CHAPTER 679: CHAPTER 457 PRE-SURGERY

The second watch arrived.

------------

Visitors? Or are they here for her? Qin Mei lay on the bed, deep in thought, wondering who would come to see her at this time. She had cried; she looked hideous, and she didn’t want strangers to see her like that.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Xiao Mei, are you asleep? Get up quickly; we have visitors. It’s your boss; come out quickly..."

Qin Mei’s body jolted... Had Zhou Shanping come? What did looking ugly matter if he had seen her like this? What was the big deal about swollen eyes?

Moreover, he knew she was ill. It would be abnormal for her to be overly cheerful now. Thinking this, she quickly got up, tidied her hair, adjusted her clothes, and opened the door. Sure enough, Zhou Shanping was standing outside with two others who were also familiar to her. They had too many intertwined dealings. In fact, these were the two people she should be most grateful to...

Before she could speak, Zhou Shanping nodded at her, "Little Qin, have you informed your parents about your condition?"

"Yes," Qin Mei nodded and looked at Chuxia and Zhou Mikang with a face full of gratitude, "Comrade Lin, Comrade Zhou, you’ve both gone to so much trouble for me; please, take a seat."

Only then did Mr. Qin and Mother Qin realize, in their excitement, that they had forgotten their manners as hosts. They quickly moved some stools over for the guests. Mother Qin apologized with an embarrassed smile, "We don’t have any chairs at home."

"Don’t cram in here taking up space," Mr. Qin said with a frown, pushing his son, who was sitting sturdily in his spot. "You’re so grown yet lack any semblance of perceptiveness."

"Dad, I’m only taking up a little space..." Qin Sheng said, looking towards Zhou Shanping, "Leader, you don’t mind me being in the way, do you?"

Before Zhou Shanping could respond, Qin Mei frowned at her brother, "Qin Sheng, this has nothing to do with you. Go back to your room."

"If it weren’t for helping you, would I need to be here?" Qin Sheng glared at her, "Don’t think I didn’t warn you, you’re not touching a cent of Xiao Feng’s dowry!"

"Scoundrel!" Mr. Qin, who cared about face, felt that his son’s behavior was a disgrace in front of the guests. He was losing face gravely, so he grabbed a nearby broom and began waving it at his son.

Qin Sheng stood still, defiant, "If you hit me even once, I will leave this house immediately and don’t count on me for your old age."

The broom, which was about to land on his shoulder, suddenly stopped mid-air. Mr. Qin looked utterly defeated and, with a sigh, let the broom fall heavily to the ground.

"I knew you wouldn’t dare," muttered Qin Sheng as he went back to his room, shutting the door with a "bang."

Mr. Qin tried to smooth things over with an awkward laugh, "Leader Zhou, I’m sorry, my son is just stubborn, but he’s actually got a good heart."

"Dad, don’t bother making excuses for him. If he really had a good heart, he wouldn’t have caused such a fuss today..." Qin Mei sighed and looked towards Zhou Shanping, "Director, I wronged you so much, and yet you still came to visit me, I’m sorry!"

Zhou Shanping smiled and waved it off, "Not at all, it’s all in the past now. I came today to tell you to focus on getting better. I will arrange for your nursing staff."

"You don’t need to worry too much about work," he said. "Whenever you have recovered, that’s when you can go back to work. As for the treatment costs, the company reimburses 70%, and you only need to cover 30%. If there’s anything else you’re struggling with, tell me now, and I’ll definitely help you solve it."

After hesitating for a moment, Qin Mei said, "Director, I would like to ask if the company can allocate a dormitory room for me, is that possible?"

"Okay." After a brief hesitation, Zhou Shanping agreed. He had already seen Qin Sheng’s attitude, and the room Qin Mei had just come out of was clearly converted from a balcony. Under such circumstances, allocating her a dormitory room seemed reasonable.

"Thank you, Director." Qin Mei bowed to him with a face full of gratitude. "Rest assured, Director, I won’t bother you again in the future. Actually, behaving that way in front of my colleagues every day, I really look down on myself.

Don’t worry. The first thing I will do when I return to the company after recovering is to reveal the truth and clear up the misunderstanding about my relationship with you."

Zhou Shanping smiled and waved his hand, "I told you, it’s all in the past, no need to mention it. By the way, I also wanted to ask you, after you recover, would you like to continue working at the company or find another place?"

"I can transfer to another place?" Qin Mei’s eyes lit up. "If it’s possible to move on, that would be wonderful, but rest assured, even if I do transfer, I will clear your name first."

Having listened for the better part of the day, Mr. Qin and Mother Qin had more or less understood the situation: their daughter, it seemed, had done something inappropriate with her superior in an effort to leave her family and marry off. Now, the couple felt even more grateful toward Zhou Shanping. Although it had been their daughter’s mistake, he was still willing to come over and help solve the problem...

In the end, the family sent Zhou Shanping and the others out of the house with great gratitude. Chuxia and Zhou Mikang were just there for company, essentially serving as a backdrop.

On the way back, Zhou Shanping felt quite embarrassed and apologetically said, "Dragging you out with me everywhere so late at night, I’m not making things easy as an elder, am I?"

Chuxia replied cheerfully, "Uncle, the fact that you let us accompany you shows your trust and affection for us. It’s good to get out and see the sights on an idle evening, isn’t it?"

Zhou Mikang’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. On this freezing cold night with everything bare outside, he wondered what kind of "sights" someone was supposedly seeing...

Zhou Shanping laughed as well, "Chuxia, did you forget to draft your story? Even your uncle can tell you’re just trying to comfort someone."

Chuxia innocently blinked her big eyes, "I’m not just trying to comfort you, Uncle. Don’t you think the clear moon and sparse stars make for a very poetic and beautiful scene with only our car driving along the road?"

"Beautiful?" Zhou Shanping stuck his head out of the car window, peered outside, and then pulled his head back in, looking puzzled. "It seems I really am getting old; all I see is desolation."

Zhou Mikang couldn’t help but laugh, "Uncle, you’re just in the wrong state of mind. Chuxia’s got me for company—when you find your beloved other half, you’ll find it beautiful too."

Chuxia’s face was a picture of speechlessness. This man never forgot to praise himself...

The next day, Qin Mei was admitted to the hospital. She needed a day of preoperative care before her surgery the following day. The chief surgeon was, of course, Song Xiaoyu, and Zhou Shanping kept his word by arranging for a bedside attendant—a capable woman in her forties named Huang Li.

After designing the surgical plan, Song Xiaoyu looked towards Chuxia, "Professor Yuan mentioned that the new suturing technique for both internal and external stitching is something you came up with yourself?"

Chuxia nodded shyly, "Yes, does the teacher also think it’s good?" She mused to herself that the sooner it was disseminated, the sooner patients would benefit. It was a good deed, one that no one could blame her for...(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)