Chapter 40 Formatting Are you twenty-two years old this year?

"Dad, have you submitted the documents for the Linjiang project?" After hearing the news of Liao Junqi's suicide, Jiang Xiliu immediately took out her phone and called Jiang Fuhuai.

However, her first question wasn't about Liao Junqi, but rather about the project she had painstakingly prepared.

From the moment Liao Junqi betrayed her, he completely lost his place in her heart. The young lady has always been decisive in handling matters of the heart.

The voices on Jiang Fuhuai's end were noisy: "It's been handed over."

However, Jiang Xiliu's physical condition definitely prevented her from participating in person, so Jiang Fuhuai had to take her place.

The father and daughter were silent for a few seconds on the phone, before Jiang Xiliu finally asked, "Assistant Liao—"

Jiang Fuhuai interrupted his daughter's question directly: "Get some rest, Dad will come see you tonight." Then he hung up the phone.

Before committing suicide, Liao Junqi requested to meet with Jiang Fuhuai.

Right there on the edge of that cliff.

The police officers guarding the perimeter retreated ten meters away as Liao Junqi had requested. In addition, the two of them spoke softly, so no one except the parties involved knew what they were saying.

They chatted peacefully for about ten minutes, the whole process neither too long nor too short.

As soon as Jiang Fuhuai turned around, Liao Junqi raised his hands above his head, smiled calmly, leaned back, and fell straight down.

During the search and rescue operation, the police unexpectedly found Jin Zhao, who had been unconscious at the bottom of the cliff, while the kidnapper Liao Junqi had already lost all signs of life.

Team Leader Yang didn't know what Jiang Fuhuai was thinking, but after he finished talking with Liao Junqi, even when he heard someone exclaim "Jump!", he didn't look back even once.

It seemed that everything was going according to his plan.

Team Leader Yang naturally asked them what they had said, but Jiang Fuhuai's attitude toward the matter was unusually firm, and he did not reveal any information to the outside world.

Jiang Xiliu wasn't particularly concerned about the matter at first, but seeing how tightly Jiang Fuhuai kept it a secret, she became the most curious person. However, apart from Xi Zhen mentioning Liao Junqi's suicide to her when she first woke up, everyone else refused to discuss Liao Junqi with her.

Ah Biao, in his simple-mindedness, betrayed Jiang Fuhuai: "Miss, don't ask anymore. President Jiang gave a strict order: anyone who mentions so-and-so to you will be fired."

Jiang Xiliu: "..."

Jiang Xiliu's injuries looked shocking, but most were actually cuts and lacerations from tree branches and loose rocks sustained while climbing down the cliff. The most serious injury was probably the cut on the sole of her foot, which required daily dressing changes and extra careful care.

Xi Zhen felt that going back and forth to change dressings every day was too much of a hassle. More importantly, if the wound became infected or worsened, staying in the hospital would allow for immediate treatment, which was better than worrying about it at home.

So, Jiang Xiliu was "pressed" into the hospital. In addition to the daily dressing changes, she also had to undergo several basic examinations every day, and occasionally a few psychologists would come to chat with her and help her manage her emotions.

But these things don't take up any of the young lady's 24 hours.

The examination takes a maximum of one hour, and changing the dressing only takes ten minutes. The psychologist only comes two or three times a week.

She spent the rest of her time playing with Jin Zhao.

"Push me downstairs." Jiang Xiliu sat in her wheelchair, leaning back lazily. "Let us go see if Jin Zhao has woken up yet."

She was staying in a VIP suite on the top floor. Xi Zhen had originally wanted to arrange for Jin Zhao to be next to her daughter so that it would be more convenient for the caregivers to take care of him.

After all, he was innocent in this whole affair.

But Jiang Xiliu objected with both hands and feet: "It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. What if he gets used to living here and can't adapt to going home? Isn't this doing more harm than good?"

Xi Zhen was persuaded by her daughter's reasonable arguments.

When arranging a ward for Jin Zhao, she specifically chose a single room in the general ward. Although it was not as spacious as the top-floor room, it was clean and quiet.

According to Jiang Xiliu's idea, Jin Zhao would be lucky to even have a bed, let alone a single room.

But when she thought of the noisy environment in the three-person room last time, and considering that she still had to go in, she reluctantly agreed.

Although Ms. Xi Zhen didn't ask her at all when making the final decision.

Ah Biao, familiar with the place, pushed the young lady downstairs to find some fun.

Jin Zhao's injuries were much more severe than hers, and the doctors were amazed, saying it was a miracle that he had survived such a desperate situation.

When Jiang Xiliu heard A Biao recount the story, she felt like she was the only one who was sober in a world of drunks—the male protagonist's life was indeed the toughest.

They're even harder to kill than cockroaches, which are impossible to stomp on or kill.

"Jin Zhao!" The young lady's voice arrived before she did.

Ah Biao hurriedly went to open the door.

Unlike the usual emptiness, there were visitors in Jin Zhao's ward at this moment.

Upon hearing the door open, the three people gathered around the hospital bed all looked over.

"What are you looking at!" Jiang Xiliu thought Jin Zhao had no friends, but she didn't expect that someone would come to visit him. She raised her chin and said, "If you keep looking, I'll gouge your eyes out."

These words, coupled with the robust Ah Biao behind her, seemed quite believable.

The group exchanged glances, then quickly averted their gazes, focusing on Jin Zhao on the hospital bed, their expressions somewhat unnatural.

One of the boys closest to Jin Zhao spoke up: "Junior, let's stop here for now. I'll send you the organized data when we get back to the lab. If you're physically able, you can help with some of it."

Jin Zhao nodded: "Mm."

Seeing that they were about to leave, Jiang Xiliu stretched out her leg to block them: "Hey! Don't go! It's such a waste to come all this way and just stay for a short while. Why don't you stay here for a while and chat?"

Jin Zhao: "...You guys go first."

The three of them immediately bypassed Jiang Xiliu, who was blocking the road and trying to gouge out their eyes, and practically fled the ward.

The new toy has disappeared.

Jiang Xiliu pulled her leg back unhappily, turned her head and glared at Jin Zhao: "Why are you contradicting me!"

“I’m not contradicting you.” Jin Zhao propped himself up halfway and sat up in bed. “They’re just in a hurry to get back to their experiments, and besides, I don’t have much to talk to them about.”

“You have nothing to say to them, but I do. I want to chat with them.”

"..."

Jin Zhao felt that it wasn't a good thing for the young lady to stay in the hospital for too long. Now, she could even chat with a dog she passed by.

Jiang Xiliu's wheelchair was pushed to his bedside: "What did that man mean? Did he want you to process data? Has your body recovered enough to work?"

Jin Zhao felt a warmth in his heart, thinking that the young lady was concerned about his health: "It's alright, simple operations are no problem."

Jiang Xiliu suddenly leaned closer, her almond-shaped eyes, which were always moist, suddenly brightened dramatically: "That's perfect, how about you cook for me for lunch today?"

Jin Zhao's faint smile froze instantly. He closed his eyes, and his chest even felt a little stuffy because of the sudden change in his mood. The feeling of stuffiness rose with his breath, and even his broken ribs ached faintly: "I can't get out of bed yet."

"How can you be so useless?" Jiang Xiliu immediately frowned, her voice aggrieved, as if she had been bullied.

"I just want to eat some of your cooking, it's not like I'm asking you to do any heavy work! You agreed to process the data that guy just asked you to, but when I ask you to cook something, you make excuses and clearly don't want to!"

Standing behind the young lady, Ah Biao offered her a suggestion: "We can bring the pot to the hospital bed, so Mr. Jin can cook for the young lady without getting out of bed."

Ah Biao was so single-minded that he came up with a solution that was completely straightforward, without considering the size of the hospital bed or Jin Zhao's injuries.

Jin Zhao found it absurd: "...It can't be done."

He looked down at his hand, which was slinged to his chest: "I can't use my right hand, only my left hand can move."

He paused, then added, "I can barely type on the computer, but I can't handle a pot."

Jin Zhao's recovery to his current state in such a short time is already far superior to that of ordinary people.

Jiang Xiliu understood: it meant he could agree to other people's requests, but not hers.

Jin Zhao couldn't understand her eyes, but he could read her expression: "When I get better, I'll make it for you every day."

"Ha. How many words from a man can you trust?" Jiang Xi twitched her lips. "Liao Junqi once said he would work for me for the rest of his life."

Jin Zhao doesn't need Jiang Fuhuai to pay her salary; he's the only person around her who talks to her about Liao Junqi.

But that doesn't mean Jin Zhao is willing to talk to her about another man every day: "I'm different from him. Why are you bringing him up again?"

The rebellious young lady said matter-of-factly, "Because my dad doesn't let me mention it. It's better if he doesn't bring it up, because once he does, I want to bring it up every day."

As she spoke, the young lady unceremoniously propped her "good foot" up on Jin Zhao's hospital bed.

The one-armed massage therapist, "Master Jin," immediately understood. He gave her a deep look and finally resigned himself to using his left hand to massage her calf muscles.

"The trial is tomorrow."

Liao Junqi is dead, but Liao Ting and his gang have been captured.

For the dead, it's all over, but for the living, it's just the beginning.

The court hearing will not be open to the public.

Apart from the people involved and the police, no one knows what happened on Rolling Stone Mountain.

Jin Zhao claimed to have been injured in a car accident and obtained a long leave certificate from the school.

Jiang Xiliu is more direct. When people ask her why she hasn't been going out lately, she always replies, "Because I don't want to."

In short, the news of their kidnapping was overwhelming.

Jiang Xiliu planned to attend the court hearing.

Although Jiang Fuhuai and Xi Zhen disagreed, Jiang Xiliu still wanted to see Liao Ting one last time.

"You can't go to court again." Jiang Xiliu glanced at Jin Zhao. "Why can't you change your mind in a second?"

[System 0777's mechanical voice sounds: Beep! Keyword detected. Please confirm whether you wish to exchange for a magical potion for the male lead, Jin Zhao.]

On the third day after Jiang Xiliu regained consciousness, System 0777 suddenly told her that there was a message from the main system. After that, the small blue light in her mind disappeared, only making a sound when a mission was triggered.

Jiang Xiliu suspected that System 0777 had been formatted: "Exchange my ass."

[System 0777: Please confirm, host, as soon as possible.]

Jiang Xiliu decided that once System 0777 returned, she would never call it an artificial idiot again, because she had already seen a real artificial idiot.

"Not for exchange."

Jin Zhao, lying in the hospital bed, showed no expression after being spoken to. He dutifully massaged the young lady's legs for a while, then suddenly looked up and asked, "Do you want me to get better soon?"

Jiang Xiliu certainly didn't want that.

However, this kidnapping made her realize just how strong the luck of the chosen one is, and that some things cannot be changed by human intervention.

She could sense that Jin Zhao didn't dislike her as much as he did in the original story.

The young lady's eyes flickered, and instead of answering directly, she asked a seemingly irrelevant question: "Hey, are you twenty-two years old this year?"

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Author's Note: Miss [glasses]: Since I can't change the plot, I'll take the initiative to do the next task first!