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Join the ServerThe hall fell silent for a moment.
I stood, knife in hand, looking at Xiao Xiu Sister.
Old Rooster finally caught his breath. He hastily kicked at me, then leaned against a pool table to stand.
Retreating among his brothers, he glared at me with resentment.
Xiao Xiu Sister possessed the delicate features often seen in southerners: a small nose and large, expressive eyes that shimmered with an almost ethereal quality. At this moment, those eyes stared at me, filled with helplessness.
I remained rooted to the spot, a knife still clutched in my hand.
‘Right,’ I thought. ‘The last time I ate at Xiao Xiu Sister’s shop, she mentioned she had a younger brother.’ She had told me he was constantly getting into trouble, always looking for fights outside.
When she spoke of him, her eyes held a look of utter exasperation. As she stirred the soup in the pot, she would occasionally offer a helpless chuckle.
Though I hadn’t exerted myself much, a sudden weariness washed over me, draining my strength.
Taking a few hurried breaths, I glanced at the knife in my hand. “Brother?” I murmured softly. “Is he your brother?”
Xiao Xiu Sister looked at me, but said nothing.
I turned to Old Rooster, a smile playing on my lips. “You’re quite something,” I remarked. “You even smash your own sister’s shop, just because I know Bai Hailong?”
Xiao Xiu Sister froze, then turned to stare at Old Rooster.
Old Rooster hung his head.
After a moment of silence, Xiao Xiu Sister’s gaze hardened as she looked at my face, her expression shifting from bewilderment to outright fury.
She abruptly spun around and shouted at Old Rooster:
“Xiao Ji! What is wrong with you? What have you done now? Why are people so angry they want to stab you with a knife?”
Xiao Xiu Sister’s reaction to the shop being smashed by Old Rooster suggested that she was accustomed to her brother’s antics. In her eyes, such behavior was commonplace.
Watching Xiao Xiu Sister interrogate Old Rooster, I couldn’t help but feel she was a rather negligent sister.
Here I was, knife in hand, moments from chopping off her brother’s hand.
Old Rooster glared at me hatefully. “How the hell was I supposed to know this bastard would go crazy?” he cursed.
“Who the hell are you calling a bastard?” A surge of anger flared within me. I roared, ready to charge forward again.
“Enough, Xiao Lu…” Xiao Xiu Sister hastily intervened, her voice anxious. “I don’t know what my brother did to make you so angry. Please, tell me what happened.”
Since she had spoken so reasonably, it seemed improper for me to continue acting aggressively.
I took a deep breath, placed my hands on my hips, and carefully chose my words.
Someone behind me gently nudged me. I turned to see Young Master Feng looking at me, utterly bewildered.
Behind me, over thirty men stared at Xiao Xiu Sister, their faces etched with confusion.
Seeing me turn, the middle-aged man raised an eyebrow, silently asking what was going on.
I waved my hand, letting out a sigh.
I lowered my voice, delivering what felt like the hundredth final ultimatum to Old Rooster. “I’m telling you this one last time,” I said. “Out of respect for Xiao Xiu Sister, and because you’re her brother, I’m letting you walk out of here in one piece today. But you *must* tell me clearly: which one of you drove the car that hit Little Dragon? I’m asking one last time!”
“I’m not telling you, so what?” Old Rooster retorted fiercely.
Upon hearing his defiant tone, I knew he was taking advantage of the situation. Xiao Xiu Sister, however, grew frantic, shouting, “Tell him! What happened? What’s this about hitting someone? Did you hit someone?”
“My shop was open, and suddenly someone told me a huge group of people went into your brother’s pool hall, talking about chopping off hands! Why is it so scary? What’s really going on?”
Ignoring Xiao Xiu Sister, I pointed the knife at Old Rooster’s nose. “You’re not going to tell me?” I challenged. “You dare not tell me? Are you going to speak, or not?”
Old Rooster roared, “I’m not saying anything, so what! Go on, chop me up if you’ve got the guts! Bai Hailong, it’s always Bai Hailong! Bai Hailong is a bastard, and his sister deserved to get hit!”
“Back then, he’d always talk about brotherhood, how brothers should stick together… One time, we, his brothers, were cornered by twenty outsiders at the Third Middle School gate. He told me to wait, that he’d come find me even if it killed him… Did that bastard ever show up? He only cared about himself! All his talk was just empty words!
“You’re here to chop off my hand because of brotherhood, too. Do you really think he treats you like a brother? It’s laughable! He only cares about himself!”
I stared at his face, breathing heavily, in stunned silence.
Watching his face flush crimson, I was inexplicably reminded of the day, three years ago, when Dragon Brother and I met in the pouring rain.
On that day, Dragon Brother’s eye was bloody, and rain streamed down his face.
He turned his head, smiling at the dozen or so men. “I’m going to save my brother,” he had said.
Everything seemed to connect now. A profound silence descended upon the hall.
Xiao Xiu Sister’s face was etched with urgency; she, too, awaited an answer. Her gaze darted between Old Rooster and the knife in my hand.
I recalled that rainy night. After I brought down the brick, the remaining five men were scared off by Dragon Brother.
Once Dragon Brother and I emerged from the alley, he collapsed directly to the ground, unresponsive no matter how much I pushed him. I hailed a taxi and took him to the hospital. His wounds were difficult to treat; not only were they infected, but he also developed a high fever.
Fortunately, after a week in the hospital, everything began to improve.
When I visited him, he was propped up in his hospital bed, an IV drip attached to his hand, watching the sunset outside the window.
At this moment, I should have defended myself, explained that I was also there that rainy day, and that Dragon Brother had nearly sacrificed his life for his brothers. I should have said something, but a wave of exhaustion washed over me, overwhelming my thoughts. I lowered my head in a daze, staring at the knife in my hand.
Xiao Xiu Sister remained anxious, shouting, “What’s all this nonsense? What really happened? Did you hit someone?”
I shook my head, casually tucking the knife into my pocket. “Forget it,” I said softly. “Let’s just leave it at that.”
Xiao Xiu Sister froze, then turned her head.
I walked directly towards the exit of the pool hall, shaking the knife in my hand. My voice was somewhat hoarse as I declared, “Confiscated. A bunch of little brats, always talking about stabbing people.”
Young Master Feng stared at me blankly. “Brother Lu?” he asked.
I looked up at Young Master Feng; he watched me with a hint of worry.
Seeing him, I was reminded of Old Rooster’s matter. I turned back to Old Rooster and said:
“Let me tell you, if you dare to extort money from them again, I’ll bring another thirty men to chop off your hands. Consider yourself warned!”
Old Rooster glared at me hatefully, but remained silent.
I had barely taken a few steps outside when Young Master Feng caught up to me, asking in a low voice, “Brother Lu, what are we doing next?”
I waved my hand. “Don’t call me Brother Lu, I don’t deserve it… I’m going to see Little Dragon in a bit. You can go wherever you want to play.”
Young Master Feng still followed behind me, seemingly wanting to say something.
As I walked out of the hall and through the door, I glanced back. Xiao Xiu Sister, wearing a floral apron, stood with her head tilted, her eyes holding a mix of confusion and sorrow.
Exiting the pool hall’s main door, I saw a green light ahead. I quickly crossed the street and hailed a taxi.
At that moment, Young Master Feng and the thirty-odd men emerged from the pool hall, all staring in my direction. I waved at them before getting into the taxi. The driver, an honest, middle-aged man, smiled and asked, “Is pool really that interesting? I hear people around here form groups to play all the time, and they even dress quite formally.”
Those who dressed formally for the pool hall were likely Young Master Feng’s group. I sighed. “Aren’t I dressed formally? Who goes out without dressing a bit formally? Take me to the big hospital.”
The taxi driver glanced at my large shorts, then started the car.
This particular hospital seemed to be quite familiar to me; Old Master, Ming Hai, and even Dragon Brother had all stayed there.
Hospitals didn’t allow smoking. After getting out of the car, I lit a cigarette, took a few drags, flicked the butt, and entered the large hospital.
The hospital was still sparsely populated, with only a few sniffling people at the registration counter. I didn’t know Dragon Brother’s room number, so I found a nurse and asked. They didn’t know who Bai Hailong was, but when I asked if anyone had recently been hit by a motorcycle, they all knew. They told me she was in a room at the end of the third-floor corridor.
On the third floor, a doctor stood at the end of the corridor, rubbing his temples while looking at a file. I approached him, smiling. “Excuse me, is Bai Hailong in this room?” I asked.
The doctor glanced at me, then sighed. “Are you Bai Hailong’s family?” he asked.
Seeing his expression, my heart sank, plummeting to rock bottom. “Yes,” I replied. “I’m Bai Hailong’s brother. I’ve been busy lately… I’m truly sorry. My sister’s condition…?”
The doctor continued to rub his temples, sighing repeatedly.
Growing increasingly uneasy, I quickly urged, “Just tell me! Even though my family isn’t wealthy, I’ll work harder financially, even if she has to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair…”
The doctor sighed, cutting me off. “It’s not that. Just take her home quickly.”
Upon hearing this, my heart felt as if it had plunged into an ice cellar. Was her condition so severe that even the hospital wouldn’t admit her? The memory of that evening suddenly flooded back—Dragon Brother being struck by the motorcycle right before my eyes. At that moment, I even wanted to turn back and find Old Rooster, chop off both his hands first, then question the green-haired guy…
“She’s driving me crazy,” the doctor said. “Just take her home. There was never anything serious, but she loves to make a fuss…”
I stood there, stunned for a long moment, before finally understanding the doctor’s words. “Loves to make a fuss?” I repeated. “Wasn’t it a spinal fracture, with a possibility of paralysis for the rest of her life…?”
The doctor waved his hand dismissively. “It’s a minor hairline fracture, not completely shattered. While there’s a slight chance of paralysis, your sister can heal herself by sitting in a wheelchair for a month and a half. Just make sure she does her rehabilitation exercises properly.”
“What about the ruptured spleen?”
“We took an X-ray; it’s not that serious. Just rest and recover, and pay attention to your diet.”
“And the extensive contusions?”
“Not that extensive, just her shoulder… Haven’t you ever fallen as a child? It’s just a contusion about the size of one on your knee, maybe a few circles larger.”
I was speechless.
The doctor sighed, patting my shoulder. “It’s good that family is here. Go downstairs later and buy a wheelchair. After a few days in the hospital, you can take her home… She’s truly too much trouble. This young girl keeps running out every other day even though there’s nothing wrong. I really can’t take it anymore.”
I stood there with my mouth agape, unsure what to say. The doctor patted my shoulder again, pointing into the hospital room. “See? She’s sleeping inside… Ah, it’s not easy for us doctors. We have all sorts of patients every other day, with all kinds of problems. We don’t even have time to eat… I’m going downstairs for dinner first. You two catch up.”
After speaking, the doctor turned and left.
Life truly was full of ups and downs.
Upon hearing that Dragon Brother might be paralyzed for life and in potential mortal danger, I had been so enraged today that I nearly caused two deaths.
Knowing that Dragon Brother was largely fine, I felt a profound sense of relief.
Yet, after standing there for a long while, I let out a deep sigh.
How much trouble must she have caused to make even the doctors unable to bear it?
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Read : Did Mr. Villain Cross Into the Wrong Book?
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