The jeep sped away, leaving Wu Xueliang standing there with a mouthful of exhaust fumes.

Jingxuan behind him had stopped moving, as if she had fainted due to excessive blood loss.

He froze, grabbing his good friend Chu Li, who was about to ride away on his bike, and asked, still somewhat bewildered, "I didn't offend Ruan Xiaoxian, did I?"

"What do you think?" Chu Li shook off his brother's hand, and Wu Xueliang asked urgently, "Where to? The person left in the car is unconscious. I'm taking her to the hospital."

"Sorry!" Chu Li smiled. "Mu Xia said she was going into the city to send a package after dinner, so I went to pick her up. I arranged to meet Ruan Xiaoxian at the hospital."

Wu Xueliang was in a panic. Who would go out in the middle of the night to deliver a package?

"You weren't in a hurry to pick her up, did you even see I had an injury on my back? Take her to the hospital first. How can you just stand by and watch someone get into trouble in the countryside and do nothing?"

Chu Li's voice was cold and indifferent, "So? Who is she to me? What business is it of mine?"

Seeing his brother so anxious and flustered, Chu Li finally softened his tone, "Liangzi, you should learn to distinguish between what is important and what is not."

Wu Xueliang was stunned. He thought that Zhao Di had a friend, his childhood friend was injured, and she had followed him all the way to the countryside. He couldn't just abandon her, no matter what.

The news would only worsen the already negative impression Zhao Di had of her parents if it were sent back to Beijing.

But these are not reasons for him to ignore his partner and care for another woman after she was injured. Wu Xueliang understands this, but it is a real headache for him.

"He's really gone mad from reading too much," Chu Li sighed inwardly. After all, he was his cousin, who was thousands of miles away. He left with a message to wait and rode his bicycle back to the village to borrow an oxcart.

When the oxcart returned a moment later, so did the auntie he had hired with his grain coupons to help him.

The crowd quickly lifted the person onto the oxcart.

When they arrived at the hospital, Ruan Xianxian was helping Chen Zhaodi, who had just had her stitches done, to get an IV drip next door. Wu Xueliang wanted to accompany her, but his sleeve was grabbed by Jing Xuan, who had just woken up.

"I'm afraid of pain. You're the only person I know in Heilongjiang Province. Can you stay with me? Once I'm healed, I won't bother you anymore."

Zhao Di looked at the two of them and said, "Go inside with her. I don't need you here. After the IV drip is finished, observe her for a while. If there's no concussion, she can be discharged."

Those who run in and out definitely need someone to accompany them.

After saying that, he smiled and thanked Chu Li, who had also come over, saying, "I'd like to trouble Comrade Chu again to help me report this to the police. This injury can't have been suffered in vain."

Wu Xueliang's lips moved slightly, and Zhao Di raised the corners of her lips slightly, "You have something to say?"

He wanted to ask if they could avoid reporting it to the police, as a big fuss would definitely get back to Beijing, which would be bad for their future, but then he met his girlfriend's increasingly distant gaze...

In the end, instead of stopping him, he said, "I support all your decisions."

Jingxuan's expression changed slightly.

Chen Zhaodi smiled and said, "Let's go, Xianxian. The doctor should call your name now."

...

One hour later—

Both the police and Mu Xia came. She wasn't there to send a package; she had clearly bought a house in the county town. When Chu Li came looking for her, she was taking advantage of the cool evening to tidy up her new house.

A group of people surrounded Zhao Di, making Jing Xuan, who was also receiving intravenous fluids and no one paid any attention to her, look particularly pitiful.

After the stitches were done, Wu Xueliang really didn't care anymore.

The police officer who came was an acquaintance. He smiled as soon as he entered the door, "It's you again."

Ruan Xianxian puffed out her cheeks. This time it really wasn't her. "My friend was beaten into a concussion by that crazy woman across the street. Comrade, please handle this fairly!"

She didn't need to show her any more documents; the police knew exactly who she was.

With just one sentence from this guy, Chen Zhaodi slowly held her forehead, making a dizzy and nauseous expression. A doctor with a tense look rushed over, examined her, and diagnosed her with a concussion.

We need to observe the severity level further.

With her back to everyone, Ruan Xianxian made a throat-gagging motion, indicating that she should vomit if she felt like it.

Chen Zhaodi wasn't as reckless as this guy; she took advantage of a moment when no one was looking and picked her nose until it bled.

The doctor wanted to check on the situation urgently.

Modern medicine largely does not rely on instruments; experienced doctors can deduce the general condition simply by observing, listening, questioning, and palpating.

Zhao Di dared not let the doctor see her nose, which she had picked so hard she was dizzy and unable to lift her head. The old doctor looked at her two drops of blood with a thoughtful expression.

When questioned by the police, the officer pushed up a single-sided examination scope and exclaimed, "Concussion! This is a very serious concussion!"

After another flurry of activity, Zhao Di was diagnosed with a concussion, while Jing Xuan was diagnosed with superficial injuries. She looked terrified yet defiant and began to bite back.

Pointing at Ruan Xianxian, he said, "It was her. She smashed my head with a brick. We must take her with us for investigation."

Two police officers looked at her, and she looked completely innocent. Before she could speak, Wu Xueliang stepped forward.

“I can testify that Comrade Jing deliberately injured someone by running to the construction site and was then hit by falling bricks from the wall.”

Jingxuan looked incredulous, tears welling in her eyes. "She was the one who crashed into the wall and caused the flying stones to hit me. Are you blind?"

Wu Xueliang: "Now that you've crashed into the wall, don't you want to listen to what you're saying first?"

He turned to the police officers and said, "Comrades, I was running behind Comrade Ruan at the time and witnessed firsthand how the falling bricks and stones flew onto Comrade Jing's forehead."

She intentionally injured my partner first, and then made baseless accusations against others. Please take her away for investigation. If you don't believe me, there are many other witnesses at the new factory.

He had thought it through clearly. Since he had already made a scene, he should make it bigger. He would not only use this opportunity to let his parents see how troublesome Jing's daughter was, but also take the chance to make Jing Xuan spend two days in jail to completely give up on him.

After finishing her IV drip, Jingxuan was taken away for investigation by two police officers, her face filled with disbelief.

Zhao Di propped her forehead up as Wu Xueliang moved closer, saying, "Don't be angry. When the news gets back to the Jing family, I'll make sure they give you an explanation."

Chen Zhaodi opened her eyes, and Ruan Xianxian coughed lightly, "You two talk slowly, let's go outside to warm up the car."

Why bother with the car in the middle of summer heat? It was just to give the two of them some space to talk.

"Thank you all for your help this night. I'll explain things to him and then I'll leave."

Zhao Di's words made Wu Xueliang's heart leap into his throat. When only the two of them remained in the side room, Zhao Di, her head wrapped in white gauze, looked up at the man she had once wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

She spoke softly, "So, the engagement Comrade Jing mentioned is real. It was arranged for you and the Jing family even after your parents knew about our situation, right?"

Wu Xueliang was speechless. At the beginning of their relationship, he called Beijing to tell his parents the good news that he had a girlfriend and wanted their support and blessings.

The father neither agreed nor disagreed, but the mother, who knew Zhao Di's family situation, rejected the idea outright without hesitation.

She said that Chen Zhaodi, who was neither outstanding nor from a good family, was not good enough for him, and that she would choose a woman who was truly his equal in social standing to marry.

At first, he thought his mother had old Shanghai ideas, believing that beauty and ugliness were not as important as social status or family background in marriage.

They thought that as long as they could see how outstanding Zhao Di was and how much their son liked her, once they got to know Zhao Di as a person, they would one day like their future daughter-in-law as much as they liked their son.

Until Jingxuan went to the countryside with a newlywed marriage certificate...

Wu Xueliang never imagined that his mother would go to such lengths to prevent him from being with Zhaodi.