325: Chapter 325 Giving way is a favor, not giving way is one's right.

For several days in a row, the trending news was almost entirely related to the Zhao family.

It truly embodied the saying that when a wall is about to collapse, everyone gives it a push. Especially those who had been dealt with by the Zhao family in the past, who had been swallowing their anger and holding onto a grudge—they all emerged at this moment, dealing with the Zhao family as ruthlessly as they could.

Zhao Zhijie never imagined that he would be kicked out of the sterile ward.

The daily cost of such a sterile ward was very high; ordinary families basically couldn't afford to stay there.

"Zhao Zhijie, you are already over twenty thousand in arrears. If you cannot pay the balance before noon today, we will transfer you to a general ward."

Zhao Zhijie was stunned; for a long time, he couldn't react.

Hospital payments were a concept too distant for him. Since he was a child, he had always had private doctors, and if he really needed to go to a hospital, his subordinates would handle everything perfectly.

But now! Someone was actually telling him he was in arrears and needed to pay the balance to continue staying in the sterile ward.

After being stunned for a long time, Zhao Zhijie pulled out a bank card. "Nurse, swipe this card. Swipe a bit more, maybe two or three hundred thousand."

Seeing this, the nurse's expression softened slightly, but it quickly returned to a sour look. "This card has been frozen; not a single cent can be charged."

Following that, he swiped several more cards, taking out all the bank cards he had on him, but all of them were frozen; not a single cent could be charged.

Zhao Zhijie was transferred to a general ward, the kind with four beds. The ward was crowded and smelled terrible. Right next to him was an old man who suffered from incontinence; every time he defecated, it reeked, and Zhao Zhijie felt like he wanted to die.

Qin Chuan had been resting for about five or six days. The news he saw most every day was basically related to the Zhao family. He had about six or seven days of vacation left. This morning, he received a call from District Mayor Shao Changqing.

"Brother Chuan, I heard you are on vacation at home."

"Yes, I have six or seven days of vacation left. You are certainly well-informed."

District Mayor Shao Changqing said, "Brother Chuan, Chairman Chen Zhixun happens to be here with me. The brothers haven't had a small gathering in a while. If you have time, come over to gather, have a couple of drinks, and by the way, support my work."

After graduating from the Central Party School, District Mayor Shao Changqing took a step forward, promoted from deputy department level to department level. He is now the District Mayor of Guangming District in Jiang City, a sub-provincial city.

Facing such an invitation, Qin Chuan hesitated a little.

Zhu Qingxi happened to hear the content of the phone call from the side. "Honey, since they invited you, you should go. It's good for the brothers to get together; don't worry about me."

Seeing that his wife had said so, Qin Chuan nodded slightly and then said, "District Mayor Shao Changqing, I will come over. I expect to arrive in the afternoon."

"Great, then I'll wait for you to come. Call me when you arrive, and I will go to the airport to greet you personally."

"No, no need," Qin Chuan said. "As District Mayor and the head of the government, you must be very busy. We will see each other in the evening; don't worry about me."

After chatting a few more sentences on the phone, Qin Chuan booked a flight online. Even though he was paying out of his own pocket, he did not book business class but chose economy class instead.

If he happened to be recognized as a Deputy Director of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection sitting in business class, and if someone with ulterior motives posted it online, that wouldn't be good. It doesn't hurt to be careful.

Qin Chuan arrived in Jiang City, the capital of Jiangbei Province, at a little past four in the afternoon. The plane landed at Jiang City International Airport. He was alone, carrying a small suitcase, and was no different from an ordinary traveler. He didn't even wear an administrative jacket, looking just like an ordinary young man as he walked out of the airport.

There were many taxis outside the airport, but there were also many people waiting to hail cabs, all lined up. Qin Chuan simply chose to take the subway.

As expected of a sub-provincial city and the largest city in the Central South region, the subway in Jiang City was already very well-developed. There was a subway station right at the airport, and one could reach any part of the city from there.

Although it wasn't the weekend, there were quite a few people on the subway. Qin Chuan dragged his small suitcase with one hand and held the handrail with the other, heading toward Guangming District.

At the next stop, many people got on, and the subway became even more crowded. Among them was an auntie in her fifties, dressed in colorful, gaudy clothes, wearing gold and silver, with a chubby face and big ears, looking like she was well-off.

The first thing she did after getting on was to look for a seat, but with so many people on the train, where would there be an empty one? Her gaze quickly locked onto a young girl next to Qin Chuan.

The young girl was quiet and gentle, about twenty years old, looking like a college student.

The auntie walked straight over and said in an imperious tone, "Young person, get up, get up. Give your seat to an old person like me."

The young girl was stunned for a moment, then said weakly, "Auntie, I'm feeling a bit unwell today..."

Before she could finish, she was interrupted. The auntie reached out to pull the young girl on the seat and said very impatiently, "You're so young, what could you possibly be feeling unwell about? Get up, get up, give the seat to me."

This auntie was very strong and sturdy. The young girl was roughly pulled away by her, and then she plopped down into that seat.

After snatching the seat, she was still unhappy in her heart. She sat there cursing and swearing, standing on the moral high ground to criticize the young girl.

"Today's young people are becoming more and more outrageous. They don't even understand respecting the elderly and cherishing the young. They don't even know to give up their seat when they see an old person like me..."

At this point, some young people nearby couldn't take it anymore.

"Auntie, you are wrong to say that. Yielding a seat is a favor, not yielding is duty. Besides, you look like you're only in your fifties, not seventy or eighty. What's wrong with standing for a while?"

"Exactly, exactly. You grabbed her and pulled her away like that; that's snatching a seat. It really is a case of bad people getting old."

Being spoken to like that, the auntie got angry. She pointed directly at these young people and said, "All of you, shut up! Do you know who my son is? He works in the Guangming District Party Committee Office. Do you believe I'll have all of you arrested?"

Seeing this, these young people immediately quieted down. They were just ordinary people; how could they dare to fight against someone with connections?

Only one young man wasn't afraid of death. "Auntie, since your son is a government employee, you should hold yourself to a stricter standard and not embarrass your son."

"How are you talking!" The auntie pointed at this young man.

The young man was truly not afraid of trouble. Soon, the two of them started arguing.

Within a few minutes, the argument became very intense, but the auntie was clearly at a disadvantage. The young man's eloquence was quite good; he was reasonable and had evidence, making his argument unassailable.

Unable to win the argument, the auntie started to use her hands. She took the umbrella in her hand and started hitting the young man, cursing as she hit him.

The young man didn't fight back, only dodging. He knew that if he fought back, it would be considered mutual assault. But even a clay figurine has a temper; being hit like this constantly made his anger flare up. He warned, "If you hit me again, I'm going to fight back."

The auntie said loudly, "Fight back then! If you have guts, hit me! Hit me!"

As she spoke, she continued to hit him with the umbrella.

The young man could no longer endure it. When that umbrella came swinging over again, he slapped the auntie hard across the face.