Chapter 216: She Won
She watched in the direction Song Qingya had gone, the faintest smile gracing her lips.
The smile vanished in an instant.
"Doctor Qi, do you think I’m stupid?"
"What good would it do me to rat you out?"
She slowly raised her eyes, her gaze fixed directly on Qi Yuanyuan.
"I have nothing. My job is the lowest of the low—a janitor. If I reported you, what would I get besides being told they’ll ’look into it’? Who would believe a word I say?"
"You’re a surgeon, Director Qi’s precious daughter. And me? I’m just a janitor who sweeps the floors."
As she spoke, she gently wrung the rag in her hands.
A droplet of water fell onto the floor tile with a soft plink.
"If I really dragged you into this, at most you’d get a reprimand. But me? I’d be fired immediately and thrown out of the hospital!"
"You think the hospital president would go after the Qi Family’s young miss for a mere janitor like me? Dream on! They’d just say I’m acting on a personal grudge, slandering a doctor, and then they’d kick me to the curb!"
Hearing this, Qi Yuanyuan immediately understood her meaning. Her raised hand froze in mid-air.
She had intended to question her forcefully, but now she was suddenly speechless.
’This woman... she’s far too calculating.’
Qi Yuanyuan felt a chill crawl up her spine.
She had always thought Yang Meiling was just an ordinary cleaner, someone to be ordered around, completely harmless.
But now she realized the woman was more deeply hidden and far more ruthless than anyone.
She collected herself, took a deep breath, and suppressed the panic in her heart.
She forced a strained smile, trying to regain control of the situation.
"Meiling, I owe you one."
"How about this: what do you want? As long as it’s something I can do, just name it."
Her tone softened, laced with a hint of cautious flattery.
"I know things aren’t easy for you. If you really need help with something, as long as it doesn’t cross any lines, I’m willing to do my best."
"As long as... we never mention what happened today ever again."
She added, her voice dropping a few decibels.
Yang Meiling had been waiting a long time to hear those words.
Her fingers slowly caressed the mop handle, a flicker in her eyes.
’Finally, the moment has come.’
She had won the first step of this game.
"What I want is something you can definitely do, Doctor Qi."
She straightened up, no longer looking down, and faced Qi Yuanyuan directly.
"You have a noble status and extensive connections. Some things are a trivial effort for you."
"Mr. Fei... You’re still thinking about him, aren’t you?"
Qi Yuanyuan’s heart clenched, and her face paled slightly.
Her pupils contracted, her breath hitched, and she subconsciously took half a step back, her voice trembling.
"You... How do you know?"
"Fei Jin... has never even given me a proper look."
She lowered her head, a hint of bitterness in her tone.
"I don’t think I’m bad-looking, and my family background is decent, but every time he sees me, it’s like he’s looking right through me."
"The last time I went out of my way to talk to him, he actually warned me to stay away. The look in his eyes... it was filled with disgust."
That day, she had run into him in the hospital corridor, worked up the courage to hand him a cup of coffee, only to have him coldly push it away.
"Stay away from me. Don’t let me see you again."
People were coming and going all around her, but she stood frozen, holding the cup that had spilled all over the floor.
That incident was utterly humiliating, and it chilled her to the bone.
She had always believed that if she just persevered, she would move him one day.
But reality had slapped her hard across the face.
Not only did she get no response, but she was met with naked disgust instead.
"Heh," Yang Meiling snorted. "That was before."
She let out a cold laugh, a flicker of contempt in her eyes.
"You didn’t lose because you weren’t worthy. You lost because someone was standing in your way."
"With Song Qingya in the picture, of course he wouldn’t give you a second glance."
"From beginning to end, Fei Jin has only had eyes for one person: Song Qingya. She saved him in a field hospital, stayed with him through a life-and-death crisis. How could he possibly be interested in you?"
"But things are different now. I have a way to get you what you want."
She took a step closer, her voice low and her gaze deep and mysterious.
"Just do as I say, and within three months, Fei Jin will come looking for you on his own."
"However, once it’s done, you can’t have them both."
She stared into Qi Yuanyuan’s eyes and said, word by word.
"If you still want to be with him, you must make her disappear completely. Her career at the hospital, her reputation... it doesn’t matter if they’re all ruined, as long as she can never appear by his side again."
Qi Yuanyuan understood instantly.
This wasn’t simple revenge, nor was it ordinary instigation.
Yang Meiling wanted to use her to take down both Song Qingya and Fei Jin!
She wanted to use her to take down both Song Qingya and Fei Jin!
As the thought arose, Qi Yuanyuan’s heart began to pound violently.
She knew that once this plan was set in motion, the consequences would be unimaginable, potentially destroying more than one person’s life.
But... she didn’t dare to act, yet she couldn’t swallow this indignation.
’Why should Song Qingya get all the good things?’
’Song Qingya is just an ordinary doctor from the countryside. On what grounds does she win everyone’s favor?’
’Why does everyone praise her for being kind and brave?’
’And she, Qi Yuanyuan, who grew up in luxury and has outstanding medical skills, can’t even get a second glance?’
After a long moment of struggle, she bit her lip hard.
A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, but she didn’t feel the pain.
Finally, she looked up, a new ruthlessness in her eyes.
"Fine, I’ll team up with you. But you have to promise I won’t be implicated."
A smile lifted the corners of Yang Meiling’s mouth.
"Don’t worry, Doctor Qi. You just do what you need to do. Leave the rest to me."
As dusk fell, Fei Jin, his military uniform crisp and his stride sharp, walked into the hospital’s inpatient building to pick up Song Qingya from work.
The last rays of the setting sun spilled down the end of the corridor, silhouetting his ramrod-straight figure.
His epaulets gleamed faintly in the light, his back as straight and imposing as a pine tree.
Just as he rounded a corner into the main hall, he caught sight of a figure bent over, mopping the floor.
’Yang Meiling?’
Fei Jin’s steps faltered slightly, and he frowned.
He remembered this woman; he had seen her many times in the hospital.
She was always cleaning quietly.
But for some reason, he always felt that something was off whenever he ran into her.
He frowned again, a flash of impatience in his eyes, but he didn’t linger.
But Yang Meiling had already locked her sights on him.
From the moment he stepped into the corridor, her gaze was fixed intently on his back.
Seeing that he wouldn’t even spare her a glance, not even the most basic acknowledgment, a wave of fury rushed to her head with a WHOOSH, making her cheeks burn and her temples throb!
’Why?!’
’Why does Song Qingya get to be held in the palm of his hand, treated with such tenderness, so doted upon that he won’t even spare a fraction of a glance for anyone else?’
’And her, Yang Meiling, a perfectly good nurse! Her education isn’t bad, and her looks are above average, yet she has to be here sweeping the floor with a mop!’
’What’s even more hateful is that she’s here working so hard, and he won’t even give her a proper look!’
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Her chest heaved, and she violently flung the mop.
The wooden handle hit the wall with a CRACK, splattering water everywhere.
She rushed forward in a few strides, her long hair flying, her eyes red-rimmed, and blocked his path.