The original host had never met Zhao Jianguo.
Jiang Ci sized up Zhao Jianguo, asking with a look of unfamiliarity, “Comrade, are you looking for me?”
Zhao Jianguo’s eyes were cold, his thin lips pressed tightly together, his nose bridge high and straight, his features deep and resolute.
His appearance made him look more like a military officer than Pei Jiran, but unfortunately, he lacked that air of righteousness.
All he had was an icy chill.
He parted his thin lips slightly. “You don’t know me?”
Jiang Ci found it almost laughable. Did the male lead really have such a sense of superiority? Why would he assume she knew him?
“Oh! Comrade, you must be Comrade Zhao, the one who saved Chief Jin! I know about you. Recently, you’ve been using medicinal cuisine to recuperate, and the prescription was even discussed collectively by our Traditional Chinese Medicine Department.
May I ask what brings you to me?”
Her words were flawless, leaving Zhao Jianguo unable to detect even a hint of the expression he was hoping to see on Jiang Ci’s face.
He snorted coldly and asked, “Are you Wanwan’s older sister?”
Jiang Ci feigned just the right amount of surprise. “Yes, do you know Wanwan?”
“You don’t need to know. As Wanwan’s older sister, why didn’t you stop her when she had such a major miscarriage?
Instead, after her miscarriage, you exposed her for impersonating you. Is that something an older sister should do?”
Damn it.
Jiang Ci nearly cursed out loud.
No wonder he was the male lead—he and the female lead Jiang Wanwan were truly a perfect match.
The first thing they did when something went wrong was find a scapegoat.
It was always someone else’s fault.
Smack!
Jiang Ci slammed her hand heavily on the table. “Are you interrogating me? May I ask who you are? What’s your relationship with our family? And what right do you have to meddle in our family’s affairs?
How do you know I didn’t try to stop her? Wanwan wanted to get married. She insisted on aborting the child to marry into a better family. That was her choice.”
“…”
Zhao Jianguo didn’t speak, his thin lips pressed even tighter as he stared intently at Jiang Ci.
After a long pause, he finally spoke. “She wouldn’t abort the child just to get married.”
“Who exactly are you?”
“Zhao Jianguo.”
“You—you’re the scoundrel who got Wanwan pregnant.”
Jiang Ci pretended to be shocked, then said angrily, “Well! So you’re the filthy scoundrel who got Wanwan pregnant out of wedlock. I’m going to report you to the police. You harassed and humiliated Wanwan—just wait to go to jail!”
Zhao Jianguo sneered. “Keep pretending.”
Jiang Ci: ?
“What do you mean?”
Zhao Jianguo continued sneering. “You knew I was Zhao Jianguo all along, but you didn’t tell Wanwan I was back.
You watched her have a miscarriage without stopping her. Jiang Ci, you’re something else.”
He would remember her.
Jiang Ci laughed. “Zhao Jianguo, you really think you’re something special. In my eyes, you’re just a patient.
And not even a patient under my care. How was I supposed to know you were Zhao Jianguo? But now that I know, I’m going to report you to the police and have you arrested, you scoundrel.”
Zhao Jianguo fell silent, the coldness on his face deepening.
With the act played out to this point, Jiang Ci turned and walked toward the door.
But Zhao Jianguo wasn’t afraid in the slightest. “Go ahead and try. Do you really think I’ll go to jail?
But Chief Jiang’s reputation for looking down on the poor and favoring the rich won’t sound too good.”
Jiang Ci: …
Despicable!
So utterly despicable.
She froze in the doorway.
Zhao Jianguo curled his lips into a cold smile, snorted, brushed past Jiang Ci, and left.
Jiang Ci was dumbfounded.
After all her efforts.
The male lead still pinned Jiang Wanwan’s miscarriage on her.
It was just infuriating.
That afternoon, Jiang Ci requested leave again and went out to look for a place to live.
Since the male lead was determined to target her, for safety’s sake, she needed to speed up the process of opening her own clinic.
To distance herself from the Jiang family.
“Comrade, young comrade…”
Huh?
Jiang Ci heard someone calling from behind and turned to look.
It was a very familiar auntie, though her clothes were patched, they were clean and tidy.
She also wore a dark blue square scarf on her head.
It seemed like the auntie who couldn’t find her grandson that day.
“Young comrade, I finally found you.”
The auntie hurried over, slightly out of breath, and said, “I’ve been waiting for you on this street for two days.”
“Huh? Waiting for me?” Jiang Ci was surprised. What could she want with her?
“Yes! Last time you helped me find my grandson, I wanted to thank you in person.”
Oh!
Jiang Ci thought it was something serious and waved her hand with a smile. “Auntie, it was just a small favor. You really didn’t need to wait for me just to thank me.”
It was just something she did in passing.
“That won’t do! You saved my whole family’s lives! My grandson is the life of our family.
You don’t know, but luckily I listened to you and went to find my grandson right away. At the time, two bad people were trying to trick him away!”
The auntie pulled Jiang Ci aside and chattered on about what happened that day.
When she went to look, she happened to see her little grandson walking away with two strangers.
One of the women even gave him a piece of candy and told him to call her “Mom.”
When the auntie arrived, she snatched her grandson back while the woman wasn’t paying attention.
Later, when the auntie’s son arrived, the two strangers saw the situation turning against them and ran away.
Even now, thinking about it, the auntie still felt a lingering fear.
“So, young comrade, I must thank you properly. Come home with me. I’ve prepared a thank-you gift for you, and you must accept it.”
Faced with the enthusiastic auntie who wouldn’t let go, if this weren’t the 1970s, Jiang Ci would have suspected this old lady was a kidney-harvesting human trafficker.
“Auntie, you’re really too kind. I have something to do right now—I need to find a house. I really don’t have time…”
“What? You’re looking for a house? What for?”
Huh?
The auntie changed the topic so quickly that Jiang Ci almost couldn’t keep up with her train of thought. “To live in, of course!”
“Oh! That’s such a coincidence. My family has plenty of rooms. Why don’t you come home with me and take a look?”
Oh?
Jiang Ci couldn’t help but laugh helplessly. The auntie was just too enthusiastic; she couldn’t handle it.
“…Alright then! Auntie, where is your home?”
“The first house at the end of the next street. Right by a crossroads, the street is wide, and it’s very convenient.”
The auntie’s description made Jiang Ci’s heart flutter.
Since she hadn’t found a suitable house anyway, why not go take a look? Maybe it would be just right!
It was a ten-minute walk.
The auntie’s home was exactly as she described, right next to a crossroads.
However, this wasn’t a main road—it was about a minute’s walk from the main road. Her house was at the entrance of an alley.
To the left was the Textile Factory Staff Compound, to the right was the Steel Factory Staff Compound, and behind it was the Machinery Factory Staff Compound.
In front were the Department Store, the State-run Restaurant…
The location of the auntie’s house was great!
If she opened a clinic here, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Most importantly, the feng shui here was good.
It was bustling with activity.
And the auntie’s house had a courtyard with east and west wing rooms.
Jiang Ci immediately decided to rent the place.
“Auntie, your south-facing room is very suitable. I’d like to rent it along with the east and west wing rooms and open a new door here. Is that okay?”
“Of course! Young comrade, you can open as many doors as you want.”
Even if she tore down the house, the auntie wouldn’t mind.
Jiang Ci was her family’s savior!
The auntie happily agreed without hesitation.
“Thank you so much, Auntie. You’ve really helped me out of a tight spot. So, about the rent…”
Before Jiang Ci could finish, Auntie waved her hand and shook her head, “No need for rent, forget about rent! Just stay! Stay as long as you want.”
“That won’t do. I plan to open a clinic here. If you won’t accept rent, then forget it.”
Jiang Ci turned and walked away.
Right now, Auntie might see her as a benefactor and refuse rent. But in a couple of years, with economic development, more and more people would be looking to rent.
Jiang Ci didn’t want to take advantage of others either.
Seeing Jiang Ci about to leave, Auntie grew anxious, “Oh, you little comrade… Alright then! Just pay whatever rent you think is fair. I don’t really understand these things.”
“Deal. Then let’s draft a rental contract…”
After discussing the terms of the contract with Auntie.
Jiang Ci returned home to prepare the contract.
But that wasn’t the main issue. The real problem was, she didn’t have enough money to pay the rent.