Zhou Ling'er, You’re Being Foolish

Zhou Ling'er had originally planned to wait for Tang Ao to come out of the clinic, but only a few minutes after he went in, she saw Sister Hong walking towards her.

Before Zhou Ling'er could greet her, Sister Hong, with her sharp eyes, spotted Tang Ao inside the clinic, engaging in a friendly conversation with the doctor. Her expression immediately changed. "Zhou Ling'er! How can you degrade yourself like this!?"

As she spoke, Sister Hong forcefully placed a bank card into Zhou Ling'er's hand. "Listen to me, don't gamble your whole life's happiness on this. Take this money and return it to Tang Ao. Consider it a loan from me; you can pay it back slowly!"

Without giving Zhou Ling'er a chance to refuse, Sister Hong turned and left in large strides.

Zhou Ling'er panicked.

Tang Ao wasn't the beast Sister Hong thought he was!

Without thinking, she hurried after Sister Hong, not because she didn't have the card's PIN, but because she wanted to explain that Tang Ao was actually a very good person who would never make her do anything so perverted and excessive.

Besides, she had to return this bank card to Sister Hong!

Zhou Ling'er was indeed short on money, but that was only because she couldn't gather enough for her mother's surgery.

Now that the surgery fee had already been secretly taken care of by Tang Ao, a mere five hundred thousand was probably as insignificant to a super-rich second-generation like Tang Ao as buying a popsicle. But to ordinary people, it was a huge sum of money!

In this situation, even if someone offered Zhou Ling'er five hundred thousand as a gift, she wouldn't accept it.

Her upbringing taught her that only money earned by herself could be spent with peace of mind!

Sister Hong ran too fast, and Zhou Ling'er ended up chasing her all the way out of the hospital, only to witness something she couldn't believe.

Four or five burly men had surrounded Sister Hong!

As a weak woman, Zhou Ling'er's instinctive reaction was fear. She clenched her fists tightly and watched from a distance as the situation between Sister Hong and these men escalated from a verbal dispute to a physical altercation. When she heard that these men were troubling Sister Hong because she had taken out money, Zhou Ling'er couldn't hold back anymore.

She couldn't just stand by and watch Sister Hong get hurt because she lent her the money!

Suppressing the fear in her heart, Zhou Ling'er saw Sister Hong struggling in pain and burst into tears. Clutching the bank card, she ran forward and shouted, "Stop it! Please, stop hitting her!"

One of the burly men glanced at Zhou Ling'er and sneered, "Where did this little girl come from? This isn't your business. Don't go looking for trouble!"

Sister Hong, her eyes red with anger, looked at Zhou Ling'er, who was running into danger, and nearly went mad. "I'm responsible for my actions. I've already spent the money, and I didn't keep a single cent! Besides, it's my own money that I earned. What's wrong with spending it?"

"You filthy woman!" The leader of the group, a man with a tattoo of a hairdryer on his arm, punched Sister Hong hard in the face. The sudden impact of the pain made Sister Hong struggle even more. Several clumps of her hair were yanked out, and her pale scalp was instantly stained with bright red blood, making the scene particularly horrifying.

Unsatisfied, the man then kicked Sister Hong heavily in the abdomen. "What do you mean, your money? Without me, where would you earn that much money? Do you know that your reckless actions have ruined my big plan? I was only five hundred thousand short of completing my final task and getting a million in rewards!"

Seeing the blood spilling from Sister Hong's mouth, Zhou Ling'er was terrified. She knelt on the ground, crying and begging, "Stop it, please! Don't hit her anymore. The money..."

Hearing this, Sister Hong, summoning strength from who knows where, shouted desperately, "Come on, kill me if you dare! I've had enough of this life. Even if I become a ghost, I'll haunt you for the rest of your life, making sure you never have a peaceful night!"

"You're asking for it!"

The leader was enraged, and he grabbed Sister Hong's hair from his companion, pressing her head down as if he intended to smash it against the ground.

Tang Ao, watching from the side, felt his heart leap into his throat.

[These are animals!]

[In broad daylight, isn't there anyone who will step in and do something?]

[Zhou Ling'er, you'd better not do anything foolish. The protagonist Ye Chen was just taken away by the police. If you get targeted by these thugs now, Ye Chen won't be able to save you!]

Hearing this, Zhou Ling'er raised the bank card high above her head. "Stop! Sister Hong's bank card is with me. All her money is with me!"

Zhou Ling'er's words made the leader temporarily release Sister Hong. The group of men ignored her and instead surrounded Zhou Ling'er.

The leader snatched the bank card from Zhou Ling'er's hand and slapped her so hard that she was knocked to the ground. "Why didn't you say so earlier!"

Sister Hong watched this unfold with her eyes wide open, then shut them in pain. Things had turned out for the worst.

The money was gone, Zhou Ling'er hadn't been saved from Tang Ao's clutches, and she had even suffered a brutal beating. What's worse, she would likely face even more abuse in the future.

And to make matters worse, after taking the money, these thugs didn't seem to be planning to let Zhou Ling'er go. They continued to encircle her.

[Zhou Ling'er, you're being foolish. You're walking right into the lion's den!]

[Even the Calabash Brothers didn't rescue their grandfather like this!. You can't spit fire or water, so you're just sacrificing yourself for nothing!]

"This girl is quite pretty. Let's take both of them back. Sister Hong is getting old, but this young girl will be our new cash cow!"

The thug's words brought tears of despair to Sister Hong's eyes.

Not only had she failed to help Zhou Ling'er, but she had also caused her to fall from Tang Ao's grasp into an even worse situation with these beasts.

[These people really don't know when to quit. If the protagonist Ye Chen were here, he'd have beaten you all down like stray dogs!]

Thinking this, Tang Ao glanced around. There were quite a few people watching, but...

They were only watching. No one wanted to get involved. Faced with four or five strong men, no one was willing to risk getting into trouble.

Some passersby even ran away as soon as they saw what was happening, afraid of getting caught up in the situation.

At most, a few people took out their phones to take pictures or videos. After a while, Tang Ao hadn't seen a single person call the police.

Seeing the thugs getting closer and closer to Zhou Ling'er, Tang Ao's heart skipped a beat:

[Zhou Ling'er can't be taken by these people. She's an important heroine!]

[If they take her away, not only will the plot be thrown into chaos, but Zhou Ling'er's life will be completely ruined!]