Chapter 122: I Really Wasn’t Eavesdropping

Hearing Su Dai’s words, Jiang Yan responded with an “Oh?” but didn’t immediately express her opinion.

Lately, she’d been reading books on psychology and the art of thick-skinned cunning. After spending several days alone, her temperament had grown even more calm and reserved.

Su Dai, however, was getting anxious. “Jiang Yan, if you don’t want the jade pendant, I can trade you some food from home instead…”

The first time she’d accidentally lost her pregnancy, her husband, Sun Jingtao, was still in the army, away on special training in some remote desert.

His phone had been confiscated, so she couldn’t reach him at all.

Of course, even if she could, he was too far away to help.

Back then, there were no ride-hailing apps. If you needed a cab, you had to flag one down on the street.

It was just by chance that Tian Jiliang and his wife, who were getting off work, drove her to the hospital.

Su Dai had always remembered this kindness.

But now was clearly not the time to go into these details.

Jiang Yan didn’t say outright that she had what Su Dai needed. She just comforted her, saying,

“I think I bought a home first-aid kit online a while ago, but I’m not sure where it ended up after I moved. I’ll need some time to look for it, so don’t worry just yet.”

In most households, medicine is usually kept in a drawer.

But first-aid kits take up more space and are rarely used, so they might be buried in some corner of a wardrobe.

“Okay, thank you, Jiang Yan. Here, you take the jade pendant first.” Worried Jiang Yan might not trust her, Su Dai shoved the pendant into her hand.

The jade was of excellent quality—smooth, delicate, and cool to the touch.

Jiang Yan didn’t refuse. “You should head home first. As soon as I find it, I’ll bring it over.”

She’d been to Su Dai’s place before. She couldn’t very well invite Su Dai in right now, but it wasn’t right to make her wait at the door either. This was the best she could do.

Su Dai nodded anxiously and hurried back to 3204.

Judging by her urgency, Tian Jiliang’s injury must be serious.

Jiang Yan closed the door, put the jade pendant away in her space, then, with a thought, took out a red nylon multi-purpose first-aid kit.

Inside were band-aids, iodine swabs, alcohol pads, gauze, triangular bandages, regular bandages, a tourniquet, tweezers, and so on—just what was needed to dress Tian Jiliang’s wounds.

You could buy these on Taobao, and many ordinary families kept one at home. Nothing unusual about it.

Since his wound was deep, to make disinfection and infection prevention easier, she also took out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and two blister packs of amoxicillin and stuffed them in.

There was alcohol in the kit for cleaning wounds, but that was better for shallow cuts.

After packing everything, she quickly tidied her hair. Two or three minutes later, she headed out.

As soon as she stepped into the hallway, Jiang Yan sensed something was off.

It was too dark.

And there was a faint, fresh smell of blood in the air.

Looking up, she saw that the door to 3202 was now closed.

It seemed that someone had moved into this battered, leaky apartment.

But she didn’t know which building they were from.

There were also a few tents set up by the elevator.

When she came out, the people inside the tents all zipped them shut with a “chua” sound.

Jiang Yan glanced at them, then looked away.

Just as she reached the fire door, the door to 3203 creaked open.

Zhou Wei stepped out, carrying a wrinkled plastic bag that matched his own creased face.

“Jiang Yan.”

His voice was a bit airy, as if he were missing a few teeth.

His right cheek looked a bit swollen, and the usual saggy wrinkles were much less noticeable.

Jiang Yan stopped. “?”

“This is some gauze left over from when the kids at home were sick and needed to drink herbal medicine. It’s all new. See if you can use it for Tian Jiliang. Gauze is breathable and helps wounds heal faster.”

Zhou Wei spoke quietly, handing the bag to her.

Jiang Yan didn’t take it right away, but studied his expression.

She was a bit puzzled. There was some distance between their apartments. Even without the sound of rain outside, he shouldn’t have been able to hear her conversation with Su Dai.

Zhou Wei seemed to see the doubt in her eyes and quickly explained,

“I wasn’t eavesdropping on your conversation. I saw Sun Jingtao and the others helping Tian Jiliang upstairs earlier. He was badly hurt—there was blood everywhere.”

So, he hadn’t been eavesdropping.

But early in the morning, to have seen Tian Jiliang come up injured, and then seen Su Dai come looking for her—was it just a coincidence, or had he been lurking behind the door, quietly watching?

Now he was deliberately hinting at his own suspicious behavior.

In just a second or two, Jiang Yan had already analyzed Zhou Wei’s actions from every angle.

But outwardly, she remained calm. “Thank you, Zhou Wei, but you should keep the gauze for yourselves. Su Dai has clean bedsheets at home—those will do in a pinch.”

“This gauze works better. It’ll help the wound heal faster. It’s just a small gesture—neighbors should look out for each other.” This time, Zhou Wei shoved the bag into Jiang Yan’s hands.

In that instant, she suddenly remembered what Tian Jiliang had said about Ma Longbiao’s gang threatening people with kids, and asked,

“Zhou Wei, I heard from Haoyue that she has an older brother. If you don’t mind me asking, is he here in our complex now?”

At her words, Zhou Wei’s eyes suddenly dimmed.

He clenched his fists, struggled for a couple of seconds, then said quietly,

“Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t.”

Jiang Yan: “What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing… really. Jiang Yan, make sure you use the gauze for Tian Jiliang.” Zhou Wei’s face grew serious. He quickly turned and went back inside.

Jiang Yan watched his retreating figure.

After just a few days, the once-burly Zhou Wei seemed to have withered to skin and bones.

She mulled over his words, then headed to 3204.

Su Dai’s door was tightly shut.

Jiang Yan knocked.

“Jiang Yan, you’re here.” Ye Qing opened the door. Seeing her, his dark eyes brightened.

He had bloodstains on his face and body, but like Su Dai, it was probably all from Tian Jiliang.

Jiang Yan nodded and entered.

A stronger, more pungent smell of blood hit her from inside.

“Jiang Yan.”

“Jiang Yan, you’re here.”

Su Dai and Sun Jingtao’s tightly furrowed brows instantly relaxed when they saw Jiang Yan and the red-cross-marked first-aid kit in her hand.

Tian Jiliang was half-conscious, biting a towel, slumped on a single-seater sofa.

Hearing Jiang Yan come in, he opened his eyes, but without his glasses, all he saw was a blurry figure.

Tian Jiliang: “Jiang Yan—”

“All right, Old Tian, Jiang Yan’s here. You’re saved!” Sun Jingtao said excitedly."