Chapter 413 - Dragging others down
Xu Rui was at his wit's end. To save his son, he took a large sum of money from his company, causing the employees in his company to be alarmed and they jumped over to another company. Hence, many contracts had to be stopped due to the lack of manpower. Aside from that, he also had to pay a large sum as the penalty for the contracts.
Furthermore, Xu Rui has borrowed money from loan sharks due to his gambling, which the interest has accumulated to millions, not to mention that his loan with the bank has come due. With so many debts together, Xu Rui finally collapsed from the pressure.
Hence, he thought of death, so he called Jiang Qinghan before he committed suicide.
He couldn't let go of Jiang Qinghan since anything that humans cannot obtain were always the most precious. When Jiang Qinghan heard that Xu Rui wanted to commit suicide, she immediately changed her clothes. She rushed over, hoping to convince Xu Rui to give up on committing suicide by playing the emotional card.
Although Jiang Qinghan did not have any feelings for Xu Rui, she still used him as a shield to prevent other guys from harassing her.
So it was inevitable for there to be some feelings after such an extended interaction. Xu Rui has always been treating her well, and as a friend, she can't watch Xu Rui take his life.
Hence, she told a white lie out of panic after seeing how Xu Rui was so determined to die.
"Yes! As long as you don't give up on your life, I'm willing to start afresh with you. We will face it together. You're smart and outstanding, so I believe that you can stage a comeback!" Jiang Qinghan tried her best to organise her words as she tried to change Xu Rui's mind.
Hiding in the bush, Su Tao did not know that Jiang Qinghan only said those words to make Xu Rui change his mind. Hence, his heart crumbled upon hearing them. It felt like knives were slicing into his heart. He had underestimated his feelings for Jiang Qinghan. Perhaps he was attracted to her appearance in the beginning, but after all their experiences together, Jiang Qinghan had been engraved deep in his heart.
The fact that Jiang Qinghan formally promised to start a relationship with Xu Rui nearly made Su Tao vomit blood.
"Bloody hell, that Xu Rui is truly a nuisance. If he dies, then he dies. Why is he using it to obtain compassion? What a bloody coward!" At this moment, Su Tao's hatred of Xu Rui has gone over the edge. He even wanted the explosive to go off for Xu Rui to go to hell.
"I know that you're lying to me!" Xu Rui mumbled as he unreasonably said, "I'm a man, and even if I die, I want to die with dignity!"
"I can swear to the heavens!" Jiang Qinghan bit on her lips as she raised her hand under the moonlight. "If what I said was false, then may the gods strike me dead with lightning!"
Hearing Jiang Qinghan's words, Xu Rui widened his mouth. At this moment, his intention to die had disappeared.
Su Tao rolled his eyes and he nearly fainted from those words.
He tried his best to calm himself down, and he knew that he couldn't give the two of them any room to talk in case of feelings budding from this event. Hence, he knew he had to let Xu Rui get rid of any intentions to suicide.
Su Tao cautiously walked over to the edge of the river and tried his best to stay hidden in the bush.
"Xu Rui, get down quickly. I'm here, waiting for you!" Jiang Qinghan softly persuaded. "Not matter what difficulty you face, don't give up on the world. Your son is still waiting for you, and your parents need you. If you leave, you will leave too many things behind in the world. Even if you're on the other side, you won't be at peace."
"I…" Xu Rui finally took a step towards Jiang Qinghan.
But at this moment, a silhouette jumped out from the side and pounced at Xu Rui.
The latter was startled and accidentally pressed the ignition button.
Hence, the timer started to go off with fifteen seconds stated in the explosive device.
Su Tao was speechless. He initially wanted to restrain Xu Rui, but he never expected that the latter would press on the button instead. With his skills, it's more than enough for him to kick Xu Rui into the river before he escapes in the remaining time.
But this concerns life, and he couldn't watch a life be lost before his eyes. Hence, he toughened his heart.
As the counter continued to jump, there were only nine seconds left.
"Ahhh! I don't want to die!" Xu Rui cried out as he even peed his pants, which was common when one was facing death.
Taking a deep breath, Su Tao tried his best to remain calm while he swiftly sorted out the explosive device. In the process, he cursed Xu Rui in his heart for tying a dead knot, making it harder to remove.
Five seconds… four seconds… three seconds…
Suddenly, an explosion occurred that startled the birds in the forest and they scattered in every direction. Hearing the explosion, the bald man in the car was startled by the noise and sneezed, which the woman fanned her nose, since the breath of her partner was horrendous and nearly suffocated her. At this moment, she wondered if her decision to come to such a desolate place was her biggest mistake in life.
Standing by the river dike, Jiang Qinghan did not expect it to progress in this manner when she nearly succeeded. She saw a figure pounce in the direction of Xu Rui, and the two of them briefly engaged in a scuffle before the explosion occurred that lit up the nightscape.
Is Xu Rui dead?
Jiang Qinghan wryly smiled.
A brief moment later, a silhouette stood up from the ground covered in ashes. Squinting her eyes at that figure, she found that figure being familiar for some reason.
She immediately removed her heels and came down the river dike. When she took a closer look at that person, she was startled and asked, "Su Tao? Why are you here?"
Jiang Qinghan never expected that Su Tao would be the one who charged out all of a sudden. Didn't he return to the Three Flavour Hall? So what is he doing here?
"I was buying something by the street and saw you were leaving in a hurry, so I followed you since I was worried that something might happen to you." Su Tao immediately cooked up a lie.
"Where's Xu Rui? How is he?" Jiang Qinghan took a closer look and saw Xu Rui lying on the ground, reeking of urine, which made her furrow her brows.
"He fainted from the fright!" Su Tao sighed. "In the end, he did not dare to die. When he calms down, he will know what a foolish mistake he had just done, and he won't seek death anymore in the future."
"What's with that explosion earlier?" Jiang Qinghan bitterly smiled.
Su Tao did not hide it from her and explained with lingering fear, "I initially wanted to stop him, but I did not expect that he would activate it from the shock. Fortunately, I reacted in time and removed the explosive before throwing it into the river. Fortunately, there's a slight delay in the explosive, not to mention that the power was also ordinary. Otherwise, I would be on my way to the underworld by now."
"What a troublemaker, dragging others down with him!" Jiang Qinghan wryly smiled as she took out her phone and called for an ambulance. She seemed to have forgotten that Su Tao was a physician, and that it's easy for him to wake Xu Rui up.
However, Su Tao tactfully stood to the side, since he understood Jiang Qinghan's intention. She wanted to let the hospital take over, and she did not want to see Xu Rui again.
No woman would like a cowardly man.
Roughly ten-odd minutes later, an ambulance came along with police officers who carried Xu Rui on the stretcher.
Jiang Qinghan did not enter the ambulance but walked together with Su Tao to where Su Tao parked his vehicle.
Noticing her unusual walking posture, Su Tao sighed, "Did you injure your leg earlier when you climb down?"
Nodding her head, Jiang Qinghan casually replied, "It's nothing. There were some crushed rocks on the ground, and it's just some scrapes."
Su Tao was instantly left speechless. Jiang Qinghan removed her heels because she was afraid of spraining her ankle, but it's unavoidable to be cut by sharp stones or fragments of glass in the mud.
"Sit down, let me take a look for you!" Su Tao pushed Jiang Qinghan into the backseat and removed her socks. Due to the dim light that affected his vision, Su Tao turned on the lights and the dusky light shone on Jiang Qinghan.
Jiang Qinghan wore beige stockings. When he removed they, there was a funky smell that seemed to be the odor of plastic mixed with sweat. However, Su Tao did not find it uncomfortable. Instead, it felt his hormones raging.
That was human nature. When you like someone, you will find even her odor fragrant.
"Did you make a mistake?" When Jiang Qinghan saw Su Tao examining her feet, his gaze made her a little panicky as she said, "I was injured on the other leg."
"It's too dark here!" Su Tao blushed as he immediately took up the other leg. But when he removed the stockings, he was startled. Jiang Qinghan wasn't injured by any sharp fragments, but there were two unnoticeable red dots with swelling in the surroundings.
Although others would neglect it, Su Tao had seen it clearly. This was clearly the bite of a poisonous snake!
"Master, are you feeling a little dizzy, weak, and nauseous?" Su Tao immediately asked.
"A little, but it's not that bad." Jiang Qinghan was baffled as she looked at Su Tao.
Although he had no idea what snake it was that bit Jiang Qinghan, his initial observation determined this to be a concealed venom. This type of venom was extremely overbearing as it would be hidden at the beginning and would be akin to be bitten by a mosquito. However, it would lay low for a few seconds; then, by the time the venom relapses, it would have already spread to the five viscera and six bowels. At that time, even a deity wouldn't be able to save that person.
Despite finding it a little fishy for the appearance of a snake, it wasn't time for that right now, Su Tao immediately took out his medical box. "I have to deal with this immediately, or there might be consequences!"
After a brief pondering, he added, "You have to remove your trousers. The snake venom is swiftly spreading. I suspect that it will soon spread through your blood, and if it's not handled in time, your entire leg might be crippled!"
"Remove my trousers?" Jiang Qinghan blushed. In her heart, Su Tao was a junior like Yan Sha, both kids. However, he was already an adult, and they're in such a desolate environment. If she removed her trousers before him, how would she face him in the future?
"It's fine if you don't remove them!" Su Tao noticed Jiang Qinghan's awkward position, so he took out a small blade from his medical box and swiftly cut her trousers open.