Pushed by the rare and full night's sleep, Qin Can Can felt a sense of long-lost energy.
Then, after regaining her energy, she heard Liu Chen tell her she had surgery scheduled for that afternoon.
"Huh?"
Qin Can Can's eyes went blank again, and it took a while before she found her voice:
"But... I..."
Qin Can Can lowered her head and bit her lips.
"I don't have much money. My parents have both remarried and started their own families, and they haven't transferred money to me in a long time. I, I'm already in my twenties, so I shouldn't really need them to send me money.
Besides, when they divorced, they changed a one-bedroom apartment into my name. Honestly, I don't have much to complain about."
Despite saying she had nothing to complain about, Qin Can Can's eyes betrayed a deep loneliness.
Liu Chen didn't pry further, only mentioning that Jiang Demin had called, and she had already helped request a week's leave for Qin Can Can.
"Hey? But the bald old man is hard to persuade to grant leave. The last time a senior student had a car accident on the way, he still told them to get bandaged up and come to the lab immediately."
Speaking of this, Qin Can Can still felt indignant.
"You don't know how hard that senior student worked! To earn tuition and living expenses, he worked in Beijing during winter and summer breaks. Of course, the bald old man doesn't know that. If he found out the senior student was in Beijing, he'd drag him back to do unpaid work. Then if he couldn't pay tuition or afford food, he wouldn't care!
To save money, ever since I met him, I've never seen that senior student wear new clothes. In Beijing's cold weather, he would just keep wearing those two cotton jackets, alternating them. It's too pitiful!
But I don't have much money either, so I can't help him much. Sigh!"
Hearing this familiar description, Liu Chen fell silent.
"The senior student you're talking about, isn't it Jiang Huai?"
As Liu Chen spoke the name, Qin Can Can's usually dazed eyes widened instantly, as if to say, How did you know!
Liu Chen thought for a moment, then explained her connection to Jiang Huai, mentioning how she overheard Jiang Demin scolding Jiang Huai in a small grove one day and that Jiang Huai was indeed wearing thin clothes, which led her to guess.
"I'll pay for the surgery first. Hey, don't worry, I know Sister Can Can, you're a Shui Mu University PhD student. Once you start working, you can pay me back quickly."
Hearing that the surgery fees had been covered by her new roommate, Qin Can Can's face turned crimson with embarrassment. She fiddled with the quilt covering her and hesitantly said,
"Then, then when I graduate, I'll definitely save up quickly and pay you back!"
Thinking of Qin Can Can's computer science PhD, Liu Chen's eyes flickered, and an idea struck her.
"Senior sister, if you'd like, I can recommend you to Xinghai Technology Company. Wait a moment, let me see if I have his business card."
Liu Chen pretended to search her pockets, but in reality, she pulled out Ren Yu's business card from her system inventory and handed it to Qin Can Can.
Qin Can Can held the business card, her face alight with joy. The two chatted for a while longer when a nurse announced that the surgery would be brought forward. Qin Can Can's grip on Liu Chen's hand tightened slightly.
"Sister Can Can, it's just a minor surgery. You need to trust the hospital and the doctors."
Tears of fear welled up in Qin Can Can's eyes, but after hearing Liu Chen's words, she nodded resolutely.
"I, I trust them!"
The doctor estimated the surgery to take an hour and a half. Liu Chen used this time to return to Shui Mu University to change and attend class. After two classes, she hurried back to the operating room.
Coincidentally, Qin Can Can was being wheeled out on a gurney after her surgery. Possibly due to the anesthesia, Qin Can Can, usually shy, was now chatting animatedly with the orderly on the gurney.
While "chatting," it was mostly Qin Can Can talking, with the orderly occasionally interjecting with "Mm," and "Mhm."
"Actually, I've liked Senior Huai for a long time. I think he likes me too, but we're both so poor that we don't dare to date."
"Last winter, I was working part-time and wanted to buy Senior Huai a down jacket. But because I was late once due to a fever, the bald old man fined me five hundred yuan, and I also had to pay for a doctor's visit, so I couldn't buy it."
"Sometimes I really don't know if reading so much is the right thing to do. I wish I could be like others, go shopping and dress up, but Senior Huai said I look more beautiful than a celebrity when I'm focused on my work."
"I know Senior Huai is just flattering me... Ah!!! Liu Chen, why are you here?"
Instantly, Qin Can Can, who had been chattering away, turned into a speechless doll. Her face turned an even deeper shade of red, and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
She adopted the attitude of "If I don't look at you, you won't have heard what I just said."
"Sister Can Can, I heard everything just now, but... I think I did something bad..."
Hearing Liu Chen say she did something bad, Qin Can Can couldn't help but open her eyes and look at her curiously.
Liu Chen cleared her throat twice. "Well, I told Senior Huai Jiang that he could come work at the company in C City."
Qin Can Can froze for a moment upon hearing this. She didn't understand. This was clearly a good thing, so why would her junior say she did something bad?
It meant Senior Huai was going to C City, and she would remain at Shenhai Technology. In the future, they would be so far apart, and there would likely be even less chance for them.
Huh?
Perhaps due to the lingering effects of the anesthesia, Qin Can Can only then realized what her junior, Liu Chen, meant by "doing something bad."
At that moment, her face turned even more crimson, and she resolved to never speak again.
For aesthetic reasons, Liu Chen opted for the more expensive minimally invasive procedure, even using cosmetic sutures. Seeing Qin Can Can's animated expression, she was quite certain the anesthesia was not an issue.
After the surgery, Qin Can Can insisted that Liu Chen return to class, saying she could manage on her own, so Liu Chen wouldn't let her studies be delayed because of her.
In the end, Liu Chen spent money and, following the nurse's recommendation, hired a caregiver, Auntie Xie, who was in her forties, agreeing on a price of one hundred yuan per day to care for Qin Can Can for a week.
Since Auntie Xie was a long-term hospital caregiver, Liu Chen wasn't worried about her running off with the money. She paid for the entire seven days upfront.
"Auntie Xie, please take good care of her. This hundred yuan is for your and senior sister's meals. Also, for things like washcloths and basins, just buy what's needed. I'll reimburse you when I come over in the evening."
After giving instructions, Liu Chen led Auntie Xie to Qin Can Can's hospital bed.
"Auntie Xie, this is my senior sister, Qin Can Can. Please take good care of her."
Holding eight hundred yuan, Auntie Xie looked at the frail-looking young girl on the bed and smiled even more warmly.
"Oh, I understand. Miss Liu, you should go. Don't let your studies be delayed."
Liu Chen, ignoring Qin Can Can's confused and embarrassed look at Auntie Xie, bid farewell and headed back to school with her backpack.
As for the phone call that morning, Liu Chen thought the matter would be over once she turned off her phone.
After all, Jiang Demin had the evidence she gave to Elder Shen, and he wouldn't be able to cause trouble for much longer.
However, a few days later, Liu Chen saw this "grasshopper" at her dormitory door.
Liu Chen returned to her dorm after class, intending to bring Qin Can Can some clean clothes, when she saw Jiang Demin.
Clearly, Jiang Demin recognized Liu Chen. It wasn't because of a good memory, but purely because Liu Chen was beautiful and dressed expensively, making her hard to forget.
Then, he realized, this was the female student who dared to hang up on him!
Thinking of this, Jiang Demin, with a grim expression, pointed a finger at Liu Chen and said, "You, take me to Qin Can Can right now! This is an outrage! Skipping work for so many days without a word! Turning off your phone when I called! Do I, a teacher, have to come and fetch her myself?!"
Liu Chen looked at the finger wagging in front of her, raised an eyebrow, and spoke without hesitation,
"Who are you? This is the dormitory for female PhD students. How did you, a pervert, get in here? I'm calling the police!"
As she spoke, Liu Chen took two steps back, looking at Jiang Demin warily, and quickly took out her phone, pretending to dial 110.
Jiang Demin saw that the brat wasn't bluffing and was actually dialing the emergency number, so he quickly raised his hands.
"I, it's me! Professor Jiang Demin! I'm Qin Can Can's doctoral supervisor! I came here to find Qin Can Can. Her phone has been off for days, so I came to the dorm to see if she'd run off."
Liu Chen looked at him with feigned disbelief, keeping her phone in her hand.
"Then you've come to the wrong place. I've been in the dorm these past few days and haven't seen Senior Qin Can Can."
Liu Chen said this with complete frankness. She was telling the truth; Qin Can Can had been in the hospital all these days, and Liu Chen would even go out to have dinner with her after changing clothes.
"You were the roommate who called to ask for leave earlier, weren't you? Open the dorm room door, I suspect Qin Can Can is hiding inside!"
Liu Chen found Jiang Demin's persistence in wanting to enter the dorm strange.
Based on what she and Senior Qin Can Can had discussed over the past few days, Jiang Demin wasn't the kind of professor who would diligently go to the dorm of absent students to catch them.
At most, he would fine students who returned after being absent. This was because he knew that if they wanted to graduate, they would need his approval.
Unless... Jiang Demin's original intention wasn't to find Qin Can Can, but to find something within Qin Can Can's dorm, something he thought he could find directly, and he was in a hurry, willing to wait in the cold, dark, and long corridor without heating.
With this thought, Liu Chen became even more determined not to let Jiang Demin into the dorm.
With that in mind, Liu Chen took out her house keys from C City and started to unlock the dorm door. Jiang Demin saw Liu Chen finally obey and his expression softened slightly.
"Huh? This key seems to be the wrong one?"
Liu Chen pulled out the key, held it in front of her, seemingly examining it closely, and then confirmed,
"This is not my key."
Then, without looking back, she turned and headed towards the stairs.
Jiang Demin wasn't stupid; he was quite intelligent, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to skim student bonuses and allowances for so many years without getting caught.
He immediately understood that this female student was deliberately preventing him from entering the dorm. Thinking of this, Jiang Demin stood in the dim corridor, raised his right arm, and pointed a finger at Liu Chen's retreating back, shouting,
"Open the door! Otherwise, I'll give you a demerit today!"
Liu Chen, who was walking, paused and then turned back.
"Come and open the door! Don't joke with your teacher! Or you'll never get your PhD!"
Hearing this, Liu Chen's smile widened.
"I thought you were going to say something else. So this is your threat? Tsk!"
After scoffing, Liu Chen turned and continued towards the elevator doors.
Seeing the female student with the dorm key leave like that, and even daring to laugh at him, Jiang Demin was so enraged that he felt smoke rising from his head. But thinking of the student's expensive brand-name clothes, the urge to rush up and slap her was extinguished.
Liu Chen stood at the elevator door, still puzzled. Why was Jiang Demin so patient?
She had mocked him so much, yet he could still refrain from snatching the key?
Why?
"Ding."
The dorm elevator opened. Liu Chen glanced at the locksmith who was standing inside and about to get out. In an instant, she understood.
This damn Jiang Demin, no wonder he could endure everything when she provoked him. He wasn't waiting for her, Qin Can Can's roommate, to return; he was waiting for the locksmith!
Liu Chen's mind was quick, and her actions were even quicker. She pulled the locksmith back into the elevator, closed the elevator doors, and pressed the button for the first floor.
The locksmith, Master Huang, was stunned by the sudden series of actions. As the elevator descended, Master Huang quickly pressed the previous floor button again.
"Master, you should know this is a female dormitory, right?"
Master Huang nodded. The administrator downstairs had checked thoroughly before allowing him in.
"Was it a man who called you and asked you to open the dorm room?"
Master Huang immediately nodded. He had been wondering why the administrator said there were only female students inside, and yet the person who called him to open the door was a man.
Seeing the confusion on Master Huang's face after he nodded, Liu Chen began to spin a tale.
"Please don't go. The person who called you to open the door is my roommate's ex-boyfriend. He wants you to open the door so he can smash the things he gave to my roommate.
But think about it, once things are given away, do they still belong to you?"
Master Huang shook his head. "Certainly not."
Liu Chen nodded. "Exactly. He saw me come back just now and asked me to open the door. I pretended to have lost my key. Why? Because if I open the door, and something inside gets broken, I might have to pay for it too. Why should I?"
Hearing this, Master Huang instantly understood why the young girl had pushed him back into the elevator. He thanked the young female student for her advice and took back his ID card from the administrator before preparing to leave.
The administrator, wondering why the locksmith had returned so soon after going down, saw a beautiful young female student walking with the locksmith. He thought, perhaps the dorm lock was too simple for the locksmith, and he opened it immediately?
After seeing the locksmith off, Liu Chen called Auntie Xie, the caregiver, and asked her to put Qin Can Can on the phone.
Upon learning that Jiang Demin had actually called a locksmith to open the dorm, Qin Can Can was also puzzled. After pondering for a long time, she suddenly realized,
"His safe key! He keeps a lot of sealed documents in a safe. He says it's confidential, but he has to open it every day to look.
He's afraid of losing the key, and since I'm always in the lab, he lets me keep it. Because the safe can only be opened with both the key and the password, he's not afraid I'll steal it.
But it's useless for him to enter the dorm, that key is with me right now."