Ignoring the man, Ying Qingcang picked up Xin Qing and caressed her cheeks. When he confirmed that Xin Qing was indeed only asleep, he finally felt relieved.
A loud boom sounded from afar, followed by a series of human cries and sobs.
Ah Che rushed outside. Several moments later, he returned in a state of panic. "Young master, explosives."
"Hahaha! I already told you. None of you people will be able to leave here alive today!" Yelled the black kidnapper, whose face now held a savage look. Young Master Shen instantly knew what was wrong. "You guys never planned to let us leave here with the hostage! You"ve been planning to blow us up from the start!" He shouted.
More explosions sounded from afar, which became louder and louder as the source of the explosions approached them. Ying Qingcang and the rest rushed out the door. The kidnappers fired their guns at them. That was when Xin Qing suddenly woke up.
"Don"t move!" Ying Qingcang covered her ears. "Hang on to me."
Slack-jawed, Xin Qing stared at the people firing at them. She instantly recognized those men as her kidnappers. Turning her head, she noticed the rising black smoke some distance away as well as the wooden planks which were flying through the air haphazardly. She decided to listen to Ying Qingcang and took cover in his arms, hugging him tightly without moving a single inch; she wanted to at least try to avoid becoming a liability to him.
"Dammit to h.e.l.l!" Young Master Shen cursed. Then, to Ying Qingcang, he shouted, "Go! Take Xin Qing and get the h.e.l.l out of here first! We"ll cover you!"
Ying Qingcang fired his gun without looking at Young Master Shen; the bullet hit the blonde kidnapper in the thigh. "We"ll leave together," Ying Qingcang said.
"Don"t even think about leaving here today," said the black kidnapper as he tossed a ma.s.sive suitcase onto the floor. Dragging Ying Qingcang with him, Ah Che took several steps backwards. "Young master, come on! Hurry up!" Ah Nan stepped forward to shield Ying Qingcang with his own body. "Young master, those are rocket launchers!" Ah Nan yelled furiously.
Young Master Shen instantly saw red and readied himself to make a dive for the suitcase. Just then, he saw a helicopter in the sky, flying towards them. With a sniper rifle, Boss Wan took out the kidnappers with clean headshots. The black kidnapper was the first to crumple to the ground. The two other kidnappers followed suit.
"Move it! The whole place is about to blow!" Boss Wan yelled and released the ladder from the chopper. Ying Qingcang told Xin Qing to make the climb first. As she climbed the ladder, she glanced backward at Ying Qingcang. All of a sudden, her face paled. She jumped down from the ladder and pushed Ying Qingcang to the ground. After that, the only thing Ying Qingcang saw was Xin Qing"s bloodied face as she crumpled into his arms.
It was as if that image had stopped the flow of time. Ying Qingcang saw the weak smile on Xin Qing"s lips as she slowly collapsed. Her eyes had held his own image, which was crystal clear at first, but was now tinted with the color of melancholic beauty as blood spilled over them.
"Argh! Argh! Argh!" Ying Qingcang screamed at the top of his lungs as if he had gone mad. At the sight, the alarms went off in Young Master Shen"s head; he rushed over and struck Ying Qingcang at the back of the head. "Ah Che, carry him onto the helicopter. Ah Nan, contact the hospital. Come on! Move it!" Young Master Shen barked out orders.
That night, the large-scale bombings in the southern suburb were all over the news. There were a lot of casualties, and there was an ongoing police investigation into the incident.
In the hospital, Xin Qing was still in surgery. Ying Qingcang stood guard outside the operating theatre without moving a muscle.
"Xin Qing"s kidnappers have nothing to do with the arms dealer. I can"t seem to find out who they"re working for." There was a pause, and Boss Wan stared at Ying Qingcang. "Sister-in-law will be fine."
Ying Qingcang waved his hand without saying a word. Boss Wan nodded. "I"ll take my leave first, then."
Both Ah Che and Ah Nan had both sustained injuries. After they had dealt with their wounds, they quickly came over. Meanwhile, Young Master Shen was on the phone, speaking in an inaudible tone. The indicator outside the surgical theatre turned off after seven hours. Ying Qingcang had maintained the same posture through the entire time. When the door of the operating theatre slid open, Ying Qingcang"s body swayed a little as he moved. Ah Che and Ah Nan rushed over to steady him before he could crash into the floor.
"Mr. Ying, we"ve removed the bullet. But..." The surgeon trailed off, staring at Ying Qingcang, not daring to finish the sentence.
Ying Qingcang"s gaze was fixed upon Xin Qing, whose head was covered with bandages as she lay there, barely breathing. He was afraid to even reach out to touch her, fearing that she would vanish into thin air if he was not careful.
"You can tell me," Ying Qingcang said and returned the surgeon"s gaze. "And I want to hear the truth."
The surgeon sighed. "The bullet went through Mrs. Ying"s cerebellum, causing damage to her brain tissues. We can guarantee that she"ll wake up, but we don"t know what side-effects she might suffer after waking up."
"Thank you," Ying Qingcang said, reaching out slowly to hold Xin Qing"s hand. "It"s fine as long as she can wake up."
The surgeon also told him something else; although Xin Qing could, in theory, wake up, it was still uncertain how long it might take her to do so. It might take her a few days, or more than ten days. After that, Xin Qing was admitted into the best ICU the hospital had to offer. Ying Qingcang spent every waking hour watching over her. He had requested for a bed to be set up beside Xin Qing"s bed just so he could stay there overnight. Every night, he fell asleep with Xin Qing in his arms. During the day, he and Aunt Tian learned how to wipe Xin Qing"s body to ensure that her skin remained dry and comfortable. Young Master Shen spent his day handling all of Ying Enterprises affairs on Ying Qingcang"s behalf. At night, he would drop by the hospital to update Ying Qingcang on things at Ying Enterprises. Xin Qing"s room was a three-bedroom suite, so Ah Che stayed at the hospital too; his job was to take care of their daily meals.
Shi Qianqian and Ding Lei visited them the same night Xin Qing was admitted into the hospital. At the sight of Xin Qing"s unmoving form on the hospital bed, Shi Qianqian cried until she pa.s.sed out in Ding Lei"s arms. With Shi Qianqian being pregnant, Ding Lei was concerned about her well-being, so he brought Shi Qianqian home after exchanging a brief greeting with Ying Qingcang. Zhang Mi came the third day. She glanced at Xin Qing first, and then she slapped Ying Qingcang right across his cheek.
"Are you nuts?!" Young Master Shen held her back when he saw that Zhang Mi was thinking about sinking her teeth into Ying Qingcang.
Zhang Mi swiped her tears as she cried, "Xin Qing has never had a smooth life ever since she got together with you. Abduction, a.s.sa.s.sination, and all kinds of complicated bulls.h.i.t! If she hadn"t met you, she"d still be a normal undergrad student trying to complete her studies at the university. This is all on you!"
Zhang Mi slumped to the floor in a crying heap. "Is this how you protect her?" Zhang Mi cried, pounding the floor with her fist. "Is this how you love her? This type of love is going kill her! d.a.m.n it! It"s going to kill her!"
"If she doesn"t wake up, I"ll take care of her until the day I die, and then I"ll be cremated with her. She is my woman in life, and she will be my woman in death, too. I won"t let her lie in this bed all alone. I will stay by her side forever," Ying Qingcang said as he gently wiped Xin Qing"s arms. "Even if you say that everything that had happened today is because of me, I have no regrets. If I could do it all over again, I"ll still keep her by my side and make her into Mrs. Ying."
Young Master Shen sniffed and pulled Zhang Mi to her feet. "That"s enough. I know this is hard for you. Just get it off your chest and you"ll be fine."
"Tell me the truth. Will she be able to wake up?" Zhang Mi leaned over the side of the bed and touched Xin Qing"s face. Xin Qing"s small, palm-sized face now looked entirely pale, as if all the blood had been drained from it. Thick bandages were wrapped around her head, making her face looked even smaller than it already was. Zhang Mi even thought that Xin Qing"s body had shrunk by an entire size, as if her entire body was dehydrated.
Ying Qingcang glanced at Zhang Mi, "Yes, she will. The surgeon a.s.sured me that she will wake up. If she doesn"t wake up in the next two weeks, we"ll seek treatment overseas."
"Did you guys find the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who did this?" Zhang Mi"s face held a scathing look. "What about the son of a b.i.t.c.h who pulled the trigger?"
Noticing that Zhang Mi"s eyes had swollen into the size of walnuts, Young Master Shen instinctively handed a piece of wet wipe to her. After that, he poured her a gla.s.s of water. "We"re still looking into it. But we"ve got no leads so far," said Young Master Shen. "The one who fired the gun is dead. The guy had already taken a bullet before this. All of us thought that he had died. But he still had a bit of life in him to fire at at Ying Qingcang."
"I can understand it if it"s you," Zhang Mi said to Young Master Shen. "You have a lot of enemies after all." Then she turned to Ying Qingcang. "But Ying Qingcang, you are a businessman. Why do so many people hate you and want you dead?" Turning to look at Xin Qing, Zhang Mi felt an unbearable stab of pain in her heart. "In the end, it"s always Xin Qing who gets dragged into all of it."
An unknown person once said this, "Given the choice, I want to be more selfish and be the one to leave first. I don"t want to live in a world without you, since to me, that is worse than death."
Xin Qing had been unconscious for ten days straight now. To Ying Qingcang, every day felt like a year. "If you don"t shave, Xin Qing won"t recognize you when she wakes up," Zhang Mi had reminded him one time. Since then, Ying Qingcang had been shaving and grooming himself mechanically. If Zhang Mi had not reminded him, it was likely that n.o.body would be able to recognize him now.
Xin Yudie had gone into labor in the same hospital. During her stay, Xin Yudie dropped by Xin Qing"s room everyday. Every time she came, Xin Yudie would see Ying Qingcang holding on to Xin Qing"s hand, speaking to her. That sight brought a pang of sadness into Xin Yudie"s heart.
"She will wake up. And she will recover too. You love her so much. I don"t think she"d abandon the love you share and leave you," Xin Yudie said. This was Xin Yudie"s first time having a civilized conversation with Ying Qingcang. Right now, she was here as Xin Qing"s sister. Ying Qingcang nodded. "I know. I know she must be trying her best right now. I know that she wants to wake up, that she wants to see me, to see Ah Sha."
None of them dared to bring Ah Sha to see Xin Qing; the young minds of children had yet to grasp the notion of death. Plus, Ying Qingcang had no idea how to explain to Ah Sha why her mommy was lying on the bed, ignoring her. That was why they had told Ah Sha that Xin Qing had gone away for work. They told her that as long as she stayed obedient, mommy would be back soon!
On the 13th day, Young Master Shen returned with some news.
"We"re now absolutely certain that it was the same person who had ordered that hit on you and told Water Fiend that Xiao Qingqing had the CD."
Ying Qingcang was in the middle of combing Xin Qing"s hair; other than the small patch covering her surgical wound, the rest of the bandages on her head had been removed. The movement of his hand stilled momentarily when he heard Young Master Shen"s report. After that, he resumed combing her hair. "Ask Boss Wan for a favor. That guy had bought a large batch of goods from Water Fiend, so he will sell it at some point. We don"t have any contacts within the military. So we have no choice but to rely on Boss Wan now."
All of a sudden, Ying Qingcang"s breath caught in his throat. He stared at Xin Qing unblinkingly.
"What"s the matter?" Young Master Shen rushed over.
"I think... I think she just moved." Ying Qingcang had kept his voice very low, fearing that he might startle Xin Qing if he spoke too loud.
Young Master Shen studied Xin Qing carefully, but he detected nothing. "Uh, you must"ve been mistaken."
A look of disappointment formed on Ying Qingcang"s face. Lowering his gaze, he saw a glint of something. Carefully, he raised his hand and held Xin Qing"s palm. Right in the center of his palm, the tip of Xin Qing"s finger was twitching.
Young Master Shen burst out of the room. "Doctor!" He yelled.
A large group of doctors entered the room shortly to examine Xin Qing. Not long after the doctors" arrival, Xin Qing opened her eyes. Ying Qingcang had been holding her hand the entire time. When he saw that Xin Qing had truly woken up, relief coursed through his entire body. Then, as if his entire nervous system had gone into failure, Ying Qingcang fainted. Everyone in the room was thrown into a fit of panic as they moved Ying Qingcang"s unconscious body onto the other bed. After a brief examination, the doctor told them that he was just exhausted and would be fine after some rest.
Ying Qingcang slept through a full day and night. When he woke up, the first thing he said was, "Is Xin Qing alright?"
For a long while, Zhang Mi and Young Master Shen just stood there, stammering and stumbling over their words. Ying Qingcang pushed them aside and ran to Xin Qing"s bed. He saw Xin Qing sitting on the bed. She suddenly smiled when she saw him, "Oh, you"re awake? They told me you"re my husband."