Chapter 36.1 

Jiang Rou pushed An An into the hospital room.

The room was spacious, with only one bed. Opposite the bed was a television, and beside it were a sofa and a coffee table.

It was practically the equivalent of a VIP hospital room in later times.

Li Xiao glanced at Jiang Rou awkwardly and explained in a softer voice, “This time, it really was an accident.”

An An, who was in the stroller, recognized her father—upon seeing Li Xiao, she excitedly called out for him and reached out her arms to be held.

Seeing this, Li Xiao’s heart softened. He tried to sit up, but since his legs were immobile, he couldn’t reach An An. He turned to Jiang Rou and rubbed his nose. “Could you hand me An An? ”

Jiang Rou looked him over and, seeing that he was in good condition, breathed a slight sigh of relief. She set her backpack on the nearby sofa, then picked up An An from the stroller and handed her to Li Xiao.

An An was very affectionate; she immediately hugged Li Xiao’s neck and buried her small face in his neck. 

After a while, she looked up as if to make sure she had recognized the right person.

Once she was sure, she seemed to remember something—she pouted her little mouth and looked as if she had been wronged.

Li Xiao felt distressed at this sight. He lowered his head to kiss her on the head and asked softly, “Have you been good at home? ”

An An did not respond but buried her face in her father’s shoulder, clinging to him with great attachment—unwilling to let go of his neck.

The father-daughter display of affection made Jiang Rou want to smile. When she showed An An a photo of Li Xiao at home, An An simply threw it away.

She had quite a temper.

Jiang Rou noticed a thermos and a clean cup on the coffee table, so she took the cup to the bathroom next door to wash it and then returned to pour two cups of water. 

She then took out some damp clothes from her bag. The room had a balcony and a clothes rack, which was quite convenient.

After finishing her tasks, Jiang Rou wandered around the room and couldn’t help but comment, “This hospital room is quite nice.”

Li Xiao was playing with his daughter in his arms and looked up when he heard Jiang Rou’s words—he was unsure if she was sincere or sarcastic.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Did someone call you?”

Jiang Rou was examining the television. She turned on the switch in the lower right corner, but it displayed static with two rotating knobs. She tried adjusting them, and channels began to appear, though still quite blurry.

Hearing his question, she murmured a soft “hmm.”

Noticing she was having trouble, Li Xiao suggested, “Try adjusting the lower knob. The upper one seems to be for receiving the signal.”

He didn’t know how to operate it himself, but he had seen Chang Yong using it when he visited him last night.

Jiang Rou decided to turn both knobs. The snowy screen gradually showed a clearer picture, eventually revealing an old version of “The Legend of the Condor Heroes.” Although Jiang Rou hadn’t seen this version before, it looked familiar. She had often seen comparisons between the new and old versions in later times and had come across such articles on her phone.

At that moment, Li Xiao said, “An An has fallen asleep.”

Jiang Rou turned around and walked toward him. 

As she got closer, she saw An An in Li Xiao’s arms sleeping soundly. 

An An’s hands were still clutching Li Xiao’s collar, and the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned as if she were having a sweet dream.

Li Xiao pointed to the cabinet by the wall and said, “There’s another blanket in there.”

Jiang Rou understood and took out the blanket, folded it, and spread it on the sofa. She then gently placed An An on it.

An An was in such deep sleep that she didn’t stir at all.

After settling An An, Jiang Rou walked to Li Xiao’s bed. She hadn’t inspected him closely before, but now she checked him thoroughly and found that besides the severe injury on his left leg, there were a few scratches on his arm, but everything else seemed fine.

However, there were several noticeable needle marks on the back of his hand, and some were still bleeding, which made her frown.

Jiang Rou didn’t say much but asked quietly about what had happened this time.

Li Xiao held her hand and didn’t let her pull it away. His gaze was fixed on Jiang Rou’s face, and he felt a warm sensation in his heart.

He hadn’t expected Jiang Rou to come. He had been trying to figure out how to keep this incident from her. He didn’t want her to worry.

Yesterday, all of the members of the Cao family from the neighboring ward had come by. He had looked down on them, thinking their injuries weren’t that serious and that they weren’t made of gold. 

But now, seeing Jiang Rou here, he realized how nice it was to be cared for.

Earlier, he noticed that he was quite indifferent, but now she’s looking at him with concern. Li Xiao pulled her to sit down and began to tell her what had happened.

He didn’t lie to her; he really was working as an assistant now.

Last year, he had told her that when he was deceived into a pyramid scheme, he was taken to G Province by those people for “further training.” It was then that he met a man named Chen Feng. 

The group wanted him to use Chen Feng as a test subject. Although he pretended to cooperate on the surface, he secretly worked with the police to arrest the group. In the end, Chen Feng finds out the truth and wants to become a sworn brother to him.

Li Xiao hadn’t taken this seriously, but when he went south this time, the first person he sought out was Chen Feng to understand the situation there. Chen Feng had previously owned several KTVs and had found another path last year, becoming the owner of an entertainment company. Li Xiao didn’t understand much about it, but he heard that it involved making money by signing actors and models. Chen Feng even commented that if Li Xiao signed with him, he would strongly promote him; given Li Xiao’s good looks, he’d definitely become famous.

Li Xiao felt that he was unreliable, so he gradually distanced himself from him. He then used Chen Feng’s relationship to get in touch with Chang Yong.

Chang Yong’s brother-in-law was the CEO of a real estate company. Real estate in the South was booming, and everyone knew that they could earn a lot of money from this line of business. Li Xiao wanted to get on this fast-moving train.

Although Chang Yong himself had average ability, he was a very nice person—open and generous. The two became familiar over time, and Li Xiao ended up as his assistant.

Li Xiao was quick to learn. He followed others around the construction site, found a few books to read, and quickly grasped the content of Chang Yong’s work. He soon began helping him handle tasks.

With Li Xiao’s assistance, Chang Yong found his work becoming much easier. Li Xiao picked things up quickly, could remember details after hearing them once, and was good at problem-solving. Because of this, Chang Yong gradually became fond of keeping him around.

This time, they went to the construction site for an inspection, but things didn’t go as planned. 

There were many disputes between different construction sites, and Chang Yong’s brother-in-law placed a lot of importance on this piece of land. Not wanting to make any mistakes, Chang Yong took over. 

His brother-in-law and sister-in-law had previously managed the site, but their handling of it was a mess, and the workers under them were cutting corners. Chang Yong, eager to prove himself, simply replaced them all. 

He didn’t bother with the money matters, letting the workers claim their wages from his brother-in-law’s son-in-law, focusing only on the new hires.

However, to those workers, Chang Yong and his in-laws were all part of the same family. 

No one knew who started the trouble, but a group of workers showed up at the construction site with steel bars in hand, demanding payment and causing a commotion.

Chang Yong, being impatient and lacking tact, scolded the workers, which eventually escalated into a fight.

The situation escalated quickly. Without thinking, Li Xiao kicked one of the attackers away from Chang Yong. Although the attacker was knocked back, the steel bar he was holding hit Li Xiao’s left leg.

At first, Li Xiao didn’t feel much pain, and it was within his tolerance. But he suddenly remembered what Jiang Rou had told him before he left, asking him to prioritize his own safety. Therefore, instead of rushing forward, he pulled Chang Yong aside in the chaos.

He was later grateful he hadn’t acted impulsively. Among the injured, a man named Cao Wang was the worst off, lying on the ground with a head full of blood. He was now in the neighboring room and had just woken up last night.

Li Xiao thought that if Jiang Rou had seen him lying on the ground like that, she would have been terrified.

Jiang Rou was shocked when she heard this. She took his hands and examined them worriedly, but when she saw that both hands were fine, with no missing little finger like in the previous life, she finally felt relieved.

In her previous life, Li Xiao was probably not in much better shape than Cao Wang.

Li Xiao was unaware of her concerns and smiled nonchalantly, “It’s nothing serious, just a leg fracture. The doctor says I have a good constitution and that it will heal with proper rest.”

Because he had saved Chang Yong at a critical moment and pulled him to safety, Chang Yong now valued him greatly. He had arranged for Li Xiao to stay in a high-end ward and visited him every day.

Li Xiao felt that once he recovered, he might be more than just an assistant.

Although his leg was injured, he thought it was worth it.

Of course, he wouldn’t dare say this to Jiang Rou.

Instead, he said to Jiang Rou, “Pour me a glass of water. I haven’t had any all day.”

Jiang Rou frowned, got up to pour him some water, and asked casually, “Where’s the nurse?”

Thinking of the nurse she bumped into just now, she felt something was wrong.

Li Xiao didn’t hide it from her and said directly, “The previous nurse was fine, but the one who came two days ago wasn’t very skilled. She kept asking how much I earned each year. After she learned I had no money, she didn’t visit much.”

But she came again just now and said that she had made up her mind. She liked him more than money and didn’t care that he had no money. She also said that her family was well-off and she was willing to arrange a good job for him.

Li Xiao felt sick after hearing this and thought she was crazy.

Why would he care if she liked him?

Jiang Rou: “…”

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