Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 62 - 59 Change the Relationship

So much has happened at home?

Wang Jian genuinely didn’t know. He frowned, wanting to ask, but held back and continued to listen to Xu Qian.

"As for why the business went south, I don’t know either. When I asked him, he wouldn’t say. Later, when I came home for the New Year, I asked Dad, and to my surprise, he didn’t know either."

"It’s rather funny, actually," Xu Qian said with a self-mocking laugh. "After the New Year, a thug showed up at our house. If I hadn’t been cooking with a knife in my hand and managed to chase him off, who knows what might have happened."

"I told your elder brother about it later, and at first, he tried to comfort me."

"But within a couple of days, he started making strange, passive-aggressive remarks, probing to see if I had cheated on him."

"There were rumors going around the village at that time, and they must have reached his ears."

"He’d ask if other men were coming to see me, if I was happy now that he wasn’t around to control me, free to find other men."

"He even accused me of trying to harm him, of wanting to be a modern-day Pan Jinlian..." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"After that, whenever he came home on holiday, if I cooked for him, he’d be afraid I was poisoning his food. Nothing I said could convince him otherwise."

Hearing this, Wang Jian suddenly interjected, "After that incident, did his suspicion of you grow, getting worse and worse over time?"

"Hmm..." Xu Qian recalled for a moment, then nodded. "It seems... that’s exactly right."

A possibility came to mind... paranoia, schizophrenia. These were psychological disorders, not my area of expertise, so it was just a guess.

"What’s wrong?"

Wang Jian’s silence made Xu Qian curious. She reached out, took his hand, and asked softly, "Do you think there’s a problem?"

"If my brother became like this because he’s sick, what would you think?" Wang Jian asked quietly, looking at Xu Qian. The question had been echoing in his mind ever since he’d realized his brother might truly be insane.

Xu Qian’s hand still held Wang Jian’s larger one. The lines on his palm felt magical as they traced across hers, soothing her tumultuous heart. The terror from the near-fatal encounter began to subside.

Xu Qian didn’t answer. The question was no longer important to her. After all these years, her psychological trauma couldn’t be dismissed with a simple diagnosis of ’illness’.

She was more concerned about something else entirely. "Xiao Jian, do you like me?" she asked in return.

She patted the space next to her. "Come sit closer."

"Why aren’t you saying anything?"

As Wang Jian sank into thought, Xu Qian managed a smile to hide her disappointment. "If it’s too difficult to answer, don’t worry about it," she said gently.

"I do."

"What?"

"I mean, I like my sister-in-law... I like you, Xu Qian."

As Wang Jian spoke, he squeezed her small hand tighter. Once some things were thought through and then spoken aloud, everything changed.

"When that knife was falling," he continued, "I knew you were in my heart. Your identity doesn’t matter anymore."

"Me too."

The large kitchen knife had missed her face by mere centimeters. Xu Qian had just had a brush with death, and her thoughts had been much simpler than Wang Jian’s. In that moment, the only person who flashed through her mind was him.

When you’re on the brink of death, you truly can’t think about much.

That was what Xu Qian realized today, and in doing so, she finally saw her own feelings clearly.

She herself might not have realized it, but in Wang Jian’s eyes, her gaze was full of a tenderness he had never seen before, and her smile was more enchanting than ever.

Wang Jian swallowed hard. Thinking of the people outside, he shyly averted his gaze. But just then, Xu Qian sat up and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

The heat seeped through their clothes. Two layers of cotton were not enough to block it, and the warmth transferred directly to Wang Jian.

He knew that after today, his relationship with Xu Qian would be completely different, far more delicate.

"Don’t move!"

Sensing Wang Jian start to struggle, Xu Qian rested her head on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "I’ll just hold you for a moment. I won’t do anything else."

Despite her words, their body temperatures were rising rapidly.

Wang Jian swallowed. To be honest, now that the unspoken truth was out, he found his self-control slipping.

How could he possibly restrain himself with Xu Qian embracing him from behind, feeling her warmth?

He had to admire his own willpower.

But then, Xu Qian’s hand let go of his. She was no longer holding it but had started to trace the fine hairs on his arm, perhaps out of boredom.

But Wang Jian quite enjoyed this, finding the atmosphere peaceful and intimate.

Then, her hand began to wander...

"Xiao Jian, you have to be honest, okay?" Xu Qian murmured.

The moment she finished speaking, she made another move.

Wang Jian took a sharp breath, his body tensing. He sat up straighter, which made him bump against her and pull at her injury.

Xu Qian inhaled sharply. "Don’t move around," she whispered. "I’m an injured person with a broken rib."

Great. So I have to be the victim and the villain. Wang Jian rolled his eyes. She was the one moving, yet she was calling herself the injured party.

He couldn’t see the look on her face—a mix of shyness and playful mischief. Sensing his restraint, her eyes sparkled even more. She was clearly doing this on purpose.

Her hands didn’t stop. Still hugging him, she moved her head closer, toward his ear.

Before long, Wang Jian felt a wetness on his ear, and the sounds became intensely clear. The sensation only heightened his experience.

Outside the room, it was a little noisy. Li Shuang was shooing away the curious villagers. The thrill of misbehaving while people were just outside the door added a forbidden spice to the atmosphere.

Wang Jian decided to let go...

Lying behind Xu Qian, Li Liping was already awake. The pain in her face had subsided, but when she opened her eyes and saw Xu Qian hugging Wang Jian, she felt a pang of sadness as an inappropriate emotion drifted through her heart.

She thought they were just hugging.

After silently cursing them a few times, Li Liping shifted slightly, hoping to get their attention. But she had clearly overestimated their awareness; they didn’t notice a thing and continued to embrace.

Li Liping rolled her eyes and finally let out a light cough. "When did you two get so close?"

Her voice made them both freeze. Wang Jian’s first instinct was to jump up, but Xu Qian quickly held him down. A sudden movement would be a dead giveaway.

Xu Qian didn’t move, only turning her head slightly. "Oh, you’re awake," she said softly. "I have a broken rib, so I can’t lie down properly. I just asked Xiao Jian to support me for a bit."

"A broken rib?"

Li Liping grew anxious. When the two ignored her, she pulled Xu Qian away from Wang Jian. She caught sight of Xu Qian’s embarrassed face as she quickly pulled her hand out from under him, and Li Liping’s eyebrows shot up.

It was as if she was seeing Xu Qian for the first time. Feeling a sting of jealousy, she didn’t expose them but commented sourly, "So you *do* know how to feel embarrassed, even with a broken rib."

"Alright, alright."

Wang Jian coughed twice. This girl is a fearless little demon. Of course, he and Xu Qian were embarrassed. He was just grateful the little demon hadn’t woken up while they were confessing their feelings to each other.

Wang Jian didn’t dare stand up. He pretended everything was normal and asked, "How are you feeling? I already examined you earlier."

"I’m okay. My face is still a little sore, though." Li Liping glanced at the two of them. "You really ought to thank me. If it weren’t for me, who knows what you’d be doing at the train station right now."

Wang Jian nodded. He certainly did owe Liping his thanks for that. He recounted what had happened after she passed out. Listening to the story, Li Liping burned with anger. "Even if that guy is sick, he can’t just go around trying to kill people!"

"If I had been awake, I would’ve snatched that knife and shown him what real self-defense is."

"Right."

Wang Jian gave a wry smile. He was thankful she hadn’t been awake. Otherwise, who knows what other chaos might have ensued.

Just then, the sounds of an ambulance and police sirens reached them from outside. "Since you’re okay, could you help Xu Qian out?" Wang Jian said quickly. "She has a broken rib and needs to go to the hospital."

Li Liping nodded. As she helped Xu Qian out, she leaned in and whispered to Wang Jian, "Was it nice?"

Wang Jian froze, not understanding what she meant at first. As he watched Li Liping help Xu Qian out, he noticed her make a gesture with her hand behind her back. Understanding dawned on him instantly.

That girl really is a little demon... But he had to admit, Liping’s personality offered a different kind of thrill. It reminded him of that night...

The police arrived. With so many witnesses and charges of domestic violence and attempted murder, they were there to take Wang Xiang away.

Wang Jian encountered them just as he stepped out of the room. He quickly explained to the officers that Wang Xiang might be mentally ill.

"Do you have any proof?"

Murder was no small matter. If anyone could just claim insanity and get someone off the hook, what was the point of having police?

Wang Jian paused. He had no proof at the moment. He could only watch helplessly as the police led his brother away. However, the officers weren’t completely unreasonable; they took statements on the spot so they wouldn’t delay the trip to the hospital.

After the police left with Wang Xiang, Wang Jian made a point to call Cai Xing. The city’s psychiatric resources were nothing compared to what the Cai Family had access to. It would be foolish not to use a resource like that. He planned to get a psychiatric certificate from one of the Cai Family’s doctors, which would allow him to have Wang Xiang transferred to a psychiatric hospital.

Hearing about the situation, Cai Xing told Wang Jian to take Xu Qian to the Cai Family’s private hospital, where the service was better and more personal than at a public hospital. By then, however, he and Xu Qian were already in an ambulance on their way to the City Hospital, so he had to decline the offer.