Chapter 674 - 453: Fangs

"Owowowow—don’t bend my leg! Move your hands up a little, I’m begging you... It hurts so much I’m gonna die."

Mingzhu City Municipal Hospital.

Nighttime.

The hospital corridors were still bustling with people, filled with the unpleasant smell of disinfectant.

The white lights were exceptionally cold, illuminating neat rows of department signs.

Doctors and nurses in masks and matching white coats walked by from time to time, their steps hurried.

Jiangg Yao shouted as she pinched Chen Yuan’s arm with all her might. She wasn’t holding back, and after just a few pinches, he was wincing in pain.

Despite this, he didn’t complain at all, instead comforting her in a low voice:

"It’ll be fine once they give you the anesthetic. Don’t be scared, Yaoyao. It’s just a very minor surgery, it’ll be over in less than half an hour."

"Can’t you... come in with me?"

Jiangg Yao rested on Chen Yuan’s shoulder, her eyes misty with tears. She was choked with grievance, the corners of her mouth turned down.

"They definitely don’t let outsiders into the operating room, Yaoyao." He spoke softly, trying to comfort her as gently as possible.

"After the surgery, how big of a scar will I have on my foot? It’ll be so ugly... Waaaah."

"It won’t be ugly. The doctor we found is a specialist flown in from Kyoto. He promised the incision would be very small. I’ve seen the plan, and with a little post-op care, it’ll be like it was never there."

"Really? You better not be lying to me right now..."

"I promise I’m not lying."

As the two were talking, a man in a suit came jogging over, pushing a wheelchair.

"President Jiang, let’s have the young lady sit down first. You must be tired from carrying her for so long," he said, panting.

Chen Yuan didn’t answer. Instead, he glanced back at the wheelchair’s position before carefully setting Jiangg Yao down.

A thin layer of sweat had also formed on his forehead.

"Is the doctor here yet?"

"He’s changing and disinfecting now, preparing to enter the operating room."

"Okay, then. Yaoyao, you go on in. I’ll be waiting out here. Don’t you dare be scared..."

With that, Chen Yuan pushed the constantly crying girl into the operating room, where a nurse took over.

"Family members, please wait outside. No electronic devices are allowed inside."

"Okay, I’ll hold them," Chen Yuan quickly replied.

After seeing Jiangg Yao inside, Chen Yuan shot a worried glance in her direction, then quickly turned and ran upstairs. The man in the suit hurried after him.

This was the scene at the municipal hospital, two and a half hours after the car crash.

The car crash had nearly scared Chen Yuan to death. He felt like his heart had stopped at that moment.

Like a madman, he and the driver had frantically pried the car door open and dragged the semi-conscious Ningning and Yaoyao from the vehicle.

Bystanders helped call the police and an ambulance.

Fortunately, the two sisters woke up before the ambulance arrived.

Jiangg Ning was okay at first. After being dazed for a few minutes, she came to. But as she struggled to sit up, she let out an irrepressible wail, only then discovering her left arm was injured, a large patch below her elbow slick with blood. Yaoyao’s condition was the most frightening. Blood was gushing from her right leg, so much that he couldn’t even find the wound. In moments, it had stained the ground red, and Chen Yuan could only use a piece of clothing to tie it tightly around the artery to stanch the bleeding.

It wasn’t until the paramedics arrived that they quickly applied a tourniquet and gave some basic treatment.

Once at the hospital, it was a flurry of activity.

Chen Yuan called Jiang Zhengfeng and asked him to pull some strings with his most trusted contacts. He didn’t even have time for a sip of water, rushing between looking after Jiangg Ning and Jiangg Yao.

He ran up and down the stairs.

Only after learning the initial diagnosis did Chen Yuan’s racing heart finally calm down.

Jiangg Ning’s superficial wounds were minor, but her left arm was severely fractured, requiring a surgical implant and a cast. Otherwise, she was fine. As for Yaoyao, she had a ruptured blood vessel, and a bone in the top of her foot had been shattered into pieces and had to be removed. This was because the car had crashed through a guardrail and hit a stone bollard in the greenbelt, causing the door to buckle and a sharp piece of the car’s interior to pierce her foot.

Other than that, there were no major injuries.

It was a blessing in disguise.

...

Arriving at the hospital room near the top floor, Chen Yuan let out a great, exhausted breath. He hadn’t even taken the elevator, all to get back upstairs faster.

He pushed the door open and walked in.

Lying on the hospital bed, the pale-faced Jiangg Ning turned her head to look at him.

She had an IV drip in one hand and her lips were colorless, a testament to the shock she must have suffered. Her other arm was raised high in a sling, completely immobile.

Her delicate face showed only a heart-wrenching exhaustion.

"How is she?" she asked weakly.

"She was crying the whole time. They just took her into the operating room. Now she has to endure the most painful shot, the anesthetic. Sigh," Chen Yuan replied.

"Such bad luck," Jiangg Ning said with a faint smile, her voice gentle. "I can’t believe we got into a car accident. I was planning to treat Yaoyao to a nice dinner tonight to reward her. She worked so hard today."

"Are you in pain?" Chen Yuan didn’t answer her, instead sitting beside her and asking in a low voice.

Jiangg Ning gently shook her head.

Outside the window, the fine drizzle had stopped at some point.

All that remained was the bleak, cool wind and the damp disarray of the city.

Even so, after thinking for a moment on the hospital bed, Jiangg Ning spoke up:

"The company cleanup has reached a critical point, and now this happens at such a crucial time. Chen, have you asked the doctor if I can go home to recuperate after the surgery tonight? I don’t think my arm is that big of a deal—"

"It’s fine, it’s fine," Chen Yuan interrupted, reassuring her. "I’ve already called Pei and his team over from Linzhou. The Jiang Corporation also sent a group of people to specifically handle the company’s affairs. As for the money, I’ll withdraw it from the bank tonight and start paying the employees’ salaries tomorrow."

"I see..." Jiangg Ning opened her mouth, wanting to say that she was always troubling others and that her debt to Chen Yuan would only grow, but the thought made her feel a little downcast.

The accident had already happened, and she knew Chen Yuan was handling it very appropriately.

She couldn’t exactly go to the office right after her surgery.

Given Chen Yuan’s personality, he would never agree to that.

"Alright, then I’ll just stay in the hospital and rest," Jiangg Ning said helplessly.

"What do you want to eat?"

"I’m fine."

"I’ll go out and buy you something ready-made, or I can have someone go. There are several shops outside the hospital. You’ll have more strength if you get something in your stomach."

"Wonton soup, then. I don’t have an appetite for anything else right now."

"Okay, I’ll have someone buy it." Chen Yuan took two steps, then turned back. "By the way, Ningning, where’s your phone?"

"I forgot. It should be in my bag, take a look."

Following Jiangg Ning’s gesture, Chen Yuan took out her phone, only to find that half of the screen was shattered.

He gave an awkward smile.

He still pocketed it.

"My phone is dead, I’ll use yours to make a call... Oh, it still turns on."

Chen Yuan muttered a few words and, a moment later, stepped into the hallway.

On the surface, he acted very relaxed.

In reality, since the moment of the crash, Chen Yuan’s heart had been pounding without rest. Now that he was in the hallway, away from Jiangg Ning, his hands began to tremble uncontrollably, the veins on them bulging.

Chen Yuan clenched his fists tightly, took out the two sisters’ phones, and stared at the identical text message on both screens.

Fueled by a surge of adrenaline, even his shoulders were shaking.

The hospital had arranged a VIP room, and the entire floor was empty unless a nurse was called. But as Chen Yuan looked up, a dozen or so people had appeared beside him.

The leader of the group, Ji Hai, had also rushed over.

He held up the phone, showing the text message on the screen to Ji Hai.

The message on it was stark: "Don’t think I’ll let you go."

...

"Have you found out anything?"

"The driver was drunk and had no license. His license was permanently revoked three years ago for drunk driving... He has no wife or kids, a total loner. The car he was driving was borrowed."

"Where is he now?"

"At the police station. He’s been detained..."

Ji Hai didn’t quite dare to meet Chen Yuan’s gaze. The normally gentle and refined Chen Yuan now had bloodshot eyes, clearly in a state of extreme anger.

"Threatening me? I let the matter of him framing the Jiangg Family slide. Not pursuing it was already giving him more than enough face, and now he’s trying to kill them to silence them? Is this still a society ruled by law? Has a real estate boss become this lawless?"

Chen Yuan did his best to keep his voice down as he spoke.

He was afraid Jiangg Ning would hear him from inside the room.

If he hadn’t been suspicious before, seeing the text message on the sisters’ phones hit him like a club to the head.

He had only discovered it when they arrived at the hospital entrance.

The message had been sent just a few minutes after the crash. Luckily, the two sisters were injured and hadn’t seen it.

This wasn’t just a simple car accident. That bastard Qi hadn’t given up. After going to see the leadership that day, he still couldn’t accept having to give up the profits he had in his grasp, so he resorted to this despicable method to intimidate the two naive young ladies of the Jiangg Family.

The man had some serious nerve.

Of course, someone at Qi’s level had no idea Chen Yuan even existed.

Otherwise, he would never have dared to do such a thing.

The blame lay with the leaders in Mingzhu City for underestimating Qi Yingchen. They thought a single word would be enough to make him back down, but they never expected the scoundrel would dare to resort to such measures.

He must be used to getting away with being a bastard.

"Investigate. Immediately call the sole director of the Jiang Sub-Branch in Mingzhu City. Tell him I’m looking for him. Have him pull some strings with people at the police station to confirm that Qi was behind this. I want a result by tonight..."

"I’ll go right now," Ji Hai nodded hastily.

Chen Yuan took a deep breath and picked up his own phone.

He had originally intended to call Jiang Zhengfeng, but after some thought, he decided against it.

Instead, a few seconds later, he dialed another number.

"Hello, Secretary Lin... Yes, this is Jiang Yuan. We haven’t spoken since that dinner party. I’m calling because I have a favor to ask..."

The people present were all from the Jiang Corporation. They stood in silence, watching their young master make one call after another.

"Director Liao, yes, it’s me... The nature of this incident is truly vile. You must help me get to the bottom of this. I’ll thank you in person when it’s over..."

"Lin," suddenly, perhaps in response to something said on the other end, Chen Yuan changed his form of address. "My dad doesn’t know about this yet... Yes, I know I don’t need to bother him with minor things. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing."

The men sent by the Jiang Corporation to protect Chen Yuan were all from headquarters; in other words, they were Jiang Zhengfeng’s most trusted confidants.

They had never shown themselves before.

This was simply because Chen Yuan’s university life had been peaceful and uneventful, nothing more than a leisurely campus existence.

Now, they watched their young master on the phone.

They weren’t surprised in the least.

So-called business disputes were hardly worth mentioning to the Jiang Corporation.

With so many years of foundation, if it weren’t backed by a foundation of power, the Jiang Corporation could never have reached its current position... Even Jiang Zhengfeng himself held a formal government position and had to attend important meetings as a representative of the entrepreneurial world.

However, having a benevolent public image did not mean they lacked real power.