Chapter 719 - 249: Something Happened to Jiali

"Xiao Chen, your wife couldn’t find you and ran into me, so I brought her to look for you." Dean Zhang patted Jie Jingchen’s arm. ’My junior’s son is quite an outstanding young man.’

"Where did you take her to find me?" Jie Jingchen asked. ’It wasn’t Qin Xiang’s room, was it? Brother Xiong is still in there. If Uncle Zhang took Qin Mei there to find me, how is that any different from leading a lamb to the slaughter?’

Dean Zhang didn’t answer. Instead, he said to Jie Jingchen, "I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll leave you two. Xiao Chen, take your wife home early. Xiangjiang is a mess right now. Don’t wander around outside with her; it’s not safe."

Dean Zhang had only taken a single step when Jie Jingchen called out to him. "Uncle Zhang."

"Is there something else?" Dean Zhang stopped and turned to look at Jie Jingchen.

Jie Jingchen didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly, "My aunt’s stomach condition?"

The smile on Dean Zhang’s face froze instantly. A shadow flickered in the depths of his eyes, and his tone grew heavy. "It’s very serious."

"How long has it been since her last follow-up?" Jie Jingchen’s voice was low.

"Over three years," Dean Zhang replied.

"Weren’t they supposed to be regular check-ups?" Jie Jingchen asked.

"She came for a few regular check-ups, and when there was no change, she refused to come back. Your grandmother and I tried our best to persuade her, but she wouldn’t listen at all. She only comes to me for medication and refuses to set foot in the hospital for a check-up. She won’t listen to us, Xiao Chen, but she might listen to you. You should either try to convince her or use more forceful means to bring her in for an examination," Dean Zhang said.

Xu Jiali’s stomach condition was a huge headache for him. If Xu Jiali wouldn’t cooperate, there was nothing he could do.

"We’ll bring her to the hospital tomorrow," Qin Mei said.

"Are you going to tie her up and drag her here?" Dean Zhang asked.

Qin Mei shook her head. "She’ll come for an examination voluntarily."

"Voluntarily?" Dean Zhang was shocked. He knew just how stubborn Xu Jiali was. After so many visits for check-ups, she’d developed a strong aversion to the hospital.

He remembered last year when they had resorted to force. They’d managed to get her tied up and brought to the hospital, but just as they were preparing for the examination, she had vanished without a trace.

"Uncle Zhang, I took her pulse. Her condition has already worsened," Qin Mei said, her expression grave.

Dean Zhang was visibly shaken, his voice slightly unsteady. "How much worse?"

"Cancer," Qin Mei said, uttering the single word.

Dean Zhang’s expression changed dramatically, and he staggered back a few steps. "How could this be? How? It’s only been a little over three years without a check-up... how could it have deteriorated into..."

In this day and age, let alone in the future, the very mention of cancer made people’s faces pale.

"Does she know?" Dean Zhang asked.

Qin Mei shook her head. "I didn’t tell her. For now, only the three of us know."

Dean Zhang fell silent. In his mind, the countdown on Xu Jiali’s life had already begun.

Qin Mei didn’t dare make any promises either. She could perform surgery on Xu Jiali, but what about the anti-cancer medication?

Qin Mei’s plan was to operate on Xu Jiali first and then treat her with traditional Chinese medicine. As for the effectiveness, even she wasn’t confident. It was a terminal illness. Even her grandfather from the future had been powerless against such diseases, only able to alleviate the patient’s suffering and extend their life as much as possible.

"Dean Zhang," a nurse came running over, panting as she spoke, "A patient with gastric bleeding was just brought in. The family is specifically requesting you to treat them."

Dean Zhang pushed aside his thoughts and said to Jie Jingchen and Qin Mei, "I have to get to work. You two head home early."

After Dean Zhang left, Jie Jingchen and Qin Mei departed as well.

Just as they reached the hospital entrance, Dean Zhang came running back frantically, shouting, "Xiao Mei!"

Hearing Dean Zhang’s cry, Qin Mei and Jie Jingchen stopped in their tracks. Dean Zhang’s voice trembled slightly. "It’s Jiali."

Jie Jingchen’s pupils contracted. He grabbed Qin Mei’s hand and broke into a run, while Dean Zhang immediately spun around to lead the way.

While Dean Zhang and Qin Mei were inside performing emergency treatment, Jie Jingchen stood outside, emanating a terrifyingly cold aura. His icy gaze was fixed menacingly on Qiao Wei and Gao Qiang.

Gao Qiang was already scared out of his wits. Faced with Jie Jingchen’s murderous aura, he was too terrified to even breathe.

Qiao Wei, by contrast, had more backbone. "Cousin, you can’t blame me. I made it clear beforehand that if anything happened, I wouldn’t be responsible."

Qiao Wei was a woman of action. She had staked out the Gao family’s residence for hours, and when she finally saw Gao Qiang emerge, she didn’t let the opportunity slip by, even with Xu Jiali present.

She was very busy and didn’t want to waste too much time on Gao Qiang, preferring to settle things quickly.

’It’s even better that Xu Jiali is here,’ she thought. ’Let her see with her own eyes whether the man she’s fallen for is worthy of her lifelong trust.’

When Qiao Wei seduced people, she was never one to beat around the bush. Right in front of Xu Jiali, she launched a fierce offensive against Gao Qiang. At first, Gao Qiang sneered at her dismissively. But after learning her identity, his willpower began to crumble. Faced with the choice between the Governor Mansion and the Qiao Family, Gao Qiang chose the Governor Mansion.