What Qin Yuan had told Section Chief Wang wasn’t like the bluff she had used on Section Chief Li, where she simply made things up first and worried about the consequences later.
This time, she had actually worked things out carefully.
In her previous life, it was an established fact that the country would restore the National College Entrance Examination in October of this year.
For something this significant to be planned and implemented nationwide, it would have to go through several stages: preliminary research and discussions among experts, larger meetings among officials from the relevant departments, final decisions from the leadership, and then preparations by the departments responsible for carrying it out.
There was no way the entire process could be completed in less than half a year.
At this stage, it was perfectly normal for a small fry like Section Chief Wang to know nothing about it.
But then, how could a country girl like Qin Yuan possibly know?
The reason was simple.
In her previous life, attending university had been Qin Yuan’s lifelong dream, while losing her university admission spot had become one of her greatest regrets.
Because of that, whenever there was even the slightest mention of educational reform in the newspapers, she would pay special attention and remember it clearly.
In fact, she distinctly remembered reading an article in a February newspaper in her previous life discussing something along the lines of “The Drawbacks of the Educational Recommendation System.”
That little bit of knowledge was enough for her to put on a convincing show in front of someone working in culture and education like Section Chief Wang.
Sure enough, her words had stunned him.
He pushed his bicycle along at a leisurely pace, his expression changing repeatedly as he struggled to decide whether he should believe her.
If Qin Yuan had claimed that the college entrance examination was about to be restored immediately, he definitely wouldn’t have believed her.
But if she was merely saying that people were already discussing “the drawbacks of the educational recommendation system”…
Well, he had actually heard something about that too!
While Section Chief Wang remained caught between doubt and belief, Qin Yuan casually patted the rear rack of his bicycle.
“Section Chief Wang, stop worrying about it. This is an important matter, so why don’t you ask around first and then decide whether you still want to transfer to another position?
“Originally, I was going to ask you to buy these things for me directly. But instead, how about we make a bet?
“If you investigate and find out that everything I said was a lie, I’ll pay you every cent you spend on the things I asked you to buy.
“But if what I said turns out to be true, then consider it payment for me pointing you toward a promising path. I’ll accept the things you bought without feeling guilty, and you’ll also give me a complete set of junior and senior high school textbooks. How about it?”
If Qin Yuan had simply demanded that Section Chief Wang spend his own money, he would have thought she was both stupid and wicked.
But once she turned it into a bet, she suddenly seemed much more likable.
Section Chief Wang’s confidence in her words abruptly rose to about sixty percent.
Perhaps this country girl really did have access to information that ordinary people didn’t!
No wonder she had dared to sell her recommended university admission spot.
Maybe this was the reason!
He cleared his throat twice and pretended to remain calm.
“Ahem. Xiao Qin, fine! It’s a deal! If I ask around and discover that what you said is true, then I definitely won’t transfer positions. And if I benefit from it later, I’ll make sure to look after you too!”
Qin Yuan smiled.
“Then it’s settled. Let’s go. I need to get to the hospital. I don’t even know whether my friend has woken up yet, and I’m really worried about him.
“Once you’ve bought everything, bring it directly to the hospital. And don’t buy anything low-quality. After all, if you hear bad news and come asking me to reimburse you, I won’t pay for inferior goods.”
Seeing how confident this wretched girl was, Section Chief Wang no longer felt that shopping for her would be troublesome.
He immediately agreed.
“Fine, fine, I know. Now I’m curious too. Let’s see which one of us wins this bet.”
Section Chief Wang soon dropped Qin Yuan off at the hospital, then immediately rushed off to purchase the things she had requested.
For the rest of their time together, neither of them schemed against the other or complained anymore.
When they parted ways, they even politely said goodbye to each other.
They almost looked like genuine friends.
Who would have imagined that two “grasshoppers tied to the same rope” purely by mutual interests could get along so harmoniously?
Standing outside the hospital entrance, Qin Yuan touched the money in her pocket and watched Section Chief Wang vigorously pedal his bicycle through the bitter winter wind.
For some reason, she felt like laughing.
A ridiculous fake marriage.
A university admission spot sold at an openly negotiated price.
Not only had she avoided suffering any losses, but she had even managed to squeeze benefits out of both Section Chief Li and Section Chief Wang.
Now she had money.
She had supplies too.
All that remained was for her benefactor to wake up.
Once he did, she could finally free herself to deal with those three bastards from the Xia family.
Just thinking about it made her excited.
She could barely wait!
Qin Yuan turned around and entered the hospital.
The emergency department was fairly close to the main entrance.
The moment Qin Yuan walked into that section of the building and saw the large characters reading “Emergency Treatment” above the door, all the composure she had shown while negotiating with Section Chief Wang—and all the satisfaction she had felt from squeezing benefits out of him—were immediately replaced by anxiety.
She might have secured the supplies she needed, but the most important thing was still the unconscious man lying in a hospital bed.
The light outside the emergency room where her benefactor had been taken earlier was already off.
Qin Yuan was just about to ask where the emergency patient had been moved when the nurse who had previously told her to pay the medical fees approached her with a frown.
“Hey, aren’t you the family member of that unconscious drowning patient? I told you to pay the fees. What took you so long? Did you pay them or not? Hurry up and give me the receipt! We’ve already arranged a hospital bed for him. Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re causing me by not handing over the paperwork?”
Qin Yuan quickly took out the receipt and handed it over.
The nurse might have sounded fierce, but she never stopped working for even a moment.
After taking the receipt, she efficiently led Qin Yuan toward the inpatient ward.
Eventually, she stopped outside a room at the end of the corridor and tapped on the glass panel above the door.
“Sun Yulin has been assigned to Bed 103. It’s quieter over here. He’s still unconscious, so keep an eye on his IV drip yourself. If anything happens, go ask someone at the nurses’ station up front.”
After saying that, the nurse turned around and walked away without even glancing at Qin Yuan.
Qin Yuan was speechless.
She had the distinct feeling that, in the nurse’s eyes, she wasn’t even as useful as the receipt.
Still, when she looked through the glass panel in the door, she saw that although it was a four-person ward, her benefactor was currently the only patient inside.
That was actually quite nice.
Qin Yuan hurriedly pushed open the door and entered.
For some inexplicable reason, her heartbeat began to quicken.
The blanket covering the hospital bed was still the same one they had wrapped around him at Baomen Forest Farm.
It covered what should have been his tall, powerful body.
And beneath that blanket, the man remained completely motionless.
Qin Yuan took a deep breath.
She approached in tiny steps, moving as quietly as possible before stopping beside the bed.
Even her gaze moved cautiously toward the man’s face, as though she were afraid that looking at him too suddenly might somehow disturb him.
The wounds on his head had already been cleaned.
Three or four large strips of medical tape covered the more serious injuries, while several smaller wounds had merely been treated with yellow antiseptic and left uncovered to heal naturally.
As a result, the man’s face was now quite colorful.
His complexion was deathly pale.
His cheekbone was stained yellow from antiseptic.
There was a reddish mark across the bridge of his nose.
And his chin was covered with a patch of bluish-purple bruising.
Yet the man’s features were simply too handsome.
Even with his face covered in all those different colors, they still couldn’t conceal the natural attractiveness etched into his features.
Qin Yuan stared at his face for a full minute.
Then she suddenly lowered her eyes and silently scolded herself.
This man had risked his life to save her and ended up covered in injuries.
Yet here she was, staring at his face until she lost herself in thought.
That really wasn’t appropriate.
Qin Yuan hurriedly lowered her gaze toward his shoulder.
The thick layers of gauze that had covered it before were gone, replaced by thinner bandages. Part of the bandage had also been fashioned into a triangular sling supporting his arm.
With his arm held that way, the red and purple frostbite around his wrist looked even more alarming.
It seemed the hospital’s examination had revealed that his shoulder injury wasn’t merely superficial.
His bones had probably been injured as well, which was why his arm needed to be supported like this.
He really had suffered terribly.
And on top of everything else, his left leg was fractured too.
Qin Yuan placed a hand over her chest as though comforting herself and spoke softly.
“Benefactor… when the river swept you all the way over to the opposite bank, you must have crashed into the rocks, right?
“It’s okay.
“From now on, I’ll be your hands.
“And I’ll be your feet too.
“I promise I’ll make sure you recover, so you have to cooperate with me, okay?
“Let me see… How am I supposed to take care of you?
“Umm… you still need oxygen, and you need an IV drip too. The nurse told me to keep a close eye on your IV, so I…”