Her Imperfection for Wifehood - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

When An Jing woke up, the other side of the bed was already empty.

The bed board was quite hard. She struggled to turn onto her right side, trying to punch her sore waist with her left hand, but couldn’t exert any strength.

The creaking sound drew Wei Yinxia’s attention: “What’s wrong? Can’t get up?”

An Jing looked distressed: “My back hurts. Quickly, help me rub it. I feel like it’s about to break.”

Well, Boss Jing had certainly never slept on such a hard bed.

After last night’s “heart-to-heart,” their relationship seemed much more harmonious and intimate than before.

Wei Yinxia naturally stepped forward to help, standing by the bed to rub An Jing’s back. After a while, seeing her disheveled hair made her look so endearing that she changed her action and began gently massaging her head.

The slender fingers running through her thick, black hair caused the woman on the bed to stiffen instantly, and she became wide awake.

An Jing raised her right hand and reached back to catch Wei Yinxia’s wrist. Before she could exert force, she heard Wei Yinxia say softly: “Your hair is messy. I’m just tidying it up for you.”

An Jing slowly relaxed, allowing the hands to continue: “You’re the first person, Wei… Yinyin, who has dared to touch my hair so casually.”

She relaxed her body and leaned back. Coincidentally, her head rested against something soft.

This time, both of them froze.

After a long while, An Jing spoke: “How is the recovery of the scar on your arm? I know a famous doctor who has an excellent anti-scarring ointment. I’ll send it to you when I get home. That day at the tea house, I was a bit rough. Did I make your wound tear open again?”

“No.” (That’s a lie.) “It’s been over ten days. The wound is healed and doesn’t hurt anymore.”

The fingers in her hair began moving again. An Jing rested comfortably: “Did Wei Zhengqing make things difficult for you after you suffered such a serious injury?”

“Although the incident wasn’t sensationally reported in the newspapers, word travels fast at Xianle Gate. I stayed here with Aunt Hong for one night, and the next evening, he sent people to bring me back. He spent a lot of effort and money on me; my life is still useful to him, so he wouldn’t abandon me to die. When I went back, I was scolded by the three of them, but he did send for a doctor to treat me at home.”

Wang Man was after her, but Wei Yinxia suffered undeserved calamity because of her. An Jing felt guilty and changed the subject: “What’s for breakfast?”

“Soy milk, fried dough sticks, and scallion pancakes.”

After breakfast, Wei Yinxia went to the alley behind the house. Aunt Hong was squatting by the small river, washing the clothes they changed out of last night. She was once such a beautiful, dignified woman, yet she had fallen to this plight.

You can’t choose your birth, and you can’t change your background.

The terrible thing was that even your fate after birth wasn’t your own.

“Aunt Hong, let me wash them.” Here, Hongying was her distant relative, so she had to call her Aunt Hong.

Aunt Hong wouldn’t let Wei Yinxia intervene, waving her hands and pushing her away. She gestured, pointing to the riverbank and the house door, reminding her that more people would soon come to wash clothes, urging her to go back inside quickly.

Unable to dissuade her, Wei Yinxia turned back. One foot crossed the threshold when she ran right into An Jing, who was coming to look for her. Her forehead bumped An Jing’s nose.

An Jing rubbed her own nose, then raised a hand to rub Wei Yinxia’s forehead: “The river water is cold. Tell Aunt Hong not to wash them. I have enough money to buy several new sets.”

Wei Yinxia shook her head: “There are no clothes suitable for you in the Old Town.”

Returning to the room, Wei Yinxia took An Jing’s suit jacket, which An Jing had lent her when she was injured, out of the closet: “Your clothes. They’ve been washed.”

An Jing took it, and just as she was about to put it on, Wei Yinxia took it back, shook it open with both hands, and helped her put it on from right to left.

As the jacket was on, An Jing caught Wei Yinxia’s hand: “Let me see your wound.”

Wei Yinxia was wearing a simple, gray checkered, long-sleeved cheongsam today. The small scratch on her neck was barely visible.

An Jing wanted to see the wound on her arm.

After only a moment’s hesitation, Wei Yinxia quietly agreed, “Okay,” and turned her back, starting to unfasten the frog buttons.

She presented her bare right shoulder to An Jing, turning slightly so An Jing could see the ugly, dark red scar on her arm.

The scar was so prominent and conspicuous, jarringly contrasting with her surrounding jade-like skin.

An Jing held her breath, her fingertip lightly touching it: “Don’t worry. I will definitely find a way to use the best medicine to remove it from your body.”

The scar was located where it would be exposed when wearing a cheongsam in the summer. For a woman, such a knife wound was considered “grotesque.” It would attract gossip and even disgust from men.

“It’s fine. If this body loses its value because of this scar, isn’t that a kind of release?” Wei Yinxia shook her head, pulling her collar up and buttoning it one by one.

Then, she sat down at the dressing table, stuck on the veil she wore yesterday, and applied the material to her face to disguise her beauty. She then told the gloomy-faced An Jing: “I have to go out for a bit. It will take about an hour round trip.”

“That long? To do what? I’ll go with you.”

“No need. You stay here and rest your injury.”

“It’s a small injury, I’m fine. This Old Town is full of shady characters. I won’t feel at ease with you going out alone.”

“Boss Jing, you are the one who’s injured. You should worry about making me worry.”

So, Wei Yinxia left An Jing behind and went out alone. She hadn’t walked a few hundred meters when a bicycle stopped in front of her.

“Where are you off to, young lady? I’ll give you a lift, sister.” An Jing patted the back seat: “I just bought this from a passerby. The money wouldn’t buy new clothes anyway.”

You meddlesome person.

Wei Yinxia sighed, got onto the back seat, grabbed the fabric around An Jing’s waist, and said: “Fangbangzhong Road.”

There had been an autumn rain shower in the early morning, and the road surface hadn’t fully dried.

The cool breeze blew past Wei Yinxia’s ears. Her hands tightened their grip, and her face rested against An Jing’s back, feeling an unprecedented sense of security and comfort.

It felt as though the person cycling and carrying her was the hero who should have appeared in her life on a cloud of colors, shielding her from the wind and rain, fighting for her without regard for personal danger.

Was it too much to hope for?

She selfishly wished this road could be longer, even longer, stretching out of sight, all the way to the end of life.

But her wishes were neither seen nor heard by fate.

When they arrived at the location, An Jing saw the plaque and realized: “This is the Qiao Gang’s territory?”

The Qiao Gang was also one of Shanghai’s Big Three gangs, and it had always been a deadly rival of the Lu Gang for the top position. Meetings between the two gangs invariably led to casualties, and they were relentless.

Wei Yinxia dismounted: “Yes, it’s just a very small branch office. Wait here for me. I’ll be quick.”

An Jing held onto her, refusing to let go: “It’s too dangerous.”

The Qiao Gang was notoriously a tiger’s den! If a soft, gentle lamb like Wei Yinxia walked in, wouldn’t she be devoured alive?

The corner of Wei Yinxia’s mouth, not covered by the veil, curled up: “I’ve been here many times.”

After much hesitation, An Jing chose to let go. After all, this was Hongying and Aunt Hong’s life: “Alright, I’ll wait for you.”

In this dilapidated part of the Old Town, the neglected Hongying was brave, strong, stubborn, and enduring. Her existence and life were not something an outsider like herself had the right or reason to interfere with.

Before she intruded into her life, hadn’t she managed fine on her own?

Wei Yinxia was there to pay protection money for Aunt Hong. Every month, she personally delivered double the amount, simply so the Qiao Gang wouldn’t bother her mother.

“Miss Hongying, the protection fee has gone up this month. The few silver dollars you brought aren’t enough.” The small-time thug weighed the silver dollars in his hand, his eyes leering at Wei Yinxia’s chest.

“Gone up? I’m sorry, I only brought this much today. I’ll bring the rest another day. How much is still due?” Wei Yinxia asked politely.

“Actually, it doesn’t have to be so much trouble.” The thug put the silver dollars back into Wei Yinxia’s hand: “I can waive this month’s protection fee, as long as Miss Hongying spends one night with me. I don’t care how ugly you are. Once the lights are out at night, looks don’t matter. What matters is that your body is soft and smooth…”

The thug moved his hand up Wei Yinxia’s arm, and just as he touched her chin, his wrist was twisted and broken.

The person who did this could only be An Jing. She understood that collecting protection money was the rule of the criminal underworld. Taking the money was fine, but groping was not.

“Damn it! Who, who the hell dares to move on Qiao Gang territory…”

Another punch landed on the thug’s face: “You speak nothing but filth.”

Wei Yinxia’s face paled.

Hearing the curses, more Qiao Gang members rushed out.

An Jing was outnumbered and wasn’t carrying her handgun. She kicked the thug away and pulled Wei Yinxia to run: “Don’t just stand there.”

These gang thugs might not have many skills, but running away was probably their best.

An Jing’s fighting skills were enough to deal with three low-level thugs at once, but the problem was there were more than three enemies, and she had to protect the defenseless Wei Yinxia.

It was her own impulsive fault.

Things that could be solved with money weren’t really problems.

Realizing they couldn’t outrun them, An Jing pushed the slender Wei Yinxia into a narrow alley, barricading the entrance with clutter: “Hide and don’t move. Don’t speak. Don’t come out.”

She then ran forward to lead the Qiao Gang members away.

An Jing fought one against five, which was extremely difficult. She even suffered a scratch on her face.

Fortunately, Young Brother Bai Yang appeared just in time. His fighting skills were also good. After they fought side-by-side, the brawl quickly ended.

Bai Yang was young, just turned nineteen. He had been with Xu Weiqiang for over two years. He was clever, reliable, loyal, and trustworthy, which was why Xu Weiqiang had ordered him to secretly follow An Jing and ensure her safety.

Bai Yang had been following them from a distance since An Jing and Wei Yinxia left this morning.

“Boss Jing, are you alright?”

An Jing patted his shoulder: “I owe you one.”

“Lord Qiang gave me a good dressing down last night and told me to follow you until you return to the An house. I’ll stay out of sight.”

“Mmm. I only fully woke up this morning. I forgot to arrange for someone to keep an eye on the newspaper office last night.”

The people at the newspaper office, to put it nicely, report the facts; to put it bluntly, they thrive on chaos. The more chaotic, the bigger the news, the better the readership.

The gunfight at Xianle Gate was no small event, and it would undoubtedly be reported.

Although An Jing did not fire her gun or intentionally wound anyone, merely taking a bullet for Xu Weiqiang, she was present at the scene.

If there was a leak, it would be detrimental to both her and An’s.

The Municipal Council was best not easily offended.

“Don’t worry, Boss Jing. Lord Qiang has already handled it. Your name will not appear in the report about the Xianle Gate brawl.”

Brawl?

Well, it certainly fit the underworld style.

An Jing turned back to look for Wei Yinxia: “Yinyin, it’s over. I’m sorry for dragging you into this worry.”

Wei Yinxia, who was crouched behind the pile of clutter, was initially angry at An Jing’s impulsive trouble-making. As time passed, her heart was filled with nothing but worry for her.

She grabbed the outstretched hand to stand up. Seeing the scratch on An Jing’s face, her eyes teared up again. She pulled her hand away and quickly walked back.

An Jing and Bai Yang followed closely behind.

Bai Yang was bewildered. He didn’t dare to say or ask anything. How could Miss Hongying dare to give Boss Jing a cold shoulder after just one night? And why was Boss Jing not only not angry but also helpless?

Bai Yang had known An Jing for two years through Xu Weiqiang. When had he ever seen the fearless, decisive Boss Jing look so anxious and troubled because of a young girl?

Seriously, this obscure Miss Hongying was a force of nature!

Back in the room, Wei Yinxia fetched warm water to clean the new cuts on An Jing’s face. She checked and saw that the gunshot wound on her shoulder was bleeding again.

“Take off your clothes.”

“…” An Jing removed her jacket and quietly unbuttoned her shirt.

“Boss Jing, your life is precious. Don’t risk it so lightly.”

Wei Yinxia’s voice was thick with emotion. She carefully removed the bandage, applied the medicine, and re-wrapped the clean bandage.

It was a good thing she had asked the doctor how to change the dressing last night, or she would be completely helpless today.

An Jing put her half-removed shirt back on and took the clean cloth from Wei Yinxia to wipe her hands and arms.

“Your hands are fair, slender, and beautiful. They can play the qin and cook. They shouldn’t be defiled by those low-life thugs.”

After wiping her arms, An Jing cupped Wei Yinxia’s hands in her own and reached out to wipe away the unshed tears from the corner of her eyes: “Everyone’s life is precious. Only villains are disposable.”

Wei Yinxia craved the warmth An Jing offered her, but her heart was simultaneously filled with guilt.

“Boss Jing, you only just met me. How do you know I’m not a villain?”

“I’ve met countless people. I can tell the difference between good and evil.” How could Wei Yinxia, a person who showed compassion even to a little cat, be a villain?

“Boss Jing…”

“Shush.” An Jing stopped her from belittling herself. “Dear sister, from now on, you have me. No matter what trouble you run into, as long as you tell me, I will do my best to help you. A gentleman’s word is his bond. Did you hear me clearly?”

She heard it clearly, but the address “dear sister” made Wei Yinxia inexplicably unhappy. She picked up the basin and turned away.

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