Ren Jing cried out with a yelp and suddenly jumped up, pointing at Su Jiaojiao and cursing loudly.
"Are you trying to kill yourself? Are you blind?"
The burned area immediately blistered up.
Su Jiaojiao panicked, "It wasn't on purpose, what should we do?"
Zhao Hua burst into the kitchen, grabbed the soy sauce bottle, and poured it over Ren Jing's leg.
"It's okay, it's okay, just pour some soy sauce."
"Right, and vinegar too, Jiaojiao, go get some."
The three of them were all over the place, completely ignoring Lin Anning's words.
"Use cold water to rinse it!"
After dumping all the oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar without any improvement, the pain became even worse.
Ren Jing lost her temper, pushing Zhao Hua and Su Jiaojiao's hands away.
"Stop it, all of you, it's no use. Anning, please help me, it really hurts."
"Ah, right, right, right, didn't you learn some medical skills from your grandfather? Quickly, take a look at your Aunt Ren."
Zhao Hua grabbed Lin Anning and pushed her toward Ren Jing.
Lin Anning examined carefully and frowned deeply with a sigh.
"The burn is quite serious; I'm afraid it will scar."
Upon hearing this, Ren Jing's face turned pale—she was famously concerned about her appearance. What would she do if she ended up with a scar?
"Anning, my dear child, the old Master Lin was an excellent doctor, and you've learned from him. You must have a way to treat it right?"
There was burn ointment in the pharmacy; Lin Anning pondered for a moment.
"Grandpa did prepare some ointment for me, but… it's a bit pricey! A hundred bucks!"
Before Ren Jing could say anything, Su Jiaojiao interrupted Lin Anning outright.
"Sis, Aunt Ren got burned in our house, and you know how to cure her. How could you think of asking for money?"
Zhao Hua was even more shocked by the outrageous hundred bucks.
"What kind of ointment costs as much as three months' wages for your dad and me? That's just extortion!"
Lin Anning shrugged with both hands, as if ready to leave.
"To be precise, Aunt Ren was burned by you. The medicine for the ointment was also bought with money. If it's not enough, I'll need to buy more ingredients to mix. If you keep resisting, even the burn ointment may not work…"
Ren Jing became frantic, backhanding the overly talkative Su Jiaojiao with a slap.
"It's all your fault. If I really end up with a scar, don't even think about setting foot inside the Huo Family's door."
Then she pulled out a stack of big yuan notes from her handbag and handed ten to Lin Anning.
"Anning, don't listen to them. Hurry up and get me that ointment; better get some extra too."
"Oh, it hurts so much."
Su Jiaojiao was stunned, standing still with tears brimming in her eyes, looking plaintively at Zhao Hua.
"Mom…"
Although Zhao Hua felt uneasy herself, she could only give Su Jiaojiao a look, signaling her to bear with it.
Lin Anning accepted the money, helped Ren Jing into the kitchen, and pushed her into a trough.
"What are you doing, sprinkling everything on it as if cooking? Soak it for a while first."
She then went upstairs, busied herself in the room for a while, took out a tube of burn ointment from the pharmacy, squeezed some into a small jar, and sealed it.
Afterward, she brought it down to Ren Jing.
"Once it's washed clean, apply this ointment, three times a day. Just to be safe, go to the hospital to get some anti-inflammatory drugs. It's hot, and we need to prevent infection."
She indeed had all sorts of medicines in her pharmacy, but she hesitated to take out so much at once, worried that they might become suspicious.
When Zhao Hua heard that a hospital visit was still necessary, she became annoyed.
"If you had said we should go to the hospital earlier, wouldn't that have been fine? Why did you extort a hundred bucks from your Aunt Ren? Lin Anning, how could you be so wicked?"
Ren Jing was completely soaked, her curly hair limply stuck to her forehead, with even a leaf in her hair. She was a picture of complete disarray.
Shivering, she rose from the trough, took the ointment, and pushed Zhao Hua.
"What are you waiting for? Take me to the hospital."
"Oh, quickly, quickly, Jiaojiao!"
Zhao Hua gave Lin Anning a glare, called for Su Jiaojiao, and one on each side, they helped Ren Jing out of the house swiftly.
They had just stepped out when they bumped into Nie Bigmouth, looking as pale as a ghost.
She clutched at her stomach, frowning as she tugged at Zhao Hua.
"Anning's mom, are you going to the hospital? Can I hitch a ride? I'm feeling a bit unwell."
"There's nobody at home; I just couldn't handle it..."
Zhao Hua was as anxious as ants on a hot pan, not sparing a thought for Nie Dazui as she impatiently pushed her away.
"I'm not your man. If you're sick, go to the hospital yourself. What do you want from me?"
Nie Dazui staggered from the shove and fell sitting at the Lin Family's doorstep.
Pain darkened her vision, and she hadn't the strength to call for help.
Wow, she opened her mouth and vomited all over the ground.
At that time, everyone in Glory Lane was either at work or at school; there was nobody around.
Just when Nie Dazui thought she might die of pain, she heard Lin Anning come over, squat beside her, and press on her abdomen.
"Where does it hurt? How long have you been in pain? What have you eaten these last few days?"
Nie Dazui's head spun with pain as she pulled Lin Anning's hand to press on the right side of her abdomen.
"Here, it hurts! It's been two days, I haven't managed to eat anything."
Lin Anning took out a silver needle and inserted it into several acupuncture points on Nie Dazui, including Zusanli, Hegu, and Neiting.
"My initial diagnosis is appendicitis. I'll give you something for the pain first, then carry you to the hospital."
Nie Dazui looked at Lin Anning's slender back and thought she probably wouldn't be able to carry her.
Fortunately, her man was just back from the night shift.
"What, what's happened?"
Lin Anning quickly explained the situation to Nie Dazui's husband, who panicked and rushed out carrying Nie Dazui on his back.
At the hospital, the doctor confirmed it was appendicitis. It was a good thing they arrived on time; a ruptured appendix would have been serious trouble.
As Nie Dazui was wheeled into the operating room, she thought dizzily,
She had said so many unpleasant things while helping Zhao Hua lately. And yet, Lin Anning was still willing to help her; she was truly a good comrade.
Thinking about it, she really was low.
————————
At night, Zhao Hua, flanked by Su Jiaojiao on either side, was supporting Ren Jing home, chatting and laughing.
Ren Jing had been badly scalded, but the prompt treatment and burn cream immediately reduced the pain.
After the doctor checked her, confirming there was nothing serious, he prescribed some anti-inflammatory drugs and let her leave the hospital.
Ren Jing wasn't comfortable staying at the guest house, so for the next few days, she would stay with the Lin Family. Lin Jianguo, being a man, naturally found it inconvenient, so he stayed at the factory.
As they entered, the house was pitch-dark.
Click, Zhao Hua switched on the light and frowned as she glanced upstairs.
"Did Anning go out to watch a movie with some guy again?"
Hearing this, Ren Jing frowned involuntarily.
"Does your Anning usually like to go out alone with male comrades? And she's not back this late?"
Su Jiaojiao, helping Ren Jing to sit on the sofa, poured her a cup of hot water and crouched down to fan her burn.
"No, not often. Aunt Jing, you know my sister just came back to Jiangcheng, she's not well, so she can't go to school or work. It's good for her to go out once in a while to clear her mind."
Ren Jing looked at the well-behaved Su Jiaojiao and touched her little face with a sense of apology.
"Jiaojiao is so sensible. You haven't been back in Jiangcheng for long either, right? Tomorrow, when Brother Wenchang comes, let him take you out to look around."
"He's been to Jiangcheng a few times and knows it better than you!"
"Hmm, I also want to meet Brother Wenchang! Aunt Jing is so beautiful; Brother Wenchang must be really handsome!"
Ren Jing was amused and affectionately pinched Su Jiaojiao's nose.
"This girl, the more I see you, the more I like you."
Seeing this, Zhao Hua breathed a sigh of relief.
She had said it, her Jiaojiao was so well-behaved, who wouldn't like her?
"You two chat; I'm going to drag Anning back here. She may not care about her reputation, but Jiaojiao still does!"
Zhao Hua made as if to leave, but just then the upstairs door suddenly opened, and Lin Anning emerged, looking coldly at them.
"Can't you sleep at night without scheming against me?"
Just moments after leaving the house, Ren Jing was scolding and threatening Su Jiaojiao, and now she seemed like a completely different person, apparently not minding at all that Jiaojiao had burned her.
Being exposed face to face by Lin Anning, Zhao Hua was a bit embarrassed, but in front of Ren Jing, it wasn't appropriate to say much.
After helping Ren Jing up the stairs to rest, she gestured for Su Jiaojiao to return to her room. The mother and daughter huddled together warmly and whispered to each other all night.
Before dawn the next day, Su Jiaojiao tiptoed quietly out of the house…