He hadn't left.
Not only had he not left, he was now sitting on his bed, rolling up his pant leg.
Jiang Mingxi wore sweatpants, and the pant leg rolled up easily, fold by fold.
Revealing a slender ankle, a fair calf...
All the way up past his knee.
"Teacher Song, look. I wasn't lying. My knee really is hurt."
It was more than hurt.
The injury was quite serious.
Song Lan's gaze shifted from Jiang Mingxi's fair calf to his knee.
There had been some sharp-edged gravel where Jiang Mingxi had fallen today, and his knee had struck those stones.
They had even punctured his pants in several places.
Parts of his knee were red and swollen. Other parts had stuck to the fabric earlier, and now that his pant leg had been rolled up, the flesh stuck to it had been tugged loose and started bleeding again.
Outside, he had been bouncing and jumping around.
Now, sitting on the bed, Jiang Mingxi played pitiful. "Teacher Song, it hurts so much."
Song Lan sat down beside the bed. "Then why did you go catch it?"
Jiang Mingxi said something he didn't mean. "I wanted to show off."
He paused, then couldn't help himself.
He threw in a flirtatious line.
"Besides, I wanted you to feel bad for me, Teacher Song. Do you?"
Song Lan gave him a cool look, dipped a cotton swab in alcohol, and disinfected his knee.
The alcohol touched the wound.
Normally, Jiang Mingxi would simply have gritted his teeth and endured it.
He was a man, after all~
But now.
Jiang Mingxi immediately shuddered and reached out to touch Song Lan's leg. "It hurts so much."
His restless fingers gave Song Lan's thigh a squeeze.
Song Lan's hand holding the cotton swab jerked, and he snapped coldly, "Take your hand away!"
Jiang Mingxi whined, but seeing that Song Lan continued disinfecting his knee after scolding him, his little schemes started turning-
Hehe.
The bolder the man, the greater the yield.
He didn't take his hand away.
Song Lan glanced at the hand resting on his thigh.
Jiang Mingxi was fair-skinned, and it wasn't just his body. His fingers were fair too...
Taking a deep breath, Song Lan tossed the used swab into the trash can beside him, then picked up the Yunnan Baiyao spray.
Psst, psst.
He sprayed it three times.
That finished the treatment.
The treatment was finished, but Song Lan remained seated beside the bed.
The hand Jiang Mingxi had resting on Song Lan's leg moved.
His fingers rubbed back and forth over Song Lan's thigh, lightly, in small, repeated strokes.
Somehow, the air felt a little hot.
Song Lan pinned his restless hand down. "Your knee's treated. Go back."
That was what he said, but although he had pinned Jiang Mingxi's hand down, he didn't throw it off.
Their eyes met.
Emboldened by lust and dizzy-headed, Jiang Mingxi moved toward Song Lan's lips, ready to go big!
"Teacher Song."
The instant Jiang Mingxi leaned forward, Jiang Mingle came in from outside.
The moment his voice reached them, Song Lan shot up from the bed as though a spring had launched him away.
Jiang Mingxi: ...
I'll kill that dumbass!
That dumbass and I cannot live under the same sky!
Sob~
I was so close!
Song Lan glanced at Jiang Mingxi, then left the inner room with a dark expression.
Holding two apples, Jiang Mingle was about to step through the doorway. Seeing Song Lan emerge from the inner room, he immediately gave him a sweet smile.
"Teacher Song, I brought you some apples. The lady next door gave them to me. There were four in total, so I came to give you half..."
Before Jiang Mingle could finish, Song Lan said impatiently, "No need."
As he spoke, he had already reached the doorway and turned sideways, blocking Jiang Mingle from coming in.
He radiated cold detachment.
There was even a faint hint of anger.
Feeling a little wronged, Jiang Mingle looked down at the apples in his hands, then bit his lip and looked up at Song Lan.
"Do you dislike me, Teacher Song?"
Song Lan looked irritated. "Are you money?"
Hit squarely by his sarcastic retort, Jiang Mingle couldn't save face. He stiffened, his eyes reddening a little. "Teacher Song, do you hate me because I'm not a child of the Jiang family?
"Or is it because of the misunderstanding between Xiaoxi and me, and you think I bullied him?
"I've never offended you before, Teacher Song."
Today, Song Lan had snapped at him right in front of the livestream viewers, then urged the director to send Jiang Mingxi medicine.
Jiang Mingle had watched helplessly as public opinion of Jiang Mingxi changed afterward, watched those viewers begin praising Jiang Mingxi...
Some had even cursed him!
Why!
His eldest brother had prepared this show specifically to help him get closer to Song Lan.
His eldest brother had prepared it specifically to make him famous.
Why should Jiang Mingxi get the benefit!
Jiang Mingxi was clearly the trash who deserved to be cursed and hated!
"Teacher Song, I'm innocent. I can explain," Jiang Mingle said, holding back his feelings of grievance.
Song Lan looked at him.
The image of Jiang Mingxi leaning toward him just now floated through his mind.
His lips had been very red.
His eyes had been very big.
There had been heat in his eyes.
His hand had been very restless...
Exhaling, Song Lan said coldly, "Whether you're innocent has nothing to do with me. I barely know you. It's late. I'm going to rest."
With that said.
Song Lan reached out to close the door.
A sharp pain struck Jiang Mingle's chest.
Why should he be treated like this!
Raising a hand to block the door, Jiang Mingle said with stubborn defiance, "Then do you know Jiang Mingxi well, Teacher Song? Do you understand him? Do you know how many bad things he's done? He's clearly been leeching off your popularity all along."
Inside, Jiang Mingxi's ears instantly pricked up.
Outside.
Anger tinged Song Lan's already cold face. Without even acknowledging Jiang Mingle, he strode straight out.
Jiang Mingxi: Huh?
Seeing Song Lan push past him and head straight outside, Jiang Mingle was momentarily bewildered.
Not knowing what Song Lan intended to do, he hesitated, then followed.
Song Lan walked to the courtyard entrance and called over a staff member outside. "When we're here filming this show, are guests required to cooperate when other guests want heart-to-heart chats?
"Don't I have the right to rest on my own?"
The staff member looked at Song Lan in shock, then at Jiang Mingle behind him.
Jiang Mingle had never imagined Song Lan would do this.
He burst into tears of grievance. "Teacher Song, how could you..."
Leaning against the courtyard gate's frame, Song Lan said to the staff member in obvious displeasure, "Get the director for me. I want to ask him whether I'm required to chat with Jiang Mingle.
"Have I broken some heavenly law by not chatting with him, for him to start crying!
"Or does Jiang Mingle have some task that requires him to pester me?
"Otherwise, I won't accept this kind of harassment."
Those words were both vicious and harsh.
Jiang Mingle's face flushed purplish red. Standing there, he nearly fainted.
These were all things that bitch Jiang Mingxi should have been subjected to.
Why had they fallen on him instead?
What had he done wrong!
"What did I do wrong for you to treat me like this, Teacher Song! Is this fair to me?" Jiang Mingle had never suffered such a great grievance in his life, and he shouted his questions.