Chapter 33: Drawing In

After Xiao Yunchen finished speaking, Li Jingche didn't even look back. He just held the hospital admission card, as if he hadn't heard the man's cold sarcasm.

“How’s your leg? Which doctor performed your surgery?”

All the doctors at Hongai were carefully selected by Li Jingche himself. He recalled that the best in orthopedics was the department head. If Jian Qing’s surgery hadn’t been done by him, Li Jingche would certainly have the head examine her thoroughly again.

Jian Qing waved her hand dismissively. “It’s nothing.”

Her gaze remained fixed on Xiao Yunchen, and after he left, she handed her shattered phone with its broken screen to Li Jingche. “I have other cards. Go pay the bill.”

Li Jingche accepted the phone but didn’t leave the room. He looked at her seriously, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“Actually, I…”

But halfway through, he stopped. In his mind echoed what Jian Qing had just said to Xiao Yunchen—

“If he were some young master from the Beijing elite circles, I wouldn’t even be interested! At least I’d know he was after my money. But if it were someone like He Jiangyu or Li Jingche, I’d be too afraid to even consider it!”

Their relationship was already precarious, and Li Jingche didn’t want to risk it.

After a moment’s silence, he nodded slowly. “Come with me.”

Before leaving, he called Shen Yueli along as well.

Shen Yueli glanced nervously at Jian Qing, then followed Li Jingche out like a little shadow. He Jiangyu had already disappeared somewhere, and Li Jingche didn’t want him around getting in the way.

“What’s your name?” he asked as he led Shen Yueli toward the director’s office.

“Shen Yueli.”

“Good, Miss Shen, there’s something I need you to remember.”

“Go ahead…” Shen Yueli eyed Li Jingche warily, then added, “I may be timid, but if you ask me to do something that would hurt Senior Jian, I absolutely won’t agree.”

At the office door, Li Jingche gave her a thorough, measured look, then nodded. “Even if it means hurting myself, I would never harm her. What I want you to remember is, no matter who you’re facing, my identity is simply that of a financially struggling student, running a small business with help from the Jian family. Do you understand?”

Shen Yueli didn’t answer immediately—she followed him into the director’s office, saw the director beam at their arrival, and gasped quietly.

The director of Hongai Hospital was a high-ranking official. And he called himself a poor student? Running a small business?

Shen Yueli couldn’t believe it for a second.

Li Jingche shook hands with the director, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then the director called for someone to bring them water. Li Jingche pressed her again: “Did you understand?”

Shen Yueli nodded repeatedly. “You won’t hurt Senior Jian, right?”

“Of course.”

“Alright, I promise you.”

Once she relaxed, Li Jingche and she sat down on the sofa in the director’s office, the director across from them, pushing a cup of tea toward Li Jingche.

“What brings you here today, Mr. Li?”

“Director Hao, Jian Qing in room 302 of the Orthopedics International Wing is a friend of mine. I’d like to ask about her condition.”

“Jian Qing? Yes, I recall her—a remarkably strong young woman. She was brought in after a car accident today. Her friend was crying at her bedside, and though she was covered in blood herself, she still comforted the others. Please wait, I’ll call the department head in.”

Mr. Li—those words alone signaled Li Jingche’s status.

Shen Yueli blinked, then covered her mouth, not daring to make a sound.

Li Jingche glanced sideways at her. Shen Yueli hurriedly nodded, sitting primly by his side like a porcelain doll.

Soon, the head of orthopedics arrived. After shaking hands with Li Jingche, he got straight to the point.

“Miss Jian is truly lucky. At present, she’s suffered no other injuries—her leg bone was dislocated, but after being set and immobilized in a cast, she’ll recover in a few days. No surgery was necessary, and there will be no lasting effects.”

No surgery needed? Then what did Xiao Yunchen mean by “surgery fee”? And why was there a need for a blood transfusion?

A suspicion formed in Li Jingche’s mind, but he didn’t question further. He nodded. “Your diagnosis puts my mind at ease. I’ll have to trouble you and the director to look after her.”

“Of course.”

Standing to leave, Li Jingche shook hands with the director again. Before he stepped out, he added, “No need to mention to Jian Qing that I asked about her. By the way, do you have any of that eye drop you prescribed me last time? My eyes have been bothering me again lately.”

Raising his brows slightly, the director fetched eye drops from a small refrigerator and handed them over. Though he didn’t know the reason, he nodded in understanding. “Certainly, Mr. Li. Take care.”

“No need to see me out.”

Leaving the director's office, Shen Yueli, who had been holding her breath the entire time, suddenly inhaled deeply, then mustered her courage to tug at Li Jingche’s sleeve.

“You… Are you really the eldest young master of the Li family?”

Li Jingche neither confirmed nor denied it, glancing at her hand on his sleeve. When Shen Yueli let go, he straightened his cuff.

“I told you already, I’m just a poor student who was once helped by the Jian family, trying to start a small business.”

Her face flushed. Shen Yueli wanted an autograph, and, moving closer, she took out her phone. “My father always told me stories of the Li family’s business legends. If you don’t mind, could I take a photo with you—and maybe get your autograph?”

Li Jingche frowned slightly, clicking his tongue in obvious reluctance.

“If you don’t agree, I might not be able to keep your secret,” Shen Yueli said, testing the waters, having sensed his feelings for her senior.

Seeing that Li Jingche wasn’t angry, she added, “Mr. Li, as long as you’re good to my senior, I’ll definitely support you and help matchmake you two—I guarantee success.”

That, indeed, struck a chord with Li Jingche.

He took her phone, leaned down, and took a photo with her. Some new idea seemed to form in his mind.

“Perfect. In a bit, go back to the room. If Jian Qing asks, just say I went to borrow money for her hospital fees, then find an excuse to leave.”

Shen Yueli gave him an “I understand” look, making an OK gesture.

Watching her return to Jian Qing’s room, Li Jingche took off his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and went to the VIP washroom to wash his face. The front of his shirt was soaked, clinging tightly to his defined chest.

Then he took out the eye drops, put in two drops, and looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot, the medicine welling in his long, expressive eyes. With that beauty mark under his eye, he looked all the more captivating.

He knew—this was exactly Jian Qing’s weakness.