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Chen Yuncheng didn’t know if it was his own psychological effect, but when he came out of the shop after the mutton soup in the evening, he really felt that his whole body was getting warm, so he left his down jacket open and unzipped the whole time.
Ning Junyan also opened his jacket. He walked beside Chen Yuncheng, and even if he didn’t speak, he still had a strong sense of presence.
It was neither too early nor too late. Chen Yuncheng was reluctant to go back to the hotel and stayed in the same room with Ning Junyan. He said, “I’ll go to Zhou Yan’s house again.” If his father was working or had something else to do in the afternoon, he should probably be back by evening.
Ning Junyan said, “As you wish.”
They took a walk to the neighbourhood where Zhou Yan’s parents lived. Although it was already dark, the gate of the neighbourhood was still half-open, allowing anyone to come and go as they pleased.
There were not many people walking in winter, and there were not many pedestrians in the neighbourhood. The area of this neighbourhood was not large, and the greenery was even more pitiful. There was only a dilapidated small garden in the middle of several buildings and a dozen trees planted around the garden. There were very few street lamps in the garden, but only a few, separated by a long distance from each other, and a large part of the garden was hidden in the darkness.
Instead of going upstairs, they stood downstairs in the unit and looked up.
The window of the house they visited in the afternoon was still off at this time, it didn’t look like someone had come back, and the window next to it should also belong to the same house. At this time, it was blocked by trees, and there was no light coming through from Chen Yuncheng’s line of sight.
A little undeterred, Chen Yuncheng stepped on the concrete fence of the flower bed, took a few steps forward and finally found a suitable angle. When he saw that the window was still pitch black, he sighed secretly and said, “There is still no one there.”
After he said that, Chen Yuncheng jumped down from the flower bed. His right foot landed on the ground while his left foot happened to step on a broken brick near the flower bed, the brick slid a little and his foot twisted with it.
He couldn’t help but let out a low, muffled grunt.
Ning Junyan turned to look at him, “What’s wrong?”
Chen Yuncheng felt really stupid. He really didn’t want to appear so stupid in front of Ning Junyan, and said, “Nothing, I think I stepped on a brick.”
Ning Junyan had already walked in front of him, the light was too dark, and no one could see if there was a brick on the ground. Ning Junyan just stretched out his foot, looking for something to kick away, and then asked him, “Twisted it?”
Chen Yuncheng said, “Well, it’s not serious.”
Ning Jun extended his hand to hold his arm and asked, “Do you want to take a look first?”
Chen Yuncheng said, “It’s fine, it’s not very painful. It’s not convenient here. Let’s look at it when we get back.”
Ning Junyan said, “Okay.” But he didn’t let go.
Chen Yuncheng tried to take a step and found that although it was painful. He could walk, but he didn’t dare to put more force on his left foot. He said to Ning Junyan, “I can walk.”
Ning Junyan slowly let go of his hand and asked him, “Do you need me to carry you?”
Chen Yuncheng immediately refused, “Of course not, it’s not that bad.”
He limped out of the neighbourhood with Ning Junyan, called a taxi with his mobile phone, and did not insist on walking back to the hotel.
When they returned to the room, Chen Yuncheng felt that his ankle seemed to be more swollen than before. He wasn’t sure, so he sat down beside the bed and wanted to take off his shoes to have a look.
Ning Junyan turned on the heater in the room, stood by the bed, took off his jacket and threw it on the bed, then squatted in front of Chen Yuncheng, holding the ankle of his sprained foot.
Chen Yuncheng was taken aback, and a conditioned reflex forced him to retract his feet. He had been wearing sneakers all day today, and he was still wearing cotton socks on his feet. Although he looked clean, he really didn’t want to stick his foot out in front of Ning Junyan like this.
Ning Junyan didn’t seem to care at all. When Chen Yuncheng retracted his foot, he slightly released his hand as if he didn’t want to grab his sprained ankle. However, Ning Jungyang held Chen Yuncheng’s foot again, and Chen Yuncheng couldn’t pull it out again if he tried.
“Let me see,” Ning Junyan’s tone was low and calm as he looked up at Chen Yuncheng, “Can’t the doctor take a look?”
Chen Yuncheng looked down at him, pursed his lips, and said, “I’ll go wash it first.”
Ning Junyan lowered his eyes to look at his feet and said, “No need.” Then he took off Chen Yuncheng’s socks directly.
Chen Yuncheng felt his rough, warm palm slide across his feet, and it tickled him instantly, but he couldn’t avoid it. Ning Junyan’s expression was very serious, and there was no extra movement when he held his feet. If he were avoiding it, it would look ambiguous instead.
It was just that when Ning Junyan turned his feet to take a closer look at his ankles, the touch of his fingers touching the soles of his feet was too unbearable that he was a little nervous, so much so that his heart beat faster along with it.
The heating started to work, and the temperature of the room gradually increased. Chen Yuncheng was still wearing his down jacket and hadn’t had time to take it off, and a thin layer of sweat had formed on his forehead.
Ning Junyan squeezed his ankle, turned his foot, then raised his head and asked, “Does it hurts a lot?”
Chen Yuncheng said, “It’s fine. It’s bearable.”
Ning Junyan nodded, “The bones didn’t get hurt, but the swelling is quite bad, and it might be difficult to walk for a short time.”
Chen Yuncheng said to him, “It’s okay, I can endure it.”
Ning Junyan watched him silently for a while, then gently put his feet on the shoes on the ground and said, “There is no need to endure in front of me.”
Chen Yuncheng didn’t expect to hear such a sentence suddenly, and he was a little startled.
Ning Junyan said, “Just like at that time no one could beat you in front of me, now as long as you are in front of me, you don’t have to endure anything. Just tell me if it hurts.”
Chen Yuncheng stared at him in a daze and didn’t say anything for a long time.
Ning Junyan stood up and said, “I’m going to buy medicine for you and buy the toothbrush and towel for tonight on the way. Do you need anything else?”
Chen Yuncheng suddenly came back to his senses and said, “Nothing more.”
Ning Junyan nodded, washed his hands in the bathroom, returned to the bed, picked up his coat and room key, and walked outside.
Chen Yuncheng heard the soft sound of the door closing, but he was still sitting beside the bed, thinking about Ning Junyan’s sentences repeatedly in his head.
After a while, he remembered that he should take off his jacket, stood up and limped into the bathroom, wanting to take a shower first.
As he walked into the bathroom, Chen Yuncheng remembered that he didn’t bring anything and he had to wait for Ning Junyan to buy new towels, so he limped back to the bed and sat down, not wanting to watch TV anymore, Chen Yuncheng sat on the bed He turned his head and stared at the dark sky outside the window in a daze.
Ning Junyan went out for more than 20 minutes and came back to the hotel from outside. He brought two plastic bags, one containing daily necessities bought in the supermarket and the other containing the medicine for bruises bought for Chen Yuncheng.
Chen Yuncheng got up from the bed, took the towel and toothbrush, walked to the bathroom, and said, “I’ll take a shower first.”
Ning Junyan stood there watching him limping, raised his hand to take off his jacket, and asked at the same time, “Do you want me to help?”
“No!” Chen Yuncheng replied immediately. Chen Yuncheng immediately replied as he went into the bathroom and hesitated for a moment after closing the door, and locked the door from the inside.