Sweetie, don't look at him, kiss me.

When Lin Qingmian left the hospital, her mind was still in turmoil.

Jiang Yao's words, "Aren't you really going to consider divorce from a man like this?" kept echoing in her ears, giving her a headache.

She leaned back in the taxi, closed her eyes, and tried to catch her breath, but before she could catch her breath, the car jolted violently, followed by a piercing screech of brakes and a loud crash.

Her body slammed against the back of the front seat due to inertia, then bounced back and hit the car door.

A piercing pain shot through her arm, making her vision go black and her ears ring as if someone had stuffed a swarm of bees into her ear canal.

When she was in a daze, she heard someone shouting "Call an ambulance!" Someone opened the car door and lifted her out. Someone put something in her mouth that was cool and a little bitter.

She struggled to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and only the burning pain in her arm firmly occupied her remaining consciousness.

When she regained consciousness, her nasal cavity was filled with the smell of disinfectant, and in front of her was a white checkered ceiling with a blindingly bright incandescent light tube overhead.

She moved her fingers and found that her left arm was wrapped tightly in bandages, a thick layer that almost made half of her arm look like a rice dumpling.

"woke up?"

A nurse nearby peeked over and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"pain."

Lin Qingmian opened her mouth, her voice hoarse and dry.

"Pain is normal. You have a broken left arm and some soft tissue contusions, but it's not life-threatening."

The nurse scribbled a few notes in her notebook, then looked up at her: "Should we contact your family to come and stay with you? Given your condition, it would be best if someone were with you tonight."

Lin Qingmian remained silent for a while, her mind slowly turning.

The first person she thought of was Jiang Yao, but then she remembered that Jiang Yao had a very important part-time job tonight.

The hotel offered a very high price; the revenue from just one night was enough to cover Jiang Yao's mother's medical expenses for next month.

She swallowed hard, trying to erase Jiang Yao's name from her mind.

The nurse was still waiting for her reply. In the corridor, other patients could be heard crying out in pain, their sharp voices piercing the ears.

Lin Qingmian struggled to raise her right hand and reach for her phone on the bedside table. When the screen lit up, she looked at the long list of names in her contacts, her finger hovering over the three characters "Ji Linzhou" for a long time.

She dialed the number.

The phone rang four times before being answered. Before she could even speak, a woman's gentle, sweet voice came from the other end: "Feed?"

Lin Qingmian's fingers instantly stiffened.

"Are you looking for Linzhou?"

Su Tingwan's voice sounded lazy: "He's taking a shower, so it's not convenient for him to answer the phone."

"Is there anything I can do for you? I can pass on the message."

Lin Qingmian's knuckles, gripping the phone, turned slightly white.

She didn't say anything and hung up immediately.

After hanging up the phone, her fingertips traced the cold screen as she scrolled through her contacts, finally stopping at the name "Ji Xingqing".

She hesitated for a long time.

She and Ji Xingqing hadn't truly opened up to each other in a long time.

The atmosphere between the two of them wasn't particularly warm when they last met at the Imperial Kitchen.

But who else could she turn to besides Ji Xingqing?

Yao Yingyu just got the job as an assistant and has to report for duty tomorrow.

Jiang Yao has a part-time job.

She couldn't very well call the Lin family; they would just tell her she deserved it and might not even come to the hospital.

She pressed the dial button.

The phone was answered after only a couple of rings, and Ji Xingqing's hurried voice came from the other end: "Mianmian? Why are you calling me at this hour? Is something wrong?"

Lin Qingmian's nose tingled with emotion: "Xingqing, I was in a minor car accident and I'm in the hospital now. Could you please come over and sign some papers for me?"

"My hands are not very convenient, so there are many things I can't do."

"Car accident?! Which hospital? I'm coming right away!"

Ji Xingqing's voice suddenly rose, followed by the sounds of rummaging through things and footsteps.

Lin Qingmian gave the hospital address and then hung up the phone.

She put her phone back on the bedside table, closed her eyes, and listened to the beeping of the medical equipment in the ward. She could hear Su Tingwan saying that Ji Linzhou was taking a shower again.

The weight on my chest seemed to press down again.

Ji Xingqing hung up the phone, grabbed the key to the entrance, and rushed out the door.

She accompanied her parents to their old house for dinner today, wearing slippers and her hair casually tied in a ponytail; she hadn't even had time to change her coat.

As soon as she pushed open the door, she bumped into two people on the steps.

Ji Linzhou stood under the porch, his suit jacket draped over his arm, and one button of his white shirt undone, as if he had just come out from inside.

Su Tingwan followed beside him, a light purple knitted cardigan draped over her shoulders, her makeup exquisite, and she seemed to be in a good mood.

"Xingqing?"

Seeing Ji Xingqing rushing out in such a hurry, Ji Linzhou frowned slightly: "Where are you going so late?"

"Uncle?"

Ji Xingqing paused for a moment, then casually replied, "Mianmian was in a car accident. She's in the hospital now, and it's quite serious. I have to go take care of her."

Ji Linzhou's gaze shifted slightly, but before he could speak, Ji Xingqing turned and ran towards the parking lot, saying, "I'm leaving now, she has no one to take care of her."

She had only taken two steps when a large, bony hand snatched the car keys from her hand.

Ji Xingqing turned around and saw that Ji Linzhou had already walked to her side, holding the car keys in his hand.

"You reek of alcohol, what kind of car are you driving?"

His voice was flat and emotionless: "I'll take you."

Ji Xingqing was stunned.

She barely drank any beverage tonight, so where did the smell of alcohol come from?

"Uncle, I didn't drink..."

Before she could finish speaking, Ji Linzhou had already opened the passenger door, placed a hand on her shoulder, and gently pushed her into the car.

With a "bang," the car door slammed shut. He walked around to the driver's seat, opened the door, and got in, his movements swift and decisive, leaving her no room for argument.

Su Tingwan was still standing under the porch, her smile slowly freezing in the warm yellow light.

She took two steps forward, stood outside the car window, bent down, and knocked on the driver's side window.

The glass went down, revealing Ji Linzhou's sharply defined profile.

"Linzhou, I..."

She paused for a moment, then said, "Should I go to the hospital too? Miss Lin is in this situation, I should..."

"No need."

Ji Linzhou interrupted her, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion: "It's so late, and you have no relation to her. There's no need for you to make a trip to the hospital. Go back and get some rest."

After he finished speaking, the car window rolled up.

The engine started, and the taillights turned a corner at the end of the road and quickly disappeared.

Su Tingwan stood outside the gate of the Ji family's old mansion. The night wind blew from the end of the road, causing the hem of the knitted cardigan draped over her shoulders to sway slightly.

She stared in the direction the car had disappeared, her hands slowly clenching into fists at her sides.

He said she and Lin Qingmian were not related and there was no need for her to make this trip to the hospital.

But what about him?

What is his relationship with Lin Qingmian?

Is it worth it for him to drive there so late in the night?