As soon as the door opened, Chen Lang rushed inside.
Lying on the bed, Lian Qiao’s lips had turned pale. She was curled up under the blanket, clutching her stomach, her hair completely soaked with sweat.
Chen Lang’s heart tightened. He reached out and scooped her up, blanket and all. “Where’s the hospital?”
He looked at the front desk lady standing nearby.
The woman thought someone was about to die and stammered, “Th-the steel mill’s employee hospital. Wasn’t she fine last night…?”
Before she could finish, Chen Lang had already rushed out the door with Lian Qiao in his arms.
Carrying Lian Qiao, he ran back along the same route they had taken the day before. Many people in the steel mill compound saw the scene.
Within minutes, Chen Lang had carried her to the employee hospital.
Patients still waiting in line quickly made way. Chen Lang charged into the examination room and laid Lian Qiao on the bed.
“Doctor! Emergency!”
The elderly doctor who had been writing medical records hurried over. Seeing her face, he looked puzzled.
“Qiao’er?”
The old doctor remembered her because she used to accompany Liao Hongyan here for injections and medicine. After Liao Hongyan passed away, Lian Qiao still often visited him at the hospital, bringing fruits and pastries.
Lian Qiao groggily opened her eyes, seeing blurry white shapes that made her dizzy.
“Stomach… hurts…”
After uttering those two words, she drifted off again.
The old doctor quickly wrote out a prescription. “You go pay first. I’ll give her an injection here.”
Chen Lang was anxious. “No IV?”
“Let’s give her a shot for the pain first. Don’t ask questions—just hurry.”
Chen Lang took the prescription and rushed out, returning quickly.
Lian Qiao groggily received the injection and was then carried to sit in the hallway.
When she opened her eyes again, she was still in Chen Lang’s arms.
“Thirsty…”
Chen Lang gently placed her on the long bench. “I’ll get you some water.”
The enamel mug he had brought originally contained hot water, but it had cooled after sitting for a while.
By the time Chen Lang returned with hot water, Lian Qiao had fallen asleep again.
He gently woke her, propped her against his chest, and slowly fed her water from the enamel mug.
Once she had recovered somewhat, Chen Lang carried her on his back to the guesthouse.
Lian Qiao had protested, but Chen Lang wouldn’t listen. She could only bury her head under the blanket, like an ostrich hiding from reality.
The old doctor’s words to Chen Lang still echoed in her ears.
There were several reasons for stomach cramps: not eating properly, or getting angry.
Actually, Lian Qiao hadn’t been that angry. After all, those two had always been foul-mouthed. But Wang Yuzhen had crossed the line by insulting someone she shouldn’t have, and that had truly angered Lian Qiao.
Angry as she was, she thought it would pass. But unexpectedly, as soon as she returned to the guesthouse, her stomach began twisting in pain.
After drinking some hot water, she lay down and endured it, thinking she’d feel better after sleeping for a while. Instead, she drifted off and passed out from the pain.
Watching Chen Lang bustling around—buying her porridge, bringing water, wiping her face—she felt a bit embarrassed.
“I’m actually quite healthy. I probably just ate something wrong last night. I’m fine now. What time is the train? Let’s leave right away.”
Chen Lang handed her a freshly washed warm towel.
“Rest first. I’ll go change the tickets. We’ll leave tomorrow.”
Lian Qiao grew anxious. “No, really, I’m fine. The injection fixed me. Let’s not change the tickets—they’re hard to get anyway. We should go back early and not waste any more time.”
Chen Lang pressed her back onto the bed. “The train ride is exhausting. You’re not in good shape right now.”
Lian Qiao anxiously bounced back up, “Really, really, it won’t delay the evening train. We can try to upgrade to a sleeper berth on the train. I really want to go back…”
Chen Lang was persuaded. After everything she had just been through, she certainly wouldn’t want to stay here any longer.
“Then rest for now. We’ll take a taxi to the station.”
“Okay.”
Lian Qiao lay back down on the bed, pulling the blanket all the way up until only her eyes were visible, secretly watching him.
Chen Lang sighed, knowing that as long as he sat there, she wouldn’t sleep at all.
“Get some rest. I’ll be right next door and will call you when it’s time to leave.”
“Go on, go on. You must be tired too.”
Even though the door was open, a man and a woman sitting alone in a room without being married yet wouldn’t look good.
Lian Qiao didn’t think much of it, but given Chen Lang’s special status, she felt it was better to be cautious.
Chen Lang only left her door slightly ajar, went downstairs to find a taxi, extended their stay at the front desk, and then spent some time reading in his room.
When it was almost time, Chen Lang quietly entered the room to wake the sleeping Lian Qiao.
She was still groggy from sleep, rubbing her eyes with her hands. When she saw Chen Lang standing in the light, his figure seemed to be outlined by a soft, golden glow.
“How are you feeling?”
Lian Qiao quickly sat up, “I’m fine, I’m fine. Are we still on time?”
Chen Lang looked at the tuft of hair sticking up on her head—it was rather cute. “The taxi is waiting downstairs. We’re on time.”
Lian Qiao didn’t even have a watch, so she had no idea what time it was. Since Chen Lang had the tickets, she obediently followed behind him.
When checking out, the front desk lady had changed her demeanor.
“Leaving already? Oh, you have no idea—your partner is really strong! He carried you out in a rush. If it were my husband, forget carrying me, he wouldn’t even be able to drag me.”
Lian Qiao’s face flushed with warmth. She had truly been unconscious and had no recollection of anything.
“That can’t be, ma’am. I’m sure you’re perfectly healthy.”
Under the lady’s enthusiastic gaze, Lian Qiao followed Chen Lang out of the guesthouse.
Sure enough, a taxi was waiting at the entrance.
In those days, taking a taxi was a rarity for most people.
A bus ride cost only five cents, while a taxi started at two yuan, with an additional eight mao per kilometer. Taking the bus was the way ordinary people traveled.
Lian Qiao didn’t know how much Chen Lang had paid to have this taxi waiting outside the guesthouse.
Chen Lang shifted the two luggage bags to one hand, opened the car door for Lian Qiao, and then got in after her.
“Qiao’er?!”
Hearing a somewhat familiar voice, Lian Qiao instinctively looked at the driver.
It was indeed a familiar face.
It was Zhao Hongbin.
Truly, as the old saying goes, enemies are bound to cross paths.
Zhao Hongbin glanced at Chen Lang beside her, a surge of bitterness welling up in his heart. He stepped on the gas, and the taxi lurched forward.
His gaze drifted intentionally or unintentionally toward the rearview mirror as he sneered, “Well, well, haven’t seen you in a few days. Have you latched onto a rich man now?”
Lian Qiao simply leaned quietly against the car window, her profile cold and detached, not sparing him another glance from start to finish.
At first, Zhao Hongbin thought she was feeling guilty and remorseful, but he later realized it was a complete disregard—more infuriating than outright cursing.
She had found another man so quickly. She probably never intended to marry him in the first place, which was why she had pushed Lian Rou into his bed.
And that wasn’t all—she had also ruined his job, kicking him when he was down.
Don’t think he didn’t know who had reported him to the factory. It could only have been Lian Qiao.
“Why don’t you introduce yourself? Then let me introduce myself—I’m Lian Qiao’s ex-husband, the one she kicked to the curb. As someone who’s been through it, I’ll give you a piece of advice: this woman is no simple matter. She uses men like us as stepping stones, ruthless and cunning.”
Chen Lang lifted his eyes coldly, meeting his gaze in the rearview mirror.
“Pull over.”
Zhao Hongbin glanced at him. “We’re on the road—how can I pull over?”
“I said, pull over!”
Chen Lang’s voice carried a powerful, oppressive force. Zhao Hongbin instinctively swerved to the roadside and hit the brakes.
Before he could react, Chen Lang reached out, pulled the car door open with a decisive motion, then circled around to the driver’s side and yanked the door open.
Zhao Hongbin was startled. “What… what are you trying to do?”