Chapter 89: Applying Medicine

Ji Min glanced again at the red mark on Lu Ran's neck.

With a questioning tone, he uttered, "Pinched?"

"Exactly!"

As Lu Ran confirmed, he pulled down his collar to show Ji Min.

With his movement, a small patch of creamy-white skin on his neck became exposed.

Ji Min hurriedly averted his head.

The youth leaned in so close that he could almost discern the warmth emanating from that small patch of skin.

The man instinctively retreated, distancing himself slightly.

But behind him was the backrest of the wheelchair, offering no escape.

Before him, the young man still furrowed his brow, his face a portrait of consternation as he said, "I've watched online tutorials, but this is quite challenging. If it's not done properly, it'll be obvious at a glance that it's fake."

Saying this, a hint of pride surfaced on his face.

He raised his chin and said, "But I'm very clever. I started practicing from the bottom up. That way, when I look up, all that's visible will be perfect results!"

From his tone, it seemed as if he wasn't pretending to have any love bites.

He was, in fact, diligently conducting experiments in the laboratory.

It seemed to stem from a mixture of triumphant delight and the eagerness to impress their superior.

He moved even closer, tilting his neck up for Ji Min to see.

Yet, the man in the wheelchair seemed to have his gaze glued to the patterns on the soft-glowing floor tiles.

His back was also firmly pressed against the wheelchair.

Only upon catching the scent of citrus-infused bath gel on the youth did his Adam's apple subtly quiver in restraint.

Lu Ran continued, "Boss, do you want me to add a few more for you?"

Ji Min replied, "..."

He thought to himself, Those are love bites, not chickenpox. Why would he need a few more...

Seeing that Ji Min didn't respond, Lu Ran quickly explained, "Don't worry, I've become quite skilled at it now. I won't hurt your skin."

Upon hearing this, Ji Min's brow subtly knitted together.

He turned his head, and at last, with the corner of his gaze, bestowed upon the youth beside him a fleeting glance that barely scratched the surface.

Lu Ran had already released his grip on the collar.

Yet, the collar of the round-neck sweater had not fully retreated, leaving a small patch of skin around his collarbone exposed.

Upon that small patch of skin, there were still some slightly swollen love bites concealed beneath the collar.

Ji Min's gaze flickered slightly, dispersing all those inappropriate thoughts that had occupied his mind.

He furrowed his brow and leaned in closer, his fingertips delicately pinching the collar of the youth's garment, gently tugging it apart.

Visible beneath the collar were even more signs of "practicing."

Some were merely swollen, or bore obvious nail marks.

Some of them even had broken skin.

Presumably, it was from getting water on the wound during his morning bath, and the scab hadn't even formed yet.

It was rather startling against the previously healthy and unblemished skin.

Ji Min's brows were knitted tightly together.

He glanced at the child, his tone somewhat sharp, "Why did you do this?"

"Huh?"

Confused by Ji Min's anger, Lu Ran straightened his collar and tried to clarify innocently, "Isn't it your birthday soon?"

His reasoning was sound:

"There will be many people coming on your birthday. Think about it, since I'm currently living with you, I should put on a show, right?"

Ji Min: "..."

He was speechless, suddenly feeling a mix of irritation and frustration.

The one who was angered was not Lu Ran.

But rather, it was the version of himself who could only retain the youth by resorting to such a pretense of "work."

The collar slipped back, rubbing against the wound.

Unable to resist, Lu Ran tugged again.

Ji Min reaches out to help him adjust it properly.

He gazed intently at the wounds on the youth's body, his voice weighted with concern, "That still doesn't warrant your doing something like this."

There was a tiny wound, adhered to the fabric of his clothing due to the exuded tissue fluid.

Ji Min extended a fingertip, yearning to make contact.

But in the very instant when his fingertip was poised to touch the youth's skin, he drew it back.

The man's eyebrows were deeply furrowed.

His expression was deadly serious, as if the marks on Lu Ran's body were not bruises but horrifying knife wounds.

Lu Ran found it rather peculiar.

He tilted his head to observe for a while and, unable to resist, leaned in closer to inspect Ji Min's eyes.

"What are you looking at?" Ji Min retorted irritably.

Once again, he extended his finger, gently pressing against the youth's brow, before softly guiding him back.

Lu Ran chuckled at him and said, "Boss, it doesn't hurt."

Ji Min had no intention of listening to his nonsense and turned to seek out Manager Chen instead.

Upon turning back, I found Manager Chen was unexpectedly nowhere to be seen.

"Trust me, it doesn't hurt at all," Lu Ran assured.

Ji Min ignored him, frowning as he called out, "Uncle Chen, bring the first-aid kit."

"I dare you to try it," Lu Ran challenged.

As he spoke, he reached out and pinched the man's neck as well.

"..."

Ji Min, who was turning his head to call for help, was caught off guard and received a direct pinch.

It wasn't particularly painful.

However, the area where he was pinched soon turned red.

Ji Min's skin was even fairer.

It was a paleness that came from being shielded from sunlight all year round.

Even the color of his blood seemed a shade darker than normal people's.

Yet, this made the red mark on Ji Min's neck stand out even more prominently.

After Lu Ran finished pinching, he exclaimed, "Woah."

Unable to resist, he leaned in for a closer look. "Boss, this mark on your neck is so perfect!"

As he spoke, he took out his phone and used its camera as a mirror to show Ji Min.

CEO Ji, who now had an inexplicable love bite on his neck, "..."]

He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, saying, "Behave yourself."

The butler Chen, who had rushed over with the first-aid kit, was speechless.

He had only just stepped away for a moment before returning to find a love bite on his employer's neck.

And then he heard Ji Min snarling at Lu Ran to behave himself.

Well, well.

It seemed that his decision to step aside earlier had been a wise one.

Ji Min was furious.

He slammed the first-aid kit onto the table and pointed at the butler, "You go and apply the medicine for him."

Butler Chen hesitantly approached and opened the kit.

Sure enough, Ji Min spoke up again, "Let him do it himself."

Butler Chen smiled as he prepared the iodine and cotton swabs, placing them in front of Lu Ran before stepping aside and standing obediently like a mural.

Lu Ran thought to himself that the rich really were particular.

He picked up a cotton swab and, looking into the mirror, carefully applied the medicine to his wound.

Not wanting to soil his shirt collar, he was meticulous with his movements.

Ji Min watched for a while before he couldn't bear to look anymore.

He exhaled slowly. "Forget it, come here. I'll apply it for you."

Lu Ran handed him the cotton swab, not forgetting to instruct, "Remember to apply it in a circular motion from the inside out."

Ji Min remained silent, not uttering a single word.

With a cotton swab soaked in medicine between his fingers, he cautiously approached Lu Ran's wound.

For fear of soiling his clothes, the youth tugged his collar open quite wide.

Everything that should and shouldn't be revealed was exposed.

Ji Min pressed his lips together.

The moment the cotton swab touched Lu Ran's skin, his usually steady hand trembled, causing him to suddenly withdraw it.

The man's anger was inexplicable.

He crumpled the cotton swab in his hand and threw it into the trash can, his ears turning red with frustration.

Perhaps it wasn't anger.

He gazed out the window for a long moment, then his gaze began to roam around the room.

Ji Min's gaze swept across Butler Chen.

Butler Chen maintained an air of nonchalance, pretending that I was completely invisible.

After surveying the scene for a moment, Ji Min's gaze returned to the young man by the table, who remained utterly perplexed.

After a long pause, he said, "Apply it under my guidance."

In an instant, Ji Min found himself on the receiving end of Lu Ran's quizzical gaze.

Lu Ran gave him a withering glare.

He simply shrugged off his sweater, dipped two or three cotton swabs into iodine, and casually swiped them over the wound.

"Alright, it's settled."

Finished with the task, Lu Ran slipped on his clothes.

When he emerged from the collar of his shirt, he found that the man who had been sitting across from him had vanished.

He turned around, searching for him, and eventually discovered that the man had, at some point, moved outside to the corridor.

He was bent over, seemingly engrossed in the lawn within the research institute's grounds.

Lu Ran stuffed two more steamed buns into his mouth before approaching.

At that moment, Ji Min's assistant entered.

He bowed slightly towards Ji Min and then greeted Lu Ran.

Just as he was about to speak, he caught sight of something on Ji Min's neck, causing his jaw to twitch uncontrollably.

"Mr. Ji, Mr. Ji, Mr. Jiii..."

"What's wrong with me?" Ji Min interrupted him impatiently.

Despite himself, he reached up to adjust his collar.

The assistant chuckled awkwardly before continuing, "I've informed all the guests on the list. However, Mrs. Li from the Li family said they might be late and asked if it would be possible to postpone the banquet..."

Lu Ran was somewhat surprised by this.

He couldn't resist asking, "Isn't a birthday only one day? How can you postpone it?"

The assistant felt a bit embarrassed too.

If anyone else had inquired about this, he wouldn't have mentioned it to Ji Min.

But Madam Li was Ji Min's own aunt.

She was also the late Mr. Ji's most beloved daughter from his later years.

Upon careful consideration, although the Ji family was vast and prosperous, most of them were distant relatives.

Now, the only person in the Ji family who shared a blood tie with Ji Min was this aunt.

Ji Min remained composed and said, "Inform the Li family that they don't need to come if they can't make it."

The assistant acknowledged.

After a moment's thought, he added, "The individual in prison has requested another call with you."

This time, Ji Min smiled slightly but didn't comment.

The assistant understood his unspoken meaning.

The assistant merely conveyed, "A few days ago, the prison guards contacted me, saying that his leg is broken. He probably wants to get in touch with you because of this."

Ji Min replied nonchalantly, "There's no need to make a fuss about it. Everything will follow the proper procedure."

His tone was so calm that it dispelled the playful thoughts that had arisen in the assistant's mind when they saw the love bite earlier.

Back when the Ji family seized power, it had caused a bloodbath.

Ji Min had been betrayed and ended up in a wheelchair at a young age.

Yù——xī——zhèng——lì——

But after that incident, Ji Min had only sent his illegitimate younger brother, who had tampered with his car, to prison.

For all these years, there hadn't been any additional hardships imposed on him.

However, who could have known that years later, the man would suddenly break his leg while inside.

The assistant assumed it must have been an accident while operating a sewing machine.

Ji Min arranged a few more matters, and his assistant subsequently left.

Lu Ran, listening by the side, was utterly confused.

However, he was sharp in certain areas, so he turned to Ji Min and asked, "Don't you have a good relationship with your aunt?"

"It's okay," Ji Min replied.

Lu Ran pondered for a moment before phrasing his question differently.

He bent down to examine Ji Min's eyes closely and asked, "Did they bully you?"

Ji Min was taken aback, then found the situation rather amusing.

"No one bullied me," he turned his head to look at the young man, "But there is someone who frustrates me to no end every day."

"Who's that?" Lu Ran inquired.

His question was posed with an unsettling openness.

So composed that Ji Min was left speechless for quite some time.

Well, it seemed the boy genuinely had no idea how irritating he could be.

Ji Min's birthday party arrived quickly.

The day before, Lu Ran was eagerly preparing to seize the opportunity to make a big move and further his "work."

But on Ji Min's birthday, he overslept.

The courtyard was already decorated.

After breakfast, Ji Min waited a long while for Lu Ran to come downstairs, but to no avail.

He went upstairs and rolled his wheelchair toward Lu Ran's room with the remote control.

Lu Ran had been living there for a while.

However, apart from the one time he called Doctor Kemler over, Ji Min hadn't visited again.

They lived on the same floor but resided on opposite sides.

An elevator shaft and stairwell acted as a dividing line, akin to the Chu-Han Contention in history, or perhaps a boundary that one man had drawn in his heart, a line he never dared to cross.

At least, not at night.

Now, Ji Min maneuvered his wheelchair forward with a remote control.

The corridor was slightly dim, so he instructed the butler Chen to draw back all the curtains.

As large swaths of sunlight flooded in, eradicating any trace of darkness, Ji Min made his way toward Lu Ran's room.

Ji Min asked the butler by his side, "What time did he return last night?"

"Somewhere around two in the morning," the butler Chen replied.

Ji Min furrowed his brow. "What's going on with their school? How can they allow someone to stay in a lab for so long?"

As they spoke, they arrived at Lu Ran's door.

Without hesitation, Ji Min knocked on it.

However, as he did, the door creaked open slightly.

The man standing outside was momentarily stunned.

After a moment, he turned to the butler and asked, "Does he sleep with the door unlocked?"

Butler Chen shrugged in response.

And so, Ji Min paused just outside the door.

He raised a hand to massage his forehead before voicing his grievance to Chen, "How can he not close the door?"

"Perhaps I was too exhausted from last night's return," Butler Chen replied nonchalantly.

Thinking to myself, only you would be so concerned about whether or not someone else's child has locked their door at night.

"The door to his inner bedroom is surely locked," Ji Min said.

Only to find upon entering that the door to the inner bedroom was wide open.

Even from a distance, one could discern the figure of the youth reclining on the bed.

Ji Min: "..."

He took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a sense of discontent.

How could this kid be so insensitive?

Did he really treat him as an elder?