Chapter 16

Of course, even if Wang Xiao ended up in trouble because of this, Fang Junrong wouldn’t feel any sympathy for him—she’d only be delighted by the situation. After noticing Jiang Yage trying to take Wang Xiao away from the room, she prepared to add fuel to the fire.

She wasn’t worried about Wang Xiao causing any trouble either. First, the gun he usually carried had already been confiscated by Jiang Yage, and second, given how badly he was burned, he couldn’t do much even if he wanted to.

With a teasing glint in her eyes, she concealed her disgust perfectly. “Is that your boyfriend, Yage?”

“You should’ve told us earlier if you had a boyfriend. Your godfather has been saying he wanted to introduce you to some good matches.”

Jiang Yage broke out in a nervous sweat and instinctively denied it. “N-no, he’s not. We’re just friends…”

That’s right—the one she liked was Li Shize, who appeared cold but showed tenderness only to her. She only saw Wang Xiao as a good friend… Over the course of their time together, she had not only learned his name but also his background. But Jiang Yage didn’t think it was a big deal. She wouldn’t judge him for his past actions. In fact, his former ties to the underworld added an inexplicable charm to him.

Fang Junrong’s smile deepened, though it never reached her eyes. “I know girls can be shy and embarrassed to admit these things.”

Jiang Yage’s face flushed crimson as she shook her head repeatedly in denial. She didn’t want Li Shize’s mother to mistake her for some frivolous woman. This thought consumed her so much that she momentarily forgot about Wang Xiao, who was still lying on the floor.

Fang Junrong descended the stairs and asked, “Did something happen to your friend?”

Only then did Jiang Yage remember Wang Xiao again, her voice flustered. “He’s injured, and the wound got infected, so he has a high fever. I want to take him to the hospital.”

Fang Junrong nodded. “Then I’ll call the driver to take us there.”

May heaven grant that the fever burns him into an idiot. Maybe turning him into a fool would be doing the world a favor. She was curious—after being ruined by Jiang Yage like this, would Wang Xiao remain as blindly devoted to her as he had been in their past life?

Seeing that Fang Junrong didn’t press further, Jiang Yage thought she had successfully fooled her and sighed in relief. She had been worried her godmother would question why she had brought a stranger into the house.

Fang Junrong called the driver over, and with his help, Jiang Yage managed to get Wang Xiao into the car.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the nearest hospital. When Wang Xiao’s hat and glasses were removed, Fang Junrong appropriately feigned surprise. “It’s actually him!”

By then, Wang Xiao’s condition had worsened, and he had already been taken to a ward.

Jiang Yage turned to Fang Junrong. “Godmother, you know him?”

Fang Junrong gave a slight nod, her tone indifferent. “Of course. He’s the He family’s future son-in-law.”

This was the first time Jiang Yage had heard of this, and her mouth fell open in shock. An inexplicable resentment welled up inside her. He already had a fiancée, yet he had deceived her…

But she knew her resentment was unreasonable—after all, she and Wang Xiao were just friends. She forced herself to smile nonchalantly. “His fiancée must be a wonderful girl, right?”

Fang Junrong thought of the He family’s young girl, He Shuhua, and couldn’t help but light a candle for the He family—raising such a love-struck daughter who ended up dragging her whole family down. Her smile was perfectly diplomatic. “She’s a girl very well-matched with Wang Xiao.”

One was love-struck, the other was ruthless—if He Shuhua hadn’t turned out not to be Wang Xiao’s destined one, they would have been a match made in heaven.

Jiang Yage lowered her head. She could guess that the girl’s status was certainly not low, unlike her own. A faint sense of inferiority welled up in her heart again. Although she was now the adopted daughter of the Li family, she still felt lesser in the presence of a true young lady.

Fang Junrong took in her expression and found it amusing. Wasn’t Jiang Yage supposed to be infatuated with her Barbecue Pork Son? Why did it seem like she wasn’t entirely indifferent to Wang Xiao either? Was this a case of wanting to have her cake and eat it too?

She went out of her way to praise He Shuhua, complimenting her good family background, beauty, and impressive education. Although she didn’t like He Shuhua, as long as it could be used to undermine Jiang Yage, she was willing to praise her against her better judgment.

This lifetime, she had already warned He Jianbing, so the He family should have prepared early. Wang Xiao wouldn’t be able to so easily obtain some of the He family’s secrets.

“So why did he show up at our house? Did he come specifically to see you?” Although Fang Junrong knew the truth, she had to pretend otherwise for now.

Jiang Yage stammered, “He was injured and hid in our house. Maybe it’s because he knew our family was reliable, so he came here.” She didn’t dare let Fang Junrong know she was the one who brought him back and could only fabricate an excuse.

Fang Junrong twitched her lips. “Is that so? It seems we’ll have to replace all the security guards at home. They didn’t even notice someone sneaking in—what if it had been a bad person?”

It was only because her daughter wasn’t home these days that Fang Junrong didn’t mind Wang Xiao’s presence. Plus, she wanted Jiang Yage to delay his recovery for a few more days—otherwise, she would have called the police long ago.

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor finally finished examining Wang Xiao and came out.

The gray-haired doctor frowned deeply. “Who here is his family?”

Jiang Yage looked up, her throat dry from not drinking water for so long, making her voice sound hoarse. “I’m his friend. How is he?” A sudden unease gripped her, afraid the doctor would deliver bad news. She had been diligently tending to his wounds these days—surely nothing was wrong?

The doctor said, “His condition isn’t good. You brought him in too late…”

After hearing the doctor’s words, Fang Junrong almost wanted to set off firecrackers in celebration.

Served him right!

As for Jiang Yage, the color drained from her lips, her expression frantic.

…

Wang Xiao felt like he was having a tantalizing dream. In it, Jiang Yage lay in his arms like clinging seaweed, stirring his restless heart. They held hands and embraced like lovers, intimate beyond measure.

The dream was so beautiful that he didn’t even want to wake up.

Jiang Yage was unlike any woman he had ever met—fragile in appearance yet possessing an inner resilience. Even though they had just met and he had nearly killed her, she harbored no prejudice against him. Instead, she had been caring for him with unwavering devotion. She was like a ray of sunlight piercing through his darkness, warm and radiant.

Suddenly, rain began to fall, droplets landing on him as he grabbed Jiang Yage’s hand to run. The previously gloomy sky was abruptly torn open, and blinding sunlight poured in without restraint.

Wang Xiao woke up, his eyes stinging from the brightness.

A drop of water fell onto his face, startlingly hot. With great effort, he opened his eyes and met Jiang Yage’s reddened ones. Wang Xiao realized—the liquid on his face had been her tears.

So, there was someone who would shed tears for a man like him, lurking in the shadows.

Wang Xiao couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling, only that his heart ached with an unfamiliar tenderness. His gaze was fixed solely on Jiang Yage, as if no one else existed—until an elegant woman’s voice snapped him out of it.

“Wang Xiao, are you alright?” Fang Junrong interrupted their locked gaze, certain the two could have kept staring at each other for half an hour otherwise.

Wang Xiao turned toward the voice and saw Fang Junrong—she had attended his engagement with He Shuhua. But why did she look younger than he remembered?

Wang Xiao froze. “Aunt Fang.”

Since he hadn’t yet openly broken ties with the He family, he still had to maintain surface-level courtesy. But why was Fang Junrong here?

Fang Junrong sighed. “You’re Shuhua’s fiancé, so I see you as my own nephew. Why didn’t you tell us about your injury sooner? We could have taken you to the hospital. Now, a minor wound has turned into something much worse.”

Wang Xiao felt as if he’d been struck by a rock, his head spinning. “What do you mean, worse?”

Hadn’t his wound already been bandaged? Shouldn’t it be healing by now?

Though he had a fever, Wang Xiao had assumed it was due to catching a chill, never considering that his wound might be infected.

Fang Junrong looked at him with pity. “The doctor just examined you. Your wound wasn’t treated properly and has been inflamed for days. The infection has spread significantly. If surgery is needed, they’ll have to remove some necrotic tissue, and they might not be able to fully protect your nerves.”

In other words, Wang Xiao’s hands might very well be rendered useless!

At this thought, Fang Junrong wanted to give Jiang Yage—who had played her part perfectly—a hefty red envelope.

“What a shame. If you’d gone to the hospital right after getting injured, you’d have recovered by now. Who even bandaged your wound? They didn’t even disinfect it and wrapped it up tightly, which is why it got infected. Thankfully, our Yage found you and brought you here. Any later, and it would’ve been even more serious.”

Wang Xiao nearly spat blood, instinctively turning to Jiang Yage—so his wound had worsened because of her?

The thought that his left hand might be permanently damaged instantly erased any goodwill he’d felt toward Jiang Yage, replacing it with plummeting resentment.

His hand! This woman had ruined it!

He glared at Jiang Yage with such venom that, had he a gun nearby, he might have shot her dead on the spot.

Jiang Yage sensed the killing intent and hostility emanating from him, unable to suppress a choked sob.