"Brother Ding, don't worry. Even though I am a ghost, I know the difference between gratitude and grudges. I know very well who my benefactor is, and I know just as well who my enemy is. I can feel that Uncle Wan is about to wake up, so I won't disturb you two from heading back to your room. But I do hope you can help me with the favor I asked of you."
Hearing Liu Pingping say this, I immediately turned my head to glance at Uncle Wan, who was lying on the ground.
Sure enough, his snoring had noticeably slowed down, and it looked like he was about to wake up.
"Promise me you won't harm the innocent indiscriminately, and I'll help you this time."
Seeing that I finally agreed, Liu Pingping's slightly pale cheeks finally blossomed with a faint smile.
"Mhm, I already promised you that just now. Remember, bring him here or to the Moonlight Street Residential Area, preferably at night. You can call me before it's done, and I think I'll do my best to answer. Let me thank Brother Ding in advance here."
With that, I saw her figure turn and sprint forward, quickly vanishing into the night.
I stood there in a daze for a moment: I had only met that Chen Miao once, would he be willing to come out with me? It seemed I would have to think of a way to handle this matter.
Just then, Uncle Wan finally woke up, muttering, "Where is this? What happened to me?"
I hurriedly turned and went over to him, squatting down to say, "Uncle Wan, let's go, let's go back and sleep."
I helped Uncle Wan up, and before long we were back in the dormitory.
Of course, along the way I made up an explanation for him, claiming that he had sleep-walked outside due to a sleep disorder.
Strange to say, upon hearing this, he didn't press the matter any further.
Only the expression on his face appeared somewhat unnatural, which I took in and kept in mind:
Could it be that Uncle Wan really did go outside in his sleep, just as Liu Pingping said?
In the dormitory, it was just the two of us.
After finishing everything, I also lay down on my bed, getting ready to sleep.
At that moment, Uncle Wan suddenly rolled onto his side and asked me, "Hey, Xiao Ding, about what happened tonight—can you keep it a secret for me and not tell anyone?"
My heart skipped a beat, and I immediately realized that Uncle Wan was a man who cared a great deal about his pride.
If the incident that happened tonight became known to our colleagues, he would definitely lose face.
Besides, since Uncle Wan had asked me this, it also meant he had no doubts about what happened tonight, which in turn suggested that he already had some inkling of it beforehand.
I let out an "Mhm." It was simply too late, so I didn't question Uncle Wan any further.
From the next day onward, Uncle Wan seemed like a changed man, no longer as lively and active as before. Even the way he looked at me seemed somewhat cautious.
I saw right through it without exposing him, knowing full well in my heart: last night's incident had undoubtedly left him with a psychological shadow.
I originally wanted to ask him about it—if it really was a medical issue, he still needed to see a doctor for treatment.
But seeing his deliberately evasive gaze, I could only temporarily dismiss the thought.
Anyway, Uncle Wan and I shared a room, so I would notice if he had any unusual behavior in his daily routine.
I would just observe him for a while first and see if his condition acted up again before deciding.
In my spare time, I wondered again: Chen Miao and I had only met once and couldn't even be considered friends—how was I supposed to get him to come out?
Just as I was finding this a headache and hard to deal with, my phone rang.
It was a landline number from our city again. This... I immediately thought of Chen Miao.
"Hello, Mr. Ding, is this a convenient time for you to talk?"
"It's convenient. Go ahead and speak your mind."
"Could you spare some time to come to the District Third People's Hospital? There are two people here who want to see you. Of course, it's something that will be immensely beneficial to you."
Hearing this, I furrowed my brow slightly.
Just as I was wondering on what grounds to go see Chen Miao, he actually took the initiative to invite me to the hospital.
The crucial part was that he also said two people wanted to see me, and that it would be of great benefit to me.
Could this be a windfall dropping from the sky?
"Who wants to see me? Is there something urgent?"
"Mhm, Mr. Ding, it's not convenient to discuss these things over the phone. Once you arrive, we'll naturally tell you. By the way, give Master Wen a call when you get here. One of the people meeting you is him."
It seemed Master Wen had already told Chen Miao that he had given me a business card.
"But you haven't said what this is about..."
Before I could finish my question, this little punk actually hung up on me.
I looked at my phone, filled with a wave of suspicion: Since Wen Dali wanted to see me, why didn't he call me himself instead of having this Chen Miao contact me?
Still suspicious, I immediately dialed Chen Miao's cell phone number back.
Unfortunately, even though this was my very first time dialing that number, the other end prompted me: The user is currently on the phone, please try again later!
What on earth does this kid want me to do?
I found Uncle Wan and told him I had a temporary matter to attend to and needed to go out.
Uncle Wan nodded and agreed, failing to notice anything unusual about me.
Once outside, I looked up the location of the District Third People's Hospital, hailed a taxi, and hurried over.
Upon arriving at the main entrance of the hospital, I immediately called Wen Dali.
Hearing that I had reached the hospital entrance so quickly, Wen Dali sounded slightly surprised.
A moment later, I saw Wen Dali jogging out from the side of the hospital's main entrance.
After meeting up and exchanging a few brief pleasantries, I cut straight to the chase and asked him.
"Master Wen, what did Chen Miao bring me here for? I called his number, but the line has been busy and no one answers."
"Hehe, no need to rush, Mr. Ding. Come on, follow me upstairs; they're all waiting for you in that single ward."
I quickly grabbed him and reminded him, "Master Wen, I'm a good citizen. You guys brought me here, so it must be to do some minor tasks, right?"
"Of course. We are all good citizens. You don't have to worry, everything we do together is legitimate business. Come, follow me inside."
With that, I followed closely behind Wen Dali all the way into the hospital, finally arriving at a small single room on the third floor of the inpatient building.
There were already two people inside the room.
One of them I recognized—it was Chen Miao.
Only, this time his right foot was wrapped in a plaster cast and he was sitting in a wheelchair. It seemed the injuries he sustained the night before the last were not light.
As for the other person, he was a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes, wearing glasses, looking refined and scholarly, dressed somewhat like a hidden billionaire.
"Mr. Ding is here, please come in." Chen Miao smiled faintly at me, then immediately said to the person beside him, "Uncle Wang, this is Mr. Ding Wei."
The middle-aged man adjusted his glasses, smiled slightly at me, walked over, and extended a "friendly" right hand. "Hello, my name is Wang Jiuneng, and I am one of the deputy deacons of the Qingyuan Taoist Temple. Mr. Ding can call me Deacon Wang."
I was completely dumbfounded, but still shook his hand to show goodwill.