Qin Jian, who had been sitting calmly in the car, suddenly couldn’t stay put any longer and hurriedly ordered Liu Jun to stop the car.
He opened the door, jumped out, and ran towards Tian Niu with rapid strides, covering the distance as if three steps became two.
"What’s happened to her?" Qin Jian asked loudly.
"Commander, your wife has injured her leg," Tian Niu raised his chin, "You should check it out, see if it’s serious."
Qin Jian quickly rolled up her pant leg to look and saw her knee was badly scraped, a bloody mess.
His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly took An Hao from Tian Niu’s arms, "I’ll take her away. If there’s anything at school, just let me know!"
As Qin Jian carried An Hao towards the car, Liu Jun quickly came down holding an umbrella to meet them.
He placed An Hao, who was soaking wet, in the car, and shouted through the window to the company commander they had just passed, "Take the troops back for me!"
As the car drove away, the troops from the third company were accustomed to such events, but the students were unclear about An Hao’s relationship with Commander Qin.
Seeing An Hao being picked up by a car caused a stir among the ranks.
"Sounded like they called him ’commander’ or something!"
"Could it be An Hao’s brother?"
"Who knows! It might as well be her lover!"
"Shut your mouths! Start running! If I hear any more gossip, you’ll be doing a hundred push-ups back at base!"
In the car, An Hao leaned on the seat, her knee throbbing with sharp pain that made her shiver uncontrollably.
"Does it hurt a lot?" Qin Jian, seeing her lips turn white from biting, looked at her with a pained expression.
"Mhm," An Hao nodded, fearing she might have shattered her knee cap in that fall.
"You must not get distracted looking around during training! You must pay attention to this issue!" Qin Jian sternly lectured An Hao, feeling relieved that at least her bones were intact. If the injury had involved a bone, he would have been devastated.
"It’s because I saw you! If you hadn’t come this way, I wouldn’t have seen you at all, and naturally, I wouldn’t have been distracted by you," An Hao, already in pain, suddenly felt wronged by his stern teaching.
"Blaming me now? It’s lucky it was just a small pit! What if it had been a big one? An Hao, I’m not scolding you, I’m reasoning with you!" Qin Jian’s voice rose slightly.
"Is it necessary to be so stern when reasoning with me? And raising your voice like that!" An Hao, accustomed to Qin Jian’s generally silent but tender attitude towards her, was taken aback by his scolding and felt unable to accept it, her eyes reddening.
Qin Jian realized that his anxiety made him too stern and frightened her, so he quickly adjusted his tone and said to her, "I’m sorry, I was a bit too anxious just now! I raised my voice, don’t mind it."
"I don’t mind!" An Hao turned her face away, refusing to look at him.
Qin Jian turned her face towards him and saw her eyes were red, shimmering with unshed tears.
"Why are you crying? Did I scare you?"
"I’m not!" An Hao denied it.
Qin Jian also felt guilty for having been too harsh earlier and scaring her, "How about you scold me for a change? I promise I won’t talk back, okay?"
"Commander Qin, I didn’t realize you were such a talker before," An Hao said with a laugh, her tears subsiding.
"So you’re not upset anymore?"
"Mhm," An Hao nodded, "It was just a momentary discomfort in my heart."
Qin Jian breathed a sigh of relief and raised his hand to touch An Hao’s cheek, "Do you know what I’m most afraid of?"