Chapter 2 New Product: Ning's Leg Wraps

  There was soft music flowing in the car, Ningmeng nestling on the back of the chair, a flurry of random thoughts in his mind, but he was already powerless, an unprecedented sense of defeat swept over him, and after getting on the bus for just a few minutes, he sank into a deep sleep.

  In her dream, she was walking on that familiar wutong shaded path, holding a book in her hand, with warm sunlight shining on her body and gentle breeze blowing. Ahead of her was an intersection, when suddenly the sound of "ding-ding-ding" came from afar, and a bicycle stopped right in front of her, giving her a fright, a loud noise ringing in her ears, and the book fell to the ground with a thud.

  "Sorry." A handsome face suddenly appeared in front of me, with short and neat hair. The boy picked up the book, raised his eyes and smiled, revealing a row of white teeth.

  "It doesn't matter."

  The boy asked familiarly, "Why didn't you come to the chorus yesterday?"

  Ning Meng was stunned for a moment, "Yesterday my mom got sick, I went to the hospital to take care of her..."

  "Oh, no wonder." The boy nodded and then looked at her with a mixture of surprise and annoyance, "Ning Meng, you don't recognize me?"

  "Of course I know him." Ning Meng thought to herself, Lin Ziyue from Class 1 of Senior Three, the good student in the teacher's eyes, the prodigy in the principal's mouth. Who at M Experimental Middle School wouldn't recognize him?

  The boy raised his eyebrows, pulled out a card from his pocket, wrote a line of characters with a flourish, and stuffed it into her hand. "Keep it safe, don't lose it."

  Dreams drift away, September sun shines brightly, in front of the grand school gate, hibiscus flowers bloom, when freshmen report for registration.

  Ning Meng arrived at a familiar figure standing not far away, and couldn't help but jump with joy, "Zi Yi, I've been here since early morning, isn't it quick?"

  "What's the hurry? The turtle is still okay."

  She ignored him and continued eating.

  Lin Ziyue took over her luggage and said in a low voice, "Hmmm... I've been waiting for you at Q University for more than 700 days, and you're just arriving today. If that's not being a turtle, what is?"

  More than 700 days, nearly 20,000 hours... Ning Meng smiled foolishly, with a sweet feeling in her heart.

  In the dream, a lush green lawn rose up, Lin Ziyue ran forward, waving at her and laughing, "Hurry up, Ning Meng, the penguins are faster than you."

  Ning Meng wiped the sweat from her forehead, and suddenly fell to the ground with a soft foot. She cried out, "Zi Yi, I can't run anymore, wait for me."

  He lifted his head, and suddenly a dazzling ray of sunlight flashed by. Zi Yi instantly lost his trace. There was a clear voice echoing in his ears, "Ning Meng, you must wait for me, wait for three years, I will be back soon."

  "Don't..." She ran barefoot, chasing after him while waving goodbye with tears in her eyes...

  Then the lens was chaotic, overturned, brakes, crying, hospital, operating room...... A group of people were shaking in front of her, sticky and blurred together, and finally disappeared without a trace...

  Half an hour later, Guan Xuan stopped the car in front of his apartment building and turned on the warm yellow lights. In front of him was a pale face, occasionally furrowing his brow, with slightly curved eyes and long eyelashes that trembled with crystal clear tears, accompanied by slight sobbing.

  Suddenly a burst of crisp ringing sound rose, in the quiet space it was particularly clear, he pressed the key and pushed the door out.

  Ning Meng was immersed in a nightmare when the crisp ringtone suddenly woke her up. She opened her eyes and looked around, still dazed, and found that the driver had already turned into the front gate of an apartment complex and was opening the car door, saying, "Miss Ning, don't mind this. This is my apartment complex, the doctor will be here soon, let's go upstairs to eat first."

  "Your apartment?" Ning Meng looked around calmly.

  Guan Xian nodded and said, "Are you a little uneasy about being with a strange man in a strange environment?"

  "Robbing me of my wealth and beauty?" Ning Meng raised an eyebrow, as if this was a ridiculous question. "If you're talking about money, I'm penniless. As for beauty, it's hard to say who's robbing whom."

  "Is this supposed to be a compliment? You're really handsome?" Guan Xuan was speechless. He was usually quite eloquent, but faced with such boundless and erratic thinking, he found himself struggling to keep up.

  Guanxian carried her into the elevator, and a few minutes later stopped in front of a new door. A middle-aged woman wearing an apron opened the door, looked stunned, and asked, "Xiao Xian, what's going on?"

  Guan Xian helped Ning into the house, "Yi Niang, we had an unexpected incident by the river. Miss Ning's leg is injured."

  Ning Meng nodded at Yun Niang and glanced around, feeling that their relationship was not ordinary.

  Guan Xian placed her at the dinner table, "Eat quickly. Aunt Yun's cooking is not bad." On the table was a bowl of seafood congee, a bowl of lean meat congee, several small dishes, and a steamer basket of pastries, looking very refreshing and appetizing.

  Ning Meng had been starving for a long time, and without hesitation, he picked up the spoon and started eating with his head down, left and right, as if he had been hungry for several centuries. In no time, a bowl of seafood porridge was already empty.

  "Auntie smiled and said, 'Don't rush, eat slowly, if it's not enough, I'll add more.'"

  Appetite is contagious. The good appetite that had been lurking within him was also stirred up, and he ended up eating two bowls of congee with pastries.

  After dinner, Ning Lie was like a heavy trunk, being carried by Gang Xian from the dining room to the sofa.

  A painting on the wall caught her eye, bright colors, jumping lines, the owner should be a bold and uninhibited person... Her gaze moved to the signature, which was not very clear.

  She pointed at the wall, "Who painted this?"

  "A girl with a talent for painting..." A soft sigh came from beside her.

  Just then the door was pushed open and a middle-aged man carrying a medical box walked over, greeting him with a bow, "Dr. Lin, sorry to trouble you so late."

  "It's just a small effort, no need to be polite." Dr. Lin smiled disapprovingly and put down the medicine box, starting to examine her foot.

  Ning Meng felt like a lab mouse. A large hand held her foot and touched it, as if an X-ray was scanning every bone, then stopped at a certain place, pressed lightly, and she let out a loud cry, startling everyone.

  "Doctor Lin, how is she? Is it serious?" Guan Xuan asked tensely.

  Dr. Lin raised his head and smiled calmly, "It's nothing serious, just a minor dislocation of the joint. I'll use manual reduction first, little girl, it might hurt a bit later, you must bear with it..."

  She closed her eyes and suddenly a loud "crack" sound came from beside her ear, she let out a blood-curdling scream again, her face turned deathly pale, fine sweat seeping out.

  "Alright. I'll prescribe some medicine, both topical and oral, it should take about a month to fully recover, depending on individual healing ability, don't rush the process in the short term, and be careful not to strain yourself again."

  "What, a month?" Ning Meng furrowed his brow, his eyebrows curved like a bitter melon.

  After bandaging his legs, they became long and cylindrical in shape, resembling white clubs, with a strange appearance.

  Ning Meng stared at her new long legs, and her mind was dizzy. Oh my god, do I have to live like this for a month? She felt like a completely disabled person, and she felt like she was on the verge of going crazy, with a sense of collapse surging up.

  "Can you take me back?" Ning Meng said in a low voice.

  The strings no longer hold.