How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Qingru finished brewing the medicine and set it aside to cool, then hurriedly started boiling water.

It was hot and humid when she took a bath, and Qingru was afraid that Jiang Shen's leg would ulcerate again, which would be truly hopeless.

After Jiang Shen drank the medicine, Qingru prepared the boiled water, carried the basin to the bedside.

He quickly wet the towel and gently wiped away the fluid seeping from Jiang Shen's wound.

She did these things without any difficulty, and there was no expression of disgust or shyness on her face.

On the contrary, Jiang Shen was a little uncomfortable. In fact, both of them were very embarrassed when Qingru did these things for the first time, but healing the wounds was the priority, and they gradually got used to it.

Seeing Qingru's completely natural demeanor, Jiang Shen felt his heart pounding, and an uncontrollable flutter of attraction was spreading through him.

After treating all of Jiang Shen's wounds, Qingru said happily, "Working in a hospital does have its advantages. Your wounds look much better. I run around with the doctors every day, and sometimes I forget to bring back some medicine. I've brought it all back."

Jiang Shen laughed and said, "Oh? So now you've become a thief too? Taking without asking is stealing."

Qingru said embarrassedly, "Even a hero can be brought down by a penny. Besides, I was just picking up what they didn't want. How is that stealing? Oh, right, I've already talked to Dr. Xu. If I get a permanent position tomorrow, he'll arrange a place for me to stay behind the hospital, though it might be smaller than where we are. But who cares? Getting you treated is the priority. Get well soon so we can go home. It's too tough without identification."

Jiang Shen nodded. "Yes, if we hadn't lost our documents in Nanjing, we wouldn't be in such a terrible situation now."

At this point, Qingru couldn't help but feel depressed for a while. "Do you think Guo Zixing is any better? Even Dr. Xu said that amnesia is an incurable disease. He's damaged his brain, and it's already quite good that he hasn't become an idiot."

Jiang Shen frowned and said, "Whether he remembers or not, we've already sent the message. I believe the Commander-in-Chief will send someone over soon. We can just hold out for a while longer. I don't think the Green Dragon Gang, no matter how arrogant, would dare to go against Commander-in-Chief Guo. After all, the disparity in strength is too great."

Qingru agreed with him, "That's right, but why don't you tell your father? He's a prominent figure too."

Jiang Shen scoffed dismissively, "I became a regimental commander at such a young age, and that wasn't because of him."

"Pfft..." Qingru couldn't help but laugh. "There aren't many regimental commanders this age. Even if you don't rely on him, the others are doing it because of your father."

Jiang Shen said, "Then it has nothing to do with me. I just need to make sure I have a clear conscience."

Qingru shook her head; she wouldn't interfere in the affairs of that father and son.

After thinking for a moment, Qingru found a clean set of worn clothes, closed the window, and began to change her clothes on the other side of the bed curtains.

She'd been wearing this outfit for three days already, and it was soaked with sweat countless times and smelled bad. If she continued wearing it, the hospital staff would have something to say.

Therefore, Qingru would secretly wipe her body with water and change into clean clothes every time she returned. As for her hair, she dared not wash it; who knew when someone might come to visit? It wouldn't be good if her true gender was exposed.

Jiang Shen's mouth was dry. He looked at Qingru's graceful silhouette on the bed curtains and couldn't help but swallow softly.

It wasn't that he was being irresponsible, but rather that he was so badly injured at the beginning that he couldn't move at all. So when Qingru changed her clothes, she put him on the bed to change, and he couldn't see anything.

But later, Qingru thought he really couldn't see through the curtain, so she changed it without worry. Who knew that he couldn't see, but the silhouette reflected by the candlelight was still graceful and beautiful. He could see it even if he didn't want to.

To avoid making things difficult to explain the previous times, Jiang Shen simply didn't say anything, leaving some face for both of them.

Qingru changed the water in the basin and used the towel she had just used to wipe herself down.

It wasn't that she wasn't particular, but rather that she didn't have the means. A towel cost a dime, and she only earned three dimes a day, so her meager income could only be used to buy food and pay rent; she couldn't even think about anything else.

Even the clothes they had to change into were scavenged from a mass grave. They couldn't even survive, so why bother with anything else?

Gently removing the cloth strip binding her chest, Qingru, unusually, let her two little rabbits out to breathe. After wiping them with clean water, she wrapped them back up with clean cloth strips.

When she finished all this and stepped out from behind the curtain, Jiang Shen was already breathing evenly and had fallen asleep at some point.

Qingru quietly poured out the water, returned to the other side of the bed, lay down, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

There was originally only one bed in the room, but Qingru couldn't possibly sleep with Jiang Shen, so she picked up some scraps and pieced them together to make a makeshift sleeping spot.

Hearing Qingru's deep, even breathing, Jiang Shen reached out and wiped away the blood that had flowed from his nose again.

The towel had wiped his body and then Qingru's body, making it hard for him not to have impure thoughts.

After a period of random thoughts, it seemed as if the pain in his body had lessened somewhat, and Jiang Shen finally fell into a deep sleep.

In the dead of night, Guo Zixing lay on his soft bed, waging a battle with his dreams.

"No...no..." Guo Zixing cried out, his sleep extremely restless. In his dream, he floated on the water, but no matter what he did, he could not grasp the figure sinking to the bottom.

The water was too blurry for him to make out the person's features, but he knew that the person must be someone extremely important to him.

"Ah!" Guo Zixing exclaimed, waking up from his chaotic dream, still somewhat dazed.

Hearing the commotion outside, the person rushed in and hugged Guo Zixing to comfort him, "It's alright, it's alright, I'm here, you'll be fine."

Guo Zixing pushed the woman away, not used to her being so close to him. "Thank you, Miss Yuan, for your concern."

Yuan Yue'e looked worried, clearly concerned about Guo Zixing's condition. "Are you sure you don't need me to stay with you? You don't look well either. What if something else happens? I'd be so guilty."

Seeing her so worried, Guo Zixing had no choice but to soften his tone, "Don't worry, what could possibly happen to a grown man like me? Besides, my injury has almost healed by now, it's about time I recovered. By the way, where did those two people who claimed to be my friends go?"

Yuan Yue'e's face stiffened slightly, then she realized what she meant. "Oh, you mean them? They left when they couldn't scam any money from them. Don't worry about them. These days, poor people are very cunning. You only see them as pitiful, but you don't know how many people they've scammed with that face."

Guo Zixing frowned, sensing something was amiss. "But the way they looked at me clearly meant they knew me."

Yuan Yue'e said, "You are inexperienced and do not know the wickedness of people's hearts. Look at my poor cousin. She was cheated out of all her money by con artists and now she has no choice but to become a concubine for Master Wang. How shameful!"

Guo Zixing had a throbbing headache. Although he didn't quite believe Yuan Yue'e's words, she had treated him well recently, so he should give her some face.

"Okay, I won't mention it anymore. You should go back and rest too; you look haggard these days."

Yuan Yue'e blushed, tucked the blanket around Guo Zixing, and left reluctantly.

As soon as she stepped outside, her face was no longer innocent and kind, but instead filled with hostility.

He walked downstairs with heavy footsteps, and saw his brother eating a late-night snack in the restaurant.

Seeing Yuan Yue'e like this, he frowned and said, "You should at least tone it down a bit. You're not behaving properly."

Yuan Yue'e didn't care about any of that. She sat down angrily and asked, "Brother, are those two troublemakers dead yet?"

Yuan Yuelang rolled her eyes at her, "Don't talk about fighting and killing all the time, it's not like you're a girl."

Yuan Yue'e, however, persisted, "Tell me, is he dead or not?"

Yuan Yuelang pried her hands away and said seriously, "Although they don't have identification, the tall guy said he's the son of Commander Jiang from Sifang City. I have to be careful. How can I just kill them like that?"

Yuan Yue'e frowned: "I could have said I was the Queen Mother of the West, and you believed him? Besides, so what if I am? We've already done it, and we've already offended him, so we might as well go all the way."

Seeing the murderous intent on her face, Yuan Yuelang was startled and slammed the bowl down with a thud. "Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand anything. What if he really is Commander Jiang's son? If he dies in Shanghai, aren't you afraid his father will bring his troops to attack? He's the bravest and most protective of General Guo's men. He won't care whose jurisdiction this is; he'll come and kill us whenever he wants. Besides, to avoid trouble, the Chief of Staff might personally send us out. Do you still dare to shout for war?"

Yuan Yue'e scoffed, "Are you scared?"

Yuan Yuelang then became serious, "You're not planning to secretly kill them, are you?"

Yuan Yue'e lowered her eyes, concealing her true emotions, "I won't, don't worry."

She wasn't telling the truth, and as her own brother, he could naturally tell.

He couldn't help but secretly resolve that he absolutely must not let her do anything reckless.