KEIGHTY: We surpassed another ko-fi goal, yehey! 🎉 It’s all thanks to Gofa‘s generosity! Here’s 3 extra chapters to celebrate! (Extra Chapter 1/3)
It was hard for He Yu to imagine Li Tang shooting Hong Xiangfeng to death. He himself is not a naive, young boy who has never experienced anything. On the contrary, he has seen more of the ugly side of human nature than an average person. However, the Li Tang he has come into contact with has always given him the impression that although he’s cold on the outside, he’s also warm on the inside. He is truly a loyal person—a responsible man. Although Li Tang rarely mentioned his relationship with the Hong family, He Yu could feel that Li Tang had affection for the Hong family. From kneeling in front of Hong Xiangfeng’s grave for a long time to the few words he said about Hong Minhang—his attachment to them is not shallow at all.
Why did he kill Hong Xiangfeng? At this time, he was in front of Li Tang’s face, so He Yu couldn’t ask for more. But later on, when he asked Qiao Mudong again, Qiao Mudong went back to his usual perfunctory tone of speaking. “Ask Li Tang yourself.”
He Yu asked, “How do you expect me to ask Brother Li about this kind of thing?”
Qiao Mudong stretched his arms and said, “Come and massage my shoulders, then I’ll tell you.”
Returning to the spacious bathroom in Qiao Mudong’s home, He Yu raised his head and looked at the night sky outside the glass top window. He Yu thought that everyone had a reason to indulge in this kind of life. Qiao Mudong was no exception, and Fu Chenshan was no exception.
He Yu took off his slippers and trousers, sat down on the floor outside the bathtub, and massaged Qiao Mudong’s shoulders.
Qiao Mudong spread his arms and rested them on the edge of the bathtub, raising his head comfortably.
“I heard,” Qiao Mudong said slowly. “At that time, Li Tang had a girlfriend, and some said she was his fiancée. The two of them had already set a wedding date.”
He Yu recalled that Qiao Mudong once said that Li Tang liked women.
Qiao Mudong continued: “Hong Xiangfeng has always been very messy about the relationship between the two of them, but no one expected that he would actually fall in love with Li Tang’s woman.”
He Yu moved his hands as he looked at Qiao Mudong in surprise.
Qiao Mudong shrugged. “Of course, Li Tang didn’t want that. Later on, Hong Xiangfeng went out with the woman using his car and was shot by Li Tang from the car behind.”
He Yu was a little startled when he heard this. It sounded more like the plot of a Hong Kong movie than something that actually happened in this city.
The massage stopped. Qiao Mudong moved his shoulders with dissatisfaction, then reached out and pulled He Yu down.
He Yu had just fallen into the bathtub when he heard his cell phone ringing outside. He struggled to break free from Qiao Mudong’s arms and climbed up outside the bathtub. “I’ll answer the phone!”
The call was from Ma Tian.
“Shixiong?” He Yu was still panting slightly, and his naked body kept dripping water into the ground. He had no choice but to return to the bathroom.
Ma Tian first exchanged greetings with him and then asked, “Have you thought about the things I asked you to consider?”
He Yu sat down and dipped his feet into the hot water. “Is Ou-ge urging me now?”
Ma Tian said quickly, “No, he’s not pushing you. He said to let you think about it slowly. It’s me. I’m just worried that you’ll be stupid enough to waste such a good opportunity.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He Yu was silent for a moment before he said, “Shixiong, I’m still thinking about it.”
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Ma Tian sighed after hearing this. “You just think too much.”
He Yu said, “Yes, I know it myself. Don’t worry, Shixiong, I will consider it carefully.”
Ma Tian could only say, “Then think clearly; you may not have such a good opportunity in the future. Is it possible that you still want to work as a servant in that small restaurant for the rest of your life?”
“En,” He Yu assured him, “I will definitely be careful and cautious, and I will never waste this opportunity in vain.”
After hanging up the phone, He Yu put it down and turned around only to see Qiao Mudong looking at him. He didn’t even ask; he simply raised his head like a master and waited for He Yu to speak for himself.
He Yu slid his body into the water and said, “It was my shixiong who called me. He introduced me to a job. That night at KTV, the boss he introduced opened a small electronic technology company and asked me to join them.”
Qiao Mudong said, “That’s very good. Isn’t that what you studied as a college student?”
He Yu replied, “I’m a little worried.”
“What’s there to worry about?” Qiao Mudong was puzzled. “You go and try to work with them, and then leave if you don’t find it suitable. If you want to come back to Li Tang, it’s impossible for Li Tang not to accept you back. Besides, even if Li Tang doesn’t want you anymore, you can still follow me. What’s there to worry about?”
He Yu raised his head and looked straight at him.
Qiao Mudong asked, “Hey, did I say something wrong?”
He Yu thought for a while and said, “I just think what you said is right, so I’m quite surprised.” Yes, the worst result is just to return to his original shape, and it can’t get any worse.
Qiao Mudong snorted, “Unless you’re asking for a beating, you better come over and lie down with me.”
He Yu raised his foot and splashed water on Qiao Mudong’s face.
–
Less than two days later, Qiao Mudong arranged an opportunity for Li Tang to sneak into the hospital to meet Hong Minhang. During this period, He Yu expressed his intention to change jobs to Li Tang.
After Li Tang heard this, he said, “Very good. Let’s work hard in the future.”
He Yu asked, “If I don’t do well, can I come back?”
“Don’t come back,” Li Tang said, lifting his eyelids. “You’re useless; you’re not welcome here.”
He Yu smiled and said, “Thank you, Brother Li.”
During this period, Fu Chenshan was also discharged from the hospital. After Ling Qiang went to the hospital to see Fu Chenshan, he directly called Ling Zhilu back and asked her to go to the hospital to take care of Fu Chenshan.
Fu Chenshan called He Yu on the day he was discharged from the hospital.
There are a lot of things going on these days. He Yu suddenly remembered that he had never visited Fu Chenshan since then and quickly inquired, “How’s your recovery?”
Fu Chenshan answered, “It’s very good. The doctor said it won’t affect my appearance.”
“That’s good,” He Yu said.
Fu Chenshan muttered softly, “Let’s go out and have dinner together when we have the chance.”
He Yu replied in a crisp voice, “Okay.”
Fu Chenshan said, “Then I’ll hang up.”
He Yu responded, “Nn, bye-bye.”
After hanging up Fu Chenshan’s call, He Yu felt relieved, stuffed the phone back into his bag, and soon forgot about it.
After that, Qiao Mudong and Li Tang made an appointment to go to the hospital to meet Hong Minhang.
He didn’t let He Yu go with him, and He Yu wasn’t filled with curiosity in the first place. Since Qiao Mudong didn’t let him come, he simply waited for them in Shiyouwei. However, it’s clearly a lie to say that he’s not worried. He Yu can’t stop his head from being filled with terrible thoughts. He checks his phone from time to time and waits for Qiao Mudong’s call.
Qiao Mudong did not show up at Chengya Hospital with Li Tang. Instead, he brought two young men whom he used to hang out with together in the north of the city, along with Wang Wantong.
The old man walked a little slowly, but his imposing manner was still there. Qiao Mudong stepped back half a step and let the people around Uncle Wang help him walk in front as a sign of respect.
There was no obstruction all the way until they entered the corridor of the ICU. The four or five young men sitting on the benches in the corridor all stood up.
These people did not recognize who Qiao Mudong was. They only recognized Uncle Wang, but their attitude was not very respectful. They asked, “Uncle Wang, why are you here again? I told you that Mr. Hong hasn’t woken up yet, and the doctor won’t allow you to see him.”
Hong Minhang’s ward is still inside. One must change into medical shoe covers and wear a surgical mask when entering. This is just the corridor of a partitioned-off area.
Uncle Wang stepped back and pointed at Qiao Mudong. “This is Minhang’s good friend who grew up with, Master Qiao Mudong. He made a special trip to visit Minhang today.”
Several young people looked at Qiao Mudong, as if assessing his identity.
Qiao Mudong’s attitude was calm as he asked, “How is Hong Xiaomao doing?”
Many people know Hong Minhang’s nickname, but not many people dared to call him that. Those people looked at each other, and an older man among them stood up. “Master Qiao, right? Us, Mr. Hong’s followers, have entered before, but he hasn’t woken up yet. The doctor instructed that no one must visit him. You will bring bacteria in and cause infection. Please go back.”
Qiao Mudong said, “I will abide by the doctor’s requirements and promise not to get into trouble. I absolutely have no other intention for this. I’m just his friend for many years who came to visit today.”
At this time, a nurse pushed open the ICU door and came in. She glanced at them and reminded them, “Please don’t make any noise. Don’t disturb the patients while they are resting.”
The nurse had been working in the ICU ward. No one stopped her. She changed into medical shoe covers and entered Hong Minhang’s ward.
Then, the man said, “We don’t dare to agree to this. The two Hong bosses have warned us to protect Mr. Hong. If someone goes in casually and causes something bad to happen to Mr. Hong, we can’t bear the responsibility of it.”
A young man who came with Uncle Wang couldn’t hold back his temper. He pointed at him and said, “Come on! You are clearly threatening us with Mr. Hong’s life!”
There was also a bad-tempered person in the other group. “Who is threatening you? If something happens to Mr. Hong, we will suffer too! It is for everyone’s good that we won’t let you in!”
Qiao Mudong suddenly said, “What if I have to go in today?”
Those people suddenly became nervous. Qiao Mudong noticed that some people were already touching their phones, as if they wanted to call someone, and some might even have weapons on them. At this time, they all looked at them with nervous expressions.
Qiao Mudong guessed that there might not only be a few people guarding the hospital. Hong Minhang’s two uncles might have given a death order that no one would be allowed to come in to see Hong Minhang.
The atmosphere between the two sides was tense and seemed to be on the verge of breaking out.
Suddenly, the nurse who had just entered pushed the door open and shouted, “Where is Dr. Hu? The patient’s condition is unstable!”
Soon, another nurse and a male doctor wearing a mask and glasses ran over and said, “Dr. Hu is off duty. Let Dr. Liu go take a look first.”
The two of them changed their shoes and entered the ward one after another. The remaining nurse said to everyone outside, “Go away! Don’t gather here! The patient’s condition is unstable, and no one is allowed to visit now! If you make a fuss here again, I’ll call the security.”
The young men guarding the door seemed to heave a sigh of relief as they puffed up their chests. “Uncle Wang, you heard it too; please go back.”
Qiao Mudong and Wang Wantong looked at each other, somewhat unwilling to leave.
Qiao Mudong said respectfully to Wang Wantong, “Uncle Wang, what are we going to do?”
Wang Wantong shook his head helplessly, and his cold eyes fell on those people. “Just you wait until Minhang wakes up, and then I will slowly settle scores with you.”
Those people were quite scornful, and some of them even laughed out loud.
Qiao Mudong said helplessly, “In this case, we can only come again next time.”
Wang Wantong nodded, and together with Qiao Mudong, they slowly left the ward.
After Qiao Mudong and the others left the hospital, they separated from Wang Wantong and his party. He asked a boy to help him pick up his car from the parking lot. Then the boy drove out to pick him up. After that, Qiao Mudong got in the car, and then he went around to the back door of the hospital.
After waiting for nearly ten minutes, Li Tang, wearing a long black windbreaker and sunglasses, came out of the back door and got directly into Qiao Mudong’s car.
He sat down in the back seat, and before he could zip up his windbreaker, he loosened his hand and revealed the light-colored surgical gown underneath. He took off his sunglasses and said, “I saw Hong Minhang. He was already awake. But he can’t move around freely yet. Now that his two uncles bribed people from the hospital to put him under house arrest, he has no other way to contact people outside.”
