章 3: Ten seconds

After Zhang Liling had left the hospital, the doctor who walked in with Shi Wenqian said with a confused gaze, "What do you need the extra blood bag for, the one we have is enough?"

Shi Wenqian glared at the doctor for asking an unnecessary question. "I don't think this should concern you."

The doctor knew that this was her way of bullying her stepdaughter by always dragging her to the hospital to donate blood. This has been going on for a while and the doctor could no longer continue watching.

"Mrs. Zhang you need to find another way other than this because this will be a serious issue if she decides to report it. After all, Mr. Zhang is the biological father of your stepdaughter, and he is still alive. If he learns of this…"

Shi Wenqian did not allow him to finish talking and cut him off immediately. She was already angry that she sent Zhang Liling off to school with the family's chauffeur.

"Are you saying that blood donation is a crime?" She asked furiously.

"It is not, but it can be a crime. This method you are using is a crime. No matter how healthy she is, she can not donate more than 2 units of blood in one donation. And she can only donate blood every 56 days, but this is the third time in this month already." The doctor pointed out.

Shi Wenqian scoffed, "Are you saying that my son should die with his Hemophilia?"

The doctor shook his head and said, "I'm not saying that. You should get blood the normal way by buying from the hospital. Start spending money legally. Your stepdaughter can get us in trouble, and I will not like to be a partaker of this anymore."

"Are you backing out?" Shi Wenqian asked while pointing fingers at him.

"I was never a partaker in the first place. I am afraid of lawsuits, so keep me out of this. Also, can you tell your son to stay away from fights in the nightclub? He knows he has Hemophilia and yet he acts like he has another lifeline."

The doctor said and attempted to walk away, but Shi Wenqian grabbed his collar and pulled him back.

"You have to be very careful of the words you say, my husband must not know about this. You might be my distant cousin, but remember who brought you to this level, don't bite more than you can chew,"

The doctor chuckled and said to her in a low tone, "Also, remember who has been helping you out all these years." After saying that, he pushed her hand aside and tidied up his collar before walking away.

"Bastard!" Shi Wenqian cursed through gritted teeth. If she had her ways, she wouldn't mind crushing his brain.

At NYU, when the chauffeur in the car carrying Zhang Liling got to the gates, he pulled over and asked her to get down.

Zhang Liling huffed and glared daggers at him. "Are you asking me to run to my lecture hall from the gates? Will you move this damn vehicle and take me to my destination!"

As Zhang Liling made the last statement, she grabbed him by the collar with one hand.

The chauffeur was surprised by her outburst as he has never seen her like that before. She wasn't even scared that he would report her.

Now, the chauffeur knew that he should be the one worrying about himself. He quickly ignited the car's engine and drove inside the University's premises, following Zhang Liling's instructions.

Two minutes later, they got close to the building the lecture would be taking place and Zhang Liling got off the car and hurried toward the lecture theatre.

She couldn't run because she still felt dizzy after the forceful blood donation. She only had a glass of milk and a toast of bread that morning before the blood donation.

She was also supposed to eat something to regain her strength, but there was no time for it. She only had 10 seconds to make it into Mr. Fang's class before he locks the door.

Punctuality was one of his rules.

Mr. Fang who was standing on the podium was patiently watching the students sitting before him. And while doing so, some latecomers continued to troop in panting for breath.

Finally, when it was a minute to his lecture time, he fixed his gaze on his wristwatch to monitor the time.

A female student sitting on the second seat of the third row looked very worried while glancing between her wristwatch and the entrance, she seemed to be waiting for somebody.

At exactly 10 seconds to the lecture time, Zhang Liling ran in panting for breath. She would have collapsed if she didn't hold the door on time.

Although she was not feeling quite well, she was more worried that the man currently staring at her with furrowed brows would send her out. Thankfully he didn't.

Mr. Fang's gaze rested on her for only 5 seconds before moving it to his audience. "It's time for today's lecture," He said in his deep baritone voice.

Zhang Liling breathed heavily in relief with her left hand on her chest. At last, she made it, and that was the only thought going on in her head. She was still trying to catch her breath and had not moved from that point.

When the female student with an average look and a low cut hairstyle saw her, she released a deep sigh of relief, before discreetly trying to get her attention, for fear of being caught by Mr. Fang,

After catching her breath, Zhang Liling steadied herself before slowly walking toward the audience, and luckily, she saw a familiar face staring hard at her and recognized the person as her friend, Tungmei.

In quick steps, she made her way towards her and sat on the empty seat she just evacuated by her side.

"Thank you, Tungmei," Zhang Liling whispered in appreciation.

With a straight gaze at the podium, Tungmei replied in a low tone, "You owe me an explanation."

"I know," Zhang Liling replied as she unzipped her backpack to take out a bottle of water from it. She felt terribly weak and needed to resurrect herself.

Tungmei was alarmed seeing her with the bottle of water and immediately glanced towards Mr. Fang's direction, and seeing that he didn't have his eyes on their side, she held Zhang Liling's hand down.

"Do you want to be kicked out?" She asked, not knowing that Mr. Fang had already noticed their action from his peripheral view.