Xie Jinghuai looked down at her slightly conflicted expression.
“What do you want to ask?”
Ruan Liuzheng lowered her head, her voice soft as a mosquito’s hum. Even the tips of her ears had turned a deep shade of red.
“I… I just wanted to ask, Comrade Xie, do you have….”
Before she could finish, chaotic shouts suddenly came from outside.
“Something’s wrong! Someone’s been shot!”
Without even a second of hesitation, Xie Jinghuai rushed out.
Ruan Liuzheng: “……”
She adjusted her expression. The faint blush on her ears vanished in a single second, as if it had never been there.
Then she quickly followed him.
Everyone was running in the same direction.
A dense crowd had already formed, blocking everything.
People were whispering among themselves.
“That educated youth is really unlucky. I heard that guy did it on purpose.”
“Oh my god, seriously? You can’t just fire a gun like that!”
“Who knows? I heard those two were even friends.”
“Could it be he did it on purpose just to go back to the city?”
Ruan Liuzheng squeezed forward to listen. Honestly, the gossip in this era was incredibly intense.
Her hair even got pushed out of place from the crowd.
Through the gaps, she caught a glimpse of a man lying on the ground, curled up in pain. His face was deathly pale, and large beads of sweat kept rolling down his forehead.
His left leg was drenched in blood, so soaked that the original color of his pants could no longer be seen.
Xie Jinghuai was crouched beside him, examining the injury, his brows tightly furrowed.
Ruan Liuzheng jumped up and raised her hand.
“Comrade Xie, I’ll help you.”
Xie Jinghuai looked up and saw a head bobbing up and down in the crowd.
He walked over and lifted her up by the back.
Her clear eyes looked just like a rabbit caught by its ears—slightly dazed.
His voice softened without him noticing.
“Take a look first.”
Ruan Liuzheng blinked and nodded seriously.
“I’ll look carefully.”
Her expression was so earnest that even Xie Jinghuai didn’t notice the faint curve of his lips.
He carried her forward.
Only then did Ruan Liuzheng realize that the injured man was the same one who had falsely accused her at the train station of being Song Jianjun’s lover.
Xie Jinghuai thought she might refuse to treat him, but instead she simply pursed her lips, her little frustrations showing as she wrinkled her nose.
It was both amusing and oddly cute.
She bent down to examine the wound.
After a moment, she looked up at Xie Jinghuai.
“Do you have forceps and alcohol?”
“At the shooting range!”
Someone immediately handed the items over.
Because it was a shooting practice range, basic emergency supplies were available.
Ruan Liuzheng looked at the injured man with a sharp glint in her eyes, as if she were grinding her teeth—clearly carrying a bit of personal resentment.
“Hold him down. Don’t let him move. I’m going to remove the bullet.”
The man clearly recognized her as well. Hearing her slightly gritted tone, panic flashed across his face.
“I—I want to go to the hospital!”
Xie Jinghuai’s face darkened as he looked at him.
His voice was like the judge of the underworld.
“Are you sure?”
Ruan Liuzheng lifted the forceps.
“In that case, Comrade Xie, you’d better hurry and take him there.”
“By the time a doctor sees him, the nerve damage will probably be severe. There’s a high chance he’ll be crippled.”
She placed the forceps down and stood up as if preparing to leave.
The man’s already pale face flushed red from panic. His lips trembled.
“F-fine… just do it.”
Xie Jinghuai glanced at the man, then at Ruan Liuzheng, who clearly disliked him but still couldn’t help softening her heart.
His voice turned low.
“Everyone here can testify that whatever happens to his leg has nothing to do with her.”
The man’s eyes flickered slightly—he hadn’t expected his little scheme to be seen through so easily.
Ruan Liuzheng concealed the faint darkness in her eyes and played her role perfectly, acting both soft-hearted and a little temperamental.
Then she coldly warned him:
“Don’t you dare yell. You’ve already lost a lot of blood—you’ll pass out.”
The man bit down hard on his own clothes, like a fish on the chopping board waiting to be butchered.
Originally, Ruan Liuzheng could have removed the bullet quickly.
But since this man didn’t know how to behave, she decided he would suffer a little more.
The forceps in her hand moved deliberately slowly—several times slower than necessary—occasionally twisting through flesh on purpose.
Yet her voice remained gentle and attentive.
“Don’t move around. If the bullet shifts, you’ll really become a cripple.”
The man immediately stopped moving.
Xie Jinghuai gave a helpless smile.
The strength pressing down on the man’s upper body increased slightly.
A faint smile appeared on Ruan Liuzheng’s lips, tinged with satisfaction.
“It’s out.”
When the bullet was finally extracted, the man’s eyes rolled back and he fainted from the pain.
Ruan Liuzheng let out a breath.
“Comrade Xie, I’ll stitch him up. It’ll heal faster that way.”
Xie Jinghuai nodded. On the battlefield, stitching wounds was common; he didn’t find anything inappropriate about it.
Ruan Liuzheng carefully and gently used the needle and thread prepared at the shooting range, stitching the wound with meticulous precision.
Each stitch was neat and tight.
Finally, looking at the orderly seam, she smiled slightly.
“This way it won’t look too ugly after it heals.”
Xie Jinghuai glanced at it. It really was quite even—almost like embroidery. On the battlefield, they usually just stitched quickly a few times; as long as it didn’t burst open again, that was considered good enough.
The injured man: Are these two even human?
His eyes were bloodshot from the pain.
It hurt—agonizingly so.
Being sewn up like this, raw and direct, was pain he had never experienced in his entire life.
He even suspected Ruan Liuzheng was taking revenge on him.
But she was indeed genuinely treating his wound.
At that moment, a man’s voice came from the corner.
“See? I told you—there’s no way a single shot would cripple him. Isn’t he fine?”
Song Jianjun walked out from the shadows, his gaze repeatedly roaming over Ruan Liuzheng.
Ruan Liuzheng instinctively moved closer to Xie Jinghuai and glared at him sharply.
Song Jianjun, however, looked completely unconcerned as he glanced at the injured man on the ground.
“Lin Chengxin, don’t feel bad. Accidents happen during practice. I’ll give you 200 yuan later as compensation. How about that?”
The injured man pressed his lips together. The tension in his clenched fist betrayed his emotions.
But 200 yuan was simply too much.
With that money, he could live very well.
Lin Chengxin compromised.
“Comrade Song is right. It probably isn’t a big problem.”
Song Jianjun smirked triumphantly, his eyes still lingering brazenly on Ruan Liuzheng.
“Comrade Ruan, I didn’t expect you to know medicine.”
“My arm hurts a bit after shooting. Why don’t you take a look for me?”
As he spoke, he reached out to grab her arm.
Many people present recognized Song Jianjun—his uncle was the commune Party secretary. Even though they were angry, no one dared to speak up.
No one wanted to invite trouble.
Just as Song Jianjun’s hand was about to touch her—
A strong arm blocked him instantly.
Xie Jinghuai’s dark eyes were filled with danger.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Song Jianjun still didn’t know who Xie Jinghuai was.
Being stopped like this made him feel humiliated.
He swung his fist straight at Xie Jinghuai.
But Xie Jinghuai grabbed him by the head with one hand and slammed him against the wall with the other.
A heavy “bang” rang out, followed by Song Jianjun’s scream.
“Who the hell are you?! How dare you mess with me? You want to be sent to labor reform?!”
“Try it if you’ve got the guts.”
Killing intent rolled off Xie Jinghuai in waves. The ruthless aura forged on the battlefield froze Song Jianjun in place.
Cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
His arrogance instantly deflated.
At that moment, someone shouted, “The commune secretary Song is here!”
Song Jianjun, who had just shrunk back, immediately straightened up again, his expression turning provocative.
Song Huairen pushed through the crowd. When he saw his nephew being pinned against the wall by a man, his anger flared instantly.
“This is outrageous! What are you doing?!”