Volume One, Chapter 41 Liang Muzhi kept his gaze straight ahead and brushed past her without so much as a sideways glance.

When Liang Muzhi received the call and rushed back, several staff from the ski resort were carrying Chen Jing out on a stretcher. Xu Zhi had already removed her skis and was following them outside.

Liang Muzhi took off his skis as quickly as he could and hurried to catch up, heading first to check on Chen Jing.

Chen Jing was fully conscious, lying on the stretcher with a deathly pale face and tears streaming down her cheeks. She cradled her left wrist with her right hand. When she saw Liang Muzhi, she called out to him in a voice full of grievance, “Muzhi… it hurts so much.”

“It’s okay. There’s a medical center here—we’ll let the doctor take a look first,” Liang Muzhi soothed her. “Where did you get hurt?”

“My arm…and my back, they hurt so much…” Chen Jing whimpered, cold sweat beading on her forehead. “It feels like my bones are broken…”

Once the stretcher was loaded onto the resort vehicle, Liang Muzhi climbed in as well, taking hold of Chen Jing’s right hand, his eyes brimming with concern. “It’s all right. We’ll be there soon…just hold on a little longer.”

He spoke as if calming a child, one hand gently brushing her forehead.

There wasn’t much space in the vehicle, and Xu Zhi could see that there was nowhere for her to sit. No one asked about her, no one paid her any attention. Everyone revolved around Chen Jing—including Liang Muzhi, who didn’t spare her a single glance.

The vehicle headed for the medical center. Xu Zhi remained where she was, her mind still muddled, Chen Jing’s last words echoing in her ears, though she couldn’t process or analyze them.

She had never been through anything like this before. The people she’d met in the past, for better or worse, had always made their attitudes clear. Chen Jing was different.

The medical center was indeed not far, just across from the hotel. In the end, Xu Zhi walked there on foot.

The doctor took X-rays and examined Chen Jing. The diagnosis: a hairline fracture of the humerus with slight displacement, an impact to the left scapula—though not fractured, her back bore extensive bruising with a high risk of infection, and she had some abrasions as well. Fortunately, none of her internal organs were harmed.

This condition required manual reduction. As Xu Zhi was about to enter the treatment room, she heard Chen Jing’s shrill screams from inside.

Liang Muzhi tried to comfort her, “Be good, darling, just bear with it for a bit, it’ll be over soon.”

Xu Zhi stopped at the door, her face dazed.

Chen Jing was crying, sobbing helplessly.

Xu Zhi retreated from the treatment room, standing just outside the door.

Soon, Chen Jing’s humerus was set and immobilized, and she was wheeled to a patient room to begin her IV drip.

After the nurse left, Xu Zhi remained at the doorway, not entering. She could hear Liang Muzhi and Chen Jing talking inside.

“Does it still hurt?” Liang Muzhi asked.

“It does,” Chen Jing’s voice was weak and still tinged with tears. “I thought I was going to die… Thank goodness you’re here.”

Liang Muzhi squeezed her uninjured right hand. “The doctor prescribed painkillers—they’re in the IV. In a little while, it won’t hurt anymore.”

Chen Jing nodded through her tears, looking meek and obedient.

Only then did Liang Muzhi remember to ask, “I told you to practice standing still and steady before moving. What happened? How did you end up hitting a tree at the bottom of the hill?”

“I…” Chen Jing turned her face away. “You know Xu Zhi doesn’t like me. She seems to really hate it when I touch her. Like in the car that time—I just held her arm, and she snapped at me to let go… But I couldn’t stand steadily. I was scared, so maybe I held on to her a little tightly. I didn’t think she’d reject me so much…”

She paused at just the right moment, glancing at Liang Muzhi’s expression.

His face was dark, lips pressed in a hard line, the air around him heavy. “So, she shook off your hand, is that it?”

Chen Jing bit her lip. “You can’t really blame her. I panicked, and I wasn’t holding my ski pole properly. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have fallen.”

Liang Muzhi’s brow furrowed. “I see. Get some rest.”

Before long, likely due to the medication, Chen Jing drifted off to sleep.

Liang Muzhi didn’t leave the room. He stayed with Chen Jing until evening, then stepped out and walked over to the nurses’ station.

Xu Zhi was sitting on a bench in the corridor. When she saw him come out, she immediately stood up.

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Liang Muzhi walked past her without so much as a glance, as if he hadn’t seen her at all.

Xu Zhi stood frozen, her hand slowly curling into a fist at her side.

Liang Muzhi had gone to the nurses’ station to arrange for special care for Chen Jing.

Ordinarily, Chen Jing’s injuries didn’t warrant such measures, but Liang Muzhi insisted.

The nursing staff quickly sent a nurse to Chen Jing’s room.

Liang Muzhi returned to the room, looked in on Chen Jing for a while, then finally turned and called out to Xu Zhi, “Xu Zhi.”

Her heart skipped a beat.

His tone was stern, addressing her by her full name—something he’d never done before.

He stared at her for a few seconds before saying, “Let’s talk outside.”

With that, he strode out of the medical center.

Xu Zhi followed, her heart pounding.

She had heard everything Liang Muzhi and Chen Jing had said in the hospital room.

Maybe she should have barged in right then and confronted Chen Jing, but her mind had gone blank—she couldn’t even think.

She didn’t know why Chen Jing had said those things, but as she sat in the hallway afterward, her thoughts slowly started to clear. At last, she understood what Chen Jing had meant by “don’t blame me.”

—This was all part of Chen Jing’s plan.

Realizing this sent a chill through Xu Zhi.

Chen Jing must have seen her as a threat, and so she was determined to sow discord, to break her and Liang Muzhi apart.

This was the first time Xu Zhi had experienced something like this, and she had no idea how to handle it. But—

She looked at the tall figure ahead. She and Liang Muzhi had known each other for more than twenty years—did he really not know what kind of person she was?

Even if she didn’t like Chen Jing, she would never push someone who couldn’t ski down a slope. Ever since she was a child, even when she disliked someone, she held herself in check. She’d rarely even quarreled with others, let alone hurt anyone.

The two of them walked in silence, one behind the other, until they reached the green belt beside the main entrance of the medical center. There, Liang Muzhi stopped.

He turned to face her and asked, “How did Chen Jing end up sliding down the slope?”

Xu Zhi pressed her lips together, took a deep breath, and finally spoke: “She was holding a ski pole in one hand and grabbing my arm with the other. When we got to that spot, she stopped and said a few things…”

She hesitated for a moment but ultimately repeated Chen Jing’s words to Liang Muzhi in full. “After she said, ‘don’t blame me,’ she suddenly let go and fell backward, then slid down the hill.”

Liang Muzhi lowered his gaze, seemingly lost in thought for a while before asking, “So, I asked you to support her, but you never actually held her hand, did you?”

Xu Zhi was startled. After a few seconds, she lowered her head and her voice grew small. “No.”

“When she slid down, you didn’t try to catch her either.”

“I was completely caught off guard!” Xu Zhi couldn’t hold it in anymore, her voice rising with agitation. “I was scared—I never thought she would do something like that!”

Liang Muzhi lifted his eyes to look at her. “I find that hard to believe. Do you have any idea how afraid of pain Chen Jing is? She’s terrified of needles. You think she would throw herself down a hill? Doesn’t she know she’d get hurt?”

Xu Zhi heard the implication in his words and felt a chill at her core. “What are you trying to say?”