Hidden Assassin 196

“Drip… tat-tat, tat-tat-tat… Hmm, how’s this melody?”

“It’s good.”

“Good? Hmm, write it down, write it down… But I think the latter part seems a bit off. If I change it to tat-tat-drip-drip-tat… would it be better?”

“Hmm, it’s indeed better than before…”

“Come on! Jia Ming, stop just agreeing with me, okay! I want an opinion! An opinion! You’re such a great composer, but you always just brush me off! I want to write amazing piano pieces too!”

“But I compose through intuition… like, I’ll intuitively think of a phrase, then my mind automatically knows how to sing it, and then I naturally create it. It’s all intuition… I wish I could share some of this intuition with you…”

“Just a little?”

“Okay, I’ll give you all of it…”

“That’s more like it… Ugh, still so frustrating. You’re a genius, and I’m a dunce…”

…

…

Wearing a loose shirt and white silk pants that reached her knees—a cool summer outfit—Ling Jing, with her hair loose, flopped onto the hospital bed, making a thump sound. Her delicate hands and bare feet swayed with the impact, and the pencil in her hand swiped across the bed, hitting a water glass on the bedside table. Moments later, Sha Sha, who was sitting at the bedside table doing summer homework, jumped up.

“Aaaaaaaaaaah… Help!”

Jia Ming, who was on another hospital bed eating mandarin orange segments, was momentarily stunned. He watched the two girls scrambling to save their homework and draft paper, frantically patting the water stains. Then, the more assertive little she-wolf stood with her hands on her hips by the bedside, while the seemingly weaker little white lamb lay half-reclined on the bed, their eyes met, sparks flying…

“Ye Lingjing, are you itching for a beating?!”

“I-I-I… Y-you… What are you going to do?!”

“My summer homework… Didn’t you say you had no inspiration for composing? Don’t worry, you’ll have it soon!”

“Help!”

Ling Jing flipped over, ready to escape from the other side of the hospital bed, but Sha Sha had already charged towards her, wrapping her arms around her waist from behind. Amidst the wails of “Aaah aaah”, Jia Ming almost spat out the food in his mouth, “Puff!” He stared at the two girls struggling on the bed, bewildered. Ling Jing cried out, trying to escape, but each time she was pulled back by Sha Sha, the way they moved, back and forth… uh, quite interesting…

Soon, Ling Jing, already feeling guilty, was flipped over by Sha Sha, mercilessly pinned down. The ward echoed with pleas for mercy, cries for help, even groans. Jia Ming looked at the bandage wrapped around his chest, and started to eat the mandarin orange segments innocently… No more, no more, don’t call me, I’m helpless too… After a while, with a click of the door opening, the two on the inner bed abruptly stopped. Duan Jingxian walked in, staring blankly at the scene of her daughter being bullied, and casually closed the door.

“Uh…”

The two girls sat up from the bed, their clothes and hair a little messy. Ling Jing’s shirt even had a button missing, revealing the strap of her bra. Both were frozen for a moment. Sha Sha giggled nervously and stepped off the bed, holding up her water-soaked summer homework, beginning to complain, “Ling Jing spilled water on my homework.”

“I apologized…” Ling Jing sat on the bed, awkwardly tightening her collar, then unconsciously shrunk her snow-white neck. But this move was obviously trying to cover up something, as Sha Sha had been pinching and biting earlier, leaving several noticeable strawberries on her neck. Duan Jingxian was even more stunned. Jia Ming raised his hand with the mandarin orange segments, “Actually… they are lesbians.”

Such blunt words actually had some effect. Ye Mama snorted, smiling wryly, and slapped Jia Ming’s head, “Don’t talk nonsense, you guys… How are you feeling today?”

“I want to go home.”

“No way!” Ye Mama and Ling Jing, Sha Sha all shouted together, scaring Jia Ming to shrink his neck.

“You were shot, even though you’ve always been exercising and your physical condition is much better than average, it’s still too soon, just over ten days. Don’t worry, Ya Han will help you with the enrollment procedures, you stay here and rest. Besides, Zhang’s family is paying for it… You want to be a doctor in the future, the first thing you need to learn is how to keep patients in the hospital longer, hehe, get a good experience…” She glared at him, then her tone softened, her hand touching Jia Ming’s forehead, starting her daily routine of checking and nagging, “It was a gun, you know. Even though it’s honorable to act bravely, don’t do it again next time. No matter who’s being caught, whether it’s your relatives or friends, the first thing you should do is call for help. I was scared to death when you were sent here. If anything had happened to you, how could I explain it to your parents…”

…

…

Since Jia Ming was injured, Ling Jing and Sha Sha moved their daily activities to the hospital. They took care of Jia Ming, played, read, and did homework. There were two beds in the large ward, one for Jia Ming, and the two girls occupied the other. Sometimes Ling Jing slept there, sometimes Sha Sha, and sometimes both girls would squeeze onto one bed to rest. It seemed a little ambiguous, and outsiders might speculate, but for those who knew them, the inseparable friendship between the three had begun in elementary school and continued to this day, unchanged.

To Ye Han and Duan Jingxian, they knew Sha Sha was Jia Ming’s girlfriend, and they also considered it inappropriate for their daughter Ling Jing to stay here. But Ling Jing insisted, and they had no choice. In life, it’s rare to have one or two friends you can completely trust. They had such friendship with Jia Ming’s parents, and now that Jia Ming’s parents were gone, they always regarded Jia Ming as their own son. Seeing Jia Ming’s good relationship with Ling Jing, they were naturally happy.

Jia Ming’s constitution was very good, so good that even Duan Jingxian, a doctor, was surprised. Ye Han attributed this to her rigorous training. Jia Ming’s hard work and efforts were evident, even if he didn’t dare to hit anyone. The spirit of Chinese martial arts is not about harming others, but about self-cultivation. He recovered well within a week after surgery. After a few more days, Jia Ming kept clamoring to be discharged, which inevitably led to Duan Jingxian nagging him for half a day every time, until Ling Jing started imitating Luo Jia Ying.

“People are born from their mothers, you know. Demons are born from their mothers. When a demon develops a kind heart, it’s no longer a demon, it’s a demon human… Sha Sha, do you understand? Woah, Mom, don’t hit my face!”

In fact, after Jia Ming had surgery, Ling Jing and Sha Sha cried hard for two days.

After they cried, with Jia Ming recovering well, the two girls regained their cheerful, optimistic attitude. However, something happened one night that made Jia Ming feel quite guilty.

It was the sixth night after the surgery.

Because they had been busy for the previous few days, they took turns watching over Jia Ming at night. They would often lift the blanket to check his bandaged wound or sit by Jia Ming’s bed and chat. On the sixth night, his chest was still not completely healed, but for Jia Ming, who had experienced countless life and death situations, his current condition was basically fine as long as he didn’t face top-level opponents. That night, the chaotic situation between the two girls from the previous days had calmed down, so they stayed in the hospital with Jia Ming together. Jia Ming was on one bed, and the two girls squeezed onto another bed. As midnight approached, Sha Sha seemed a little restless, tossing and turning on the bed. It was impossible to hide this from Jia Ming. She went to get water twice and went to the bathroom once. The last time she got out of bed, she walked to Jia Ming’s bed, moved a stool, sat down, then pulled Jia Ming’s hand and lay down next to him, falling into a deep sleep. It seemed that having Jia Ming by her side, she didn’t wake up naturally again this time. When Jia Ming opened his eyes, his black hair flowed over the white sheets. The moonlight outside was beautiful, shining in like silver dust. He used his other hand to stroke Sha Sha’s hair. Then Ling Jing on the other side woke up, lying sideways on the bed, watching the scene.

It’s ultimately not good for people to sleep while sitting by the bedside. Jia Ming and Ling Jing talked softly, then asked Ling Jing to hug Sha Sha and go back to bed. Ling Jing came over and gently patted Sha Sha’s shoulder, but she didn’t wake up. After waiting for a while, Ling Jing reached out and picked up Sha Sha’s legs, slipping her other arm under her armpit—after all, she had learned martial arts, and Sha Sha wasn’t heavy, so it was no problem to pick her up.

Suddenly, Sha Sha let out a gasp, startling both Jia Ming and Ling Jing.

Hoarse, weak, and heart-wrenching, Sha Sha cried out, “Uuuh!” The moment she was picked up, Jia Ming suddenly felt the hand holding his tighten. Then, large tears welled up in her eyes. While muttering incomprehensible words, her hand went wild, grabbing at Jia Ming, through the blanket, hitting his chest wound several times. She pulled whatever she could, whether it was the blanket, the bed sheet, or Jia Ming’s body, and finally, she hugged Jia Ming tightly, babbling incomprehensible words, wailing.

Jia Ming had only seen this situation once before in Sha Sha.

That time, when they were caught by Cao Dongfeng and his son, Cao Dongfeng beat Jia Ming, and Sha Sha’s hands and feet were tied to a chair. She struggled and cried on the chair, then finally, she fell to the ground with the chair, crying for mercy as she moved the chair inch by inch towards Jia Ming, dragging a long trail on the ground. This situation seemed similar.

Sha Sha’s palm hitting his chest was naturally painful. She held him tightly, as if she had used all her strength. However, listening to her cries, Jia Ming suddenly felt helpless. No amount of experience could help him deal with the situation. Ling Jing gently stroked Sha Sha’s back, “She’s having a nightmare…” Her voice was also choked with sobs. Then, she turned to Jia Ming, with a crying tone, uttered the first complaint she’d made in days, “You’re a jerk…”

Soon, Sha Sha woke up. The two girls frantically checked Jia Ming’s chest. Sha Sha cried, apologizing, saying she didn’t mean to. No one ever mentioned this incident again. There are things in this world that are best kept in memory, not spoken of.

…

…

Ya Han came to the hospital the day after the surgery, then she came again on the third day, then the fifth day, the eighth day, and then stopped coming. Maybe she was busy organizing the opening of Sacred Heart Academy, or maybe she saw the haggard faces of Ling Jing and Sha Sha, their playful, smiling faces.

She always said the same things, saying thank you, saying sorry, saying she shouldn’t have said or done those things before, saying she would still accept her as a friend, and so on. Occasionally, when Ling Jing and Sha Sha left, she would sit by the bed, looking silent, with a complicated expression, as if she wanted to say something out of place, but she couldn’t say it in the end. The feelings between her and Jia Ming were the most chaotic ones Jia Ming had experienced since his rebirth. He couldn’t put on a pretense in front of Ya Han, perhaps he was even more awkward than her. In a way, he was also experiencing a small part of Yuan Lai Chao Chuang’s feelings.

However, no matter what, they were friends again. It didn’t mean much, but they wouldn’t be too cold to each other when they met at school. What a boring thing to do—he didn’t like this feeling, but knives, guns, and killing skills were obviously powerless against it.

Liu Zheng was actively preparing to fight the San Qing Gang. But after a few days, the other side initiated peace talks. Huawei lowered his stance, and after some negotiations, Liu Zheng, who had been prepared to fight to the death, agreed. After all, they finally confirmed that the Scarred Man’s incident was not orchestrated by them. The feud between the two gangs was temporarily resolved. Whether Ye Lian and the rest of the National Security agents played a role in this, Jia Ming, who was in the hospital, had no way of knowing. He didn’t want Liu Zheng to cause a big fuss for him. If he found out later that the San Qing Gang had indeed instructed the Scarred Man to find Ya Han and kill her, he could do it anytime.

薰 returned to Jiang Hai on the third afternoon. She was wearing bandages on her hands and seemed to have some trouble walking. They didn’t talk much. Later, Jia Ming lay in bed reading a newly released martial arts novel, ignoring her. 薰 just sat by the bedside, quietly watching Jia Ming’s every move. Her suitcase with not much luggage was placed beside her. If someone looked closely, they might see a trace of satisfaction in 薰’s slightly softened expression. Only in front of Jia Ming did she show such an expression.

Here are some excerpts from their brief conversations:

“What happened to your hands and feet?”

“Fought with my family.”

“Training? I thought Tian Yu Zheng would find a way to let you avoid it? Did you deliberately get injured? Trying to hide your strength?”

Shaking her head…

“Then I’m quite disappointed. You should be able to completely win your family’s training, with full force. It’s basically a one-on-one fight, they won’t gang up on you.”

“… Is Master Gu concerned for me?”

“Of course I’m concerned for your strength, but… if you decide to make me your first plaything, I think you can be more subtle. I seem to like subtle girls.”

“Yes…”

After that, 薰 came every day. She didn’t communicate much with Jia Ming, occasionally helping him get meals or peeling an apple. She actually talked more with Ling Jing and Sha Sha. Dongfang Wan also came twice. Her factory had opened, and it had rained heavily for the past few days, causing a landslide next to the factory, but luckily, it wasn’t a big problem. She told Jia Ming not to worry and to just recover well. Heaven is my witness, Jia Ming never worried about the factory. Dongfang Lu came once. Ling Jing apologized to him, saying that she was a little agitated the day Jia Ming got hurt and shouldn’t have thrown away his clothes.

Later, in September.

The new semester began, sophomore year.

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter