Meng Xueyun rolled her eyes at him and snorted coldly.

"Alright, alright! With your habits of drinking, smoking, and never exercising, it was only a matter of time before you got this disease! It's better to get the money back from her now than for her not to give you a single penny back! What more do you want?"

Ye Zhenghua opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything more.

The ward fell silent, with only the dripping of the IV fluid and Ye Zhenghua's heavy breathing remaining.

Meanwhile, Meng Zihan had already run out of the hospital in a panic.

She practically ran back to the hotel, not even bothering to greet the front desk. She opened the door with her room card, rushed inside, frantically stuffed all her things into her suitcase, zipped it up, and ran downstairs.

She stood at the hotel entrance, trying to flag down a taxi for a while before finally managing to get one. As soon as she got in, she urged, "Driver! To the airport! Please drive fast! I need to catch my flight!"

The driver was a kind-hearted middle-aged man. Seeing her pale face and sweating profusely in the rearview mirror, he comforted her, saying, "Don't worry, young lady, there's no traffic now. You won't miss your flight."

But Meng Zihan wouldn't listen. Her mind was in complete chaos. Her eyes were glued to the watch on her wrist, wishing the car could grow wings and fly to the airport immediately.

After finally arriving at the airport, she rushed to the ticket window, not even bothering to check the price, and changed her ticket to the next available flight to Hong Kong.

Looking at the small change the ticket seller gave her, she realized that she had almost run out of money. Now she only had a few dozen coins and loose change left, which felt cold in her hand, just like her mood at that moment.

The plane landed at Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong at around 5 p.m.

There were less than two hours left until the seven o'clock deadline given by Zhou Shixian.

Ignoring her exhaustion and hunger, she dragged her suitcase through the bustling arrival hall and hailed a red taxi.

"Driver, please hurry! To Chengnan Jinyuan Residential Area!"

Along the way, the dazzling neon lights of the port city flashed past the car window, but Meng Zihan had no time to appreciate them.

Her heart was pounding with anxiety, her eyes stung, and she almost burst into tears.

She knew all too well Zhou Shixian's uncompromising nature.

If she really is late tonight, he will definitely not give her a second chance.

Everything enjoyed in the port city—brand names, mansions, and the vanity of being flattered—will vanish overnight.

The taxi weaved through the evening rush hour traffic, and every second felt like a knife twisting in her heart.

By the time she finally arrived at the luxury apartment building, it was already 5:40.

She tossed her suitcase aside in the entryway, rushed into the bathroom without even changing her shoes, turned on the shower, and took a quick shower. Her hair was still dripping wet when she wrapped herself in a towel and ran to the wardrobe.

She roughly pulled out the pink dress that Zhou Shixian had specially ordered from France and haphazardly put it on.

While drying her wet hair with a towel, she ran to the dressing table and began to quickly apply powder and makeup in front of the mirror.

Because of panic and trembling hands, the makeup box fell to the ground with a "thud," and several expensive lipsticks rolled all over the place.

She didn't even bother to pick it up; she just grabbed a powder puff and frantically patted powder onto her face, trying to cover her pale complexion and the panic in her eyes.

The clock ticked forward, and Meng Zihan's breathing became rapid with nervousness.

Just as she was clumsily holding the hair clip, trying to twist her wet hair into a decent bun at the back of her head, a "click" sound came from the doorway—the sound of a key unlocking the door.

The door was pushed open, and Zhou Shixian appeared in the doorway.

His face was expressionless, as cold as ice.

"Brother Zhou!" Meng Zihan's hand trembled in surprise, and the hair clip fell to the ground. She hurriedly forced a fawning smile, her movements becoming even more flustered. "You're back! I'll be right there, right away!"

Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Shicheng had already walked up to her.

His cold gaze swept over her still-untied hair, and the next second, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her chin with such force that it felt like he was going to crush her bones.

Meng Zihan was in so much pain that tears almost welled up in her eyes.

"Smack!"

A crisp, loud slap landed on her face without warning.

Meng Zihan's face instantly burned with pain, feeling both numb and hot.

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she held them back tightly, daring not to let them fall.

"What did I tell you?" Zhou Shixian's eyes flashed with malice as he said coldly, "I said, if you don't know how to do it, go to a salon! What is this thing you've prepared?! A chicken coop?!"

Despite the excruciating pain, Meng Zihan hurriedly shook her head and explained, "I'm sorry, Brother Zhou, I... I've always done it this way, it really... it really works..."

Before she could finish speaking, another slap landed heavily on her face.

"Smack!"

This slap was harder than the previous one, making her ears ring and half of her face go completely numb. She also tasted blood in her mouth.

"Who gave you permission to talk back?!" Zhou Shixian looked down at her coldly, his face full of disgust. "If you had looked good before, would I have needed to send you to the salon? You deliberately wanted to go out looking like this so that my business partners could laugh at me, didn't you?!"

Meng Zihan's tears finally welled up uncontrollably, sliding down her burning cheeks, but she dared not utter a sound.

She quickly lowered her head, her voice trembling violently with fear and pain: "I'm sorry... Brother Zhou, I was wrong, I know I was wrong... I'll definitely be more careful next time, I'll definitely go to the salon..."

Zhou Shixian snorted coldly, disdainfully shoved her chin away, and looked at her as if she were a piece of worthless trash that could be discarded at any time.

"Next time? You want a next time? If there's a next time, you can get out of here!"

After saying that, he didn't look at her again, turned around and walked to the leather sofa in the living room, sat down, crossed his legs, and took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

A bluish-white mist rose and swirled, obscuring the unfathomable coldness in his eyes.

"I'll give you twenty more minutes." He exhaled a smoke ring. "Fix your hair again. And put on a thick layer of makeup, so no one can tell you've just been beaten up. It's bad luck!"

Meng Zihan gritted her teeth, covering her burning face with one hand, tears blurring her vision of herself in the dressing mirror, dressed in a pretty pink dress but looking utterly disheveled.

But she dared not say another word, nor waste a second, and could only nod frantically, replying in a trembling voice, "...Okay."

Tears welled up in Meng Zihan's eyes, but she held them back tightly, afraid to let them fall.

If this drop were to roll down, all the carefully concealed redness and paleness would be ruined.

Zhou Shixian only gave her twenty minutes, not even enough time to fix one problem from another, let alone for her to redo her makeup completely.

She could only clench her teeth, tilt her head back, and blink desperately, swallowing back the bitterness, humiliation, and fear she felt.