Chapter 23: No Need for Twenty Years, Laozi is Still a Good Man

  Ye Haodong was wearing only a cotton-padded jacket, walked to the big road outside the hospital, found a bus stop on one side to avoid the wind, and thought about stopping a car to go home. A passing large taxi slowed down and came over, Ye Haodong thought it was a taxi, walked over and stretched out his hand to pull open the car door. The moment the door opened, a loud noise like the sound of a beer bottle cap being opened suddenly rang out, Ye Haodong felt as if he had been punched heavily in the chest, making his bones ache as if they were about to shatter. The incident happened so suddenly that Ye Haodong only saw a strong figure in the dark inside the car holding a gun. In the critical moment, Ye Haodong quickly fell to the ground, the gunshot startled the police officer in the security booth outside the hospital, the people in the car saw the police officer looking out and didn't have time to check Ye Haodong's situation, the large taxi quickly escaped from the scene. Ye Haodong slowly got up after the car had gone far away, turned around and stumbled back to the hospital.

  The two brothers Ye always wore a large, heavy, and uniquely-shaped pendant on their chest. It was left to them by their great-grandfather, who would have never thought that it would save his life today.

  Old Lady Wang Lin received the news and rushed over in a taxi overnight. It wasn't until she saw Ye Haodong lying safely on the hospital bed that she finally put her mind at ease, but tears couldn't help flowing down anymore. Jiang Wei arrived soon after receiving the notification.

  After Jiang Wei arrived in the ward, Wang Lin voluntarily backed out, and now there are only two of them left in the room.

  Jiang Wei's expression was extremely solemn: "You're really too mysterious this time, did you see what the person in the car looks like?"

  Ye Haodong didn't care about the slight curl of his lip, and he gently shook his head to one side: "Hmm, it's mysterious enough. Fortunately, there's Old Master's spirit in heaven watching over me. If not, I'd still be a good man twenty years later. Without seeing clearly the appearance of that dog day, I knew there should be two people in the car. The person who shot at me was sitting behind the driver in the position directly opposite the door. I could only see a blurry figure outside the car, and it's a big build."

  "What's the license plate number?"

  Ye Haodong: "That car has no license plate, and the people inside are professional killers."

  Jiang Wei nodded: "I reckon it's him, he seems to be coming for me, but unexpectedly ran into you, and compared to me, you're more hated by him, so he suddenly shot you."

  Ye Haodong was slightly surprised and wanted to ask, but hated that I could be who? He quickly reacted: "Are you talking about Shan Longhu? Has he escaped?"

  Jiang Wei nodded solemnly.

  Ye Haodong furiously pulled out the infusion tube inserted in his hand and cursed: "Stupid cops, can't you do anything right?"

  Jiang Wei didn't react much to this sentence, only comforting: "Don't worry too much for now, just stay in the hospital temporarily, the expenses will be covered by our bureau. That little brat will come sooner or later, and when that time comes, I'll take him down directly!"

  Ye Haodong turned his head away and glanced at the door.

  "If you're doing this for me, then don't bother, it may affect your future."

  Jiang Wei didn't say anything else, stood up and bid farewell. Before leaving the door, he said: "Thanks for what happened with my mom, and my sister will bring you that clothes tomorrow herself."

  The strong smell of disinfectant in the ward made Ye Haodong very uncomfortable. Li Weidong and Bao Lijiang were sitting on another bed, with a large pile of nutritional supplements on the table, including those bought by them and some brought over by Zhong Zhimin.

  The three of them looked gloomy. Ye Haodong broke the silence: "Damn! Don't make it sound like I'm going to die a heroic death or something, that little dog Mountain Dragon Tiger doesn't have the luck to take my life, my ancestors are watching over me from above."

  Li Weidong: "What do you plan to do about this?"

  Bao Li suddenly chimed in: "Find out who that turtle egg is, I'll break his neck with my own hands."

  Ye Haodong showed a few points of anger, but soon calmed down.

  "Let's see what the next move of *men is, we only have the right to self-defense and no law enforcement power. You guys take the initiative to develop our relationship and help *men find that turtle egg as soon as possible."

  The knock on the door sounded, and Jiang Lan walked in with Ye Haodong's leather jacket.

  "Ah, you're here?" Ye Haodong hastily got up:

  Jiang Lan smiled, and the sunlight shone on her tender face, with a hint of charm.

  "Really, I'll take a look at you. Yesterday, you left without saying goodbye, and I thought I'd never see you again. Unexpectedly, we meet again so soon. Yesterday, my brother told me that you were shot, which worried me to death."

  This sentence had a somewhat ambiguous tone, as if the two people were already very familiar with each other. Jiang Lan quickly noticed her own verbal slip and her face suddenly turned red.

  Li Weidong stood up and coughed: "Uh-huh, that's it. Haodong, you don't have anything else to do, so we'll leave first and go take care of things as you said."

  Baoli just had a stammer, but his mind was not slow, he didn't say anything and got up to leave, his movements were even faster than Li Weidong's.

  Jiang Lan sat elegantly on the chair beside Ye Haodong's bed, and the distance between them had shortened significantly.

  "Where is the injury? Does it still hurt?"

  "There's no external injury, just a crack in the breastbone, nothing serious."

  "It must have hurt a lot?"

  "It was a bit at first, now it's nothing, how is your mom doing, better or not?"

  "It's much better now, I cried for half the night yesterday and now I'm asleep, my brother is watching me."

  He also said: "Yesterday's affairs really lost you, otherwise my mother would have been bullied by that bad guy."

  "Your brother helped me without hesitation, so you shouldn't be polite to me either. People should help each other out."

  Jiang Lan shook her head: "My attitude towards you was very bad yesterday, but not only did you not hold it against me, you also saved my mom. I should really believe what you say, but in reality, I don't think what you said is right. There are still many people in this world who repay kindness with enmity, it's just that you haven't met them yet."

  Ye Haodong was a bit bewildered, what was this girl saying?

  "Presumptuously asking, where's your dad? Something big like this happens and he's nowhere to be seen?"

  Jiang Lan's face changed: "I don't have a dad anymore!"

  Ye Haodong felt a slight sense of surprise and asked casually, "Is he dead?"

  Jiang Lan noticed that she had lost her composure, nodded: "About ten years ago, he went to Singapore and never came back, no news, my mom thought he was like this, my brother and I thought he was dead."

  Ye Haodong didn't expect that his mother would be like this because of their father.

  "In this regard, we are somewhat alike, but I'm even more miserable than you, my dad passed away last year."

  Jiang Lan said impatiently: "Don't mention this anymore, talk about something else."

  "Have you eaten?"

  "I've eaten."

  "What's for dinner?"

  Jiang Lan: …… Hehe, can't you say something useful?

  Ye Haodong: How old are you this year? I guess you're not older than me.

  Jiang Lan: Eighteen, and you?

  Ye Haodong: This topic doesn't make any sense, don't you have school today?

  Jiang Lan: Yeah, I'll be graduating next year. Now my main focus is on reviewing (my studies). My teacher said I don't need to review, but something happened at home and he approved me taking care of my mom first, as long as it doesn't interfere with the exams.

  Jiang Lan's tone had a hint of pride, and she quickly reacted: "You haven't told me how old you are yet?"

  Ye Haodong looked at him with a very admiring expression: "Ah! I see, you're a top student!"

  Jiang Lan: "How old are you exactly?"

  Ye Haodong asked again: "What achievements have you made? For example, did you participate in last year's provincial math Olympiad?"

  Jiang Lan was surprised: "How did you know I participated? Last year our school representative Gang Cheng won the team first place, and I won the individual second place. Hey, how old are you?"

  Ye Haodong chuckled: "Pretty cool, but you're really persistent. Anyway, since I'm older than you, just call me brother."

  Jiang Lan rolled her eyes: "Go ahead and brag, do you really think I have eye problems? What's written on that nameplate of yours? Ye Haodong, male, seventeen years old, call me sister, little brother." After finishing, she started giggling to herself.

  Ye Haodong lay on the bed, looking at Jiang Lan's smile, which was particularly beautiful and far surpassed her usual self. Ye Haodong watched in a trance, also smiling along with her, his expression very silly.

  The door opened and Wang Lin came back from buying food outside.

  Jiang Lan quickly got up from her chair, her face suddenly turning red, and politely bowed, saying: "Auntie, hello."

  "Mom, this is Jiang Lan, she's the sister of my police friend, Brother Jiang."

  Wang Lin smiled: "Ah, hello, you're here to see Xiao San'r, have you eaten? If not, let's eat together."

  "Thank you, Auntie, I've eaten already. You all go ahead and eat, I'll leave first and come visit you again next time."

  After Jiang Lan left, Wang Lin couldn't help but let out a sigh of emotion: "Ah, my son has grown up and will talk to girls now. This little girl isn't bad either, looks like she's still in school."

  Ye Haodong furrowed his brow, a woman's gossip was also ageless.

  "What's wrong with you? Don't talk nonsense. They're studying hard for their senior year of high school and are even top students, seeds for Tsinghua University and Peking University."

  Wang Lin smiled: "Mom is just teasing you, how old are you? Besides, with your semi-illiterate self, it's strange that the young girl would even look at you."

  Ye Haodong was very dissatisfied: "What's wrong with me? Can't I take it out or what? I'm such a great guy, whole and intact, with a house and a career, where can you find someone like me?"

  Wang Lin: "Nothing's wrong yet, you just said one sentence that doesn't match up and you're already anxious. Alright, my old son is the best, let's eat."

  The crack in his chest bone was not a big deal, Ye Haodong stayed in the hospital for three days and couldn't stand it anymore, making a fuss to be discharged. Wang Lin couldn't persuade him, so she had to go through the discharge procedures. During these three days, Jiang Lan came once every day to chat with Ye Haodong. The two of them seemed to have developed some ambiguous feelings, but as soon as Ye Haodong was discharged, they lost their excuse to be together and temporarily parted ways.