Me! A high-ranking official!

The incandescent lights in the corridor were a bit dazzling. Zhao Jianguo and Liu Tao sat on the plastic benches outside, waiting silently.

It took more than two hours for the red light during surgery to finally go out.

The doctor took off his mask and came out, and the two of them rushed to greet him.

"Your life is saved. Your broken arm has been set with a metal plate, and the laceration in your abdomen required thirteen stitches." The doctor frowned, staring sternly at the two of them. "Tell me honestly, what exactly caused these injuries? A regular dog could never bite through like this; your stomach was almost ripped out!"

Zhao Jianguo sighed and said, "Doctor, we encountered a wild rabid dog in the mountains. It was as big as a Tibetan Mastiff, and we barely managed to escape."

The doctor listened, still somewhat suspicious, but didn't delve into it. He simply instructed, "The rabies and tetanus vaccines have already been administered, but the patient's physical condition is too poor, with severe malnutrition and significant blood loss. He absolutely needs someone to take care of him for the next few days."

After Li Gan was wheeled back to a regular ward and given an IV drip of anti-inflammatory medication, it was already evening.

Zhao Jianguo checked the time, then turned to Liu Tao and said, "Taozi, you should go back first. Your wife and child are waiting for you at home, and you also need to look after your small supermarket. I can manage here by myself."

Liu Tao hesitated for a moment, looking at Li Gan on the hospital bed, and then at Zhao Jianguo. He really hadn't contacted his family all day, and his wife was probably worried sick. Besides, the supermarket couldn't be left unattended.

"Okay, Jianguo, I'll go back and let you know I'm safe. I'll also sort out the supermarket business. I'll take over for you tomorrow morning!" Liu Tao patted Zhao Jianguo on the shoulder and turned to leave the hospital.

The ward fell silent, with only the dripping sound of the IV fluid remaining.

About half an hour later, Li Gan, lying on the hospital bed, let out a painful groan and slowly opened his eyes.

After the anesthesia wore off, the intense pain instantly woke him up. He rolled his eyes and saw Zhao Jianguo sitting by the bed peeling an apple. Then he looked at his left arm, which was covered in a cast, and the clean hospital room. He immediately understood what had happened.

"Th...thank you," Li Gan said in a hoarse, low voice.

"Awake? You're welcome, it was nothing." Zhao Jianguo put down the apple, handed him a straw, and let him drink a couple of sips of warm water.

After finishing his water, Li Gan stared at Zhao Jianguo with a complex expression. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and asked, "How much did the hospitalization fee... cost?"

"It's not much. Just focus on recovering and don't worry about the money," he replied casually.

Li Gan stubbornly shook his head, his eyes slightly red, his tone filled with a desperate insistence: "I won 300,000 this afternoon, that was the bookmaker's life-saving money for me, but brother... I can't touch a single penny of that money. If you believe me, brother, after I'm discharged from the hospital, I'll work like a slave, carrying bricks on construction sites, and I'll definitely pay you back for your medical expenses! If you don't believe me..."

Li Gan took a deep breath, his previously lifeless eyes now revealing a wolf-like ferocity: "I'll lie right here. If you're unhappy, beat me up, or break my leg, I'll take it all! I won't fight back! But you can't touch that 300,000!"

Hearing these words, spoken with the air of someone making their final decisions, Zhao Jianguo couldn't help but laugh: "If I wanted to break your legs, I would have just left you on the roadside. Why would I have spent money to bring you to the hospital? I already said I don't need this money; you can pay it back slowly when you have the chance. What exactly happened? Is that 300,000 yuan so important to you?"

Perhaps it was Zhao Jianguo's kindness that broke down Li Gan's last line of defense, or perhaps the long-standing pressure made him desperately need an outlet to confide in.

Li Gan closed his eyes, a tear rolling down his cheek, and told his story with a choked voice.

"When I was fifteen, my parents died in a car accident. They didn't leave me much money, only a younger sister who was six years younger than me."

"Over the years, I've been working odd jobs on construction sites while supporting her schooling. I thought that as long as I was willing to work hard, things would get better... But last year, my sister was suddenly diagnosed with leukemia."

Li Gan gripped the bedsheet tightly: "We've been in the hospital for a year, and we've spent all the money we've saved. A couple of days ago, the hospital finally notified us that they'd found a suitable bone marrow donor, but... the transplant surgery alone will cost 300,000 yuan! We don't even know how much the subsequent anti-rejection treatment will cost."

"The hospital has given us an ultimatum: if we don't pay the surgery fee this week, the bone marrow will have to be given to someone else."

Li Gan opened his eyes and gave a self-deprecating laugh: "I have no education, and no relatives to borrow money from. I can only go to the black market to inquire about the fastest way to make money. They said that there are dog fights in dog farms. As long as you win, even if you bet 10,000, you can win dozens of times... I have no choice. Even if I get bitten to death by a dog, I have to raise this 300,000 for my sister..."

Zhao Jianguo remained silent as he listened to Li Gan's intermittent narration.

Looking at the tough man on the hospital bed, trembling slightly from extreme weakness, he couldn't help but feel a deep sigh.

He always thought that he was already in a terrible situation, burdened with 20 million in debt and almost wiped out by the Treasure Bowl. But compared to Li Gan in front of him, he was undoubtedly lucky. At least he still had a chance to turn things around. Li Gan, on the other hand, was using his own flesh and blood and his life to fight for his sister, who depended on him for survival, to have a chance to live.

Faced with this damned fate, human life is sometimes less valuable than a dog's, but sometimes, the brilliance that people unleash is more dazzling than anything else.

Late at night, as the effects of the anesthesia wore off completely, the excruciating pain of shattered bones and stitched-up flesh swept over Li Gan's nerves in waves.

In the dim light coming from the corridor, Zhao Jianguo leaned back in his chair and quietly looked at Li Gan on the hospital bed. The young tough man was soaked in cold sweat, his back teeth were clenched so tightly that his lips were bleeding, and his muscles were spasming and trembling uncontrollably due to extreme pain, but he did not let out a single groan from his throat.

He sighed. He had also struggled at the bottom of society and knew all too well how heartbreaking it was to see the stubbornness of the poor.

Without saying much, he got up and left the ward, insisting on calling the on-duty doctor over to give Li Ganjia an injection of a strong painkiller.

As the medication took effect, Li Gan's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed little by little, and he fell into a deep sleep. Only then did he lean back in the support chair and close his eyes for a while.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

The ward door was gently pushed open, and Liu Tao, with dark circles under her eyes, carefully carried in a thermos. As soon as the lid was opened, the rich aroma of free-range chicken soup filled the ward.

"Jianguo, my wife set an alarm to wake up in the middle of the night to make this, and she skimmed off the top layer completely." Liu Tao lowered his voice and looked at Li Gan, who was still fast asleep: "You should go back to sleep. I'll keep an eye on things here and make sure you take good care of the brother."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law." He patted Liu Tao on the shoulder and left the hospital without refusing, dragging his tired body.

Once home and locked the door, the first thing I did was summon the treasure basin.

Looking down at the bottom of the basin, he saw that the number representing the population had increased by more than four hundred, which meant that he had earned more than four hundred yuan. Although it was nothing compared to the millions of yuan he had made last night, it was the foundation of his steady income.

Then, he took out his phone and checked his bank card balance.

Twenty-two million lay very real in his account.

He retrieved the previous payment records to Liu Tao, entered Liu Tao's card number directly into his mobile banking app, and transferred 1.5 million yuan without hesitation. This amount of money was enough for Liu Tao to rent a shop in the best location in the county, stock it with goods, and become a big boss in style.

Seeing the notification that the payment had been successfully deducted, he let out a long sigh of relief, feeling like a spring that had been stretched taut for a long time finally relaxing.

The 20 million yuan hole has finally been filled.

But he knew very well that this money was only to pay for curing Zhou Qingyan. His own terminal illness was still like a time bomb buried in his body. If he wanted to be completely cured, given the nature of the Treasure Bowl, he would need at least another 20 million!

However, he is not worried at all. With the resources he currently has and the steady daily growth of the Treasure Bowl, he can save up enough money to save his life in at most fifty days and completely change his fate!

When he thought about treating his illness, his thoughts naturally drifted to Zhou Qingyan, the county party secretary.

"If you calculate the time, it's been more than 24 hours since I gave him the medicine..." He stroked his chin, pondering to himself.

As instructed at the time, Zhou Qingyan only needed to take that pill and go for a follow-up examination 24 hours later. The result would definitely be negative. If it really worked, given Zhou Qingyan's swift and decisive methods, he should have already cleared his name and returned to the county committee compound in glory to take charge of the overall situation.

But why hasn't there been any movement at all?

With a hint of doubt, he opened WeChat on his phone and idly browsed through several local city groups and hometown groups.

Suddenly, a message highlighted in bold red went viral in the group chat, like a bombshell that jolted him straight up!

Huge bombshell! The results of the test for our county's new Party Secretary Zhou are in! It's confirmed—he has syphilis!

Holy crap, is this for real?!

It's absolutely true! The Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Organization Department have jointly issued a notice, reportedly to launch a full investigation into Zhou Qingyan's personal conduct and to immediately remove him from his position as county party secretary! He's currently under investigation in the city!

Wow... He's only been in office for two days and he's already under investigation for contracting a venereal disease. This is practically the biggest scandal in the history of Linshui County!