Chapter 41 Hunger
"Nothing," Xue Ning says, smirking when she sees his ears reddening. She refuses to look away, delighting in his embarrassment. Finally, the tables are turning! This shameless man will get a taste of his own medicine.
She lets out an evil laugh.
"Hey! I'm sure it's not nothing! Spit it out!" Jingwei protests hotly. "Why are you smirking at me like that?"
"Puh," Xue Ning says, spitting out air. "Here, it's out."
"You're so childish," Jingwei scolds, but he's also laughing with her.
"You're more childish," Xue Ning retorts.
"No you're more childish," Jingwei says insistently. "The most childish."
"No, you're more childish," Xue Ning replies, emphasising it by pointing at him. "No wonder Officer Tang has all that white hair, he must have had his hands full dealing with you."
"That's alright, he just can't get over the fact that his wife loves me enough for both of them. I'll live," he says primly, adjusting his shirt collar. His action drew Xue Ning's attention to that patch of exposed skin below his neck, and his collarbones.
She suddenly had the irrational urge to bite and lick. Huh, maybe she was just hungry. She did get her dinner cut short and then fought off a madwoman.
"Xue Ning? Do I have something on my face again?" Jingwei asks hesitantly. Xue Ning had suddenly quietened with an intense look in her eyes.
"I'm hungry," Xue Ning blurts out, thankful she didn't say something like 'your collarbones suddenly look sexy; I want to bite them' because she would have to migrate to another country to get over the secondhand embarrassment.
"Ah, that's understandable," Jingwei says, suddenly apologetic. "Our dinner got interrupted, and then you got injured, and you still had to waste energy protecting me."
"The soup was wasted," Xue Ning says morosely. Now that she begins thinking about the food, she can forget about that sudden irrational urge to bite Sun Jingwei. She wasn't some rabid dog or secret werewolf.
"I know, but how about we go out for supper after you get checked over by the ambulance? I can even get the chefs here to make another pot of soup if you want," Jingwei offers.
"No thanks, the chefs also want to go home on time," Xue Ning says, waving off his thoughtful suggestion. "I can just eat bread at home or something."
"Bread at home? Alone? So late?" Jingwei gives her a horrified look. "No no, I insist on buying you a proper meal to make up for today's dinner. You shouldn't go to bed hungry. Come on tell me - what do you want to eat?"
"Anything will do, I guess." Xue Ning shrugs, before yawning again. Jingwei nods, mentally reviewing every eatery and restaurant he has eaten at to think what she would like.
"What about you? What do you want to eat for supper?" Xue Ning asks curiously.
"You."
Silence. Xue Ning blinks at him, disbelieving. Surely her ears are playing tricks on her.
Sun Jingwei meanwhile, just barely managed to keep his scream inside, instead of letting it escape just like that less-than-pure thought he just had about eating Xue Ning on his bed.
"I mean, you-r choice! I'm fine with anything too!" He corrects hastily.
Xue Ning narrows her eyes. Jingwei tries to look as innocent and not-horny as possible, but judging by the way her arm seems to be gearing up to land a solid punch, he's not doing a good job.
Plan B: Distraction!
He hurriedly grabs the arm and drags her along the hallway. "Oh look, I think we really should get your burns looked at, then we can go and eat supper. You're already so tired."
"Fine," Xue Ning grumbles, deciding not to pursue his slip of the tongue and letting herself be dragged along. It feels like she is walking a hyperactive golden retriever.
Sun Jingwei even has eyes that remind her of a puppy, and he used them on her just now! He must never know about this weakness of hers, because she just knows deep down, he's going to exploit it for all it's worth.
They quickly arrive at the ambulance, where they find Xiao Hui sitting by the vehicle with a shock blanket wrapped around her, along with another police officer standing next to her. They seem to be deep in conversation, with the police officer taking notes. However, the moment Xiao Hui sees them, she immediately stands up, bowing to them.
Jingwei wanted to immediately pull Xue Ning to the care of the waiting paramedics, but Xue Ning had other plans, instead moving to check on Xiao Hui. Jingwei makes a displeased sound at the back of his throat.
"I'm sorry!" Xiao Hui cries out, bowing repeatedly.
"What for?" Xue Ning asks, grabbing her hands to try to get her to stop. Jingwei, who was still holding a grudge, did not bother. Instead, one of his hands drifts to rest on the small of Xue Ning's back, where it idly rubs circles. Xue Ning does not seem to notice.
"For revealing that the both of you were in the restroom," Xiao Hui chokes out, eyes brimming in tears. "She ambushed me when I was just going to find you and forced the news out of me…"
"Ah, that's fine," Xue Ning shrugs. "We all got out unhurt."
"Excuse me?" Jingwei gives her an incredulous sweeping look, scanning her from head to toe. It didn't take a genius to know what he clearly thought of her statement.
"Are you joking? Unhurt? Do you think I called this ambulance here for decoration? You need to get your wounds looked over!"
"You're wounded?" Xiao Hui asks, but then she continues shamefacedly, after realising something critical. "Ah… your injuries from the hot soup."
"Yes. Her injuries from the soup," Jingwei repeats curtly, before giving Xue Ning a pleading look. "Can you please go and get yourself treated by the paramedics for my peace of mind?"
Xue Ning sighs and nods, sensing that Sun Jingwei isn't going to let this go until she is looked over by a professional. This reminds her of the first time she was hospitalised thanks to Sun Jingwei's drugging incident - back then, he too, was also adamant about getting her the best care.
It hadn't even been a week since that incident, but her opinion on him has turned… not a complete 180 degrees, but certainly at least 90 degrees.
"I'm so sorry for keeping you!" Xiao Hui bows again. "I'll talk to you later regarding the name I've found out. The one that the woman used to book."
"Alright," Xue Ning says, "in fact, how about you message it to me? That way, we can still take a look even when I'm getting treated."
"Sure! Of course!" Xiao Hui responds enthusiastically, and they exchange numbers before Xue Ning gets ushered into the ambulance, Jingwei following closely behind.
The paramedics stared at him.
"Are you injured?" One of them asked.
"No, but I'm not leaving anyway." Jingwei says resolutely.
"Yeah, he's not kidding about that," Xue Ning adds, "so…do you have something for minor burns?"
The paramedics begin to examine her thighs first, for they are already exposed.
Unfortunately, while the burns themselves weren't so serious, the skin had suffered more injury from the fight. She did move her legs a lot back then, and the skin was stretched painfully when it should have been left alone. Now that the adrenaline was fading, Xue Ning wasn't only feeling more tired, she was also in a lot more pain.
"Please hold these cold packs to your thighs for 20 minutes," the paramedic says after he examines her. The first step would be to cool the area to reduce redness and swelling, before he could even apply ointment and bandage her wounds.
"Sure," Xue Ning says, and proceeds to do so, before realising that she had trouble making sure both packs were on the insides of her thighs at the same time. Her arms are sore, and the packs keep slipping. It would be a lot easier, if she had an extra pair of hands.
"I'll help. If you want," Jingwei offers, immediately kneeling in front of her bare legs, hands ready to hold a cold pack.
The paramedic gives him an exasperated look, but he is duly ignored, so all he could do was sigh and shuffle slowly away, making a mental note to check on his patient 20 minutes later.
Urgh. It's such a pain to treat couples!
Couldn't they even wait for the ambulance door to close before they became lovey-dovey? He was still right there, feeling ridiculously single. He makes a mental prayer for them to not do anything funny in the ambulance and shuts the ambulance door.
p
Her decision, that led to Sun Jingwei, kneeling in front of her bare legs, head in between her thighs, while she was only clothed in her suit jacket and a pair of soiled panties. His hands, carefully pressing a cold pack to her thigh while he looked up at her.
Like a starving man in front of a buffet.
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