She continued to sit by the riverside for a while before she got up and followed the stone steps to the road ahead.
Ji Yi was so distracted by the thought of what Lin Ya did that she didn't notice the road and slipped on a rock, causing her to unexpectedly fall to the ground.
The piercing pain woke Ji Yi up in an instant.
She was spread out on the ground for an embarrassingly long time. When the pain gradually subsided a little, she forced herself up and realized just how painful her ankle was as she tried to walk.
She hastily turned on the flashlight on her phone, bent over to check her ankle and realized it was starting to swell up.
So as it turned out when she accidentally tripped, she twisted her ankle.
Ji Yi wasn't too far from the hotel she was staying at. It would take just over ten minutes to walk back.
But a sharp pain struck her ankle with every step she took, so Ji Yi simply leaned against the tree and reached for her phone to call a taxi.
When she opened the app to call a taxi, she saw there wasn't a single car around. Then she realized cars weren't permitted in the ancient city.
Her parents were all the way in Hainan, she was unfamiliar with Lijiang, and she didn't have a single friend here, so she had no one to rely on. There weren't as many people there compared to the daytime, so who could she call for help? Ji Yi was deep in thought for some time before she put her phone away, gritted her teeth, endured the pain, and headed for the hotel.
At first, Ji Yi could hold it together as she took small steps forward, but the more she walked, the more intense the bone-piercing pain was in her ankle. Eventually, whenever Ji Yi's leg hit the ground, she sharply inhaled a cold breath of air in pain as she shivered all over.
Ji Yi simply couldn't take it anymore and couldn't care less for how dirty the ground was as she sat right on the ground.
It was late in the evening, and she was the only person left on the well-lit road.
Waves of pain rushed to her ankle.
All of a sudden, Ji Yi felt really hurt. She couldn't help but bury her head in her knees.
She stayed like that for who knows how long before her phone rang. She slowly looked up at her phone.
The three words "Yuguang Ge" flickered clearly on the screen.
Ji Yi stared at the phone screen for some time before she reached over to take the call with some hesitation.
Because He Yuguang couldn't talk, the phone was silent.
At the same time, Ji Yi remained quiet for some time before she spoke. Even though she tried to remain calm until the very end, her voice still trembled as she spoke. "Yuguang Ge, it's so late. Were you looking for me for something?"
After four to five seconds of silence over the phone, the call disconnected.
Ji Yi hadn't snapped out of the busy tone when her phone rang. "Ding dong!" "He Yuguang" sent a text: "Manman, did something happen?"
Ji Yi knew Yuguang Ge only asked because he heard that something was wrong in her voice.
With her phone in hand, she ignored the issue with Lin Ya and focused on more important matters: "It's nothing. I just sprained my ankle."
After sending that text out, Ji Yi typed what she just said over the phone and sent it: "Yuguang Ge, it's so late. Were you looking for me for something?"