Chapter Six Volume One End

  In the dead of night, the hospital suddenly became lively. A police car escorted an ambulance, speeding into the hospital and screeching to a halt in front of the building. Several volunteers and doctors rushed out from inside, coordinating with the rescue personnel inside the vehicle to place a stretcher carrying a fixed injured person onto a pushcart. They shouted and chased away some onlookers before quickly leaving.

  A trail of bloodstains scattered all the way down, a bright red that stung the eyes.

  Around one o'clock in the morning, Quan Baogen was suddenly awakened in the middle of the night and hastily rushed to this side. He continuously made and received phone calls, feeling anxious and flustered, while also having to endure various pressures. Both mentally and physically exhausted, Quan Baogen walked out of the hospital gate with a dejected gait, looked up at the dark night sky, suddenly let out a sigh, his legs weakened, and sat down on the steps in front of the door with a thud.

  The conversation with the doctor just now flashed back in his mind.

  "The patient has multiple fractures all over the body, which were caused by severe blunt force trauma. The most serious injuries are two skull fractures. Although the examination results have not come out yet and the specific situation is unclear, when I saw the patient just after he was sent to the hospital, there was cerebrospinal fluid flowing out of his nostrils with a light red color, which should be combined with nasal bleeding, so it cannot be ruled out that the intracranial injury may cause increased intracranial pressure... In any case, please find the patient's family immediately, he needs to have surgery as soon as possible."

  He still remembered that when he heard these words, his head was about to explode. Although he didn't quite understand those professional terms, they sounded very serious, so he couldn't help but anxiously ask: "Is it very dangerous? Can we have the surgery now?"

  "Sorry, considering the patient's condition, this surgery has certain risks and may have some sequelae. Family consent is required, neither you nor I have the right to decide."

  The doctor left with an apologetic face, and before he could react, another apologetic face appeared in front of him, that of a policeman.

  The police used a gentle tone to describe the investigation of the incident to Quan Baogen, The whole thing was simple. Jiang Zemin was in a nightclub and had a verbal dispute with several suspected underworld figures. Then both sides started physical conflict. It was clear that Jiang Zemin was no match for the others and was dragged into a small alley next to the nightclub for a lesson.

  In a country where the underworld is rampant and the police are rather passive, such things are all too common. Moreover, Gwon Beom-jin clearly knows what kind of person Jang In-won is - although he's somewhat clever, he often doesn't know how to restrain his bad temper, and it's no surprise that he frequently offends people. In the past, in Hancheng, he would often stir up trouble at nightclubs, but since his family has some influence there, most of the time nothing came of it.

  Thinking of this, Quan Baogen was so angry that his teeth were itching. From the beginning, he had warned Jiang Yuan to return to Hancheng as soon as possible after the matter was resolved, just in case he would cause more trouble. But he didn't listen, and Quan Baogen was powerless to control him. At that time, it was also a mistake, thinking that he could be more restrained after this accident, but unexpectedly, he caused another incident, only this time, he got himself involved too.

  As for what the police said, "We are actively looking for witnesses and hope to draw a portrait of the perpetrators. Please believe that we will catch the culprits as soon as possible." Quan Baogen didn't believe it at all. Now many Koreans call the police "the most incompetent in the world". They are notorious for dragging their feet when something happens, and if they can't drag it out any longer, they'll just go through the motions. If someone exposes a scandal to the media, they'll play the victim card, shouting injustice everywhere, making promises left and right, but none of them have ever been fulfilled.

  He grasped his hair tightly and silently cursed Jiang Zaiyuan in his heart - why didn't he die in the car accident too?

  If so, he would not have so many worries!

  Sitting on the steps outside the hospital gate, Quan Baogen was despondent for a long time and still had to face reality. He sighed, hesitated, took out his mobile phone, and dialed that familiar number.

  After a brief ringing sound, a voice that brought him great pressure came faintly from the other end of the receiver: "How is it?"

  Quan Bao repeated the doctor's and police's words to the person on the other side, and after finishing, he didn't even dare to breathe loudly while waiting, but what responded to him was a long silence from the other side.

  Time seemed to slow down in his anxious wait, every passing second making him more desperate, until a few minutes later, the receiver suddenly transmitted an ear-piercing crash, the sound of the phone smashing and shattering, the signal also cut off at the same time, the long busy tone pulling his heart straight down.

  The whole person seems to be surrounded by an abyss of despair and darkness, unable to see a glimmer of light.

  The hand clutching the phone went limp and dropped, the mobile phone rolled down the stairs, perhaps the battery was loose, the screen flipped open, and the faint blue light flickered a few times before going out...

  …………

  "Thank you!"

  The door was knocked open, and inside, the spotless room was filled with warm sunlight pouring in from the window, making the air feel cozy. Ahn Jun-heo, carrying a food box, slightly bowed to the nurse who had come to open the door, expressing his gratitude.

  The nurse was a pretty girl, who seemed to be always full of expectation. When she saw him outside the door, her eyes lit up, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she replied with some embarrassment while returning the greeting: "You...you're too kind, this is my job."

  An Junhe smiled and walked into the house with a thermos lunchbox. In the hospital room, near the window, a girl sat in a wheelchair looking out the window. Her entire body was bathed in sunlight, her white hospital gown reflecting the light, shining brightly, and her skin seemed to be penetrated by the ubiquitous light. From behind, the contours of her cheeks and small ears had a pinkish hue.

  There was also that head full of black, shiny hair hanging straight down to her waist. The ends were curled up, probably just washed, the hair was still moist, and in the light, it emitted a faint mist.

  Looking at this girl, even just her back, made An Junhe's eyes fill with gentleness.

  "Zhīxiù ah, how's your mood today?"

  An Junhe asked casually while placing the lunch box on the small table and opening the lid, instantly filling the air with a rich bone soup aroma.

  It's been over ten days since the incident with Jiang Yuan, and An Junhe hasn't had much time to visit his sister in the hospital. He has already decided to leave Busan, and the family store needs to be transferred, which requires advance preparation, taking up most of his time. Not to mention that he was summoned by the police a few times during this period to assist with the investigation - of course, it was just a routine matter.

  That day, the people he found were his former underlings from the social club. Although they had been privately supported by him after he quit, they hadn't been active in the circle for years and were all new faces, unrecognized in the nightclub. It was a case with no leads to identify suspects and no surveillance footage, so even if he wanted to investigate, there was nowhere to start. The reason he didn't take action from the beginning was not only that he wanted to get some money but also to confuse the Jiang family. After all, as a capitalist who had emerged from the business world, they wouldn't care about evidence; once someone became their suspect, they would have to bear their wrath. If he hadn't thought it would be inconvenient to take action later, he could have endured even longer and completely removed himself from this matter.

  It wasn't until today that everything was finally settled.

  The girl facing the window didn't turn around, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward for a moment. An Junhe let out a silent sigh, smiled apologetically at the pretty little nurse beside him, waved his hand, and gestured for her to go out first.

  The little nurse's face turned red and she hastily retreated.

  It was not unexpected for An Junhe to ignore his sister, as he had already experienced this situation in his dreams. At this time, it was precisely when his sister's psychology was at its most depressed. A girl like a flower bud, just about to bloom into her beautiful life, suddenly found out that both legs were broken and paralyzed, unable to take care of even the simplest things like going to the bathroom, how could she not be heartbroken?

  He silently ladled a spoonful of the evening soup, came to his sister's back and squatted down, scooped up a spoonful, gently blew away its scalding temperature, then leaned in close to his sister's lips: "Come on, try some, brother personally stewed it for you."

  The girl slightly furrowed her brow and turned her head, pushing away the spoon that was handed to her, and finally spoke up in a hoarse voice caused by long silence: "I don't want to drink!"

  "Try it, it's delicious and good for your body." An Junhe insisted on bringing the spoon closer again.

  This made the girl even more annoyed, and she suddenly shouted: "Go away! I don't want to drink!"

  "Whoosh!"

  With a loud slap, the palm of her hand landed on An Junhe's hand that was holding the bowl of soup, causing the scalding hot soup to splash onto his chest. The hot liquid made him frown, but he didn't say anything and instead quickly picked up his sister's hand that had also been splashed with soup and examined it carefully.

  That focused appearance made Zhi Xiu, who was stunned, suddenly feel a huge sense of guilt in her chest. A thread of misty vapor floated up to her eyes, and she quickly blinked, turning her head to stare out the window.

  Seeing that his sister's hand was not scalded, An Junhe let out a sigh of relief and patiently rubbed it again. He then silently picked up the fallen bowl and spoon, washed them in the bathroom with hot water, refilled the bowl, and placed it in front of his sister. On her face, which looked exactly like his but with more masculine features, he wore a pleading expression: "Drink one bowl, just one, okay?"

  Zhi Xiu originally still had a hint of stubbornness in her eyes, but suddenly became dazed.

  When did it ever happen that the brother, who had been beaten and would only bite his lip and get up from the ground to fight back desperately, would beg her in a low voice like this?

  The spoon was placed in front of her lips, and the rich aroma wafted into her nostrils. She subconsciously wanted to pull away, but seeing her brother's expectant expression, a soft spot deep within her heart seemed to be touched, and her mouth slightly opened.

  An Junhe's expression changed with joy, and he hastily scooped up another spoonful, blew it warm, and gently handed it over.

  In the quiet sickroom, for a time there was only the faint sound of light sipping and the crisp ringing of the spoon against the rim of the bowl.

  Seeing his sister no longer resisting him, Ahn Jun-hee's expression became increasingly cheerful as he fed her and said: "Ji-soo, in a few more days you'll be discharged from the hospital. At that time, we can leave Busan and go to Seoul, how about it?"

  An Zhixiu paused in her sipping of the soup, not saying a word, but An Junhe knew that meant she was listening.

  Then he continued: "I'm going to participate in the trainee selection... Brother knows, you've always wanted to be a star since childhood, but before that, our family needed your help with household chores, which held you back. Now it's... So let me take care of this dream for you! I'll work hard to debut, and when I become famous one day, I'll bring you onto the stage too, to sing together with brother. Let's be the modern Carpenters..."

  His gentle voice trailed off here, and a steaming bowl of soup suddenly dropped a crystal tear, rippling out in circles. He looked up in astonishment, his sister staring blankly at him, her face streaming with tears.

  The next moment, her lips trembled and she suddenly hugged his neck, her small head buried in his shoulder pit, the warm and wet spot on his collar rapidly expanding.

  "Brother... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

  His sister's actions made him understand something, his expression softened, and he gently rested his chin on the girl's ear, lightly rubbing against her soft, silky hair.

  "Foolish brother, you are my sister, forever and ever don't need to say sorry to me..."

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  The first volume has ended, actually it should be a prologue, but just as a preface, 20,000 words seem a bit long... =___=

  So I just rolled out one independently.

  This is the first update for today, there will be another one at night, please support and recommend, collect and share ~