Bai Ran was still thinking about all the possible accidents her mother could have gotten into when she reached out her hand to take the phone, so she was not thinking rationally when she answered,
“Mr. Quan, I…”
“I can get you to the hospital safely in three minutes. But I will not do something like this without receiving anything in return. What do you think you can offer me if I help you out this time?”
Quan Rui’s voice was businesslike and terrifyingly hollow.
He had never spoken to Bai Ran with this a tone of voice throughout their encounter and it made her speechless immediately. She felt a little slow on the uptake and unsure of how to respond.
But then she thought about her mother’s life hanging in the balance and she knew that she had no other choice. Furthermore, time was running out. Three minutes…
As these thoughts crossed Bai Ran’s mind, she blurted out almost instantly, “I’ll do anything that you want as long as you’re willing to help me!”
“As you wish.” The response from the other end of the call was very cold. After Quan Rui said this, he hung up without waiting for a reply.
“Beep. Beep. Beep.” Bai Ran stared at Luo Wei’s phone as she listened to the sound of the line after it had been cut off. She handed the phone back to him and looked up at Luo Wei, who had an impassive expression on his face. She was confused. “Your Young Master said, ‘As you wish,’ and hung up on me!”
“Just three ambiguous words! He didn’t even say how he’s going to do this!
“Is he lying about this as well? What should I do?”
Luo Wei appeared to be satisfied with what Quan Rui had said. He did not respond to Bai Ran with words but directly pointed out a small helicopter that was flying in the distance. He smiled at Bai Ran and said, “Miss Bai, you’ll be at the hospital really soon.”
Bai Ran could not tell what the smile on Luo Wei’s face meant but when she looked in the direction that he was pointing, she saw a helicopter, which quickly parked nearby, on the side of the highway.
The hatch of the helicopter opened and a person from within the depths of the helicopter waved at them.
“They’re here! Let’s go, Miss Bai.” Luo Wei undid his seatbelt and walked around the car to help Bai Ran out. She was speechless at the sight of the helicopter.
For the rest of the walk to the helicopter, Bai Ran remained in a state of shock and could not think straight at all. Luo Wei almost had to push her into the helicopter.
Eventually…
Bai Ran got into the helicopter and it disappeared into the pitch-black night sky, soaring over the astonished faces of the countless people in their cars who were still caught in the endless lines of traffic.
The helicopter was able to fly only because the rain and thunder had already stopped.
After Bai Ran sat in the helicopter for a moment, she finally understood what Quan Rui had meant when he said, “As you wish.”
Luo Wei turned his head to look at her and noticed that Bai Ran was still shocked and speechless. He smiled. “See? It wasn’t a lie at all. There’s really nothing that the Young Master can’t do.”
Bai Ran snapped back to reality when she heard him say this.
She almost forgot what she had promised Quan Rui on the phone in order to get this favor. That was when she realized she had become inexorably involved with a formidable person.
When the helicopter landed on the rooftop of the Accident & Emergency block of the Second People’s Hospital of Sanjiang City, exactly two minutes and forty-two seconds had passed since Quan Rui hung up on Bai Ran.
It was exactly like what Luo Wei had told her. She had arrived at the hospital within three minutes.
Bai Ran did not have the time to express her gratitude. She dashed straight for the emergency department on the first floor.
She asked the nurse at the reception area and quickly found out exactly which emergency room her mother was admitted to.
Bai Ran hurried over but just as she was about to enter the room her mother was in; she was barred from entering by the doctors and nurses standing at the entrance.
“Only doctors are allowed inside. Family members have to wait outside.” A nurse pulled Bai Ran to prevent her from getting in the way and obstructing the doctors who were going in and out.
“What happened to my mother? What’s wrong with her? Is she alright?” Bai Ran blurted out all her worries in an endless string of questions. She had no idea what she was saying nor what she expected to hear. She had caught sight of her mother lying lifeless and still on the bed in the middle of the room through the half-curtained window, and her mind exploded with multiple lightning bolts which made all of her nerves tremble in shock.