Before he was a doctor, Le Yi was first and foremost Shen Xinglan's friend.
Moreover, he came here because Shen Xinglan wanted to heal her hands...
"I understand." A Miao pushed aside the bowl of soup in front of her without any expression. "Don't worry, I'll play along. You're right. This is a deal that I should complete."
Le Yi chuckled, his expression ever attentive and gentle. A Miao smirked in self-mockery. She was the foolish one here. How could she think that this man was a good person? No, the man was not a bad person. They merely had different stances.
"Why didn't you finish the soup?" Le Yi pushed the bowl in front of her again. "This is good for your recovery. It's much better than the hospital food."
A Miao once again scolded herself in her mind. She thought that he was being kind when he prepared all those meals for her. She had been so grateful and treated him as a friend. Hehe, she was simply too naive...
"It's too hot. I'll drink it later." She lowered her head and picked up the spoon. She had neither the right nor the position to throw a tantrum. Rather than giving Shen Xinglan a chance to torture herself, she might as well recover as soon as possible and leave the hospital.
Seeing as she had thought it through, Le Yi said no more. He took a seat next to her and sent Shen Xinglan a text. A satisfied look crossed Shen Xinglan's eyes after he read the text. Shen II, who had been making his report, became dumbstruck.
"Boss, should we continue investigating Ma Lili?"
Ma Lili was the precious daughter of the mayor. Even though Shen Xinglan had no way of targeting Mayor Ma at the moment, he would not forget how the father-and-daughter pair schemed against him and let it slide. So he ordered a male prostitute to seduce Ma Lili.
"Continue. We'll speak again when the matter blows up."
Shen I opened the door after seeing Shen Xinglan get up from his seat. The latter walked out of the office in large strides. "To the hospital."
Over at the hospital, A Miao was racking her brain for ways to steal the bronze mirror from Xia Yongqiang without alarming him when she saw a certain man swaggering into her room.
"Looks like you've eaten well. Your face has gotten plumper." Shen Xinglan settled on the sofa. "Isn't it better for you to be this obedient in the first place?"
A Miao pretended not to hear his mockery. "You once told me that Xia Yongqiang will be going to the hospital. Can I still make it?"
Seeing as she took the initiative to bring up the matter, Shen Xinglan closed his eyes and said, "You don't have to worry about this. Once you've recovered, Xia Yongqiang will immediately be alert. You better succeed this time. I've told you that this is your last chance."
"What if the mission fails due to some other factors?" A Miao needed to clarify this. This man would not be merciful. She needed assurance.
"I'll put the blame on you."
Hehe… A Miao clenched her teeth. "On what basis?"
"You're the reason for the failure last time. So no matter the reason, it's still your fault if you fail." Shen Xinglan smirked. "If you fail again, our deal will be canceled."
A Miao's expression was dark as she tightly clenched her fist. She only released her grip when her wounds pained her. "Fine. But I have a condition."
"Speak." Shen Xinglan gave her a sly look. "I wouldn't agree anyway."
"This pervert! What a psycho!"
A Miao wanted no more than to bite him to death but had to suppress her voice and say, "I hope you can first prepare my identity. That way, I can immediately leave after handing you the object. That's what we agreed on in the first place."
Her new identity had nothing to do with the Xia family. Considering Shen Xinglan's modus operandi, the Xia family might not be able to find her forever!
"Hm." Shen Xinglan snorted.
A Miao's eyes gleamed. "You agree?"
"Did I say that?" He pointed at his ear. "Your ears aren't functioning that well. I've told you that I wouldn't agree."
"Please leave. I want to rest." A Miao did not want to waste her time talking to this man.
Just as Shen Xinglan seemed like he wanted to say something, Le Yi pushed the door open and entered. Behind her was a young nurse.
"It's time for your medicine." He raised an eyebrow when he noticed that there was a strange atmosphere inside the room.
The nurse glanced at Shen Xinglan before walking up to give A Miao her medicine with a red face. Shen Xinglan stood up and nodded at Le Yi. "I'm leaving."
"Stop," A Miao abruptly cried and pushed the glass bowl on the table to the ground at the same time.
Shen Xinglan demonstrated his quick reflexes and caught the bowl in one stride. He warned her in a cold voice, "Don't challenge my patience or I'll keep you in a hospital forever."
"Oh, I saw a bug earlier. It's just an accident." A Miao's voice was placid yet there was mirth in her eyes.
Shen Xinglan frowned. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he heard the young nurse next to him shouting in surprise.
"What's wrong?" Le Yi immediately asked. Shen Xinglan looked impatiently at the nurse.
The nurse's face was as red as a tomato. She pointed at Shen Xinglan while stammering, "That's my… my…"
Shen Xinglan's eyes traced the direction that she was pointing in and found a red cloth peeking out of his pocket. He pulled it out with force. When he got a clear look at what it was, his entire face darkened.
"Sir… That's something that I just bought online… You… If you like it, I'll… I'll gift it to you!" The bashful nurse's eyes were glimmering. When she was done speaking, she ran out of the room with her face covered.
Le Yi suppressed his laughter and looked at the somewhat smug A Miao. Then, he addressed Shen Xinglan who was on the verge of exploding in anger. "Why don't you first throw that thing away?"
"Damn it!" Shen Xinglan threw the lacy red panties at A Miao's face and then pinched her chin. "Woman, you dare scheme against me? Looks like you have forgotten who put you here. How brave you are!"
He released her. "Remember your action today. I'll make you pay for it later."
"I…" Rubbing her chin, A Miao opened her mouth and was about to speak when Shen Xinglan stormed out of the room.
Le Yi looked at her helplessly before following suit in leaving.
A Miao pursed her lips. She really did not know that it was a pair of panties! She thought it was a handkerchief… But when she thought of Shen Xinglan's face earlier, she suppressed her laughter and dived back inside the covers.
"Don't give her any more painkillers. Let her suffer!" Shen Xinglan realized that Le Yi was staring at him. He returned the favor with a glare. "What are you looking at?"
Le Yi shook his head. "Don't you feel that she would always affect your emotions?"
Not giving her painkillers… His words sounded so childish.
"What are you trying to say?" Shen Xinglan stopped walking to look at him. "Who's the one who said she's not necessarily Shanshan?"
"Shanshan?" Le Yi laughed. "Are you trying to convince yourself? We have no way of confirming A Miao's identity at the moment but you've already lost your calm."
Shen Xinglan snorted. "Before we get concrete evidence that she's Shanshan, my attitude wouldn't change. Besides, I'm not uncalm. If you understand that woman, you'll know that she's always putting on an act. Look at how she schemed against me."
"Fine. Just pretend I didn't say anything." Le Yi suppressed a smile and stopped trying to wrestle with him over this matter.
He walked back to A Miao's room after seeing Shen Xinglan off but did not see her.
"What are you doing?" He found her inside the bathroom. A Miao was fiddling with her face using the mirror.
"I'm covering up my eyes." Her hands were not dexterous so she had to endure pain as she carefully painted makeup over her eyes.
Le Yi looked at her in amusement. "Why would you make yourself look ugly? Beautiful women would always draw sympathy from people. Who knows if Shen might…"
"Don't mention that guy!" A Miao glared at him. She appeared particularly strange with a pair of eyes of varying size.
"Okay, I won't mention him." Le Yi could not bear looking at her made-up face and walked out. "You truly impressed me today and I'm now even more curious what happened to you in the two years that you went missing."
A Miao did not reply. After a while, she walked out with her dull eyes. "I'm also curious myself."
Shen Xinglan never showed up again after the incident. Xia Wan came several times but stopped when she realized she would not see him here anymore. Just like that, another month passed and A Miao was finally discharged from the hospital. What surprised her was that Bai Youran actually came.
"Pack up and come with me."
The man looked incredibly impatient with her. A Miao found it to be ridiculous and looked at him without moving. "I can return on my own. Please move aside."
"You don't have to return to the Xia family. Come with me to Macau." Bai Youran's tone was particularly nasty. "I've already told Grandfather Xia that I'll take you to the casino town."
A Miao's expression turned grim. Just as she was about to refuse, she suddenly recalled something. "How can I go? I don't have my identity card or passport."
Bai Youran extended his hand, about to pull her along. "I've already prepared it for you. Let's go now."
"I'll walk on my own." A Miao dodged his hand and walked several paces faster than him.
"You'd better be obedient or I won't be polite to you." Bai Youran followed after her. The two of them headed straight for the airport.
At the airport, Bai Youran handed A Miao her passport and boarding pass. She carefully accepted them and boarded the plane while concealing her excitement. This was a great opportunity for her. With her identification documents finally in hand, she could still leave with her passport even if Shen Xinglan turned against her in the future.
Upon arrival in Macau, Bai Youran immediately checked them into a hotel attached the casino. A Miao had a room to herself and the first thing she did was hiding her passport. However, before she could hide it well, someone rang the doorbell.
"I said I'm not hungry. Don't mind me and eat on your own."
Bai Youran had changed into fresh clothes. He sneered when he heard her words. "I don't care even if you starve to death. Give me your passport."
"Why must I?" A Miao looked at him in alarm. She must not hand him her passport.
"Master Xia purposefully ordered me to do so, saying that you like to run. Hurry up and give me your passport!" Seeing as she was still not moving, Bai Youran pushed her aside and entered her hotel room.
When he started going through her luggage, A Miao ran over to stop him. He swung his leg at her. "Bitch! There's a limit to my patience! If you keep disobeying me, I'll prostitute you to the locals!"
"Ah!" A Miao fell to the ground in an effort to dodge his kick. By the time she climbed up from the floor, Bai Youran was already walking out with her passport.
He stopped at the door, turning around to warn her. "We'll go to the casino tonight. I'll get someone to send your dress over."
"You bastard!" A Miao sat on the bed, gasping for breath, and punched the bed hatefully. She realized that there was no longer any noise outside after a while and quietly opened the door. Then, she saw two men dragging a woman past her door.
"Hurry up! Once the boss is done with her, it'll be our turn."
"I heard they captured a lone woman. That's why the boss gave us this woman."
"Hehehehe! The casino town sure is a good place…"
A Miao shut the door with a pale face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.