My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

"Yes, it was him... my cousin... who was attacked by the Hunan gang..." she said softly, her tone ingratiating. "It's all taken care of now, he's getting his medicine treated at the hospital... Thank you, Mr. Jiang..."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then a deep male voice came through. The volume wasn't loud, but in the quiet treatment room, Su Ming could vaguely hear a few words.

"I'll talk to them... This can't just be left like this..."

Qiu Tong nodded repeatedly, her voice becoming increasingly respectful: "Thank you, Mr. Jiang, thank you so much..."

But the deep voice rang out again, this time Su Ming heard it more clearly—"Tell your cousin not to cause trouble..."

Qiu Tong's body stiffened slightly, then she nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, I will, I will definitely give him a good talking to... Don't worry, Mr. Jiang..."

After exchanging a few more words, the call finally ended.

Qiu Tong stood by the window, holding her phone, her back to Su Ming, and remained motionless for a long time.

The night outside the window was deep, and the lights of the emergency room cast a faint shadow on her. At that moment, her figure appeared exceptionally frail and weary.

Su Ming looked at her, and a strange feeling welled up inside him.

It wasn't gratitude, nor sympathy, but a complex, bittersweet heartache.

In his eyes, his cousin's wife was always that strong, shrewish, and somewhat shrewish woman. But that phone call just now, with her humble tone and fawning attitude, showed him another side of her.

It turns out, she wasn't omnipotent after all.

She addressed the man as "Mr. Jiang" on the phone, indicating that their relationship was purely physical, lacking even basic respect. She probably wouldn't dare use a more intimate term of address over the phone.

It turns out that the man behind her gave her not only protection and reliance, but also such humility and caution.

Thinking of this, Su Ming felt even more sorry for his cousin-in-law.

Qiu Tong turned around, her expression now calm, though her eyes were still a little red. She walked back to Su Ming's side, and as if nothing had happened, continued to examine his wounds.

"Sister-in-law..." Su Ming couldn't help but ask.

"Um?"

"That Jiang Jian..." He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What exactly does he do?"

Qiu Tong paused, looked up at him, and a complex emotion flashed in her eyes.

Then, her face darkened.

"There are some things you shouldn't ask, so don't ask them." Her voice was cold, carrying an undeniable warning.

Su Ming opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't say anything, he just nodded.

Silence fell over the treatment room, with only the clock on the wall ticking away.

Su Ming lowered his head, looking at the wounds on his body, but his mind was filled with the phone call he had just received and the image of his cousin-in-law's humble back.

He secretly vowed that one day he would become strong enough that his cousin-in-law would not need to please anyone for his sake.

Five minutes later, the nurse came in and gave some more instructions, and then the two left the hospital.

At the hospital entrance, the black Audi A6 sat quietly under the streetlights.

The driver, Liu, was standing next to the car. When he saw them get out, he opened the back door for them.

The car was quiet the whole way. Qiu Tong sat next to Su Ming, gazing at the fleeting night view outside the window without saying a word. Su Ming wanted to speak several times, but seeing her indifferent profile, he swallowed his words.

The car came to a stop in front of the apartment building.

Qiu Tong got out of the car, and Su Ming followed. Liu Sheng stood beside the car and nodded to Qiu Tong: "Miss Qiu, I'll be going now."

"Wait a minute." Qiu Tong suddenly called out to him, took a few steps forward, and said in a very soft voice, "Mr. Liu, thank you for saving my cousin today."

Liu smiled slightly, a rare warmth appearing on his young face: "It's what I should do, Miss Qiu, you don't need to be so polite."

He paused, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke: "Miss Qiu, about today's matter... I reported it to Mr. Jiang, because I had to. I'm sorry you got scolded."

A faint smile flickered across Qiu Tong's lips as she shook her head. "It's alright, I understand."

The two exchanged a glance, Liu nodded again, and turned to get into the car.

The black Audi silently glided into the night, its taillights gradually disappearing around the street corner.

Standing beside Qiu Tong, Su Ming watched the car disappear in the direction it had gone, and finally couldn't help but ask softly, "Sister-in-law, why did that Mr. Liu apologize?"

Qiu Tong didn't answer, but just stared in the direction the car had disappeared. After a long while, she turned around and said calmly, "Let's go upstairs."

The two entered the apartment building one after the other, silently went up to the seventh floor, and silently entered the door.

The lights in the living room were on, and everything was just as they had left it—unfinished water on the coffee table, Qiu Tong's cardigan draped over the sofa, everything was as ordinary as could be.

But the atmosphere was inexplicably oppressive.

Su Ming sat down on the sofa, instinctively wanting to lie down. He was covered in injuries and extremely tired; all he wanted to do was lie down and rest.

"Have you taken a shower?" Qiu Tong's voice suddenly rang out.

Su Ming was taken aback, then shook his head: "No."

Qiu Tong frowned: "Then why aren't you going to wash? I need to wash too in a bit."

Su Ming looked at her with some surprise: "Sister-in-law, aren't you going to work tonight?"

Qiu Tong's expression was somewhat indifferent; she simply said, "I'm not going."

She was clearly in a bad mood. Su Ming didn't dare to ask any more questions, nodded, but didn't get up.

Qiu Tong waited a few seconds, and seeing that he didn't move, her tone became somewhat impatient: "Why don't you go wash up?"

Su Ming then awkwardly raised his left arm, which was covered with several bandages, and pointed to Yu Qing's other body parts, saying in a low voice, "Sister-in-law, my hand is injured, and I have injuries all over my body... I'm afraid it's not convenient for me to get wet tonight."

Qiu Tong was stunned for a moment, her gaze swept over him, and seeing that he looked like an injured person, the impatience on her face gradually turned into helplessness.

She sighed and shook her head: "Never mind, let me help you wipe yourself down."

"Huh?" Su Ming was startled, his face instantly turning red. "Sister-in-law, this...this isn't appropriate, is it?"

Qiu Tong glanced at him, her tone matter-of-fact: "What's wrong with that? Hurry up, stop talking nonsense. Finish your shower early and go to bed early; you need to ask for leave from work tomorrow!"

"Take a day off?" Su Ming quickly shook his head. "No need to take a day off. I can still work tomorrow. There are handymen in the warehouse. I don't need to do the heavy work. I just need to count the items. This injury is nothing."

Qiu Tong glared at him, annoyed: "Just take a week off and stay home to recover. It's not like you're making much money a day anyway."

"That won't do," Su Ming insisted. "It adds up to about twenty yuan a day. I can still work, so I have to go."

Qiu Tong gave him a disdainful look: "Why are you being so stingy?"

Su Ming gave a wry smile, his voice lowering: "There's nothing I can do, my dad needs money for medical treatment."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Tong's expression changed instantly.

The impatience and disdain on her face disappeared, replaced by a complex emotion—surprise, embarrassment, and a touch of heartache.

"I'm sorry..." she said softly, "I didn't know my uncle was sick."

Su Ming shook his head and forced a smile: "It's nothing serious. Once I've raised enough money, had the surgery, and recovered after a while, I'll be fine."

Qiu Tong was silent for a moment, then sat down beside him and asked softly, "How much more money do you need for your dad's surgery?"

Su Ming thought for a moment and honestly replied, "I need another 15,000."

"Fifteen thousand..." Qiu Tong pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "How about I give you fifteen thousand?"

Su Ming was startled and shook his head repeatedly, "No need, no need!"

Qiu Tong glanced at him, her tone serious: "Getting better is the most important thing. Just consider it a loan; you can pay me back when you have the money."

Su Ming shook his head again: "Forget it. If I do that, my dad will suspect that I've done something illegal outside."

Qiu Tong thought for a moment and then said, "How about I just call your mom and lend her the money? After all, your mom is my late husband's aunt, so it's normal for her to lend money to her."

Su Ming paused for a moment, thought about it, and then shook his head: "Forget it. Let's not lend it for now."

He paused, then explained in a low voice, "If I borrow it now, my mom might suspect our relationship..."

He regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth.

Qiu Tong's face flushed crimson to the roots of her neck. She whirled around, staring wide-eyed at Su Ming, both ashamed and angry: "You, Su Ming! Are you starting to make advances on me, your cousin-in-law?"

Su Ming was startled and quickly waved his hands, "Sister-in-law, no! I didn't mean you anything!"

Qiu Tong rolled her eyes and crossed her arms: "Then how did you say 'your mom will suspect our relationship'? What kind of relationship do we have? What could I possibly do with you?"