vstars Chapter 12 Heartache
Chapter 12 Heartache
Cheng Zheng placed Lin Shuyao on the hospital bed.
"Dr. Zhang, could you please take a look?"
He stood by the bed with his head bowed, and Lin Shuyao awkwardly turned her head away from him, not wanting to look at him.
Dr. Zhang's gaze swept over the two of them, finally settling on Lin Shuyao: "Comrade, where do you feel unwell?"
Lin Shuyao's eyes were red-rimmed. She frowned and pointed to her feet: "They're rubbed raw by my shoes, and it hurts a bit."
"Rubbed by shoes? In all my years of practicing medicine, this is the first time I've seen such a delicate woman like you. It's quite normal for shoes to rub your feet, just bear with it... Never mind, let me take a look."
Dr. Zhang was both amused and exasperated. He shook his head and reached out to take off Lin Shuyao's shoes.
The moment he touched her, Lin Shuyao cried out, her face turning pale, "Ouch... Please be gentle..."
How painful can it be?
The doctor thought she was making a mountain out of a molehill, and said, "Why don't you do it yourself?"
Lin Shuyao nodded, propped herself up on the bed, leaned forward, and used both hands to pull the rubber shoes out little by little by the heels. The blood had dried and the shoes were stuck together, so pulling them out would rub against the wound, so she didn't dare to take them off all at once.
One second, two seconds, her movements seemed to slow down, as she slowly pulled while hissing and inhaling.
Even the doctor couldn't stand it anymore and joked, "Comrade, if you slow down a bit, your wound will be healed. I'm really fed up with you female comrades who don't want to do military training; you always come up with some excuse every year."
Lin Shuyao was in too much pain to speak and didn't bother to argue.
Seeing that she was still dawdling, the doctor put his hands in the pockets of his white coat and said, "Okay, take your time taking it off. I'll go check on the infusion room next door."
"Wait, show her first," Cheng Zheng, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. He bent down, grabbed Lin Shuyao's calf with one hand, and supported the sole of her shoe with the other, then exerted force simultaneously—
"what!"
"Waaaaah..."
A scream accompanied by sobs, Lin Shuyao cried her eyes out, her shoulders shaking, as she sobbed and accused, "Cheng Zheng, you devil..."
It's just taking off a shoe, why are you making such a fuss? Women are so dramatic!
Cheng Zheng, with a stern face, was about to reprimand her, but when he looked down, he saw that her white nylon socks were stained with blood, and when he looked at the rubber shoes in his hand, the inside and sides of the shoes were stained dark with blood.
The injuries are clearly not minor.
His heart suddenly felt like it had been pricked by a needle, and he silently pursed his lips.
The doctor was also shocked, not expecting that a blister could be so serious: "This...this...how did it get so bad? Quickly take off your socks and take a look."
Lin Shuyao, holding back her tears, bent down to take off her socks. Cheng Zheng reacted, grabbed her hand that was about to touch the socks, and said in a deep voice, "I'll do it."
"I don't want you..." Lin Shuyao's face was full of rejection, afraid that he would be as rough as before. Cheng Zheng's tone carried a compromise that he himself did not realize, "I will try to be gentler."
He had treated this kind of wound before; the blood would clot and stick to the fabric, and it would hurt a lot when you tore it off.
"Bear with it."
He knelt on one knee at her feet and first helped her roll up her trouser legs layer by layer. As the trouser legs were rolled up, a slender and straight calf was revealed. Her skin was so white that it was dazzling. He felt as if something had flashed before his eyes, and his vision was filled with pure white.
As he rolled up his trousers, his rough fingertips accidentally brushed against her smooth, alabaster skin. A delicate, soft sensation shot through his fingers like an electric current. He swallowed hard, and his eyes darkened.
No wonder she was in so much pain; her skin was so delicate. He moved even more gently, his fingertips continuing to touch the edge of her socks, slowly pulling them down.
The expected rough actions did not occur. Lin Shuyao's initially resistant expression gradually softened, and her sobbing stopped. His careful movements were reflected in her misty, tearful eyes.
As the nylon stockings were slowly pulled down, her feet were fully exposed. Her originally fair and delicate ankles and heels were stained red with blood, and there were several places where the skin was broken. There was a large patch of skin rubbed off next to her little toe, and the wounds were bloody and mangled. There were even scabs falling off the soles of her feet, creating a shocking contrast with the surrounding intact skin.
Cheng Zheng pursed his lips tightly, his face looking very unpleasant.
The doctor was stunned: "Oh my, comrade, your skin is too delicate, like it's made of tofu. You can't wear these hard rubber shoes anymore. You'd better find soft-soled shoes made of lambskin, otherwise you'll get blisters after just a few steps."
"However, there's not much medicine for your wound. I'll just bandage it up for you. Try not to move around too much for the next couple of days, get some rest, and see how it heals."
The doctor found gauze and iodine and began to disinfect and bandage the wound.
This process was accompanied by various gasps from Lin Shuyao.
"Hiss—be gentle, be gentle..."
Her face was drained of color, and the pain made her cat-like eyes misty with tears. Her eyelashes were stuck together in clumps with tears, and with each tremor of pain, the corners of her eyes and the tip of her nose turned a delicate blush.
With each hiss she let out, Cheng Zheng felt as if his heart was being ripped apart, and his face grew increasingly pale.
Just as the doctor was finishing treating the wound, he suddenly turned and left. Lin Shuyao thought he couldn't stand her being so dramatic, so he left first. Unexpectedly, a moment later, he came back carrying a brand new pair of transparent plastic slippers.
He bent down and placed the slippers under her bed, his voice still cold and hard: "Don't wear those rubber shoes anymore, wear these later."
"You don't need to attend the morning training these next two days, but you must attend the ideological education class and the study of regulations and rules."
Lin Shuyao was flattered and nodded, then quietly added, "Thank you."
Cheng Zheng kept a straight face, his gaze falling on her feet, which were covered in a mess of iodine, and he seemed to be thinking about something.
Just then, a soldier ran to the door: "Representative! The factory has sent an urgent telegram requesting your immediate attention."
Cheng Zheng frowned as he glanced at the girl on the bed, whose eyes were red and whose lips were pursed, looking aggrieved. He then instructed the doctor, "Have the nurse take her back to her dormitory in a bit."
"Don't worry, representative," the doctor assured him.
Cheng Zheng then left with the orderly.
After Lin Shuyao finished bandaging her wounds, she got out of bed and tried on some slippers. The slippers had mostly avoided the wounds, making them more comfortable than rubber or cloth shoes. Moreover, walking around in the slippers didn't hurt as much.
She didn't let the nurse take her home; she walked back herself and happened to run into Gao Tingting, who was looking for her.
"Qingqing, what happened to your foot? Why are you crying?"
Lin Shuyao touched her nose sheepishly, "My feet got rubbed raw by the rubber shoes when I was running laps during military training."
Gao Tingting empathized: "How come you're in the same boat as me? I can't wear those rubber shoes either. The soles are too hard. Every time I wear them, my little toes get so sore. Your foot injury looks pretty bad. Why don't you skip the military training and ask your representative for leave?"
Lin Shuyao: "Yeah, I don't have to run laps these two days, but I have to attend other classes."
Gao Tingting nodded, then suddenly remembered, "Oh right, I have a kind of ointment at home that's very effective for this kind of abrasion. I'll go home and look for it, and bring it to you tomorrow."
Lin Shuyao was touched: "Tingting, thank you so much."
"Hey, don't be so polite. I won't bother you today. Go back to your dorm and get some rest." Gao Tingting waved her hand casually, a smile on her lips, and watched her enter the dorm building.
Anyway, she'll be her sister-in-law sooner or later, hehe.
night.
Gao Tingting went home.
As soon as she entered the house, she saw a shoebox prominently displayed in the living room, where her brother Cheng Zheng was sitting on the sofa reading a book.
"Hey, whose shoes are these?"