After Saving My Cannon Fodder Omega - Chapter 10

The person outside was polite but carried a distinct chill, appearing quite dissatisfied with Chi Wei’s behavior of riding the elevator alone while blocking the doorway.

Chi Wei let out a soft “ah,” her face snapping up with a look of utter surprise. Her bright eyes turned red even faster than her cheeks; she looked so pitiful she seemed on the verge of tears.

Nipping the bridge of her nose to suppress the sudden sting, she apologized repeatedly: “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. I was daydreaming and didn’t notice.”

Xuan Nian gave a non-committal “mm,” accepting the apology. She waited at the door for a moment, but seeing that Chi Wei hadn’t moved, her already tense brows knit even tighter: “Could you step back then?”

Sitting in the wheelchair between them was an older woman who shared about forty to fifty percent of Xuan Nian’s features. Hearing Xuan Nian’s cold tone, she looked up, clearly displeased: “Niannian, don’t be so fierce. This isn’t the restaurant. Put away that ‘boss’ attitude of yours. Look, you’ve scared this poor girl so much she’s about to cry.”

This year, Chi Wei was twenty-two, twenty-three by traditional count. The baby fat hadn’t entirely left her face, her almond eyes were watery and bright, and when she smiled or pursed her lips, two small dimples would bloom on her cheeks. She truly looked young for her age. Especially now, with her red-rimmed eyes, she looked twenty at most—hardly like a working professional who had already graduated.

Contrast that with Xuan Nian, who was pushing the wheelchair. She was a solid twenty-five this year. Having graduated and officially taken over the family restaurant before her twenty-third birthday, she had intentionally begun wearing red lipstick and styling her hair in waves to make herself look more “formidable” and command authority among the veteran staff. She had forced herself to mature from the inside out. Now, that aura was even more pronounced.

Exquisitely beautiful, yet sharp as a blade, she radiated a high-coldness that kept people a thousand miles away.

The two styles clashed violently, creating a vivid contrast. At this moment, Chi Wei looked one hundred percent like a little girl who had been bullied into tears by an older sister.

Hearing the aunt in the wheelchair scold Xuan Nian, Chi Wei hurriedly looked up to blink back her tears of joy and took several steps back. She waved her hands with a smile: “No, no, it was my fault. I deserved to be scolded.”

Xuan Nian held the wheelchair, with the closing elevator doors behind her. Seeing that the girl in front of her was self-aware, her brow quirked slightly: “I think I was being very polite.”

Chi Wei smiled and chirped “Yes” three times in a row. Her heart was hammering against her ribs, and her face was flushed as she fell silent, lowering her head to steal glances at the person in the wheelchair.

Noticing her gaze, the middle-aged woman who had called Xuan Nian “Niannian” smiled again: “You have a lovely temperament, young lady, and a kind face. I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before…”

Chi Wei’s brain had turned to mush from the shock of Xuan Nian’s sudden appearance. Her usual silver-tongued wit had jammed up. She had just realized that this woman might be Xuan Nian’s mother—the qipao-loving lady boss she had met once before—but before she could try to bridge the gap, Xuan Nian spoke first.

“Mom, tone it down. I know you have a wide social circle, but this is a hospital. Everyone is busy.”

The implication: People come here to get treated, no one has the time or energy to chat with you. Stop trying to make friends everywhere.

Though Chi Wei was currently in a “slow-processing” state, she caught the subtext in Xuan Nian’s words. She opened her mouth to explain, but the elevator doors opened with a soft ding. Xuan Nian gave her a slight nod, gripped the wheelchair handles, and backed out of the elevator.

Chi Wei: “…” Since when were hospital elevators this fast?

Having finally met her, how could Chi Wei be willing to just watch her walk away? She immediately moved to follow, but before she could even clear the back of the elevator, a crowd of medical staff rushed in.

Of course, that wasn’t the point. The point was that these “Angels in White” were surrounding a rescue gurney. The person on the bed looked to be in very bad shape.

“Excuse me, sorry to delay you.”

With just that one sentence, Chi Wei was shrunk back into the corner, not daring to move an inch. It wasn’t until she had traveled all the way back up and then back down again that she snapped out of it.

—Wait, isn’t this the inpatient building? Why are they bringing emergency cases here? Do they have operating rooms too?

…Apparently, they did.

Stepping out of the elevator, Chi Wei shook her head with a bitter smile. She spun around in place, but Xuan Nian was nowhere to be found.

Heavens! What did I do to deserve this!

Fine, meeting for the “first time” in such a rush was one thing, but why couldn’t she stay a little longer!

Well, saving a life is worth more than building a seven-storied pagoda. It is what it is. I accept it.

With a weary sigh, Chi Wei stood at the entrance and pulled out her phone. Her message list and friend requests were still silent. Perhaps her Sister Xuan Nian really had her settings set to “do not add.”

The snow from last night had lasted for half the night, but today the sun was out, and the snow on the ground was starting to melt. As the saying goes: It’s not cold when it snows, but it’s freezing when it melts. As the sky turned dark, a small, chilly wind swept past her. Chi Wei felt like the tears she had just managed to suppress were nearly whipped out of her eyes. To prevent herself from crying on the street and letting the freezing night wind irritate her skin further, she looked up at the distant skyscrapers for a while.

Walking to the hospital gate and looking at the bustling traffic, Chi Wei’s mood was incredibly complex. There was a long queue in front of a tanghulu shop; seeing how popular it was, she assumed it tasted good. It took ten minutes of waiting before she finally got the tanghulu she had suddenly craved.

One skewer of candied hawthorns, one skewer of candied cherry tomatoes, plus a one-pound bag of sugar-frosted cherry tomatoes.

Having failed to find any information at the service station, Chi Wei gave the two candied skewers to the nurses on duty and then dejectedly lugged the rest back to her ward.

Under the warm lights, she sat cross-legged on the ward sofa, popping the frosted tomatoes one by one while checking WeChat.

She didn’t reply to Ming Rui’s messages immediately. The small group chat was very quiet; Feng Zhi and Xie Yueyue had been called back by phone calls today, presumably for family events.

Chi Wei ate half the bag in one go, wiped her mouth with a tissue, and shamelessly accepted the transfer from Chi Tu labeled “The very last bit of pocket money.” She then tapped through the “Red Envelopes for the upcoming New Year” from her paternal and maternal grandmothers—clearly a coordinated effort.

Finally, she opened the “Congratulations on your new job” red envelope from her eldest sister, Chi Yu.

Looking at the numbers on her screen, Chi Wei couldn’t help but let out a “whoa.” She thought to herself: As expected of the pillar of the Chi family—she doesn’t act often, but when she does, it’s grand. Maybe Big Sister does love her after all… probably!

She sent bowing emojis to everyone in thanks.

Chi Tu, seeing her reply, immediately sent a video call request. Chi Wei nearly dropped her phone in fright. As much as she loved to play, she knew the rule of “reporting good news but not bad.” Once she gripped her phone, she turned off her camera and switched to a voice call.

On the other end, Chi Tu habitually smoothed his hair, only to see a black screen once the call connected. He was about to complain when Chi Wei laughed over the phone: “Brother, I’m taking you out to dinner on New Year’s Eve. Are you free?”

“…” Chi Tu choked. He wanted to pretend he was busy, but he was currently in a romantic dry spell. Hanging out with his buddies was flexible anyway. So, the words changed at his lips: “Sure.”

Chi Wei didn’t waste words. The idea of hosting a dinner had popped up just now while receiving the envelopes. In all her years, as the youngest, she had never been the one to treat others; this was the perfect opportunity.

As for the location—it was very clear: Xuan’s Tavern.

However, at this point, she wasn’t going to announce the restaurant’s address. Though she wasn’t in the business world, she was family to people who were; she still had to be mindful of the tavern’s current status.

She remembered that in her past life, Xuan’s Tavern reopened on the Laba Festival (December 30th this year). They had even done two days of pre-heating, but the previous negative news had been so damaging that not many people were interested.

Back then, she was eating at home and didn’t pay much attention. It wasn’t until later, after she finally fished Xuan Nian out from the sea of people, that she learned about all this.

She had often regretted not noticing earlier so she could have helped boost the atmosphere and warm Xuan Nian’s heart. Now she had a reason and a chance—she had to go and put on a good show to drum up some popularity for her future wife.

When she returned to the ward, she was still hesitating—maybe she could invite more friends to liven things up. She hadn’t expected that her family, after seeing the photo of her employee ID that Chi Tu had posted in the family group, would all coordinate to send her red envelopes.

What a perfect coincidence.

Hanging up with her brother, Chi Wei sent individual messages to each relative who sent her money. By the time she finished, it was past midnight and her battery was in the red.

Once it was charging, Chi Wei did a triumphant belly-flop onto her bed, giggling as she replayed every detail of seeing Xuan Nian in the elevator.

Since they had met in such an unexpected way, she believed that changing the future was within reach. As long as she kept a close eye on things, the tragedies of her past life would definitely not happen again.

Protocol be damned, plot be damned, settings be damned—the only thing that mattered was that Xuan Nian must not die!

In her mind, she visualized Xuan Nian’s cool expression, her red lips, her soft, thick wavy curls, and that faint, elegant scent radiating from her…

Chi Wei felt her face was about to catch fire. She wiggled on the bed like a caterpillar while hugging her duvet, then suddenly sprang up to go to the bathroom and wash her face with cold water.

The next morning, the sun was shining outside and the blue sky was cloudless.

Feng Zhi was the first to arrive at the ward. She wasn’t carrying a bag, only a black Mercedes key.

Chi Wei had been up for a while, sitting in her spot from last night eating the leftover frosted tomatoes. Because the indoor temperature was high, she had worried the sugar coating would melt, so she had tied the bag and hung it on a hook outside the window. After being blown by the cold wind all night, they were a bit icy to the teeth.

“What are you eating?” Feng Zhi asked with a smile, clearly proud of her early arrival.

Chi Wei wasn’t one to eat alone and immediately waved her over: “Here, try some. If they’re good, we’ll buy more when we leave.”

Feng Zhi glanced at the clothes rack, paused her hand as she was unbuttoning her coat, and walked straight to the sofa. Seeing they were cherry tomatoes, she looked surprised: “Where did these come from?”

Chi Wei: “I bought them.”

“Who bought them?” Feng Zhi asked, picking one up with a bamboo skewer and popping it into her mouth. It was ice-cold; the sugar wasn’t too sweet and the tomato wasn’t too sour—the combination was excellent.

“Oh, these are good! Where did you get them?” Feng Zhi ate three in a row.

Chi Wei laughed and pointed over her shoulder toward the window: “Across from the hospital. Tons of people were buying them. I stood in line for ten minutes last night just to get these.”

Feng Zhi thought for a moment but couldn’t recall anyone selling them at the gate. She popped another one in and nudged Chi Wei with her elbow: “Hey Xiaoyu, what’s going on with you and Ming Rui? I wanted to ask yesterday, but since Yueyue was there, I felt awkward bringing it up.”

Chi Wei looked sideways: “What?”

Feng Zhi asked: “Why didn’t you let us tell Ming Rui you were in the hospital with a fever? Did she make you mad again? Or is it because of that night at the hotpot place? I just feel like you’ve got some kind of grievance against her.”

Chi Wei: “…”