Chapter 789 — Probing Guan Xin

Guan Xin looked up. She had not expected Kang Jingming and his lot to show their faces again, and a wave of disgust rose in her heart. What did Kang Jingming want? She could see it plainly enough. But Guan Xin already had someone she liked; there was no way anything could ever happen between her and him.

Her beloved already had someone of his own, true — but even so, Guan Xin would never turn her heart toward Kang Jingming.

Still, loathsome as they were, professional duty would not let her simply ignore them. At this hour she was alone in the nurses' duty room, so Guan Xin had no choice but to rise from her seat.

Guan Xin frowned to herself. This Kang Jingming was clever enough, she had to admit: last time his attempt to get close to her had come to nothing, and now he had gone and cut his hand. Yet she had no choice but to treat him first — with urgent external injuries, the usual practice was to dress the wound before collecting payment.

"Let me have a look?" Guan Xin was obliged to ask.

"Right here. Guan Xin, I'm a truly unlucky man — a cold yesterday, and today I go and gash my hand. Ugh, what rotten luck!" Kang Jingming raised his injured left hand and spoke to Guan Xin.

"..." Guan Xin glanced at the wound on Kang Jingming's hand and was momentarily speechless. He needed bandaging for a scratch like this? Most people would just put on some ointment or slap on a band-aid themselves. How could Kang Jingming be so delicate?

"What is it?" Kang Jingming asked, puzzled, when Guan Xin said nothing.

Guan Xin still did not speak. In her heart she was certain Kang Jingming had done it on purpose — perhaps he had even inflicted the wound himself! At the thought, anger surged through her. How could anyone be like this?

Guan Xin opened a cabinet, found a band-aid, and handed it to Kang Jingming. "Here. Just put it on yourself."

"Huh, me put it on?" Kang Jingming was taken aback.

"It's such a tiny wound — what more bandaging do you need?" Guan Xin retorted.

"Well..." Under her retort, Kang Jingming had to admit she had a point. The wound really was rather small, and Guan Xin giving him a band-aid was not wrong of her.

"Then... could you give me a hand?" Kang Jingming would not let slip a single chance to get close to Guan Xin.

"Isn't your other hand perfectly fine?" Guan Xin frowned.

"But... I'm a patient, and you're a nurse. You ought to help me, shouldn't you? It's not as if I'm refusing to pay..." Kang Jingming said, putting on an air of grievance.

"Oh, that band-aid's on the house — a friendly gift. No charge." With that, Guan Xin paid him no further heed, turned, and walked back to her desk, where she calmly picked up her book and began to read.

There was nothing for it: Kang Jingming had to put the band-aid on the wound himself. Inwardly, though, he was turning over how he might draw Guan Xin out and ask just what her relationship with Xiaofen really was.

The question was, it really was hard to bring up. He did not know how to steer the conversation that way.

"Why are you still here?" Guan Xin waited a while, then noticed that Kang Jingming was still standing in her office. A little puzzled, she asked.

"Oh... nothing, nothing. I was just thinking I'd be off in a moment..." Kang Jingming laughed it off, then said, "By the way, I came back yesterday hoping to find you, but I saw you with a girl who seemed to have a bit of a limp — you two looked like you were off to do something?"

"Oh..." Guan Xin gave a meaningless response.

"Um... is she a friend of yours?" Kang Jingming asked cautiously.

"What business is that of yours?" Guan Xin did not understand what Kang Jingming was driving at.

"Uh... nothing..." Guan Xin's single sentence set Kang Jingming's heart pounding. He had the feeling that her words carried a double meaning.

"What does this have to do with you?"

The tone — was it a genuine question or a rhetorical one? Could it be that Guan Xin already knew about his relationship with Xiaofen? Kang Jingming grew increasingly uneasy. Damn it, that little slut Xiaofen was useless when it came to getting things done but excellent at ruining them. If she had really told Guan Xin about their affair, then he would truly have no chance at all.

Kang Jingming wasn't much discouraged by Guan Xin's cold attitude. He was quite skilled when it came to pursuing women. When he first started courting Xiaofen, she had worn this very same icy expression — and hadn't she ended up hopelessly in love with him?

So Kang Jingming was confident he could make Guan Xin fall for him. The real obstacle was Xiaofen. If that woman opened her trap and blabbed about what had happened between them, putting Guan Xin on her guard, then he really would have no chance.

Stepping out of Guan Xin's office, Kang Jingming stomped his foot in fury. "Did you two notice anything?"

"Young Master Ming, it seems like Guan Xin knows something," Zhu Xiaozhang said.

"I thought so too — didn't it sound like she had something more to say? Does she actually know about me and Xiaofen?" Kang Jingming was in a sour mood, yet he couldn't go and ask Guan Xin directly.

"Young Master Ming, I don't think Guan Xin currently knows about you and Xiaofen." Wang Shubin, however, shook his head.

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Kang Jingming was taken aback, then a look of delight crept across his face.

"Think about it, Young Master Ming. If Guan Xin already knew, she wouldn't be merely cold toward you — she would despise you. And just now, the first time you brought up Xiaofen, if she truly understood the whole story, she wouldn't have merely said 'oh' — she would have torn into you with sarcasm first, wouldn't she?" Wang Shubin reasoned.

"That makes sense!" Kang Jingming nodded, breathing an immediate sigh of relief. "Then it should be easy — as long as Guan Xin doesn't know yet, there's no problem."

"Young Master Ming, even so, we can't let our guard down. Even if Guan Xin doesn't know now, she spends time around Xiaofen — sooner or later she'll find out. We must take action as soon as possible," Wang Shubin advised.

"Mm, haven't we been discussing this all along? Any good ideas on how to shut Xiaofen's mouth?" Kang Jingming too was worried that Xiaofen might shoot her mouth off. Unless this matter was settled, she was a ticking time bomb.

"Young Master Ming, to be honest, if we want Xiaofen to shut up willingly, I think the only option is to pay her hush money." Wang Shubin hesitated before continuing. "Xiaofen probably still broods over what happened — the harm, both physical and psychological, was severe. She must loathe you, Young Master Ming. Only a handsome compensation will make her keep her silence."

The moment Kang Jingming heard that money was involved, he winced. But he had to admit Wang Shubin had a point — in this day and age, nothing spoke louder than cash. If he wanted Xiaofen to stay quiet, there was no way around it: he would have to pay her. And the amount certainly could not be small.