The only one in the house who would attack Xing Zheng was Xie Qin Jia. Without thinking, the answer was clear. Xie Qin Jia saw Xing Zheng and started scolding him again, "You should have died long ago."
"Mm," Xing Zheng actually took a step forward. He smiled at Xie Qin Jia, but his eyes were filled with desolation. "Kill me, Mom."
"Don't call me that!!" Xie Qin Jia produced a pair of scissors from somewhere and actually lunged at Xing Zheng. Lin Mei's heart tightened. She had seen Xie Qin Jia attack Xing Zheng a few times, and Xing Zheng never dodged. If those scissors really landed on him...
Lin Mei's head went hot, and she rushed forward, pushing Xing Zheng away!
With her push, Xing Zheng successfully dodged Xie Qin Jia's scissors. Xie Qin Jia's movement didn't stop, and the scissors pierced Lin Mei's shoulder, gushing out a stream of blood that splattered everywhere.
Lin Mei was the most afraid of pain. This injury made her eyes turn red, and tears of pain welled up.
Xu Huan was terrified. "Mei Hua, how are you? Quick, Ah Zheng, take her to the hospital!"
"I, didn't..." The pain made it difficult for her to speak. She struggled for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence. Suddenly, her body was lifted. It was Xing Zheng carrying her.
The elders present didn't know their relationship. The situation was urgent, and no one suspected anything.
After a long while, Xie Qin Jia realized what she had done. She threw down the scissors and wanted to follow Lin Mei to the hospital, but Xing Sha stopped her. "Ah Zheng will take good care of her. You're not going anywhere right now."
Perhaps because she had done something wrong, Xie Qin Jia was exceptionally cooperative today. She had never intended to hurt Lin Mei, nor could she understand, "Why did she have to block..."
Xing Sha thought of Lin Mei's selfless action and paused for a moment, but she didn't share her guess with Xie Qin Jia.
Xing Zheng carried Lin Mei to the emergency room. He waited outside while the doctor treated her wound inside. Through the wall, he could hear her pained groans and whimpers. How tender and fragile the skin on her shoulder was, no one knew better than him. A gentle bite from him could leave a mark for days. This injury was so severe...
Lin Mei's wound was neither too deep nor too shallow, and she didn't lose much blood. The only problem was the pain. To be safe, after bandaging, the doctor gave Lin Mei a tetanus shot. Compared to the pain of the wound, the pain of the injection was insignificant.
The doctor naturally took Xing Zheng for a family member and explained Lin Mei's condition to him. Lin Mei stood in front of Xing Zheng. After a few seconds of eye contact, she gently lowered her head.
They walked out of the hospital in silence. Lin Mei wanted to take a taxi to the Xing family villa to get her car, but before she could hail one, Xing Zheng put her into his car.
He pressed the central locking button, and she couldn't escape. The man beside her asked her, "Why did you push me away?"
Lin Mei's heart constricted. She had avoided looking at him earlier, wanting to escape quickly, precisely because she didn't want to face this question. She herself hadn't figured out the reason, so how could she answer him?
However, the man didn't let up because of her silence and pressed on, "I'm asking you, why did you push me away?"
"I don't know," forced into a corner, she had to resort to the most blunt excuse. "No matter who it was, I would have pushed them away."
"Are you pitying me?" He suddenly leaned closer, hooking her chin with his index finger and lifting it slightly. "You think I'm a pathetic worm, huh?"
"No," she did sympathize with him, but not from a position of superiority, thinking he was pitiful. He wasn't tragic; there were many more tragic people in the world than him. "Aunt Xie attacked you, you could have dodged, why didn't you?"
If she hadn't pushed him away, that pair of scissors would have surely gone into his carotid artery, and he might have died. "Do you know, if you hadn't dodged, this time..."
"I would have died." He knew it all too well, his tone flat, as if discussing an unimportant triviality. He even laughed, "You don't want me to die too?"
"I don't!" Lin Mei denied. "What I said yesterday was just angry words without thinking. No matter how much I dislike someone, I would never want them to die."
"Do you dislike me?" His focus seemed to shift again, actually caring about this. Lin Mei felt like crying and laughing. She never knew before that her words had so many loopholes.
Unable to answer the question, she advised him, "Don't deliberately provoke Aunt Xie anymore."
After several observations, Lin Mei discovered a pattern: Xie Qin Jia detested Xing Zheng, and Xing Zheng was always using his methods to enrage Xie Qin Jia. Xie Qin Jia didn't want to hear him call her "Mom," so he repeatedly called her that. Xie Qin Jia didn't want him to come home, so he came back frequently... His insistence on not letting her go was likely due to this reason as well...
What kind of person seeks a sense of existence in this way?
It must be someone who has reached a dead end. Besides angering Xie Qin Jia, he had no other way to gain her attention, hence he was tireless, even willing to be beaten black and blue, finding it sweet.
Her empathy was too strong. Just by guessing his intentions, she already felt sad for him. In terms of family affection, he was indeed barren and possessed nothing. Even if he was immensely wealthy and enjoyed fame and fortune, it couldn't fill the blank spaces in the long river of time. Barren land cannot grow lush branches or bloom swaying flowers.
Xing Zheng did not respond to Lin Mei's words. He drove Lin Mei to the apartment building. After parking, he reached out his hand to her. Lin Mei: "?"
"Your car key." He was as concise as possible, not even explaining the reason.
Fortunately, Lin Mei was smart enough to understand that he was going to help her get her car. She handed him the key. "Thank you."
Upon arriving home, Lin Mei looked in the mirror and saw the wound on her shoulder. The gauze was slightly stained with blood, which was normal bleeding. She dared not touch it.
After changing into loungewear, Lin Mei sat in the living room, watching videos, waiting for Xing Zheng to bring her car back. She waited until half-past twelve.
Just as Lin Mei was about to order takeout, Xing Zheng knocked on the door. Lin Mei hadn't expected him to come up, but she opened the door for him anyway. He walked in naturally and placed the car key on the shoe cabinet.
His silent demeanor was unsettling. Lin Mei hesitated and asked him, "Have you eaten?"
He remained silent. Lin Mei said to him, "I'm going to order takeout. If you don't mind, would you like to stay and eat together? Thank you for taking me to the hospital and for bringing my car back."
After saying so much, she didn't know if it was an excuse for her invitation or a reason for him to stay.
However, the man remained unmoved, begrudging her even a single word, and turned to leave.
As the door closed, Lin Mei gave a self-mocking smile. She cursed herself for being meddlesome. Even if Xing Zheng truly needed comfort, it wasn't her place.
After Lin Mei ordered takeout, she received a training notification from her work group. She was being sent to Kyoto for the annual training.