After speaking, Song Yueying turned and leaned casually against the cabinet, taking an orange from the mesh bag. She peeled it, popped a segment into her mouth, and her eyes immediately lit up.
Mm, pretty sweet.
Seeing how she was blatantly ignoring him, Qi Yanjue knew that no matter what, he wouldn’t get an answer today about how the injury on her forehead had healed.
Remembering what the nurse had said, he asked again, “You were the one who brought me to the hospital?”
“Mm.” Song Yueying nodded, swallowed the orange in her mouth, and said with a smile, “How about we make a deal? Since I brought you to the hospital, don’t try to extort me…”
“Don’t make me pay your medical bills, okay?”
“You took a knife for me, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for me to cover your medical expenses. But the problem is, I don’t have any money right now. I really don’t.”
“I’m very grateful that you saved me, really, very grateful.”
The moment the word “extort” slipped out, Song Yueying immediately corrected herself, but Qi Yanjue had already heard it.
So she thought he was going to extort her and make her pay his medical bills. Qi Yanjue’s expression darkened, he had never intended to make her pay.
As for taking that knife for her, it had simply been out of a soldier’s duty to protect the people.
He didn’t expect her gratitude either. His expression suddenly changed as he threw off the blanket and tried to sit up, only to be stopped by Song Yueying.
“Don’t move!” Song Yueying frowned and said, “The doctor said you need to lie down and recover for the next few days. If you can avoid moving, then don’t move.”
Qi Yanjue nodded with a stiff expression and pulled the blanket back over himself. He couldn’t help recalling how, more than a year ago, he had saved her life, only for her to latch onto him, forcing him to marry her to preserve her reputation.
They had gotten their marriage certificate in the morning, and that very afternoon he received orders and returned to his unit.
He was gone for a year. His family said that when news of his death came back, she collected the compensation the very next day, packed her things, and returned to the countryside to remarry with his money.
“You don’t need to thank me,” Qi Yanjue said, explaining himself for once, wary of her clinging to him again. “Taking that knife for you was just a soldier’s duty to protect the people.”
“Even if it had been someone else today, I would have done the same.”
Song Yueying didn’t really listen to what he said afterward, she only caught the first sentence, and took it to mean he didn’t want her gratitude, just for her to pay the medical bills.
Fine then. He had taken a knife for her and saved her life; it was only right for her to cover his medical expenses.
As she ate the orange, Song Yueying began thinking about how to make money quickly. In the 1970s, goods were in severe shortage, and reselling was tightly controlled.
Making money was far too difficult.
Hearing her muttering to herself, Qi Yanjue asked in surprise, “You want to make money?”
Only then did Song Yueying realize she had accidentally spoken her thoughts aloud. Since that was the case, she might as well go all in and ask him directly, “Do you have any way to make money?”
“No.” Qi Yanjue immediately regretted asking.
Song Yueying wasn’t surprised at all by that answer. She gave a self-deprecating smile. “I must be desperate enough to try anything, asking you if you have a way to make money.”
“Why do you suddenly want to make money?” Qi Yanjue asked curiously, then suddenly remembered her mentioning his medical expenses earlier.
She wanted to make money, could it be that she planned to pay his medical bills?
How could he even ask her why she suddenly wanted to make money? Song Yueying glanced at Qi Yanjue and said, “I don’t have money to spend anymore, so of course I want to earn some to spend.”
The original owner was the type who couldn’t carry heavy loads or do hard work, and she also had a mother who could go into a frenzy at any time. If it weren’t for the compensation from her sacrificed husband and the fact that she was a village doctor, she would have starved long ago.
“Right, the village clinic. I’ve got it, I’ve thought of a way to make money.” Song Yueying placed the half-eaten orange on the cabinet, then turned and ran toward the door.
Watching her figure disappear through the doorway, the corner of Qi Yanjue’s mouth twitched a few times.
Doctor Zhao walked into the ward carrying a military-green water flask, casually closing the door and locking it behind him.
Qi Yanjue was staring blankly at the ceiling when he heard the sound. His body immediately went on alert. Turning his head and seeing Doctor Zhao walk in, he gradually relaxed.
As he walked, Doctor Zhao said to him, “I just saw Song Yueying run off in a hurry. What did you say to her that made her rush out like that?”
“She’s in a hurry to make money,” Qi Yanjue said as he struggled to sit up.
“No wonder I called her a few times and she didn’t hear me, so she was rushing off to make money.” Seeing him sit up without changing expression, Doctor Zhao asked, “Doesn’t it hurt when you sit up like that?”
“It doesn’t hurt like previous injuries,” Qi Yanjue answered truthfully.
After carefully observing his expression and confirming he didn’t look like he was enduring pain, Doctor Zhao said nothing more.
He opened the lid of the water flask and handed it to Qi Yanjue.
Qi Yanjue didn’t stand on ceremony and took it to drink.
“By the way, why is Song Yueying in such a hurry to make money?” Doctor Zhao circled back to the interrupted topic. Before Qi Yanjue could answer, he joked, “Don’t tell me she’s trying to earn money for your medical bills.”
Qi Yanjue’s hand froze mid-drink. He looked at Doctor Zhao speechlessly.
And that… turned out to be exactly right.
Seeing Qi Yanjue’s speechless expression, Doctor Zhao froze for a few seconds before saying in disbelief, “No way, no way, tomorrow the sun isn’t going to rise from the west, is it?”
“She really went to earn money for your medical bills?”
Without replying, Qi Yanjue tossed the water flask into Doctor Zhao’s arms. He simply didn’t want to be laughed at.
He had been guessed correctly, and now he was irritated out of embarrassment. Doctor Zhao was burning with curiosity, but he also knew that if Qi Yanjue didn’t want to talk, there was no point asking, so he dropped it.
He put the lid back on the flask and casually set it on the cabinet, then sat down by the bedside and lowered his voice. “They’ve reported back. This wave of enemies has been completely cleared.”
“There were no fatalities on our side, only three injuries, and all of them were minor.”
“Mm.” Qi Yanjue nodded to show he understood. After a moment of silence, he also lowered his voice and said, “Send two people to check the alley where I was ambushed.”
“Alright,” Doctor Zhao agreed, then asked, “Are you suspecting there’s something in that alley?”
“Not sure.” Qi Yanjue gave a negative answer. “I just feel like I’ve forgotten something. But I can’t remember what it is no matter how I think about it.”
“It just feels strange.”
Doctor Zhao asked, “What’s strange about it?”
“How long was I unconscious?” Qi Yanjue didn’t answer directly, instead asking a question in return.
“Two hours,” Doctor Zhao replied. Then he frowned. “I was actually going to ask you, did you use some special medicine after you were injured?”
Two hours, he had only been unconscious for two hours?
Qi Yanjue suddenly looked up at Doctor Zhao and asked in a low voice, “Are you sure I was only unconscious for two hours?”
“Certain.” Doctor Zhao nodded. Seeing Qi Yanjue’s expression, he also became serious. “You really were only unconscious for two hours. Is there a problem?”
Qi Yanjue didn’t answer, but in his mind, the problem was huge.
If he had only been unconscious for two hours, then with how serious Song Yueying’s forehead injury had been, how could it possibly have healed completely in just two hours?