Me! A high-ranking official!

Zhou Qingyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look at Han Baomin, and a hint of apology flashed in her eyes: "I'm sorry, County Chief Han, I had already made an appointment with my old classmate. I need to stay in the city this afternoon to visit some elders, so I won't be going back to the county with you. We can discuss work matters when we get back to the county tomorrow."

Han Baomin's smile froze slightly, and a hint of disappointment and suspicion flashed in his eyes.

What a great opportunity! He noticed Zhou Qingyan's pale complexion at the meeting and thought she had some hidden illness. He was planning to test her in the car, but unexpectedly, this unexpected man appeared out of nowhere.

But since the other party had already brought up the excuse of visiting an elder, he didn't dare to insist any further and could only force a smile: "Alright, since Secretary Zhou has a private schedule, then I won't bother you any longer. I originally wanted to go over a few tasks with you on the way, but it seems that today is not the right time. You should get some rest."

After saying that, Han Baomin reluctantly got into his Audi and slowly drove away.

With his last breath, Zhou Qingyan opened the passenger door and got in.

"Go to the intersection ahead and pick up Jianguo," Zhou Qingyan said in a low, hoarse voice.

Lin Jiaojiao skillfully drove the car to the intersection ahead, where Zhao Jianguo was already waiting. He quickly opened the back door and got in.

As soon as he got on the bus, he leaned forward and looked ahead, and his heart skipped a beat.

Zhou Qingyan was completely slumped in the passenger seat, his mask pulled off, his face was deathly pale, his forehead was covered in large beads of cold sweat, and even the hair at his temples was soaked with sweat. Half of his body was weakly leaning against the car door, his eyes were closed, and his chest was heaving violently.

As Lin Jiaojiao drove, she glared at Zhao Jianguo through the rearview mirror and began to complain, "Jianguo, you're so inconsiderate! Your girlfriend had such a severe anaphylactic shock last night, she almost lost her life, and you still let her come out to accompany the boss to the meeting today? Instead of resting in the hospital, what if she develops some kind of chronic illness?!"

Knowing that Lin Jiaojiao was unaware of the inside story, Zhao Jianguo could only feign a bitter face and go along with it, saying in a wronged tone, "Oh my goodness, I tried to persuade her! I practically wore myself out last night! But she's a workaholic, and as you can see, her boss is so domineering, how could I possibly persuade her!"

Lin Jiaojiao rolled her eyes at him and scoffed, "Come on, it's obvious you have no status at home. You can't even make decisions on something this big and important, you have to listen to your wife!"

He gave a wry smile, looking at Zhou Qingyan, who was slumped like a limp rag doll and didn't even have the strength to argue. A mischievous thought suddenly arose in his mind. Having finally seized this opportunity to gain the upper hand verbally, he leaned back in his chair and deliberately said loudly:

"There's nothing I can do, it's a power imbalance between women and men. I'm not as successful as her right now, so I really have no status at home. But you wait, just wait two more years, and when I become a big boss, you'll see how I discipline her! I'll make her stay home and take care of the family!"

The voice just fell.

Zhou Qingyan, who was slumped in the passenger seat, suddenly opened his eyes. His cold, piercing gaze was filled with murderous intent as he glared at Zhao Jianguo, his eyes clearly warning him, "Zhao Jianguo, are you tired of living?"

After glaring at her, she seemed to have exhausted all her strength, and then closed her eyes weakly, leaning back in her seat without moving.

Lin Jiaojiao was completely unaware of the undercurrent of tension between the two. While turning the steering wheel, she asked, "Where are you going now? Back to the county or back to the hospital? I'll take you there directly. Hey Jianguo, you transferred 500,000 yuan to me last night without even blinking. You're not short of money now, are you? Why don't you buy yourself a car so it's convenient to take your wife anywhere? You're just making me, the laborer, suffer."

He chuckled dryly, then shamelessly boasted, "Jiaojiao, you don't know this, do you? I'm going to be a big leader someday! Leaders all have government-provided cars when they go out. That's called spending when you should and saving when you should! If I work my way up at the grassroots level for another two years, and then get my own car, I'll save a huge amount of money on buying a car!"

Lin Jiaojiao couldn't help but chuckle at his twisted logic: "Fine, fine, my dear boss! I've never heard of such a frugal person before! So stingy!"

After laughing, Lin Jiaojiao glanced at Zhou Qingyan in the passenger seat, then turned and asked, "Beautiful lady, where are we going?"

Zhou Qingyan didn't even open his eyes, only his lips moved slightly, uttering an extremely weak voice: "Go... to Lanruo Huating."

"Lanruo Huating?" Upon hearing the name, Lin Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow in surprise and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow! That's one of the most upscale residential communities in the city!"

Zhao Jianguo, sitting in the back row, was also taken aback. He usually stayed in the county and villages and knew nothing about the real estate market in the city. He didn't even know where Lanruo Huating was. But judging from Lin Jiaojiao's surprised reaction, it was clear that the place was definitely not a place that ordinary people could afford to live in.

The white sedan smoothly drove into the spacious underground parking lot of Lanruo Huating.

The car stopped in front of the private elevator of a residential building. Lin Jiaojiao turned off the engine and turned to the two of them, saying, "Alright, I've dropped you off. My clinic is still under repair, and there's a lot of stuff waiting for me to go back and oversee. I won't go up. You two get some rest."

"Jiaojiao, thank you so much today. I'll definitely treat you to a big meal another day." Zhao Jianguo thanked him sincerely and got out of the car.

Zhou Qingyan also struggled to get out of the passenger seat and gave Lin Jiaojiao a weak nod as a thank you.

Watching Lin Jiaojiao's car drive away from the underground parking garage, Zhou Qingyan mustered his spirits, took a deep breath, and turned to walk towards the elevator lobby.

Seeing this, he naturally followed, thinking that he might as well go all the way and quickly report to Lin Jiaojiao the dangerous information that someone had been asking about that Lin Jiaojiao had just told him.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Qingyan stopped abruptly at the elevator entrance. She turned around, her brows furrowed, and stared unceremoniously at Zhao Jianguo with her cold eyes, uttering three words in a chilling tone: "You can leave."

Zhao Jianguo was stunned, and let out a "uh" sound, as if he had choked.

He stared wide-eyed at the woman before him, inwardly laughing with rage. This woman's skill in betraying her benefactors was truly masterful! Who had watched over her all night? And who had gone to such lengths to help her out of that old fox Han Baomin's predicament? Now that they were in a safe zone, she turned on him and told him to get lost?