The 'Elbow Strike' from the Head Maid's Anger The Growing Tree of Guilt in Her Heart

She was a bit unsure, so she looked again. When the Head Maid looked over again, she found Ye Cheng doing chest-expanding exercises right there. After he was done, he continued with his "three circles to the left, three circles to the right" radio calisthenics routine, making the Head Maid feel like she was having a heart attack from watching him.

Earlier in the car, she had been wondering if Ye Cheng was actually in a lot of pain and was just acting relaxed in the hospital so she wouldn't worry too much.

After all, when they were in the ambulance, his half-dead appearance was far too realistic. Even the Head Maid, who knew the truth, had felt a wave of unease and worried the whole way.

But as a result... as soon as the others left, a certain guy climbed right out of his hospital bed. It would be one thing if he was just completely fine, but he was actually doing radio calisthenics here.

The Head Maid was speechless.

She swore that if she ever worried about a certain someone again, she would be a dog. She would absolutely never fall for it again.

Ignore, ignore, ignore...

Ye Cheng then did a few backflips to check the current recovery status of his bodily functions. After confirming that there were no problems, he finally lay back on the bed, silently pulled up his little blanket, and returned to his "weakened state," looking half-dead once again.

And then... using his Teletubby-like bandaged fingers, he happily scrolled through brain-dead short videos. Ah, so good, he loved watching them!

The Head Maid was full of question marks.

The Head Maid's resentful eye-beam attack finally took effect. Ye Cheng felt as if he was being stared at by some dirty entity. He looked around cautiously and then locked eyes with the Head Maid.

Ye Cheng was speechless.

"Xiaxia, why are you looking at me?" Ye Cheng blinked, looking completely "innocent."

"What exactly is going on with you?" The Head Maid was still thinking about what happened earlier, suspecting that Ye Cheng had undergone some sort of genetic mutation. Otherwise, how could a person be this absurd?

What kind of creature had their young miss been lured by?

"What do you mean?" Ye Cheng asked.

The Head Maid was speechless.

Ye Cheng's attitude was making the Head Maid feel suffocated. After sorting out the questions in her head, she finally asked, "Do you think this is right?"

"Is there something wrong?" Ye Cheng blinked.

"You just had surgery, right?" The Head Maid exhaled and spoke patiently.

"Right," Ye Cheng replied.

"Do you know that for a surgery of this extent, you need to rest for at least half a month before you can walk normally, and you can't do any strenuous exercise..." The Head Maid furrowed her brows tightly, starting to educate Ye Cheng on basic common sense, things that a normal person should know.

Ye Cheng rubbed his smooth chin with his Teletubby hand, his eyes shining with "wisdom."

"Oh... so that's how it is, definitely next time." Ye Cheng dragged out the end of his "oh" and immediately promised "definitely next time." After speaking, he went back to watching his brain-dead short videos.

The Head Maid was full of question marks.

Visibly, the easygoing expression on the Head Maid's face gradually stiffened. Veins began to bulge on her snow-white swan neck, and the hands resting by her sides clenched tightly into fists, as if she was trying desperately to suppress something.

"Hehe... so good, love watching this." Ye Cheng's laugh, full of "wisdom," echoed in the hospital room.

It became the straw that broke the camel's back. Exhaling a breath, the tightly clenched fists at the Head Maid's sides loosened, as if she had suddenly let go of everything.

Clack, clack, clack. The crisp sound of the maid's high heels echoed in the room as the Head Maid walked briskly over to Ye Cheng.

She reached out with both hands, gesturing in front of Ye Cheng, aiming right at his neck...

"Is this size appropriate?" the Head Maid asked in a "gentle" voice, a faint smile playing on her face.

Ye Cheng hit the pause button on the brain-dead short video in front of him and looked up at the Head Maid, who had rushed over at some point. He originally intended to look into the Head Maid's eyes, but um... he was instantly captivated by the Head Maid's extraordinary "talents."

Holy crap, what extraordinary talents!

Even more absurd than the President's, though considering the Head Maid was already in her fully developed form, while the President was still in the developmental stage with immense potential, it was hard to say who would be stronger in the future.

But both were significantly more endowed than the Miss.

The Miss was at the level of an ordinary person, and given her rather weak constitution, reaching the average level was already pretty good. She could hold her own among ordinary people, but in front of two naturally gifted competitors like Dongfang Zhixia and the Head Maid, she appeared to be "slightly at a disadvantage"...

The Head Maid was speechless.

That was not what she was talking about!

"Oh, for this size, it should be just right," Ye Cheng blinked, giving a very fair and honest assessment.

The Head Maid smiled. "Is that so? That's wonderful."

Although the two of them were completely on different wavelengths, it didn't matter at all whether they were on the same wavelength or not.

After speaking... the Head Maid grabbed Ye Cheng by the neck.

"You idiot who can't answer a question properly, you self-righteous bastard, you brawny bullfrog..." The Head Maid began a display of national essence cursing, but the more civilized kind.

It was clearly different from Ye Cheng's style of cursing, which used someone's mother as the center and their entire family tree as the radius.

After being "enlightened" by Ye Cheng previously, the Head Maid had come to a realization: for certain shameless bastards, you just had to use this primitive method. Reasoning with them was useless!

The Head Maid and Ye Cheng put on a scene in the hospital room, a Dahai City version of "The Simpsons." Right now, the Head Maid was the angry Homer, and Ye Cheng was the mischievous Bart.

A suffocating feeling like being constricted by a python.

Being strangled by the neck and shaken back and forth by the Head Maid as she executed righteous judgment, Ye Cheng had his tongue hanging out, looking half-dead...

"Ahhh, I won't tell you anything, ahhh..."

Here, Ye Cheng deserved a meme of being strapped to an electric chair and shocked. The process might be a bit different, but his stubbornness and absurdity were even more extreme.

Meanwhile.

In another hospital room.

Tang Shouye led a large group of people into the room first. By sheer coincidence, Li Juan, who had just gone out to call a doctor, also returned, bringing a whole bunch of doctors with her.

A crowd of people entered the room.

Li Erhe appeared the most agitated, especially when he saw his daughter sitting motionless on the bed as if she had lost her soul. His eyes turned red.

"Mengmeng!" Li Erhe cried out emotionally.

"It's Dad's fault..."

His voice carried a choke and deep guilt. The elegant woman beside him also hurried forward, staying by her husband's side to softly comfort him.

Dongfang Zhixia frowned tightly, standing not far away and watching. Suddenly, she felt as if someone was tugging at her clothes from behind. Turning her head in slight confusion, she met Shen Qinghan's eyes.

"What exactly happened today?" Shen Qinghan asked in a very calm voice, glancing at the little secretary sitting blankly on the bed.

She originally thought the girl was just ordinarily frightened, but after watching for a while, she realized the situation wasn't that simple. She also seemed to somewhat understand why Tang Shouye had brought so many strange people over.

Dongfang Zhixia shook off Shen Qinghan's hand that was gripping her clothes and scoffed, "How should I know?"

Actually, she did know. She had already gotten her hands on the surveillance footage, but she absolutely could not let Shen Qinghan see it now. Otherwise, things would become even more troublesome. Playing dumb was undoubtedly the best solution.

Shen Qinghan calmly met the impatient gaze of Dongfang Zhixia for a moment. "You know."

Dongfang Zhixia's heart skipped a beat.

This girl...

"Heh, if you want to act crazy, go somewhere else. You'd better not make a scene here, or don't blame me for what happens!" Dongfang Zhixia avoided the question, choosing not to dwell on the matter. She understood the simple truth that the more you say, the more mistakes you make.

"If you want to watch, stay quiet on the side. If not, then leave."

Dongfang Zhixia scoffed again. After saying that, she ignored Shen Qinghan and focused her attention on the little secretary.

Shen Qinghan spoke calmly, "That idiot ended up like this because of her, right?"

Dongfang Zhixia: "..."

Tsk... how annoying. As expected, I couldn't hide it from her.

Dongfang Zhixia knew the truth would be exposed soon, but she didn't expect it to happen this quickly. Although Shen Qinghan was an aloof, socially withdrawn person, her IQ was maxed out. You couldn't find any flaws in her intelligence.

"I'll give you two choices."

"First, I won't pursue this any further and we turn the page on this matter. But from today onwards, you are never to bother him again."

"Second, I will investigate this matter to the very end."

She didn't spell it out, but both of them knew exactly what she meant. Dongfang Zhixia clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "Do you think I'm afraid of you?"

Shen Qinghan looked at Dongfang Zhixia with a calm expression, having no intention of responding to the provocation. "I'll only give you one minute to consider. Once time is up, I will begin."

Whether it was Shen Qinghan or Dongfang Zhixia, neither would let the other lead them by the nose. Even if they were temporarily led astray, they would realize it immediately and get back on track.

Dongfang Zhixia wanted to use the sheer scale and power of the Dongfang family as a bargaining chip to suppress Shen Qinghan.

She didn't want to pick either of the two options Shen Qinghan presented, but Shen Qinghan completely ignored her maneuvers, only providing the options: either you make a choice, or I will choose for you!

The top-tier qualities of the two prominent young ladies were immediately on display.

Normally, they wouldn't escalate minor squabbles, but once their core interests were touched, both would turn hostile faster than the other... Who has time to play house with you?

They would strike you down without hesitation!

"Our preliminary judgment is that it is a case of soul loss syndrome caused by excessive shock. She has no obvious reactions to external stimuli, but her bodily functions are normal..."

While Shen Qinghan and Dongfang Zhixia were confronting each other, the professional medical team inside the room delivered their diagnosis, and the results echoed throughout the room.

Soul loss syndrome, just as the eldest miss had anticipated... a rather troublesome illness. If not handled properly, she could be like this for the rest of her life.

It was easy to solve, but also genuinely difficult to manage. Medication could help, but combined with the companionship of loved ones, they needed to find the trigger and call her soul back.

Of course, this was a rather mystical way of putting it, but it was the truth. Medicine could only assist; they still needed the right person.

Upon hearing keywords like "companionship of loved ones," Li Erhe took the lead, appearing extremely agitated.

"Doctor, how do you need me to cooperate!"

"I beg you, you must save my daughter!"

The doctor nodded, looking at the large, dense crowd around them, feeling a bit pressured. "Are all the people the patient is normally close to here? If so, let's begin. One by one, everyone will call out to the patient using the name they normally use, and we will assess..."

The process was very simple. They would line up and take turns, seeing whose voice elicited the biggest reaction from the little secretary. Whoever got the biggest response would stay to assist with some professional treatment procedures, and there was a high chance of success!

Li Erhe, having volunteered, naturally went first. He said a whole bunch of things, but... it had no effect.

Even the doctor couldn't bear to watch anymore. "Uh, let's switch to the next person, next..."

"Let me try again, Doctor. My daughter is closest to me. My voice must have been too soft just now, let me try again!" For some reason, Li Erhe's voice sounded even more heartbroken.

It gave off the vibe of a loving old father asking his young daughter whether she liked daddy or mommy more, only for her to answer that she liked the little blonde delinquent at kindergarten... It hurt, it hurt too much!

Doctor: "..."

"It's better to be as quick as possible. Wasting time will delay the patient's optimal treatment window," the doctor said after a moment of silence.

What?

It would delay her treatment time?

Li Erhe shuddered and scrambled to the side, no longer asking to try again. "Quick, next, next!"

Everyone: "..."

So you knew you were just wasting time...

Some people are just like that. If you tell them they have kidney deficiency, they'll get angry and call you a quack. But if you tell them it can be cured, they'll immediately fall to their knees with a sincere attitude, apologizing for speaking a bit too loudly earlier...

Li Erhe simply didn't want to believe that he, as her father, wasn't the "key person" who could call his daughter back. It wasn't that he genuinely didn't understand his calling was useless; he was just deceiving himself, hoping for some kind of miracle to happen.

As soon as he heard that he was delaying her treatment, he immediately fell in line.

The large crowd in the ward began to try one by one, from Li Erhe to the elegant lady, then the two younger sisters, and then Tang Shouye... Even the youngest son, who was eating a lollipop on the side, was called over to shout a couple of times.

The results were not very good; there was no significant change. The clever Li Erhe seemed to think of something. Grasping at the last straw, he began to search the room for a certain figure.

Soon, he locked onto Dongfang Zhixia, who was standing in an inconspicuous spot in the crowd, inexplicably lost in thought.

Beside her, the eldest miss was nowhere to be seen. Dongfang Zhixia had already made her choice between the two options Shen Qinghan provided, but... she felt somewhat dazed about the outcome of her choice.

Her chest felt tight, an indescribable sensation. She was a little bewildered... Why was it like this?

"Eldest Miss Dongfang, I beg you, please help Mengmeng!" Li Erhe's highly sincere voice echoed in Dongfang Zhixia's ears, pulling her back to reality. The sharp pain in her chest temporarily vanished.

Coming back to her senses, she realized that everyone around her was looking at her.

Li Erhe hurriedly invited Dongfang Zhixia over. Even with the massive scale of the Dongfang family, it shouldn't have been enough to make Li Erhe, the helmsman representing the Li Group, act with such a "humble" attitude.

The real reason lay with the little secretary. Over the years, his daughter had caused them quite a bit of trouble, so lowering his attitude was very necessary. This was what he owed them.

Because of this.

Li Erhe didn't address her as "Niece Zhixia" like Tang Shouye did, but instead called her Eldest Miss. This was not only because he lacked the layer of relationship that the Tang family had, but even more so because of the debt he felt regarding his daughter.

Dongfang Zhixia did not say anything and simply nodded. She had heard the method the doctor just mentioned, but she had not gone over to line up, thinking she would finish dealing with Shen Qinghan's matters first before going.

Now... the timing was just right.

Silently, the seed of guilt that had been unintentionally planted in Dongfang Zhixia's heart earlier was growing rapidly, at a terrifying speed... Because of the choice she had to make, the weight of guilt in her heart had grown heavier.

She... had chosen her own idiot...

It was supposed to be like this, and this was supposed to be the most correct choice. So why... why did she feel so resentful? Why did she have to...

Countless thoughts seemed pale and powerless in the face of the final choice, and the weight of her guilt would only continue to grow...

Her choice was not wrong, but... why did she feel so awful?

Dongfang Zhixia stepped forward and called out softly, "Mengmeng..."

Drip, drop...

"Miss..."

This time there was finally a response. It was incredibly faint, yet it served as a blinding ray of light piercing through the darkness. Tears fell, and everyone around them was overwhelmed with excitement, but soon after, it felt as though a basin of cold water had been poured over them all over again...

...

In the corridor.

Tap, tap, tap. Shen Qinghan walked back toward the room with steady, light footsteps and then came to a halt.

She looked a short distance away at the little pink-headed thing pressing against the door of Ye Cheng's ward. Was she eavesdropping?

Shen Qinghan: "..."