Chapter 143 - Du Mansion Party (9)

Looking at his seriously worried expression, Xiao Lei could not help but burst out in laughter. "No, no, no... I'm only afraid of needles... You can punch me to death and it'd still be better than needles." 

Han Ye exhaled a sigh of relief before he put a few drops of the oil ointment on her. He then helped her massage her swollen ankle. "Let me know if it hurt, alright?" he asked softly as he looked at her. 

Xiao Lei nodded. 

"Wait, have you been punched before?" Han Ye asked, just to get the conversation going. 

Xiao Lei wanted to say yes. She was punched a couple of times before... but nothing hurt more than the last time her husband lost control and hit her. Then again, it wasn't so much on the physical pain... It was more of a mental pain, knowing that her husband was hurting, yet she couldn't do anything to help him.

It had only happened twice; once was when she was still in her teens, and the other was when Xiao Zhihao was three years old.

The first time it happened, Xiao Yunjie had come into her room in the middle of the night and choked her awake.

Xiao Lei could still remember how scared and terrified she was, and how she clawed his hands in order to breath. Thankfully, he woke up before he could cause any serious damage to her windpipe.

The memory that was most vivid to her about that day was the confusion in his eyes, as if he wasn't sure why he was in her room. There was also fear and tears in his eyes, as if he weren't staring at her but someone else; someone he was afraid of.  

.....

Back then, 

"Xiao Lei... Your neck... What happened?" Xiao Yunjie had asked with a worried expression when he woke up and found himself in Xiao Lei's room. 

"No! Get away!" 15-year-old Xiao Lei had cried as she scrambled further away from him while tears ran down her cheeks. She coughed a little before snapping, "You're like them! You're just going to kill me!" 

Xiao Yunjie felt hurt by her words. He didn't understand what he did, but from her reaction, he knew that he did that to her. Even though he was confused, he still smiled at her as he apologized, "I-I'm sorry, Xiao Lei... I... I'll be staying somewhere else for tonight... I'll ask Li Li to come and sleep here tonight." 

He wanted to reach out to her, but the look of fear in Young Xiao Lei's eyes made him stop himself. He gave her one last look before he turned around and left the room, but not before he locked the door behind him. 

Young Xiao Lei did not say anything. She was confused about it. For the next few days, Xiao Yunjie did not return to her. He just sent someone over to prepare meals for her and at night, one of the women he was in charge of would come and stay with her. 

....

Back in the present,

Back then, Xiao Lei forgave Xiao Yunjie for what he did because she knew that he did not mean it. He was just sleep walking. 

It was only during the second and last time that he finally told her the reason. At that time, Xiao Zhihao was only three years old. Xiao Yunjie did not have any relapse, as if what happened back then was merely a very vivid dream. When it happened again, Xiao Yunjie was so scared that he would hurt his family that he finally told them about the people who haunt his dreams. 

Xiao Lei forced him to go to a therapist, and even though it was expensive, she wanted him to get better. And he did. 

Xiao Lei shook her head. She didn't really want to think about her husband now or talk about her past. There was no way she would talk about her husband to others, not even to Han Ye. She loved her husband, and she did not want anyone to think unkindly of him. 

So, in the end, she merely shrugged and said, "A couple of fights with some of the street kids when I was younger. No biggie."

Han Ye smirked. "Well, you're an a.d.u.l.t now, and a mother, so no more fighting with your fists."

With Han Ye continued to help her massage her feet, the pain on her left ankle was slowly becoming more bearable. However, she winced a little when he pressed too hard, and he immediately asked in a worried tone, "Did I hurt you? I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "It's not that bad..."

While he was massaging it, gentler this time, her gaze fell on the two angry red punctured wounds on the back of his left hand. 

Noticing that she was completely silent, Han Ye glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. With a smile, he reassured her. "It's fine. It doesn't hurt that bad."

"I'm sorry..." 

He smirked. "So you know how to apologize?"

She rolled her eyes. However, she still felt bad, so she explained, "I'm not always like that... I was just... overwhelmed. I've never felt like this for a long time... Being blamed for things..."

Han Ye did not say much. He merely patted her knee to let her know that he did not blame her. 

After he saw that the swelling had gone down, he took an elastic bandage and wrapped it around her feet. "Is it too tight?" he asked while looking up at her. 

When she shook her head, he patted her knee again before standing up. 

"Do you think you can walk?" 

Xiao Lei tried putting some pressure on her left leg before nodding. "It's just a little sprain... but I don't think I can wear heels for the rest of tonight." 

"Just wear flats. I'm sure they have some ballet flats here. Go and clean yourself up. Be careful not to wet your left leg. I'll be back with a clean dress and a new pair of shoes." He stood up while taking her pair of heels with him. "I'm taking this to compare the size." 

Xiao Lei nodded. 

While she was cleaning up in the bathroom, he went out and came back shortly after with a bareback black sequined dress, a pair of black ballet flats, and a makeup bag.

Once he set the things down properly, he knocked on the bathroom door before he said, "I left the dress on the bed, and there is makeup stuff in the bag on the table, in case you need to touch up. The flats are on the floor. President Du is calling for me, so I have to go now. Once you put it on, come join me in the garden. Walk slowly if you feel pain, and DON'T get into any more trouble!"

"Alright!" Xiao Lei yelled from within the bathroom. She was done showering and was blowdrying her hair. Once she was done, she wrapped the towel around her body. She then peeked out the door, and only after she was sure that no one was in the room that she slowly limped out. 

When she saw the dress, her mouth went agape. "So pretty... It's like a sky... " she murmured as she touched the dress. She loved pretty dresses, and back when she was a kid, she used to wear her mother's dresses.

Even when she was still in the gang with Xiao Yunjie, she tried to wear the older women's s.e.xy dresses. But when Xiao Yunjie caught her in one, instead of praising her, he got mad and scolded her while forcing her to remove it.  

Xiao Le never put on s.e.xy dresses after that... Except for that one time with Murong Yu.

However, when she picked the dress up and turned it around, she frowned before throwing the dress back on the bed. "That idiot!" she cursed slowly as she sat down on the bed. There was a hurt expression on her face, which she wiped off by rubbing her face harshly with her palms. 

She then went to the closet with the hope of finding something, and she did. A set of black pajamas. 

She took one set out. 

Dropping the towel that was wrapped around her, she turned around to put on the pajama pants. While doing so, the view of her back was reflected by the mirror. From her mid-back all the way down to the back of her waist, it was fully covered by burned scars.