Chapter 195: Sprained Ankle

Although Xiyuan County was just a county town, its co-op had a counter that specialized in selling imported watches. There weren’t many, but it was enough to surprise Cheng Beilin. After all, back in Xiangcheng, you couldn’t buy a Rolex for just over seven hundred yuan.

On the spot, Cheng Beilin made a grand gesture and bought one Rolex and two Patek Philippes. The salesperson at the counter was so shocked they couldn’t stop staring at her. While this amount of money was a drop in the bucket for Cheng Beilin, to the salesperson, it was several thousand yuan!

Even an official worker might not be willing to buy a single imported watch after working for eight or ten years, yet Cheng Beilin had bought three in one go. Forget the salesperson—even the people browsing regular watches nearby couldn’t help but size her up.

’Goodness, whose reckless daughter is this? Blowing several thousand yuan just like that! Even the wealthiest family couldn’t sustain that kind of spending!’

Cheng Beilin, however, didn’t notice the stares; she was long used to being the center of attention. And Su Qing cared even less about what others thought. Cheng Beilin took the three watches and immediately placed one of the Patek Philippes in Su Qing’s hand. "This one’s for you. Now we each have one. It’s perfect."

Hearing this, the people around them gasped. My word, that was over two thousand yuan! It was the most expensive item in the county co-op, and this girl was giving it away just like that?

Many of them seethed with jealousy. Looking at the scar on Su Qing’s left cheek, they grumbled to themselves, ’Why don’t I have a friend who gives away gifts worth over two thousand yuan? How did that ugly girl get so lucky?’

Su Qing looked at the watch in her hand. Knowing that Cheng Beilin was sincerely giving it to her, she didn’t refuse. She smiled and said, "Alright then, I’ll accept. I’ll give you a ginseng root in return."

Cheng Beilin waved her hand. "Why are you being so polite? It’s just us."

Su Qing chuckled and whispered in Cheng Beilin’s ear, "It’s a ginseng root over fifty years old. Probably around sixty."

When Cheng Beilin heard that, her head whipped around to face Su Qing. She nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, yes! Su Qing, I definitely won’t be polite about that!"

’Perfect. Her grandfather’s health wasn’t great lately, and her family was looking for high-quality, aged wild ginseng for him. She had planned to ask if any was available around here but hadn’t held out much hope. After all, in this day and age, it was hard to find wild ginseng that was even thirty years old, let alone fifty or sixty.’

’She never expected Su Qing to have some before she even had a chance to ask.’

’She absolutely couldn’t let this go. Wild ginseng like that was a once-in-a-lifetime find.’

Su Qing smiled. "Like you said, it’s just us."

Cheng Beilin flashed a sweet smile, putting the two Patek Philippe watches on her own and Su Qing’s wrists. She then tucked the Rolex into her bag. ’Hm, this Rolex is for my big brother.’

"Come on, let’s go eat at the state-run restaurant! Didn’t you say the chef’s dumplings there are amazing?" Cheng Beilin walked happily ahead of Su Qing, ready to head downstairs. She glanced back to talk to Su Qing as she went, failing to notice a man walking up the stairs. Su Qing didn’t see him in time either. Consequently, Cheng Beilin ran right into the man, who was looking down as he climbed.

"AH!" Cheng Beilin cried out in alarm. She lost her footing and was about to tumble down the stairs.

Su Qing, startled, rushed forward and grabbed Cheng Beilin. At the same time, the man coming up the stairs also steadied her. Even so, Cheng Beilin twisted her ankle on the step, and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead from the pain.

"Beilin, are you okay?"

"I’m sorry, are you hurt?"

Su Qing and the man spoke at the same time. The man’s voice sounded familiar to Su Qing. She looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "Doctor Du!"

The man who had bumped into Cheng Beilin was none other than the doctor who had treated Su Qing’s injury before. He was also a disciple of Mr. Gong. Su Qing remembered that this Doctor Du was supposed to be acquainted with An Zhihan, as he had previously pleaded on An Zhihan’s behalf. However, Mr. Gong had always held a grudge against the An Family and was thus unwilling to treat An Zhihan.

"Miss Su!" Clearly, Du Chaoran recognized Su Qing as well.

Then, Su Qing heard Cheng Beilin’s surprised voice. "Du Chaoran, it’s you!"

A moment ago, Du Chaoran had been so focused on asking if Cheng Beilin was hurt that he hadn’t paid attention to her appearance. Hearing her words now, he looked at her in astonishment. "Cheng Beilin, what are you doing here?"

"Holy cow, Du Chaoran, it really is you!" Cheng Beilin was so surprised she was at a loss for words. Staring at Du Chaoran, she even forgot about the pain in her ankle.

Su Qing blinked. "You two... know each other?"

"We do!"

"We don’t!"

Du Chaoran’s and Cheng Beilin’s voices rang out at the same time. Cheng Beilin snapped out her denial, then huffed and shot Du Chaoran an angry glare.

Du Chaoran shook his head helplessly. "Does your ankle not hurt anymore?"

"Ah, it hurts!" Only then did Cheng Beilin feel the throbbing pain in her ankle again. She looked down at it, saw that it was red and swollen, and grimaced. "It’s all swollen! This is all your fault. You weren’t looking where you were going on the stairs, or I wouldn’t have twisted my ankle."

"Alright, my fault, my fault," Du Chaoran said with a smile. "Let’s go. I’ll take you to the hospital to get it checked out."

Su Qing had already seen the state of Cheng Beilin’s ankle. It was obviously not a good idea to use the green mist to heal her in front of so many people, so she smiled and said, "Let’s go. We should get your ankle checked at the hospital first."

Cheng Beilin pouted. "But my dumplings... I haven’t even had any yet."

Su Qing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Her ankle was that swollen, and she was still thinking about dumplings. She chuckled and said, "Let’s go to the hospital first. I’ll go buy dumplings from the state-run restaurant for you later."

"Mm. Okay!" Cheng Beilin’s face lit up. She shot another glare at Du Chaoran, then leaned on Su Qing and limped down the stairs. Conveniently, Du Chaoran had a bicycle, so Cheng Beilin could sit on the back rack. The three of them then headed to the hospital.

Although Su Qing was curious about the situation between Cheng Beilin and Du Chaoran, now wasn’t the time to ask, so she kept her curiosity to herself.

After an examination at the hospital, it turned out that, thankfully, she hadn’t injured any bones. It was just a sprain with some muscle strain. Du Chaoran prescribed some medicine and had Cheng Beilin rest for a bit in his break room.

"Uh, I’ll go to the cafeteria and get you two some food," Du Chaoran said, rubbing his nose as he noticed Cheng Beilin glaring at him from time to time.

"No! I want dumplings," Cheng Beilin declared, still not having forgotten about the dumplings from the state-run restaurant.

Su Qing smiled. "I’ll go to the state-run restaurant and buy some dumplings."

"I’ll go," Du Chaoran quickly offered.

"No, I’ll go." Su Qing could tell that Du Chaoran and Cheng Beilin seemed to have something to talk about. Besides, she wanted to take this opportunity to deliver the Stone Tablet to the police station. After saying this and reminding Cheng Beilin to stay put at the hospital, she hurried out.