WHCTIL - 21

Qin Tang’s breathing was labored, her face pale, and her body growing weaker by the second. She was running purely on willpower now, her legs gradually faltering.

The man who had dealt with the two ambushers outside had already resolved the trouble. Seeing Jiang Chuan pulling Qin Tang along while several burly men wielding iron bars and long knives were chasing them from the basement exit, he shouted urgently: “Jiang, hurry!”

The next moment, Qin Tang’s knees buckled, and she collapsed forward.

Jiang Chuan reacted swiftly, turning around just in time to catch her in his arms. Without a second thought, he scooped her up, one hand supporting the back of her knees as he held her horizontally.

Qin Tang clutched at his shirtfront, moaning softly in discomfort.

Jiang Chuan glanced down at her, noticing her pale complexion, furrowed brows, and gasping mouth. His heart sank as he tightened his grip, calling out to her: “Qin Tang.”

The little figure in his arms let out faint whimpers, feeling nauseous from the jolts as he ran.

Jiang Chuan lowered his head, brushing his chin against her forehead briefly before quickening his pace.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Carbon monoxide poisoning.”

“What? How did she get poisoned?”

Burning all that paint without proper ventilation had produced thick smoke. She had been too close and must have inhaled a significant amount of toxic fumes.

Jiang Chuan pressed his lips together tightly, his strides growing faster. “Where’s the car?”

“Just around the corner.”

Rounding the corner, several men came rushing towards them—his own people.

Jiang Chuan, still carrying Qin Tang, passed them by, saying: “I leave this to you guys.”

Zhao Qian’s group consisted of over ten men, most of whom were injured. Seeing reinforcements arriving for Jiang Chuan, their leader coldly ordered: “That’s enough. Stop pursuing them.”

The targets had already fled far away, and with some of their men dragging behind, further pursuit would be futile.

...

Jiang Chuan carried Qin Tang back to the car and immediately laid her flat on the backseat. Qin Tang’s breathing was rapid, her cheeks pale yet flushed unnaturally, her hands cold and limp like water. Jiang Chuan gently patted her face, his voice hoarse: “Qin Tang...”

The response he received was Qin Tang’s increasingly labored breathing.

Jiang Chuan quickly got into the car, shut the door, and sternly told the driver: “To the hospital! Open all the windows!”

He slightly lifted Qin Tang’s neck to let her lean against his leg, ensuring her airway remained as open as possible.

“Drive faster!”

“Alright!”

In the dim light, Jiang Chuan’s face was shadowed, his lips pressed tightly together. He looked down at her, using his fingers to brush away a few strands of hair from her cheek, softly calling her name: “Qin Tang...”

Aside from the sound of the wind rushing through the open windows, all he could hear was Qin Tang’s rapid breathing.

Jiang Chuan furrowed his brows, closed his eyes briefly, then tilted her chin up. With his thumb and forefinger pinching her cheeks, he took a deep breath, leaned down, and pressed his lips firmly against her soft ones. After a moment, he pinched her nose and blew air into her mouth.

Without pausing, Jiang Chuan repeated the process several times until her breathing gradually slowed.

Suddenly, a faint cough.

Jiang Chuan stopped, releasing her nose, his dark eyes fixed intently on her.

Qin Tang frowned, coughed a few times, her long lashes fluttering as she slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze, pure and innocent like that of a newborn, looked somewhat bewildered at the face so close to hers. The face had cuts on the brow bone, jaw, and corner of the mouth, yet it remained rugged and handsome, with a hint of wildness hidden in those dark eyes.

“What... are you doing?” she asked weakly in a small voice.

A smirk tugged at the corner of Jiang Chuan’s lips as he slowly raised his head, looking down at her with a teasing glint in his eye. “If you hadn’t reacted, I would’ve had to give you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

Qin Tang gasped sharply, glaring at him. “You wouldn’t dare… I’ll hit you…”

Her soft, feeble voice sounded like a kitten’s mewl, gently scratching at Jiang Chuan’s heart. His tongue brushed against the corner of his lips, tasting a hint of blood. It was like a wolf catching the scent of blood—his blood boiled uncontrollably.

Jiang Chuan lifted her head slightly, adjusting her position. He smiled faintly. “Are you feeling better?”

Qin Tang took a deep breath. Her face was still pale but tinged with red, her head spinning. She nodded slowly.

Her eyes shifted to him, and she whispered, “Your lip… it’s bleeding…”

The car came to a stop at a red light before the crosswalk. The neon lights from the streets bathed her fair face in colorful hues. Her lips were a faint pink, with a few streaks of red at the corners—his blood.

Jiang Chuan gazed down at her, his dark eyes unreadable. After a long moment, he suddenly smiled strangely, pinching her chin and wiping the corner of her mouth firmly with his thumb.

“There’s paint on your face,” he said.

Qin Tang frowned. “...”

She had no idea what was going on.

Jiang Chuan raised his hand, wiping the corner of his own mouth with his thumb. He glanced at the blood on his fingertip and chuckled again.

Qin Tang blinked, unsure why he was laughing. She didn’t have the energy to think about it further as the headache, dizziness, palpitations, and nausea returned. Once the car started moving again, she slipped back into unconsciousness.

---

At the hospital, Jiang Chuan carried her inside.

After the doctor examined her, they concluded it was only mild poisoning, and her fainting spell was temporary. She would wake up soon.

Qin Tang lay peacefully asleep on the hospital bed, an IV drip hanging beside her.

Jiang Chuan watched her for a moment before stepping out of the room.

A nurse followed him, noticing his injuries, and softly suggested, “Sir, you should get your wounds treated.”

Jiang Chuan glanced at her. “Mm, I’ll take care of it in a bit.”

He turned to the man standing outside the ward, wearing a blue T-shirt, and said, “Thanks.”

Cao Yan smiled. “We’re all brothers; no need to thank me. Besides, saving people is my job.”

He glanced into the room. “How’s the girl doing?”

Jiang Chuan reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled cigarette pack. The cigarettes inside were bent out of shape. He fished out one that was still intact but then remembered smoking wasn’t allowed in the hospital. With a shrug, he tossed the entire pack into the nearby trash bin. “She’s fine.”

Cao Yan chuckled. “I didn’t expect this girl to be so bold. Our guys said they wanted to send her back, but she insisted on coming to find you.”

Jiang Chuan paused. “She insisted on coming?”

Cao Yan nodded. “Yeah. Luckily, she did. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have found you so quickly.”

Jiang Chuan hadn’t expected her to have the guts to come back for him. He thought of her standing amidst the flames, her appearance disheveled and dirty, and felt something stir within him. His eyes darkened, and he smirked faintly.

He had underestimated this girl. She really had guts.

Cao Yan laughed loudly. “Never thought you’d be saved by a little girl this time.”

“Mm, I owe her my life.”

Cao Yan waved it off. “Not quite. She just found you twenty minutes earlier than us. You definitely could’ve held on longer. Even if we hadn’t found you, you’d have found a way out.”

Jiang Chuan chuckled but didn’t respond.

He did have a plan—to negotiate terms with Zhao Qianhe—but that wasn’t his intention.

Cao Yan asked, “When are you heading back?”

Jiang Chuan twirled a cigarette between his fingers. “Once she’s better.”

Cao Yan said, “Zhao Qianhe’s basement has been sealed. He probably won’t make any moves in the short term, but just in case, I’ll leave a couple of guys here to keep watch. Get your injuries treated.”

“I’m heading back.”

After Cao Yan left, the men he left behind stood guard outside the ward.

The ward was a double room. Jiang Chuan lay on the other bed, letting the nurse tend to his various wounds.

After a while, he asked, “Does your hospital have any banana oil?”

The nurse asked, “Is it for removing paint?”

Qin Tang’s hands were covered in paint. When Jiang Chuan had rushed in carrying her earlier, the nurses assumed they were a couple.

Jiang Chuan nodded. The nurse replied, “Use olive oil instead. Apply some to the painted areas, rub it in, let it soak for a few minutes, then wash it off with soap. It’s gentler on the skin.”

“Does the hospital have olive oil?”

“No…”

“Alright, I understand.”

“Oh, wait! I think we do. Let me go find some for you.”

---

Jiang Chuan’s T-shirt was dirty and smelly, so he decided not to wear it. Shirtless, he sat by Qin Tang’s bedside and gently picked up her hand.

The woman’s hands were small and soft, and when he squeezed her fingers, it felt as if they had no bones.

Jiang Chuan squeezed for a while. The paint on her hands had long since dried, even filling the gaps under her nails. He poured out some olive oil and rubbed it onto her hands, making them shiny. After letting it soak for a while, he washed them with soap.

Once one hand was clean, he moved to the other.

His movements were meticulous and gentle, careful not to wake her.

Just as Jiang Chuan lifted the basin of water, his peripheral vision caught sight of her black hair scattered across the white pillow, stained with green and red paint.

He smiled helplessly, set down the basin, and began washing the paint out of her hair.

After all, he owed her.

...

The next morning, at around ten o’clock, Qin Tang woke up feeling much better.

She glanced at the ceiling and smelled the disinfectant, immediately realizing she was in the hospital.

Qin Tang propped herself up on the bed and looked around.

Jiang Chuan wasn’t there, and she didn’t know where he had gone. She didn’t have her phone either, so she couldn’t call him.

Surely, he wouldn’t just leave her here alone?

Jiang Chuan pushed open the door and came in, seeing her sitting on the bed lost in thought. Hearing the sound, Qin Tang quickly looked up.

Jiang Chuan placed toiletries, porridge, steamed buns, and milk on the table, then looked down at her. “Still feeling nauseous?”

Qin Tang replied, “Much better.”

Jiang Chuan nodded. “If you’re feeling better, eat something.”

Qin Tang acknowledged with an “Oh,” then got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up.

When she turned on the faucet, she realized her nails had been trimmed, smooth and rounded, each finger pale and clean.

Qin Tang assumed the nurse had helped remove the paint, so after washing up, she came out to eat. She was starving.

After finishing her meal, Qin Tang looked at Jiang Chuan, who was resting on the other bed, and asked, “When are we going back?”

Jiang Chuan’s long legs were casually draped over the bed. He glanced at her. “Tomorrow.”

Qin Tang thought about last night’s events and asked curiously, “Does your car’s navigation system have GPS?”

Jiang Chuan: “Mm.”

The black jeep had a GPS navigation system. Cao Yan followed Jiang Chuan to the development zone based on the GPS coordinates. They retrieved Jiang Chuan’s phone left in the car, and after Qin Tang was released, they planned a car accident to rescue her.

“What else?” Qin Tang asked.

Jiang Chuan: “My phone can track your location.”

Qin Tang remembered that during their time in Yulin, after she was lured into an alley by Zhao Qianhe, Jiang Chuan’s phone had been set to track everyone’s phones. This was standard procedure; whenever they traveled to remote mountainous areas, they would bind their phones and exchange numbers to locate each other in case someone got lost.

Jiang Chuan originally intended to use this tracking feature to find Qin Tang’s exact location, but her phone had been turned off, making it impossible to locate her.

Qin Tang tilted her head, recalling how he had glanced at her shattered phone earlier. “Were you trying to remind me that the starting point is also the endpoint, right?”

Jiang Chuan raised an eyebrow. “Still pretty smart.”

Qin Tang glared at him.

After a moment, Qin Tang asked, “When did you find out I’m the director of An Yi Foundation?”