Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Neither did Qiao Nan bother to rebuke him. Instead, she graciously agreed. Since Qiao Dongliang had made delectable dishes for her, Qiao Nan gobbled them all down very willingly.
Seeing Qiao Nan eating heartily, Qiao Dongliang let out his first smile of the day. “Being able to eat is a blessing. I’m really happy to see you have such a good appetite. I’ll bring more for you tomorrow. Nan Nan, don’t scare yourself. I think you’re in quite good health. Even if you’re feeling any discomfort, it won’t be much of a problem.”
He had never seen anyone who was truly unwell being able to eat like Nan Nan.
“Okay.” Qiao Nan twitched the corners of her lips but remained silent. As usual, she simply listened to whatever Qiao Dongliang had to say.
After Qiao Dongliang finished packing his things, his mood sank. “Rest well now that you’ve finished eating. Try to recover as soon as possible. I might not be able to send dinner over personally because I have to work, but I’ll get someone else to bring dinner for you.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“There’s no need to thank me. I’m your dad. Taking care of you is my duty. Have some rest. I’ll visit you again tomorrow.” Knowing that he would be able to keep both his daughters by his side and that Qiao Zijin would no longer be in danger, Qiao Dongliang left in a jolly mood.
The moment the door closed, Qiao Nan laughed. Her laugh was a much happier and cheery one as compared to Qiao Dongliang’s. Immediately, Qiao Nan climbed out of her bed, stripped off her hospital gown, and changed into her usual clothes. Then, she picked up her bag and headed downstairs.
1
In these two months, Qiao Nan had been particularly thankful for Ding Jiayi and Qiao Dongliang’s indifference and nonchalance toward her. Qiao Nan had indeed sustained many fractures in this accident, but thankfully, she had not injured her legs. And now, even her arm that she had injured was no longer much of a problem.
In the past two months, Qiao Nan had actively cooperated with the doctors to undergo rehabilitation. Without her determination and persistence, there was no way Qiao Nan would have recovered faster than ordinary patients if she had relied solely on Qiao Dongliang’s soups for nourishment.
As such, neither Qiao Dongliang nor Ding Jiayi had any idea that Qiao Nan could get down from her bed on her own. Although her movements were slower than ordinary people’s, and it was rather inconvenient for her to move around, the fact was that Qiao Nan was no longer a bed-ridden patient who had to rely on others to eat, drink, pee, and poop.
“Hello, Miss Qiao. It’s nice to meet you. I’m really very sorry about what happened.” The driver’s face was filled with guilt upon meeting Qiao Nan. He had knocked her down, so he should have visited Qiao Nan much earlier. It was just that… The thought of Ding Jiayi made the driver’s head hurt. It could be said that Miss Qiao’s mother was the most difficult and annoying person he had ever encountered in his life.
“No, I understand the situation. You being here today is already proof that you feel sorry toward me and that you feel bad that I’m having it harder than you are. Let’s hurry and get the discharge procedures done so that I can go with you to the police station to sign the settlement. That way, both of us can avoid any trouble in the future.” Qiao Nan cut right to the chase.
After all, she and Qiao Zijin were staying in the same hospital. Her dad had just left, so she did not have to worry about her dad suddenly coming back. But Ding Jiayi was different. In order to take good care of Qiao Zijin, besides staying by Qiao Zijin’s side, Ding Jiayi had to satisfy all of Qiao Zijin’s other demands.
Qiao Nan had heard from the nurse that Qiao Zijin had never stopped with her antics even though she had been hospitalized. Since she could not go out to shop, Qiao Zijin would often get bored and ask Ding Jiayi to buy some fashion magazines for her. Otherwise, she would have her cravings. At those times, Ding Jiayi would go around to run errands for Qiao Zijin without any complaints.
As such, in order to avoid meeting Ding Jiayi and causing an unnecessary ruckus, Qiao Nan had no intention of staying in the hospital for any longer than was necessary. All she wanted was to leave as soon as possible. Only by taking advantage of the Qiao family being ignorant and her quick actions would she be able to gain what was rightfully hers and resolve this matter successfully.
“Actually, I got all the discharge procedures done before you came.” He had already prepared the three months’ worth of Miss Qiao’s hospitalization bills. No matter how hefty the sum was, he had no choice but to part with it. But he had not expected that Miss Qiao wanted to get discharged early even though she could have stayed in the hospital for a longer period of time.
Upon confirming that Qiao Nan and Ding Jiayi were truly worlds apart, the driver was exceptionally grateful. It was true that he wanted to take responsibility for what he had done, but he did not want to become a sacrificial lamb just because of his upright morals.
After roughly understanding what Qiao Nan meant, the driver got on board and helped Qiao Nan with her discharge procedures without hesitation. That way, the duo could leave immediately.
“All right, then I won’t waste any more time. Let’s go to the police station.” Qiao Nan nodded in satisfaction. There was no reason for Qiao Nan to not be happy now that she had managed to spend even less time in the hospital.
Thus, Qiao Nan and the driver walked side-by-side and left.
Ding Jiayi, who had gone out to buy a magazine for Qiao Zijin, caught sight of the back view of the two of them leaving the hospital. Ding Jiayi frowned and her lips were tightly pursed together. She stared at the couple for a long time. “Hey, why does that woman look like that wretched girl? But that woman looks chubbier than that stupid bunch of bones. I guess some people just have doppelgangers.”
Qiao Nan was almost forty and had no close male friends, let alone a partner. What she had just seen was clearly a husband fetching his wife who had just been discharged, so there was no way that woman could have been Qiao Nan.
Ding Jiayi shook her head and thought nothing more of it. Remembering that her beloved daughter was still waiting for her magazine to kill time, Ding Jiayi hastened her steps and rushed to the newsstand.
Qiao Nan, who had been sitting in the car, looked around out of boredom and happened to see Ding Jiayi rushing toward the newsstand. This scene only made Qiao Nan’s lips curl up into a sneer. She said nothing about it and did not tell the man beside her that the woman whom he was most afraid of had just passed by.
Thankfully, all of the car’s windows were one-way mirrors such that passengers in the car would be able to see the people outside, but the people outside would not be able to look into the car. Otherwise, knowing Ding Jiayi’s temper, she would definitely have rushed up and grabbed the driver’s collar, demanding five hundred thousand yuan compensation from him.
If he refused, he should not even think of leaving!
Qiao Nan very kindly decided not to remind the man sitting beside her about such an unpleasant possibility. The duo rushed down to the police station as quickly as possible and settled the matter. As for Qiao Nan’s hospitalization bills, Qiao Nan had forked out a hundred thousand yuan. The driver had paid for any outstanding amount above that initial hundred thousand yuan.
Qiao Nan did not really care how much more the driver had forked out because he had handed a cash card with a stored value of three hundred thousand yuan over to her and had given her the pin number. “If you have any problems in the future, feel free to contact me.” Even though Qiao Nan had been discharged, the other party was afraid that there would be side-effects from the accident.
Qiao Nan was affable and easy to deal with. Thus, the other party’s attitude was similarly good.