Xia Xiaolan didn’t even know how she got to the hospital.
She wasn’t trying to show off Kang Wei’s family background to Du Zhaohui; she wanted him to take this seriously.
Kang Wei wasn’t from an ordinary family, and hitting him wasn’t something that could be resolved with simple compensation. Xia Xiaolan knew Du Zhaohui wasn’t stupid and could understand the gravity of the situation!
The car indeed drove faster.
The dust kicked up leaving pedestrians with no time to dodge.
Though it felt like centuries to Xia Xiaolan, the journey to the hospital didn’t take long. The car drove directly to the hospital entrance. Du Zhaohui had many followers around him, and when he cursed them for being useless, they moved incredibly fast. Soon, doctors rushed out with a stretcher, efficiently transporting Kang Wei to the emergency room.
When Xia Xiaolan got out of the car, her legs were weak. Young Master Du kindly offered to help her, but she pushed his hand away.
She couldn’t show weakness to Du Zhaohui.
Kang Wei’s situation still needed her to take charge.
This belief was what kept Xia Xiaolan going. As she entered the hospital, doctors and nurses rushed forward:
“Are you injured too?”
“I’m fine, probably no bone injuries.”
“How can you be fine? There’s so much broken glass; without cleaning and disinfection, it could get infected. Some internal injuries don’t show symptoms immediately. You can’t walk around; you need to lie down for a thorough examination and observation.”
Though Xia Xiaolan’s limbs were intact, the blood all over her body was terrifying.
The doctor performed an initial examination and confirmed she hadn’t sustained serious injuries – Kang Wei had absorbed most of the impact. The doctor wanted to treat her hand wounds, but she insisted on waiting outside the emergency room. Du Zhaohui said something to the hospital staff, and the doctors agreed to let her sit outside the emergency room while they removed the glass.
Glass fragments of varying sizes, with the deepest pieces completely embedded in her flesh. Her skin was snow-white, her wrists delicate and seemingly boneless. The nurse’s hands trembled while removing the glass, yet Xia Xiaolan’s expression showed no sign of pain.
Du Zhaohui frowned as he watched from the side.
The glass shards were ones Xia Xiaolan had pushed into her flesh. After cleaning the blood from her face, they discovered several wounds on her cheeks as well.
Du Zhaohui couldn’t help telling the nurse: “Be careful when treating her, don’t leave scars.”
The nurse completely understood – Xia Xiaolan was truly beautiful, and even covered in blood, her beauty couldn’t be ignored. Scarring such a face would be a tragedy. The nurse wasn’t heartless or ill-intentioned; the desire for beauty is universal, so her touch remained gentle.
“The facial injuries are just scrapes, which is fortunate, but some scarring on the wrists will be unavoidable…”
Their conversation meant nothing to Xia Xiaolan – did scars matter?
At a time like this, beauty and ugliness were irrelevant; life was what mattered.
She would have preferred to be the one lying in the emergency room instead of Kang Wei.
After bandaging her hands, Xia Xiaolan asked if she could make a phone call. The hospital was certain to accommodate the Hong Kong merchant’s request. When Xia Xiaolan went to pay, Du Zhaohui had already handled it, leaving ten thousand yuan in cash at the payment counter – truly generous with money.
Xia Xiaolan made two calls. One to Secretary Peng, informing him about the accident and asking him to arrange for Kang Wei’s transfer to a better hospital if needed.
The second call was to Bai Zhenzhu, who was still waiting at the building materials store for them to return, as they had planned to look at shops together.
The third call was to the Zhou household, hoping to reach Guan Hui’e–Kang Wei’s family needed to be notified about the accident. However, no one answered despite the phone ringing for a long time. Xia Xiaolan only knew Zhou Cheng’s home number, not Guan Hui’e’s or Zhou Guobin’s work numbers… It seemed even Madam Zeng was out.
Being unable to reach Guan Hui’e meant being unable to contact Kang Wei’s family. Xia Xiaolan knew she had to remain even more composed.
When Secretary Peng heard about Xia Xiaolan’s accident, even though her ability to call proved she wasn’t seriously injured, he was concerned about the person in the emergency room.
Xia Xiaolan told him this wasn’t the driver but her business partner, a high-ranking cadre’s son from Beijing, a martyr’s orphan.
Secretary Peng felt an intense headache, “Wait at the hospital, I’ll be there right away.”
Xia Xiaolan had become someone who was showing off, and she was grateful that Kang Wei had the status she could leverage. She had to ensure he received everyone’s attention and the best possible treatment!
Secretary Peng arrived quickly.
The hospital wasn’t far from the city government – how could the Special Zone’s best hospital be far from government offices where officials needed medical care?
Not only did Secretary Peng come, but Tang Hongen arrived as well.
Du Zhaohui, who had been sitting, stood up when he saw Tang Hongen:
“Mayor Tang.”
Why had Mayor Tang come?
Many thoughts flashed through his mind before he finally believed Xia Xiaolan hadn’t been lying – the young man being rescued inside wasn’t ordinary. Was he Xia Xiaolan’s boyfriend? She looked like an enchantress; it wasn’t surprising she could find a powerful boyfriend.
Du Zhaohui grew more depressed.
Xia Xiaolan had guessed correctly; he did indeed judge situations based on status. Everything revolved around benefits. If he had killed a high official’s son, his mainland business would become quite troublesome.
Du Zhaohui thought Tang Hongen had come because of Kang Wei, but what happened next was rather surreal. Tang Hongen didn’t ask about the high-ranking cadre’s son; his attention was on Xia Xiaolan.
When Xia Xiaolan saw Tang Hongen, she sniffled, her voice barely louder than a cat’s meow:
“Uncle Tang!”
Tang Hongen saw her hands wrapped in layers of gauze, her face covered in disinfectant, mottled with blue and red marks – quite frightening to look at.
“Little Peng said you were in an accident. Do you know how scary that is? Why aren’t you lying in a hospital bed? Standing guard here – can you see what’s happening inside the emergency room? You’re only adding pressure on the doctors!”
Usually so clever, yet now doing such useless things.
“Uncle Tang, I’m really fine, just some glass cuts on my hands.”
How could she lie in a hospital bed without knowing Kang Wei’s condition? Xia Xiaolan wasn’t that delicate.
Tang Hongen frowned. He had initially thought Zhou Cheng was with Xia Xiaolan during the accident, which would have been problematic since Xia Xiaolan visiting Zhou Cheng was already breaking regulations.
But Secretary Peng said the surname was Kang, which made Tang Hongen’s heart clench.
A martyr’s orphan, an only child whose father had died heroically before he was even born – if anything happened to this young man, not just the Kang family but even Tang Hongen would feel terrible.
People’s emotional connections vary in closeness. Seeing Xia Xiaolan wasn’t seriously hurt, Tang Hongen felt somewhat relieved.
He didn’t even bother exchanging pleasantries with Young Master Du – if Du Zhaohui’s car hadn’t been driving so recklessly, today’s accident wouldn’t have happened. Tang Hongen’s impression of Young Master Du was particularly poor at this moment. Just then, Secretary Peng returned with several doctors.
The mayor proved more influential than the Hong Kong merchant; the best doctors had all come.
“Mayor Tang…”
“Everyone, please attend to the patient first!”
The emergency room doors opened, and the doctors quickly rushed inside.
Xia Xiaolan knew calling Secretary Peng had been the right choice; she held the initiative now. As time ticked by, Tang Hongen occasionally spoke to her, and Xia Xiaolan finally felt less anxious.
At last, the emergency room doors opened, and a masked doctor emerged:
“Mayor Tang, we’ve succeeded!”
Xia Xiaolan stumbled back two steps, collapsed into a chair, and took deep breaths. Thank goodness, thank goodness – this was good news!