Chapter 55 - Crisis (1/2)

Chapter 55: Crisis

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

(Unedited)

Early in the morning, it rained cats and dogs on the usually warm tropical island. The strong wind made the trees bow their heads. Leung ZiRui turned around from the window and saw Dr. Leon walking out of the CCU.

“How is he doing?”

Leon made an “OK” gesture with his hand and slapped Leung ZiRui on the shoulder as they passed each other, “Relax, my child.”

Leung ZiRui also knew that he might overly nervous. His shoulders were loosened, and he laughed, “I haven’t done such a challenging operation for a long time already, to be honest, I’m a little worried.”

“Don’t you Chinese people often say that life and death are long scripted in one’s destiny? All we can do is try our best to fulfill our duties, the rest depends on God’s will. Don’t put excessive pressure on yourself, we are just doctors. At times like these, the patients rely on us to be confident in ourselves and to do our best.”

Leung ZiRui pursed his lips together and nodded, “I understand.”

At nine o’clock in the morning, Lu Shang was pushed into the operating room.

Leon was the leading physician, Leung ZiRui and the hospital head was the lead assistant and second assistant respectively. All the physicians, anesthesiologists and even the nurses who delivered the instruments were carefully selected. They had already been cooperating with each other for many times in the past, the operation team was basically impeccable.

“How long has morphine injection to the muscles continued?”

“15 minutes.”

“Continue for a bit longer,” Leon said, turning to the anesthesiologist, he directed, “Later, during the surgery, we will intubate the aorta first, hook it up for blood rewarming cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)1. Increase anesthesia dosage when closing up the chest with wires. Also, after intubating the trachea, inject him with Aprotinin2 or Ulinastatin continuously, then do blood salvage3.”

“Understood.”

“And perfusionist.”

“Yes.”

“Remember the CPB should be set at mild to moderate temperature, the average arterial pressure should be maintained between 50 to 70, set it to dilute blood flow moderately…”

“Understood.”

“How long has the intramuscular injection continued for?”

“29 minutes.”

“Are the ECG monitor and venous transfusion all set up?”

“They are all ready.”

Leon glanced at everyone in the room and said, “Then let’s get started.”

Under the bright lamp, Leung ZiRui looked at Lu Shang’s face, “Bro, please stay strong. Whether I can rest in peace depends on you, okay?”

Lu Shang laid quietly on the operating table with his eyes closed, his breathing was still as weak as ever.

Thousands of miles away, Li Sui suddenly raised his head from the sink, he looked at his wet face in the mirror, and used his hand to wipe it.

“How are you?” Xe WeiLan turned the water tap of the sink next to Li Sui, he washed his hands as he asked.

Li Sui hung his head down and let the drops of water run down his cheeks. There was a muffled “Hmn” in his throat. Although it was his idea to send Lu Shang off to the island for the surgery, he was still worrying from the bottom of his heart. His hands and feet kept sweating. His mind was all over the place, it was only through the cold water did he manage to calm himself down a little. Li Sui knew that he couldn’t afford to be distracted right now, but with the pressure of the meeting and the operation weighing down on his shoulders at the same time, Li Sui really couldn’t feel relax at all.

Xe WeiLan stood in front of the mirror and adjusted his tie, he said with awe in his voice, “I never thought that I would have the pleasure to see this milestone of Tong Yan in the ten years I have been working here.”

Li Sui looked at him and Xe WeiLan said, “Did Lu Shang ever tell you about how Tong Yan developed?”

Li Sui shook his head. Lu Shang seldom talked about the past.

“Tong Yan was originally founded by Lu Shang’s father and his comrades who fought with him together in the war, amongst those people included Liu XinTian. At that time, they built the company purely on their friendship. For quite a long time, it was one of the best local enterprises. However, people’s desires had no limits. As time passed, they had more money and soon there was a gap between everyone’s hearts. It was especially evident when the next generation were born, the confrontations expanded.”

“Later, they realized that the divide was becoming a problem. In order to avoid the company’s shareholders from just taking the money and fleeing, they made an arrangement. If anyone wanted to sell or transfer shares, it must be approved in the shareholders’ meetings first. Whoever wants to amend this rule will have to reach 2/3 of consensus in the meeting.”

“This agreement prevented the split of leadership in Tong Yan, but at the same time, it hindered the development of the company. In the world today, the rule has become a major obstacle to the company’s development. Our battle today could be described as a milestone on reforming the company.”

On the topic, Xe WeiLan sighed, “Every time I think about the bloody history of Tong Yan, I just can’t help but shudder at the power of money and the waves time brings. How could the once intimate brothers, become sworn enemies so easily. Maybe there really is nothing in this world that could fight against the torrent of time.”

Li Sui thought for a moment, then said, “…I think there are.”

Xe WeiLan smiled and said, “So, are you getting yourself back together now?”

When Li Sui came back from his thoughts, Xe WeiLan snapped his fingers and said, “Let’s go then.”

The atmosphere in the conference room had almost dropped to absolute zero. At the end of the long conference room table, the place which had always been occupied by Lu Shang, Liu XinTian was there as if he owned the place. He seemed to be enjoying the moment very much. His eyes swept down at everyone below him satisfyingly, when he saw Li Sui coming in, the corner of his mouth twitched.

“This is the shareholders’ meeting. Did you get lost?”

Li Sui ignored him and sat down in a less crowded place comfortably. Liu XinTian wanted to say something but seeing Xe WeiLan come in behind him, he just snorted coldly. He turned to Fang Miao and asked, “Who else hasn’t arrived yet?”

Fang Miao looked around, “The Meng family.”

“Call Meng XinYou… No, call official Xu.”

Fang Miao nodded his head and walked out the room.

Li Sui exchanged a look with lawyer Xe.

A moment later, Fang Miao came back in, his face full of joy, “He said she’s on her way, she will be here soon.”

Liu XinTian waved his big hand around and said, “Humph, woman just loves dilly dallying. We don’t have to wait for her, we can start first.”

“There are two main reasons for me to call all of you here today. First, it is to re-elect the members of the board of directors. Second, we all know the matters with director Lu. I found that to be a most unfortunate thing, he had died after working diligently for the company. Sadly, dead people can’t come back to life, so I hope all of you can deal with the sorrow. Although director Lu is not here with us anymore, but he left Tong Yan behind for us. We shall inherit his good will and make the company grow…”

During Liu XinTian’s speech, Xe WeiLan had continuously glanced over at Li Sui, fearing that Li Sui might throw the chair at Liu XinTian in the next second. However, unexpectedly Li Sui had a calm expression, it was as if he did not hear a word he said.

“So first of all, according to the company’s charter, we have to talk about the issue of the division of shares, because as you all know, Lu Shang has been busy working for the company and has not gotten married yet. He neither have any children, nor spouses or siblings, so on the subject of his legal predecessor…”

There seemed to be an understanding amongst everyone’s hearts on the subject. When he said that, most people in the conference room moved their gazes onto Li Sui. Liu XinTian’s speech was interrupted and he showed immense dissatisfaction, “Director Li, I have already allowed you to partake in the meeting. How are you not satisfied, do you have anything you wish to raise?”

Li Sui slowly turned his head up and said lightly, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”

“Isn’t it inappropriate to talk about dividing Lu Shang’s shares right after the announcement of his death?”

No one in the conference room answered, Liu XinTian smiled, “This is a large company, we’re talking about tens of millions of capital flow every day. If we ignore it for a day, do you know how much profit would be lost, we are also thinking for the company’s future.”

Li Sui listened and looked across the room, “No one object?”

The conference room was once again silent, Liu XinTian directly laughed and said, “Li Sui, this is not a school. I suggest if you want to stop us from dividing Lu Shang’s shares, you should study on company laws for a few years first. At your age, you should be reading some more, don’t interfere with adults’ business.”

“Since no one object.” Li Sui ignored his provocation and faintly nodded to Lawyer Xe.

Xe WeiLan took out a document and walked straight to the middle of the conference table. He raised the document up and cleared his throat, he said, “This is the will written by director Lu before he died. Now, I shall read the part about Tong Yan on the will.”

Everyone was stunned. No one thought that something like this would appear out of the blue like this, even Liu XinTian changed his expression. Only Li Sui remained silent, he sat quietly in the sides and listened to Xe WeiLan recite the words that had already long been imprinted in Li Sui’s heart.