Chapter 697 — The Urge to Die

"The mastermind—the one codenamed Tattoo Man—has been taken into custody. As for the surgeon who wielded the knife, he took his own life out of fear of punishment." Qiu Lingshan spoke flatly. "Who knows whether some hidden chain of interests still lurks behind this criminal syndicate? The police are digging deeper..."

Everything Qiu Lingshan said was public knowledge, obtainable through official channels. But An Jianwen lay in his sickbed, cut off from the world, and naturally knew little of such things. When he heard that Tattoo Man had been captured and that the surgeon had killed himself out of fear, his head swam. His kidney-harvesting syndicate! If the surgeon himself was dead, what was he supposed to do? He had been counting on the man to put his kidney back!

Now it was all over. Even if Zhong Yongliang were found, there would be no one left to transplant the kidney back into him. What proper hospital would perform such an operation? And there was no chance of his telling the police—they would only ask, how do you know Zhong Yongliang's kidney is yours?

Chen Yutian noticed the unnatural look on An Jianwen's face and assumed he was reliving some painful memory. He hurried to console him. "Brother Jianwen, bear your grief and accept your fate. At least you only lost one kidney—your life is safe. Later on, you'll find a way, get yourself a transplant!"

An Jianwen could only answer with a bitter smile. Losing a kidney was hardly the whole of his suffering; the real agony was knowing exactly where his kidney was and being unable to take it back. And then there was his kidney-harvesting syndicate—his life's blood!

When An Jianwen had returned from abroad to Songshan City, part of the reason was to pursue Gu Mengyao, but he had also meant to build a career of his own. And that career had flourished, his performance soaring, exceeding by several times what his brother was responsible for in Songshan City, earning him unanimous praise from the An family and the Fire Wolf Gang. Precisely because of this, An Jianwen had been poised to unfold his grand design—when it was as if a basin of cold water had been poured over his head, dissolving his great dream in an instant...

"An Jianwen, rest assured, the police will give you justice. The criminals have been brought to book. We hope you will appear in court to testify at the trial!" Qiu Lingshan had come on the police's behalf; she did not much care for An Jianwen, but he was, after all, the victim, and there were certain things she had to say.

"All right..." An Jianwen's heart was bleeding. He was to testify against his own criminal syndicate? Was there another man in all the world who had to do such a thing? But he had no choice. Afraid that Qiu Lingshan might grow suspicious, he could only swallow the pain and nod. "I'll go and testify..."

"Brother Jianwen, how about this—I'll give Xiaoshu a call and see whether she's with Yaoyao. I'll have them come and see you too!" Chen Yutian felt sorry for An Jianwen, and compassion stirred in him. He thought that if Gu Mengyao came to visit, An Jianwen might feel a little better...

An Jianwen was overjoyed. Chen Yutian truly knows me! he thought. No wonder we were once both counted among the Four Young Masters of Songshan—he really is good to me! When Gu Mengyao sees how utterly wretched I am now, she's sure to pity me. And then, with a girl's maternal instincts in full flood, I might still have a chance!

Gu Mengyao was cold on the outside, but kind at heart—An Jianwen knew that. Otherwise, back at the amusement park, she would never have sent Wei Zhao to rescue him. So An Jianwen was thoroughly in favor of her visiting. It was Shen Yushu he dreaded; that girl was pure mischief, one who delighted in chaos. He figured that seeing him in such a pitiful state, she would most likely clap her hands in glee, wishing him dead.

But what Shen Yushu thought had not the slightest thing to do with An Jianwen, and he didn't like her anyway. A girl like that could throw herself at him for free and he wouldn't take her—he couldn't handle her. Bring her home, and how would a man even live? She might castrate him in the middle of the night!

So An Jianwen had always kept his distance from Shen Yushu, never wishing to provoke her, yet never daring to offend her either. Who asked her to be Gu Mengyao's best friend?

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Yutian. True friendship shows in adversity!" An Jianwen was deeply moved. That Chen Yutian could show him such care while he lay injured made him very comfortable indeed.

Chen Yutian dialed his sister Shen Yushu's number.

At that moment Shen Yushu had just returned to the ward with Gu Mengyao. Clutching Gu Mengyao's hand and studying her grave expression, she said with a grin, "Yaoyao, what's wrong? Why do you look so unhappy? You survived a great disaster—you ought to be happy, you got your life back! Look at me: every time I play Super Mario Bros. II with you and I run into a B and don't die, I cheer!"

"..." Gu Mengyao glared at Shen Yushu. "How is that anything like a game? Besides, Wei Zhao saw you—would you be happy about that?"

"Oh, but I'm not unhappy either. He looked, so he looked. I'm going to marry him one day anyway—won't he see then too? When we play a threesome together, we'll see everything!" Shen Yushu counted off on her fingers. "This is just seeing it a little early. What does it matter?"

"..." Gu Mengyao rolled her eyes. She found she could not get through to Shen Yushu. Who knew whether there was even a notion of chastity in that girl's head. Wei Zhao had seen her, and it seemed to be nothing at all—she lived happily every day, merrier than anyone.

Truly, fools have a fool's luck. Being silly means you don't brood over every gain and loss.

"When did I ever say I'd marry him?" Gu Mengyao snorted. "No—you and Wei Zhao must keep it secret for me, or I'll never be able to marry anyone!"

"Oh, don't worry, it will definitely be just the three of us who know. You don't show your own family's things to outsiders, or talk about them to outsiders!" Shen Yushu nodded.

Gu Mengyao was somewhat speechless. She found that Shen Yushu either had not understood her at all, or was deliberately pretending not to. Gu Mengyao suddenly realized that her best friend's mind was a formidable thing: when she wanted to understand, she reacted faster than anyone; when she didn't want to understand, nothing you said made any difference...

"Don't ever mention this again!" Gu Mengyao could only settle for the next best thing and warned Shen Yushu.

"Okay, I won't say it!" Shen Yushu nodded. "Yaoyao, so what are we going to do now? It's so boring in the hospital. I don't want to stay here anymore—the smell of disinfectant is making me dizzy!"

Gu Mengyao in fact did not much want to stay in the hospital either. Though she had only just recovered from unconsciousness, her whole body brimmed with inexhaustible strength. She had no idea what Wei Zhao had done to her. Even as she felt grateful, the thought that he had seen her body—and, more miserably still, that she had been right there before him—gave her an urge to die. RO

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