Chapter 8: Chasing Me

Duan Yan said, “Why are you looking for a job when there’s nothing wrong?”

Rong Jiqiao replied, “I just want to help share some of the burden. Look at you right now...”

She pointed at the lunch box in his hand, which had only pickled vegetables left.

Duan Yan followed her gaze and paused.

“It’s just because I haven’t been paid yet.”

“But you clearly had no money, and you still transferred so much to me.”

Duan Yan fell silent and lowered his head to continue eating.

Rong Jiqiao tried to make him understand that she could actually earn money on her own.

“And I can’t keep spending your money all the time.”

Duan Yan suddenly stood up.

He was nearly a full head taller than her. Standing against the afternoon sunlight, his outline looked sharp and hard.

The dust from the construction site had coated his dark T-shirt in a layer of gray, but his shoulders were still straight and firm.

His features were deep and striking. His sharp brows were slightly furrowed, his nose bridge was high, and his jawline was clean and tense. When he did not speak, he looked like a cold, hard stone, making people afraid to approach him casually.

“Fine.”

He patted the dirt from his pants, turned around, and walked back into the construction site.

Rong Jiqiao sat on the stone and watched his back.

She kept feeling that something was wrong.

But she could not say what it was.

Duan Yan’s attitude, which had softened recently because of her kindness, seemed to harden again all at once.

...

On Monday, Rong Jiqiao reported to the clinic.

The director’s surname was Lin, and she spent half an hour explaining the rules.

The clinic was small. During Rong Jiqiao’s shift, there were only two doctors and three nurse colleagues.

The work was not too tiring. She just had to be diligent with her words.

Taking blood pressure, registering patients, guiding them into consultation rooms.

Standing for a full eight hours.

A few days later, Duan Yan’s security job paid his salary.

Rong Jiqiao was washing dishes when her phone jumped on the counter.

She shook the water off her hands and picked it up.

Duan Yan had transferred her seven thousand five hundred yuan.

At this time, it should be the salary from his security job. He had been promoted, so his original salary of five thousand five hundred had increased by two thousand.

Did he not keep any money for himself again?

Lately, Rong Jiqiao had kept feeling that Duan Yan was acting awkward.

She was a little confused.

She was clearly changing for the better too, trying hard to act virtuous and considerate.

So why did Duan Yan still seem unhappy?

Since she needed to please Duan Yan before he returned to the Duan family, she at least had to figure out exactly what was making him upset.

After all, how much money she could get depended entirely on the crown prince’s mood.

That evening, Rong Jiqiao put a lot of effort into making dinner.

She bought ribs and stewed them for more than an hour. Then she added potatoes and cooked everything down until the sauce became thick and rich.

She also stir-fried green peppers and made a cold cucumber salad.

When Duan Yan came back, steam was still drifting from the kitchen.

He changed his shoes at the door, looked up, and glanced inside.

“You cooked?”

“Mm. Come eat while it’s hot.”

Rong Jiqiao carried the clay pot out of the kitchen and placed it steadily on the mat. When she lifted the lid, hot steam rushed up at once.

Duan Yan washed his hands and sat down.

He picked up a rib, took a bite, then lowered his head and picked up another piece.

Rong Jiqiao watched him from the corner of her eye. Seeing him keep adding food to his bowl, she quietly relaxed.

After only a few bites, he poured his rice into the clay pot and scraped the remaining sauce at the bottom into his bowl to eat with it.

Rong Jiqiao watched the movement and wanted to laugh, but she held it back.

“Is it good?”

“Mm.”

Rong Jiqiao pushed the cucumber salad in front of him.

“Eat this too. It cuts through the grease.”

Duan Yan picked some up with his chopsticks, chewed a couple of times, then lowered his head to keep eating.

While eating, Rong Jiqiao kept sneaking glances at Duan Yan’s expression.

She guessed that he was in a decent mood and was just about to speak when Duan Yan answered a phone call.

After hanging up, he said, “The place where I do part-time work is short on people. I’m going to help out.”

Rong Jiqiao swallowed back the words she had wanted to say.

“Okay,” she said, a little disappointed. “What time will you be back?”

“Not sure.”

He finished the rest of his rice in a few quick bites, picked up his jacket, and left.

...

Rong Jiqiao cleaned up the dishes and waited for a while.

When Duan Yan still had not returned, she decided to take a shower and go to bed.

Halfway through her shower, the water heater suddenly went silent.

Rong Jiqiao froze, then reached out to test the water temperature.

Sure enough, it was starting to turn cold.

She quickly turned the faucet to the maximum, thinking it might be a problem with the pipe pressure. But the flow only grew thinner and thinner, until finally there was no hot water at all.

Just then, the sound of the front door opening came from outside.

Duan Yan was back.

Through the bathroom door, she lowered her voice and called out.

“Duan Yan.”

A little light slipped through the crack under the door, and footsteps approached.

“What’s wrong?”

“The hot water is gone. Can you help me check the water heater?”

There was a pause outside.

“Okay.”

The footsteps moved away.

Rong Jiqiao stood in the bathroom with her arms wrapped around herself. The tiles were painfully cold, so she shifted onto the bath mat and stood on tiptoe. Her hair had not been fully rinsed yet, and water droplets slid down the back of her neck.

After standing for too long, she took a step backward. Her foot landed on the water that had splashed out earlier, and the edge of the bath mat flipped up.

Her foot slipped.

She fell to the right, reaching for the towel rack. She managed to grab it, but her ankle twisted sharply. Pain shot through her, and she sucked in a cold breath before sliding down the wall into a crouch.

“Rong Jiqiao?”

The person outside heard the noise and called her name.

Gritting her teeth, she reached for a bath towel and wrapped it around herself.

“I twisted my ankle. Can you come in and help me?”

There was about two seconds of silence.

Then the door opened.

Duan Yan stepped inside. His gaze dropped to the floor and landed on her crouched in the corner of the bathroom, wet hair clinging to the side of her face, one hand still gripping the towel rack.

He walked in two steps and crouched down.

“Where?”

“My right foot.”

Before she could finish speaking, he had already reached out and supported her calf. His fingers gently pressed around the edge of her ankle.

Rong Jiqiao inhaled softly.

It hurt so much.

Duan Yan set her foot back down and stood up.

“I’ll carry you out. We’ll go to the hospital and have it checked.”

“I probably didn’t hurt the bone. It just hurts a little.”

“Then I’ll get you a stool to sit on. I’ll fix the water heater. You rinse off the body wash first, and when you come out, I’ll put medicine on it.”

“Okay.”

Duan Yan turned and brought in a small stool.

Clutching the bath towel, Rong Jiqiao sat down with Duan Yan supporting her.

The bathroom light was bright and white. Rong Jiqiao lowered her head, staring at the collar of his shirt, her ears burning hot.

Duan Yan said nothing and turned back to deal with the water heater.

After a while, the sound of the water heater reigniting came from outside.

The heater often did this. It was old.

Duan Yan knocked on the bathroom door.

“Wash first.”

“Okay.”

“Do you need my help?”

...

It took Rong Jiqiao a moment to react.

Did he mean help her wash?

Her ears buzzed, and her face flushed red in an instant.

She hurriedly said, “I can do it myself.”

“Mm.”

Duan Yan’s voice sounded as if he purely wanted to help.

Rong Jiqiao did not detect anything else at all.

Inside the bathroom, she rubbed her burning ears, unaware that on the other side of the door, Duan Yan smiled silently.

Rong Jiqiao turned the shower back on.

Only after being drenched in hot water for a long while did she realize she was still clutching the bath towel.

She hung the towel back up, closed her eyes, and let the hot water run over her for a while before the heat in her face finally faded.

...

When she finished washing and came out, Duan Yan was still standing outside the bathroom.

Rong Jiqiao stood at the bathroom door wrapped in a towel, water dripping from her hair. Her ankle still could not bear much weight, so she held the doorframe and leaned out.

Duan Yan glanced at her, then bent down and picked her up again, carrying her toward the bed.

Through the bath towel, the heat of his palm seeped through.

Rong Jiqiao tensed.

Duan Yan had already found the medicine for the sprain.

He set her down on the edge of the bed and helped apply it.

Rong Jiqiao had just finished showering. Her skin was still warm, and her damp hair fell loose over her shoulders.

His movements were slow.

But Duan Yan had always been cold by nature. No matter what happened, it was hard to see much emotional change on his face.

Even after spending so much time with him in her previous life, Rong Jiqiao still could not see through him.

After he returned to the Duan family and the gap between their identities became as vast as heaven and earth, that feeling only grew stronger.

Because of his temperament, Rong Jiqiao did not notice that the way Duan Yan was applying the medicine was really not right.

She only felt that he was taking a little too long and could not help asking,

“Are you done?”

She heard Duan Yan give a calm “Mm,” then he put her foot down.

“Check again tomorrow. If it gets worse, go to the hospital.”

Rong Jiqiao quietly let out a breath of relief.

Then she heard Duan Yan ask,

“Do we still have condoms at home?”