Chapter 20: I Only Recognize Su Ruan!

Jiang Ran froze, looking at Su Ruan in disbelief: "RuanRuan, you… you asked me to go see her? You don't know what she… yesterday…"

"I know." Su Ruan interrupted him, tone still gentle but with an undeniable insistence, "But one thing is clear: she was injured because of you. If we just leave like this and others find out, what will they say about you?"

"They'll say you lack loyalty, cold‑hearted. They might even… drag your uncle and aunt's reputation into it; we can't let people seize that as a lever."

She paused, looked into Jiang Ran's eyes, voice softened a bit: "Anyway, we're already going to get the marriage certificate, sooner or later, you're my husband, you can't run away. Let's first go see what's going on, okay?"

Su Ruan's words were all reasonable, considering the big picture and giving Jiang Ran face; the final "husband" made Jiang Ran feel immensely comfortable.

Though extremely unwilling, looking at Su Ruan's clear and firm gaze, his impatience had to be suppressed.

He had to admit, Su Ruan thought things through more comprehensively than he did.

"Fine, fine!" Jiang Ran, irritated, scratched his head, "Your call! Let's go see! One glance and we leave!"

He turned the bike around and said to Shi Tou irritably: "Which hospital? Lead the way!"

"Alright!" Shi Tou exhaled a sigh of relief, hurriedly ran ahead to guide.

Jiang Ran pedaled, still seething inside, couldn't help complaining to Su Ruan on the back seat: "You're just too kind! What good is that kind of person!"

Su Ruan simply gently wrapped his waist, pressed her face against his broad back, softly said: "I know as long as you're fine, that's enough."

Those words instantly soothed all Jiang Ran's restlessness.

Fine, just a glance then!

The three quickly arrived at the district hospital.

Just as they entered the corridor outside the emergency room, they heard Lin Wei's voice, trembling with tears and anger: "You wait! When my brother comes, I'll kill you! Ouch… gentle, gentle! It hurts so much!"

Jiang Ran's face darkened further, he forced himself to push open the emergency room door.

He saw Lin Wei with thick gauze on her head, blood spots seeping, a bruise on her face, gritting her teeth as a nurse cleaned the wound on her arm.

A few brothers who had rushed over on the news stood nearby, comforting her.

Lin Wei looked up, saw Jiang Ran entering, her eyes instantly lit up, bursting with huge joy and grievance, tears streaming down: "Jiang Ran! You came! I knew it! I knew you wouldn't ignore me! They… they bullied me…"

She struggled to jump out of bed and rush over, completely ignoring Shi Tou, who had pushed Jiang Ran in, and… the slower‑moving Su Ruan entering from behind Jiang Ran.

However, her movement froze the moment she saw Su Ruan.

The surprise and grievance on her face instantly solidified, then twisted rapidly, turning into incredulous shock and raging fury!

"She—how did she get here?!" Lin Wei's voice shot up sharply, piercing the ceiling, pointing at Su Ruan, fingers trembling: "Jiang Ran! What does it mean that you brought her? Come to mock me?"

Lin Wei's sharp question, like a rusty saw, instantly ripped the already tense air in the emergency room.

She had blood‑stained gauze on her head, bruises intermingling, and now, from extreme anger and jealousy, her features twisted, looking especially ferocious.

She stared at Su Ruan dead‑on, her gaze as if to devour her alive.

The brothers nearby also froze, glancing at the ashen‑faced Jiang Ran, then at the calm Su Ruan behind him, the atmosphere became unbearably awkward.

Jiang Ran, already unwilling, after Lin Wei's shout, lost all patience, brows knit into a knot, and retorted viciously: "What the hell are you shouting for? Didn't you yourself get into a fight and end up in the hospital? If it weren't for RuanRuan persuading me to see you, I wouldn't even bother with your crap!"

His words only added fuel to the fire.

Lin Wei heard that, and thought it was Su Ruan who had persuaded him to come?

A massive sense of humiliation, being pitied, especially pitied by a rival, instantly flooded her!

"Do I need her fake kindness?!" Lin Wei snapped upright from the bed, ignoring the wound still being treated on her arm, waving furiously: "Jiang Ran! Were you drugged by her love‑potion? She's just a fox spirit! She…"

"Lin Wei!" Jiang Ran barked, eyes terrifyingly fierce, "If you dare insult her again, try it! Do you really think I won't dare to hit a woman?"

He stepped forward, radiating terrifying malice, not joking at all.

Lin Wei, frightened, shivered and instinctively recoiled, grievance and fear surged, tears flowed more fiercely, yet she dared not utter another harsh word, only sobbing and accusing.

"You scold me… you scold me for her… Jiang Ran, after all these years… you forgot our past… together…"

"Shut up!" Jiang Ran was utterly fed up, not wanting to hear any of her nonsense about "brotherly bond", "the past is the past, the present is the present!"

"I made it clear yesterday, can't you understand human words? I, Jiang Ran, in this life, only recognize Su Ruan! Do whatever you want, but don't drag me into it, and especially don't go crazy in front of RuanRuan!"

His words were like cold knives, stabbing into Lin Wei's heart one by one.

She looked at Jiang Ran's merciless profile and his instinctive move to shield Su Ruan behind him, feeling her heart torn, all hope gone.

At that moment, the previously silent Su Ruan gently tugged Jiang Ran's arm.

Jiang Ran immediately lowered his head, the ferocity on his face instantly replaced by tension, his tone softened: "What's wrong? Are you scared? We'll leave right now…"

Su Ruan shook her head, stepped half a pace forward, emerged from behind Jiang Ran, her gaze calmly meeting the disheveled Lin Wei, voice still gentle but with a strange power that quieted the noisy emergency room.

"Comrade Lin Wei," she began, without calling her "sister", nor using her name directly, employing a suitably distant yet polite address, "you are injured, your emotional outburst is understandable. But some things, I think, still need to be clarified."

She paused, her eyes scanning the several brothers with varied expressions, finally returning to Lin Wei's face.

"First, you fought with someone because they said nasty things about Jiang Ran, and you defended him; that sentiment, regardless of your stance, we appreciate."

Her words caused not only Lin Wei but also Jiang Ran and Shi Tou and the others to be stunned.

No one expected Su Ruan to say that.

"However," Su Ruan's tone shifted, still even, adding a hint of coolness, "defending someone and getting injured because of it are two different matters."

"The former is sentiment, the latter, largely stems from your own impulsive and reckless handling."

"You cannot dump all the consequences and emotions from the latter onto Jiang Ran as if they were his responsibility, even morally blackmailing him."