Blossoming Flowers

The following day, Jiang Yingyue found that Han Qingshan had already vanished when she woke up, but she was not too worried.

It had happened quite a few times so far. Han Qingshan was quite busy and started working from early morning, so she went to the bathroom and began her daily ritual of changing her bandages, washing and looking at her wound.

The wound was still not healed, and she was not able to shower as the doctor had told her to not wash the wound.

After washing and brushing her teeth, she prepared to exit the condo, only to find that the two bodyguards from the day before were waiting for her outside.

"We have prepared a car to take you to the university," one of the bodyguards said respectfully, "Young Master Shan has also ordered us to take you for a check-up at the hospital after you finish your lessons," the bodyguard continued, but Jiang Yingyue frowned when she heard it.

At least it was not Han Qingshan who was following her. Maybe she could leave the bodyguards in the car and then have the check-up done without them figuring out her real gender.

That was something to take into consideration later, but now she had to return to school.

Just as they arrived at the campus, Jiang Yingyue noticed that many were looking at her with a strange expression in their eyes.

Mutters started running around, and no one tried to get close to her. Seeing this, Jiang Yingyue picked up her phone and started searching the school's forum for clues as to what could have caused such alienation from the others.

It did not take her long to find a thread about He Yuyan being admitted to the hospital alongside the old professor and two bodyguards.

Someone had done some research and found out that this professor was the one who had suspended Jiang Yingyue earlier, and the two bodyguards used to work for Han Qingshan but were now unemployed.

All three had been beaten up to the point where not even their mothers could recognize them and had they not been sent to the hospital in time, then they would have died, or at least suffered some serious consequences.

He Yuyan was a woman that many other women were jealous of. She had everything in the eyes of others; she was rich, had the support of a noble family, and her life was that of a spoiled princess.

To be beaten like this was without a doubt the biggest grievance she had ever experienced; but even so, there was no movement on the He family's side. This could only mean one thing - the one who was behind the beating was someone they could not afford to offend.

Everyone was thinking the same thing, and the forum was filled with rumors and theories about how Han Qingshan had stood up for Jiang Fengmian, protecting him from some sort of insidious trick that He Yuyan had planned.

"He stood up because the man he cared for the most was harmed," was what one of the messages said, while another said, "Young Master Shan found his true love and would not allow for him to be bullied."

Even men were joining the discussion, but while they did not say anything about them being gay, their message was still clear. "He cared because he has mutual respect towards Jiang Fengmian. He would not allow for his friend to be wronged."

Like this, more and more comments ticked in on the screen, and no matter what they were saying, Jiang Yingyue could feel her heart beat rapidly. Could it perhaps be that Han Qingshan liked her?

But Jiang Yingyue was almost ninety-five percent certain that Han Qingshan did not know that she was a woman. How could he possibly have feelings for her when he thought she was a man like himself?

Jiang Yingyue closed the phone and was musing about what she had read. Han Qingshan had not mentioned facing off against He Yuyan to her, so what could perhaps be the reason behind this?

Had he not trusted her enough to tell her, or did he not want to worry her? Was it perhaps not even him who had done something? It was complicated.

Since he had not mentioned it, Jiang Yingyue decided not to bring it up either. She just felt warm in her heart when she thought about how Han Qingshan likely had protected her once more, without her even being aware of it.

She went to the auditorium and listened to the lecture of a guest professor throughout the entire day. She took many notes, and although it was uncomfortable to sit on the wooden chairs all day with her wound, she prevailed and was finally feeling better when the class ended.

The bodyguards were still waiting for her to go to the hospital, and it was now that Jiang Yingyue had to come up with some sort of excuse to get away.

Wracking her brain, she finally found a plausible excuse, "I will be happy if you let me enter on my own," Jiang Yingyue said smilingly, "I have some private things to discuss with the doctor."

Although these two bodyguards were rather worried, they wanted to ensure that Jiang Yingyue was happy. After being with Han Qingshan for years, they had never seen him be so friendly towards anyone before, so being in Jiang Yingyue's good graces was without a doubt the better option.

So when they arrived at the hospital, the two bodyguards waited in the parking bas.e.m.e.nt while Jiang Yingyue took the elevator up to the upper floors, a smile on her face as she felt that she had successfully managed to get there without exposing her identity.