“You can save him?” 

Lin Ruzhen’s hands paused as she peeled an orange.  

“Hahahahaha…”

As if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world, she doubled over with laughter. “Ruan Qingzhi, you don’t even bother drafting a lie before spouting nonsense? With that sharp tongue of yours, I thought you were smart, but turns out you’re just plain stupid! How dare you take responsibility for something as serious as a person’s life?”

“Even the most authoritative neurology professor in Shengyang can’t do anything about his condition, and you—a country bumpkin from the sticks—think you have a solution? What do you take us for, people who’ve spent decades studying medicine? Trash?”

“Take me, for example. I got into medical school at eighteen, joined the military at twenty, and have been a military doctor for a full decade! There’s no rare or difficult case I haven’t seen! If even I can’t cure him, how could you? What kind of joke is this?” 

After saying this, Lin Ruzhen leaned back on the sofa with a cold sneer, her eyes filled with arrogant disdain. “Kanshan, do you still believe your own analysis now?”

“The facts are right in front of you. Your reasoning can’t even compare to a woman’s intuition. I said she was suspicious, and she is! You saw it yourself—she’s clearly not right in the head. No sane person would boast like that! Hmph…”

The woman scoffed repeatedly.  

Li Kanshan stood frozen in place, biting his lip, his conviction wavering.  

Ruan Qingzhi gently placed the man’s arm back under the blanket, then turned around with a serious expression, locking eyes with Lin Ruzhen. “What if I really wake him up?”

Lin Ruzhen met her gaze with contempt. “If you can wake Zhanwu up, I’ll resign from my position as a military doctor and leave the army immediately!”

“Good. You better keep your word.”

Ruan Qingzhi stood up and left the ward.  

Seeing her go, Lin Ruzhen propped her legs up on the coffee table, acting like a spoiled young mistress. “Kanshan, your newly recognized sister-in-law just ran away. Aren’t you going after her?” 

Li Kanshan stared at her expressionlessly.  

Lin Ruzhen grew even more smug. “You’re still young, so I won’t hold it against you. Just come over, apologize, and admit you were wrong, and I’ll forgive you for siding with an outsider against me earlier.” 

Li Kanshan walked over, picked up the woman’s purse, and shoved it into her arms. “The patient needs rest. No visitors allowed. Military Doctor Lin, you should go back to wherever you came from.”

Lin Ruzhen’s eyes widened as she glared at him.  

Just then, Ruan Qingzhi returned, holding a tray with a silver needle soaking in a clear liquid.  

Lin Ruzhen frowned. “What are you back for?”

Ruan Qingzhi set the tray down beside the bed and answered succinctly, “Surgery.” 

Lin Ruzhen, realizing she wasn’t joking, stiffened for a moment before rushing over.  

When she saw the tray, her face paled. “Are you insane?! You’re going to stab him with that needle?”  

Ruan Qingzhi’s dark eyes were eerily calm. “Get out of the way.”

Lin Ruzhen snapped, “You’re the one who should get out!”

As she spoke, she reached for the tray.  

Ruan Qingzhi’s brow furrowed sharply. In one swift motion, she grabbed Lin Ruzhen’s wrist, her gaze flickering to the woman’s hair ribbon tied in a bow.  

Narrowing her eyes, she reached out, hooked the ribbon with her finger, and yanked it loose.  

The ribbon spun through the air before swiftly wrapping around Lin Ruzhen’s wrists.  

In the next instant, Ruan Qingzhi tied her hands firmly to the door handle.  

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

The girl’s entire sequence of movements was executed with extreme precision—swift, accurate, and ruthless. No matter how much Lin Ruzhen struggled, she blocked every attempt flawlessly, leaving no opening.  

Li Kanshan stared in stunned silence: Damn… Sister-in-law is so cool.

Lin Ruzhen strained with all her might to break free, but the binding was too tight. The moment she struggled, the skin on her wrists burned from the friction.  

She was this close to cursing out loud.  

These are my hands—the hands that hold a scalpel!

Lin Ruzhen glared at the bitch before her, her face flushed with fury. “Ruan Qingzhi! Don’t you dare walk away! Untie me right now! What kind of coward ambushes someone like this? Fight me one-on-one if you have the guts, and I’ll tear you apart!”

“Ruan Qingzhi! Are you deaf?!”

With her hands immobilized, she could only lash out with her legs.  

A sharp glint flashed in Ruan Qingzhi’s eyes as she swiftly kicked away the woman’s foot.  

Standing firmly in place, she clasped her hands behind her back and smiled faintly. “Military Doctor Lin, you remind me of an animal.”

A sharp pain shot through Lin Ruzhen’s ankle, and her temper exploded. “RUAN QINGZHI!!”

She didn’t need to guess—this bitch was obviously calling her a dog!  

A damn guard dog!

“Li Kanshan! What the hell are you standing there for?! Hurry up and untie me! Useless idiot! How can you just stand by while she bullies me like this? When your deputy battalion commander wakes up, I’ll make sure he punishes you severely! You’ll be locked up in confinement!”

Lin Ruzhen’s spoiled, hot-tempered nature was in full swing.  

She barked orders at Li Kanshan, berating him without a shred of regard for his dignity.  

Li Kanshan sighed. “…”

Though the young mistress was hard to please, he still knew what mattered most.  

If he didn’t untie her today…  

His future would be miserable.  

He strode over and bent down to work on the knots, but the more he tried, the more tangled they became…  

Lin Ruzhen watched in disbelief. “Li Kanshan! Are you doing this on purpose?!”

Was he pretending he couldn’t undo it?  

Li Kanshan replied flatly, “If you’re so capable, do it yourself.”

Lin Ruzhen: “…”

Meanwhile, Ruan Qingzhi had already begun.  

She turned Shen Zhanwu onto his side and carefully removed his upper garment, revealing his broad, muscular back.  

Picking up a cotton swab dipped in iodine, she disinfected the skin between the base of his skull and his shoulder blades. Then, with practiced ease, she lifted the silver needle from the alcohol and—  

Plunge!

The needle pierced the back of his skull.  

“AHHH—!”

The moment the needle went in, Lin Ruzhen’s horrified scream tore through the room.  

Her hands had just been freed when she turned and saw that terrifyingly long needle sinking into Shen Zhanwu’s head. Her face instantly drained of color, her legs trembling uncontrollably.  

“Sh-sh-she… She killed him! SHE KILLED HIM—!!”