Chapter 217: A Person Without Self-Respect is Like Rotten Cabbage
Unable to pretend to be asleep any longer, Jiang Ruihao was utterly exasperated. "Ru Yan, don’t you know your uncle is seriously injured and needs to rest?"
"But you’re awake now, aren’t you? And besides, your favorite niece is being bullied!" Jiang Ruyan said without a care, even stomping her foot for emphasis.
Jiang Ruihao suppressed his rage. Getting angry sent waves of pain through his body, so he could only speak weakly.
"Ru Yan, your uncle is really not feeling well right now. Can you just let me sleep in peace for a little while?"
"No way!" Jiang Ruyan refused without a second thought, her expression defiant and childish.
Jiang Ruihao wanted to just close his eyes and ignore his niece, but he was afraid the clueless fool would make a scene.
Both he and his sons had served in the military. His eldest son later retired and went into politics. His second younger brother, originally a teacher, was a skilled social climber and was now also in politics.
This niece was the only girl in their generation of the Jiang Family. He, his brother, his sons, and his nephews had all spoiled her rotten.
In the end, all that spoiling just made her utterly unreasonable!
’She was always a bit pampered, but if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes today, Jiang Ruihao would never have believed his niece could be so arrogant and domineering.’
’If he were healthy, he would have done exactly as Divine Doctor Su Gu suggested and thrown this idiot out.’
But now he was stuck in bed, weak and recuperating. After a moment’s hesitation, he asked Jiang Ruyan, "So... what is it that you want?"
Jiang Ruyan looked like a spoiled brat who couldn’t be reasoned with. "Hmph. I want them punished, and punished properly."
"Everyone else is working while you’re messing around. What gives you the right to punish them?"
Jiang Ruihao had spoiled this niece for too long; he couldn’t bring himself to be harsh with her just yet. So, he tried to reason with her.
"I don’t care! You all love me so much, don’t you? So either fire all of them, or figure out a way for me to marry Xia Qiuming."
Jiang Ruyan enunciated every word clearly, and her entitled attitude made Jiang Ruihao’s heart turn cold.
Jiang Ruihao’s face instantly turned as black as a skillet. He lowered his voice and roared, "Ru Yan, do you have any idea what nonsense you’re spouting? Neither of those things is possible!"
"Why not? Uncle, I know you’re still mad at me for refusing to marry that cripple, Su Shuochi."
"It’s not that I was unwilling to marry him, it’s that he’s already a cripple. He’s not worthy of my unparalleled beauty."
"All I want now is to marry Xia Qiuming. We’re from the same compound, so how is that impossible? Uncle, I’m begging you!"
Jiang Ruihao closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, a resolute, cold light glinted in their depths. "Ru Yan, don’t force me to give up on you."
Jiang Ruyan froze.
She had never seen her uncle like this. This side of him was so unfamiliar it made her heart race, and she couldn’t help but shudder.
’What did he just say?’
’That he would give up on her?’
For so many years, her own father had been throwing his weight around, relying entirely on the influence of this uncle and her eldest cousin.
’She knew her uncle was a man of his word. If she had been obedient back then and married Su Shuochi, helping her uncle repay his debt... perhaps her uncle would never have abandoned their branch of the family. But when her father refused the marriage back then, he had said so many awful things!’
Jiang Ruyan stood stunned for a few seconds. Her eyes gradually welled up, and she fought back tears as she tried to explain.
"Uncle, I know you’re upset that I didn’t marry Su Shuochi, but..."
Jiang Ruihao’s gaze turned icy as he cut her off.
"Ru Yan, were you even worthy of Su Shuochi before he was crippled? Why don’t you take a good look at yourself in the mirror."
"Even as a cripple, Su Shuochi is still more than good enough for you!"
"Ru Yan, have you been so spoiled by us for so long that you never imagined this affection could one day disappear?"
"We doted on you, we indulged you, and even when you did something wrong, we never truly punished you."
"Is that why you’ve become so audacious, thinking you can do and say whatever you want?"
"AHH— AHH—"
Jiang Ruyan shrieked, tears finally streaming down her face. ’How could her uncle say such things to her?’
"A person’s worth lies in self-awareness and self-respect, do you understand? A person without self-respect is like rotten cabbage."
"The Jiang Family has no room for someone as conceited as you. Now get out!"
Jiang Ruyan bit her lip, her eyes filled with hatred as she stared daggers at Jiang Ruihao on the hospital bed.
She clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging so deeply into her palms that they drew blood.
’She swore to herself that she would marry a man of power and influence, and one day, she would stomp her uncle’s family into the mud.’
Unwilling to stay a moment longer, Jiang Ruyan ran out, sobbing.
The injured patient in the next bed, who had previously been the same rank as Jiang Ruihao but was promoted last year, turned to look at him after hearing the exchange.
’Now this was a man worthy of being the commander of a Zhan Lang,’ he thought. He knew Su Shuochi as well and admired him greatly.
’He had been just about to promote Su Shuochi and bring him under his command, but unfortunately, the man was crippled.’
’Even back then, he had felt that Su Shuochi was like an emotionless blade that only knew how to charge headfirst into a fight.’
’Steel that is too hard is easily broken. And sure enough, he broke.’
’This Jiang Ruihao, on the other hand, was quite impressive. He could tolerate his spoiled, unreasonable niece to a degree without blindly indulging her.’
"Jiang Ruihao, you’re not bad at all."
He suddenly curled his lips into a smile, a smile that sent a chill down Jiang Ruihao’s spine.
"Thank you for the compliment," Jiang Ruihao said flatly before closing his eyes. He was in no mood to chat.
The medical students who had witnessed the entire exchange were deeply impressed by the officer’s fairness and integrity.
They gave a deep bow toward the hospital bed and quietly exited the room.
Only Xia Qiuming and two military doctors remained in the ward, tasked with caring for the other seriously injured patient.
The patient’s low-grade fever gradually spiked into a high one. By the time dawn broke, his fever still hadn’t subsided.
"Professor Xia, we’ve already given him two shots to reduce the fever. If it doesn’t break soon, he could suffer brain damage. What do we do?"
"You two stay here and keep watch. I’ll go get Divine Doctor Su Gu to take a look," Xia Qiuming said, then dashed off like a gust of wind.
"Will it help even if Divine Doctor Su Gu comes? Wasn’t she the one who left this fever-reducing medicine in the first place?"
one of the doctors whispered to the other.
"Divine Doctor Su Gu will definitely have a way. She’s incredible."
Soon, Gu Jiaojiao arrived with Xia Qiuming. The moment she took the patient’s pulse, she knew the poison in his body had become active again.
If she didn’t expel the poison now, this patient would end up like Su Shuochi, his nerves burned out by the toxins.
Without another word, Gu Jiaojiao took out her silver needles and deftly inserted several of them with a few swift motions. After all, she had detoxified Su Shuochi once before.
She knew how potent this poison was. Only when the ends of the needles had turned black did Gu Jiaojiao remove them.
"Bring a basin of hot water to wipe the patient down. He’ll be waking up soon."
Just as Gu Jiaojiao finished speaking, the patient’s eyes fluttered open. The first thing he saw was a woman as beautiful as a celestial fairy.
’So I even get to go to heaven after dying, haha...’
"You’re awake. Are you feeling any particular discomfort?" Gu Jiaojiao asked, noticing the patient’s smug expression.
’Could the poison have already reached his brain?!’