Chapter 119: Acting Without Authorization
When they reached the hospital, Ren Xiadong’s first act was to buy a new phone nearby and call Zhou Jin, giving him instructions concerning the bridgehead.
“Luckily, all the phone numbers were saved on the SIM card. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have known how to deal with what happened today.”
Clutching his new phone, Ren Xiadong hurried back into the hospital.
Inside the operating room:
“Anesthetic.”
“Wipe the sweat.”
“Everyone, stay focused. The patient is still in critical condition.”
Outside the operating room, Guan Xin arrived after hearing the news and asked the anxiously waiting Ren Xiadong, “How is President Liu?”
Ren Xiadong paced back and forth in agitation, unwilling to say a word.
Seeing that he remained silent, Guan Xin kept quiet as well and sat patiently on a bench in the corridor.
Suddenly, the operating-room door opened. Before the doctor had even stepped out, Ren Xiadong rushed forward, seized him, and dragged him outside.
“Let go! Have you no manners?” the doctor snapped angrily.
Ren Xiadong had no intention of wasting time arguing. He said directly, “I’m Ren Xiadong, vice president of Liu Yao World Film and Television Company.”
The doctor immediately changed his attitude. “President Ren, I’m sorry. I failed to recognize your importance. Your friend’s condition is not very optimistic, but I will do everything I can.”
“The man lying in there is my boss, Liu Sheng!” Upon hearing that Liu Sheng’s condition was poor, Ren Xiadong grew even more impatient. He stared at the doctor and continued, “If Liu Sheng is healthy, you’ll be healthy. If Liu Sheng isn’t healthy, neither will you be!”
“Yes, yes, I understand. I’ll take this matter extremely seriously.”
Ren Xiadong was about to say something harsher when Guan Xin came over and pulled him away. Then he asked the doctor, “What exactly is Liu Sheng’s condition?”
The doctor sighed.
The sound frightened both Ren Xiadong and Guan Xin. Ren Xiadong grabbed the doctor by the collar and glared fiercely into his eyes.
“Try sighing again!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the doctor hurriedly apologized.
Ren Xiadong had lost all patience. “Talk!”
“President Liu is no longer in danger of losing his life. He has four broken ribs, both legs and his left arm are fractured. Fortunately, he suffered only a mild concussion. He is currently unconscious, but we cannot say when he will wake up.”
As he spoke, the doctor secretly glanced at Ren Xiadong’s expression. Ren Xiadong understood that Liu Sheng’s injuries were extremely serious. As long as he survived, that was all that mattered.
His voice trembling, he said, “It’s all right. Keep going.”
After saying that, Ren Xiadong slowly backed away and then sank onto a bench, waiting to hear Liu Sheng’s “bad news.”
“President Ren, please don’t worry too much. We cannot determine when President Liu will regain consciousness. He might wake up soon, or he might never wake up. Even if he does regain consciousness, he may be crippled, because both of his legs suffered compound fractures. He may lose the ability to walk.”
When the doctor finished, tears streamed down Ren Xiadong’s face. His mind was filled with memories of their high-school days—fighting together, bullying people together, eating and drinking to their hearts’ content. Back then, life had never been filled with so many exhausting troubles.
At that moment, Liu Sheng was wheeled out of the operating room. Looking at his sleeping friend, Ren Xiadong clenched his teeth and forced out a single sentence:
“I want the best room in this hospital!”
At Ren Xiadong’s insistence, Liu Sheng was placed in a private room. Very few people could afford to stay in such a ward, so the entire floor was quiet, allowing Liu Sheng to recover in peace.
After a long while, Ren Xiadong sat beside Liu Sheng’s bed without saying a word. Gradually, dawn began to break.
“Xiandong, eat something. You didn’t have dinner last night.” Guan Xin entered the room carrying porridge and eggs, speaking to the motionless Ren Xiadong.
Ren Xiadong rose to his feet. His eyes were filled with murderous intent. The arrogance and playfulness he had once carried were gone, as though he had become an entirely different person—or, more precisely, as though a child had suddenly become an adult.
“If Liu Sheng doesn’t eat, neither will I. No matter how dangerous things used to get, he was always the one protecting me. I once told him that we would share blessings and endure hardships together.”
Ren Xiadong gently turned Liu Sheng over as he spoke. “Liu Sheng never sleeps peacefully. He changes positions several times every night. Leaving him in one position like this must be uncomfortable.”
Then Ren Xiadong took Liu Sheng’s hand.
“Everything will be over soon. Wake up quickly. I’ll take you home. A grand affair like this isn’t meant for us. Even if you’re disabled afterward, it won’t matter. I have enough money for us to spend for the rest of our lives. We’ll return to Xinghai City and go back to our carefree days of spending money and enjoying ourselves.”
At that moment, Ren Xiadong called Tian Yun.
“Liu Sheng is in the hospital. I don’t feel comfortable leaving him in anyone else’s care. Can you come and look after him?”
When Tian Yun heard that Liu Sheng had been hospitalized, she grew extremely worried. Without a second thought, she hailed a taxi and hurried over.
“How did he end up this badly injured? What happened?” Tian Yun asked when she saw Liu Sheng’s condition.
Ren Xiadong shook his head and said nothing.
Instead, he suddenly laughed and then spoke to the unconscious Liu Sheng.
“I can still drink and brag with you every day. If possible, I want to take Tian Yun home with us. Then you’ll meet the woman who will care for you for the rest of your life. The four of us can live together in that split-level house of ours. We’ll arrange rooms upstairs and downstairs. You used to bully me up there all the time, so to save ourselves the trouble of climbing the stairs, we always let you have the upstairs room. This time, the downstairs room is yours. I’ll move upstairs.”
Ren Xiadong’s eyes were brimming with tears. Every so often, a broken sob escaped him. Behind him, Tian Yun and Guan Xin were also weeping uncontrollably—moved by the brotherhood between Ren Xiadong and Liu Sheng, and heartbroken by what had happened to Liu Sheng.
Tian Yun embraced Ren Xiadong and said through her tears, “I’m willing. I’m willing to go home with you. I’m willing to live upstairs from Liu Sheng.”
“Take good care of Liu Sheng. I have something I must deal with. When I return, we’ll leave. We’ll go north, back to Xinghai City.”
After saying that, Ren Xiadong left the ward reluctantly. He was reluctant to part with Tian Yun, reluctant to leave Liu Sheng, and reluctant to abandon this dazzling world. He intended to kill Hu Yinghe and avenge Liu Sheng.
Just after leaving the hospital, Ren Xiadong received a call from Zhou Jin.
“One of the assassins is still alive. He’s being treated at a small clinic.”
“That saves me the trouble of searching every street in Yunhai City for Hu Yinghe.”
After muttering to himself, Ren Xiadong hailed a taxi and went to the clinic Zhou Jin had mentioned.
The assassin had survived because Liu Sheng had been in front of him when they were thrown from the bridge. Liu Sheng had dragged him into the river. He had merely lost consciousness and suffered no other injuries.
“Where does Hu Yinghe live now?” Ren Xiadong asked, holding a surgical knife to the assassin.
The assassin was remarkably tough. He refused to speak, no matter what.
Ren Xiadong drove the surgical knife into his thigh, but the assassin did not even cry out in pain.
With no other option, Ren Xiadong calmed himself and tried a different approach.
“When you go back, they’ll kill you anyway. In their eyes, you’re already a dead man. If you refuse to cooperate with me, you’ll die here as well.”
The assassin endured the pain and sneered. “You don’t need to threaten me. I’m an assassin. I’m not afraid of death. Just give me a quick end.”
Ren Xiadong frowned. He kept thinking about what Liu Sheng would do if he were in his place.
After a while, Ren Xiadong said, “Do you want to live like an ordinary person? Have a car, a house, a wife, children, and plenty of money?”
The assassin’s eyes flickered slightly. Ren Xiadong understood then that men like him had no family and no faith. The only reason they continued living was to obey orders and kill.
“This is Chong City. You must know who Liu Sheng and I are. Here, I can give you a car, a house, and a stable, well-paying job.”
Ren Xiadong spoke with complete seriousness. This was the first time he had used his identity to make a promise to someone. In the past, Liu Sheng had handled everything, and he had never needed to worry about a thing. Now that Liu Sheng had been injured, Ren Xiadong had no choice but to grow—for Liu Sheng’s sake, and for his own.
“Really?” the assassin asked.
Ren Xiadong nodded. “As long as you cooperate with me.”
The assassin fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“All right. I can give you reliable information. Because you and Liu Sheng caused Hu Yinghe to lose so much business, he plans to rebuild his strength. At eight o’clock tonight, he will host a banquet for his trusted men at the Ciping Hotel in Yunhai City. They’ll discuss how to revive his enterprise.”
After learning this, Ren Xiadong rose and left. Outside the clinic, he said to Zhou Jin, who was waiting by the entrance, “Find him a place to live. Make sure he receives proper care while he recovers. Once he’s well, arrange a good job for him.”
“Why?” Zhou Jin asked, unable to conceal his astonishment.
Ren Xiadong continued walking as he replied, “Liu Sheng has always been like this. If he promises someone something, he keeps his word.”
When Ren Xiadong returned home, he thought about all the moments he and Liu Sheng had shared while cleaning his gun. More than four thousand rounds of ammunition lay on the bed.
He loaded the magazines, then grabbed three more handfuls of bullets and stuffed them into his pockets. Afterward, he went to the parking lot, got into his car, and drove toward Yunhai City.
Back at the hospital, Tian Yun asked Guan Xin, who had stayed behind to care for Liu Sheng, “What happened to Liu Sheng?”
Guan Xin did not realize that Tian Yun knew nothing. He answered directly, “I think Hu Yinghe was hunting him.”
The glass in Tian Yun’s hand fell to the floor. She stared at Guan Xin in horror.
“What did you say?”
Only then did Guan Xin realize that Tian Yun had been kept in the dark. But the words had already been spoken. Any attempt to fabricate a story would only lead to more slips, so Guan Xin decided to tell her everything he knew.
After a lengthy explanation, Tian Yun learned the truth about Liu Sheng and Ren Xiadong. She learned that they were administrators of Chong City, that they belonged to the global organization Huayong, and that both of them had killed people.
Unable to calm herself, Tian Yun grew restless and flustered.
After a long time, Guan Xin began to fear that he had ruined the relationship between Tian Yun and Ren Xiadong—that because of his loose tongue, their relationship might reach a breaking point.
“No. Xiadong must have gone to do something reckless.”
As she spoke, Tian Yun dialed Ren Xiadong’s number, but his phone remained switched off.
She began to panic, repeating over and over, “He can’t be hurt. He can’t be hurt!”
Seeing that Tian Yun was on the verge of breaking down, Guan Xin hurried over and embraced her, soothing her gently.
“They’re men who handle great matters. Everything they do is something they must be proud of. Ren Xiadong will be fine. He could never leave you behind.”
After eleven hours on the road, Ren Xiadong arrived at the Ciping Grand Hotel at exactly eight o’clock that evening. By paying a substantial sum, he learned from a waiter which private room Hu Yinghe was using.
The hotel was the finest in the country. Not only was it restricted to members, but anyone dressed improperly was forbidden to enter. Ren Xiadong had no choice but to resolve the matter through bribery.
He knew that this journey might be one from which he would never return. But for the sake of avenging Liu Sheng, he had no regrets.
Even if he died, he would take Hu Yinghe with him.