Chapter 54 (1/2)

Translator: ayszhang

Editor: Marcia

Chapter 54 of !

GRAND FINALE

Fifty-three

Love suffers long and is kind;

Love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,

Is not provoked, thinks no evil;

Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

–1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Xu Ping awoke from his slumber.

The sky outside the window was azure with bits of lazy

clouds floating about, and he heard the distant din of primary schoolers during

physical education cla.s.s. The sharp cries and giggles sounded gentle and far

away but also strangely energetic after being filtered by the many layers of

gla.s.s.

Xu Ping felt as though he had a wild, illusory dream,

and he woke up disoriented, not sure of where he was or even what day it was.

A young nurse looked up from her magazine.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

She laid the magazine down and checked the drips.

Hugging the quilts, he slowly sat up.

“Where am I?”

“K City Hospital.”

K City? Xu Ping wondered. Why was he there?

After staying quiet for a long time, he asked sharply,

“Where’s my brother?”

The nurse faltered and looked at him with a confused

expression.

Xu Ping’s heart skipped a beat.

“My brother, he’s really tall and bulky…” He began

gesturing in a panic. “He’s not that sharp, and he doesn’t like to talk…h-he…”

He was in such a panic that he began stuttering.

Pfft. The nurse couldn’t stifle her

giggle.

“The big dummy, right? He was brought in here along

with you. Kept holding onto you calling “gege.” Don’t worry. The doctor gave

him a shot to calm him down. He’s sleeping next door.”

Just as the knot in his stomach settled, he became a

bit angry.

“H-how could you joke about that?!”

“Look at you,” the nurse said carelessly. “I was just

playing with you.”

She looked over and eyed Xu Ping’s expression, and

then she pursed her lips and rolled up her white sleeves. “Your brother was

like a raging bull that wouldn’t listen to anyone or let anyone near you

without engaging in battle. Look, he gave me these bruises.”

After Xu Ping saw the blue marks on her arm, the anger

at being teased quickly turned to ma.s.sive amounts of guilt.

“I’m sorry, my brother is–”

“It’s fine,” she interrupted him good-naturedly. “Do

you want see him? I’ll go get him for you.”

Xu Ping considered it and shook his head. “No, thanks.

Let him sleep.”

He carefully lifted the bedding to get off the bed.

“What do you want to do?”

Xu Ping was a little slow. “Use the toilet?”

The nurse pulled out a urinal from under the bed.

“Here, let me help you.” And she went for Xu Ping’s

pants.

Surprised and embarra.s.sed, Xu Ping immediately

retreated while blocking with his hands, his ears flus.h.i.+ng bright red.

He was about to shout, “Don’t come closer!” when

someone coughed from behind the nurse.

Putting on her work face, the nurse placed the urinal

down and left.

Blus.h.i.+ng, Xu Ping redid his hospital pants and sat

back in the bed.

Two men had come in, the first one wearing frameless

gla.s.ses and a white coat.

Holding a patient file in his hand, he eyed Xu Ping,

smiled and turned around to talk to the man behind him who was in black.

The two spoke quickly, exchanging medical terms and

English words. Listening to them was like viewing flowers through fog.

He leaned back on the head board, took his time to

b.u.t.ton his hospital gown and then flattened out the folds in his quilt.

There was a vase on the bedside table with blooming

pink carnations.

The sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly, peeking in between the

slits in the blinds while millions of dust motes danced in the rays.

Xu Ping listened carefully. Brrrrrriiing – the chime was ringing in a school some distance

away, and all the kids rushed to the corridor and field from their cla.s.sroom,

cheering and laughing, without a care in the world and full of spirit and hope.

Xu Ping felt strangely tranquil, maybe even relaxed

and cheerful, as though a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders

relieving him of any more confusion and trouble.

He even felt like humming a light tune.

He reached and drew the blinds. Cars and pedestrians

were going to and fro along the street partly hidden by trees. He spotted a

young couple kissing at the intersection, a housewife haggling with a street

vendor over peaches, and a yellow dog curled up under the shade in front of a

shop, snoozing.

He heard the door closing with a quiet click and

turned around. The doctor had left.

The remaining man was wearing a black knit turtleneck

and black suit jacket and pants. He pulled out a chair and sat down beside the

bed.

On his face were bruises that still had not faded. His

hair was short and clean, and the faint minty scent of shaving cream hung

about.

He didn’t speak first but instead tucked the quilts in

for Xu Ping.

He appeared wealthy but quiet about it, and his

temples were peppered with grey.

“h.e.l.lo,” he said. “Xu Ping.”

Xu Ping’s operation was scheduled for a Wednesday.

Huang Fan had long since flown back to New York.

The surgeon in charge, Dai, was specially hired by

Huang Fan. Not yet forty years old, the man was exceptionally skilled. Dr. Dai

had a strange personality and didn’t like to talk, and his hobby was fruit

sculpture. Xu Ping had seen him carve a man’s face into an apple with incredible

speed and then snap off its nose with one bite and munch away – quite creepy.

He Zhi came with his fiancée, Wei Ying, to visit him

on the day of the surgery.

Xu Ping was trying to figure out the consent form with

his brother.

“Does it have to be my brother?”

“Do you have any other family members?”

“No.”

“Then your brother must sign,” Dr. Dai answered tonelessly

while filing his nails.

“In what world?” He Zhi demanded. “His brother’s sick.

If it’s for the fees, I can sign for him.”

“Will you be responsible if he dies?” Dr. Dai asked.

After so many years in the criminal department, He

Zhi’s temper had grown fiery, and his knuckles itched when someone dared to

speak to him like that. He wanted to gift the man with a faceful of blood, but

Wei Ying stopped him.

“Don’t worry, it’s not certain that he will die. As

long as he isn’t pushed out of the operation room within half an hour, the

chances of survival will double.”

“And what if he comes out within half an hour?” He

Zhi’s face darkened as he asked.

“Then it means the cancer has spread to the rest of my

body, and there’s no way to excise it,” Xu Ping answered calmly.

Dr. Dai let out a few grunts as agreement.

He Zhi thought of Xu Ping’s old man, and his face

turned more sour.

“Well, there’s actually another possibility that’s more

dangerous and that is, if the operation lasts longer than six hours, the blood

loss will be too much for the body.” As he explained he ma.s.saged his fingers

one by one. “But with my skill, this will not happen under normal

circ.u.mstances.”

He glanced at the wall clock. “Hurry. The operation

begins in half an hour. I don’t want to be too worn out. I still have plans

this evening.”

He Zhi wanted nothing more than to strangle him then

and there.

He Zhi turned to Xu Ping. “How do you feel?”

Xu Ping smiled. “Pretty good.”

Seeing his childhood friend’s smile, He Zhi felt a sharp

pang, and tears threatened to overflow despite his steel-cold heart from many

years of police work.

He tried his hardest to keep his lips shut.

It was Wei Ying who spoke next. “Xu Ping, focus on

recovery. Afterwards come attend our wedding.”

Xu Ping was surprised. “Isn’t it coming up soon?”

“We delayed it,” Wei Ying replied. “He Zhi has a big

case on hand. My dad said work’s important, so we’ll get married after he

cracks the case.”

He Zhi shot a glance her way and reached for her hand

behind their backs.

And they shared a smile.

Xu Ping caught it but smiled back. “Okay.”

He beckoned to his brother. “Xiao-Zheng, come.”

He flipped to the last page of the booklet, pointed to

the signature line and stuck the pen in his brother’s hand.

“Write your name here.”

Xu Zheng had been in a fight with his brother over the

past couple of days. The reason was that Xu Ping didn’t wake him up as soon as

he came to, instead locking himself up in the room and yapping away with that

bad man.

Annoyed,

he flung the pieces of paper around.

“What

is this?”

The

room became quiet. Even Dr. Dai stopped filing his nails.

All eyes

were on Xu Ping.

“A life

contract,” Xu Ping said with a squinty smile. “After you sign this, my life

will be yours.”

Overjoyed,

Xu Zheng lunged forward and painstakingly wrote down his name.

Without

looking at it, Xu Ping pa.s.sed it to Dr. Dai.

The

doctor took one look at it and found that the two characters were extremely

proper.

“Your

brother doesn’t seem like an idiot if you just look at his writing, eh?”

Xu Ping

didn’t even look up. “My brother is a genius. It’s just that idiots can’t see

it.”

A vexed Dr. Dai grudgingly explained the surgical