Chapter 552

Duanmu left in a hurry. I knew he wasn't avoiding me; from his words and behavior, I could tell that Duanmu rushing back to the provincial capital must have involved something more important.

I sighed and turned back to the entrance of the hospital emergency room, found a chair, and sat down to wait for news about Xu Mengda, who was undergoing emergency surgery inside.

Before long, several people hurried in from outside, grabbing people to ask where the emergency room was.

I watched them with indifference; their expressions were very anxious, looking preoccupied as they paced back and forth in front of the emergency room door.

One of them saw the empty chair next to me, walked over a few steps, sat down, and said dramatically, "I'm exhausted."

He sighed, but I didn't look at him.

He turned his face to me and asked, "Brother, is someone inside?"

I nodded and said, "A friend."

He also sighed and said, "In this day and age, the hospital is the place I fear most."

I smiled slightly and didn't respond to his words.

He wouldn't let me be, however, and asked me again, "What's the illness?"

I was very annoyed and didn't want to talk to him, so I spat out two words briefly: "Car accident."

"Car accident?" he exclaimed, asking, "Is it Boss Xu?"

I looked at him in surprise and asked, "You know him?"

He patted his chest and shouted, "Come quickly, everyone, there's someone here who is a friend of the boss."

Several people crowded around, asking me about the situation all at once.

I waited until they had all finished speaking before saying, "I'm just like you; I don't know anything right now."

They looked at each other and explained, "Don't worry, big brother. We are all employees of Boss Xu. He called yesterday saying he was coming to Hengyue City today. We waited for a long time but didn't see him, and later heard there was a car accident on Central Avenue. When we checked the license plate, it was indeed Boss Xu's, so we rushed over."

It was no secret that Xu Mengda had companies in all thirteen prefectures and cities of the province.

Xu Mengda's companies were all related to television stations, and every station had advertising slots he had contracted. In the entire advertising industry of Central Province, if Xu Mengda claimed to be second, absolutely no one dared to claim they were first.

Since they were people from his company, my guard relaxed a lot.

Just as we were at our wit's end, the emergency room door opened, and a nurse wearing a mask came out, shouting loudly, "Who is Xu Mengda's family?"

We all rushed over at the same time, startling the nurse, who had been acting high and mighty. She shouted repeatedly, "What are you doing? What are you doing?"

Xu Mengda's employees asked urgently, "Nurse, how is he?"

The nurse was still immersed in the shock from just a moment ago; she glared at him with dissatisfaction and said, "Scatter! Leave one person to talk."

They looked at each other and turned their eyes toward me.

I walked over and asked, "Nurse, please go ahead."

The nurse shot me a cold look from above her mask, tapped the notebook in her hand, and said, "The danger period hasn't passed yet. He needs a blood transfusion now. There isn't enough blood in the blood bank."

I rolled up my sleeves and said, "Draw mine, I'm O-type."

The nurse looked at me and turned back inside. A moment later, two nurses came out with long needles, signaling for me to follow them.

They drew 600cc of my blood at once, making me see stars and feel dizzy.

Looking at the blood in the blood bag, I thought bitterly: Xu Mengda, from today on, the blood flowing in your veins is mine!

After the blood draw, Xu Mengda's employees surrounded me, thanking me profusely. I smiled sullenly, thinking to myself: you bunch of fools don't know a thing; my few hundred cc of blood in exchange for Xu Mengda never daring to act big in front of me again—it's a good deal!

Just as we were bustling about, Xue Bing and Peng Xiaoyuan stood quietly behind us.

Xu Mengda's employees recognized Xue Bing. When she participated in the Youth Singer Competition back then, it was Xu Mengda's company that had sponsored her.

They exclaimed in unison again, "Oh, Teacher Xue."

I turned my head at the sound and saw Peng Xiaoyuan supporting Xue Bing. Both of them had gauze wrapped around their arms, and Peng Xiaoyuan also had a cut on her left cheek covered by gauze, looking like a patch on a piece of cloth, or like a clump of rotten stone standing out on a vast expanse of white snow.

I was amused by her appearance and smiled. I couldn't laugh out loud; at this very moment, when everyone was feeling sad and sorrowful, I couldn't laugh at an inappropriate time.

But my smile was still seen by Peng Xiaoyuan as an act of rebellion. She rushed up to me, stared at me fiercely, and asked, "Schadenfreude, aren't you?"

I shook my head, put away my smile, and said, "I wouldn't dare."

Xue Bing asked Xu Mengda's employees, "How is he?"

Xu Mengda's employees comforted her, saying, "He's fine now."

Xue Bing sighed and turned to walk outside.

Peng Xiaoyuan glared at me and followed her; I hesitated for a moment, but still chased after them.

Now I had countless mysteries in my heart that needed to be solved, and besides the two of them, I couldn't find anyone else to clear them up for me.

Seeing me chase after them, Xue Bing stopped, waited for me to get closer, and asked softly, "Do you need something?"

I asked hesitantly, "How did you get into a car accident?"

Peng Xiaoyuan said angrily, "You're asking us? I should be asking you."

"Asking me?" I looked at her suspiciously.

"Yes, asking you. If it weren't for you, why would we have come to Hengyue City for no reason? If we hadn't come to Hengyue City, how would we have gotten into a car accident?"

"So, you mean you came to Hengyue City because of me?" I became even more suspicious, and my heart tightened. If it were really as Peng Xiaoyuan said, they had come to Hengyue City because of me, then my 600cc of blood wouldn't even be worth a bottle of saline.

"If it weren't for you, would Teacher Xue have come? If Teacher Xue hadn't come, would Boss Xu have come?"

"What exactly do you mean?" I began to lose control of my temper; my voice grew louder, and my eyes widened, as if I were bristling with anger.

Peng Xiaoyuan was clearly frightened by my appearance; she stammered for a long time before saying in a low voice, "Teacher Xue wants to study abroad, so she came to ask for your opinion."

I turned my head to look at Xue Bing strangely and said in a low voice, "Why ask me about studying abroad?"

Xue Bing's originally pale face flushed red; she walked a few steps away, seemingly wanting to avoid Peng Xiaoyuan.

I understood what she meant, glared at Peng Xiaoyuan, and said, "Stay put, I have a few words to say to your Teacher Xue."

Frightened by me, Peng Xiaoyuan actually nodded in agreement obediently.

Xue Bing and I walked to the side; she pondered for a long time before saying, "You know Xu Mengda?"

I nodded.

"He wants to pursue me; did you know that?"

I originally wanted to nod, but thought better of it and shook my head. Men are very selfish when it comes to women! Xue Bing was originally mine, and although she didn't belong to me now, as a man, I absolutely didn't want to see her fall into someone else's arms.

"But I have a condition: before agreeing to him, I want to study abroad for three years. If he's still waiting for me after that, I'll marry him." Xue Bing's voice was low, but I could feel the pain in her saying these words.

"But..." I hesitated, "Why did you come to Hengyue City?"

Xue Bing smiled bleakly and said, "I originally said I would wait until you returned to the province to talk about it, but Xu Mengda was impatient and insisted on coming over to ask you now. He said your opinion is important. If you agree to me studying abroad, he will definitely support it. If you don't agree, he won't agree to my condition either."

"Am I that important?" I said in panic, while in my heart, it felt like a mouse had crawled in, swinging on my heart and liver.

Xu Mengda had long understood that I wouldn't agree to Xue Bing studying abroad. Because he knew that I understood his heart.

"Xu Mengda said you are my family. As a woman, one must listen to one's family, otherwise, when returning home, one will be bitten by dogs."

I was dumbfounded, and at the same time, my heart skipped a beat. Xu Mengda said such things—did he know about my past relationship with Xue Bing? If he didn't know, why say I was her family? Was it just because I was once the parent official of Xue Bing's hometown?

"Why did Division Chief Duanmu come?" I asked.

"The two of them are brothers, so they came together."

I gave an 'oh' and asked, "Who else knows about this?"

Xue Bing hesitated and shook her head.

"Are you willing to marry Xu Mengda?" I asked. In fact, I was thinking: could Xu Mengda even survive this car accident? Even if he survived, he might become a vegetable, or be paralyzed. Life is full of variables; who knows what tomorrow will look like?

Xue Bing pondered for a while, looked up at me, smiled miserably, and said, "What do you think?"

"I don't know." I asked her, "Where are you going now?"

"I have somewhere to go." She looked at me quietly, smiled, and said, "I'm leaving. If Xu Mengda wakes up, please give me a call."

She took Peng Xiaoyuan and floated away, leaving me standing alone under the empty tree, my brows knitted in worry.

It's too suspicious! Once this thought came up, it wouldn't leave my mind.

Xue Bing wants to study abroad—whose idea was it?

Xu Mengda came to Hengyue City to ask for my opinion—whose idea was it?

The roads in Hengyue City aren't narrow, there aren't many vehicles, and it was daytime—how could such a tragic car accident happen?

Who was driving the other car?

All the doubts gathered into a big mystery, occupying my chest, blocking me so I couldn't breathe.