Chapter 215 — A Coincidental Encounter at the Hospital

He wanted Wei Zhao dead, yet felt not the slightest trace of guilt over it — none at all. Not only that, he wanted Wei Zhao to die in a crueler way.

This was the difference between a child born into a family of such ruthless men and one from an ordinary household.

What could make Wei Zhao suffer even more? Physical torment no longer stirred Zhong Yongliang's interest; beating Wei Zhao up had come to seem pointless to him.

Torment of the mind is far more agonizing than torment of the body! Zhong Yongliang, who had honed his nerve by watching horror films, knew this well — so if he was going to torture Wei Zhao, he would have to strike at his mind and his spirit!

Hmm... that was it. Zhong Yongliang suddenly recalled that Zou Ruoming had approached him a while back to discuss the matter of Tang Zhi. If Zou Ruoming defiled Tang Zhi and then let Wei Zhao watch before he died — heh heh — wouldn't the man die with his eyes wide open in eternal regret?

At this thought, Zhong Yongliang could not help but cackle aloud. He truly was a genius, to dream up such a vicious scheme! Wei Zhao, watching the woman he loved being defiled by Zou Ruoming, powerless to do a thing, then beaten to death by Brother Panther in the depths of his agony — that would be a sight to savor, wouldn't it? The man would probably seethe with enough resentment to become a vengeful spirit straight out of a horror film...

Zhong Yongliang made up his mind: on Monday morning, on his way to school, he would go find Zou Ruoming and discuss the matter. Of course, he could not breathe a word about doing away with Wei Zhao — he would only say that he could help Zou Ruoming carry it out.

.........

Early Sunday morning, Wei Zhao was woken from his sleep by a call from Kang **.

"Boss, I want to go to the hospital to see Xiaofen. You coming?" Kang ** had barely slept a wink all night — the insomnia was back.

Before, his sleeplessness had been because he was going to the home of the campus belle Tang Zhi for a barbecue — a bragging right worth its weight in gold. But now Kang ** had forgotten all about that bragging right; his every thought was fixed on Xiaofen.

The night before, for the first time in his life, Kang ** had lain awake over a girl — out of sympathy for Xiaofen, and out of hatred for his second cousin, Kang Jingming!

Such a fine girl, reduced to this state because of him, and he did not care in the least — had not even shown his face again! Xiaofen's family was already poor as it was, and her illness had made everything worse!

It filled Kang ** with fury. Several times he had wanted to call his second cousin and demand answers, but each time he held back. After all, he had only heard Tang Zhi's side of the story. Though he was inclined to believe her, he would have to ask Xiaofen herself before he knew what had really happened.

Besides, when two people are in a relationship and one of them has a change of heart, it is hard to say who is right and who is wrong — but if Kang Jingming had truly been that heartless, then he was hardly human.

"Do you want me to drive you there, or do you want me to come along?" Wei Zhao asked, phone in hand as he climbed out of bed.

"Both..." Kang ** chuckled. "Boss, for one thing I was hoping to hitch a ride, and for another, if you don't come with me, it'd be a bit awkward for me to show up alone. You and Tang Zhi — well, it's perfectly natural for you to go visit her friend."

"What's between me and Tang Zhi?" Wei Zhao smiled wryly. "There's nothing between us right now!"

"Relationship or no relationship, you're certainly closer to her than I am to Xiaofen. If you don't go, I can't very well go either!" Kang ** said. "Boss, have some pity on your little brother's love life. Now that I've made up my mind, I'm charging straight ahead — no retreat."

"All right, then wait for me where we met yesterday. I'll tidy up and head over — about an hour."

Kang ** was the only brother Wei Zhao had at school, so of course he would support him. Kang ** was a decent sort and loyal to a fault; in matters as harmless as this, Wei Zhao would help him however he could.

Wei Zhao hung up, dressed, and checked the time. It was barely past seven — this Kang ** really was an early bird. Ever since he had discovered he could converse with Elder Jiao in his dreams, Wei Zhao had thrown himself into it with relish. The old man knew a great many things — the length and breadth of the world, it seemed there was nothing he could not do.

He went first to the kitchen. Using the leftover hairtail from the day before, he cut up a few potatoes and put them all into the electric pressure cooker. Stewing potatoes in a pressure cooker had its advantages: it took little time and left them thoroughly tender.

Gu Mengyao's kitchen was stocked with every kind of cookware, a complete set — though many had never even been used. The pots had been unpacked and set on the cupboard, yet the instruction manuals were still tucked inside them.

The electric pressure cooker had an automatic timer, so Wei Zhao did not need to set anything by hand. He left a note on the dining table for Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, telling them to help themselves when they got up, as he was going out to take care of a few things — and with that, Wei Zhao left the villa.

The matter of Shen Yushu's car being smashed to pieces was now behind them. Wei Zhao could not be bothered to call Qing Bo and have him come fix it, so he simply left it as it was; it was not as though it affected its use.

At the Ningshi Road station, Kang ** was already waiting there early. Wei Zhao picked him up, and they headed for the Municipal First People's Hospital.

In the emergency ward, however, there was no sign of Xiaofen's family. The bed that had been Xiaofen's now belonged to a middle-aged woman with a pinched face. Only after making inquiries did Kang ** learn that they had been moved to a room in the inpatient department.

They had just stepped out of the ward when Nurse Guan Xin, the young woman who had changed his dressings before, came in carrying medicine. Seeing Wei Zhao, she too gave a slight start.

"Wei Zhao? What are you doing here?" There was a note of delighted surprise in Guan Xin's voice.

These past days Guan Xin had been worrying about Wei Zhao's injury. Ever since he had come for his last dressing change and then never returned, she had feared something had gone wrong with his wound... In truth, Guan Xin also hoped to see more of Wei Zhao; toward the man who had saved her life, she always felt an indefinable fondness.

It could not be called love — Guan Xin was not so infatuated as that. It was simply that she felt very good about him; when she could not see him, she would think of him... She had thought she would never see Wei Zhao again, yet never imagined they would meet by chance once more in the hospital.

This filled Guan Xin with both surprise and joy.

"Guan Xin? Ha, I have a friend staying here, so I came to visit," Wei Zhao said. He too had not expected to run into her here.

"Oh..." Guan Xin nodded. "The injury on your leg..."

"Healed long ago," Wei Zhao said with a smile. "Thank you."

Guan Xin wanted to say more, but just then a doctor in the ward called her over to change a dressing. She could only hastily apologize to Wei Zhao and take her leave, somewhat reluctant to go.

She had wanted to ask Wei Zhao for his mobile number, but could not bring herself to do it. After all, she was a girl, and it was rather embarrassing to ask a man for his phone number...

Inwardly she chided him: could you not have taken the initiative and asked for my number?