When the nurse returned to the ward, the doctor and the other nurses had already gathered in Zhou Kai’s ward, receiving quite the headache.
Zhou Kai’s eyes were bloodshot and he was howling incessantly.
“All of you get out! Don’t touch me!
“What kind of scam of a hospital is this!? What are you doing to me? You making me like this, was this Shen Changqing’s idea?!
“Shen Changqing! Where’s surnamed Shen?! Where did he go? Call Shen Changqing to come see me!”
The attending doctor was a black woman.
Despite being faced with a hysterical Zhou Kai, her att.i.tude remained fairly serene, “Mister Zhou, this is one of the best hospitals in Toronto. If you wish to receive even better treatment, we will transfer you after your condition stabilises.”
Zhou Kai still wasn’t willing to believe it.
He only felt the pain all over his body and the powerlessness of his lower limbs. It was natural that he’d think that Shen Changqing had carelessly thrown him into some hospital to be given lacking treatment, leaving him to die a slow death.
While he was in the house taking stock of Zhou Kai’s a.s.sets, Chi Xiaochi received a call from the hospital.
The hospital politely invited him to come.
Zhou Kai’s parents had died long ago, he had few relatives, and he obviously didn’t have children. Other than Shen Changqing, Zhou Kai really couldn’t find another closer person in this world.
However, it was clear that Mister Zhou had not yet been able to understand the situation.
Just before, he had been cursing at Shen Changqing, saying that what he’d done was attempted intentional homicide and abuse.
The hospital also rarely received this new kind of psychosis, but transferring him to the psychiatric department also came with its own set of troubles. As his injuries were too severe, the psychiatric department might not have adequate equipment to treat him.
As such, they asked Chi Xiaochi on how he wanted them to manage this.
Chi Xiaochi said very politely, we’ve troubled you all, please increase the dose of sedatives, I’ll be there immediately.
After putting down the phone, Chi Xiaochi said, “Zhou Kai’s really overthought it. How could I do such a thing.”
061 expressed his agreement.
Right now, there was no one who wanted more for Zhou Kai to live a long life than Chi Xiaochi.
Chi Xiaochi took out a cigarette and held it in his mouth with no intention of lighting it.
In the previous world, Cheng Yuan’s voice was more precious than gold, so he couldn’t smoke; in this world, Shen Changqing was injured. At one point, Chi Xiaochi had suspected that this Lord G.o.d was an advocate against smoking.
However, this had its advantages. After such a long time, his need to smoke had lessened by quite a lot.
He asked, “How are Zhou Kai’s a.s.sets now?”
061 said, “I checked the laws here, in cases like Zhou Kai’s, after divorce, he needs to give a cut of at least one half of his a.s.sets to Shen Changqing, and every month, he still needs to pay a high sum of alimony. Adding the 5% of the company’s yearly dividend that Sam promised to give Shen Changqing every year, there’s enough money to ensure that Shen Changqing can live the next half of his life without worries.”
……The coming worry-free decades had been the earnings of a gamble wagering three years of h.e.l.l and two lives.
Chi Xiaochi, cigarette between his lips, raised his head to look towards the ceiling. He spoke to himself, “Was it worth it?”
061 said, “At least looking at it now, it seems to have been worth it.”
Chi Xiaochi, “……Do you know what I’m talking about?”
061, “I made a guess.”
Chi Xiaochi said, “Liu-laoshi, be honest. Did you plant some sort of virus in my mind to steal information?”
061 laughed, “That means, I guessed right.”
“There isn’t a reward, what was the point of guessing?”
For a moment, 061’s words caught in his throat. He didn’t know how to respond.
……There wasn’t a reason, I just wanted to guess.
It gave the impression that he was normally very bored, but when he was together with Chi Xiaochi, 061 could feel his ability to experience human emotions slowly awaken within him.
However, he wasn’t clear if he liked this kind of feeling, or if he just liked being together with Chi Xiaochi.
Of course, they needed to go to the hospital. No matter what, Zhou Kai was still Shen Changqing’s husband on paper. He was awfully busy making a fuss, it wouldn’t be good for Shen Changqing to shrink back and hide away.
Chi Xiaochi placed the unlit cigarette in the ashtray, then leisurely went off to tidy himself up. He also didn’t dress up meticulously, just dressing appropriately for this first important task.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Chi Xiaochi first went to take a look at Zhou Kai.
The sedatives were still in effect. He lay on the bed, sleeping, his hair in a mess, the white hair amongst them already no longer able to remain hidden, each strand sticking out, looking very much dispirited.
Chi Xiaochi turned to go to the doctor’s office to inquire about Zhou Kai’s injuries.
Beyond answering his questions factually, the female doctor also expressed her sincere sympathies for Shen Changqing.
Shen Changqing lowered his head, and smiled gently, “It’s alright, it’s all over now.”
Anybody would like this kind of beautiful and good-natured youth. This was especially so for this female doctor, whose strong maternal instincts were triggered. She said, “In the future, you should come to the hospital to get checked up often. No matter how severe the injuries inflicted on your body are while you’re young, if they haven’t been treated properly, there’ll be consequences when you get older. Our director was also very concerned about your matter, saying that if you came, our hospital would provide you with indefinite free medical examinations.”
Shen Changqing shyly lowered his head. “Thank you. However, I might be leaving this city soon.”
The female doctor was really understanding of this. She asked, “Leaving this place is also good. Where are you planning on going in the future?”
Shen Changqing said, “I haven’t thought about it yet.”
As 061 looked at Chi Xiaochi’s smiling face, he was momentarily lost in thought.
……Actually, he’d already thought about it long ago.
When Shen Changqing had still been alive, he loved to flip through all kinds of geographic magazines. Every time he came across Melbourne-related content, his attention would be drawn to it and he would stop there, transfixed, for a long time.
It was a city recognised by the entire world as one of the best places to live, tending towards literature and art, a slight graceful air, and having the distinctive style of an old city, with a leisurely, slow pace of life, most suited for a person to silently heal from their wounds.
Over these two days, 061 had been responsible for looking over the bills, while Chi Xiaochi thoroughly looked through all the geography magazines in the house, photocopying and cutting out all Melbourne-related content, and began to search for housing information in Melbourne.
He didn’t know why, but as he watched Chi Xiaochi work on his newspaper clippings with the utmost seriousness, 061’s heart was as if it had been soaked in warm water infused with honey, unbearably soft.
He didn’t know what kind of feeling it was. It was a little unfamiliar, he couldn’t even find an appropriate word to describe it in the first moments of it happening.
At that moment, a male nurse knocked on the door and entered the doctor’s office, “No. 26 is awake, he says he wants to see Mister Shen. He’s making a really big ruckus.”
Immediately, Chi Xiaochi’s eyes, which had just been filled with warmth, flashed with a gleam like that of a little fox.
He said to 061, “Still alive, huh.”
061, “……” Suddenly thinking it might have been better for Zhou Kai if he just stayed unconscious.
The little fox’s tail was held high up in the air as he sauntered into the ward.
Before entering, he’d asked the doctor to stay outside.
The female doctor was a little worried, “Are you sure you want to go in alone?”
“……I won’t be alone.”
With this line from Shen Changqing, a tall man with a warm, scholarly temperament who had been sitting in the hallway until just then stood up, bowed slightly to Shen Changqing, and spoke in fairly standard Mandarin, “Mister Shen.”
He was Chinese, surnamed Zhao, Zhao Guanlan, he was the gold medal lawyer Chi Xiaochi had specially hired.
The moment he pushed open the door to the ward, Zhou Kai’s knife-sharp gaze shot over, just dying to be able to give Shen Changqing the death of a thousand cuts with his gaze.
But Chi Xiaochi didn’t care about his att.i.tude at all. A foot away from the bed, he pulled out a chair and sat down.
He inquired earnestly, “How are you feeling now?”
The two people’s position and status, as of today, had now completely reversed.
In the past, it had always been Zhou Kai looking down at him from the side of his bed, admiring the scars he had branded onto Shen Changqing’s body, and under the cheap pretense of sympathy, enjoying Shen Changqing’s panic, fear and hatred.
Now, Chi Xiaochi had perfectly copied that look in Zhou Kai’s eyes, looking at Zhou Kai with the same gaze he’d use to look at a beast.
Zhou Kai had had his own usual tactics used against him, making him feel extremely sick.
He tried his hardest to struggle upwards, wanting to make himself sit upright.
He couldn’t stand Shen Changqing looking down at him from this angle!
“Stop moving around,” Shen Changqing said, “If you want to recover, you’ll need about two months. The doctor told me, in a case like yours, if your recovery goes well, and with the help of pain-relief medications, you might still be able to occasionally take a few steps using a pair of crutches.”
Zhou Kai widened his eyes, “……What did you say?”
In a panic, he used the hand that was in good condition to pinch his waist, then legs, but realised he couldn’t feel a single thing.
……This wasn’t the result of medication? It wasn’t a temporary aftereffect?
He was going to be paralysed?!
Zhou Kai’s eyes, which had always only held indifference, mocking and disdain, were now coated with a layer of despair.
He’d just gotten into a little accident, he’d just wanted to teach Shen Changqing a little lesson……
……Right, Shen Changqing!
He had a rib contusion, already giving him a deep taste of the pain Shen Changqing had suffered during those few days in the past. Just speaking another sentence, just taking another breath all hurt enough to make his face turn ashen.
He gritted his teeth, and said in a hollow voice, “It was you, you did this intentionally…… You were the one who plotted against me, the videos, the mid-year gathering, and the car accident——”
He had to say, in a sense, Zhou Kai had hit upon the truth.
But Chi Xiaochi didn’t plan on explaining or talking Zhou Kai down. He just quietly watched as he raved hysterically.
As if he was saying, “I didn’t grow a mouth just to argue with this kind of person”.
People like Yang Baihua and Zhou Kai naturally had a set of deeply-rooted values. If one wanted to change them, it’d be easier to just have them reincarnate.
What Chi Xiaochi wanted to do, was to let them have a long, long time to ruminate over the taste of the bitter fruit they’d grown.
He glanced at Zhao Guanlan.
Since coming in just now, he’d stayed calm and concentrated, extremely refined. When he opened his mouth, he was also calm, “Mister Zhou, please calm down a little.”
Zhou Kai asked roughly, “What even are you? f.u.c.k off!”
Zhao Guanlan didn’t get angry. He opened up his briefcase, and pulled out the doc.u.ments inside one by one, “With all due respect, you squawking like this isn’t conducive to your recovery. I advise you to not talk, and just listen.”
Zhou Kai’s face turned red. Just as he was about to start another round of curses, Zhao Guanlan calmly opened up the folder in his hand and pushed up his gold-rimmed gla.s.ses, “On behalf of my client, Mister Shen Changqing, I’d like to propose divorce, and handle the follow-up of the division of a.s.sets and the compensation for personal a.s.sault, mental damages and so on. You’ll be seeing me often for the next period of time, so you’d better get used to me as soon as possible.”
061, “……” Oho.
Chi Xiaochi, “You couldn’t tell, right? I consulted a lot of law firms and compared them with one another. I felt like this person was especially suited to my tastes.”
061 was astonished. “You like this type?”
Chi Xiaochi said, “He makes me think of a person.”
Inexplicably, 061 felt a little unhappy, “……Another friend?”
Chi Xiaochi replied, “No, I just met he once or twice at some business functions. We’re just acquaintances. But that person isn’t bad, he can be considered a lot more interesting than the other rich young masters I’ve met.”
Upon hearing Zhao Guanlan’s words, Zhou Kai smile angrily. He fixed his bloodshot gaze on Shen Changqing, “Divorce? Who do you want to divorce?”
Shen Changqing looked up, “You.”
“You’re dreaming!” Zhou Kai broke out into a round of cold laughter, “I’m going to tie you to me for a lifetime! You want to get rid of me? Want to go rest and fly together with Sam? Surnamed Shen, you dream too beautifully.”
Hearing such a speech, Zhao Guanlan frowned slightly, “Mister Zhou, please be a little more mature.”
Shen Changqing looked at Zhou Kai. Zhou Kai was gasping roughly, like a c.o.c.kfighting rooster.
A short while later, he slowly began to speak, “Zhou Kai, are you sure you want to be tied to me for a lifetime?”
That kind of tone and expression was something Zhou Kai had never seen from Shen Changqing before.
A mocking that was cold, scornful and even held a bit of arrogance.
Shen Changqing looked down at Zhou Kai. The corners of his lips rose slightly, “Alright, since Mister Zhou can’t live without me, I can not break this marriage.”
He leaned forward, moving a little closer to Zhou Kai, “When we got married, we said whether for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness or in health, we’d stay together until parted by death.
“If you wish, I can stay by your side for my entire lifetime, and take good, good care of you.”
Then, Shen Changqing stood up and said, “Lawyer Zhao, let’s go.”
Zhao Guanlan’s reactions were quick. He was shocked for only a second before he closed the briefcase he’d just opened and said politely, “Mister Zhou, goodbye.”
Zhou Kai actually felt a trace of fear. “Shen Changqing, where are you going? What are you going to do to me?”
Shen Changqing didn’t even turn his head, not intending to give him any response.
Zhou Kai struggled on the bed, but it was just a show of strength to hide his inner fear, “Surnamed Shen, don’t be so pleased with yourself! Now, you dare to threaten me, huh? When Mount Dongshan rises once more, I’ll definitely kill you!”
The reason why he could tell it was a show of strength to cover up his inner fear was because Chi Xiaochi could see his regret value rising rapidly in real time, rising dramatically from about 50, directly breaking through the 80s.
Chi Xiaochi pressed his lips together in a laugh, as if he’d heard some funny joke.
He said, “Don’t worry, you won’t rise.”