Qiao Jing pressed her lips together with a hint of resignation and did not speak right away.
It seemed that she couldn’t keep it from Zhan Qipei after all.
Zhan Qipei had Qiao Jing sit on the sofa, immediately found the first-aid kit, and sat down beside her.
When he leaned in and saw the wound on Qiao Jing’s skin clearly, his brows furrowed even tighter.
"Why is there glass?"
He had originally thought the wound might just be a scrape that could be disinfected and bandaged, but now upon closer examination, he noticed small and large shards of glass embedded in it.
However, the first-aid kit did not have any tweezers to remove the glass fragments from the wound.
Qiao Jing glanced at Zhan Qipei’s deeply knotted brows and began to speak slowly:
"An accident, I didn’t expect to get hurt either. For the tweezers, go to my room, you’ll find them in the first-aid kit under the desk."
Her intention had been to treat her injury herself and then act uninjured when Zhan Qipei came back, pretending that it was just a minor conflict.
But when she saw Zhan Qipei’s travel-worn appearance, clearly distressed on her behalf, a softened spot in her heart was touched, causing a stir in the depths of her eyes.
She knew that Zhan Qipei was someone who normally cared a great deal about his appearance.
However, now for her sake, he had repeatedly neglected his image.
She couldn’t say she wasn’t moved, she wouldn’t even believe herself.
Zhan Qipei’s dark eyes sank again, but he didn’t stay to ask questions right then and instead went to Qiao Jing’s room. After quickly finding the tweezers, he hurried out and sat down beside her again.
While treating Qiao Jing’s wound, a sense of guilt surged in his chest.
"Who did this? Are you injured anywhere else? Shall I take you to the hospital for a full-body check? Can you not dine with Lin Yun anymore? The two times you went to eat with him, both times there were incidents."
If he had known this would happen again, he wouldn’t have let Qiao Jing go out, or he would have accompanied her.
He shouldn’t have gone to deal with the contract in the next district at this time.
He had clearly promised before not to let such things happen again, yet now it had happened again, and just like last time, he couldn’t make it back in time.
Qiao Jing had long been accustomed to Zhan Qipei’s barrage of questions and had expected him to suggest taking her to the hospital.
"Don’t worry about this, I will take care of it, I’m not injured anywhere else, and Lin Yun didn’t want this to happen either, both times were accidents."
She had already indirectly caused Lin Yun to be suspended. She would take care of this matter soon and didn’t need Zhan Qipei’s help because she could handle it herself.
As for Zhan Qipei’s suggestion not to dine with Lin Yun, she knew he was placing the blame on Lin Yun.
After all, every meal she had with Lin Yun had been eventful, so it was understandable that Zhan Qipei was worried about her going out to eat with Lin Yun again.
Nonetheless, both incidents were indeed accidental, so she wouldn’t stop dining with Lin Yun because of this.
Zhan Qipei’s brows gathered like mist-covered mountains; he began gently extracting the glass fragments from Qiao Jing’s wound.
However, while removing the glass, he accidentally caught her clothes several times.
After a moment of hesitation, Zhan Qipei spoke up.
"Could you pull down your clothes a bit? It’s difficult to treat the wound ."
Qiao Jing looked at her wound and tried to roll the sleeve up to her shoulder.
But since the long-sleeved top she wore was somewhat tight-fitting, the sleeve wouldn’t go past her elbow.
Her movements stalled, and she reluctantly pulled her clothes back down.
Zhan Qipei also noticed that the sleeve cuff couldn’t be completely pulled up and furrowed his brows.
"I’ll go find some scissors to cut it."
At this moment, he couldn’t let Qiao Jing take off her clothes just to treat the wound more conveniently.
Otherwise, he definitely couldn’t focus on treating the woman’s wound.
After hearing Zhan Qipei’s words, Qiao Jing knitted her finely arched eyebrows and pursed her red lips.
The clothes she was wearing were relatively new, only a little torn by the bottle, which she could sew up and make look as good as new.
If it were cut with scissors, the hole would be larger and harder to mend.
Qiao Jing hesitated for a moment, then pulled down her collar slightly, revealing her shoulder and the wound.
"This way is more convenient, no need to cut."
She still wanted to wear that piece of clothing for a while, so it couldn’t just be cut and ruined.
Zhan Qipei didn’t expect Qiao Jing to actually pull down her collar and was taken aback. Upon seeing the delicate skin of the woman’s shoulder and the wound, his eyes immediately darkened.
The slightly fierce wound looked particularly jarring against the woman’s fair skin.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he sat down next to Qiao Jing again, striving to concentrate and carefully extracted the glass shards from her wound.
"If it hurts, tell me, and I’ll be more gentle."
Qiao Jing let out a faint "Mhm" and paid him no more mind, quietly allowing Zhan Qipei to treat her wound.
To her, this was not a serious injury at all. Earlier, she had involuntarily cried out only because Zhan Qipei had pressed down on it, otherwise she might have been able to keep it a secret.
The living room remained quiet, and Zhan Qipei could even more keenly smell the fragrance emanating from the woman. His dark eyes sank, and his throat became somewhat dry.
But when he smelled a trace of blood in the air, Zhan Qipei furrowed his brows, realizing he had almost been distracted.
He immediately suppressed his restless thoughts, pulled his mind back, and continued to tend to Qiao Jing’s wound.
After he had removed all the glass shards from the wound and placed them on the table, the temperature around Zhan Qipei dropped another degree.
"Who did this? I’ll take care of it for you."
There were at least a dozen pieces of glass embedded in Qiao Jing’s flesh!
He wouldn’t let go of anyone who hurt Qiao Jing!
Qiao Jing frowned, looking down at the man’s hands carefully dressing her wound.
"No need, I can handle it myself, don’t worry."
She could take care of it on her own, plus she happened to know some things Green Hair and his group had done, which would help her gather evidence more effectively.
Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly felt a tingling sensation on her shoulder.
Qiao Jing looked down towards Zhan Qipei and noticed that his hands had become somewhat clumsy, occasionally touching her shoulder.
With her shoulder now exposed to the air, combined with Zhan Qipei’s fingertips, which were slightly calloused, she couldn’t help but shrink her shoulder.
"Zhan Qipei, can you hurry up?"
At this moment, Zhan Qipei felt a bitterness he could not express. He wanted to hurry, but—