CHAPTER 247: CHAPTER 232 WHO HAS SUCH AUDACITY

The sharp pain on the back of her hand made Gu Qili subconsciously retract it, she quickly stepped back a few paces, staring intently at the changing locker in front of her. As the clothes inside fell out, something else also tumbled onto the floor.

As soon as that thing landed, its neck raised, the flaps of skin on its neck swelled to both sides, and it made a "huff huff" sound.

The sight of this thing nearly made Gu Qili’s vision black out as she almost fainted; the soft-bodied creature baring its fangs and claws at her was actually a cobra.

From a young age, her greatest fear had always been snakes. Even glancing at a picture made her shiver with fright. Now, a live venomous snake appeared in front of her, with an obvious intent to attack, her mind went blank, and she even forgot to call for help.

Huff huff~

The snake’s body stood over half a meter tall, ready to pounce at any moment.

"Just once is enough, I’ll accompany you to the ends of time"

Suddenly, her phone started ringing in her bag, which was still in the locker, buzzing due to the vibration.

Finally regaining her senses, Gu Qili cautiously retreated while shouting loudly: "Is anyone there? There’s a snake."

Soon, people heard her shouting and rushed over. Several waitstaff quickly returned to the kitchen, brought some tools out, and because it was a venomous snake, no one dared to act recklessly.

The waitstaff threw the objects in their hands at it, and while its attention was diverted, they quickly closed the door of the changing room.

"Manager, has your hand been bitten?" Someone with sharp eyes noticed Gu Qili’s hand was already turning black and swelling, the severe pain almost numbing her mouth.

"What do we do," some people were looking at her wound, others were making phone calls.

Tang Tianyou was watching Xiong Da and Xiong Er devour their food across the room; he couldn’t believe that his daily French dinners hadn’t yet made them sick.

At that moment, two people ran out from the back of the restaurant in a hurry, one of them anxiously said: "Manager won’t be in trouble, right? That’s a cobra?"

"Who knows, go out quickly to see if the ambulance has arrived."

Manager? Venomous snake?

Tang Tianyou sprang to his feet with a swish of motion.

Xiong Er had just stuffed a piece of foie gras into his mouth. Just now Tang Tianyou, who was sitting there looking at his phone, had vanished into thin air, leaving him in shock: "It’s over, the boss has time-traveled."

Gu Qili was sitting on a sofa to the side. Apart from the pain, she could distinctly feel her breath becoming rapid, while others were bustling around, unable to help effectively.

Someone pushed through the crowd and strode in. Gu Qili hadn’t seen his face clearly before he half-knelt in front of her, taking out a Swiss Army knife from his pocket.

Gu Qili looked down at her hand, where he had made an X-shaped incision over the wound with the knife, releasing thick, black blood.

So, he was kissing her to distract her mind.

Tang Tianyou lowered his head, his eyes suddenly became serious. Amidst the astonishment of the crowd, he unhesitatingly sucked hard on the wound.

"Tang Tianyou." Gu Qili instinctively wanted to pull back her hand, "You’re insane; you could get poisoned too."

He acted as if he hadn’t heard, spitting out the blood after each suck, then proceeded to the second, and then the third intake.

The onlookers were horrified by the scene. Two of the waitstaff recognized him; wasn’t he the handsome guy who had been sitting by the window these past few days?

"Tang Tianyou." Gu Qili shouted anxiously again, "Enough."

He gripped her wrist tightly, not allowing her to move at all. She could only watch helplessly as he sucked the poisonous blood into his mouth and spat it out, mouthful by mouthful.

Gu Qili couldn’t help but tear up. She wasn’t anything to him, so why would he take such a huge risk for her?

"Tang Tianyou..." Towards the end, her voice became so faint it was almost pleading.

Tang Tianyou ignored her and took the opportunity to command the people foolishly standing by: "Hurry, get ice and cloth, and some rope."

The person snapped out of it only to quickly say "Yes, yes, yes" three times and rush off to fetch the items.

Soon, the ice and rope were found. Tang Tianyou expertly wrapped the ice in cloth and bound it to Gu Qili’s injured hand, then tightly wound a rope around her arm near the heart.

After finishing this series of actions, someone rushed in shouting: "Hurry, the ambulance has arrived."

Without any further ado, Tang Tianyou scooped up Gu Qili and said sternly to the crowd blocking the way: "Move."

The crowd immediately parted to create a path, and some colleagues, worried, followed suit and began to exit. After advancing only a few steps, Tang Tianyou suddenly paused, then turned to the waiter who had fetched ice cubes and said, "Stand guard outside the changing room, and do not let anyone in, until the arrival of the [authorities]."

"Understood, rest assured. I guarantee not even a fly could get in," the waiter nodded repeatedly, seemingly possessed by an innate ability to compel obedience with the man’s words; he began to carry out the instructions unconsciously, without a word of complaint.

"Brother Tang?" Xiong Da and Xiong Er, who were still eating, suddenly noticed the hurried Tang Tianyou carrying someone in his arms.

The two immediately abandoned their meals, wiped their mouths, and chased after him.

In the hospital, the doctor injected Gu Qili with anti-venom serum and was now treating her wound. Besides the snakebite, there were also two knife wounds, looking terrifyingly ghastly and mangled.

Tang Tianyou and a few colleagues stood guard by her side, not budging an inch.

"It’s fortunate the emergency treatment was timely; otherwise, the consequence would have been unthinkable. This was a highly venomous king cobra. Luckily our hospital had this kind of antivenom," the doctor kept exclaiming. "If it were delayed by even ten more minutes, this young lady’s hand would have truly needed amputation."

Upon hearing the doctor’s words, Gu Qili felt a lingering fear. If it weren’t for Tang Tianyou happening to be dining there, if he didn’t know first aid, if the hotel hadn’t been close to the hospital—would she now be lying in an emergency room, her life hanging by a thread?

"Tang Tianyou, thank you," Gu Qili said with a grateful smile, then addressed the people gathered around, "And thank all of you."

"Chief, why was there a cobra in the changing room?" asked one person, full of suspicion.

"Exactly, we’re in the city, not a forest. How did a snake get here, and even into the changing room, I find this whole situation very strange," the people around murmured amongst themselves.

Gu Qili knew there was more to this incident, but glancing at the clock on the wall, she saw the dinner rush hour was approaching. With so many people around, work would inevitably be disrupted. So she asked everyone to return to their duties and arranged for someone to keep her informed about the situation on the other end. Once everyone had left, only she and Tang Tianyou remained in the hospital room.

Tang Tianyou looked at her seriously and asked, "Where were you bitten?"

Gu Qili recalled the incident; although her wounds were treated now, the memory was still frighteningly vivid.

"I was about to take clothes from the cabinet when my hand was bitten. Immediately after, a king cobra fell out of the cabinet. It seemed to be dazed from the fall and didn’t attack me right away."

"Was the cabinet locked?"

"Yes, the keys were always on me."

Tang Tianyou gazed down with darkened eyes, contemplating for a moment, "Have you offended anyone at the restaurant?"

Gu Qili didn’t answer his question immediately but suddenly thought of something and pushed him with her uninjured hand, "Tang Tianyou, go get checked out."

Since arriving at the hospital, he had been by her side, and he had sucked out a lot of venom. Even with his vast experience, it couldn’t rule out the possibility that some toxins had entered his body.

"I’m fine," he said, unmoving.

It was hard enough to have this time alone with her, every second of it was precious. Even if he had swallowed poison, not just sucked a few mouthfuls of venom, he wouldn’t wish to move an inch.

"Tang Tianyou, don’t joke with your health," Gu Qili was a bit annoyed, pushing him harder, "Please, go get checked. If something happens to you, I’ll be guilty for the rest of my life."

Hearing her words, he suddenly wished something was indeed wrong. Even if it was just because of guilt, it was another way to be remembered by her.

Seeing the sudden deepening of the lines around his mouth, and even a strange glimmer in his eyes, Gu Qili furrowed her brow, almost threatening him, "If you don’t go, I won’t keep taking this IV either."

As she said this, she attempted to pull out the freshly inserted IV needle. Tang Tianyou immediately held her hand and compromised, "I’ll go, I’m going."

Not long after Tang Tianyou left, the door was pushed open again.

Gu Qili, who was looking down at her wounds, suddenly felt a blast of cold air, causing her to shudder involuntarily.

She looked up to see a man approaching with large strides, his face tinged with concern and gravity, and to her surprise, she even managed to give him a smile, "Mu Shuoqian."

Mu Shuoqian squatted in front of her, wrapping her hand, now neatly bandaged in gauze, within his palm, exhaling breaths heavy with distress, "What happened?"

All he knew was that she had been injured and was now in the hospital, but he was not aware of the specifics.

He had been in an important meeting, and after Xiao Ran informed him of the incident, he left everyone in the conference room behind and raced to the hospital.

Gu Qili’s hand was held by him; his concern made the pain she had been holding back clear up suddenly. She was not a tender person, but she showed a particular vulnerability in front of him. The pain magnified with his words until, in the end, she nestled her head into his embrace with grievance.

Her series of actions made Mu Shuoqian even more nervous, fearing she had suffered some great injustice. His long eyes narrowed slightly, and the mist in his gaze thickened.

Who could it be, who dared to be so bold.