CHAPTER 594: JUST HELP ME THIS ONCE

Qi Yongrui was rushed to the hospital. Even though he didn’t want to, he had no other choice because, from what Ye Jinglan told him, it seemed like the child had ended up getting injured once again. He didn’t know what had happened and how the child ended up being sent to the hospital.

Because when he asked Ye Jinglan, the mer didn’t say anything and simply continued to cry. Before Qi Yongrui could say anything to him or ask Ye Jinglan what he even meant by that, the mer ended the call and didn’t pick up his call.

Though Long Zhong said to him that he should ignore Ye Jinglan because the mer didn’t seem the kind type to him, Qi Yongrui couldn’t turn a blind eye to the plight of the child. What if the child was in really big trouble? What if he turned a blind eye to it, and the child might end up dying?

Qi Yongrui couldn’t bear something so big on his shoulders. Thus, after the call ended, he asked Long Zhong to drive him to the hospital.

"I am telling you, you need to stop helping that mer." Long Zhong exhaled heavily as he flexed his fingers on the steering wheel. It was quite clear that he was annoyed and frustrated with how things were going in the wrong direction. He said to Qi Yongrui, "That mer...he is greedy. I just know it; you saw how he took the envelope when I presented him with one. Do you think he will even use one for the kids? I think not!"

"I know," Qi Yongrui sighed. "It’s not that I don’t know that he is greedy, as we grew up in the same orphanage. I know that the chances of him using the money for the children are really slim, but..." he sighed and added, "But what can I do? The one who is responsible for taking care of those children is Ye Jinglan, not me. I am not their guardian. At most, I can help them a little, but that is all I can do for them."

He rubbed his forehead and added, "I just hope nothing serious happened to those kids because of me."

Long Zhong scoffed. He turned left and spoke in a conspiratorial voice, "Maybe he did it. Harmed the girl in the hope that you would give him more money."

"He wouldn’t," Qi Yongrui said, but his voice was barely above a whisper. He had heard of the things that Ye Jinglan had done, and given the kind of person he was, Qi Yongrui wouldn’t put it past him.

"You are too naive. Do you think that Ye Jinglan is like you? He is someone who would do anything. I know that he was never caught when he was bullying the other kids, but I know for sure that he was behind it. If he doesn’t do it, then I will kowtow to Luo Huian and apologise to her for calling her batshit crazy."

"You called my wife batshit crazy?"

"You are focusing on the wrong thing!" Long Zhong snapped with a hint of annoyance in his tone. He turned to look at Qi Yongrui through the rear-view mirror and then said to him, "I am telling you that you are just falling into a trap. Do you think that Ye Jinglan would use the money that you are giving to him for the children? He would certainly use it on himself."

"And if anything, the fact that you keep giving him money would not turn out nicely. It’s like feeding meat to the tiger and hoping that he won’t bite you to death."

Qi Yongrui sighed. He knew that Long Zhong was right but the fact that he couldn’t reach out to help those children didn’t sit well with him, which was why even though he knew that what he did was not right, he could only hope that Ye Jinglan was not as cruel as Long Zhong was making him out to be.

The two of them arrived at the hospital in fifteen minutes, and the second they stepped inside the emergency ward, Ye Jinglan, who seemed to be waiting for them, rushed forward. He said, "You are finally here. I was really getting worried —Ah Zhi needs money for surgery. I would have never troubled you if not for her severe injury."

When Qi Yongrui heard that Nian Zhi had gotten severe burns, he frowned and then said to Ye Jinglan, "How did the child get burns? Where were you when this incident happened?"

Upon hearing Qi Yongrui’s questions, Ye Jinglan cursed the mer for being a bit too nosy. He just asked him to come to the hospital and then pay for the surgery as well as some extra sum of money that he could use to gamble.

However, even though Ye Jinglan was upset, he still smiled at Qi Yongrui with a hint of helplessness and said to him, "Where else? I am a widower, and as all three of my wives are dead, no one would dare to marry me any more, which means that I need to look for a job. If I don’t get one, then I will never be able to raise these two kids."

"Who would have thought that I would get late while looking for a job, and the kids would end up getting hungry and would think of cooking something on their own? When I returned home, I found the pot with oil turned over and Nian Zhi lying on the floor unconscious." Once he finished speaking, Ye Jinglan bit his lower lip and lowered his head with a hint of aggrievedness.

"Are the burns serious?" Qi Yongrui asked.

"Yes", Ye Jinglan was glad that Qi Yongrui was asking the important questions. He nodded and sniffled before saying, "They are really serious. The back is completely burnt, and if the treatment doesn’t start in time, then I am afraid it will leave scars."

When Qi Yongrui heard that it was going to leave scars, he frowned and asked Long Zhong to go and pay for the treatment. Long Zhong originally didn’t want to but when he heard how serious the wounds of the child were, he pursed his lips and then went to the reception.

Once he was gone, Ye Jinglan turned to look at Qi Yongrui. Even though he didn’t know Long Zhong well, he knew that the mer was the one who was smart enough to see through him. Thus, he didn’t say anything in front of him just now. But now that Qi Yongrui was alone, his eyes glinted sharply, and he took a step towards Qi Yongrui and said to him, "Yongrui, I am really sorry about this."

Qi Yongrui turned and looked at Ye Jinglan, who genuinely looked sorry and shook his head. He said to him, "There is no need to apologise. You are also trying your best in your own way."

Ye Jinglan nodded. He waited for Qi Yongrui to say something, but when the mer didn’t say anything, he sighed. He then spoke tentatively, "Yongrui, can you give me some money? I am not asking you to give it to me for free; just give it to me as if you are lending it to me."

When Qi Yongrui heard his words, he frowned, and suddenly, Long Zhong’s words echoed in his head. Did Ye Jinglan really do something to the child?

But how was he supposed to find out the truth?

When Ye Jinglan saw that Qi Yongrui was looking at him warily, his heart clenched. He was worried that the mer would become suspicious of him and thus spoke to him, "If you can’t, then there is no need. I am not asking you to give it to me. It’s just that I have no money, the company where my wife worked is refusing to give me compensation, and I have no job."

"I cannot even buy pork ribs to cook for the child." As he finished speaking, tears started to fall from his eyes as if he were really upset.

Qi Yongrui saw that the mer was really crying, and he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have enough money in his pockets that could be given to buy pork ribs, but he did have a card that he didn’t use, as it only had two million yuan in it.

He thought about it a little and said to Ye Jinglan, "I will give you one of my cards, alright?"

"This is one of my supplementary cards, and I don’t usually use it, so you can have it."

After he finished speaking, he took out the card that he was talking about and then said to Ye Jinglan, "It has a limit of two million yuan, so use it carefully, alright? Don’t try to cross it or I will have to pay a penalty."

"Of course." Ye Jinglan was filled with glee when he heard that the card had a limit of two million.

But just as he was about to reach for the card, another hand reached out and snatched the card.