While the online discussion was in full swing, He Yan was at home, wrapped in her blanket, shivering.
Auntie Qian had given her fever-reducing medicine, but she still felt cold after taking it, curling up entirely in her bed, afraid to move.
At that moment, Jiang Mingcheng had just seen the news.
Watching the video of He Yan, soaked through, trembling slightly, yet with eyes still bright and clear, his heart ached as if pricked by needles.
He called He Yan. No answer.
He then called Auntie Qian and learned that He Yan was running a high fever.
Jiang Mingcheng pressed his lips tightly together, briefly briefed his assistant on work matters, and drove home.
Just as he opened the door, he saw He Yan slowly, painfully making her way down the stairs.
His expression instantly darkened. “Why did you come down?”
He Yan hadn’t expected Jiang Mingcheng to come home at this time. She was stunned for a few seconds before finally reacting. “My phone is in my coat. I came down to get it.”
Her pale hand pointed towards the clothes not far from Jiang Mingcheng.
Frowning, Jiang Mingcheng walked over, picked up the dirty coat, and took the phone out of the pocket.
Turning around, he saw He Yan had taken a few more steps down. His expression grew even darker. “Go back. I’ll bring your phone up for you.”
With that, he strode quickly towards He Yan.
He Yan’s mind was a bit foggy, her reactions slow. She nodded slowly, turned around slowly, but then her foot slipped, and her body started to tilt sideways.
Before she could even cry out in surprise, a pair of large hands caught her around the waist.
Cold, actually quite pleasant.
She turned her head and grinned at Jiang Mingcheng, who had caught her.
Jiang Mingcheng’s face was ashen. The skin beneath his hands was burning hot – her fever hadn’t gone down at all!
He scooped He Yan up in his arms, and despite her startled protests of “Hey? What are you doing?!”, he steadily carried her back to her room.
And tucked her back into bed.
He Yan grabbed the blanket and, with her feverish, red-rimmed eyes, held out her hand to Jiang Mingcheng. “Give me my phone.”
Jiang Mingcheng placed the phone in her palm and then tucked her hand back under the covers.
“Get some rest. You can call me if you need anything.”
With that, he turned and left the room to go find Auntie Qian.
He Yan secretly reached her hand out again, about to check if her phone had survived the trampling, when a call came through.
He Yan stared at the unfamiliar string of numbers. Her fever-slowed brain took an extra few seconds to process before she answered, and in her grogginess, afraid she wouldn’t hear clearly, she pressed the speakerphone button.
“Hello?” He Yan’s throat hurt from the fever.
“He Yan? Are you home? How are you feeling? Have you been to the hospital?” A slightly anxious male voice came through the phone.
He Yan squinted, thinking this person had a rather nice voice.
“I’m home, it’s nothing serious. But, who are you, please?”
“I’m Pei Yanchuan.”
Click—
The door opened, and Jiang Mingcheng walked in at that exact moment, just in time to hear this.
He Yan shot upright with a start.
“Ah, I’m fine, really. Thanks for your concern. I have things to do, gotta go, bye!” After saying this, she immediately hung up the call.
He Yan looked at Jiang Mingcheng somewhat guiltily and licked her slightly dry lips. “I’m not close to him! I don’t know how he got my number either. If you don’t believe me, look, he’s not even saved in my contacts!”
As she spoke, He Yan opened her call log and held the phone out towards Jiang Mingcheng.
But Jiang Mingcheng’s expression remained just as dark.
Great. Jiang Mingcheng definitely misunderstood. This Pei Yanchuan, why did he have to call at a time like this! Are we that close?
He Yan watched helplessly as Jiang Mingcheng, his face black, approached. With each step he took, it felt like another ten million was slipping away.
He Yan resigned herself to her fate, looking at him, waiting for him to declare the 100 million gone. But instead, she watched helplessly as he laid her back down and covered her with the blanket.
He Yan: ???
Jiang Mingcheng tucked the blanket around her and then felt her forehead with his hand to check her temperature. “I told you to lie down and not get up.”
His tone was still dry and emotionless.
He Yan looked up at him pitifully. “You didn’t misunderstand, did you?”
“No.”
He Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
After Jiang Mingcheng had tucked He Yan back into bed, he stood up and made way for Auntie Qian, who was behind him.
Auntie Qian was carrying a basin with a towel inside, and draped over her arm was a plastic bag containing rubbing alcohol and gauze.
“Let Auntie Qian give you a physical cool-down. It’ll make you feel more comfortable.”
“Oh, how does a physical cool-down work?”
“We use alcohol to wipe behind your ears, your palms, your armpits, and your groin area. It can lower your temperature,” Auntie Qian explained.
“Huh?” He Yan looked towards Jiang Mingcheng.
Jiang Mingcheng averted his eyes, a little embarrassed. “Then I’ll step out. Come get me when it’s done.”
“Oh my, what’s there to be shy about between a young couple! Besides, the heating is on, you don’t need to be wrapped up so tightly. Let’s start with the groin area.” As she spoke, Auntie Qian started lifting the blanket.
Jiang Mingcheng quickly turned around and hurried out the door.
He Yan’s face felt even hotter.
After Auntie Qian had finished treating He Yan, He Yan was tired and, aided by the medicine, fell into a deep sleep.
Only then did Jiang Mingcheng re-enter the room.
The blackout curtains in the room were drawn, with only a small lamp lit. Jiang Mingcheng walked slowly to the bedside, knelt down, and placed his hand on He Yan’s forehead.
Not hot anymore.
Relieved, Jiang Mingcheng quietly left the room again and hurried back to the company.
He Yan slept for a long time and woke up to find it was almost dark.
She reached up and touched her forehead. It wasn’t hot at all anymore; she felt refreshed and clear-headed.
He Yan threw off the blanket and went out. She looked upstairs and downstairs but didn’t see Jiang Mingcheng anywhere.
“Auntie Qian, where did Jiang Mingcheng go?” He Yan asked, puzzled.
“The young master went back to the company.” Auntie Qian smiled happily, seeing He Yan in such good spirits.
He Yan nodded and turned back to her room.
Did Jiang Mingcheng come back just to check if she was sick enough to die? Was he afraid that if she died, her parents would latch onto him and demand compensation?
Yeah, that’s probably ninety percent the reason. Why else would he leave right after checking?
And the original owner’s parents were indeed capable of doing something like that.
He Yan lay back on her bed, staring listlessly at the ceiling.
Sigh, I really have no one who cares about me or loves me!
What a waste of my devastatingly beautiful looks! In another book, I could totally be the female lead, okay!
After rolling around on the bed a few times, He Yan finally remembered to check her phone.
It was only then that she discovered a mountain of missed calls and messages.
Wuwuwu, seems like I got along pretty well with the last crew, after all. So many people care about me.
After replying to them one by one, it finally dawned on her: How did they know she had jumped into the water? She hadn’t told anyone?
Just as she was puzzling over this, Sister Jingyi, who had just received her reply, called. He Yan answered.
“Yan Yan, you were amazing this time!” The call started with a direct compliment, which made He Yan a bit shy.
“This heroic act of yours has had a huge impact. People’s Daily, Tuan Tuan, all of them have reposted it!”
“Huh? It blew up that big? Isn’t that a bit much?” He Yan was totally bewildered.
Listening to Sister Jingyi analyze the current situation, He Yan finally learned what happened after she left.
The little girl was out of danger, and the doctor gave an interview saying it was thanks to He Yan’s professional first aid.
This incident also sparked a series of online discussions about child supervision and the importance of first aid knowledge.
For a time, the whole nation seemed to be talking about this, and He Yan had certainly gained a huge wave of public goodwill.
Of course, amidst all the praise, there were always some discordant voices—like people suspecting He Yan of staging it for publicity, or people thinking she shouldn’t have rashly jumped in to save someone but these were ultimately drowned out by the tidal wave of positive comments.
He Yan continued scrolling through her messages and suddenly remembered Pei Yanchuan’s call. She found the call log and compared it to her missed calls, only to realize he had called her five times.
Strange, was the original owner close to Pei Yanchuan? In the novel, around this time, the male lead barely paid any attention to her, right?
But after thinking about it for less than a minute, He Yan decided to put it out of her mind. She didn’t want to care about anything concerning the male lead.
He Yan lay there playing on her phone for a while when a knock sounded at her door.
“Come in!”
Assuming it was Auntie Qian, He Yan was startled to see Jiang Mingcheng and immediately sat up.
“Wh-what is it?”
“Is your fever gone?” Still that indifferent tone.
“Gone, thanks for asking.” He Yan replied obediently, but internally she was thinking: Big shot, you can leave now.
But Jiang Mingcheng walked straight over to her, raised his hand, and placed an exquisite cake box on the bedside table.
“Don’t be so impulsive in the future. Your own safety comes first.”
“But that child was so young. She hasn’t even had a chance to properly see this world. I couldn’t just let her die, could I?”
In her previous life, she had died young from sudden overwork. If she hadn’t transmigrated into this book and been given a second chance at life, who knows how many regrets she would have been unable to resolve.
“I’m not blaming you. You did very well. I’m just telling you to prioritize your own safety in the future.”
He Yan found these words more agreeable, and her mood lifted. “Don’t worry, I value my life a lot. I know what I’m doing. I’m a very strong swimmer, otherwise, I wouldn’t have gone in to save her. What if I couldn’t save her and just caused more trouble, right? Hehe!”
Jiang Mingcheng looked at her smile, but his worry deepened. This little girl really didn’t understand how dangerous what she did was.
River water in winter, that was bone-piercing cold.
What if her leg cramped up, or she got entangled in something? Her life would be over.
Jiang Mingcheng wanted to say more, but He Yan’s attention was caught by the little cake on the table. She pointed at it and looked up at him. “For me?”
Jiang Mingcheng nodded.
He Yan smiled happily and carefully opened the packaging. Inside was a small mango cake.
“Thank you!” He Yan immediately scooped up a spoonful. The sweet, creamy flavor spread through her mouth.
Indeed, eating dessert after recovering from an illness can heal the soul!
Jiang Mingcheng watched the young girl’s eyes narrow in happiness, and unconsciously, the corners of his mouth curved up. He suppressed his worries and said, “Come down for dinner.”
With that, he turned and left.
**