Ming Can did not know how much of their conversation the other person had overheard. She felt somewhat guilty, yet not entirely so. It was an indescribable feeling, very strange.
In comparison, Gong Que appeared much more natural. Looking at Su Zhi, she maintained her usual nonchalant tone: “Tomorrow is Can Can’s last day of work, after which the hospital will assign another caregiver to you. If you have any requests, you can let me know in advance, and I will do my best to coordinate.”
Su Zhi’s gaze slowly shifted from the ceiling to Gong Que. Those pitch-black eyes were as calm as stagnant water, without the slightest ripple.
She did not speak, simply giving them a heavy look.
There was a lot in that gaze: exhaustion, detachment, tacit approval, and a hint of something Ming Can could not quite read.
Gong Que said nothing more, turning instead to Ming Can: “When you leave tomorrow, come to my office to settle your remaining wages.”
Ming Can murmured quietly: “Understood.”
Gong Que patted her shoulder: “It is your last day of work, so you cannot slack off. Take good care of the patient.”
With that, she left, and the ward grew quiet again. Ming Can stood in place, clutching a used cotton swab, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the cotton until it was out of shape. When she looked back at the hospital bed, Su Zhi had already closed her eyes again, as if that glance from a moment ago had never existed.
Su Zhi slept fitfully, eating nothing that evening. Ming Can called out to her many times, but could not wake her, so she could only use a cotton swab to moisten her lips, wipe the sweat from her body, and change her into clean clothes.
That night, she hardly closed her eyes, staying by the bedside the entire time to monitor every move the patient made.
Early the next morning, when Su Zhi opened her eyes from a haze, she did not see that person’s shadow in the ward, assuming the other had left early. Suddenly, familiar footsteps echoed from the doorway, accompanied by that habitual evasive maneuvering.
“I only have this much money on me. Please give me a few more hours. As soon as my wages are deposited this afternoon, I will wire it to you immediately.”
Immediately following that came a man’s rough, threatening voice: “Before noon, five thousand yuan, not a single penny less into my card. I know where you work. If I do not see the money before noon, I will have your head!”
“It really cannot be done before noon, brother. Today is my last day of part-time work, and I have to finish my shift before my wages can be settled. Please understand.”
With a click, the phone call was disconnected. Ming Can stood at the ward entrance for a few seconds, adjusted her emotions, and walked inside carrying breakfast.
“You are awake? I bought you soup dumplings and soy milk,” she raised the breakfast in her hand, “Online reviews said this place has amazing breakfast, so I went out of my way to walk several extra blocks just to get it!”
Su Zhi’s dark, gloomy gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds without responding.
Carrying the breakfast, Ming Can walked briskly to the bedside table, took out the cup of soy milk, inserted a straw, and brought it toward the patient’s lips: “The soy milk is freshly ground, just the right amount of sweetness. Would you like to try some?”
Su Zhi pressed her lips together and dodged away.
“Drink at least a little. You have not had any fluids for two days. If you do not drink water for a long time, you will get kidney stones, and that hurts a lot.” Ming Can beamed, coaxing her to open her mouth, but the other person was completely unresponsive. Growing annoyed by the noise, Su Zhi raised a hand directly and batted the cup of soy milk out of her hand.
Ming Can did not get angry at this, bending over with a good temper to pick it up, all the while muttering complaints: “Look at you, look at you, with such a bad temper. To think I ran all that way to buy you soy milk. This cup of soy milk costs several yuan more than regular ones, and I would not even dare drink it myself.”
She picked up the spilled soy milk, used a paper towel to wipe the water stains off the floor, and upon noticing a little was left in the cup, she held it high up right in front of Su Zhi’s eyes: “Oh, what a pity. Do not let it go to waste. If you will not drink it, I will!”
With that, she bit down on the straw and gulped it down noisily.
Su Zhi averted her gaze. She was extremely uncomfortable right now and had no energy left to watch her antics.
Finding it uninteresting, Ming Can polished off the rest of the soy milk in two gulps, grabbed a soup dumpling, walked around to Su Zhi’s other side, and beamed with a cheeky smile: “You are not allowed to lose your temper this time, okay? If a dumpling hits the floor, there is no eating it!”
Su Zhi could no longer endure it, parting her lips to drop a single word: “Get out.”
Ming Can stood there in silence.
Refusing even the hard-earned breakfast, Ming Can ended up finishing all the soup dumplings by herself, one after another, until her cheeks bulged. Su Zhi did not give her a single extra glance the entire time.
After breakfast, she began packing her luggage, clattering and banging so much that the entire ward was filled with her commotion, making it impossible for anyone to sleep.
Su Zhi wanted to speak up several times, but held it back every time.
Bang, bang, bang!
A rude knocking sound echoed from outside the door, followed immediately by a man’s impatient roar: “Open the door!”
Ming Can paused in her packing and opened the door just as the man was about to kick it open.
“Brother…” She barely had time to deflect before a heavy backhand landed across her face, making her head spin and leaving her dazed for several seconds.
“Brother, let me explain.”
Bang!
The man delivered a direct kick to her abdomen, driving both the door and her into the ward. Ming Can fell forward by momentum, the intense pain preventing her from getting up to block him. The man barged into the ward uninvited, pointing straight at her nose and cursing: “Shameless bint, return the master’s money or I will finish you!”
Struggling, Ming Can flipped over: “Brother, please listen.”
The man raised his foot, gathering all his strength to kick her again.
Right at that moment, a hoarse and icy voice rang out from behind: “Stop right there!”
The man froze, turning his head to see Su Zhi fixing a fierce glare on him.
“Who the hell are you!” The man looked her up and down, sneering dismissively upon seeing her sickly appearance. “Stay out of this, or I will deal with you as well.”
Su Zhi said nothing, simply pressing the call button by the bed. The alarm sounded harshly through the corridor.
The man’s expression shifted drastically, and he took a step forward to attack the woman on the bed. However, Ming Can lunged forward at that exact moment to wrap her arms tightly around his calf: “Brother! Brother, calm down! This is a hospital! Security will be here immediately!”
“Let go!” The man shook his leg twice, failing to shake her off. Glancing down at Ming Can’s pale face only fueled his temper further. “You dare protect her after defaulting on a debt? Believe it or not, I will cripple you today!”
He lifted his other foot, preparing to kick her again.
“Try crippling her and see what happens.” Su Zhi’s voice remained very quiet, yet it caused the man’s foot to freeze mid-air.
Accustomed to high positions and commanding thousands, at this moment, even though she lacked the strength to even sit up, the coldness and murderous intent radiating from her eyes still made the man flinch involuntarily.
“You… you half-paralyzed piece of trash, what are you putting on airs for!”
Before he could finish speaking, the ward door was pushed violently open.
“What is going on?” The duty nurse peeked her head in, took in the scene inside, and immediately turned back to shout, “Security! Quick, get security!”
The man turned pale, violently shoving Ming Can’s hands away, pointing at her nose: “Before noon, five thousand yuan, not a penny less! Otherwise, I will block your way at the hospital every single day!”
With that, he brushed past the nurse and tried to bolt down the hallway, just as security arrived and subdued him with a combined tackle.
“What kind of person dares to break into a patient’s room? Explain yourself honestly, or we are calling the police!”
Seeing that the crowd had the numerical advantage and that his chances of winning were slim, the man’s tone softened somewhat as he glanced at Ming Can: “This woman seduced someone, spent my money, and tried to run away. I am just collecting my debt, which is entirely justified!”
“I did not,” curled up on the floor, Ming Can heard these harsh words and struggled to push herself up. “I did not. I will find a way to pay back the money I owe your family, but I did not seduce you.”
She repeated it stubbornly, over and over again.
Su Zhi watched this scene from the side, watching the red-rimmed eyes of the girl curled up on the floor, watching her continuously promise to pay the money back. The fingertips she had buried in the blanket tightened, relaxed, tightened again, and finally, she chose to speak.
“Get up,” she looked at Ming Can, her flat and hoarse throat repeating, “I told you to get up!”
Clutching her stomach, Ming Can tried several times before finally being helped to her feet by the medical staff.
“Come here,” Su Zhi motioned to her, her voice as cold as shards of ice. Like a puppy that had made a mistake, Ming Can walked over step by step. Su Zhi took out her phone, tapping lightly on the screen. “Open your payment code.”
“I…” Ming Can hesitated, refusing to take out her phone.
“Open it!” she repeated, her tone carrying an unquestionable hardness.
Tears welled up in Ming Can’s eyes, shimmering precariously, while her hand honestly unlocked her phone, trembling as she pulled up her payment code.
The moment the screen lit up, Su Zhi glanced at it, then lowered her head to operate her own phone. The ward grew quiet enough to hear the heavy breathing of the security guards and the resentful muttering of the man pinned against the wall.
“Ding.”
Ming Can’s phone chimed. Looking down, her pupils suddenly constricted.
50,000 yuan received.
“This…” She abruptly raised her head, tears still clinging to her eyelashes, though her expression had shifted from grievance to astonishment. “Too much! I only owe him five thousand.”
Su Zhi had already tossed the phone back beside her pillow and closed her eyes, as if she had not been the one who just transferred the funds, or as if those fifty thousand yuan were merely pocket change spent on a cup of milk tea.
“The extra is a tip for you,” her voice muffled against the pillow, devoid of any emotion. “Stop making a fool of yourself in my room.”
Ming Can stood in place holding her phone, her fingertips trembling. Fifty thousand yuan. Even with ten part-time jobs a day, it would take her over half a year to save that much. How could she ever repay this debt of gratitude?
“Did you hear me?” Su Zhi kept her eyes closed, adding another sentence. “Once you have the money, go deal with your messy business. After you finish settling your wages this afternoon, get lost.”
Her tone was ruthlessly cutting, sounding like charity, yet also like dismissal.
Yet at this moment, Ming Can suddenly did not want to get lost quite so much.
She sniffled, tucked her phone back into her pocket, gently pushed aside the staff’s assistance, and walked step by step toward the scowling man at the door.
“QR code!”
Tiny as she was, Ming Can stood right in front of him, shoving the transfer record Su Zhi had just given her right into his face. Her voice was considerably firmer than before: “Collect your money!”
The man stared blankly at the string of numbers for a moment before pulling out his phone to quickly bring up his QR code.
The five thousand yuan transferred successfully, and he snorted coldly: “Riding the coathails of powerful people!”
Having secured his money, he turned to break free from the guards and bolt, but Ming Can spoke up before he could move.
“Wait!” She looked at him, her almond-shaped eyes tinged with slight redness from her recent emotions, yet her back was held perfectly straight. “I paid you back the money, but we have not settled the account for the kick you gave me.”
The man hopped in rage: “You stinking bitch, are you trying to frame me?!”
“With so many sets of eyes watching, I do not care to argue with you,” Ming Can reached out to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, rubbing it between her fingertips. She turned back to look at the person on the hospital bed. “You also broke into a ward and disturbed a patient’s rest. As a caregiver, I have the right to call the police!”
With that, she took out her phone, tapped the dial pad, and dialed the emergency number.
Ten minutes later, the police arrived and took the man away after several rounds of questioning.