Chapter 221: Chapter 221

Somehow, Li Xianglu felt something off about the rigging backstage. As the call for readiness came, Li Xianglu had no time to think further and grabbed the lever, her gaze fixed on the stage from the side. At that moment, Shen Yuehong emerged from the wings, lifting her elegant neck to joyfully look towards the center of the stage, and then leapt into the air.

Li Xianglu began to control the retraction of the rigging wire. Everything was going well, with Shen Yuehong gracefully initiating her leap, then extending both hands forward in a poised gesture.

As Li Xianglu continued to retract the wire, she had to navigate through a patch of cardboard flowers on the stage with her legs kept open—a distance of at least one meter was needed for the maneuver.

Everything was fine until Li Xianglu was about to ease off the rope when suddenly she saw the rope on the round winch slide out by itself.

Not good! The line snapped!

Without a second thought, Li Xianglu grabbed the rope in front of her, clinging desperately to it, and then the break on the winch finally manifested. Li Xianglu was drenched in sweat, ignoring the scorching pain in her palms, carefully loosening the rope bit by bit.

Meanwhile, Shen Yuehong had landed lightly in the front.

The ropes were no longer needed, and only then did Li Xianglu open her hands, the palms—once delicate—were marred with blood, with beads of blood emerging in greater number, the pain so severe that tears nearly fell from Li Xianglu’s eyes.

Just as Li Xianglu released her grip, there was a sudden commotion at the front of the stage, cries rang out along with voices exclaiming in pain.

Li Xianglu couldn’t afford to see what happened at the front; her wound required immediate attention. But just as she turned around, she heard someone shouting, "Not good, the rigging wire broke!"

And quickly, someone pulled down on the rope, bringing the backstage cords to the forefront.

Now approaching from behind, Li Xianglu saw everyone staring at her with puzzled looks.

The pain in her hands turned her complexion pale, but under the circumstances, it was clear—someone was trying to frame her.

She had clearly seen Shen Yuehong land, and yet there was still an accident. What did that mean? It had been planned from the start.

A few guys helped Shen Yuehong to her feet. Even in such disarray, she still looked beautiful; her disheveled hair sticking to her chin, her face full of grievance, tears welling up, her white teeth biting her lower lip as she endured the pain—all of it was incredibly endearing. Li Xianglu, however, stared at her in silence.

Seeing this, Shen Yuehong’s mouth curled slightly upwards, then she lowered her head. Li Xianglu scoffed and turned to leave, only to be stopped abruptly by a bespectacled male student.

Li Xianglu asked coldly, "What do you want?"

The male student was visibly upset, his nostrils flaring as he held up the broken rope and demanded, "Aren’t you going to explain this?"

Li Xianglu snorted and replied, "How would I know? If you’re asking me, then who should I ask? I’d also like to know why the person who was operating the winch earlier is now complaining of stomach pain!"

Chairman Xi Yunmei hurried over as well, pushing through the crowd and crouching down to examine Shen Yuehong’s ankle. However, as Shen Yuehong shied away, a flash of sharpness appeared in Yun Mei’s eyes, and she suddenly seized Yuehong’s pant leg, coldly stating, "Don’t move, let me see how badly you’re really hurt!"

Shen Yuehong hadn’t expected Chairman Xi to check her ankle and didn’t move, but when Yun Mei touched it, Shen uttered a cry of pain. This elicited a reproach from the two guys supporting her, "Chairman Xi, is there really a need for a check? Yuehong is clearly injured, and besides, this rope was cut!"

Xi Yunmei looked at the rope with tightly furrowed brows, and before she could speak, she heard someone running into the stage through the right entrance at the back.

It was Qin Xi, his forehead drenched in sweat. Seeing Li Xianglu standing there, pale as a sheet, he had a bad feeling. As he stepped forward to take her hand, he heard a cry of pain.

Li Xianglu dodged in agony, causing Qin Xi’s face to darken. He carefully lifted her hand, which was bent because straightening it was too painful.

At this point, everyone was stunned. Her palm was covered in blood. Qin Xi’s face grew even darker, but his movements were tender as he took her other hand, which was severely injured with blood droplets falling from it.

Qin Xi glared at Li Xianglu and gritted his teeth, "At a time , do you still need to explain to these people how the rope broke?"

Li Xianglu’s eyes brimmed with tears of grievance, she fought hard to keep them from falling. She didn’t want to cry in front of others— that’s what the weak do!

Seeing this, Qin Xi swallowed all his reprimands, glared fiercely at the surrounding people, and finally his gaze rested lightly on Xi Yunmei, saying, "I believe Chairman Xi will give me a reasonable explanation!"

With that, Qin Xi wrapped his arm around Li Xianglu and briskly walked outside.

Once out of the auditorium, Li Xianglu’s tears began to fall as she sobbed, "Honey, my hand hurts so much!"

Qin Xi was so angry that he felt smoke could come out of his head. Why couldn’t this girl learn to protect herself? It was just a fall; if the other party had set it up, then she should’ve been on guard earlier. There was no need for her to be , potentially scarring her beautiful hands.

But the pain in his heart was even more intense than his anger; it was as if his heart was shattering. He gently ushered her to the medical office.

The female doctor at the school’s medical office was taken aback by the severity of the wounds. "What happened, these are severe," she frowned and said, "We need to disinfect with alcohol first, clean the wound, and then see how deep it is before we can proceed."

Hearing this, Li Xianglu, who had been sobbing, suddenly stopped, her eyes filled with terror as she looked at the doctor.

Qin Xi nodded and said, "Okay, please be gentle, doctor, she’s afraid of pain."

The doctor could tell at a glance that these two were either a couple or lovers, but given their young age, it seemed more likely they were lovers.

She fetched some alcohol and cotton balls, dipped them in alcohol, used tweezers to hold them, and turned around to find the tall young man sitting on a side bench, holding the girl in his arms like a child, encompassing her with his long arms, both his large hands holding the girl’s small ones.

Even the married doctor blushed at the sight, surprised at how open young people are nowadays, but as a doctor, her duty was to save lives and heal injuries; the rest she chose to ignore.

Li Xianglu instinctively shrank backward as soon as the cotton ball touched her hand, sucking in a breath of cold air from the pain.

Yet Qin Xi held her hand firmly in place.

Seeing this, the doctor hurriedly continued to clean the wound. It wasn’t too deep, but it would definitely leave a scar. The skin on the palm is different from other areas, once injured, fine lines are likely to remain.

After disinfecting, the doctor applied some Dian Nan Bai Medicine, then wrapped it with fine gauze several times, instructed to avoid contact with water for a week and to change the bandage in two days before letting them leave.

ps: I feel like I’m almost done paying off my debt, one more update to go.