Chapter 95: If I Step Away, Can They Keep Things Under Control?

He was awake, and still they had to guard him. Guard against whom?

Old Ge stopped in his tracks as he was preparing to leave and asked quietly, “You think they’ll still make a move?”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Xu Lin rolled her eyes. “A botched medical incident is a lot easier than killing someone outright. If it were you, what would you do?”

Old Ge gave an angry huff. “I never use medicine to harm people. I studied medicine to save lives.”

Faced with that righteous expression, Xu Lin had nothing to say. But guard him they still had to.

She did not intend to let the man she had struggled so hard to save be killed by someone else.

So Old Ge went off to write the medical record, while Xu Lin went to the ward. After examining the patient carefully and confirming that there was no problem, she simply took a chair and sat by the ward.

Chen Jianshe had been worrying over one of his men when Xu Lin’s actions left him slightly stunned. Were doctors really this attentive these days?

She was actually staying with the patient the whole time. Truly rare.

News of the successful surgery reached Tao Chunxiu very quickly, and he went completely sour with frustration, pacing anxiously around his office.

In the end, he pushed open the door and left in a hurry. But as he strode away, he failed to notice the security escort following behind him.

In a secluded corner behind the hospital cafeteria, Tao Chunxiu stood before Ye Tong like a groveling underling, explaining himself and apologizing again and again.

“Second Young Master Ye, it’s really not that I didn’t do my best. It’s just that Dr. Xu’s skills are too good. You have no idea, even that difficult case of Si Zhan’s, she managed to cure it.”

“Second Young Master Ye, please listen to me. I really did tamper with things back then. If Xu Lin hadn’t appeared out of nowhere, even if the dean himself had stepped in, there would have been no saving him.”

“Yes, yes, rest assured, Second Young Master Ye. As long as he’s still in the hospital, I’ll always find an opening.”

“That Dr. Xu isn’t even from our general hospital. She can’t possibly keep watch over the patient every second.”

“Yes, yes, I heard she’ll be leaving tomorrow. Don’t worry, the patient will still end up in my hands.”

“I’m the youngest and best doctor in the general hospital. I would never joke about my own future.”

After a long string of assurances, Tao Chunxiu finally wiped the cold sweat from his brow and left.

The escort watched him go, remaining motionless in the shadows. About ten minutes later, he saw Ye Tong stride out in haste.

So it was him? The escort’s pupils contracted as understanding flashed through his mind.

Damn, he had just stumbled onto a huge piece of gossip.

Xu Lin ate dinner at the ward entrance. Old Ge kept her company, eating with her as he asked, “Are you going to stand guard here all night?”

“I don’t want to,” Xu Lin said, rolling her eyes. She glanced around before lowering her voice. “From the patient’s face, his death calamity still hasn’t lifted.”

“Keep your voice down.” Old Ge looked around, afraid someone might overhear her. Best not to bring up reading the face and seeing a death omen.

As for whether he believed it or not, Old Ge felt that belief was beside the point. Even if he believed her, what good would that do?

Xu Lin chuckled twice and went on eating heartily. After a while, Old Ge swallowed the food in his mouth and asked in a whisper, “Can it be defused?”

“Not sure. At any rate, he can’t die on my operating table. I’m not about to ruin my own reputation.”

Xu Lin’s gaze shifted to Tao Chunxiu, who was walking over again. That bastard was here to make trouble again.

Since the patient had come out of surgery, in less than two hours Tao Chunxiu had come running to the ward five times.

On the surface, that could be called checking on the patient and showing concern for his condition. In plain terms, he was searching for a chance to strike.

If that bastard refused to give up, then she might as well send him where he belonged.

It would also save her from having to keep watch over the patient all the time.

Xu Lin had made up her mind. She gave Old Ge a look and whispered, “Can you get those people to cooperate with us in setting a trap and wait for the fish to bite?”

“Are you sure you want to get involved?” Old Ge sighed. “There’s no benefit to you being dragged into that kind of struggle.”

Thinking of the files he had investigated, he knew Xu Lin had grown up without anyone to teach her. She probably did not understand how complicated human relations could be.

He closed the lunchbox and quietly explained Ye Da’s background and family situation.

To put it simply, Ye Tong and Ye Da were half-brothers, same father, different mothers, and the feud between them was fierce.

That alone would have been enough, but beneath them there was also a younger brother and a younger sister, and that brother and sister had different mothers as well.

In other words, the Ye family had four children and three mothers. Both Ye Tong and Ye Da’s mothers were already dead, and now the household was under the control of the third wife.

“Do you know? I strongly suspect their being at each other’s throats was all the doing of that stepmother.”

Xu Lin let out an “oh.” Could she say she had already seen that from Ye Da’s face?

He was a handsome young man, but his life had been miserable. Their father was the sort who could be swayed easily, the kind especially vulnerable to pillow talk.

Ye Da had grown up with an elder brother bullying him above and a stepmother plus younger siblings oppressing him below. He had never once felt the warmth of a family.

For him to have turned out decent at all was already remarkable.

Yet those one or two people still would not let him be, insisting on bringing down such a fine young man and trampling him into the mud. That was something Xu Lin found deeply offensive.

So she stayed by the ward, guarding against those monsters and demons trying to stir up trouble.

Even if she could not protect Ye Da forever, at the very least she would keep him safe this time.

“That Ye Tong looks shrewd enough, but he’s actually foolish too. Isn’t he afraid that if he brings down Ye Da, their father will end up despising him?”

As Old Ge spoke, he shook his head. He did not believe for a second that the deeply scheming stepmother would have no means of dealing with either Ye Tong or Ye Da.

Most likely, no matter who won the fight, she would take the evidence to their father and make him utterly loathe the loser, casting him aside.

In the end, the true victors would be the stepmother and her two children.

Sigh. What good was it for an outsider like him to see through everything?

After sighing, Old Ge looked at Xu Lin, who was eating with great relish, and could not help asking, “Don’t you want to say something?”

“No.”

Xu Lin put down her chopsticks and closed the lunchbox. “If I were Ye Da or Ye Tong, I’d send all of them flying.”

“You’re something else.” Old Ge gave her a thumbs-up and took her lunchbox. “You stay here and keep watch. I’ll wash this for you.”

“Thanks.”

Xu Lin handed over her lunchbox without ceremony and went back to standing guard at the ward entrance.

Tao Chunxiu finally waited until the two of them finished eating and thought they would go wash their lunchboxes together. Instead, his wait came to nothing.

His hatred made him grit his teeth until his lips nearly bled. That damned woman, why wouldn’t she just get lost already?

As long as Xu Lin did not leave, Ye Da would not fall into his hands. Without that, he would have no chance to make a move, and there would be no guarantee for his future.

Ah, it was infuriating.

With a dark face, Tao Chunxiu turned and headed back to his office.

After washing the lunchbox, Old Ge came over to Xu Lin and said quietly, “It’s been arranged. If you want to pull out now, I’ll find a way to keep the two of us out of it.”

“If I pull out, can they really control the situation?” Xu Lin asked as she tucked her lunchbox into her bag. “I went to so much trouble to save him. I’m not doing all that work for nothing.”

She glanced back. The dark haze on Ye Da’s forehead had not dispersed. If anything, it had grown heavier.

What did that mean?