"Xiaoxiao, thank you! My sister and I will move out as soon as we find a place!"
Lin Jie was genuinely grateful for Zhang Xiaoxiao's help!
Zhang Xiaoxiao was their neighbor, twenty-six this year, a girl with long legs but modest curves, an attractive beauty you appreciate more the second time you see her!
She was a real estate agent. Her parents divorced when she was in middle school and each found new partners. The two-bedroom house was left to her by her grandfather before he passed away.
When she learned that Lin Jie was discharged from the hospital and had nowhere to go, she immediately took the siblings into her home.
"If you keep being so polite, I'll get mad at you!"
Zhang Xiaoxiao pretended to be angry, pinched Lin Jie's nose, and said, "Stop talking about finding a place. This is your home. You stay in this room, Miaomiao and I will share a room, it's perfect!"
She glanced at her watch and said, "I've got an appointment with a client to view a house this afternoon. You guys rest up first, and I'll tidy up when I return tonight. Oh, there's some food in the fridge, help yourselves!"
After Zhang Xiaoxiao left in a hurry, Lin Miao said with a hint of resentment, "Brother, why are you so stubborn about not wanting to go to another hospital? We still have sixty to seventy thousand yuan, and I can earn money too!"
"If anything happened to you, what would I do by myself!"
Lin Jie took her hand, pressing her palm against his face, and smiled, "I know my own body. I'm recovering well, there's really no need to stay in the hospital. I even feel like I don't need the medicine anymore!"
He indeed had this feeling, that the heart beating in his chest wasn't transplanted, it was his own heart.
It's so full of vitality, beating vigorously. Although the open-heart wound hadn't fully healed, Lin Jie felt that his current state was even better than before the surgery, stronger than at that time.
Apart from this feeling, another reason Lin Jie insisted on not going back to the hospital was money.
At the hospital, daily detailed examinations meant those sixty to seventy thousand yuan wouldn't last a few days.
Rather than waste tens of thousands while staying in the hospital, it was better to save it for emergencies. Lin Jie didn't want to be left with nothing if something happened to him and Lin Miao ended up entirely bereft.
Seeing Lin Miao still upset, Lin Jie continued, "I promise, if I feel uncomfortable, I'll go to the hospital, okay? This life of mine was bought with the house money; I won't leave you without compensating you with a big house!"
Lin Miao wrinkled her little nose and discontentedly said, "You'll have to give me a five-hundred-square-meter mansion, then!"
"Alright, I promise you a mansion!"
Lin Jie moved closer to the bed, patting the pillow beside him, and said, "Come on, lie down and take a nap too! You haven't rested well these past few days; you must be tired!"
At this, he comforted her further, "Stop thinking about money. Even though we're out of money, we're also free from trouble, and you have a healthy brother. Just think of it as spending money to avoid disasters."
"And, once my wound heals, if I make you mad again, you can beat me as much as you want!"
Lin Miao burst into laughter and said, "Once your wound heals, I'll hit you all day... No, three days and nights, making up for all the times you bullied me before!"
She hugged Lin Jie's arm and lay down on the bed, murmuring, "Brother, promise me, never leave me!"
"Mm, won't leave you! Won't leave you!" Lin Jie softly responded.
Soon, Lin Jie's ear was greeted with the sound of gentle, even breathing.
Turning his head, he saw Lin Miao curled up like a kitten, sleeping with her arms around his.
He sighed softly, covered Lin Miao with a light blanket, and soon fell asleep himself.
When Lin Jie opened his eyes again, he noticed the light had dimmed; it was already past six in the afternoon.
The still-sleeping Lin Miao was beside him. He got up quietly and went to the living room, where he found Zhang Xiaoxiao hadn't returned yet, deciding to start dinner first.
Because of Lin Miao's eyes, Lin Jie did all the cooking at home, honing a relatively good culinary skill.
Opening the fridge in the kitchen, Lin Jie spotted a marinated whole chicken.
He also grabbed some mushrooms and greens, planning to stew the chicken.
Placing the chicken on the cutting board, he casually pulled a small paring knife from the knife rack and deftly made a cut along the chicken's back, exposing the spine bone.
The first cut, the second cut...
The knife came alive in Lin Jie's hand, moving skillfully between the chicken meat and bones, as if imbued with a spirit...
Over a minute later, with a slight pull, he extracted a complete chicken skeleton, missing only the head and feet, from the chicken's back.
Gazing at the piece without a hint of muscle, held together by a few ligaments, Lin Jie couldn't help but widen his eyes—was this his doing?
He recalled the moment!
The instant he handled the chicken, the three-dimensional structure of its bones and flesh vividly popped into his mind.
From there, he intuitively knew how each cut should be made, the force needed, the angle required, as though he'd dissected hundreds of thousands of chickens before, so familiar, so effortlessly.
After just a moment of surprise, Lin Jie didn't dwell on it.
With the chicken in this condition, he rinsed some rice, filled the chicken's cavity with diced meat, mushroom, carrot, and packed it with rice, then sewed the chicken's back with fine thread and put it in the steamer!
By the time dinner was almost ready, Lin Miao awoke, and Zhang Xiaoxiao returned, bringing quite a bit of takeout with her.
Lin Jie, who was cooking in the kitchen, got a good scolding, but Lin Miao and Zhang Xiaoxiao had no qualms about eating the meal he prepared, especially the chicken, which was divided among the three without leaving a trace.
Zhang Xiaoxiao looked at the barely touched takeout, rubbed her tummy, and laughed, "A-Jie, your cooking skills are better than any top chef out there. If you opened a restaurant, it would definitely be a hit!"
"If you really do open one, just say the word, I'll definitely invest."
Lin Jie smiled happily and said, "My cooking is only for family and friends. From now on, I'm your personal chef!"
Zhang Xiaoxiao exclaimed exaggeratedly, "That won't do. If I eat your cooking every day, I'll definitely turn into a pig. I'm not that pretty to begin with, and if I become a pig, no one will want me!"
"In my eyes, Sister Xiaoxiao, you're the most beautiful!" Lin Jie complimented!
"Psh! Sweet-talking devil!"
Zhang Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at Lin Jie and playfully scolded, "What do you know? You haven't even tasted the flavor of a woman yet; you don't know what truly attracts a man to a woman!"
Lin Jie immediately went red-faced, muttering in defiance, "Of course I know. Isn't it long legs, round hips, beanpole waist, big curves, pretty face, and a sleek silhouette?"
"Oh, you sure know quite a lot!"
Zhang Xiaoxiao squinted with a smile and then widened her eyes, demanding, "Honestly, what websites do you frequent?"
"Brother, I'm curious too, how do you know so much?" Lin Miao chimed in from the side!
Lin Jie simply ignored the two of them and went back to his bedroom!
And so, Lin Jie and Lin Miao moved into Zhang Xiaoxiao's place!
Three or four days later, Lin Miao noticed that whether Lin Jie was talking, moving, or doing things, he was gaining more energy, his movements more fluid, easing her worries a bit and allowing her to return to work at the massage shop.
That morning, Lin Jie was doing some gentle exercises in the living room, working on his body.
At that moment, there was a banging sound like firecrackers coming from next door, followed by a woman's cries of pain, a man's furious shouts, and the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground!
Lin Jie was startled. Next door lived Kong Mingqing and Zhang Li, along with their senior high school son, Kong Xingchen. The husband was a policeman, and the wife was a nurse at a hospital.
They usually took good care of Lin Jie, often buying things from his little shop with an insider's discount on medicines. Especially Kong Mingqing, who frequently helped Lin Jie unload and stock goods.
The two seemed very loving. Could it be domestic violence?
Thinking this, Lin Jie didn't bother changing clothes, and ran out of the house in his pajamas.
It was May, and the weather was already quite warm. The door next door was open to let in air, and Lin Jie ran straight in.
"Brother Kong, Sister Zhang, what are you…"
The scene before him left him speechless with shock.
Zhang Li lay on the living room floor, Kong Mingqing kneeling beside her, pressing a towel on Zhang Li's abdomen, but the light-colored towel was already soaked in blood…
Their son lay in a corner of the living room, blood trickling from his mouth, unconscious, and at his feet was a gun, a faintly glowing handgun.
Zhang Li grabbed Kong Mingqing's arm with both hands, continuously saying, "Don't call 120! Don't call 120…"
"A-Li, just keep the wound pressed… hold on… I know what I'm doing…" Kong Mingqing urged anxiously!
Seeing this, Lin Jie couldn't think straight, immediately rushing to Zhang Li's other side, squatting down.
He pulled Kong Mingqing's hand aside, took the towel away, lifted the clothes on her abdomen, and saw a wound the size of a peanut, slowly oozing blood. He checked Zhang Li's body and didn't see a wound on her back!
Suddenly, many images and memories on how to deal with such injuries flooded Lin Jie's mind.
He casually said, "Brother Kong, the bullet is still inside. The location may have hurt the ileum, judging by the blood, it hasn't hit the ileac artery. She needs to go to the hospital immediately…"
Before Lin Jie could finish, Zhang Li grabbed his wrist so tightly that he felt pain.
Zhang Li, sweating from the pain, urgently said, "We can't go to the hospital! This is a gunshot wound; it'll be reported!"
"Once reported, the kid is done for, and the child's father will lose his job, maybe even go to jail! We can't go to the hospital…"
Lin Jie understood Zhang Li's concerns and panicked, shouting, "If you don't go to the hospital for surgery, you will die!"
Zhang Li mustered her strength, looking at the anxious faces of Kong Mingqing and Lin Jie, and firmly said, "I can die, but I absolutely can't go to the hospital! If I go, the child and the child's dad are both done for… the family will be ruined."
Lin Jie felt a surge of bitterness and didn't know what to say.
Darn, this is a mother, a wife, a sacrifice of a little person, a tale of endurance and sorrow!
He gritted his teeth and shouted, "If you're not afraid of death, I'll perform surgery on you right here!"
Lin Jie's face turned serious, and he looked up at Kong Mingqing, saying, "Clear the dining table to use as an operating table, bring the home first aid kit, I'll take care of the rest!"
This voice was calm, carrying a reassuring strength, Kong Mingqing was startled, then heard the shout, "Why are you standing there? Get moving!"
Kong Mingqing seemed to hear the authoritative shout of a captain, reflexively jumping to his feet!