Chapter 16: Lin Wan Couldn’t Possibly Be Good-Hearted
“Lin Wan…”
“You… you set me up!”
In his dazed state, Guo Xuyang caught sight of Lin Wan. His gaze instantly turned sharp as icicles, a wave of pure hatred violently churning deep in his eyes.
He knew it! Why would Lin Wan hand over the household register to Qinqin so easily? As it turned out, she just wanted to lower their guard and lie in wait for him right here.
If he hadn’t been drugged and terrified of touching a woman right now, he would have pounced over and strangled this venomous woman to death!
“Shut up!”
Lin Wan pulled a wooden club out from the corner of the wall and brought it smashing heavily down onto Guo Xuyang’s head.
Drugged as he was, Guo Xuyang’s reactions were incredibly sluggish. Being able to run all the way here with a clear mind had already pushed his body to its absolute limit.
Under Xu Hui’s terrified watch, Lin Wan grabbed Guo Xuyang by the ankle and dragged him right out of the alley.
Xu Hui clutched her still-aching chest, feeling as though something vitally important had just vanished from her life. Her heart paced with immense anxiety and sharp pain.
She scrambled up, wanting to chase after them, but Lin Wan whirled around and shot her a ferocious glare. That vicious look pinned her completely to the spot. She didn’t dare take another step, terrified that Lin Wan would give her a heavy blow as well.
The moment Lin Wan dragged Guo Xuyang out of the alley, she spotted Huo Xiao’s jeep parked right on the roadside.
Huo Xiao was tailing her? Well, it made sense. Since Huo Xiao suspected her of being a foreign spy, it was only natural for him to keep tabs on her.
Leaning against the car, Huo Xiao watched Lin Wan huff and puff as she dragged Guo Xuyang out, his expression freezing for a brief instant. She was gripping Guo Xuyang’s ankle, leaving his head to bump rhythmically along the dirt ground…
At this exact moment, Huo Xiao was absolutely certain that Lin Wan didn’t harbor a single shred of affection for Guo Xuyang. Otherwise, there was no way she would treat him like a dead dog.
“Don’t just stand there, come help! We need to get him to the hospital!”
“He looks like he’s been drugged with something nasty!”
Lin Wan dropped Guo Xuyang’s leg, lifting her sleeve to wipe the sweat beads off her forehead. The sun above was blistering hot. After exerting so much physical effort, she felt like her head was practically smoking.
Huo Xiao carried Guo Xuyang into the backseat, then opened the passenger side door for Lin Wan to get in.
Once inside the car, Lin Wan didn’t even wait for Huo Xiao to prompt her before spelling everything out directly: “I went to the post office today for the recruitment exam, and Xu Hui went too. She acted like a total psychopath, aggressively looking for trouble with me. Trying to ruin my job opportunity—how is that any different from murdering my parents?”
“So I tailed her, intending to corner her with a burlap sack and give her a good beating. Instead, I stumbled upon a thug harassing her. I knocked the thug unconscious, and right after that, Guo Xuyang came scrambling over the low wall.”
“His state looked completely off to me, so I just used a club to knock him out cold too.”
Lin Wan blended truths and lies seamlessly. Since she genuinely had intended to corner Xu Hui with a sack, she sounded entirely righteous and confident in front of Huo Xiao, without a single trace of a guilty conscience.
Looking at the road ahead, the corners of Huo Xiao’s lips curled up slightly. But the look vanished in a flash, making Lin Wan assume she had merely hallucinated it.
They arrived at the hospital.
The doctor turned out to be an acquaintance—the exact same one who had pumped Lin Wan’s stomach earlier.
The doctor cast a highly suspicious glance at Huo Xiao and Lin Wan. “Did he eat the wrong mushrooms too?”
Huo Xiao replied flatly, “Yeah, leftovers from home.”
Lin Wan couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. Huo Xiao’s deadpan expression while talking absolute nonsense… the contrast was just too hilarious. She really hadn’t expected Huo Xiao to have such a wicked, dark-humored side.
The doctor rolled his eyes and wrote out the slips. “Fine, go get his stomach pumped first, then draw blood for tests…”
Huo Xiao reached for the slips to pay the fees, but Lin Wan snatched them away instantly. “I’ll go!” She had absolutely no desire to be left alone with Guo Xuyang. That man was toxic.
After settling the payment, Lin Wan went to inform Huo Xiao, “I’m going to head back and fetch his wife to take care of him.”
Huo Xiao checked his wristwatch and stood up. “Let me drive you. Pumping his stomach will take a while anyway.”
Lin Wan wanted to decline.
Huo Xiao added, “Taking the bus is too slow. By the time you bring her here, Guo Xuyang will already be discharged.”
Only then did Lin Wan swallow her refusal, obediently following Huo Xiao out.
When Guo Xuyang came to, the first person he saw was Zhang Qin. Realizing he was in a hospital bed, he asked in confusion, “Qinqin, why are you here?”
Seeing him wake up, Zhang Qin hurriedly inquired how he was feeling.
Guo Xuyang shook his head, stating he was fine, before Zhang Qin continued, “It was Lin Wan and her boyfriend who brought you to the hospital. They even drove all the way back to fetch me to take care of you!”
With that, she quickly handed the medical receipts to Guo Xuyang. “Xuyang, she paid for your medical expenses. I… I didn’t have any money to pay her back.”
Guo Xuyang slapped his own forehead. “I forgot to leave you cash.” He reached into his trousers pocket, pulling out all his money and handing it entirely to Zhang Qin.
“Once we return to the military base, I’ll hand all my savings accounts over to you.”
“I didn’t bring much cash out with me this time, and a portion is still back at my place. I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.”
Zhang Qin hurriedly waved her hands. “No, there’s no need.”
Guo Xuyang took her hand, saying softly and tenderly, “We’re already husband and wife now. What’s mine is yours. In a household, it’s only right for the matriarch to manage the finances.”
Tears pooled in Zhang Qin’s eyes from the sheer emotion, her heart completely swelling with warmth and sweetness. No one had ever treated her this well or trusted her so completely. Even back when her biological mother was alive, she had favored her older brothers… Only Guo Xuyang held her in the palm of his hand like a precious treasure.
At this moment, she resembled a delicate white lotus glistening with morning dew in early spring, swaying gently in the breeze, looking exceptionally endearing.
Guo Xuyang’s heart fluttered fiercely, filled with an intense urge to kiss away the tears at the corners of her eyes.
“Xuyang, I want to buy a gift for Wanwan to show our appreciation,” Zhang Qin said, her face flushing crimson under Guo Xuyang’s intense gaze, her skin feeling as if it were on fire. She scrambled for a topic to break the overly heavy, ambiguous atmosphere between them.
The moment Lin Wan was mentioned, Guo Xuyang’s expression turned chillingly cold.
He let out a sharp sneer. “Qinqin, don’t let Lin Wan fool you. She is far from a decent person!”
“Do you know what happened to me? I was targeted and drugged.”
“The one who drugged me was Jin Cuicui, and she explicitly admitted that Lin Wan was the one who gave her the idea!”
“I managed to escape, but Lin Wan blocked me right in that alley… Her wicked intentions haven’t died down at all!”
“I bet the only reason she brought me to the hospital was because someone caught her in the act, or that so-called boyfriend of hers turned up…”
Zhang Qin’s face turned stark white upon hearing this, her fragile frame trembling as if she were about to collapse. Jin Cuicui was Lin Wan’s friend!!!
Lin Wan… she was still pining after Xuyang!
“Qinqin, once I’m discharged, I’ll go straight back with you to sort things out with your family. We’ll lay our marriage right out in the open.”
“If she attempts any more underhanded moves in the future, I can report her straight to the authorities for disrupting a military marriage and committing hooliganism.”
A conviction for hooliganism didn’t spare anyone, regardless of gender.
At the state-owned restaurant, Huo Xiao treated Lin Wan to a meal.
When it came to treating a wealthy client, she was entirely serious. Mostly, since eating with Huo Xiao gave her the distinct impression of eating a final meal before an execution, she figured she might as well fleece him for all he was worth! She ordered every single one of her favorite dishes until the table was completely packed.
Braised pork, pork with garlic sauce, twice-cooked pork, poached sliced pork in hot chili oil, braised pig intestines with potatoes, spicy diced chicken, scallion-infused crucian carp, thin-sliced pork kidneys, stir-fried river shrimp with chives…
However, Huo Xiao simply ordered a single bowl of plain white rice congee for her. “You just had your stomach pumped yesterday. You can’t eat these.”
Lin Wan: (ﾟДﾟ*)ﾉ.
Wait a minute! If I’m not allowed to eat it, why the hell did you let me order it?!
Furthermore, Huo Xiao didn’t really touch the feast either. He merely paired his rice with a single plate of vegetables in front of him, leaving every other dish completely untouched!
“Finished eating?” Huo Xiao asked, seeing Lin Wan set down her chopsticks.
Having consumed nothing but a bowl of plain congee, Lin Wan offered a thoroughly moody “Mm.” Giving someone plain congee for a final meal—what a total waste of his god-tier handsome face and tall, striking physique. Talk about a complete mood killer! She couldn’t muster a single shred of attraction toward him now!
Huo Xiao stood up, paid the deposits to borrow several aluminum lunchboxes, and packed all the untouched dishes into a mesh bag.
He drove her back to the family compound. Once the vehicle came to a halt, Huo Xiao reached out and lightly pressed his hand over Lin Wan’s as she reached to open the car door.
“Comrade Lin Wan, let’s have a talk.”
