The green disposable surgical curtain was gently lowered. The doctor let out a long sigh of relief. “Are you the patient’s family member? He’s out of danger now. He’ll need to stay in the hospital for observation for a while longer.”
“Okay, okay.” Gadelia nodded hurriedly, the weight in her heart finally lifting.
She had just turned around when she saw Zhang Chuanlei, wearing the black uniform of the Lantern Bearers, squeezing through the crowd and running toward her.
“Ms. Gadelia, how is Zhou Ming? Is he alright?” Zhang Chuanlei had clearly already learned her name from the shop staff.
“He’s fine now.”
“That’s good, that’s great!”
“About Zhou Ming’s situation… his family?” Gadelia, though she knew Zhou Ming was alone, pretended not to know and asked anyway.
Zhang Chuanlei pulled out his phone from his pocket, glanced at the information, and said, “Unfortunately, the kid is all alone.”
“Zhou Ming, from Anzhou, 18 years old, 1.87 meters tall. His parents passed away not long ago…”
Gadelia frowned and interrupted, “Isn’t that a bit rude to say? As a local, aren’t you being a bit disrespectful of his privacy?”
Zhang Chuanlei scratched his head. “I’m not the one saying it. It’s written in the file. I’m just reading it out.”
He sighed and muttered under his breath, “I need to have a good talk with that Li Yaoming kid when I get back. Always going on about anime and ‘Hajime no Blade’ or whatever, never focusing on his actual work.”
After saying that, he gave Gadelia an awkward smile.
“So… what about the medical fees? He’s still unconscious.”
“You might have to cover them for now, I’m afraid. Our Lantern Bearers’ funding is a bit tight at the moment, but we’ll reimburse you later.”
Zhang Chuanlei looked rather embarrassed. He had seen Gadelia’s account balance and knew this amount was nothing to her. The problem wasn’t personal; it was procedural—reimbursement required application and approval.
And right now, with the budget cuts, even their own salaries had been reduced.
This was money earned with their lives on the line.
Gadelia glanced at him, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
“I’ll go pay the bill first. We can deal with the statement when I get back.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll wait right here for you.”
Guided by a nurse, Gadelia smoothly completed the payment.
Afterwards, she made a request—to switch to a premium single room.
Money isn’t everything, but without it, you can’t do anything. Her long life had taught her that well enough.
However, the conditions at this hospital were still too basic. Many needs couldn’t be met.
She couldn’t help but think to herself—this place still has a lot of room for improvement.
After finishing the formalities, she first went to Zhang Chuanlei to briefly explain the situation, then headed for Zhou Ming’s room.
Halfway there, her phone rang.
“Boss, it’s about our shop’s commercial insurance.” It was Li Mi on the other end. “The shop was damaged by the Energy Beast, right? We can file an insurance claim. We’ve already preserved the evidence for you. You just need to submit the paperwork later.”
“I was worried you might not be familiar with the laws here, so I wanted to remind you.”
Gadelia was taken aback, only now remembering—the shop was indeed insured.
“Good. Send me the materials. I’ll handle this later.”
After hanging up, she continued on to the room.
She gently pushed the door open.
On the hospital bed, Zhou Ming lay quietly, his eyes closed.
Gadelia couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh—this was the person who had her running around, scared out of her wits, and spending so much money.
She walked to the bedside, leaned over, and gently brushed her fingers across his face, unable to say a word.
Her fingers slid from his cheek to his neck, then down to the bedsheet, slowly smoothing out the wrinkles.
She pulled over a chair, sat by the bed, and quietly watched him.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before she slowly stood up and quietly left the room.
Before closing the door, she looked back once more, her lips parting slightly, but in the end, she said nothing.
Afterwards, she went to handle the insurance matter and returned to the shop once.
The two shop assistants, one named Li Mi, and the other… she thought for a moment, oh right, Guo Ziyi.
“You two can go home for today. Come back to work once the shop is renovated. You’ll still be paid your wages as compensation.”
The two assistants happily hugged her. She pushed them away with a look of distaste, and they finally left.
Then she contacted a renovation company, paid on-site, and arranged for the repairs.
Her phone vibrated—the insurance payout had arrived.
The efficiency was quite high. It seemed this kind of disaster insurance had official support.
After finishing all this, she went back to her residence, took a shower, and changed clothes.
She decided to stay at the hospital for this period.
Because whenever she was near Zhou Ming, her mind became unusually calm—this feeling was far too precious to her.
In the evening, she returned to the hospital.
Zhou Ming still hadn’t woken up.
She sat in the chair, zoning out for a while, then suddenly took out her phone.
“Nutritious food… chicken soup?”
“Red date chicken soup seems good…”
She frowned. “No ready-made ones? Then I’ll ask the nurses.”
She quickly sprang into action, even getting the hospital to clear out a small kitchen for her use.
After buying the ingredients, she followed a video tutorial and started cooking.
Though her technique was clumsy, she followed the steps bit by bit.
Working until two in the morning, she finally finished.
Looking at the pot of chicken soup, she nodded in satisfaction.
Returning to the room, she had just sat down to rest when her head tilted to the side and she fell asleep instantly.
The next day, around noon.
Gadelia still hadn’t woken up.
On the hospital bed, Zhou Ming’s finger twitched slightly.
His eyes slowly opened.
What greeted his sight was medical equipment with a metallic sheen.
“Hospital…”
He struggled to sort through his thoughts.
“Medical fees… they won’t be too expensive, will they…”
“I only had eight hundred thousand left in my account before…”
“I hope the reward for acting bravely is substantial. I haven’t bought insurance yet…”
He took a soft breath and suddenly noticed a strand of light chestnut-colored hair hanging down by the bedside.
Through the gaps in the hair, he vaguely caught sight of something he shouldn’t have seen.
“!”
He immediately turned his head away.
His face instantly flushed red.
The long hair swayed slightly, revealing more of the figure it had been hiding.
A soft moan.
The woman slowly woke up.
Zhou Ming couldn’t help but look over again.
The woman was about 1.72 meters tall, with a slender yet curvaceous figure. Her skin was like jade, her features delicate. Her peach blossom eyes, with their slightly upturned outer corners, held a natural charm.
Her left iris had a purplish tint, and her hair seemed to gleam with an amber-like light.
Around her neck was a thin silver chain with a pale purple teardrop pendant.
On her wrist, she wore several delicate bracelets.
She wore a cream-colored one-piece dress, with a tie at the waist accentuating her slender figure, and a light green knitted cardigan over it.
On her feet were a pair of light-colored mid-heel sandals.
She looked at Zhou Ming, froze for a moment, then let out a soft exclamation. “Wait here, I’ll go heat up the chicken soup.”
With that, she hurried out.
Zhou Ming remained frozen in place.
His breathing instantly became erratic.
‘I just became an adult…’
‘Isn’t this development a bit too fast…’
It took him quite a while to finally calm down somewhat.
Soon, the door was pushed open.
Gadelia walked in carrying a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup.
She glanced at Zhou Ming, and her expression softened.
“Here, have some.”
“I made it myself.”