Chapter 4 (2/2)

Xia Lei’s smile froze on his face. He shrugged, embarrassed, then turned to leave.

As soon as he left, a few police cars stopped by the road. The police officers who alighted from the cars all carried guns and they had their cars positioned to make a barrier. They looked nervously about, clearly unsure of the situation.

Long Bing looked up at the building opposite and at the rooftop, but all she could see was a blurry outline. She could not even see the fence around the edge of the rooftop, let alone a person hiding there.

Long Bing looked away from the building and in the direction Xia Lei had left. After a beat, she spoke. “I have perfect 20/20 vision and I couldn’t see anything up there. How did he see it? Is his vision better than 20/20? How is this possible? His behaviour in the casino was strange too… This man… I must investigate his background!”

Xia Lei could not hear Long Bing. He was in a taxi, headed for the harbour.

When he had arrived, Xia Lei had only 9,000+ yuan but he was leaving now with 210,000. This was peanuts to the rich but it was a fortune to Xia Lei. He could pay for Xia Xue’s education now and use the remainder to do some small business or change something in their lives – there were many possibilities.

When he stepped onto the jetty at Hai-Zhu City harbour, Xia Lei switched his mobile phone on and saw that he had several missed calls from Ma Xiao-An. He grinned and thought to himself, “That fatty must have gone to see me at the hospital and got worried about me when he couldn’t find me after I got discharged. I should buy an iPhone 6 Plus for him when I get back and make him happy.”

Xia Lei was using a cheap, lousy locally-made phone himself but he was good to his friends and was willing to spend on them.

While waiting for public transportation by the road, Xia Lei called Ma Xiao-An. “Hello, Xiao-An? It’s me, Lei. Where are you? I’ll come get you and we’ll go for a drink.”

“Drink… drink…” Ma Xiao-An’s voice seemed disjointed over the phone, as if he had something in his mouth. “Drink, my… my foot! I’m in… in… hospital.”

“You’re in hospital?” Xia Lei was surprised. “What’s wrong? What happened? Which hospital are you in?”

“The… the one you left… you… be careful… when you come here… Don’t get discovered…” Ma Xiao-An started to wheeze before he could finish one sentence.

“Wait for me! I’ll be right there!” Xia Lei hung up and rushed to hail an incoming taxi.

Half an hour later, Xia Lei arrived at the hospital he had left that morning. He went to the nurses’ station to inquire and found Ma Xiao-An’s ward.

Ma Xiao-An’s head, arms and legs were bound in bandages and the half of his face that could be seen was swollen. You could tell from one look that he had been beaten up severely by someone.

“Xiao-An, tell me who did this to you!” Xia Lei was anxious and angry all at once.

Ma Xiao-An smiled bitterly, “Who… else could it be?”

Xia Lei suddenly thought of a person. “Was it Chen Chuan-Hu?”

Ma Xiao-An nodded, then told Xia Lei what had happened in short bursts.

It turned out that Chen Chuan-Hu wanted to beat Ma Xiao-An up, then make him bring him and his lackeys to Xia Lei’s place. His lackeys, however, had been too enthusiastic in their beating. Ma Xiao-An vomited blood and could not even walk. Chen Chuan-Hu had left the hospital with his lackeys while Ma Xiao-An was left to lie in the hospital’s bed.

“Bastard! Who gave him the right to do this? Is he above the law? Is there no one who can keep villains like him in check?” After listening to Ma Xiao-An, Xia Lei could not control his emotions and punched his fist in the hospital bed.

“Law?” Ma Xiao-An laughed bitterly. “Lei, you know what…? After Chen Chuan-Hu had me beaten up… he said… He said his uncle was the Chief of Police and we can try to sue him any-anytime.”

“So he can do as he pleases because his uncle is the Chief of Police?” said Xia Lei indignantly.

“I called the police… An officer came, asked a few questions and left… He had ab-absolutely no intention of looking into Chen Chuan-Hu…” Ma Xiao-An continued, “Afterwards, an… old doctor told me that Chen Chuan-Hu’s uncle is Li Qing-Hua, the Chief of Police of this area. Chen Chuan-Hu always has some construction business going. Li Qing-Hua is actually the mastermind and Chen Chuan-Hu just runs errands for him. The two of them have mutual interests since one has manpower and one has authority… they profit legally and illegally. We can’t win… Be careful, he said you cheated him of 10,000 in hospital fees and he wants you to pay for the electric welding machine and transformer too… Lei, take Xia Xue and hide for a few days.”

“Hide? Why must we hide? I was injured at his construction site. If I hadn’t been lucky I would have lost my eye – can 10,000 buy me my eye? Furthermore, he had you beaten till you ended up in this state. It’s him who is wrong, not you, not me and not Xia Xue. Why must we hide? I’m not afraid of him. I’ll seek justice for you!” Xia Lei got more and more worked up as he spoke.

“Lei… you… you listen to me…” Ma Xiao-An said worriedly, “For-forget it… I’m fine.”

“Don’t worry about it. Rest and recover here in peace,” said Xia Lei.

Just then, a nurse walked in. She took one look at Xia Lei and asked, “You’re the guardian of Bed 19? You’d better pay the fees owing for treatment or the pharmacy will not dispense medication.”

“How much do we owe?” Xia Lei knew without asking that Chen Chuan-Hu had not paid a cent for landing Ma Xiao-An in hospital.

“You owe 1,200 but he still needs further medication. I recommend you pay a little more – 7,000 is best,” said the nurse.

“The money… I’ll find some way… Lei, don’t mind it.” Ma Xiao-An was in so much pain he had to force words past his clenched teeth.

“I’ll give you guys 8,000. Take better care of my friend.” As he spoke, Xia Lei took the bill and went to pay it.

Tears filled Ma Xiao-An’s eyes. “Lei… Don’t… That money is… for Xia Xue’s school fees…”

But Xia Lei had already walked out the door without looking back.