This was the first time Su Cheng had shown his physique in front of Ji Meng, but at this moment, Ji Meng didn’t even care to admire it. She immediately noticed the two long scars from his earlier surgery that had only just begun to heal, along with the conspicuous bandaging on his arm.

When her gaze shifted to his back, Ji Meng’s pupils suddenly constricted.

His back, which should have been smooth, was covered in scars. There were old injuries, as well as a deep gash that ran from his left shoulder across his entire back to his waist, wide enough to fit an adult’s palm. It was a large bruise, swollen and dark red, resembling a ferocious beast with its mouth wide open, looking terrifying and grotesque.

“You call this a minor injury?”

Ji Meng gasped, staring at him in disbelief, feeling both anxious and angry.

She was angry that he had been hiding this, and that the injury had become so serious in just a few days, it was clear he hadn’t been taking proper care of it. Perhaps even Ji Qinghe didn’t know how badly he was hurt.

“Are you scared? Sorry, this injury just looks serious.”

Seeing Ji Meng’s eyes turn red with worry, Su Cheng suddenly felt nervous. He regretted mentioning this, he shouldn’t have said anything when he was feeling uncomfortable. Clearly, she hadn’t been through this before, and he shouldn’t have scared her.

“Sorry.”

Su Cheng quickly tried to put his shirt back on, but Ji Meng grabbed him, saying, “What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to apply the medicine?”

Her tone was stern, and her expression was serious, an unusual display of anger.

Su Cheng stopped moving.

“Sit on the bed, I’ll apply the medicine for you. How should I apply it? Do I need to rub it in?”

“Just apply the ointment.”

Su Cheng moved to the edge of the bed, exposing his back to her, gripping his hand tightly as he replied.

In reality, it needed to be rubbed in, but Su Cheng instinctively didn’t mention it.

Ji Meng pressed her lips together as she opened the bag of medicine. There were quite a few items inside, and not in the mood to check each one, she asked him directly, “Which one is for the back?”

Su Cheng turned to the side and reached in to find it.

“I haven’t applied medicine to anyone before, so I might not control the pressure well. If it hurts, just let me know.”

Ji Meng took the medicine and replied, but then felt the comment was unnecessary. If he was afraid of pain, he wouldn’t have stayed silent about his injury for so long, look at him, he came back and was still doing this and that.

Sure enough, as soon as Ji Meng finished speaking, she heard him respond in a low voice, “It’s fine, it won’t hurt.”

Ji Meng ignored him, fearing that saying more would only make her angrier. She really might not be able to control herself and press down hard on his injured spot to let him feel the pain and learn a lesson.

The ointment was slightly cool, and Ji Meng didn’t squeeze it directly onto his back, instead, she applied it to her hand first before spreading it on.

Her fingers were slender and soft, and as soon as they touched Su Cheng’s back, she felt the muscles tense beneath her fingertips.

Thinking he was afraid of pain, Ji Meng instinctively eased her grip, saying, “Just bear with it. This bruise is almost shining. I don’t know if it’s infected, I’ll have Dad take a look tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

Su Cheng swallowed hard, responding absentmindedly.

At this moment, all his attention was focused on his back.

It felt like the injured spot on his back was being brushed by soft, fine fur, making him feel itchy and uncomfortable all over.

This discomfort made Su Cheng want to avoid away, but fearing Ji Meng would get angry, he didn’t dare to move at all. His clenched fists gradually tightened, the veins on his hands bulging, and his neck flushed red, making the muscles and veins stand out.

After a long while, as beads of sweat appeared on Su Cheng’s forehead, Ji Meng finally finished applying the medicine to his back.

“What about your arm? Do you need to change the bandage?”

His arm had a scrape that was wrapped in gauze, which had yellow stains seeping through, she wasn’t sure if there was a problem with the wound.

Noticing this, Ji Meng didn’t ask any questions. She grabbed his arm and carefully unwrapped the gauze to take a look.

Fortunately, the wound was healing well and hadn’t become infected.

The yellow stains on the outer layer of the gauze were probably from the medicine seeping through.

Ji Meng felt a slight sigh of relief in her heart, but her expression remained serious.

It’s faster to apply the medicine on your hands—she disinfected with a cotton swab dipped in iodine, applied the medicine, and wrapped it in fresh gauze.

After finishing these tasks, Ji Meng packed away the medicine without saying a word and turned to leave.

After washing her hands and coming back in, Su Cheng had already gotten dressed.

Ji Meng glanced at him but said nothing. Instead of organizing her materials, she went to the edge of the bed, ignored him, and climbed in without taking off her shoes.

Su Cheng looked at her, and she closed her eyes, turning her back to him. After a while, she said, “Turn off the light, I want to sleep.”

Hearing this, Su Cheng went to turn off the light and lay down beside her. She hadn’t covered herself with the blanket, so he reached over to pull the blanket over her, but she kicked it away.

“Ji Meng,” Su Cheng couldn’t help but call out to her.

“What!”

Her voice was fierce.

This was an attitude Ji Meng had never displayed in recent days.

It was a rare emotional outburst, breaking her usual character.

She was angry, and this realization left Su Cheng with an indescribable feeling.

He didn’t know if this was what it meant to care.

But at this moment, he was sure of one thing: he cared.

He cared about her, cared about her attitude.

He didn’t know when it had happened, but he had already developed feelings for this woman whose identity he hadn’t yet figured out and who was so full of mysteries.

He was starting to feel dissatisfied with the status quo.

He couldn’t accept the way they were in a state of half closeness and half distance.

He wanted to be a real couple with her, regardless of who she was or where she came from.

“Are you mad at me?”

His hand clenched and then relaxed, then tightened again for a long while before Su Cheng reached out to pull Ji Meng’s arm.

In an instant, Ji Meng stiffened, and after a moment, she shifted slightly but ignored him, responding with a faint question, “Mad about what?”

Su Cheng pressed his lips together: “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kept it from you. You wanted to know about the situation with Qingyu’s uncle’s family, and I’ll tell you now, okay?”

“I don’t want to know now,” Ji Meng replied, feeling very confused inside.

Something was off.

She was overly concerned about Su Cheng.

No other man had ever made her feel this way—angry, frustrated, yet unable to express her anger.

Ji Meng wasn’t new to relationships, she had been in two during her college years.

It hasn’t been long—just a little over a month.

In one relationship, when the other person reached out to hold her hand and touched her damp palm, she suddenly felt nauseous and quickly ended it.

In another relationship, when the other person tried to get close, she couldn’t hold back and fled.

There was something wrong with her.

Although she was unwilling to admit it, she had developed a resistance to physical contact between men and women because of something that happened in her childhood.

She had tried to seek treatment and even saw a psychologist.

When her mother, the director, set her up on blind dates, she didn’t refuse.

But after trying out two or three dates, it just didn’t work out.

With some of them made her feel suffocated just talking to each other.

With others, she felt they could get along and go out, but taking it a step further was impossible.

She needed to mentally prepare herself several times just to hold hands.

But with Su Cheng, it was different.

It was as if she had switched bodies and timelines, her illness suddenly disappeared, and Su Cheng came back alive. She easily accepted the fact that she had a husband who was still alive.

They slept in the same room, she was nervous but didn’t resist or reject it.

That night, Su Cheng let her hold his hand, and she felt no aversion at all, in fact, when he let go, she felt a sense of loss. After that, every night felt different with one less person in the room, and she felt uncomfortable and unaccustomed to it.

It became painfully clear to her that she cared about him, about this man who silently bore everything and provided a sense of security.

She didn’t mind his touch either…

So what now?

Although she had prepared herself mentally to enjoy it, when she truly realized she was falling for him, she instinctively wanted to retreat.

She wanted to hide.

Ji Meng bit her lip, her mind swirling into a mess, completely clouded and not sure of what to think.

At this moment, Su Cheng turned her entire body to face him.

“Don’t be angry, I didn’t mean to hide it from you. At the post office, it really wasn’t convenient to say too much, and I was afraid you’d worry if you found out. I thought I’d tell you when I got back.”

Su Cheng’s feelings were complicated as well—complex and moving.

He realized that she might care about him just a little.

If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t be angry.

Over the years, Su Cheng had grown accustomed to handling things on his own. He joined the army right after graduating high school at sixteen and had served for more than a decade, participating in numerous battles and countless secret missions, each of which had left him with injuries and scars. At one point, he even considered this a badge of honor.

This was the first time, aside from his mother, that someone had gotten angry on his behalf for being hurt.

And it was from someone he cared about.

The first person he truly cared about.

“The day I left, I contacted a comrade of mine. He retired from the army over two years ago and first served as a deputy chief at a police station in another area for a year before being reassigned to be the chief in that town. After he took office, he found that the entire station was in chaos. The Liu family was the first group he focused on, the five brothers controlled all the underground gambling dens in town and had close ties to the station. He kept an eye on them for over a year…”

Ji Meng angrily said she didn’t want to hear this, but Su Cheng felt he had to explain. He sensed that if he didn’t tell her now, he might never get the chance again.

After briefly recounting everything, Ji Meng gradually absorbed what he was saying. When he mentioned helping to disguise himself to bait them into a bigger scheme and then getting hit by a steel pipe while chasing the Liu family, her heart began to race.

At this moment, she could no longer afford to be angry, her heart was in turmoil, and she subconsciously tightened her grip on his hand.

“What were you thinking? You’ve only been there for a day, and you’re already doing something like this. You’re not familiar with the area at all. What would happen if you got into trouble?”

“What about Qiuqiu?”

“Are you going to let her lose her dad again?”

“You’re making me… what do you want me to do?”

Ji Meng couldn’t finish that sentence.

But Su Cheng felt a stir in his heart. He grasped her hand tightly and then used his other hand to cradle her face, gently stroking her eyes with his fingertips, and softly asked, “What do you want?”

“Nothing.”

The area around her eyes where he had touched felt slightly itchy. Ji Meng tried to turn her head away but couldn’t escape his hold. After a moment, she grew too lazy to move and refused to say anything more.

She felt it wasn’t that serious yet, it had only been a short time.

She didn’t speak, and although Su Cheng felt a little disappointed, he didn’t push her.

He kept holding her hand firmly, his palm still caressing her face. The skin beneath his calloused hand was soft and smooth, and he couldn’t help but let his fingertips linger over her skin, suddenly filled with longing.

He greedily wanted more.

“Ji Meng.” Suddenly, Su Cheng called her name softly.

“Hmm?” Ji Meng replied, not understanding.

They were sitting very close together, with Ji Meng almost nestled in his arms, one hand holding onto the other, while his large, warm hand, calloused from work, held her face. His head was right beside hers, at a distance where even a slight movement could bring their lips together.

In the sudden silence of the dimly lit environment, there was a unique atmosphere hanging in the air.

Ji Meng felt her heart racing again, not sure if it was due to the heat radiating from his palm.

She sensed her entire face growing warm, her ears flushing with heat.

“Why did you call me?” Ji Meng couldn’t help but ask again.

She didn’t look up at him, her voice was low and soft, tinged with a hint of shyness, almost like a gentle murmur.

On this early night of the month, the sky was clear of clouds, with stars scattered across the sky and the moon shining brightly. The moonlight streamed through the glass window into the quiet, dim room, subtly illuminating the young woman’s fair and radiant face, her delicate nose, and softly pursed lips.

Su Cheng gazed at her intently, his deep eyes focused on her, the intensity in his gaze as if it could melt her.

After a long moment, when Ji Meng could no longer stand the awkwardness and wanted to pull away, she heard him hoarsely say, “I like you.”