33: Chapter 33 Scam Phone Calls

Having walked past the gates of hell once, even if it was just a false alarm, Hu Gualing's energy was instantly drained. Looking at the cigarette the driver handed him, he waved his hand in refusal and said in a weary tone, "It's fine, I just almost peed my pants, that's all."

Hearing this, the driver patted his chest in relief, lit a cigarette for himself, took two puffs to relax his nerves, and then looked at Hu Gualing with a fawning expression. "I didn't mean for this to happen today. How about I pay for you to go to the hospital for a check-up?"

A check-up? What was there to check? Could it be that with your Grandpa Gualing's mental fortitude, he would be scared into a heart attack?

Hu Gualing was in no mood to go to the hospital and was about to refuse when he saw the driver pull out a stack of bright red banknotes.

"I'm just working for someone else, I don't have much money. Take this thousand yuan. If it's not enough for the check-up fee, let me know."

After saying this, the driver shoved the money over without giving him a choice.

With a full thousand big ones tucked into his pocket, Hu Gualing felt bad about making things difficult for the driver anymore. He simply said, "Be more careful in the future. This isn't a highway. You were driving so fast; it's lucky you hit me today. If it were someone else, see if they could have dodged it."

"Yes, yes, yes. It's mainly because your warehouse was about to close, and I was anxious to load one more shipment. That's why I wasn't paying attention and stepped too hard on the gas. I'll definitely be careful and correct it in the future!" The driver nodded repeatedly, offering both explanations and apologies.

"Fine, let's leave it at that. Go load your cargo." Hu Gualing didn't have much else to say, so he waved his hand and walked toward the cafeteria.

However, he had learned his lesson and didn't dare walk in the middle of the road again, carefully sticking to the side.

The others, seeing that this heart-pounding accident had finally turned out all right, were now in the mood to gossip.

"That kid is really lucky to be alive."

"Wasn't he about to fall just now? I didn't even dare to look. How on earth did he dodge it?"

"It seemed to be... the long-lost Lazy Donkey Roll."

"The what?"

"Roll my foot! Can you get any more ridiculous?"

"Don't believe me if you don't want to, but I saw it just now. He was clearly about to fall, but somehow, he just went with the momentum and rolled twice on the ground! Otherwise, do you think he would've survived?"

"Holy crap, does he really know kung fu?"

"What kung fu? At most, he's just a nimble roller! I've heard that when danger comes, people can often explode with potential hidden in their bodies. I guess that's what happened with him."

"Still, his slippers didn't even fall off after rolling. He's quite the talent."

"You bet. He's a security guard who just started. I heard he used to be a genuine Student Athlete."

"Whoa, a Student Athlete. Impressive, impressive."

“...”

Listening to everyone's surprised discussions, Hu Gualing couldn't help but straighten his back, his steps carrying a certain swagger.

Nothing could be done about it; who told him he was just that awesome?

Upon reaching the cafeteria, Hu Gualing directly ordered two servings of meat dishes as a celebration for surviving a disaster.

He wasn't sure if it was because the scare just now had consumed too many calories, but he finished the two servings of food quickly and still felt hungry. He simply went back to the cafeteria window and ordered two more.

Since his meal subsidy hadn't been approved yet, he had to pay the full price. The cost of the four servings was a full eight times what other workers paid for a meal in the cafeteria.

However, he was truly hungry today, and with ten hundred-yuan bills tucked in his pocket, he didn't care much and ate to his heart's content.

At this time, the workers who had finished their shifts also flooded into the cafeteria to eat.

The trays placed in front of Hu Gualing were quite eye-catching. Occasionally, a few familiar workers would pass by and say, "Eating so much?" without any malice. Hu Gualing didn't take it to heart, eating and shaking his leg as if no one were there, showing a certain shameless composure.

Suddenly, his hand holding the chopsticks froze in mid-air.

Because in front of him, a pair of familiar white shoes appeared.

Why would she come to the cafeteria?

Hu Gualing looked up in confusion and indeed saw the "General Manager Wu" he had seen this morning, Wu Yingying.

"Young Miss Yingying." Hu Gualing flashed what he thought was a bright and handsome smile.

Wu Yingying's expression turned cold. "Call me General Manager Wu." Her gaze quickly swept over the trays on the table, over Hu Gualing's undershirt that was so soaked with sweat it revealed his pectoral muscles, and lingered on those flip-flops for half a second. Suddenly feeling like her eyes had been soiled, she turned and left.

"General Manager Wu..." Hu Gualing had just corrected himself when all he could see was Wu Yingying's retreating back.

He looked down at his outfit and sighed, shaking his head.

If he had known he would run into Wu Yingying in the cafeteria, he wouldn't have come out dressed like this for anything!

But he had heard others say that Wu Yingying was inconsistent, not having clocked in at the factory for half a month. It was already past work hours today, and she was actually still at the factory?

Moreover, as a dignified wealthy Young Miss, even if she wanted to experience the hardships of a worker, she didn't need to come to the cafeteria!

The minds of rich people were too hard to fathom.

Hu Gualing couldn't figure it out, but at this moment, he remembered that he hadn't made that call to Tang Yao's mother yet.

He quickly finished his food, found a quiet corner, and took out his phone to dial the number.

After a few rings, the call was picked up.

Hu Gualing asked, "Are you Tang Yao's mother?"

The voice on the other end was indeed that of a woman. "Yes, who is this, please?"

"I'm a friend of Tang Yao's. She asked me to let you know she's safe. She's doing very well now, so you don't have to worry." Although Hu Gualing couldn't understand why Tang Yao didn't make the call herself, he still repeated her words. "By the way, Tang Yao also said that if I have financial difficulties, you would definitely—"

Beep... beep... beep...

"She hung up?"

Hu Gualing checked, and the call had indeed been disconnected.

In the game, he had seen Tang Yao bragging grandly, saying things like "just ask if you're short on money, as long as it's not too much, my mother will satisfy you." He thought her family was very wealthy, but as it turned out, before he could even decide on an amount, the other party hung up.

Tch!

Hu Gualing turned off his phone, speechless.

...

Inside the Sanatorium of Jiangnan First Hospital.

The hospital had checked and confirmed repeatedly that Tang Yao's body was as healthy as a normal person's; there was no need to worry about physical development or nutritional issues.

However, her mental state remained the same, with no sign of waking up.

Han Shuang didn't know what to do either.

She hung up a scam call and looked at her daughter, who seemed to be in a deep sleep, a trace of melancholy appearing between her brows.

Just as she was about to casually turn off the phone, she suddenly realized something seemed a bit off.

Looking at the phone screen, she became even more puzzled.

Ever since her daughter's accident, she hadn't managed much of the company's affairs, and few people contacted her.

However, her contact information wasn't a secret. Initially, many scammers claiming to be divine doctors or sorceresses had contacted her, saying they could cure a person in a vegetative state. Annoyed by the harassment, she had used her influence to catch two typical cases and send them to the police station, after which the scammers had quieted down.

So when she received this call just now, she subconsciously thought it was another scammer who had gotten hold of her contact information to defraud her of money.

But only now did she see that the call just now had been made to her private number. This number was only known to relatives and friends.

Thinking of this, Han Shuang hesitantly pressed the phone and dialed back.