Miss Wheelchair - Chapter 10

Gu Ci was strikingly beautiful and highly competent; she’d had her share of admirers since childhood.

Small displays of flattery like Tan Xin’s no longer moved her.

“I’ve seen it all. Nothing special.”

She set her laptop on the conference table with a cool, measured hand, pressed the remote, and brought up the projector.

Lu Ran had known her since they were kids—more than twenty years—and she understood that a strong performance at a press conference wouldn’t make Gu Ci suddenly fall for someone. Still, from the upstairs window she’d watched everything clearly, and something about how Gu Ci looked at Tan Xin felt different from the way she looked at others.

“It looked like you were the one who approached her just now. She was at the payment window—at first she didn’t even see you.”

Gu Ci gave a short, frosty hum; her eyes were ice-cold.

“She has tracking software on her phone.”

“Tracking software?” Lu Ran blinked in surprise.

“Yes.” Gu Ci’s expression hardened. “There’s a red exclamation mark on her phone—the kind that warns you when a target is within ten meters.”

As if on cue, Gu Ci’s phone buzzed the moment she moved.

Tracking software wasn’t a joke. Hongkang had been unstoppable in the past two years; beyond its established strength in orthopedics, the cardiology unit Gu Ci headed had begun to shine, producing real research and winning top-level grants. On top of that, Gu Ci held stakes in another biopharma company that focused on R&D—their products were on the market and receiving excellent feedback.

If there really were corporate spies, those research data—

Lu Ran’s face went serious. She probed gently, “You think she’s an industrial spy?”

Gu Ci nodded—no need for words. “I’ve found a tracker on her. It could be on her phone, or on a computer. I’ve called Xiao Zheng—she’ll bring her team over to sweep all of our electronic devices.”

“Good. Check the office computers too.” Lu Ran agreed.

After saying that, Lu Ran fell into thought. After a long moment she pushed up her glasses, hesitated, and opened her mouth.

Gu Ci glanced at her. “You don’t believe it?”

Lu Ran’s features were softer than Gu Ci’s and so was her temperament. “I don’t think Tan Xin would do that.”

Gu Ci opened the meeting files on her laptop while she spoke. She was always cautious—just because Tan Xin didn’t look like a spy didn’t mean there wasn’t one.

“Better to be careful. You’re her attending doctor—keep an eye on her.”

Lu Ran hesitated. “She’s being discharged this afternoon.”

“Afternoon?” Gu Ci repeated, surprised.

“Yes. And the public opinion right now is a little weird.”

“Weird how?”

“You remember the man who declared his feelings for you at the press conference? Tan Xin had a flare-up—she’d rather faint than let that man get close to you. People online are now saying you two are a secret couple.”

Gu Ci didn’t put much stock in that. She pulled out her phone and searched her own entry.

Sure enough, people were pairing her with Tan Xin—editing clips from the press conference into ship videos. A single glance replayed in slow motion until it was rendered into a thousand longing looks.

Her frosty gaze dropped for a moment, and a thought took shape.

Meanwhile, oblivious to the suspicions about spies, Tan Xin had finished paying and gone back to her ward to play on her phone.

New models were great. In real life she always bought last season’s phone—when model 16 came out she bought 15; when the Plus released she bought the standard version—always saving a few hundred, sometimes a thousand yuan.

She took a few selfies by the small window at the end of the corridor, then filmed the birds in the garden for a while.

Beep, beep.

Her phone buzzed again; the red exclamation mark popped up on the screen.

This time Tan Xin read more carefully: a long string of characters under the mark.

“Why is it all in English?”

She jabbed at the screen a couple of times. The exclamation mark started flashing.

Infected.

Tan Xin, in her infinite wisdom, drew that conclusion.

She powered off and rebooted, scrolled through every app, and finally found an icon that matched the red exclamation mark. She long-pressed and dragged it to the trash.

While she was at it she cleared the app’s cache.

Of course—nothing in life is free. Even a “gift” phone carried a virus.

It was impossible to guard against everything.

There were cameras in the corridor—and Gu Ci was standing behind one of those monitors at that precise moment.

Deleted, huh?

Tan Xin, you’ve given yourself away.

Gu Ci dialed her assistant.

“Xiao Li, is the release ready?”

“Ms. Gu, it’s ready. But, are you sure you want to post it?”

Gu Ci didn’t hesitate for a second.

“Post it.”

Tan Xin packed up the few things she had from her hospital stay.

A single-shoulder bag bulged with two sets of clothes and some toiletries.

At least the system had shown a shred of conscience, providing her with the basics.

But once discharged, she had no idea where to go.

In Five Years of System, Three Years of Simulation, it was clearly written—her family was poor and she didn’t even have her own room.

Staying with Zhang Huiqian seemed like a good option. After all, she had helped her clear up that “lovers’ suicide pact” misunderstanding. And Zhang Huiqian’s progress with Dr. Lu Ran seemed to be going well.

“My favorability’s already at 40,” Zhang Huiqian bragged smugly.

“So fast?” Just a few days ago it had been at 20.

“Well, you’re not doing too badly yourself. Haven’t you two already gone public?”

“Gone public? With what?”

“With Gu Ci, of course.”

“What about her?”

Zhang Huiqian went silent for a beat over the phone before asking,

“Jie, you don’t check Big Blog?”

Big Blog—the system’s version of Weibo.

To avoid copyright issues, all the apps in this world were renamed knockoff versions.

After hanging up, Tan Xin opened the orange icon with the big cartoon eye. The moment the feed loaded, the trending search nearly knocked her off her chair.

#SuspectedGuCiRomance#

Romance?

Since when?

With who?

Could it be that “earth-shaking hero’s death” Tang Jia’an from that press conference?

She shot up from the bench with a jolt—more panicked than when she’d forgotten her admission ticket at the college entrance exam.

“Reporters revealed that Gu Ci is suspected of being in a relationship. The rumored partner? None other than Tan Xin—the patient from Hongkang Private Hospital who openly confronted Tang Jia’an at the press conference. It’s said her surgery fees were completely waived and she stayed in a top-tier VIP suite, all personally arranged by Gu Ci.”

【MadlyInLove_1stDegree: I ship it, I ship it, I ship it! One’s a yandere who jumped off a building, the other’s living with a disability—the pairing has so much flavor!】

【FiveFingersNails: No wonder Tan Xin jumped. Looks like the two lovebirds just had a fight.】

【DetectiveKeBei: Remember that day at the press conference? Tan Xin was already collapsing, yet she still threw herself forward to block Tang Jia’an—just so her dear wife wouldn’t suffer.】

【ThinkingPeach: Heard some gossip. Tan Xin’s family situation is awful. They even caused a scene at the hospital a few days ago. But Gu Ci, protective as ever, kicked the two old folks straight out.】

The more Tan Xin scrolled, the more touched she became.

Who said netizens had low IQs? These netizens were absolute geniuses!

She didn’t even need to lift a finger. Just from these posts alone, they’d already pieced together enough material for a TV drama.

Hopefully Gu Ci would see it too. Hopefully she’d stop keeping her at arm’s length.

After all, she was nothing but a pure heart devoted to the bright moon—surely Heaven could tell loyalty from treachery!

She was still spinning out her grand internal drama when a knock came at the door.

It was Gu Ci’s assistant, Xiao Li.

She wore a dark business suit, not with the usual office skirt but with matching trousers.

According to Five Years of System, Three Years of Simulation, Gu Ci considered skirts and stockings impractical for work. Whether at Hongkang Private Hospital or her biotech company, even the receptionists wore pants.

“Miss Tan, I’m Assistant Li from President Gu’s office.”

She introduced herself smoothly, with a man and a woman in understated suits standing just behind her—clearly standard office staff.

“There’s been a lot of noise online. President Gu heard you have nowhere to go, so she would like to invite you to temporarily stay at her apartment. Would that be acceptable?”

Live together?

Happiness hit Tan Xin like a meteor shower. The night sky bloomed with a thousand stars, and she swore she saw Heaven opening a door just for her.

No, wait. If Heaven opened a door, it would definitely slam a window shut.

Especially since this system was nothing but traps. Even the phones it handed out came preloaded with viruses. Best to tread carefully.

“But I’ve only met President Gu a handful of times. Wouldn’t suddenly staying at her place be a little improper?”

She tried her best to appear reserved, even adjusting her plastered right leg so she could sit properly in the wheelchair, back straight and dignified.

Xiao Li smiled calmly. “I know this may seem abrupt, but Miss Tan, President Gu means well. Didn’t you say it yourself—she’s a very compassionate person? Now that the whole country knows you’re being treated at Hongkang, she naturally has to ensure your recovery is well taken care of. Otherwise, if word got out, some people might seize the chance to attack our reputation.”

The reasoning was sound.

As expected of Gu Ci—her foresight was impeccable.

Better treatment and better arrangements for her recovery would also boost the hospital’s reputation. Just like Gu Ci had said at the press conference: every patient at Hongkang would find her a steadfast supporter.

So smart. So very, very smart.

And Tan Xin liked her even more for it.

“All right then, I’ll trouble you.”

Cheerfully, she handed her bag over to one of the staffers, spun her wheelchair wheels with practiced force, and rolled out of the ward.

If Gu Ci wanted to build up her hospital’s reputation, Tan Xin was more than happy to help. After all, it also meant she could stay close to the source of warmth.

The perfect win–win.