After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows-Chapter 78 Baby Gets Hurt

Jiang Lingxi returned and hadn’t yet had time to put down the things in her hands before she was greeted by Jiang Kaiyuan approaching with the little creature in his arms, looking guilty.

"Sister Xixi, I don’t know what I did to upset the little one. Not long after you left, it stopped paying attention to me and became listless, and now it doesn’t even want to move."

Jiang Lingxi’s gaze fell on the little creature. Indeed, compared to its previous liveliness, it now seemed much more lethargic.

It used to rush over to her as soon as it saw her, but now it didn’t.

Finding it strange, she quickly put down her things and, without even washing her hands, took the little creature in her arms.

The fluffy bundle had just reached her hands when Jiang Lingxi paused, her expression turning noticeably colder.

Jiang Kaiyuan stood in front of her, unexpectedly swept by this wave of coldness, causing him to shiver involuntarily, "Sister Xixi, wh-what’s wrong?"

Such a strong and oppressive presence was something he couldn’t quite handle with his little frame!

Gently stroking the little creature’s back to soothe it briefly, Jiang Lingxi looked at Jiang Kaiyuan’s pleading face with no change in her expression. "Tell me honestly, while I was gone, did you drop it or accidentally use too much force while playing with it?"

Jiang Kaiyuan immediately widened his eyes, shaking his head vigorously like a rattle drum, and swearing with his fingers pointing to the sky, "I swear, I really didn’t. Sister Xixi, you know how much I adore the little one. I wouldn’t dare hug it too tightly or drop it." Then he pointed towards the camera aimed their way, "Besides, the little one and I were always under the camera. The camera operator can vouch for me!"

Jiang Lingxi didn’t look at the camera, which nodded up and down towards them, only quietly watching Jiang Kaiyuan’s eyes.

Faced with Jiang Lingxi’s gaze, Jiang Kaiyuan quickly began to sweat, his mind almost turning to mush, unable to articulate any defense.

The live chat exploded at the sight of their confrontation.

—"What does Jiang Lingxi mean by this? The brother put so much effort into taking care of the little one, and now he’s being accused of hurting it!"

—"Is this fragile sibling relationship about to fall apart?"

—"Honestly, the little one does seem a bit unwell. It was fine when Jiang Lingxi left; maybe it’s just tired now. It’s understandable for Jiang Lingxi to be worried, but she shouldn’t question her brother like that. His affection for the little one is obvious."

—"Feeling sorry for the brother—no good deed goes unpunished."

—"I thought they were close, but it’s falling apart so quickly. There’s no real affection in the entertainment industry; it’s all an act."

—"I just want to know what’s wrong with the little one???"

Three exclamation marks showed the sender’s urgency.

Qi Chen wasn’t like those who viewed the livestream as just an interesting variety show. Over eighty percent of his attention was on the little one, with the remaining twenty percent spent on traveling.

He noticed the little one’s poor condition, initially attributing it to an old injury. Solving this would require him to be present, so worrying now wasn’t helpful.

But seeing Jiang Lingxi’s serious demeanor upon returning and holding the little one made him realize its condition might be worse than he thought.

"How much longer until we catch up with them?"

"At our current pace, about three days. We’re traveling, and so are the guests."

"Let’s cut down on sleep and meal times to catch up as quickly as possible."

"...Okay."

As a bead of sweat on Jiang Kaiyuan’s temple threatened to fall onto his clothes, Xu Zhao noticed the tense atmosphere and came over.

"What’s going on?"

Since taking the little one, Jiang Lingxi had been soothing it. The fur made it hard to see its expression, and its eyes drooped, but she felt it trembling slightly in her hands, a sign of fear in animal cubs.

She’d entrusted the little one to Jiang Kaiyuan before leaving, and now it was like this on her return, leading her to suspect Jiang Kaiyuan hadn’t told the truth.

Afraid it might suffer from shock, she didn’t immediately treat it. Fortunately, with her gentle strokes, its tremors lessened significantly, occasionally twitching slightly from pain.

"Left hind paw fracture. When it was rescued, its body compression slightly damaged the bones. Thankfully, since it’s a young animal, its bones are quite pliable, and it relaxed and recovered. But now, the left hind paw is more severely injured."

Once Jiang Lingxi said this, a hush fell around them.

"Plop!" The drop of sweat finally dripped from Jiang Kaiyuan’s temple onto his collar.

"Fractured! How is that possible?"

Jiang Lingxi felt the little one’s tucked-in paw, "Don’t believe it?"

"No, it’s not that, I just—"

The livestream viewers finally noticed the little one’s tucked paw, likely drawn in due to injury, as it lay motionless. Seeing Jiang Kaiyuan stammering, the live comments fell silent.

Qi Chen stood up abruptly, not bothering to comment, "Keep moving, eat on the go!"

Like everyone else, a question rose in his mind: He’d been watching the live stream the whole time, how did the paw end up fractured?

Jiang Lingxi ignored the surrounding silence, handing the little one to Xu Zhao, "I’m going to set its bone back in place. It’ll hurt a bit, hold it for me."

This task would’ve first come to mind with Jiang Kaiyuan, but seeing how unreliable he seemed, she decided against it.

Xu Zhao nodded, hesitated briefly, and asked, "Can you manage?"

"I’ve learned a little."

Though her experience was with humans, not animals.

But there was no need to mention that.

Seeing her confident demeanor, Xu Zhao trusted her.

"I’ll hold it steady for you."

Jiang Lingxi flexed her wrist, reaching for the little one’s left hind paw.

The little one instinctively struggled, but seeing the familiar face, whimpered slightly, and relaxed.

Jiang Lingxi’s expression softened, her voice gentle, "Be good, it will be over quickly."

It was indeed quick; those nearby only heard a brief sound of bone friction, and Jiang Lingxi had already pulled back her hand.

"Is it done now?"

"We should still splint it."

Jiang Kaiyuan, relegated to the sidelines, finally found something to do, "I’ll find two smooth sticks and borrow some rope from Jiang Xiyu."

Sticks were easy to find in this forest, scattered everywhere, but when he went to borrow rope, after rounding a large tree, he saw Jiang Xiyu squatting behind, looking dazed. "Jiang Xiyu!"

The shouted person flinched, turning slowly, revealing a pale face that seemed slightly startled.

Was it necessary to be so startled just from hearing her name?

Feeling a weird vibe, he said, "I need to borrow some rope."