Chapter 50: The Face of Selfishness

Though her frame was slight, her sense of responsibility was immense. Weng Wenyu looked at her with newfound respect and spoke softly, “Take your boyfriend with you.”

If anyone was caught, the minimum ransom was fifty yuan per person, not to mention that the security squad would find new ways to accuse couples of cohabitation or slander them as being in a transactional relationship, doubling the fines.

Including all the women and the girl’s boyfriend, there were thirty-five people, requiring a total of 1,750 yuan.

Weng Wenyu gathered those who were to leave, left two hundred yuan aside for Jiang Fan’s hospital treatment, and then threw the rest of the money at the feet of the officer, mocking, “That’s all there is. Should be enough for you heartless lot to eat and drink your fill.”

Without waiting for the officer to respond, she led the group out of the security team’s office.

Once they reached the national highway, Weng Wenyu urged everyone to leave quickly to avoid being caught again. She hailed a taxi and, supporting the bloodied and barely conscious Jiang Fan, rushed to Humen Hospital.

Zheng Xiaomao, seeing the officer now dumbstruck with fear, timidly asked, “Brother, is that woman really the lady you mentioned? Who exactly is she?”

The officer, seething, raised his hand as if to slap Zheng Xiaomao, but after a moment’s hesitation, considering his uniform and the many eyes watching, he reluctantly lowered his hand and glared at Zheng Xiaomao, scolding, “This is all your doing! Didn’t you say your men knew how to behave? Now, let’s see how you clean up this mess. If I’m in trouble, do you think you’ll get away easily?”

Within the security team, and especially in front of the workers, Zheng Xiaomao acted with brazen arrogance, as if he were a petty tyrant. Yet in the face of real power, he had often played the subordinate. Now, dressed down by the officer, he dared not make a sound.

For the shameless Zheng Xiaomao, a scolding was nothing. What he truly feared was being held responsible—for he knew that if blame was laid, his lucrative position would be lost.

Sensing the gravity of the situation from the officer’s tone and manner, he began considering who would make the best scapegoat to protect his own role as team captain.

He hung his head, feigning humility as he took the officer’s rebuke, all the while plotting whom to sacrifice.

After the officer finished, Zheng Xiaomao lifted his head and looked at the deputy captain who had led the night patrol, saying, “Didn’t you see who you were bringing in from the reeds? Look at the woman who just left—her dress and bearing, does she look like an ordinary laborer? You brought her here and now there’s trouble; you go explain to the higher-ups. This has nothing to do with me.”

Seeing that even the officer had yielded before Weng Wenyu, the deputy captain was no fool. Watching the captain shirk responsibility, he pointed at the two security guards who had first attacked Jiang Fan and said, “I brought them in as a routine check—there was no issue until these two idiots picked a fight with that young man. When they couldn’t handle him, they called for backup, which is what led to this unmanageable situation. They are entirely to blame.”

The two security guards, who had attacked Jiang Fan out of jealousy, saw the fury of both the officer and captain, and now the deputy was shifting all blame onto them. They could only put on a pitiful face and try to defend themselves: “We saw the guy being cocky in our office and thought it would make the squad look bad, so we acted.”

As long as he could evade blame, Zheng Xiaomao didn’t care who took the fall. He quickly waved them off coldly, “No point explaining to me—save it for the people who actually matter.”

The officer could see Zheng Xiaomao’s eagerness to shift responsibility, and he knew full well that trying to pin the blame on just a deputy or a couple of guards wouldn’t get past Weng Wenyu.

Determined to preserve his own “tiger skin” at all costs, the officer stared down Zheng Xiaomao, unmasking him without mercy: “I know exactly what you’re up to. Just now, in front of that lady, weren’t you the one ordering your men to keep attacking the young man? Do you really think you can escape responsibility?”

“I, I, I…” Zheng Xiaomao stammered, seeing his drinking partner show not a shred of loyalty. He didn’t even know what to say.

In the face of self-interest, these selfish men showed just how quickly alliances could collapse.

Meanwhile, Jiang Fan and Weng Wenyu arrived at the hospital entrance. As Jiang Fan got out of the car, his legs trembled, unable to support him.

Delicate as she was, Weng Wenyu couldn’t carry him. She could only prop him up, and to keep his spirits up, though her heart ached, she forced a lighthearted tone: “Don’t play dead—use the same energy you have when you try to take advantage of me. Just a few more steps and we’re at the hospital. I’ll let you get away with it then.”

Leaning on her shoulder, Jiang Fan tried to stay balanced and not burden her. But as they reached the emergency department, before even entering, he collapsed with a heavy thud, striking his head on the bench outside the doctor’s office, and lost consciousness.

Seeing him faint, Weng Wenyu rushed into the office, clutching the doctor’s arm and begging through tears, “Doctor, please, save him.”

The emergency physician on duty, a woman in her fifties, saw Jiang Fan’s face swollen beyond recognition and his body covered in injuries. Looking at Weng Wenyu with sympathy, she asked, “How did he get hurt so badly?”

Weng Wenyu could only sob uncontrollably, unable to answer.

The doctor quickly called over two busy nurses. “You two, help me carry him to the bed in the back.”

She first examined the bleeding left upper arm. Seeing that the previously stitched wound was now torn open, the dozen stitches ripped apart and joined with the cut, she gently extracted a long piece of thread with medical forceps.

“Tsk, tsk,” the doctor clicked her tongue in pity, showing the thread to Weng Wenyu. “This is from overexertion—the stitches tore through the muscle. How could he use such strength? Didn’t he feel pain? With a wound like this, I don’t even know where to start stitching again.”

Seeing the doctor’s gentle, sympathetic gaze, Weng Wenyu managed to explain simply, “He fought the guards because he didn’t want me to be humiliated.”

“These Humen guards are truly despicable,” the doctor said indignantly. “Just a week ago, the Nanzha security squad beat a little boy without a residence permit, split his head open for eight stitches, and still tried to avoid paying the medical fees. I didn’t treat them kindly, either.”

After venting her anger, the doctor carefully cleaned Jiang Fan’s wound, spending half an hour before finally stemming the bleeding. She then performed a full-body examination, suspecting a fractured rib that would require an X-ray to confirm.

Seeing that Jiang Fan was still unconscious, she handed the prescription to Weng Wenyu, explaining, “He’s lost too much blood and is very weak. Let him rest, but once he wakes, take him for an X-ray. I suspect a rib fracture, though I can’t be sure. Better to check. I’ve examined everything else—just muscle injuries, no broken bones elsewhere. No need for extra tests; save your money.”

“Thank you, Auntie.” Moved by the doctor’s kindness, Weng Wenyu changed her address from “doctor” to “auntie.”

At the payment counter, the X-ray, treatment, and infusion came to three hundred and ten yuan.

It was late at night, and she had only two hundred yuan on her. She thought for a long time—she did have a few colleagues at the station she could ask for help, and if she reached out, even a few thousand or ten thousand yuan would not be a problem. But she still preferred not to ask them for help.