Dragon Clan: Lu Mingfei Returns from Japan

Chapter 629 Then and Now (Added)

Lu Mingfei knew the way to the infirmary very well, mainly because he had brought Su Xiaoqiang there once before during the school's military training.

However, perhaps because it was during the sports meet and there were many accidents involving injuries and illnesses among the students, when Lu Mingfei arrived at the school clinic, he found that the school doctor was not there.

After asking the teacher in the next classroom, I learned that it seemed that the students had been injured during a basketball game, and the school doctor had gone to give the students emergency treatment. He probably wouldn't be back for more than ten minutes.

"Miaomiao, why don't you sit on the hospital bed for a bit?"

Lu Mingfei gently placed Liu Miaomiao on the hospital bed in the infirmary and said, "I'll go to the medicine cabinet next door to get some medicine and give you some simple treatment first."

Liu Miaomiao gave a faint "hmm" and then watched Lu Mingfei walk to the medicine cabinet not far away, where he turned his back to her and began rummaging through the drawers. A short while later, Lu Mingfei returned carrying a pile of medicine bottles and placed them on the bedside table.

He knelt down in front of Liu Miaomiao: "I need to clean your wound with saline solution first. It might hurt a little, Miaomiao, just bear with it."

Liu Miaomiao injured her right knee. After receiving the girl's soft consent, Lu Mingfei reached out and grasped Liu Miaomiao's right ankle, preparing to take off her shoes and socks first. This was because if the shoes and socks weren't removed, they might get wet when rinsing the knee wound with saline solution later.

But just as Lu Mingfei's fingers touched Liu Miaomiao's right ankle, a soft "hiss—" was heard. Liu Miaomiao frowned slightly and gasped.

Lu Mingfei paused for a moment, then looked up: "Did you sprain your ankle too?"

Liu Miaomiao hesitated for a moment, then nodded timidly: "...It seems so. When I was sprinting for the last time, I think I didn't step firmly, twisted my foot, and then fell down."

This is a bit troublesome. If it's just a scrape from falling on a rubber track, you only need to rinse it and apply some iodine for disinfection. But sprains can range from mild to severe. A common sprain can heal in a few days, but a sprain like an ankle subluxation is more serious.

"Let me check how serious the injury is first."

After Liu Miaomiao sprained her ankle, Lu Mingfei became even more cautious. He first untied the shoelaces of his sneakers, carefully avoiding the ankle area with his hands, holding the area near the calf with one hand and inserting the fingers of the other hand into the heel of the shoe.

The moment the white sneakers were hooked by a finger, Liu Miaomiao suddenly trembled.

Lu Mingfei immediately looked up: "Did I hurt you?"

Liu Miaomiao covered her mouth with her small hand, shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears, and said hesitantly, "No... your fingernail just scratched the sole of my foot, it's a little itchy."

“It’s similar to that time.” After saying that, Liu Miaomiao lowered her eyes and immediately added in a low voice.

Lu Mingfei paused for a moment. Of course, he knew which time Liu Miaomiao was referring to. Liu Miaomiao was talking about the time they accidentally entered the Nibelungen subway in the capital. At that time, he carried Liu Miaomiao and jumped off the subway full of Deadpools. Liu Miaomiao twisted her ankle, and he was checking Liu Miaomiao's ankle injury just like he was doing now.

"It's a bit like that."

As Lu Mingfei took off Liu Miaomiao's white socks, he replied with a smile, "Speaking of which, I remember you said you didn't like me back then."

At that time, rumors about Liu Miaomiao and Lu Mingfei had just started circulating on the Shilan Middle School forum. Because Qiao Yiran deliberately created some "private space" for the two of them, Liu Miaomiao thought that Lu Mingfei really liked her. So she took the initiative to ask Lu Mingfei out and immediately gave him the "friend card".

When Liu Miaomiao heard Lu Mingfei bring this up again, she paused for a moment, then pouted and said, "...Back then, I wasn't very familiar with you. You were a quiet person for all three years of junior high school, and you hardly ever said a word to me. How could I possibly like you... Liking someone takes time, you know."

"So you mean you like me now?" Lu Mingfei asked back.

Liu Miaomiao stuck out her tongue: "Tch, barely passable."

Unexpectedly, the day-long cold war gradually thawed under these circumstances. However, if possible, Lu Mingfei would still prefer that Liu Miaomiao hadn't been injured.

He began by saying, "Let me check how serious your ankle injury is."

Liu Miaomiao nodded gently.

Lu Mingfei lowered his gaze. The bare foot in his palm was as white as jade, slender and delicate, with a faint pink tinge on the sole. The five cute toes were slightly curled up, probably out of shyness.

Lu Mingfei's somewhat reluctant gaze slowly traveled upwards along the fine blue veins on the instep, but the slightly swollen ankle seemed out of place with this slender, jade-like foot.

He gently grasped her ankle, and Liu Miaomiao immediately let out a muffled groan of pain.

"Bear with it," Lu Mingfei said. "Let me check if any bones are broken."

Feeling Lu Mingfei's hand pinching her ankle, Liu Miaomiao immediately bit her lip, her beautiful brows furrowing in pain.

"There shouldn't be any bone damage."

Lu Mingfei held and rubbed for a while before letting go: "Let me treat the wound on your knee first. I'll get some ice to apply to your sprained ankle later."

He picked up a bottle of saline solution from the bedside table, unscrewed it, and poured it onto Liu Miaomiao's knees with a slight movement. Judging from Liu Miaomiao's immediately tensed legs and furrowed brows, she was clearly in some pain, but she stubbornly bit her lip to keep herself from making a sound, only occasionally letting out muffled groans from her delicate nose.

Lu Mingfei carefully examined the abrasions on Liu Miaomiao's knees. He saw that the sand and other impurities inside the wounds had been mostly washed away. He first used a medical cotton ball to carefully dry the wounds, then applied iodine for disinfection, and finally wrapped the wounds with bandages and gauze.

Lu Mingfei looked up and said, "I took a look. The wound isn't very deep. I shouldn't need a tetanus shot or anything. It should heal in a couple of days. Just be careful when you shower tonight and try not to get the wound wet. After you shower, apply iodine solution again to prevent infection."

"it is good."

Liu Miaomiao nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "But Mingfei, don't your legs go numb from squatting like that for so long?"

Hearing Liu Miaomiao's words, Lu Mingfei realized that he had been in a half-squatting position the whole time. His mind had been focused on the injury on Liu Miaomiao's foot.

"It is a little numb."

Lu Mingfei stood up with a smile: "But it's alright. Miaomiao, you wait here for me. I'll go to the convenience store to see if they sell ice or anything like that."

Liu Miaomiao shook her head: "I don't think my ankle injury is too serious. I'll go get it checked out later. You can sit here and rest for a bit."

Lu Mingfei was still more worried about Liu Miaomiao's injuries, and said, "It's okay, I'll be right back, very soon."

But as soon as he turned around, he heard Liu Miaomiao speak:
"...I want you to stay with me a little longer."

When a girl says to a boy, "I want you to stay with me a little longer," it usually sounds like a soft, affectionate whisper. Liu Miaomiao often does this too; the piano-playing beauty is never shy about expressing her feelings to her boyfriend. However, at this moment, Liu Miaomiao's trembling tone doesn't sound like she's being affectionate. Lu Mingfei paused, then turned around and sat down next to Liu Miaomiao.

"What, you've finally stopped being stubborn?"

Lu Mingfei said, "You used to run away as soon as you saw me, looking like you didn't want to talk to me. Why do you want me to stay with you a little longer now?"

Liu Miaomiao didn't speak, but instead turned her face away to the other side.

Lu Mingfei curiously leaned over to look at her, only to find that Liu Miaomiao's eyes had reddened at some point.

Lu Mingfei had no idea what was going on. Why was Miaomiao crying all of a sudden? Could it be because he had hurt her while cleaning her wound? But Miaomiao wasn't the kind of girl who would cry for something like that.

He asked, half-jokingly, "Why is the little girl crying?"

"Don't call me 'little brat'!"

Liu Miaomiao immediately turned her head, her delicate nose twitching, her eyes red-rimmed: "I wasn't crying. It's just, it's just..."

Lu Mingfei continued for her: "It's just that some sand happened to get into your eyes, right?"

"……Hate."

Liu Miaomiao lowered her eyes: "I just suddenly felt so useless. I was so close to getting first place. If I hadn't pushed myself so hard, I could have at least gotten second place. But now I only got third... Everyone else worked so hard, especially Qiangqiang, who insisted on participating in the competition even though she wasn't feeling well. She must have really wanted to get a good ranking."

Is that why the little girl was crying?
Lu Mingfei understood why the little girls were so attached to the school sports meet, because it was probably the last Shilan Middle School sports meet they could participate in.

After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Xiaotiannv and the others definitely won't blame you, Miaomiao. Besides, I think that the experience of participating in the competition together is probably more precious to Xiaotiannv and the others than winning a prize."

“I know Qiangqiang and the others won’t blame me. But it’s precisely because I know they won’t blame me that I feel even more guilty, wondering if I’m holding them back.”

Liu Miaomiao sniffed, her lips pressed into a thin line, and said with a wronged expression, "Besides, you just carried me to the infirmary in front of so many people. Who knows what kind of rumors will be circulating outside."

"Miaomiao, do you really care about the rumors and gossip?"

Liu Miaomiao shook her head: "But you're at school now, and nominally Qiangqiang's boyfriend..."

She paused, lowered her head, and then continued softly:

“Mingfei, don’t you think I’m being selfish? I was the one who suggested you fake break up with me at school so you could be with Qiangqiang. But when our classmates actually believed we’d broken up, I felt a little sad. Even though I know it’s just a lie, when I see you and Qiangqiang holding hands and hugging openly at school, while I can only watch from the sidelines, I feel so disappointed. Qiangqiang and Wenwen were able to endure it for so long…”

“Miaomiao, you…”

Lu Mingfei blinked: "Is he jealous?"

Liu Miaomiao pouted and suddenly pressed her forehead against Lu Mingfei's shoulder, then punched him with her small fists, but it didn't hurt.

"It's all your fault, you scoundrel. I had already been holding back, but you came backstage yesterday morning and bullied me again. It makes me so sad to think that we could do it openly before, but now we have to do it secretly. But you and Qiangqiang have only been 'together' for a short time, so it's impossible..."

Lu Mingfei was stunned as he listened, and asked, "So, Miaomiao, you've been ignoring me these past two days because you're angry with me?"

Is it just because she's jealous? She used to be able to openly show affection, but now she can only do it secretly. She wants to keep her distance from me to avoid me corrupting her mind at school.

Upon hearing this, Liu Miaomiao raised her head, her beautiful eyes, slightly red and swollen, looking at Lu Mingfei with a puzzled expression: "Why would I be angry with you?"

"Because I accidentally touched it... cough cough, it's nothing, it's nothing."

Lu Mingfei reacted quickly and shut up. Since Miaomiao wasn't angry with him for accidentally revealing her magnanimity, there seemed to be no need for him to bring it up.

However, she was a little too late to keep quiet. After hearing Lu Mingfei say "I touched it," Liu Miaomiao immediately knew what Lu Mingfei was talking about, and her pretty face immediately flushed redder than her eyes.

"you……"

Liu Miaomiao instinctively sat up, trying to get away from this scoundrel, but she forgot that she was still sprained. As soon as she exerted herself, a sharp pain shot through her ankle, and she lost her balance and fell forward. Fortunately, Lu Mingfei reacted quickly and caught her around the waist, preventing her from falling.

"Don't touch Miaomiao!"

Lu Mingfei quickly got out of bed and lifted Liu Miaomiao's bare feet to check: "Your injury hasn't healed yet, so you can't move around too much. It would be troublesome if the injury got worse."

Thankfully, Lu Mingfei gently pinched the bones near Liu Miaomiao's ankle, and the injury didn't seem to have gotten any worse.

Feeling the boy's hands groping her sensitive little feet, Liu Miaomiao pursed her lips, enduring the tingling and itchy sensation from the soles of her feet, and whispered, "It's all your fault... I had already forgotten about that matter, but you brought it up again."

"I was just ignoring you because I thought you were angry with me about that..."

"I'm angry, that's all."

Liu Miaomiao lowered her eyes and muttered, "But I can't just ignore you because of that. You bad guy, haven't you taken advantage of people enough already..."

"We'd barely met, and you'd already touched my foot..." Liu Miaomiao thought to herself.

As Liu Miaomiao watched Lu Mingfei hold her small feet in his palms, she recalled the ambiguous interactions that had occurred between her and Lu Mingfei in the Beijing subway.

At that time, she had only just become acquainted with Lu Mingfei, and this scoundrel took full advantage of her. He touched her feet, intertwined their fingers, and almost stole her first kiss right then and there.

There were also those baseless rumors at the time about her being with Lu Mingfei.

It seems that from the moment she took the initiative to greet Lu Mingfei, her life was already locked with him.

……

(End of this chapter)