Magical Girl Fan Bingbing

Under Leng Qiaoqiao's curious gaze, Jiang Ran revealed her thoughts.

The business that Leng Qiaoqiao did to avoid eating at Pinhao Restaurant was originally a potential problem, but looking back now, it was actually a move they made in advance.

Because the police won't really shut down the loopholes.

Why?

"Because if you block the way, you can't catch any fish," Jiang Ran said. "The police's goal isn't just to cut off the black market supply; they want to follow the trail to find us, the big fish. If there are no raw materials left on the black market, we won't resurface, and the trail will go cold."

Leng Qiaoqiao nodded thoughtfully.

"So they will definitely throw bait into the fishpond, release some monster corpses on the black market as bait, and then keep an eye on who will buy them."

"Wouldn't that put us in even greater danger?" Leng Qiaoqiao frowned. "Buying materials now is like walking into the line of fire."

"That's right, so we can't buy from the black market anymore."

"Then what will you use to make the goods?"

"The bait is taken, but the hook isn't biting." Jiang Ran's lips curled into a smile. "They want to fish for us, so we'll..."

Jiang Ran's voice suddenly stopped halfway through her sentence.

He suddenly clutched his left chest with his right hand, his fingers digging so hard that his knuckles turned white, and the color drained from his face in an instant.

"Teacher Jiang?" Leng Qiaoqiao noticed something was wrong and came closer.

Jiang Ran wanted to say something; his lips moved twice, but no sound came out. It felt as if a python was tightly coiling around his heart, each beat accompanied by excruciating pain, as if something was forcefully tightening its grip on his life.

The purple snake suddenly started biting him.

Jiang Ran slumped off the sofa, her head hitting the floor, and her vision went black.

"Teacher Jiang!"

Leng Qiaoqiao sprang up, the bag of potato chips on her knees fell to the ground and scattered everywhere. She rushed to Jiang Ran's side, grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard.

"What's wrong with you?! Teacher Jiang!"

Jiang Ran showed no reaction. Her face was as white as a sheet of paper, her lips were an unnatural bluish-purple, and her breathing was so weak that it was almost imperceptible.

Leng Qiaoqiao's mind went blank. She lay on Jiang Ran and kept calling out, her voice trembling.

"Don't scare me... Teacher Jiang, please don't scare me..."

The only response she received was the low hum of the compressor in the RV's freezer.

She didn't know how much time had passed—maybe only a dozen seconds, maybe a minute—but Leng Qiaoqiao finally came to her senses from the panic.

She bit her lip, tasted blood, then forced herself to calm down and reached out to check Jiang Ran's breath.

She was still breathing, but very weakly.

Leng Qiaoqiao took a deep breath, picked up her phone from the ground, and dialed the emergency number.

"Is this the Tianhai City Emergency Center? There's someone here who suddenly collapsed, a 35-year-old male..."

……

Tianhai Central Hospital.

The white corridor was filled with the smell of disinfectant. Leng Qiaoqiao sat on a bench outside the emergency room, her fingers intertwined.

Golden hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her amber eyes were fixed on the closed door of the emergency room, not daring to blink.

About twenty minutes later, the emergency room door opened, and an elderly doctor with white hair and beard came out.

"What is your relationship to Mr. Jiang Ran?" The old doctor took off his mask and looked at Leng Qiaoqiao.

Leng Qiaoqiao opened her mouth, but for a moment she didn't know how to answer.

She hesitated for a few seconds before finally speaking. "Jiang Ran... is a man who can be my father."

The old doctor's expression froze.

He looked at the young and beautiful blonde girl in front of him, opened his mouth and closed it again, but finally decided not to ask any further questions.

Having practiced medicine for decades, he had seen all sorts of outrageous relationships, but this answer was still somewhat beyond his comprehension.

"Um..." The old doctor cleared his throat, steer the conversation back to the main topic, "Mr. Jiang's condition is not good."

Leng Qiaoqiao's heart clenched suddenly.

"His symptoms of multiple organ failure continued to worsen, and this attack was a cardiac arrest. Fortunately, he was brought in in time and is now stable."

The old doctor opened the medical record book in his hand, his tone heavy.

"When he came last time, I told him that, optimistically, it would take at most two or three years, but judging from today's test results... I may have been too optimistic back then."

Leng Qiaoqiao felt the hallway lights suddenly become very glaring. "What does this mean?"

"That means if he doesn't receive treatment as soon as possible, he may only have about two years left."

Leng Qiaoqiao stood there, her brain feeling as if it had been submerged in ice water, unable to function for a long time.

All the questions I couldn't understand before suddenly came together.

Why would a perfectly good teacher risk going to jail to make magic essence? Why would he still attend that B class after he became rich? Why was he so confident that he would never be arrested?

"Young lady?" The old doctor called out when he saw that her complexion was not right.

"...I'm fine." Leng Qiaoqiao came to her senses, her voice a little hoarse. "Can I go see him?"

"Okay, he should wake up soon." The old doctor gave her a few more instructions and told her to persuade Jiang Ran to take the treatment plan seriously before leaving.

……

The ward was quiet, the curtains were drawn, and only the monitor by the bedside emitted a regular beeping sound.

Jiang Ran lay on the hospital bed, an IV drip attached to the back of her hand, her face still very pale, her eyes closed.

Leng Qiaoqiao moved a chair to the edge of the bed, looked at Jiang Ran's face, and remained silent.

Finally, Jiang Ran's eyelids twitched, and she slowly opened them.

He saw the familiar ceiling, and Leng Qiaoqiao sitting motionless on the edge of the bed, staring at him.

"...Am I in a hospital?"

"You've passed out," Leng Qiaoqiao said softly. "I called for emergency help."

"Thank you." Jiang Ran gave a pale smile.

Leng Qiaoqiao couldn't laugh. "Why didn't you tell me? We're partners, after all. Shouldn't I have the right to know?"

"But you didn't ask." Jiang Ran shifted her gaze to the ceiling. "Besides, I told you the truth from the beginning, it's just that you didn't believe me."

"you……"

Leng Qiaoqiao was stunned for a moment, her hands gripping her knees, her knuckles turning white.

Jiang Ran looked at Leng Qiaoqiao's lowered head and said, "Don't look so long-faced, it's not like you're going to die."

"...You still have the mood to joke around."

"I call this revolutionary optimism. Before I die, I'll make enough money and arrange everything that needs to be arranged." He turned to look at Leng Qiaoqiao. "I'll help you make enough money. When the Nine-Headed Sea Monster reappears, just do your best and don't do anything foolish."

Leng Qiaoqiao suddenly looked up.

She remained silent for a while before asking another question.

Do your family members know?

Jiang Ran shook her head.

When do you plan to tell them?

"If I really can't keep going any day, I'll tell them the truth." Jiang Ran looked towards the window, where a ray of golden sunlight shone through the gap in the curtains. "But that girl is very cunning; she's probably already guessed what's going on."

As Leng Qiaoqiao listened to Jiang Ran's calm tone, a strange feeling welled up inside her.

She was somewhat envious of Jiang Li for having such a good father.

These words lingered in Leng Qiaoqiao's mind, but she ultimately didn't say them aloud.

……

It was already evening when I left the hospital. A dim sunset hung in the sky, and the traffic on the street was getting congested.

The two walked side by side on the sidewalk. Jiang Ran's pace was slower than usual, and Leng Qiaoqiao also consciously slowed down.

After walking in silence for a short distance, Jiang Ran spoke up, "I didn't have a chance to say this in the car earlier..."

However, before he could finish speaking, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Jiang Ran took it out and saw a name pop up on the caller ID:

Chu Ying.