'Does this count as a premonition?'
Lin Shen wondered silently.
He had guessed yesterday that their outdoor excursion might be dangerous, but that didn't mean he actually wanted Qin Yuenan to get hurt.
"Can you walk?"
Qin Yuenan shook her head. She gently squeezed her ankle, let out a muffled groan, and her brow furrowed tightly.
Seeing her reaction, Lin Shen took a bottle of water from his bag, poured it on a towel to make a cold compress for her ankle, and made sure to offer a word of comfort.
"You didn't break any bones. You'll be fine after some rest back home."
"Mm... Are you okay?"
'Me?'
Lin Shen's expression froze. He really hadn't expected that even in her state, Qin Yuenan would have the spare energy to worry about him.
"Of course I'm fine. You, on the other hand... let me see your hand."
At Lin Shen's repeated insistence, Qin Yuenan slowly opened her left hand.
The stinging pain from the bloody scrapes made her bite her lip. Her usual aloofness was long gone, replaced by helplessness and panic.
"It just scraped against the ground. It's not serious."
"You call this not serious?"
Lin Shen sighed softly and pulled an iodine swab from his bag.
He took Qin Yuenan's delicate left hand, first using the cotton tip to carefully wipe away the fine grit from the scrapes, then squeezed out the iodine to disinfect it.
Throughout the entire process, she never cried out in pain, only letting out low groans from her throat from time to time.
"All done."
After temporarily tending to Qin Yuenan's injuries, Lin Shen stood up, turned his back to her, and bent over slightly.
"Get on. I'll carry you down the mountain."
"..."
Qin Yuenan froze. After a moment's hesitation, she stood up and tried to jump onto Lin Shen's back.
But she failed several times, which only made Lin Shen break out in a sweat.
"Put some effort into it!"
Lin Shen bent over even lower, his tone a bit harsh from his impatience.
Hearing this, Qin Yuenan's lips downturned imperceptibly. But knowing Lin Shen meant well, she gathered her strength and jumped.
'Did that make sense?'
'It made perfect sense.'
Whenever Qin Yuenan hiked, the hot weather combined with tight undergarments often gave her a heat rash.
This explained why she had been so hesitant about getting on his back—she was afraid he would discover her secret.
'He probably didn't notice, right?'
An unexpected blush rose on Qin Yuenan's cheeks. She only breathed a sigh of relief after observing that Lin Shen's expression showed no sign of anything unusual.
"Are you tired?"
"Not tired."
Lin Shen chuckled. For him, carrying Qin Yuenan, who weighed just over a hundred pounds, was a piece of cake.
'Otherwise, would the last couple of weeks of training have been for nothing?'
"You're pretty light, Nan."
"Is that so."
Qin Yuenan propped herself up on Lin Shen's broad shoulders, trying her best to keep her chest from pressing against his back. It was cooler that way.
But since it was only four in the afternoon, the sun was still scorching.
As a result, after they had gone some way down the mountain, beads of sweat started to form on Lin Shen's forehead.
Seeing this, Qin Yuenan took a wet wipe from her fanny pack with her right hand and thoughtfully wiped his brow.
At this moment, the aloof ice queen's expression was filled with self-reproach.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have insisted on taking the shortcut. If we had taken the main road around the mountain, this probably wouldn't have happened."
"Instead of an apology, there's something else I'd rather hear you say."
Lin Shen chuckled, which made Qin Yuenan freeze for a moment before muttering softly.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Lin Shen joked self-deprecatingly.
"I'm your assistant, after all."
Lin Shen's half-joking tone eased the atmosphere, dispelling much of Qin Yuenan's guilt. The tension gradually left her body.
Since propping herself up with one hand was too tiring, she eventually let her upper body rest snugly against Lin Shen's back, her arms subconsciously reaching forward to drape over his shoulders.
The faint scent of sweat reached her nose, but Qin Yuenan didn't find it unpleasant.
On the contrary, she quite liked this potent, masculine scent.
Especially since it was Lin Shen.
CHIRP—!
The clear chirping of cicadas echoed in the air. The sun scattered dappled specks of light through the forest canopy, stretching their two shadows until they gradually merged into one.
Qin Yuenan pulled the sun-protective jacket from her waist and draped it over both their heads. Their mingled breaths were clearly audible.
Hearing Lin Shen's heavy breathing, Qin Yuenan rested her chin near his neck and asked with concern.
"Want to take a break?"
"I'm fine. Not tired."
"Not tired, but you're panting like this? Do you think I'm heavy?"
"That's not it."
Lin Shen was suffering in silence.
'You're lying on my back without a bra, grinding against me every so often. What man could possibly take this!'
'SIGH—!'
Lin Shen sighed internally.
Qin Yuenan's soft, rhythmic breaths tickled the back of his ear and neck, sending wave after wave of itchiness over him.
It made him feel itchy on the inside, too.
'This is torture!'
Lin Shen silently endured the torment, his mind starting to wander.
!?
Feeling Lin Shen's warm hand, Qin Yuenan's heart skipped a beat. She quickly smacked his shoulder and demanded coldly.
"Where do you think you're touching?!"
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
Lin Shen gave an awkward laugh and moved his hands back to their original position, which finally quelled Qin Yuenan's mix of shame and anger.
'She suspected Lin Shen had done it on purpose!'
But she couldn't find any hint of it in his expression.
Qin Yuenan pressed her thin lips together. After that little incident, the atmosphere between them had become a bit awkward.
Fortunately, the rest of the way wasn't long, and they soon reached the foot of the mountain.
Lin Shen hailed a sightseeing cart to take him and Qin Yuenan back the way they came.
「5:00 PM, at the south entrance of East Sheshan.」
"Let's go get an X-ray."
Lin Shen got into the driver's seat of the Volvo S90, intending to take Qin Yuenan to a nearby hospital.
However, she refused.
"It's fine. It'll be better after a day's rest."
"If it's serious, resting for a day just means delaying treatment for a day."
Lin Shen's attitude was firm. Without another word, he drove to a nearby hospital and registered them for the orthopedics department.
The doctor was an old man, nearly seventy. He simply felt Qin Yuenan's swollen ankle and waved his hand dismissively.
"Just spray some Yunnan Baiyao or rub on some Voltaren Emulgel. Try to walk on it as little as possible. Go home and rest."
"Thank you, doctor."
After leaving the hospital with the medicine, Lin Shen fastened his seatbelt and reminded Qin Yuenan.
"Get some proper rest when you get back."
"Mm."
Qin Yuenan pressed an ice pack to her injured ankle to cool it down, her gaze uncontrollably stealing glances at Lin Shen, who was driving beside her.
In her usually placid, cold eyes, an unidentifiable and complex emotion suddenly flickered.