Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 196 - 196 193 Taking the Lead

Chapter 196: Chapter 193: Taking the Lead Chapter 196: Chapter 193: Taking the Lead Jiang Yan arrived at the Xinyu Computer Shop with coffee and milk tea at 9:30.

As soon as the second-in-command saw her carrying so much, he hastily put down what he was holding and got up to take it from her, while persuading her, “You’re not an outsider, you really don’t need to keep delivering, especially from so far away and in this cold weather…” Primarily, the two of them, being grown men, didn’t much care for that sort of drink. Trying it once out of novelty was enough.

Yet Yang Dan was stubborn and came every week to deliver, not listening to what they said.

But this time, before he could finish speaking, the second-in-command exclaimed in surprise, “What happened to your wrist?”

After handing over the coffee and milk tea to the second-in-command, Yang Dan quickly withdrew her hand and pulled down the sleeve of her outer cotton jacket, murmuring with her head lowered, “It’s nothing.”

Jiang Yan was checking the list of components to be purchased that day and looked up when he heard the conversation.

Yang Dan wore a black down jacket that looked very new; she must have bought it recently. However, the garment appeared slightly large, and a hint of white could be seen at the dark cuffs, even as she tried to conceal it. Despite her efforts, the second-in-command’s quick glance had unmistakably spotted a bandage.

He placed the coffee and milk tea on the table and reached out to pull at Yang Dan’s arm, “Did you burn yourself, or what happened? Let me see.”

Yang Dan dodged with all her might, “It’s really nothing, Xiaotie. I just bumped it accidentally, a minor injury only.”

Seeing her insisting on not showing it, the second-in-command had no choice but to let it go, “You’ve got to speak up if there’s something wrong. We all come from the same place; I won’t let anyone bully you.”

“I know, don’t worry,” Yang Dan said with a grateful smile.

Jiang Yan didn’t think much of it and continued to work on the list.

Yang Dan didn’t disturb their work and waited until they took a break to speak up, “What happened to Jiajia yesterday? Where is she now?”

She hadn’t yet had the chance to give Song Jiawen’s mobile number to her, so the only way for her to contact her was to call the dormitory.

“She’s got a cold and a fever, and she’s now with her mom. I’ll take you there later.”

“Her mom? Her mom has come over?”

Yang Dan was puzzled inwardly. She knew that Song Jiawen’s parents were not kind to her; why would they now come to Beijing to see her?

“Not that mom, I meant her birth mother. After coming to Beijing, her family found her.”

At that news, not only did Yang Dan’s eyes widen in surprise, but the second-in-command was also visibly shocked.

“Wait, when did this happen? How come you didn’t tell me? You two have kept it way too secret!”

Jiang Yan, resigned, said concisely, “She was taken by human traffickers when she was three years old and later escaped. She injured her head and was then picked up by her older sister. Anyway, it’s not a very fond memory, how could we discuss it? Moreover, you know Jiajia’s personality. Even now, her birth mother is still cautiously trying to bond with her. She doesn’t like to talk much and has been unsure how to explain it to you guys.”

Thinking it over, both seemed to understand.

The second-in-command said with sigh, “Jiajia is really pitiful. Damn human traffickers, who knows how many children and families they harm each year. These people should be caught and shot on sight.”

Compared to the second-in-command’s righteous indignation, Yang Dan was more curious about Jiajia’s current family situation.

“Does her birth mother live in Beijing? What does she do?”

“Yes, in Beijing. Can you hand me that small box from behind?”

Yang Dan bent to help Jiang Yan pick up the items he wanted, and when she handed them over, the cuff slid down, revealing a densely wrapped white bandage around her wrist, at least ten centimeters wide.

Jiang Yan took the box and stared at her wrist, asking, “Did you bump that by accident?”

Yang Dan hurriedly lowered her arm and pulled down the sleeve, but because her arms were slightly longer, sleeves of properly fitting clothes were often a bit short, so even as she tugged them down, some of the white bandage could still be somewhat seen.

So tightly and widely wrapped, it was clearly not just a “small bump,” as she claimed.

Lao Er also saw it and exclaimed in surprise, “That’s a lot of bandage, how serious was the bump?”

Yang Dan explained in a low voice, “Not too serious, it’s just that it’s too cold in the winter, and I’m afraid it’ll freeze and leave a scar, so, so that’s why I wrapped it so thickly.”

Suddenly, Jiang Yan said, “It was a scald, wasn’t it?”

Yang Dan abruptly raised her head, looking at him with a shocked face.

There, he guessed it!

Jiang Yan put down the box and sat on a small stool, saying, “Come on, tell us what happened.”

Lao Er persuaded her on the side, “Besides us, you don’t have other friends here, who else can you discuss things with if not us? Plus, you still have to go see Jiajia later, and if she sees your injury, won’t she ask?”

Yang Dan bit her lip and, feeling deflated, slumped her shoulders, “It was Qiao Yuning’s cousin; she’s the manager of the milk tea shop. Maybe she saw that I wasn’t working much but was still getting a decent salary and felt it wasn’t fair. She bumped me while I was making coffee, and the boiling water spilled all over my wrist.”

In fact, at that moment, her right hand was also scalded, but she managed to put it under cold water quickly, which made it less severe. Still, looking at that hand now, it was a bit red and swollen, which Jiang Yan originally thought was due to the cold, without considering other possibilities.

The reason her wrist was more severely injured was that she wasn’t careful enough when rolling up her sleeves; the burned skin had stuck to the fabric and got torn off when she pulled.

Upon hearing that the skin on her wrist was torn off with her clothes, both Jiang Yan and Lao Er couldn’t help but hiss at the thought of how painful it must have been.

He asked, “How did Qiao Yuning deal with this?”

Yang Dan said, “Since her cousin kept apologizing and claimed it was just an accidental touch, what else could be done? She just scolded her, and Qiao Yuning covered the medical expenses.”

“This is outright bullying,” Lao Er angrily said, “I don’t believe your boss isn’t aware of what kind of person her cousin is, it’s just nepotism.”

Jiang Yan narrowed his eyes, took out his phone, flipped open the pink cover, and said to Yang Dan, “Do you remember Qiao Yuning’s phone number?”

Yang Dan stared at the small, pink, sparkly phone in his hand, and Lao Er chuckled, explaining, “That’s Jiajia’s phone. She didn’t like the color, so she secretly swapped the SIM cards with his phone.”

He had always thought that Jiang Yan bought that phone for Jiajia, and wondered why he wouldn’t buy her a color she liked. Was it because that model was on sale at the time?

Yang Dan snapped back to reality and quickly recited a string of numbers.

As a businesswoman, Qiao Yuning would definitely take a call from an unfamiliar number.

Jiang Yan got straight to the point, “I am Jiang Yan, Qiao Yuning, you know the situation with Yang Dan’s hand injury, right? Don’t try to fool me with ‘it was an accident.’ Exactly how did the scald happen? Your cousin knows, Yang Dan knows, and the reason she didn’t argue with your cousin was that she respected you as a boss. But from where I stand, you’re not doing a particularly good job as a boss! First, using a relative who doesn’t understand the severity of the situation isn’t right. And then, a girl injures her hand, and it’s a severe injury at that, and you think you can settle it with just some medical expenses like you’re dealing with a beggar? Even if we’re talking about medical expenses, it wasn’t even the person at fault who paid; do you think that’s reasonable?”

“How to handle it? Don’t you have any idea how this should be dealt with? Our demands here are simple, first, your cousin must compensate Yang Dan ten thousand yuan; second, she must leave the milk tea shop!”