The hallway was silent for a few seconds. Lei Zhen was simply too baffled by the sudden request coming from Tang Qiaolian.
"W-What did you say again, Nurse Qiaolian?" Lei Zhen asked her, seemingly hoping that he must have misheard her.
Alas, Tang Qiaolian replied swiftly and with more determination this time, "I've asked if I can stay over at your house tonight?"
And she continued, "I'll truly be homeless if you refuse to let me stay over at your house."
Lei Zhen was dumbfounded by her exclamation. How could she be homeless when she was living way better than him?
"Nurse Qiaolian… if this is one of your pranks again, then you got me good. No need to pretend any longer." He said with his hands raised high up. She was prone to always pranking him from time to time.
Though most of the pranks were harmless except this time, he was truly frightened by her prank.
Meanwhile, Tang Qiaolian remained serious and stared deeply into his eyes. She was holding the look of 'do you think I'm joking with you' at Lei Zhen.
'What is going on? Nurse Qiaolian should be someone coming from a wealthy family background. Why would she be homeless?' Lei Zhen thought.
As much as this looked like some pot of gold that had dropped to him considering how beautiful and mature Tang Qiaolian was. He knew better than to fantasize about such fictional dreams that only occurred in movies and dramas.
"C-Can't you just find a hotel to live in?" Lei Zhen suggested. "There are numerous 3-star to 5-star hotels around here and you could definitely afford them with your income as a nurse."
Suddenly, Lei Zhen felt a chill running down his spine when Tang Qiaolian's gentle expression turned icy cold. He was sure that if he had continued his next sentence, then he might just receive a death sentence.
With his life hanging on a thin line, Lei Zhen finally gave in when he considered how she had helped him during his difficult time.
"Sigh, you can stay over at my house, but don't say I didn't warn you. Mine is a single-room apartment with no privacy available. You can still go to someone else now otherwise it would be too late for regret." Lei Zhen said, emphasizing the point that there would be no door in between his apartment.
Just when he thought Tang Qiaolian would find some other option, she merely nodded her head and smiled.
"That's more like it, Lei Zhen." She said brightly and turned around. "My car is at the parking lot on the basement level, so let's hurry up to see if some clothing stores are still open at this time for me to have a change of clothes."
She then proceeded to walk away, not caring if Lei Zhen was following closely behind or not.
"..."
Lei Zhen twitched his brows before hesitantly following Tang Qiaolian.
'Did something happen to Nurse Qiaolian? How come I didn't notice something was wrong before?' He wondered silently.
Tang Qiaolian was a meticulous person that would never do any rash action. Hence, her behavior and action today had thoroughly confused him. It caused him to wonder if she was even the real Tang Qiaolian.
Sometime later, they arrived at the basement level and Lei Zhen wasn't even surprised to see Tang Qiaolian opening up a Pagani vehicle.
Upon closer inspection, Lei Zhen could determine that it was a limited edition Pagani car with a price value over million of dollars.
"Nurse Qiaolian… you're riding over a million-dollar limited-edition Pagani car. Why would you want to stay over at my rundown apartment instead?" Lei Zhen asked in a joking manner.
Luckily he knew her better and that she wasn't playing some sort of joke on him. Otherwise, he would have just believed she was messing with him and looking down on his poor upbringing.
Meanwhile, Tang Qiaolian shrugged her shoulders, seemingly unbothered by Lei Zhen recognizing her expensive car.
It wasn't the price or the brand that matters to her, but it was the comfort and her love for the Pagini that made her buy it in the first place.
"I'll explain it over when we arrive at your apartment, okay?" She simply said and hopped into the car.
Without a choice, Lei Zhen could only scratch his head and head over to the other side of the car. When he saw the comfortable seat from the Pagini, he could subtly understand her love for such a luxurious car.
At the same time, he was feeling a bit awkward and out of place. He might have been rich in the past, but now he was just a poor man, struggling to live day by day.
"I think I should just take a bullet train back home while you drive alone," Lei Zhen suggested.
"I don't want to accidentally dirty your Pagani…" he added.
His kind gesture was met with a fierce backlash though as Tang Qiaolian glared menacingly at him.
"What? Do you feel that it's beneath you to sit in my car? Or do you take me for some arrogant young miss that would have a 'Karen' attitude?" She asked in a somewhat angry tone.
Lei Zhen was stunned and was rendered speechless by her outburst. "O-Of course not, Nurse Qiaolian is the kindest and would never have some haughty behavior."
"Just call me Qiaolian," Tang Qiaolian corrected. "I'm done with my shift, so I'm not working as a nurse at the moment."
After saying that, she patted the empty seat next to her and held a smile that wasn't very gentle.
Lei Zhen sweated profusely as he hurriedly sat down on the seat.
He didn't dare to offend her accidentally considering how she could be a debt collector of him. Not to mention, she was treating him as an equal, unlike others.
Putting on the seatbelt, Lei Zhen was about to inform her of his apartment address until he was cut off by her.
"No need for that, Lei Zhen. I already know where you lived." She waved her hand and started the car up.