Chapter 66 Ruining Reputations

Qin Feng was in very good physical condition and recovered quickly. Although he was originally scheduled to spend half a month in the hospital, he simply could not bear the constant disturbance from reporters and strongly requested to be discharged on the tenth day.

On the day of his discharge, Xu Guoli arranged for his personal driver to come and pick Qin Feng up. Leaning on crutches with Hong Yue supporting him, Qin Feng got into the car and left the hospital.

Being discharged did not mean he was fully recovered. He still had to wear a plaster cast and walk on crutches. A conservative estimate was that this condition would last for another month, during which he would be confined to his home and unable to go anywhere.

When Xu Guoli’s car stopped downstairs at Qin Feng’s apartment building, Qin Feng saw Xu Guoli, Hong Haifeng, and Li Dejun all waiting there. In addition, Yang Delin, Lin Xiaoyan, and the entire staff of the Civil Affairs Office were present, along with several village cadres.

This made Qin Feng feel deeply flattered. He immediately asked Lin Xiaoyan to go and book a table at the Bishan Restaurant.

Before the meal, Qin Feng called Hu Jiayun and invited her to join them, but she declined, which left him somewhat disappointed.

At noon that day, with Hong Yue supporting him, Qin Feng treated everyone to a meal at the Bishan Restaurant. Originally, Qin Feng had asked Lin Xiaoyan to make the arrangements, but in the end, Hong Yue took the initiative. She handled the reservations, greeted the guests, ordered the dishes, and settled the bill, taking on the air of a hostess.

After the meal, Xu Guoli’s driver dropped Qin Feng off downstairs. Hong Yue got out of the car with him and, with great effort, supported him all the way up to his apartment.

For ten whole days, Hong Yue had taken care of Qin Feng in the hospital without leaving his side for a single moment, and she had done so without a single complaint. Although Qin Feng had not said a single word of thanks, he was deeply touched in his heart.

"Lie down and get some sleep for a while. I'll wake you up when it's time for your medicine," Hong Yue said as she settled Qin Feng into bed and began wiping down the room with a damp towel.

"Hong Yue, stop for a moment and listen to me, okay?" Qin Feng sat up in bed and looked at her earnestly.

"What is it?" Hong Yue wiped the sweat from her forehead, brushing away a lock of hair as she looked at him. Even this casual gesture was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hong Yue, I owe my discharge this time entirely to you. You took care of me in the hospital for ten days. I won't say thank you, but I've kept every bit of it in my heart," Qin Feng said.

"Why are you bringing this up?" Hong Yue blushed slightly. Thinking that Qin Feng was just going to thank her, she turned back to resume her chores.

"Sit down first and let me finish."

"Alright, alright, I'll sit. Go ahead," Hong Yue smiled and sat down obediently on a chair.

"For the past ten days, while I slept on the hospital bed, you slept on a hard metal cot. You ate the bland hospital food right along with me, and you looked after me around the clock. You've suffered enough these past ten days, never resting properly or getting a good night's sleep."

"I can basically take care of myself now. You should hurry home and get some rest. Besides, you have to go back to work; it won't do to stay away any longer. Don't worry, I can completely take care of myself. In my condition, my range of motion won't exceed this room anyway, so there's no problem at all," Qin Feng urged Hong Yue.

He would have felt terribly guilty if he had let her continue staying here to wait on him like an old nanny.

After a great deal of persuasion from Qin Feng, Hong Yue finally agreed to leave. Before doing so, however, she meticulously cleaned the apartment, which had been vacant for over ten days, and sorted out all the medications Qin Feng needed to take for each meal.

Hong Yue left just before nightfall. The moment she was gone, Qin Feng immediately called Yang Delin for emergency assistance, asking him to rush over with a few packs of cigarettes.

Yang Delin was quick on his feet. Ten minutes later, he arrived chugging along on his motorcycle, ran upstairs, and tossed a carton of cigarettes right at Qin Feng.

Having gone ten days without a smoke, Qin Feng was craving one fiercely. With Hong Yue around, he hadn't even stood a chance of taking a puff; as a nurse, she was exceptionally firm on that point.

Qin Feng and Yang Delin chatted in the room for a long time, mostly about work matters at the Civil Affairs Office, as there was no way he could return to work in his current condition.

Just as the two of them were puffing away in a cloud of smoke, the door was pushed open from the outside, and Hu Jiayun walked in after finishing her workday.

"Secretary Hu..." Yang Delin greeted her respectfully.

"Don't you know he hasn't recovered yet? Are you trying to smoke him right back into the hospital for another half-month?" Hu Jiayun said coldly to Yang Delin.

Looking extremely awkward and grinning sheepishly, Yang Delin hurriedly said, "I still have to go home for dinner, so I'll be leaving first. Secretary Hu, goodbye."

Yang Delin scurried away like a mouse seeing a cat. In fact, everyone in the Bishan Township government reacted to Hu Jiayun the exact same way.

He fled as if running for his life.

"Sister, you're way too fierce. People always said you were as cold as frost and like a nun of extinction, and I didn't believe it before, but now I do," Qin Feng chuckled.

"Who are you calling a nun of extinction?" Hu Jiayun walked over, grabbed Qin Feng's ear, and demanded.

"I didn't say it, they did!" Qin Feng quickly defended himself.

"Are you still going to smoke?"

"No more, no more! Sister, I'm still injured..."

"It's your foot that's hurt, not your ear."

"Sister, I was wrong, I was wrong, alright?" Qin Feng had no choice but to beg for mercy.

"If I catch you smoking again before your foot is healed, just wait and see how I deal with you." Hu Jiayun glared fiercely at Qin Feng before letting go of his ear. She glanced around the room and asked, "Did Hong Yue leave?"

"She left. After much persuasion, I finally managed to talk her into going."

"It sounds like you thought she was in your way here."

"That's not what I meant. She already took care of me in the hospital for ten days. We aren't related by blood or anything, so I really feel bad about troubling her any further..."

"Not related by blood or anything? Did you say that to Hong Yue?"

"No. What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

"If I were Hong Yue and you said something like that to me, I'd skin you alive."

"Why? She and I really aren't related."

"That's right, you aren't related, so why would she take such good care of you? She's an unmarried young maiden, spending her days and nights at the hospital acting like an old mother to you. Not only was it exhausting, but it also risked her reputation. What do you think she did it for?" Hu Jiayun asked bluntly.

"Ah... It ruined her reputation too?" Qin Feng genuinely hadn't thought of that.