Chapter 54: Lying in a Hospital Bed Earns You Ten Thousand in Gold!
The massive commotion drew everyone out of their offices.
The staff from the nearest department, the Personnel Section, were the quickest to appear. Having just eaten Lin Wan’s ice pops, they felt the truth of the saying “the mouth is soft when fed by others.” Seeing Lin Wan being bullied, these few from the Personnel Section cast highly unfriendly glares at Xu Hui.
Officer Cui and Big Sister Gao rushed forward to support Lin Wan.
Section Chief Tang pointed directly at Xu Hui’s nose and chided her sharply, “Xu Hui, what on earth do you think you’re doing?!”
Ahhh! My electric fan!!! That absolute scoundrel Xu Hui!
By now, staff from other sections had come out too, and the people from upstairs had hurried down the steps.
Xu Hui frantically tried to defend herself. “It wasn’t me! I didn’t push her! I didn’t strike her either! She fell and slapped herself!”
Section Chief Tang let out a cold sneer, questioning Director Xu who had just rushed over. “Old Xu, look at this niece of yours, lying through her teeth with her eyes wide open! Does she think the rest of us are completely blind?”
“We all saw you bullying Little Lin with our own eyes, yet you still dare to quibble! Old Xu, is this the kind of person you train?”
Section Chief Tang, feeling that his electric fan was about to fly away all because of Director Xu and Xu Hui, just blurted out the accusation on the spot—as if he had genuinely witnessed the whole thing!
“Xu Hui! What do you think you’re doing?!” Director Xu’s face had turned completely black!
What an absolute fool! Incapable of achieving success at anything, but number one at dragging others down!
Xu Hui was driven completely frantic, her voice carrying a distinct sob. “It really wasn’t me! Lin Wan genuinely slapped herself and threw herself down! She’s framing me!”
“Lin Wan, don’t you dare be so shameless! Hurry up and tell them the truth! Clarify it for everyone!”
Lin Wan cast a timid glance at Director Xu, putting on the perfect display of a weak worker terrified of powerful authorities. She lowered her head and cupped her cheek, her voice choking with tears. “Director Xu, I… I accidentally fell myself, and I accidentally slapped my own face too!”
Everyone’s gaze instantly locked onto Director Xu, making him look exactly like a wicked, villainous boss who enabled his niece to oppress and tyrannize the staff!
Director Xu: “!!!!”
Holy crap! Now he truly had yellow mud dropped into his crotch—there was no way to wash away the sticky stain!
“Little Lin, don’t be afraid! I will absolutely never tolerate Xu Hui’s behavior! Xu Hui, hurry up and apologize to Comrade Lin Wan right this instant!”
Xu Hui stamped her feet in pure panic. “It really wasn’t me!”
Ahhhh! Why did nobody believe her?! Everyone chose to believe that bitch Lin Wan instead! Forget about the blind idiots from the Personnel Section, but why didn’t even her third uncle believe her?
“Slap!” Director Xu ran completely out of patience, delivering a ferocious backhand that practically twisted Xu Hui’s face out of alignment. He bellowed at her with a thoroughly contorted, menacing expression, “I told you to apologize! When you commit a mistake, you face up to it and own it!”
Xu Hui was utterly terrified by Director Xu’s outburst. She instinctively bowed to Lin Wan to apologize, tears pouring down her face in a massive torrent. “I’m sorry, Comrade Lin Wan. I shouldn’t have pushed you, and I shouldn’t have struck you…”
A mouthful of blood welled up furiously in her chest, stuck right in her throat—unable to be spat out or swallowed down. Suppressing it like this was bound to grow at least five nodules in her breasts!
Lin Wan: “It’s quite alright! Blegh!” The moment she finished speaking, she covered her mouth and began to dry heave.
Big Sister Gao hurriedly asked, “Little Lin, what’s wrong?”
Lin Wan massaged her forehead with a thoroughly ‘weak’ hand. “My head is a bit dizzy, and I feel like vomiting!”
Officer Jiang quickly added, “Oh my, could it be a concussion? A concussion makes a person dizzy and nauseous! In severe cases, it can even turn someone stupid!”
Hearing this, Director Xu felt completely out of sorts. “Quickly! Hurry up and deliver Comrade Lin Wan to the hospital!”
Section Chief Tang was screaming internally: Ahhh! My fan!!! You bastard surnamed Xu! This section chief is officially at absolute odds with you!
“Little Lin, rest assured. Xu Hui will compensate you for every single cent of your medical fees, lost wages, and nutritional subsidies! You don’t need to worry about your job either; I will personally help you file for leave!”
Lin Wan quickly waved her hands. “I’m not requesting leave! A minor injury shouldn’t take a revolutionary away from the front lines! Even if I pass away at my post, I absolutely cannot delay the work!”
Director Xu was practically driven insane by her dedication. Delivering a vicious glare to Xu Hui, he continued, “To the hospital first! I’ll go request the unit car!”
Lin Wan was delivered to the hospital in the bureau’s jeep. Section Chief Tang, Big Sister Gao, and Director Xu all crammed into the vehicle with her.
A diagnosis for a concussion was highly difficult to verify even in the modern era, let alone in a 1960s hospital. The truly formidable doctors had all been sent down to the countryside, and a vast majority of those remaining in the hospital were half-filled buckets or completely empty bottles. The moment Lin Wan cried out about her symptoms, they immediately diagnosed it as a severe concussion that required hospitalization for observation.
Lying in a hospital bed earns you ten thousand in gold! Tucking into a sickbed doubles your savings!
Lin Wan began her tearful performance, struggling to sit up. “No, I can’t stay in the hospital. Requesting leave means I lose my perfect attendance. Lacking perfect attendance means I won’t be able to be evaluated for the outstanding employee award at the end of the year! I promised my father that I would become an progressive, outstanding individual…” The moment she finished, she let out another blegh.
Director Xu’s face turned completely green.
Section Chief Tang, on the other hand, was experiencing a mix of pain and pleasure. Watching Director Xu suffer a loss made him incredibly blissful. Since Lin Wan, this young comrade, was unwilling to let a major issue dwindle into nothing and had actively charged to the front to clash with Director Xu, he was more than happy to see it happen!
Recalling the underlying power Lin Wan possessed, Section Chief Tang felt he absolutely had to declare his stance clearly. He could no longer play his old tricks—egging others to charge at the front while he hid in the back to act as a peacemaker and reap cheap advantages. When choosing a side, he had to stand right at the front!
Harboring his own selfish motive to cling to the coattails… slip of the tongue, the thighs of Lin Wan’s ‘aunt’, he had intentionally hidden Lin Wan’s true files. He hadn’t leaked a single word regarding her regimental commander husband or the ‘aunt’ backing her up.
“Comrade Lin Wan, although your situation counts as a work injury, an absence is still an absence. You shouldn’t place too much pressure on Director Xu; Director Xu has no way to bend the rules for you either! Still, Bureau Chief Zhao himself has highly praised your revolutionary drive. Running into this kind of issue… sigh, Comrade Little Lin, focus on nursing your injury properly. As for the excellence award… well, you can always try for it next year.”
“Ah, it truly is a massive pity. Otherwise, given your individual capability, Little Lin, you definitely possessed the strength to contend for the excellence award! I even mentioned earlier that I would cast my vote for you at the end of the year!”
Director Xu: “…”
Damn it! She had only reported for duty in September, yet she actually dared to fantasize about evaluating for an excellence award! Was she playing a joke?!
“Alright, Old Tang, let’s allow Comrade Lin to rest properly. We should head out first! Old Gao, you stay here to look after Comrade Little Lin!”
Big Sister Gao cast a glance toward Section Chief Tang. Section Chief Tang said, “Old Gao, you stay. Skip coming to the unit for the next few days and come straight to the hospital to take care of Little Lin.”
Big Sister Gao was naturally more than willing.
Section Chief Tang turned back to ask Lin Wan, “Little Lin, give me the phone number of your mom’s unit. I’ll place a call to your mom.”
Lin Wan hurriedly rejected the idea with a weak wave of her hand. “Don’t!”
“Once I feel a bit better in a while, I’ll call my mom myself and claim I’ve been sent out on a business trip. Otherwise, given her temperament, she would march straight to the unit and tear Xu Hui apart alive.”
“Comrade Xu Hui didn’t mean it, and I don’t want her to face severe harm, nor do I want Director Xu to face my mom’s wrath!”
“If my mom resolutely insists on reporting the matter to the police, and since I am a military dependent, Comrade Xu Hui will be detained no matter what… That would entirely ruin her whole life! It wouldn’t look good on Director Xu’s face either. If the staff and the leadership learn about it, what would they think of Director Xu?”
Director Xu: “…”
Damn it! Every single sentence was explicitly dropping a heavy hint to him! She was telling him that this matter would absolutely never be settled easily, because her mother was far from a submissive, simple character! Why on earth did Xu Hui have to go provoke this massive trouble magnet?!
Initially, he had intended to throw down a hundred yuan to smooth the matter over! Looking at the situation right now, this Lin Wan possessed a remarkably massive appetite! She was using Xu Hui’s future to threaten him! She was using his own face and his impression in the eyes of the leadership to threaten him!
His eldest brother’s family would truly have to bleed heavily this time. Otherwise, there was absolutely no way to smooth this matter out!
