At 1:30 a.m., Song Jingmo tossed and turned in bed.

The phone screen was lit in the darkness, displaying the chat interface with Lu Er.

The last message was sent two hours ago.

Lu Er: [My mom's asleep. I'm fine, don't worry, get some rest.]

The tone of the message was too calm, unusually calm.

If nothing's wrong, Lu Er will send a bunch of emojis or complain about how difficult it is to communicate with her mother.

Instead of just saying "It's okay".

He pressed for an answer several times, but received no response.

Song Jingmo sat up and dialed a phone.

The phone rang for a long time until it automatically disconnected.

The bad feeling in my heart grew stronger and stronger. Just as I was about to call again, my phone suddenly rang.

The hospital's phone number.

"Director Song, I'm sorry to bother you so late."

The emergency room doctor on duty sounded urgent: "There has been a multi-vehicle collision on the highway. Five people have been brought in with serious injuries, three of whom require orthopedic consultation."

"The other doctors are all in the operating room, could you come over?"

Song Jingmo glanced at the time: 1:47 AM.

He closed his eyes briefly: "Okay, I'll be there in half an hour."

After hanging up the phone, I sent Lu Er a final message: "There's an emergency at the hospital, I'm heading there now. Call me back when you see this, anytime."

After sending the message, he quickly put on his clothes, grabbed his car keys, and went out the door.

When I arrived at the hospital, the emergency room was in complete chaos.

The corridor was crowded with wounded soldiers and their families, and the air was filled with the smell of disinfectant and blood.

"Director Song, over here!"

Song Jingmo walked over quickly, but saw two familiar figures in the crowd.

Yin Siyao and Leng Keyan were both dressed casually, clearly having been dragged here to work overtime.

Yin Siyao looked unwell, while Leng Keyan's eyes were red, as if she had just been crying.

"Siyao?"

Song Jingmo walked over, somewhat surprised, "Why did you all go back to City A so early? Why didn't you stay in your hometown for the New Year?"

Yin Siyao smirked, "I took him home, but my parents kicked me out. Now I have nowhere to go but back in City A to continue my manual labor."

Song Jingmo looked at Leng Keyan; no wonder her eyes were red.

"And you?"

Yin Siyao retorted, "Why aren't you spending time with Lu Er? Why are you at the hospital too? Did you get kicked out as well?"

Song Jingmo smiled bitterly: "We are both wanderers in this world."

All three of them fell silent.

Yin Siyao patted Song Jingmo on the shoulder: "Let's go, let's get to work. Both of the car accident victims are young men, and their injuries are quite serious."

The three walked towards the consultation room.

Two young men lay on adjacent beds, both wearing only underwear and covered with thin blankets.

Yin Siyao frowned: "What's going on?"

The nurse reported in a low voice: "It was a rear-end collision on the highway. Their car was hit by a large truck. When the ambulance arrived, the two of them were... like that."

"According to the police, the two of them were doing *that* in the car when they were rear-ended by a truck."

"In the car? My God... are we going to go this far?"

"You bet. Doing that in the middle of the night, stopping in the emergency lane of the highway, that's really something."

"If my family found out, wouldn't they be furious? How embarrassing!"

Song Jingmo: "Patient's examination results."

"Patient number three, Chen Yu, 27 years old, head injury, scalp laceration. CT scan shows no intracranial hemorrhage, vital signs are stable."

"Patient number four, Lin Xiaodong, 21 years old, open fracture of the left femur, possibly with hemopneumothorax. Low blood pressure, rapid heart rate, preparing to be transferred to the operating room."

Song Jingmo began examining the injured.

"Chen Yu has a fractured ulna in his left arm and multiple soft tissue contusions. He is not in life-threatening danger. You go and handle it."

Song Jingmo spoke quickly, "Lin Xiaodong's condition is more serious; his ribs may have punctured his internal organs, and he needs immediate surgery."

Yin Siyao nodded: "Okay."

Just as they were preparing for surgery, Lin Xiaodong suddenly woke up and struggled to say, "He...he raped me! I'm calling the police!"

The moment those words were spoken, the entire emergency room fell silent.

All eyes turned to Chen Yu.

"Lin Xiaodong, what nonsense are you spouting!"

"I'm not lying!"

Lin Xiaodong roared, tears streaming down his face, "You forced me to do this! I'm calling the police!"

The scene immediately descended into chaos.

Lin Xiaodong struggled so violently that the blood pressure monitor emitted a piercing alarm.

Song Jingmo made a quick decision: "Sedatives, stabilize vital signs first."

The nurse quickly administered the medication.

A few seconds later, Lin Xiaodong's struggles weakened.

Yin Siyao said to the nurse, "Call the police."

operating room.

"Director Song, your blood pressure has dropped a bit."

Song Jingmo: "Refill the fluids, speed it up."

Halfway through the surgery, the head nurse quietly came in and whispered, "Director Song, the police are here and are asking questions outside."

"Let Dr. Yin handle it," Song Jingmo said without looking up. "I can't leave."

"Dr. Yin has already gone," the head nurse said. "Chen Yu has confessed."

Song Jingmo: "Admit what?"

"They admitted that they did have sex in the car."

The head nurse lowered her voice even further, "But he insisted it was consensual. He said they were a couple, but they had just had a fight, and Lin Xiaodong was throwing a tantrum."

"Now the police are just waiting to question Lin Xiaodong."

"Understood," Song Jingmo said. "Focus on the surgery first."

Two hours later, the surgery was over.

On the rooftop, the two smoked in silence.

Yin Siyao: "How's Lu Er doing?"

Song Jingmo exhaled a smoke ring, his voice low: "I don't know, she hasn't replied. Why is Keyan crying?"

"On the way back, she cried the whole way. She apologized to me, saying she was sorry for making me fall out with my family."

"What did you say?"

"What can I say?"

Yin Siyao stubbed out his cigarette. "I said, it wasn't your fault, it was my choice. If anyone should apologize, it's me. I shouldn't have brought you back without being prepared."

Song Jingmo changed the subject: "What were the results of the police investigation?"

"Chen Yu said that his mother gave Lin Xiaodong a sum of money to break up with him. There are photos of them together on his phone, confirming that they were indeed a couple."

Song Jingmo unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip of water, the icy liquid sliding down his dry throat: "Then why did Lin Xiaodong say it was rape?"

Yin Siyao: "Lin Xiaodong took the money and agreed to break up with Chen Yu's mother, but Chen Yu was unwilling."

"Lin Xiaodong signed a contract with Chen Yu's mother, stipulating that if he continues to associate with Chen Yu, he will have to pay double the amount in compensation. Sixty million is no small sum."

"He dared not breach the contract, so naturally he could only sue Chen Yu for rape."

Song Jingmo was stunned: "So love is only worth thirty million?"

Yin Siyao was speechless: "Director Song, thirty million is an amount that an ordinary person cannot earn in a lifetime."

Song Jingmo: "Shouldn't love be priceless?"

Yin Siyao: "Lovers are only born into wealthy families. Ordinary people are already exhausted just trying to survive, so they have no time to talk about love."

"You're not an ordinary person?"

Yin Siyao: "..."

Song Jingmo concluded directly: "So it has nothing to do with money, it has to do with people."

Yin Siyao said firmly, "If you offered me 30 million to break up, I would agree. Hesitating for even a second longer would be disrespectful to money."

Song Jingmo glanced at Leng Keyan, who was holding clothes by the door, and asked, "Really?"

Yin Siyao replied without hesitation: "It's more real than gold."

Song Jingmo turned and went downstairs, leaving behind only a dashing silhouette.

Leng Keyan called out in a pitiful voice, "Teacher Yin..."

Yin Siyao: Song Jingmo, you lack martial ethics...

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