Lài s.h.i.+-on was confused: "Her who?"Lài Yongliang spoke hesitantly: "Your attacker from last year."
Lài s.h.i.+-on"s face drained of colour, he felt his heart thumping in his chest and felt everything in the world come to a standstill. He felt like he couldn"t breathe, heat rushed up the back of his head and to his ears. The sound of his heart beating resonated loudly in his ears.
The room descended into a stony silence.
Lài s.h.i.+-on looked into his brothers eyes: "How do you know it"s her?" He had been heavily drugged that day and couldn"t recall very many details.
Lài Yongliang: "Xǔ Junjie had informed me earlier this evening. He apparently knew one of the men the woman"s father had hired to clear up the scene. He was able to relay the superficial events of that day. He does not know what happened in the room. His account of the events detailed the situation happening at the Jia main residence and the person escaping and finding help before anything could happen. Xǔ Junjie does not kmow what actuallt happened to you. "
Lài s.h.i.+-on stood up and rushed to Lài Yongliang.
Lài Yongliang immediately stood up when he saw Lài s.h.i.+-on approaching. Lài s.h.i.+-on grabbed the front of his brother"s top and stared at him angrily. "I told you to let it go! I told you not to interfere!!! Now someone else knows. Do you think you"re helping me? You"re just trying to absolve yourself of guilt. You don"t care about what I want!"
Lài Yongliang spoke gently: "s.h.i.+-on I"m trying to help you. I know you have not yet recovered from your ordeal. I want you to have justice; I want you to get closure."
Lài s.h.i.+-on: "Justice?! You want?! Who cares about what you want!" He pushed Lài Yongliang hard causing him to fall back into the chair.
Lài s.h.i.+-on felt his rage roaring inside of him, he felt humiliated and ashamed. He took deep breaths in and out as he stared at his brother: "I asked you repeatedly! I told you not to look for her! I told you to leave it alone. I begged you to forget about everything that happened. I"ve moved on, I"m stronger now. I"ll never let anyone take advantage of me again. Why are you bringing this up now?! Why couldn"t you just leave it alone?! I"m not your subordinate, I"m not a situation that you can just manage and deal with." He walked over to his desk and swiped everything on to the floor.
Lài Yongliang watched as his brother continued to wreck his room.
Lài Yongliang his voice was hard: "s.h.i.+-on you are my brother, my flesh and blood. Do you think I could accept that someone had the audacity to defile you? That little girl preyed upon you, she drugged you and then she... she carried out her l.u.s.tful acts. Did you think I was ever going to let her go? I would travel to the depths of h.e.l.l if needs be to find her."
Lài s.h.i.+-on stood quietly with his back to Lài Yongliang: "I"ve worked hard, I"m not the shy, weak gangly, coward I was last year. I"m strong now. I"ve worked hard. No one will ever be able to do anything to me again. Ever. I"m a man."
Lài Yongliang had watched Lài s.h.i.+-on put his body through h.e.l.l to become stronger and more muscular. He had watched his gentle, shy, reserved brother forcefully turn himself into a testosterone-fuelled alpha male.
Lài Yongliang: "You were and are always a man. Regardless of whatever situation that befalls you, no matter what form your body is in. You are always a man. s.h.i.+-on listen to me I did not do this to cause you more pain. I wanted you to be able to get closure. I a.s.sure you that Xǔ Junjie does not know what happened to you in that room. He does not know what happened. Apart from that woman; everyone else who aided her plan is dead. Those that worked in that area of the building have all been dealt with by that woman"s father. Even the initial hit men that were hired were dealt with. No one knows what happened in that room s.h.i.+-on."
Lài Yongliang walked over to Lài s.h.i.+-on desk and placed a USB on top of it: "This is the CCTV footage from tonight. I have also left a recording of my call with Xǔ Junjie. "
Lài s.h.i.+-on stood with his head down and jaw clenched not making a sound.
Lài Yongliang: "We will discuss how to proceed after you have the opportunity to a.s.sess the recordings. If you would like to let her go and that is what you truly want, I will not interfere and this situation will never be mentioned again."
Both Lài s.h.i.+-on and Lài Yongliang knew that he was lying. Lài Yongliang would never allow the woman and her family to escape.
He left the room closing the door behind him.
Lài Yongliang stood in the hallway and sighed. He ma.s.saged his forehead in frustration "Well that could have gone considerably better." He gracefully walked to his room and already antic.i.p.ated a sleepless night.
.....
Apartment 5 - Sat.u.r.day
Li Xiuying, Ren Daiyu and Yao Changying were sat eating breakfast in the kitchen.
Yao Changying: "Ah YingYing I wanted to ask you something about work. I received your request to be the anesthetist for your theatre list on Tuesday. I"ve already spoken and swapped s.h.i.+fts with Yun An so it"s all taken care of. Not that I mind at all but is there a particular reason you wanted me to work with you on Tuesday? Is everything okay? Is that Yun An causing you trouble?"
Li Xiuying shook her head: "I need my own team."
Yao Changying: "Okayyyy. Who else is part of team Ying squared?" She decided not to press Li Xiuying further.
Ren Daiyu: "Ah that"s not fair, you can"t just create a new team."
Li Xiuying smiled: "Scrub nurse Meng Eu-meh."
Yao Changying: "Meng the man eater?"
Ren Daiyu: "Man eater? Does she look like she could eat people for breakfast?"
Yao Changying: "Contrary to how you probably imagine her to be due to her man-eating t.i.tle i.e. large, stocky with a jaw and teeth that could chew through bone and sharpen diamonds. Meng Eu-Meh is in her 30"s with a slight figure and youthful appearance. The reason why we call her a man eater is because she has destroyed many a surgeon. She doesn"t take any BS from anyone, she"s a no-nonsense, zero tolerance, no - s***s given kind of person. Meng Eu-Meh is amazing at her job as well; she is efficient and well organised. Whenever she"s in theater everything runs like clockwork."
Li Xiuying: "She"s good."
Ren Daiyu: "Who else is on team YingYingYu?"
Yao Changying gave Ren Daiyu a pitying look: "Nice try Yu."
Li Xiuying: "D"
Ren Daiyu: "D?"
Li Xiuying: "Resident."
Yao Changying: "Okay, I"ll bring my ODP with me. He"s pretty good and works with me on practically all my lists."
Ren Daiyu: "Okay enough of your work talk. What are we doing for the rest of the day?"
Li Xiuying: "Meeting your father."
Ren Daiyu: "What? Why? When?"
Li Xiuying took out her phone from her jeans pocket and brought up Ren Guiton"s message before handing it to Ren Daiyu.
Ren Daiyu read the message aloud: "Dr Li I am sorry to disturb you. I have tried to contact Daiyu but her phone seems to be off. Could you please tell her there"s an urgent situation at home and she needs to return as soon as possible."
Ren Daiyu stood abruptly from her stool "I need to go." She was worried that something may have happened to one of her family members. "What if there"s an emergency?! It"s already 12:30!
Li Xiuying calmly said: "Scroll down."
Ren Daiyu paused at the kitchen doorway and scrolled down.
[Message Li Xiuying: h.e.l.lo Mr. Ren, is this regarding Chong Honghui?]
[Message Ren Guiton: Yes indeed I have met with Chong Honghui this morning and he has said some worrying things]
[Message Li Xiuying: We will arrive by 13:30. There are some recordings that require your attention]
[Message Ren Guiton: Recordings?]
Ren Daiyu she walked back to her stool and sat down feeling deflated: "That lotus didn"t waste any time did he? He already ran to my parents to complain about last night."
Yao Changying: "From the way you described your dad he really cares about you and wants the best for you. Why would he believe the words of a stranger instead of yours?"
Ren Daiyu: "Anyone else my dad would have believed me but I don"t know about Chong Honghui. I already protested so much about even going on the date so my dad might think I caused trouble deliberately."
Li Xiuying: "No need to waste words."
Yao Changying: "YingYing is right. We have a recording that can prove your innocence. Okay let"s head out. I wonder if Chong Honghui will still be there when we arrive."
Li Xiuying: "Probably not."
Yao Changying excitement died a little.
Li Xiuying: "We"ll see Ren Guiton in action."
Yao Changying immediately looked revived at the thought of seeing some drama.
Ren Daiyu shook her head and smiled as she followed the two trouble makers. "Weren"t doctors meant to be sensible?"