Jingxia Rose

Chapter 74: Concern

Actually, it wasn't serious; there was no swelling. Wen Qi examined her calf closely but couldn't find anything wrong with it.

Ji Xuan felt quite embarrassed and tried to pull her leg back several times. She said shyly, "It's really nothing, you should go back now!"

One last time, Wen Qi loosened his grip, "If it hurts, it's best to apply an ice pack to help it heal faster. Do you have any ice packs at home?"

Seeing his seemingly oblivious expression, Ji Xian was speechless. He pointed towards the kitchen and said, "There are some medical ice packs in the small compartment on the right side of the third shelf under the refrigerator."

The room gradually warmed up. Wen Qi took off his coat and tossed it onto the single sofa beside him. He then went to the kitchen, quickly retrieved an ice pack, and returned to her.

"This is too cold, do you have a towel to cool it down?"

"Go straight to your left and the glass door leads to the bathroom. The pink towels on the second shelf are available."

Wen Qi nodded and followed her instructions into the bathroom.

The bathroom has a wet and dry separation design. There is a large mirror above the sink, and her skin care products and toiletries are placed in the recessed area in the middle.

Next to the mouthwash cup was a white electric toothbrush, and even on the shelf by the door was only a pair of pink and white rabbit-themed women's slippers.

All of this demonstrates that she has always been alone.

Wen Qi subtly curled the corners of his lips, took the towel she had mentioned, and walked out.

He sat down and lifted her feet onto his lap.

Ji Xian shuddered, and her long eyelashes, hidden in the shadows, trembled slightly.

Seeing that she was about to pull back, Wen Qi gently pressed her down, "Don't move."

Perhaps afraid she would struggle, he simply pressed down on her leg with one hand, folded the towel and wrapped it around her foot, gently pinching a few spots with his fingers, and only stopped when he heard her hiss.

Once he found the spot, he took an ice pack and applied it.

The towel didn't feel very cold. After a few minutes, neither of them spoke. Ji Xian felt a little awkward and tried to say, "I can manage by myself. Why don't you go back first?"

"I'll leave after you've finished applying the dressing," Wen Qi said without looking up, "so you don't have to do a half-hearted job."

"..."

The two remained in this silent environment for about fifteen minutes. Wen Qi removed the ice pack, looked up at Ji Xian, who was leaning against the back of the sofa with a lazy expression.

She asked gently, "How are you? Are you feeling better?"

Ji Xian lifted his leg and moved it slightly. There was still some pain, but it seemed much better than the previous stinging pain.

"Better."

"Stand up and walk around to take a look."

Meeting his uneasy gaze, Ji Xian had no choice but to stand up and walk with uneven steps.

Wen Qi nodded, picked up his coat from the sofa, and said, "Then you should wash up and rest. Apply an ice pack again tomorrow morning, and it would be best to buy some medicine spray to help you recover faster."

Ji Xian wanted to see him to the door, but she stopped him, saying, "Don't see me off, I'll close the door for you later."

Ji Xian gave up and casually reminded him, "Then drive carefully."

Wen Qi's expression softened, and he smiled as he replied, "I understand," before turning and walking towards the door.

Ji Xian sensed a hint of stickiness in those three simple and clear words, and inexplicably got goosebumps.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After washing up last night, it was almost four o'clock when I went to bed. Ji Xian was woken up by the phone ringing around eleven o'clock.

The phone number for the food delivery service.

She said the medicine she ordered had arrived.

Ji Xuan rubbed her messy hair. When had she ever ordered medicine delivery?
It couldn't be sleepwalking, could it?
After having the deliveryman put the food in the locker outside the building, she glanced at the time and found that Wen Qi had sent a message an hour earlier, and the other messages were New Year's greetings from Shi Wan, Ruan Zheng, Ji Nian, and Ji Heng.

Because of the time difference, midnight in China is around 5 a.m. in Russia. She first clicked on Wen Qi's chat box, and there were two messages in total.

【are you awake? 】

The second message, sent seven or eight minutes later, read: "I bought you some medicine, one for external application and one that looks like a spray. You can use both together."

Ji Xuan glanced at the two lines of text, remained silent for a long time, and then replied with a "thank you".

She replied to all the other people's New Year's greetings, then got up to wash up.

Perhaps it's the effect of the ice pack I applied last night; as long as I walk slowly and don't move too much, there's really nothing unusual about it.

The pain was not intense, so mild as to be negligible.

After washing up and changing her clothes, she went out to get some things from the storage cabinet, including a bag of medicine and an insulated bag.

She opened it and found that it contained breakfast.

One box contained a fish congee, and the other box contained bacon rolls with beef cubes, garnished with three florets of broccoli and a crème brûlée.

Most importantly, all of these things are still warm.

A warm feeling inexplicably flowed into Ji Xian's heart. She took a breath, pulled out a chair, sat down, and ate while looking at her phone.

Wen Qi sent a message five minutes ago: [You're awake. How's your foot? Does it still hurt?]

Ji Xian pursed her lips and typed back: [Feeling better. Thank you for the medicine and breakfast.]

Wen Qi replied instantly: [Is breakfast still hot?]

Ji Xuan: [Hmm.]

Wen Qi: [Secretary Ye told me you made plans to go shopping with her today? Be careful with your feet, don't wear high heels again.]

Ji Xian chewed on the bland broccoli, his face expressionless. Not knowing how to reply, he simply logged out, found Ye Xueyan's WeChat, canceled lunch with her, and arranged to meet at the shopping street at 2 pm for dinner.

Ye Xueyan agreed readily without even asking for a reason.

After eating the breakfast Wen Qi brought, Ji Xian tidied up the trash, opened the medicine bag, and began to treat his ankle.

She ate breakfast late and wasn't hungry for lunch. While the medicine was being left on her ankle, she took a nap on the sofa for over an hour.

I put down my phone around 1 a.m. and got out of bed.

The medicine was quite potent; by now, she couldn't even feel that slight pain anymore.

After changing her clothes, she didn't bother with makeup. She just put on a coat, slipped on a pair of flats, and went out.

Because her foot wasn't fully healed yet, she didn't dare drive and hailed a taxi as soon as she went out.

The sun is shining brightly today, and it feels warm and cozy against my skin.

"Ah-Xian, over here."

Ye Xueyan saw her under a sign and immediately waved with a smile, even taking two steps forward to greet her.

Ji Xuan smiled faintly, "Have you been here long?"

"No, I just arrived not long ago. It's just that I took a while to find a parking space." Ye Xueyan took her arm. "What time did you go back last night?"

Ji Xian paused, her smile softening further. "You still have the nerve to bring this up yourself?"

"..."

"Wh...what's wrong?" Ye Xueyan blinked guiltily.

"Will you confess and receive leniency, or do I have to use torture to extract a confession?"

"..."

Ye Xueyan's eyes darted around. "What's there to confess? There were just too many people last night. If I hadn't run into Assistant Yang, I wouldn't know how I would have gotten home."