The Male Stand-in Just Wants to Make Money – Chapter 24

“Wow—”

The sound of shattering glass pierced the air, sharp enough to stab the eardrums.

Huo Chuan felt a sudden weight crash into him, accompanied by a faint scent that reached his nose. His vision went white for a moment as someone tackled him backward. He tumbled onto the grass with the person, sliding a short distance before coming to a stop.

Immediately after, the clatter of glass shards rained down, scattering densely across the ground. Fragments landed nearby, embedding themselves into the lawn.

The person who had lunged at him held him tightly but only let go after the sound of debris completely subsided.

Huo Chuan pulled away the cold hand supporting the back of his head. When he lifted his gaze, he was met with messy pink hair and a pair of light gray eyes staring at him.

The other person took a deep breath and asked, “Are you okay?”

For a moment, Huo Chuan didn’t respond.

Seeing no reply, Chen Bai widened his eyes in concern. He bent down, scrutinizing the God of Wealth closely. Only when he confirmed that Huo Chuan’s pupils were focused and his breathing steady did he exhale in relief.

He was fine—probably just too shocked to speak.

Well, that meant he wouldn’t have to worry about losing his paycheck for the next few months.

Who would’ve thought that the God of Wealth, despite being so tall, would actually be quite timid?

The whole commotion had been caused by the champagne tower collapsing. Fortunately, Chen Bai had been keeping an eye on Huo Chuan’s situation.

As the murmurs of the surrounding crowd grew closer, Huo Qing pushed through the throng, her voice filled with alarm. “Brother! Erbai!”

Chen Bai braced himself against the ground and stood up. As he moved, shards of broken glass slipped from his back, but none had embedded deeply into the lawn. He waved his hand and smiled. “We’re both fine.”

After reassuring the God of Wealth’s younger sister, he bent down again, extending a hand to Huo Chuan.

He had moved too quickly earlier and hadn’t managed to brake in time, which was why he had unintentionally brought Huo Chuan to the ground with him.

His arms were so thin that they barely filled out his shirt sleeves, leaving extra space between the fabric and his skin. The man on the grass, however, got up on his own.

Seeing this, Chen Bai swiftly withdrew his hand, not bothering to insist.

“…”

Huo Qing ran up to them, bent over, and pressed her hands against her knees as she caught her breath. But the moment she lifted her head, she saw the bloodied hand hanging beneath the cuff of a white shirt—her eyes widened instantly.

Chen Bai’s just-retracted hand was suddenly grabbed again. Looking down, he saw a pair of eyes welling with tears, on the verge of spilling over.

He immediately reacted, speaking in a quiet but firm tone. “Don’t cry, you’re wearing makeup.”

“…”

That one sentence worked better than any other form of comfort—those golden tears were instantly held back.

After confirming she wouldn’t cry, Chen Bai reassured her again. “It’s just a scratch. Nothing serious.”

The back of a person’s head was a fragile area. When he had fallen earlier, he had instinctively used his hands to cushion Huo Chuan’s head, preventing it from hitting the ground. That was how his own hands had gotten scraped. Though the wounds looked alarming, they were nothing more than superficial abrasions and could be easily treated.

The crowd gradually gathered around. Someone who had picked up their phone after the incident approached with trembling legs, repeatedly apologizing—both to Huo Chuan and to the newlyweds.

Huo Chuan heard the apologies, but he wasn’t really paying attention. Instead, his gaze drifted back to the spot where he had been standing just moments ago.

The ground there was now covered in shattered debris, soaked with spilled champagne. Broken glass shards had embedded themselves into the soil, sharp and glinting under the light.

Retracting his gaze, he looked at the person beside him, lowered his head slightly, and said, “Let’s go to the hospital first.”

Chen Bai understood that “going to the hospital” meant that he himself should go to the hospital.

Yet, when he noticed that the God of Wealth remained standing beside him, along with Huo Qing, neither showing any sign of leaving—

It dawned on him.

So ‘going to the hospital’ actually meant going together with the God of Wealth.

After getting into the car, Chen Bai saw a familiar driver at the wheel. Without hesitation, he greeted him naturally.

The destination was a nearby hospital. The driver took one look at him and was momentarily stunned—Chen Bai seemed surprisingly spirited for someone who had just been injured. For a second, he didn’t even look like a patient.

Upon arrival, the doctor immediately began treating the wound on his hand.

The back of his hands and the joints of his fingers had varying degrees of abrasions. Mud, sand, and other debris were embedded in the wounds, which needed to be cleaned and disinfected first—a rather painstaking process.

Just the sight of a cotton swab dabbing at the bloody wound was enough to make anyone wince.

Yet, Pink Hair showed no particular reaction. Instead, he watched the doctor’s actions closely, as if he were studying them.

Huo Qing, sitting to the side, couldn’t bring herself to look directly at the wound. Instead, she hesitated before asking, “Second Brother… Brother Bai, doesn’t it hurt?”

With her own brother present, she felt a bit awkward addressing him too familiarly.

Chen Bai shook his head slightly, smiled, and replied, “Not too bad.”

Aside from the injuries on his hands, there were also some scratches on his back. They weren’t deep—likely caused by scattered glass fragments. A simple disinfection would suffice.

As the doctor was disinfecting his wounds, Huo Qing had probably informed their mother of the situation. Before long, Huo’s mother called to ask about the current state of affairs.

At first, she wanted a video call, but since Chen Bai was still having his back treated, it wouldn’t have been a pleasant sight. So, he switched to voice chat instead.

To avoid being a third wheel, the little girl left the room, saying she was going to buy some drinks. This left only Huo Chuan behind, silently sitting in the room and watching the injured person casually talk on the phone.

At one point, Chen Bai glanced at his phone and saw a new message. Turning to Huo Chuan, he asked, “Xiao Qing wants to know what you want to drink.”

“…”

Huo Chuan replied, “No need.”

Then, after a pause, he asked, “When did you two exchange contact information?”

Chen Bai first lowered his head and denied it. But then, he raised his head again and smiled, “A long time ago.”

The moment he finished speaking, he realized something was off.

Carefully studying the God of Wealth’s expression, his brain started working rapidly—

Wait.

I have the God of Wealth’s sister and mother added as contacts… but I never added him.

“…”

After the wound was treated, the quiet hospital room was filled with a soft notification sound. Chen Bai had just added a new friend when Huo Qing, who had gone out to buy water, returned.

When she walked in, she happened to witness the moment they added each other as friends.

Her gaze shifted back and forth between the two before she finally withdrew it. She handed the cup of water in her hand to the person sitting beside the hospital bed. “I found this somewhere—should be warm, not too hot.”

Just as she finished passing the water over, the phone belonging to the person sitting on the other side, which had yet to be put away, lit up with an incoming call.

Huo Chuan stepped out to answer the phone, and it took him a while.

When he returned, Huo Qing, already familiar with this kind of situation, looked at him and asked directly, “Something you need to handle?”

The person who had just walked back in nodded.

Huo Qing had expected this answer and was already used to it. She waved a hand dismissively. “Go ahead. Brother Bai, I’ll stay here.”

And so, Huo Chuan left.

Since the wound on Chen Bai’s hand was too large and needed to be properly bandaged, Huo Qing remained in the room to keep an eye on him.

Barely ten minutes had passed since the God of Wealth left. After his wound was bandaged, they were still waiting for the doctor to finish writing medical instructions when Chen Bai’s phone suddenly rang twice.

He glanced down—

One was a bank transaction notification, showing that 200,000 yuan had been deposited into his account.

The other was a WeChat message from a newly added contact.

The message was short and simple: [Medical expenses.]

It was labeled as “medical expenses,” but in reality, it was far more than the actual cost. The real medical bill wasn’t even a fraction of this amount, and the driver had already settled the payment.

Chen Bai, who had always earned his money through sheer effort, sincerely thanked the God of Wealth for his generosity and accepted it without hesitation.

A quiet yet generous God of Wealth—what a delightful surprise.

As he stared at his phone, his smile grew wider and harder to suppress than a fully equipped AK (assault rifle) in an FPS game.

Sitting nearby, Huo Qing watched his reaction. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she changed her mind. Instead, she said, “I’ll ask Uncle Meng to take you home later. It’ll be hard to get on the subway at this hour.”

She had heard from the driver during her mother’s birthday celebration that this person had declined a ride home last time and likely took the subway instead. If he was planning to go home alone again, it would probably be the subway once more.

Although she had never taken the subway herself, she had heard from her classmates that on holidays, especially in the city center, the subway was always packed—let alone for someone with an injured hand.

However, still adhering to his work-life separation principle, Chen Bai waved his hand and declined. “No need. A friend will pick me up later.”

The kind-hearted younger sister of the God of Wealth looked at him with concern. “It’s inconvenient to go alone. I’ll wait with you until your friend arrives.”

Chen Bai: “…”

Faced with her good intentions and unable to find an excuse to refuse, Chen Bai lowered his head, pulled out his phone, and prepared to summon a friend out of thin air.

He first tried his good neighbor.

The good neighbor must have been on his phone because the reply came quickly:

[Which hospital?]

Chen Bai glanced at the sign on the doctor’s desk and typed out the hospital’s name.

After a short silence, the good neighbor responded:

[I’ll be there in half an hour.]

It seemed that his summoning attempt had been unexpectedly quick and successful.

Once the wound was treated and the prescribed medication collected, the hospital visit was essentially over. The only thing left to do was wait.

Sitting together in the hospital lobby, Huo Qing adjusted her skirt slightly to keep it from touching the ground. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. “Is your friend the same one you mentioned during your livestream? The one who lives next door?”

Chen Bai nodded and smiled. “Yeah. He’s got a great temper, and he looks really handsome when he smiles.”

Huo Qing thought about it and found herself agreeing.

An image popped into her mind—someone holding a thermos cup, always smiling, speaking in a slow and unhurried manner.

Since this person could tolerate Erbai’s antics, he must have an incredibly good temper. And since he was close friends with the person sitting beside her, he must also be someone who smiled often.

A person with a good temper who says “half an hour” means exactly half an hour.

Thirty minutes later, Chen Bai’s phone vibrated. He glanced down, then looked up and said, “He’s here.”

Huo Qing followed his gaze toward the hospital entrance.

However, the person she had imagined—a friendly, smiling man—was nowhere in sight.

Instead, the first person she noticed was someone holding a thermos cup. But he wore a hat, a mask, and a black jacket. As he strode into the hospital lobby, his aura was as intimidating as her own brother’s.

She looked around again but didn’t see anyone else fitting her mental image. Growing curious, she turned to the person beside her. “Where?”

Chen Bai glanced in a particular direction, then nodded with a smile. “Over there.”

Before she could even look again, the man had already arrived.

As he approached, his black jacket rustled through the air, each movement exuding a sharp presence. The sound drew nearer until he finally stopped beside them.

Huo Qing turned her head and found herself staring up at the same figure she had noticed earlier.

Very tall.

Standing this close, the sense of pressure was even stronger than when viewed from a distance.

She watched as the man bent down and handed over the thermos cup. The person sitting next to her took it naturally, as if it were a habitual action between them.

Still in slight disbelief, she asked, “…The friend with a good temper?”

Chen Bai held the thermos cup—already unscrewed in advance—patted the man’s hand, and smiled. “Yeah, him.”