Orange Storm chapter 11
Privilege
The car windows were all closed, creating a distinct separation between the inside and outside worlds. Outside, there was a bustling crowd of people, while inside the car, Fang Xing stared at Jiang Zhijin, his mind a bit overwhelmed.
Look at his waist? How do you do that, lift up his clothes directly? At least, he should take off his school uniform first. What was he wearing inside today? Oh, a shirt.
Fang Xing subconsciously glanced outside the window.
…There were indeed quite a lot of people outside.
Just as he was hesitating, Jiang Zhijin suddenly spoke again, “Forget it.”
He turned his head without looking at Fang Xing again, “let’s go directly to the hospital.”
“…Oh okay.” Fang Xing nodded.
On the way, Jiang Zhijin’s car was driving fast. Fang Xing remained silent all the way, and finally, he coughed, asking the question Jiang Zhijin hadn’t answered before.
“When did you come to the school?”
“After receiving your message. I thought you might have encountered something, turns out I was right.”
After Jiang Zhijin finished speaking, he chuckled lightly, “I was worried that those idiots might rush to the school to find you, or cause some trouble at the school gate. That’s not good for you. I thought I’d keep an eye on you—was in a hurry, acted foolishly. The security at the high School is pretty strict; they shouldn’t have been able to get in.”
Fang Xing didn’t say anything.
“Worried that they might come to the school to find you, causing trouble that’s not good for you.”
Someone actually felt this way.
He then thought of the mother and son at Chaocheng High School. They had only stayed at the school for 10 minutes, or was it 15 minutes? Anyway, the time was very short. But in just an afternoon, this incident had spread to the lower grades, higher grades, and then the entire school. Even the nearby schools had people asking, “I heard there’s a woman with a child kneeling down in your school, who is that student, so amazing.”
Inevitably, Fang Chenglin and Zhou Ling knew about it, and they had a fierce quarrel at home, accusing each other of having an affair, being shameless, neglecting the family, neglecting the company… The quarrel lasted quite a while, approximately the time Fang Xing spent doing two English papers and twelve physics questions for the college entrance exam alone.
They used this incident as a weapon to attack each other, and no one came upstairs to ask Fang Xing whether he was okay or if there would be trouble at school because of this incident.
The first person who was worried that something might happen at school that wouldn’t be good for him was Jiang Zhijin.
Because it was possible to happen, and he had stared at the school gate for three hours.
It felt a bit unbelievable, a bit subtle, a touch of emotion that he was unwilling to admit but definitely existed.
This complex and somewhat uncomfortable emotion lasted for a long time, until he suddenly didn’t know what to say. He didn’t speak until he saw the large red cross symbol of Shaojiang Hospital. Fang Xing forcibly opened his mouth and found a topic.
“Can you not smoke in the car in the future? please.”
“…”
Jiang Zhijin’s expression on his face couldn’t tell whether he was helpless or speechless. “Okay.”
Fang Xing felt that he and Jiang Zhijin were quite destined with Shaojiang Hospital. In less than half a month since coming to Shaojiang, he had been here three times. Perhaps, besides Jiang Zhijin’s home and school, it was the place he was most familiar with in Shaojiang.
When they arrived at the clinic, an elderly man who looked older was in charge. Seeing the two enter, he lifted his eyelids slightly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Bumped into a table corner, a bit painful.”
“Pull up your clothes and let me see.”
In the hospital, Fang Xing wasn’t so awkward anymore. Under the bright incandescent light, he unzipped his school uniform, then lifted his gray-blue shirt to expose a section of his waist.
The bruised area was quite large, entirely covered in blue and purple, looking quite frightening. Half of it was exposed, and half was hidden under the school pants.
The doctor took a glance, “Oh, bumped into something? You got hit by someone, right? Pull down your pants a bit.”
Fang Xing was stunned for a moment, pulled down a section of his pants to reveal the entire injury. In his mind, he thought: Fortunately, Jiang Zhijin didn’t insist on looking at the injury on his waist at the school.
Otherwise, the two of them would be lifting his clothes and taking off his pants in the car. If someone outside saw it, it might be in the news the next day. It might even be titled “Shocking! Two Men Actually Doing This in the Car!” or something like that.
Of course, Jiang Zhijin was still standing by the side, his gaze fixed on Fang Xing’s waist.
The bruise on the left side of the waist, from Fang Xing’s hip bone up to below the rib, was probably the size of an adult’s palm. It was a mix of blue and purple, looking somewhat daunting. However, after Jiang Zhijin took a glance, he actually breathed a sigh of relief.
There was no bleeding, and no wounds.
Fang Xing didn’t pull down too much, just enough to reveal the extent of the injury but still showcasing his well-defined waistline.
The lines were sleek, with visible abdominal muscles, possibly developed from boxing training, clean without an ounce of excess fat, quite handsome.
Jiang Zhijin took a glance and then shifted his gaze away.
The old doctor pressed the area gently, “Does it hurt?”
“Not really.”
“How about here? Does it hurt?”
“A bit.”
Pressing several spots, the doctor withdrew his hand and started writing a prescription.
“It’s okay, it didn’t affect the internal organs. Just apply some medicine at home to promote blood circulation and resolve stasis.”
Jiang Zhijin on the side spoke up, “Can we take X-rays?”
“Sure.” The doctor looked Fang Xing up and down, “Now you’re getting nervous. Why didn’t you come earlier? This is the area below the kidneys. If something had happened, you would be crying by now.”
Fang Xing: “…”
This statement was too straightforward, leaving him unsure how to respond. Jiang Zhijin on the side turned his head first and laughed.
Not just a silent laugh but the kind where he couldn’t stop, and Fang Xing could hear the unrestrained laughter that he tried but failed to suppress. Even after leaving the examination room, Jiang Zhijin was still laughing.
“Is it that funny?” Fang Xing frowned at Jiang Zhijin.
“Not really.” Jiang Zhijin replied, then quickly turned his head, trying to conceal his face that was now like a sunflower.
Fang Xing gave up and asked, “Are we really taking X-rays?”
“Yes.” Jiang Zhijin looked at him, his lips still slightly curved. “Because you got beaten up for me, I have to take responsibility for your happiness and well being in the future.”
… Jiang Zhijin’s smiling face, combined with the suggestive homonym, made it hard not to have various wild thoughts. Even if he meant well, Fang Xing couldn’t help but want to hit him.
Can this person be serious for more than three minutes?
There were only the two of them taking X-rays in the middle of the night. The doctor on duty was efficient, analyzing for a while and still came to the same conclusion—nothing was wrong. Just take some medicine home and apply it.
After all the hassle, it was almost midnight by the time they returned home. Fang Xing wouldn’t be able to review tonight, so he put down his things and went to take a shower first.
He intentionally adjusted the water to be a bit hot, closed his eyes, and stood under the running water for a while, taking a deep breath. He lowered his head to examine his injury.
In fact, when stripped naked, aside from the waist, he had some bruises on his hands and legs, but they were not serious. Coupled with the severe pain in his waist at the time, he had directly ignored other parts of his body.
He used to have some bumps and bruises during boxing training, but they were protected, stopping at a certain point. This was the first time he had fought with someone so ruthlessly in a dark alley.
If Zhou Ling and Fang Chenglin knew about it, they might be shocked and faint. Zhou Ling would probably quickly communicate with the school about student safety issues, and Fang Chenglin would give him an hour of political class. Fang Xing thought about it, and his hands paused briefly while washing his hair.
Now they were both thousands of miles away, and they didn’t know anything about what had happened to him. Similarly, he didn’t know anything about them—whether Zhou Ling and Fang Chenglin had divorced, whether Fang Chenglin still lived at home, and how the child was doing, was he 7 or 8 years old…
He sighed as he closed his eyes in the hot water, deciding not to think about these messy things.
After taking a hot bath, Fang Xing felt alive again. When he came out of the bathroom, Jiang Zhijin was still in the living room. Seeing him come out, he spoke, “Take a day off tomorrow; I’ll call Tang Yi.”
“No need; it’s not a big deal.”
Seeing Jiang Zhijin looking at him, Fang Xing added, “Really, I have exams this Friday and Saturday. I have to go back to attend classes.”
“Okay.” Jiang Zhijin didn’t insist further. “Just take care of yourself.”
Seeing him nod, Jiang Zhijin asked again, “What did the person who attacked you look like?”
Fang Xing didn’t know how to describe him and could only give a rough description, “Three men, the leader looked around thirty, wearing a gold necklace, and covered in tattoos on his arms.”
The description was quite broad, but Jiang Zhijin nodded, “Got it.”
Fang Xing glanced at Jiang Zhijin and hesitated before speaking, “I was a bit harsh when I fought today… I hope it won’t cause trouble for you.”
After all, it was the first time he had fought with someone. Although he was sure he controlled his strength well, the opponent seemed quite tough, more involved in society than Jiang Zhijin. Fang Xing was worried that the fight today might lead to issues for Jiang Zhijin and his bar.
Bars were places where incidents were prone to occur.
Jiang Zhijin heard this, looked at Fang Xing, and finally sighed.
“You… am I not the one who caused trouble for you? What’s the point of being so polite? But don’t worry, I’ll handle this matter on my own. Besides…” Jiang Zhijin looked at him, “Fang Xing, as I said when you first came to Shaojiang, you don’t need to be so polite.”
Fang Xing recalled his words and actions since coming to Shaojiang and asked, “Am I really polite to you? I feel like sometimes I’m quite overbearing.”
Knocking on someone’s door early in the morning, and asking your host not to smoke his own car.
“It’s not the kind of politeness with ‘hello, thank you, sorry.’ It’s the politeness of establishing a zone around oneself, not allowing others in and not bothering to come out. I don’t like interacting with people, afraid of causing trouble to others, and also find others troublesome. So, I try to maintain distance from everyone and everything.”
Jiang Zhijin chuckled, “Actually, there’s no need to overthink it. I’m never afraid of trouble; otherwise, I wouldn’t have agreed for you to come to Shaojiang. So, that ‘zone’ you’ve set for yourself, let me take a peek. At least let me know what you like to eat, what you don’t, your daily habits, and even display some attitude like a high school student. You have privileges here with me, especially since I got injured.”
After Jiang Zhijin finished speaking, he paused briefly, then looked at Fang Xing word by word, “What I mean is, in front of me, you can be a bit arrogant.”
Fang Xing remained silent for a long time.
Before coming to Shaojiang, Zhou Ling had told him a lot about Jiang Zhijin—his background, personality, experiences, and his relationship with his family. Zhou Ling tried to make him believe that Jiang Zhijin would take good care of him. However, Fang Xing always had a clear self-perception.
He saw himself as someone who had to leave his hometown and live with someone else because of issues at home—a temporary resident.
His self-awareness was very clear.
From childhood to adolescence, he had been praised by others for being sensible, intelligent, and highly self-sufficient, needing no one to worry about him. However, faced with the revelation of his father’s affair and the sudden appearance of a possible half-brother awaiting a bone marrow transplant, he transferred to a school in another province during his senior year and waited at the airport for two hours with no one coming to pick him up—though, admittedly, Jiang Zhijin had a real emergency at that time…
A youth under eighteen, no matter how wise and mature, would find it hard not to feel a bit lonely and abandoned in such circumstances.
Yet today, Jiang Zhijin said he could be a bit arrogant because he had privileges with him.
Fang Xing’s eyes felt a bit warm. He quickly turned his head, took a deep breath, and then looked back at Jiang Zhijin.
“I’ve never heard anyone ask others to be a bit arrogant.”
Jiang Zhijin raised an eyebrow, “Pretending not to understand, huh?”
Fang Xing looked at him and smiled. After a while, he suddenly spoke, “This week’s exam is a monthly exam, quite important.”
This sentence came out of the blue, sounding abrupt. Fang Xing, seeming to have built up the courage for a while, coughed lightly before continuing.
“There might be a parent-teacher meeting, and if you have time, I might need you to come to the school.”
The sentence paused for a long time, using expressions like “might” and “if,” but Fang Xing still said it.
“Can you aim for the top ten in the grade?” Jiang Zhijin asked with a smile. “If not, I might not have the time.”
…This guy is really asking for a smack…
“Yes,” Fang Xing replied.
“Good,” said Jiang Zhijin.
A stone in Fang Xing’s heart seemed to have fallen, bringing an inexplicable sense of relief.
With the parent-teacher meeting topic settled, Jiang Zhijin handed him the medicine from the hospital. “Remember to apply the medicine in the bedroom before you sleep.”
“…” Fang Xing pointed at himself. “I have to do it myself.”
After such a heartfelt conversation, normally, wouldn’t it be appropriate to open the medicine and help him apply it?
Jiang Zhijin looked at him. “Of course, if you don’t find it awkward and want me to help you apply it, you can take your pants off now.”
Fang Xing grabbed the medicine from Jiang Zhijin’s hand, “I’ll do it myself.”
“Apply the medicine properly, and after that, get some sleep.” Jiang Zhijin looked at him, a slight smile on his face. “Good night.”
Author’s Note:
Question: Why didn’t Jiang Ge help Fang Xing apply the medicine?