Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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After politely declining the young master Fujita’s warm invitation to stay, Lu Dangui took a car from the Fujita family back to the Affiliated Hospital of S University.
Although last night’s collision didn’t result in anything but a mild concussion, the headache still lingered. He went into the changing room, changed into his white coat, took two painkillers from his first-aid kit, and swallowed them with warm water.
Neither Director Wang nor Dean Qiu replied to his messages; he wondered if they were in a meeting. To avoid delaying his work for the day, Lu Dangui returned to his usual desk and began organizing the weekend seminar reports.
Around noon, Director Wang returned to the psychiatric department from the conference room and immediately saw Lu Dangui hunched over his computer.
The doctors and nurses had all gone to lunch, leaving only Lu Dangui at the workstation. He was sleeping with one hand behind his head, leaning against his elbow, humming softly in his sleep.
Director Wang was immediately enraged: “Lu Dangui!”
Lu Dangui was having a dream where a giant gorilla in a tree was hitting him on the head with a banana. He heard the sound, dazedly looked up, and found the director standing in front of him with a stern expression.
Lu Dangui was so startled that he jumped up and sat up straight.
“Director……”
He always cowered when he saw the director, and now he was so cowered that his voice became weak.
“Old Qiu told me everything that happened yesterday,” Director Wang said seriously. “Being attacked by a patient while out caring for patients is considered a work-related injury.”
Director Wang said helplessly, “Lu Dangui, why didn’t you go home and rest? What are you doing at the hospital?”
“Director, I haven’t finished reporting for Sunday—”
“Is the report more important or your life?”
If it weren’t for the fact that Lu Dangui still had a head injury, Director Wang would have really wanted to hit him with the folder in his hand: “Go to the outpatient clinic right now for a check-up and then go somewhere cool and stay away from me.”
He was sent home by the director to rest, received a call of condolence from the hospital director, carried a fruit basket from the department, and even got three extra days of paid sick leave.
Standing at the hospital entrance, Lu Dangui experienced the diversity of the world for the first time.
When he got home, he quickly cooked some noodles to tide him over, then hugged his pillow and climbed back into bed.
He kicked off his slippers, leaned back on the bed, hugged his pillow, rolled around twice, and sighed contentedly.
Although he developed a rather large lump on the back of his head, he turned misfortune into good fortune and was granted a long holiday that everyone in the department envied.
Lu Dangui closed his eyes comfortably, ready to sleep soundly until dawn!
….
[Doctor, help me.]
The five fingers gripping his neck trembled violently, while his deep pupils were filled with an excited yet bloodthirsty light.
There were only the two of them in the bathroom.
He, and a lowly ant held in his palm, whom he could do whatever he wanted with.
The ant struggled desperately in his hands, unaware that it was all in vain.
He enjoyed the process.
Help me.
For most of his life, he was indifferent to the people and things around him.
Joy was indescribable, and heartache was beyond words.
This dying ant was trying to awaken his emotions.
And emotions were such a wonderful human creation.
It was the original sin that plunged him into the abyss, and also the best gift bestowed upon him by the ant in his hands.
Please, Dr. Lu.
He revelled in the extreme pleasure derived from committing violence.
Yet at the same time, it was making a silent plea to this lowly ant that it could easily kill.
Please, save me.
….
Half an hour later, Lu Dangui opened his eyes in the darkness and despairingly discovered that he was suffering from insomnia again.
The last time he had insomnia was last month. The beauty mark under his eye, which was soaked in blood, kept lingering in his mind, making him toss and turn and unable to sleep.
And this time, the culprit that caused his insomnia was the same person as last time.
“Ahhhh—”
Lu Dangui covered his head tightly, wailing as he sat up in bed.
He desperately wanted to find a scalpel and erase everything about that madman from his mind. Every time he closed his eyes, the image of that gaze fixed on him like a predator eyeing its prey would reappear in his mind.
The scene from last night was still vivid in his mind.
Those eyes were dull and lifeless, empty and numb, yet they were indeed pleading for help from within themselves.
Lu Dangui grabbed the phone from the bedside table, scrolled through the contacts for a while, hesitated in the dark for a moment, and finally dialled a number.
The call was answered after two beeps.
“Hello?” A lively and cheerful female voice came from the other end of the phone. “…Xiao Lu? Why did you suddenly think of calling me?”
Lu Dangui hesitated for a moment. After all, they were old classmates who hadn’t been in contact for several years, and it felt a little strange to suddenly contact them for something like this.
“Sister Jiuyan, it’s me.” Lu Dangui smiled and said somewhat embarrassedly, “Well, there’s something I want to ask you about. It’s…it’s for my sister.”
Bai Jiuyan was his senior from the same club when he was studying at S University. The two worked together in the same club during college, and both were single. So their friends in the club tried to set them up several times.
Although it didn’t work out in the end, they were still good friends.
Upon hearing that he was calling for Lu Wenfei, Bai Jiuyan laughed and joked on the other end of the phone: “I was wondering why you suddenly called. So it’s because of Wenfei. That makes sense.”
“How’s Wenfei doing lately? I haven’t seen her for years. Why hasn’t she let you come to me for help since?”
Lu Dangui lied without changing his expression: “She stopped being a fan a long time ago.”
“She’s unfollowed him?”
Bai Jiuyan’s tone was slightly surprised: “Wasn’t she a huge fan of Cheng Cheng before?”
After graduating, Bai Jiuyan joined the city’s television station, and a year later, she switched to Baiwen Entertainment. After working there for four or five years, she was now, before she even turned thirty, the head of the publicity and distribution department and the marketing manager.
Because of this relationship, Lu Dangui often asked Bai Jiuyan for help during college, and he got a lot of autographed merchandise and CDs that were not available on the market for his sister. Occasionally, when there was a Xing Cheng fan meeting, he could also get Wenfei tickets for the inner circle.
Lu Wenfei’s pursuit of his idol had reached new heights, and Bai Jiuyan, as an insider, had been a great help to her.
After his younger sister got into trouble, he forbade her to have any contact with anything related to Xing Cheng, and the two gradually lost touch.
In addition, Bai Jiuyan’s reaction after the incident was also an important factor in why Lu Dangui still found it difficult to let go of Xing Cheng.
Despite the severity of the accident, his old classmate was completely unaware of the details and did not know that Lu Wenfei was the sole victim.
This meant that Xing Cheng and the forces behind him covered up the truth about what happened three years ago, even deceiving his agency and the public.
It’s not that retribution won’t come, it’s just that the time hasn’t arrived yet. Lu Dangui felt that this saying was indeed reasonable.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye, and Xing Cheng finally reaped what he sowed, turning into a complete madman.
He wanted to see how this person would manage to deceive everyone and escape unscathed despite the serious impact of such a mental illness.
“Yes, that’s why I came to see Sister Jiuyan today.” Lu Dangui steadied himself and smiled as he said to Bai Jiuyan, “Xing Cheng’s retirement from the entertainment industry caused quite a stir recently, and Wenfei seems to care about it quite a bit. She asked me to ask you if you have any inside information about his retirement.”
“This matter…”
Bai Jiuyan seemed hesitant when she heard Lu Dangui’s question.
After considering it for a while, she brought the phone closer and lowered her voice to Lu Dangui, saying, “Xiao Lu, this is a company secret. I understand Wenfei’s feelings. It’s hard for anyone to accept that their idol, whom they’ve liked for a long time, has suddenly retired. And it’s not just Wenfei who feels this way. A while ago, Xing Cheng’s fans came to the company gate every day to make trouble, wanting to get an explanation from us.”
“However… I did hear a little rumor.” Bai Jiuyan paused, then continued, “Tell her to put her mind at ease, but tell her not to spread it!”
She had a good relationship with Lu Wenfei back then, and she and Lu Dangui were almost paired up by their friends. So she had a great fondness for both of them. It wasn’t a big deal to tell Lu Dangui some harmless rumors.
Lu Dangui pursed her lips: “…Yes, Sister Jiuyan, I understand.”
He suddenly regretted it; he shouldn’t have used his sister’s name to inquire about Xing Cheng today.
For some reason, he always felt like he had deceived his friend.
“Xing Cheng’s retirement from the entertainment industry was probably not his own decision,” Bai Jiuyan said. “Xing Cheng is a member of the Xing family, which is no secret. The Xing family’s background is a bit complicated, and I can’t say more about it at the moment.”
“Rumors are circulating in the company that his father seems to be seriously ill, and all his siblings are targeting him, trying to drag him down with them. I guess he might be too busy to deal with family matters and worried that his acting career would also be affected, so he had no choice but to retire from the industry to handle family issues.”
“Sigh, it’s not appropriate for us to speculate about the intricacies of these powerful families…”
“…” Lu Dangui frowned. “Why is he being targeted?”
He couldn’t understand why Xing Cheng, a rich second-generation heir who was doing so well in the entertainment industry and had no shortage of money or resources, would give up his acting career, which was in its prime, to get involved in the murky waters of the business world.
Furthermore, Bai Jiuyan didn’t mention Xing Cheng’s illness at all, indicating that the news was being kept very secret and not many people knew about it, at least not his agency’s employees.
Apart from Fujita Daishu, who seemed to be on the same side as Xing Cheng.
And then there was him, who inexplicably signed a confidentiality agreement and was forced to keep the secret.
Every time Lu Dangui thought of that confidentiality agreement, he felt like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat, and he could be so angry with himself that he would die.
Bai Jiuyan sighed: “There is a rumor, but we’ve only heard it secondhand, so we can’t take it seriously.”
“I heard that his father made a will after being diagnosed with the disease,” she told Lu Dangui. “The will designated Xing Cheng as the legal heir and left all of their family’s assets and shares to Xing Cheng alone.”
“Once his father passes away, he will become the sole ruler of the Xing family.”
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