A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1088 Visiting Lin Peishan

As soon as the school bell rang, more than twenty students squeezed into two hired rickshaws and headed to Mary Hospital. It was Gui'er's first time visiting Mary Hospital. The hospital was located in the hillside, with red brick walls covered in ivy. Nurses in white coats stood at the entrance, holding medical record folders and talking in hushed tones in a mix of Cantonese and English.

As soon as they arrived at the doctor's door, they saw the Lin family's butler waiting there, carrying a food box. When he saw the students, he forced a smile and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but Miss Peishan has just had surgery and the doctor said she needs to rest. It is really inconvenient for her to receive guests."

"We'll just take a look, we won't say anything," a girl said urgently, clutching a newly bought apple in her hand, saying it was to "replenish Lin Peishan's energy."

The housekeeper frowned in embarrassment. Just as they were at an impasse, a man in a suit came out. He was Mr. Lin, Lin Peishan's father. His eyes were dark and swollen. When he saw everyone, he said in a deep voice, "Let the children go in. Just let them take a look from outside the ward. Don't disturb her."

The ward was on the second floor, the corridor paved with polished wooden floors; even slightly heavy footsteps would draw glares from the nurses. Through the small glass window in the door, Gui'er saw Lin Peishan lying on the bed, her head wrapped in thick bandages, one leg in a cast and sling, her face as white as paper. Her mother sat by the bed, moistening her lips with a cotton swab dipped in water; seeing the figure outside the window, she gently shook her head.

"How pitiful, so badly injured..." A girl covered her mouth, her eyes reddening.

Liu Lanfang stood at the back, not saying a word, just staring at the IV drip in the ward, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

The butler whispered, "The doctor said Miss Peishan suffered a concussion and a broken left leg, but thankfully no internal organs were damaged. However... she hasn't spoken since waking up, probably because she was frightened."

Gui'er felt as if her heart was being squeezed, making it hard to breathe. She wanted to cry her heart out, but she couldn't show it in front of so many people.

As she was looking out the window, Lin Peishan suddenly opened her eyes and stared straight ahead. Her gaze swept over the concerned faces, finally settling on Gui'er. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but she was interrupted by the nurse who came in to change her dressing. The nurse drew the curtains, blocking all the outside world's view.

"Thank you all for coming to visit, but my daughter's condition is not very good right now, and she can't properly entertain guests. Please leave so she can rest." Mr. Lin sighed and gestured for the butler to see everyone out.

As Gui'er went downstairs, she deliberately lagged behind. When she passed the nurses' station, she heard two nurses talking in English: "The lady in bed 307 kept saying 'truck...it wasn't an accident' when she woke up this morning. Her father heard her and told us not to tell anyone."

Gui'er paused, her heart pounding as if struck by something. It wasn't an accident after all. She glanced back at the second-floor window; the curtains were tightly drawn, like a wall separating life and death.

As they left the hospital, dusk was already falling. The students were still discussing Lin Peishan's injuries when Liu Lanfang suddenly said, "My dad knows the hospital director. I'll come back tomorrow to check on her and let you know if I have any news."

The other classmates all agreed and praised what she heard, but for some reason, Gui'er felt a tightness in her chest. In such a tense atmosphere, this had happened. It was hard for her to believe it was an accident.

After leaving the hospital, the classmates went their separate ways. Liu Lanfang turned back to Gui'er and said, "Gui'er, let me take you home. My driver has already brought the car over."

Gui'er looked at the other classmates at the hospital entrance; some were riding in rickshaws together, while others had called their families to pick them up in their cars.

To avoid drawing attention, she secretly called home beforehand to ask Acheng not to drive to the school gate to pick her up today, as she had originally planned to call a rickshaw to go home.

"Oh, no need. We're going in different directions anyway. It'll be easy for me to call a rickshaw."

"No need to be so polite. It's just a car ride, even if you turn a corner, it won't take long. Look at Pei-Shan, she got into a car accident, wouldn't it be even worse if she took a rickshaw? Let me take her."

Gui'er really didn't want Liu Lanfang to come to her house, and was racking her brains for an excuse.

"Miss, you've visited Miss Lin. How is she?"

At this moment, Wu Mingqiang slowly walked over from a distance: "Acheng said you were going to visit a friend today and didn't need him to pick you up. I thought it was inconvenient for you to come out of the hospital, so I came to pick you up. And this is...?"

"My classmate Liu Lanfang."

"Hello Liu, that must be your driver over there. I think he's been waiting there for quite a while." Wu Mingqiang pointed to the car parked at the hospital entrance.

Liu Lanfang was stunned. She asked Gui'er, "Gui'er, is this your brother?"

"This is our housekeeper, surnamed Wu." Gui'er breathed a sigh of relief, finally she didn't have to ride in Liu Lanfang's car anymore.

“Mr. Wu doesn’t look like a butler at all. I thought he was your brother,” Liu Lanfang said with a smile.

"Miss Liu, you flatter me. My car is parked here, so we'll take our leave now. Miss, this way please."

Once in the car, Gui'er looked into the distance and saw that Liu Lanfang had also gotten into her car, but she kept glancing in her direction. She quickly pretended not to see her and said to Wu Mingqiang, "Brother Wu, drive quickly."

After the car had driven a distance, Gui'er turned around and looked through the car window to make sure no car was following her before she breathed a sigh of relief.

"That woman just now was the Liu student you mentioned. She certainly looked wealthy, like a young lady from a rich family. By the way, Miss Lin, what do you think?"

Gui'er was in no mood to answer Wu Mingqiang's question at this moment. Chen Zhongyu was dead, what would happen to so many contact points? Many of these contact points only had direct contact with him, so she had to notify the higher-level organization immediately.

"Brother Wu, go to Xinmin Bookstore right away."

“No need to go. Acheng came back and told me that Chen Zhongyu was dead, so I went to see him. His partner probably ran away. The car accident happened this morning. The shop owners around here said that he hurriedly closed his shop and left before noon and never came back.”

Gui'er felt relieved after hearing this. Liang Ping must have received the news and packed up to move away. But in doing so, she was like a kite with a broken string, unable to contact anyone.

She had helped pass on messages since she was a child, but this was the first time she had completely lost contact with the organization and had no way to contact them. This made her feel like she was floating in the air, with no place to land.

Gui'er tried hard to suppress the emotions welling up in her heart. She said to Wu Mingqiang, "Brother Chen is dead. I don't know if anyone is handling his funeral arrangements. Brother Wu, could you help me find out? He doesn't have any relatives here. If it really comes to that, we might have to take care of his funeral arrangements ourselves."