Daily Intelligence: Forced to Save the Beautiful President at the Beginning

28: Chapter 28 Have you liked me for a long time?Zhang Fan’s heart skipped a beat, and he sat on the chair by the bedside as instructed.

The look on her face didn’t seem like a simple expression of gratitude.

Zhou Yurou bit her lip, her eyes darting away, her voice as quiet as a mosquito’s hum: ”Zhang Fan, how... how long have you liked me?”

“Huh?” Zhang Fan suspected he had misheard, blinking his eyes. “What did you say?”

The middle-aged woman in the next bed chuckled, making Zhou Yurou’s face turn even redder. She raised her voice slightly, though it still trembled a little: “I’m saying, when did you start liking me?”

This time, her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for everyone around to hear.

The old man in the adjacent bed put down his newspaper, and even the nurse at the nurse’s station poked her head out to look over.

Zhang Fan was completely stunned; his mind felt like it was buzzing with countless bees.

What was going on?

When did he ever say he liked her?

Could it be that helping her pay the medical bills and bringing her breakfast yesterday made her misunderstand?

But he clearly only meddled in her business because of the system’s prompt...

Seeing him silent, Zhou Yurou assumed he was shy, and her eyes actually held a bit more certainty: “Has it been a long time?”

Looking at her reddened eyes, Zhang Fan suddenly recalled that absurd dream from the night before, and his cheeks burned instantly.

His mind was in a mess—if he could really be with Sister Zhou, wouldn’t that be nice?

She was gentle and kind, a hundred times better than that cheating ex-girlfriend...

Seeing him blush, Zhou Yurou became even more certain of her guess.

Otherwise, why would he specifically move in right across from her?

Why did he install a camera in the hallway beforehand (she had only just realized yesterday that it was surveillance)?

Why was he so anxious when Yang Lei hit her?

Why did he pay for her medical bills and bring her breakfast?

He must have liked her for a long time and only dared to show it by taking advantage of this opportunity.

Zhang Fan felt incredibly uncomfortable under her gaze, and coupled with the probing looks from the people around, he wished he could crawl into a hole.

If he denied it, given Zhou Yurou’s current state, she would surely feel embarrassed; but if he admitted it... what would that make him?

Taking advantage of someone in a vulnerable position? A scumbag wanting her to be endlessly grateful!?

“Um...” He bit the bullet and decided to go for it. “A long time.”

Zhou Yurou’s eyes lit up instantly, as if stars had fallen into them.

“Sister Zhou, get some good rest, I have things to do!” After saying this, Zhang Fan practically fled, even forgetting to take the breakfast box.

Running far away from the hospital room, he could still hear the low laughter coming from behind him.

“What kind of situation is this!” Zhang Fan leaned against the wall in the stairwell, his heart beating like it was about to explode.

He touched his burning face, feeling both angry and amused—what was this?

Being pursued by someone? And a widow who had just gone through a marital breakdown at that?

Just as he was doubting his life, he bumped into Yang Lei walking inside, carrying a thermos.

He was wearing the same dark gray suit from yesterday, so Zhang Fan recognized him at a glance.

Zhang Fan was quick-witted; he abruptly turned and hid behind a plane tree, his heart pounding—if he were spotted, with Yang Lei’s brain, who knows what kind of filthy stories he might make up.

Yang Lei walked with hurried steps, not looking toward the tree, heading straight toward the outpatient building.

Zhang Fan frowned and quietly followed for a few steps. Yang Lei seemed to turn his head and glance this way, scaring him into hunching over and slipping into the supermarket diagonally across the street.

The glass door wasn’t closed tightly, leaving a gap, so he clung to the crack to peek outside, looking like a rat poking its head out.

After Yang Lei walked past, Zhang Fan dared to poke his head out. Watching his back disappear at the end of the corridor, he muttered to himself: Was he bringing breakfast to Sister Zhou, or going to suck up to that Yuan Mubai?

“Young man, what are you looking to buy?”

The sudden voice startled Zhang Fan. He turned around and saw a woman in her forties sitting behind the cash register.

She was wearing a purple floral apron, her hair tied in a bun at the back of her head, and she had a mole at the corner of her eye, flipping through a dog-eared gossip magazine.

Seeing Zhang Fan peeking around the door frame, she closed the book, tapped her knuckles on the counter, and said in a clear, slightly guarded tone: “It’s chaotic at the hospital entrance, don’t just wander around aimlessly.

They just caught a phone thief a couple of days ago; I heard he got beaten up pretty badly.”

Zhang Fan finally came to his senses; his skulking behavior earlier must have made him look like a suspicious person.

The area around the hospital was a mixed bag of people, so it was normal for the lady to be vigilant.

He scratched his head, his cheeks burning. Just as he was about to explain, “I’m just hiding from someone,” his eyes swept over the sign above—red background with white letters, pieced together from foam boards, reading “Xiaoxia Supermarket.”

Huh? Isn’t this the place the system mentioned?

His heart skipped a beat; forgetting his previous embarrassment, he glanced into the supermarket.

The shelves were packed densely, and the layer closest to the door held a row of liquor, glass-bottled, looking quite high-end.

Thinking of the system’s 20,000, Zhang Fan took a few deep breaths to adjust his emotions.

He rubbed his face vigorously with both hands, and after relaxing his expression, he asked: “Sister, do you have any good liquor here?”

The woman’s eyes lit up, and she immediately stood up from her chair, the oil stains on her apron swaying with the movement. “Oh, young man, you have an eye for quality!”

She walked quickly to the shelf and patted the blue and white porcelain bottle on the top layer. “If you want good liquor, it has to be this—Blue and White Porcelain. It’s brewed from pure grain, tastes mellow and soft, and doesn’t give you a hangover.”

As she spoke, she nimbly took down a bottle, the lotus patterns on the bottle shining with a cyan glow under the incandescent light.

“And there’s a promotion on right now; if you buy a bottle, you can enter a lucky draw!” The woman’s tone was filled with familiar enthusiasm. “And there’s a promotion on right now; if you buy a bottle, you can enter a lucky draw! If you’re lucky and scratch out a second prize, not only is this bottle basically free, but we’ll also give you another bottle of the same kind!”

She tapped her finger on the scratch-off area on the bottle and raised her voice an octave higher. “If you get really lucky and win the first prize, we’ll give you 20,000 in cash directly!”

Zhang Fan stared at the bottle of liquor, his mental abacus clicking away—this was definitely the one the system was talking about.

But he still had to feign hesitation on his face: “That sounds good... how much is a bottle?”

“1699!” The woman lifted her chin slightly when stating the price, as if announcing an impressive figure. “You get what you pay for. With this packaging and this quality, it’s perfect for gifting to a father-in-law or meeting clients—it’s very prestigious!”

“Holy crap!” Zhang Fan deliberately shrank back, feigning exaggerated shock. “So expensive? Isn’t this more expensive than Moutai? My palate is too rough; I don’t deserve such good liquor.”

As he spoke, he stepped backward, his hand already touching the doorknob.

“You young man...” The woman stomped her foot and pulled a calculator from under the counter. After tapping away at it for a long time, she finally pushed the calculator in front of him, the screen clearly displaying “1499.” “Young man, I can see you’re genuinely interested in buying.”

To tell you the truth, this liquor was entrusted to me by my husband’s cousin-in-law; she’s a regional sales representative and has some excess stock.

If you really want it, I’ll give it to you at the cost price—1499—that’s 200 off!”

Zhang Fan’s footsteps stopped, and he chuckled inwardly—as expected, there was room to negotiate.