Jiang Youzhi, not hearing any disdain from Yun Jiao, felt a sense of relief, and for a moment, all his senses were focused on the skin of his thigh. He only felt that wherever her palm touched was warm, soft, and slippery, seemingly carrying an indescribable fragrance.
A vague thought arose in his mind: if only those hands could linger on his leg a little longer.
Yun Jiao, unaware of Jiang Youzhi’s thoughts, carefully touched his leg bone, feeling it back and forth several times.
Jiang Youzhi’s heart rose and fell along with her hand movements.
After finishing her examination, Yun Jiao smiled with delight, "Luckily, the bone didn’t grow crooked."
Jiang Youzhi’s dreamy thoughts were finally brought back. He whispered, "Does that mean I won’t be limping?"
Yun Jiao, while re-binding his splint, shook her head, "It’s too early to say anything now. Just because it’s not crooked now doesn’t mean it won’t be later. Anyway, nothing can be certain until the bone is fully healed."
"Just be careful yourself, don’t move around unnecessarily. If the splint loosens, call me immediately to fix it again."
Jiang Youzhi nodded, just about to say something, when a young man’s voice came from outside the courtyard, "Is Brother Jiang home—"
Jiang Youzhi’s expression changed. It was Zheng Juren’s voice.
Then Xu Zhizhong’s voice also sounded, "Auntie, Brother Zheng and Brother Zhou and I came specifically to visit Youzhi."
Then there was a knock on the door, followed by Mrs. Chen’s voice, "Youzhi, your classmates came to see you. Why is the door closed? Who’s in there?"
In the chaos, Jiang Youzhi and Yun Jiao exchanged a glance.
Both their faces turned red at the same time.
In broad daylight, an unmarried man and woman in a room with the door bolted–if someone found out, they could hardly explain themselves.
Yun Jiao was a bit flustered but her hands remained steady. She tied the last knot, considering whether she should temporarily hide under the bed, when she heard Jiang Youzhi whisper, "The kitchen door should be unlocked; you can exit from there."
Upon hearing this, Yun Jiao felt like her head was only for show.
Jiang Youzhi’s room was connected to both the main hall and a converted kitchen. How could she forget that?
Without bothering to pull down Jiang Youzhi’s robe, she stood up and whispered, "I’ll head out now. In a while, I’ll have Ah Tie come from the kitchen to open the door."
Jiang Youzhi nodded, and Yun Jiao quickly opened the door to the kitchen and stepped out.
At this moment, she heard Jiang Youzhi answering from inside the room, "Mother, Ah Tie is helping me change my clothes. Please ask the gentlemen to wait a moment."
Yun Jiao then turned to look at Ah Tie, who was sitting on a small stool reading a book.
He was so absorbed in his reading that he was completely unaware of what had just happened outside.
Yun Jiao had no choice but to go over and shake him, "Go to Sanlang’s room and open the door. If anyone asks, just say you were just helping him change his clothes."
"Once the door is open, you come out that way."
In Ah Tie’s mind, Yun Jiao was like a deity. Whatever she said, he would never question.
He opened the kitchen door and went over, and Yun Jiao quickly closed the door behind him.
Inside the room, Jiang Youzhi had already pulled down his robe, covered himself with the quilt, and even arranged his facial expression.
When Xu Zhizhong and Zheng Juren entered, they saw a young man with drooping eyes, seemingly devoid of hope and ambition.
However, Jiang Youzhi had been sitting every day without moving lately, eating well, and appeared to have gained quite a bit of weight, which combined with that expression made him look quite peculiar.