still a professional race,”

Song Yu helplessly glanced at Chen Xingyi next to him and complained, “I really don’t know what you two are doing at school all day.”

Chen Xingyi, who had been glanced at, immediately looked at Jiang Cheng and said, “I’m studying hard and making progress every day. He’s chasing his wife at the crematorium.” (追妻火葬场 – zhuī qī huǒ zàng cháng – A Chinese internet slang term referring to a situation where someone mistreats their significant other and then regrets it later, desperately trying to win them back.)

“Damn! Have I not trained you recently?” Jiang Cheng looked disgusted and displeased and grabbed a pillow from the side and threw it at Chen Xingyi.

Chen Xingyi dodged urgently, smiling sheepishly and shutting his mouth.

Song Yu spoke up to Jiang Cheng in time, saying:

“Be honest and rest to heal your injury recently. You know how important this competition is to you. If you want to break the record for the youngest champion in the racing world, this is your last chance this year. You’ll be 22 next year, and in another two years, it won’t be surprising if you win the racing championship, but I’m afraid you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“Won’t.” Jiang Cheng’s eyes were frivolous and unruly, and he replied decisively, “I will win.”

Chen Xingyi echoed in agreement, “I’m dying of laughter! My Bro Cheng is awesome in everything, but he’s not good at chasing his wife, haha…”

“Chen! Xing! Yi!”

Jiang Cheng stared at Chen Xingyi with cold anger, spitting out each word with gritted teeth, scaring Chen Xingyi to grab his coat and slip away. He got up to chase after him and beat him up when suddenly his phone rang. At the instant he glanced at the caller ID, his eyes widened and he looked carefully, hastily picking up the phone as if afraid it was a hallucination. It really was her call.

He hurriedly tapped to answer and heard the girl’s pleasant voice.

“Jiang Cheng, this is Ji Shuyi.”

Ji Shuyi’s voice was very low, as if she had encountered something sad.

In that instant, Jiang Cheng forgot the joy of receiving her call and asked anxiously, “What’s wrong? Are you in a bad mood?”

His tone was completely devoid of the rude and coarse feelings he had just had with his brothers.

“I’m not in a bad mood,” Ji Shuyi said, holding a furry big doll in her arms, her chin resting on the doll. She paused for a long time before opening her mouth, her voice a little soft: “I’m just a little worried about your injury. Did you see a doctor?”

Hearing her ask this, Jiang Cheng knew that he couldn’t say he wasn’t injured anymore, so he deliberately said lightly:

“I saw one. The doctor said I’m fine. I put on some medicine and I’ll be fine after a sleep.”

Ji Shuyi couldn’t tell if it was true or false. Her brain seemed to be wandering as she said “Oh,” as if her soul had been lost.

The two of them suddenly fell silent, and they seemed to be able to hear each other’s breathing through the phone.

After a moment, Jiang Cheng broke the silence and said with a smile, “Being able to receive your call, all injuries are healed.”

Hearing his low voice containing a smile, Ji Shuyi clenched her fist and suddenly called him:

“Jiang Cheng…”

Jiang Cheng immediately responded: “Hmm?”

“You…” Ji Shuyi’s soft voice paused for a few seconds before continuing, “Why were you protecting me so much today?”

Jiang Cheng, do you like me?

After Ji Shuyi finished speaking, she clenched her palm even tighter, her heart thumping, but she heard him say:

“I’m a big man, I can’t let you get hurt.”

As if her expectations had fallen through, Ji Shuyi dully lowered her eyelashes and said “Oh” again.

Jiang Cheng heard the wrongness in her tone, but he couldn’t think of what was wrong for a moment. He only added in a low voice:

“With me around, I won’t let you get hurt.”

Otherwise, my heart would ache to death, and I would blame myself for being incompetent.

Ji Shuyi bit her lip. Was he expressing his affection with these words? She couldn’t be sure.

The two fell silent again. After a moment, Ji Shuyi lightly called out his name again:

“Jiang Cheng…”

Jiang Cheng also lowered his voice, “What’s wrong?”

For some reason, Ji Shuyi, who still had many words she wanted to ask, suddenly sighed to herself and said:

“You should rest early, take good care of your injury,”

She smiled lightly: “I’m going to sleep too, I’m so tired today.”

The call had ended for a long time, but Jiang Cheng was still staring at his phone in a daze, muttering in his heart, Good night.

Then, the corners of his mouth twitched up into a faint smile that he couldn’t suppress.

He had finally been released from her little black room.

Song Yu, who saw his brother looking so worthless for the first time, was stunned and didn’t know what to say for a moment. Seeing Jiang Cheng put away his phone, he asked, “Does she know about your race?”

Jiang Cheng truthfully said: “No.”

Song Yu then asked, “You don’t plan to tell her? The injury you suffered for her may affect your race this time.”

Jiang Cheng frowned and scoffed, “What’s there to say about a minor injury?”

Telling her would only put a burden on her.

On the other side, Ji Shuyi tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep at all. At this time, there was a knock on the door.

Ji Jinghang knocked twice and, seeing that the door wasn’t opened, thought his sister was asleep. Just as he was about to leave, the door opened from the inside.

“Brother.” Ji Shuyi, wearing furry slippers, trotted out and looked at her brother, asking, “Why are you looking for me?”

“It’s nothing,” Ji Jinghang said, “I just wanted to tell you that the new season’s clothes and accessories have all been delivered to the cloakroom.”

Hearing that there were beautiful clothes, Ji Shuyi didn’t seem as happy as she usually was. She only said faintly, “Thank you, brother.”

“What’s wrong?” Ji Jinghang saw that something was wrong with his sister and asked directly, “Beautiful clothes don’t pique your interest? Tell me, what’s going on?”

Ji Shuyi looked up at her brother with her fair face, her big eyes blinked, and she hesitated for a moment before asking,

“Brother, do you have a girlfriend?”

Ji Jinghang: “……”.

A little surprised, he truthfully said, “No, I haven’t met anyone I like yet.”

Ji Shuyi looked up with her small face, asking with a slightly expectant look, “Then if you met someone, would you confess to her directly?”

Ji Jinghang thought seriously and said, “I wouldn’t necessarily confess directly. I’d have to see what the girl thinks first, otherwise, a rash confession would put psychological pressure on people.”

“I see,” Ji Shuyi said, pursing her lips thoughtfully.

So, was that what he was thinking too?

Seeing her like this, Ji Jinghang seemed to realize that there was something going on. Afraid that his sister would meet the wrong person, he immediately reminded her,

“Although I wouldn’t confess directly, I would definitely make her clearly feel that I like her. I might not say I like her, but I would definitely do things that show I like her. If neither of those things are there, then just kick that guy out and don’t waste your feelings.”

Ji Shuyi looked up and continued to ask,

“If you met a girl you like, would you only like her for the rest of your life? Or would you be like Dad and remarry for power, money, or any other reason? Is love the easiest thing to give up for you guys?”

Her father was very good to her, giving her anything she wanted,

But Ji Shuyi always believed that her father had lost her mother,

She had never hated her mother for this, but it became her only resentment towards her father.

Hearing his sister say these words, Ji Jinghang realized how much his father’s actions had affected his sister, and that it might have created psychological distortions in certain concepts.