Chapter 21

Jiang Caifu really didn’t feel comfortable letting Qiao Yumian drive in his current state, so she had no choice but to take the wheel herself.

Although, after getting her driver’s license, the number of times she’d actually driven was even less than her random spurts of enthusiasm for the gym, she had a strangely unshakable confidence in her driving skills.

“Let’s see, the nearest Class A hospital is five kilometers away… just five kilometers.”

Jiang Caifu glanced away from the navigation screen and fixed her eyes ahead with a confident smile.

Qiao Yumian was fastening his seatbelt and, hearing her self-assured remark, felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding creeping up inside him.

…Probably just an illusion. It’s only five kilometers; what could possibly go wrong?

The car slowly rolled out of the parking lot.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Qiao Yumian was as tense as if he were sitting on pins and needles, racking his brain to find some interesting topics to discuss, hoping to spark a conversation with Jiang Caifu.

Unfortunately, his mind was still full of the image of her and Yuan Che laughing and chatting with each other earlier.

“Uh, that high school classmate of yours… Yuan Che, was it? Were you two close back then?”

Don’t misunderstand. Of course, he didn’t see Yuan Che as a serious rival. In terms of looks and build, the man was no match for him whatsoever. Why would he waste energy on someone who was clearly destined to lose?

He was just… a little curious about what Jiang Caifu was like in high school, that’s all.

“What did you say?”

Jiang Caifu was so focused on the cars in front of her that she didn’t even register what he’d just said.

Leaning closer, Qiao Yumian repeated his question with forced patience. “Your high school classmate, Yuan Che—were you two close back then?”

Sensing the heat from his proximity, Jiang Caifu subtly leaned her head away.

“We weren’t even in the same class. Not really.”

“Really?” His voice lifted slightly at the end, and his eyes lit up as he gazed at her.

Jiang Caifu gave him a brief glance amidst her busy driving. It wasn’t a kind glance by any means; in fact, it carried a trace of mockery.

“Do I have any reason to lie to you?”

The light in Qiao Yumian’s eyes dimmed instantly, as if someone had flicked off a switch.

“Why can’t you just talk nicely?” he muttered in a low voice, his tone suddenly filled with unrelieved frustration. “All you do is jab at me. Do you hate me that much?”

The traffic ahead slowed to a stop, and Jiang Caifu halted the car, coincidentally catching his remark.

She paused, reflecting on whether she really was too sharp-tongued, inadvertently causing irreparable damage to his fragile heart.

But before she could come to any conclusion, he spoke again through gritted teeth. “Whatever, I’m no good at talking nicely either. We’ll just make it mutual torment. Let’s see who can out-insult who!”

Jiang Caifu: …

With just a few words, he’d unleashed a “if I go down, I’m taking you with me” energy so intense that Jiang Caifu couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Especially with Qiao Yumian’s face wrapped in layer upon layer of scarf. Him throwing out such tough talk in his current state carried an inexplicably comical vibe, making it impossible for Jiang Caifu to feel any annoyance.

She just found it hilarious.

“Why don’t you just take off the scarf? There’s no one else around here.”

“No.”

Without hesitation, Qiao Yumian covered his face, even turning his head away. “You’ll see.”

Jiang Caifu, feigning solemnity, replied, “It’s fine if I see. I wouldn’t laugh at you.”

“…”

Hearing this, Qiao Yumian turned back and silently stared at her for a long moment.

At first, she paid him no mind. Let him look; it wouldn’t hurt her in the slightest.

But as they got closer to their destination and his gaze remained firmly locked on her, she began to feel increasingly uneasy.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. “…Why are you staring at me like that?”

Only then did Qiao Yumian slowly withdraw his gaze, his tone calm but with deliberate emphasis. “You dare laugh at me? Just try it. See if I don’t bite you.”

Jiang Caifu: “…Oh.”

She fell completely silent, refraining from saying anything more to provoke him.

Seeing her suddenly settle down so obediently, Qiao Yumian was momentarily stunned. He cast her a suspicious glance. “That’s it? You’re scared now?”

Jiang Caifu adjusted the steering wheel, pretending to sigh. “Scared? With rabies, who wouldn’t be?”

Qiao Yumian: “…?”

His oxygen-deprived brain stalled for a moment before he realized he’d been insulted again. The frustration was almost too much to bear.

“You’re calling me a dog again! How can you be like this?”

Clutching his rapidly heaving chest, he began to feel short of breath. “You’ve aggravated me so much I’m about to have a heart attack. I can barely breathe!”

Jiang Caifu, unfazed by his dramatics, calmly responded, “You’ve wrapped that scarf so tight, no wonder you can’t breathe. If you want to breathe easily, just take it off.”

Qiao Yumian: “…”

He stared at her for a moment, then quietly lowered his head, carefully adjusting the scarf to create a small air pocket near his nose for easier breathing.

And indeed, it worked. 🙂

“But still! You called me a dog again!” Realizing he’d let her lead the conversation astray again, Qiao Yumian hurriedly dragged it back on topic. “How could you? I’m already this miserable, and you still call me a dog!”

Remaining calm and collected, Jiang Caifu bluntly pointed out—

“Was I the one who forced the lemon water down your throat?”

Qiao Yumian immediately fell silent, his face flushing with frustration. He let out a pitiful sniffle and buried his entire face into his scarf, retreating into a sulky cocoon.

Even his tone returned to the pitiful, soft-spoken style from before.

“You’re right. The lemon water was my own doing. Everything that’s happened to me is self-inflicted, and no matter how miserable I am, it’s my fault. It has nothing to do with you. I shouldn’t use this to guilt-trip you. Even if you throw me out of the car right now, I’d deserve it…”

He rambled on and on, curling up against the car door like a mushroom spreading spores of gloom in a dark corner.

Jiang Caifu, already accustomed to his melodramatic tendencies, took his ramblings in stride, treating them as nothing more than irrelevant background noise while she focused on driving.

When Qiao Yumian ran out of words and his mouth felt dry, he finally stopped talking.

He slowly tugged the scarf down from his eyes, silently gazing at Jiang Caifu. Watching her focus entirely on driving without sparing him even a glance made his heart ache as if it were being shattered into countless pieces.

“You’re giving me the silent treatment again. I hate you,” he declared, enunciating each word forcefully.

Jiang Caifu responded with a nonchalant hum, not taking it to heart.

When they were dating, he often threw the phrase “I hate you” at her whenever she did something that displeased him—

Whether it was refusing to pose obediently as his painting model, interrupting his piano playing with mischievous touches, or eating the food he had purposely saved for last to savor—he would always tell her, “I hate you.”

But to Jiang Caifu, those words were utterly devoid of bite. They reminded her of toddlers in kindergarten who lacked the vocabulary to insult properly, resorting to the strongest phrase they knew: “I hate you.”

Not to mention, every time he said he hated her, he’d soon leverage her fleeting guilt to pester her for favors. Over time, Jiang Caifu grew immune to his “I hate you,” treating it like background noise.

That being said, while she could ignore his “I hate you,” she couldn’t overlook the accusation of emotional neglect.

“How am I giving you the silent treatment? You can’t just make stuff up. Words matter, you know.”

“I rambled on for so long, and you didn’t even glance at me or respond. If that’s not the silent treatment, then what is?” Qiao Yumian countered, full of self-righteous indignation.

Jiang Caifu rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, “Then I could say you’re emotionally overbearing.”

Qiao Yumian’s eyes widened, about to argue, but she cut him off with a righteous retort, “And besides, I’m driving right now, young master. If I don’t focus, what if there’s an accident?”

“Bad driving leads to tears for loved ones. My family only has me as its precious heir—extremely rare and valuable.”

Qiao Yumian was so amused by her mischievous words that he couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Well, I’m also my family’s only heir. Equally precious and irreplaceable.”

Jiang Caifu nodded solemnly, adopting a tone as if soothing a child. “Exactly. Both our lives are so valuable. We can’t afford to squander them like this.”

With that, she parked the car steadily in the hospital parking lot, declaring decisively, “Get out.”

She unbuckled her seatbelt with a flourish, a surge of pride welling up in her chest.

To drive so smoothly under the relentless barrage of Qiao Yumian’s chatter—truly impressive, even for her!

“We’re here already?”

Watching her decisively step out of the car without hesitation, Qiao Yumian reluctantly suppressed his reluctance and followed her out.

What followed was a series of hospital tasks: emergency registration, payment, checking blood oxygen and pressure, blood tests, injections, and IV drips.

Jiang Caifu, who was usually in a state of suboptimal health but rarely actually ill, had never experienced an emergency visit before. So, after completing all the necessary steps with Qiao Yumian in tow, she found herself a little dazed.

Especially as she sat by his bedside while he was hooked up to the IV drip, she couldn’t help but reflect as she looked around the room.

“I used to follow my mom to the hospital as a kid and think about the future. Someday, I’d bring my own son or daughter to the hospital, sitting by their bed, peeling apples for them as they got better…”

She withdrew her gaze and shifted it to Qiao Yumian, her soft smile carrying a trace of irony.

“Who’d have thought the first person I’d bring to the hospital would be you?”

Qiao Yumian took a deep breath, struggling to suppress the rising urge to retort. Unable to hold it in any longer, he finally blurted out, “Calling me a dog wasn’t enough, and now you’re calling me your son?!”

How could such an outrageous person exist in this world?!