Edge of A Burning Kiss - Chapter 16

But the next second, the phone suddenly slipped from Xia Jin’s hand as her entire body went limp, collapsing forward without warning.

Ye Tiyan’s pupils constricted in alarm, and he rushed forward to catch her.

Yet, to his surprise, Qin Yu moved even faster. With one arm, he caught Xia Jin around the waist, then effortlessly swept her up into a princess carry.

Ye Tiyan hadn’t expected Qin Yu to appear out of nowhere. Frowning, he stepped forward and said, “President Qin, propriety dictates that men and women should maintain a respectful distance. Please hand Xia Jin over to me, I’ll take her to the hospital.”

Qin Yu shot him a cold glare, his usually composed and handsome face now dark with anger. “As someone with a fiancée, President Ye, you should be more mindful of your actions. If you want to treat your own reputation like trash, I won’t stop you. But don’t harass Xia Jin anymore.”

With that, he bent down to pick up Xia Jin’s discarded high heels and the phone that had fallen to the ground before turning to leave.

Ye Tiyan, unaccustomed to being spoken to like this, responded with barely concealed irritation, “Qin Yu, Xia Jin is my sister. It’s only natural for her to leave with me. May I ask in what capacity you’re carrying her away?”

“My capacity?” Qin Yu sneered. He gently placed Xia Jin down on a nearby swing, then pulled out his phone and turned on the screen. The first thing that appeared was a photo he had taken that afternoon, Xia Jin napping peacefully in bed.

“What do you think my capacity is? Did our Xia Jin not tell you? We adopted a golden retriever together. His name is Fanbao.”

Ye Tiyan’s thoughts came to a screeching halt at that moment. The cheerful voice of a girl seemed to echo in his ears once more.

“A-Yan, I want to raise a golden retriever with my boyfriend someday. As for the name… let’s call him Fanbao!”

“Fanbao? Let’s just hope you don’t end up feeding him into a chubby little dumpling.”

Qin Yu didn’t want to waste another second looking at Ye Tiyan. After saying his piece, he scooped Xia Jin back into his arms and left.

Ye Tiyan watched as the girl who once had eyes only for him now lay unconscious in another man’s embrace. His expression darkened, an indescribable bitterness churning in his chest.

The one he liked was the eldest daughter of the Xia family, how could he possibly harbor such complicated feelings for a mere illegitimate child?

He admitted that Xia Jin was outstanding and beautiful, but what Ye Tiyan needed was a noble young lady who could elevate his status. No matter how exceptional Xia Jin was, she was still just an illegitimate daughter, how could she ever compare to Xia Zhixue?

Qin Yu carefully settled Xia Jin into the passenger seat, adjusting the backrest to ensure she could rest more comfortably.

He turned on the car’s air conditioning but, worried she might catch a chill, took off his suit jacket and draped it over her.

Then, he sent a message to Chi Fan:

[Xia Jin’s test results showed benign, didn’t they? Why does she keep fainting? Send me her attending physician’s contact, I’ll personally ask about her condition.]

Six months earlier, Qin Yu had just returned to the country to take over Lelai Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Qin Group.

Late one night, as Chi Fan was driving him home from work, they witnessed a large truck suddenly swerve into the adjacent lane without slowing down, completely ignoring the presence of a purple Porsche and ramming straight into it, flipping the car over.

The truck driver, realizing what had happened, didn’t even stop to check. Instead, he slammed on the accelerator and fled the scene.

But when Qin Yu caught a glimpse of the Porsche’s license plate, his blood ran cold. He immediately ordered Chi Fan to pull over.

That was Xia Jin’s private car.

Qin Yu felt as though all the blood in his body had frozen, a buzzing noise filling his head. Staggering, he rushed to the side of Xia Jin’s car.

Xia Jin was in terrible condition.

Even though she had immediately yanked the steering wheel hard to the right when she saw the truck coming, the weight difference between the two vehicles was too great. Xia Jin’s car had still been sideswiped and flipped over, the driver’s side crushed against the ground.

“Xia Jin! Xia Jin!” Qin Yu desperately tried to pull open the passenger door but found it jammed shut. The only way in was to break the window and open it from the inside.

His heart pounded wildly, but he forced himself to take a deep breath and stay calm.

“Go get the window breaker from the car,” Qin Yu instructed Chi Fan while pressing his face against the glass to assess Xia Jin’s condition.

Xia Jin lay unconscious in the driver’s seat, blood steadily seeping from her temple and dripping down her cheek onto her limp arm.

Due to the angle of the collision, the airbags hadn’t fully deployed.

But at least the Porsche’s build quality was solid, Xia Jin hadn’t been struck by any deformed steel beams in critical areas.

Chi Fan immediately ran to fetch the window breaker, not daring to waste a single second.

Qin Yu pressed the breaker firmly against the corner of the glass. With a sharp crack, a web of fractures spread rapidly across the surface.

Please, hold on.

His heart felt like it was lodged in his throat, choking off any words he might have spoken.

Afraid that shattering the glass completely might cause shards to fall and injure Xia Jin, Qin Yu instead pried the edges loose with his bare hands.

In an instant, glass shards sliced into his fingers, blood dripping onto the broken window.

“President Qin!” Chi Fan couldn’t hold back any longer. “You’ll cut your wrists like this!”

With that, Chi Fan quickly took off his jacket and used it to help Qin Yu clear away the remaining glass fragments.

A searing pain shot through his hands, but Qin Yu barely registered it.

Once the glass was cleared, Qin Yu urgently reached inside to unlock the door, leaning his entire upper body into the car to unbuckle Xia Jin’s seatbelt.

“Help…” Xia Jin’s eyelashes fluttered weakly under the mix of rain and blood. She barely managed to open her eyes, her voice as faint as a falling feather.

Her bloodstained fingers feebly clutched at his sleeve, as if grasping her last lifeline.

“Please, hold on…” Qin Yu carefully cradled her in his arms and lifted her out. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”

He laid his suit jacket on the ground and gently placed Xia Jin on it.

Uncertain whether she had internal bleeding, he didn’t dare move her recklessly before the ambulance arrived.

“President Qin! Your wrist!” Only when Chi Fan gasped in alarm did Qin Yu notice the deep gash on his right wrist, blood trickling down his sleeve and onto the ground.

Chi Fan’s voice trembled. “The ambulance will be here in fifteen minutes! President Qin, you need to go to the hospital-”

“No. I won’t leave until I see her safely in the ambulance.”

Qin Yu took Chi Fan’s jacket but, instead of wrapping it around his own wound, he bent down and draped it over Xia Jin, who was shivering slightly.

Then he walked to the car, grabbed a blanket, and hastily wrapped it around his wrist to slow the bleeding.

At that moment, a car driving down the road suddenly pulled over ahead. Chen Zeyu stepped out and jogged up to Qin Yu: “President Qin, I just happened to pass by and saw President Xia’s car had an accident. She-”

Qin Yu nodded and pointed to where Xia Jin lay unconscious.

“Ah!” Chen Zeyu gasped sharply at the devastating sight. “How could this happen?”

Chi Fan stepped forward to inquire about Chen Zeyu’s identity.

“I’m Chen Zeyu, an artist under Stellar Cube.”

Chi Fan turned to Qin Yu and suggested, “In that case, let’s ask Mr. Chen to stay here with Miss Xia Jin and wait for the ambulance. You should go to the hospital first to treat your injuries, then meet up with Miss Xia Jin later.”

Qin Yu frowned, still feeling uneasy about the arrangement.