The Heart of a Smith

(Unedited)

“You promised, you promised to stay with me till we’re old. I only have you, so please don’t leave me…” Li Sui knew that Lu Shang couldn’t hear him right now, but he could not help but beg in a soft voice.

The person lying in bed did not respond, beside Lu Shang, in a corner invisible to Li Sui, there was a heart monitor, unbeknownst to Li Sui it drew a slightly different signal.

The temperature in CCU was very low, Li Sui only stayed inside for a while, but his hands and feet were all freezing. Luckily, Dr. Leung gave him a thick coat. Li Sui curled himself up while wrapped in the coat, he moved slightly over, and leaned on a rack next to the hospital bed. Li Sui fell asleep while looking at Lu Shang.

It was late at night. There was no one outside the corridor. The lights in the room were not turned on, there were only flashes of lights from the monitoring equipment.

Li Sui leaned back being half asleep and half awake, he noticed the sound of a door opening and heard someone swiping his card on the sensor. Li Sui woke up immediately, the first thing that came across his mind was that, maybe it was Leung ZiRui, but when he looked up, he found that the person’s figure was different. The person was a little fat, so obviously not Leung ZiRui, it wasn’t Leung ZiRui’s uncle either.

In order to avoid getting Leung ZiRui in trouble, Li Sui hid and avoided being notice. As the person might turn the lights on, Li Sui quickly hid under the bed and kept his eyes out to look at the person outside.

However, the person who came in didn’t turn the lights on. Instead, he quietly locked the door behind him. Li Sui was alerted, he could not see the person’s face because he was under the bed, but he caught glimpses of the white lab coat.

Li Sui’s intuition towards people had always been accurate, he noticed that this person walked in a very unnatural way, as if he was a thief, so Li Sui could not help but be on guard.

The visitor stood in front of Lu Shang’s bed for a long time. He had be standing there doing absolutely nothing for so long that Li Sui was ready to crawl out to question the man. That was when the unknown visitor pulled out a bottle of liquid from his lab coat pocket, then he began replacing it with the medicine connected to Lu Shang’s IV drip carefully.

Witnessing that, Li Sui’s brain buzzed. He immediately crawled out from under the bed and knocked the bottle in his hand over, subsequently restraining the man, “Who are you?”

As Li Sui asked, he did not forget to check on Lu Shang’s condition, seeing that he was not affected, he continued to address the subdued man. The person was a middle-aged man, and his attire made him look like a doctor. Obviously, the man didn’t expect someone to be inside the CCU, so he seemed frightened, he was so shocked that he forgot to resist.

As Li Sui subdued the man, the movements triggered the alarm. There was a loud noise outside. In no time, Leung ZiRui brought others into the room while cursing and complaining.

Li Sui took off the man’s mask and he frowned. He had seen this man before, he was an anesthesiologist in this hospital.

The CCU door was opened, Leung ZiRui stepped in. Just before he opened his mouth and cursed, he turned on the lights to see Li Sui restraining a middle-aged man with a serious expression. Even Leung ZiRui was shocked for a moment, he asked, “What’s the situation?”

Soon, all the irrelevant people were cleared out of the room. Leung ZiRui locked the door to his office, his expression was dark, “The analysis is complete, there was high concentrations of potassium chloride in the liquid. If it was injected into the body, the patient would die within a few minutes. Moreover, the symptoms would be very similar to a heart attack.”

Someone tried to hurt Lu Shang right in front of his eyes, Li Sui’s breath trembled as he tried to suppress his own emotions, “Where is he now?”

“For the time being, I asked someone to keep watch on him.”

Li Sui got up and was going to go out, Leung ZiRui pulled him back, “This man has been working in RuiGe for more than ten years, he is a mediocre person. He was always timid, I don’t think he has the courage to commit homicide, so I think someone else must have been behind it.”

“Will he lead us back to who he got the orders from?” Li Sui asked.

Leung ZiRui nodded, “He did, but it’s useless. He only knows the one who contacted him, he doesn’t know who the mastermind was either. Moreover, he only ever gets unilateral contact from the other party. So, the chances of us being able to track the mastermind down is low.”

On the subject, Leung ZiRui said, “But it’s not hard to guess who the mastermind was with how meticulous everything was.”

Li Sui’s fist was clenching so hard that his bones were making scary sounds, “Liu XinTian…”

The mastermind should be someone who would directly profit from Lu Shang’s death. Plus, said culprit must possess enough power to infiltrate RuiGe Hospital. The mastermind was also someone extremely careful, everything was prepared so that even if caught, the deed would never trace back to him. Besides Liu XinTian, there was no other cunning person that could have satisfied all these three conditions.

“If I was not here today…” Li Sui thought and then he was so afraid that he began sweating excessively. Li Sui looked up at Leung ZiRui and said with a serious look, “The surgery can’t be done here. It’s too dangerous.”

Leung ZiRui thought about it and nodded slowly, “I really didn’t think Liu XinTian would resort to such a thing. I’m going to inform Dr. Leon immediately. Besides that, what are you going to do with that person, are you going to hand him to the police?”

Li Sui contemplated for a moment and his eyes were sharp, “Don’t call the police yet, we should not frighten the snake by beating the grass (i).”

T/N: (i) A Chinese four character idiom, meaning to give the enemy warning.

Leung ZiRui nodded. As soon as he left, Uncle Yuen knocked on the door and entered. He said quietly, “Something happened in the company.”

It was winter, and cold everywhere. As the New Year’s had just past, there were very few people on the streets. Inside the car, both of them had a cold expression, as if they were infected by the temperature.

“As of today, there are already more than half of the shareholders who support holding a shareholders’ meeting, so they could replace the board of directors anytime now. With Mr. Lu’s absent, we have no way of stopping them,” Uncle Yuen said seriously.

“But don’t we have 40% at least? Plus, the amount I’ve won, it’s impossible that we stand zero chance.”

Uncle Yuen shook his head, “Company rules stipulated that only the legal holder of the shares could exercise the rights given by the shares. Mr. Lu is now in a coma, so his shares are temporarily frozen.”

“Lu Shang has just entered the hospital, and Liu XinTian is already staging a coup?” Li Sui’s voice was so cold, as he thought of the anesthesiologist who tried to replace Lu Shang’s IV drip at night. It seemed like Liu XinTian was planning to kill off the Lu household entirely.

“How’s the company’s employees?”

Uncle Yuen shook his head, “After the news of Mr. Lu’s critical state spread around, everything became chaotic.”

When Li Sui arrived at Tong Yan, he understood that Uncle Yuen’s descriptions were not exaggerated. The reception was a complete mess, there were wastepaper and garbage everywhere. Several employees gloomily walked to the garage bin, carrying big cardboard boxes in their arms. Li Sui walked across a familiar face, she was one of the workers in the administration, Li Sui stopped her and asked, “Where are you going?”

When the girl saw Li Sui, she became furious and dumped the cardboard box on the ground. “Director Li, I have been working in the company for five years. I might not have any special merits, but I did a lot of hard, solid work. It’s the New Year’s, director Lu had only just left and you’re here to dismiss all of his employees?”

Li Sui was being scolded by her so hard that his brain didn’t even had the time to process what was happening.

Another passing employee saw them and rushed to persuade the girl to leave. Before leaving, she gave Li Sui a glare, the glare was obviously disdainful.

Li Sui was puzzled, as he turned his head around, he caught a glimpse of Xiao Tang standing on the stairs.

Logically, she should still be in Japan on business. When did she come back? Did they finished signing the contract so early?

He wanted to call her over, but Xiao Tang noticed his intentions. She turned around and went upstairs before Li Sui had the time to call her over, deliberately avoiding him. Then she asked aloud, “Is the tea for director Liu ready?”

Li Sui stopped and clenched his hands, he said nothing.

After getting out of the elevator, Li Sui found that the office was also in a complete mess. A few of the employees who followed him had moved their office tables away. When they saw Li Sui coming in, they lowered their heads and dared not look at him.

Li Sui stood in the middle of the desks for a while, the gloomy atmosphere around him was suffocating. At that exact moment, a text message arrived on his mobile phone, it was sent by Xiao Tang: The lounge on the 34th floor.

Li Sui put his cell phone away and went around to the stairs at the back.

Xiao Tang had been waiting there for a long time already. When Li Sui came down, she immediately pulled him inside, she looked around and closed the door. Turning her head to Li Sui, she took a long breath and whispered, “This morning, Mr. Liu issued a layoff announcement. He cleaned up all of Mr. Lu’s employees. Those who did not choose a side in time were all dismissed as well. Since the announcement came through the normal channels and everything, they all thought it was you who fired them.”

A good move, two birds with one stone, Li Sui sneered.

“Actually, how sick is Lu Shang? When will he come back?” Xiao Tang seemed to be in a hurry.

“Let’s just say he won’t be back anytime soon.”

“Ah? Is it that serious?”

Without answering her, Li Sui lowered his head in silenced for a while, then he asked, “What about lawyer Xe and the others?”

“Lawyer Xe has been assigned a lot of difficult cases by Mr. Liu, and I assume he is also in a lot of trouble right now. Everyone in the company are scared for themselves, nobody dares to help Mr. Lu.”

Li Sui felt a burst of exhaustion. He was to blame for all of these, after Lu Shang got hospitalized, Li Sui did not put Tong Yan in his priorities. Li Sui’s carelessness gave Liu XinTian the chance to do all these.

“What’s worse is that several of our projects have been called to a halt, they are saying that there will be redistribution of staff after the Shareholders’ Meeting.”

Li Sui clenched his fist subconsciously, “When is the Shareholders’ Meeting going to be held?”

“The day after tomorrow.”

“…The day after tomorrow,” Li Fu repeated.

They kept hearing footsteps outside the lounge, it was not safe for Xiao Tang to stay with Li Sui for too long, so she made herself a cup of coffee and left before Li Sui.

“Thank you.” Before she left, Li Sui said solemnly.

The door closed and the lounge became quiet, only leaving the bubbling sounds of the water dispenser. After being bombarded by numerous negative news at once, Li Sui was exhausted. He sat back down on the chair while supporting himself by placing his hand on the edge of the table, then he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Ever since Li Sui took over Tong Yan, nothing was exactly smooth, but in general he was successful in dealing with it. Sometimes minor problems arise, but with some effort, he could always solve them.

For the first time, he felt like he was stuck in an unprecedented crisis. Lu Shang was absent, and he lost to Liu XinTian over and over again. Li Sui found himself in a situation where he had energy to work but had no idea where to begin. It was only now that Li Sui realized, he had always been protected by Lu Shang.

No, Li Sui thought, he couldn’t afford to be so passive at such a time. He won’t let Liu XinTian take away the fruits of the Lu family’s hard work over the years. Real power, what he needed was genuine, legal power.

Thinking of this, Li Sui got up and knocked on Uncle Yuen’s office door, “Uncle Yuen, give me Lu Shang’s will.”

After being busy for his entire life, when it came to the time to leave, his thoughts and feelings couldn’t even fill a single piece of paper. Li Sui got the piece of paper from Uncle Yuen and he felt that his heart got heavier.

Uncle Yuen quietly back out the door and gave Li Sui some space. Li Sui sat alone on the sofa, he only flipped open the thin piece of paper after a long period of mental preparation.

Lu Shang wrote very concisely, but everything was clearly written. Li Sui tried to be calm and kept on reading line by line. When he saw the line, “The Lu family house and the 40% of Tong Yan Conglomerate shares will all be given to Li Sui” Li Sui just couldn’t hold the tears back anymore, he wept as he held on to thin piece of paper Lu Shang left for him.

Li Sui was met with obstacles after obstacles in the company, he basically stayed up all night before today. So, on the way back, Li Sui didn’t say a word, he stared blankly outside while leaning on the car window.

When they passed by a street, Li Sui looked out at the snow-covered streets and suddenly moved up, he called “Stop the car.”

Uncle Yuen thought Li Sui spotted an acquaintance or something, so he hurriedly stepped on the brake. Li Sui opened the car door, he did not even take an umbrella, and directly walked across the road.

He arrived at a humble little electronics store, the sign was old, one could even say it was a run-down shop. The shopkeeper seemed to be closing up shop, half of the metal gate was already pulled down. Li Sui stood by the shop, he did not enter, he only looked at it from a distance.

“Do you want to buy something?” Uncle Yuen came for him, bringing an umbrella.

Li Sui shook his head, he watched the shopkeeper busily going in and out of the shop to pack things up. Li Sui’s eyes got more and more emotional.

“There was once a winter with heavy snowfall,” said Li Sui, looking at the shop, he continued, “The snow was piling up, it was thick and slippery. He took me out to buy a mobile phone. When I was crossing the street, I slipped. He suddenly turned around and gave me a hand. His hand was cold, but it was the warmest thing I’ve ever touched in my life.”

Uncle Yuen listened to him quietly. Li Sui lowered his head and took in a deep breath. “Uncle Yuen, I have made a decision. I hope you won’t blame me for it.”

In the evening, instead of returning home, Li Sui went straight to the hospital. He stayed with Lu Shang for a while in the CCU, he whispered something into his ear for a while.

When he came out, the gentleness in his eyes were immediately gone and his expression hardened. He asked Leung ZiRui, “Is the anesthesiologist still there?”

“Yes, are you going to hand him over to the police?”

“No, let him go.”

Leung ZiRui was shocked. Li Sui then said, “Let him go and make him report to Liu XinTian, tell him that the assassination is a success.”

“You want to…”

Li Sui looked at him and said, “Forge a death certificate for Lu Shang.”

This decision didn’t only surprise Leung ZiRui, it also surprised old Dr. Leung, he asked, “Are you sure? It’s easy to bribe a coroner, but once the record is cancelled, it would be impossible to get it back.”

Li Sui clenched his fist and asked, “Please.”

The two doctors looked at each other with a helpless sigh.

“Tomorrow evening, I will secretly arrange for a plane to take you to TaoYuan island, there will be complete equipment, and it will be safer there.” Li Sui and Leung ZiRui walked along the corridor as Li Sui told him about the arrangements.

Outside, the snow had stopped, looking at the vast landscape of whiteness, Leung ZiRui nodded and sighed, “Leon will bring a surgical team as well, but he will be arriving before them tomorrow morning.”

Although the arrangement was made by Li Sui, there were still a lot of worry in his eyes, “If I guessed correctly, once the death of Lu Shang was announced tomorrow, Liu XinTian will monitor me closely. In order to ensure that the surgery is not disturbed, I will not contact you anymore after you have gone there.”

Leung ZiRui was so cold that he kept rubbing his hands together, he asked jokingly, “What will become of you if you do that? Can you resist the urge to ask about his condition?”

Li Sui hesitated, “I…”

“How about this, after the operation, I will send you an advertisement with an unknown number. If the ending part is “to unsubscribe, please press ‘Y’”, then the surgery is a success, if it is “to unsubscribe please press ‘N’”, then the surgery had failed. Is that okay?” Dr. Leung asked.

“Thank you…” Li Sui said.

Dr. Leung waved his hand, “Even if the surgery is a success, don’t be too happy. The surgery is only the first obstacle after all. After the operation, he still need to go through a critical 24 hours period. If he can survive the 24 hours, then he can truly be out of death’s grasp.”

Li Sui lowered and was silent for a moment. He asked, “Do you need to take some blood?”

Leung ZiRui turned to look at him and Li Sui asked again, “Does the operation require some blood?”

“The blood bank has sufficient blood to use.”

“I know,” Li Sui said in a low voice, “I’m just… I want to give him some strength in my own way.”

Leung ZiRui stared at him for a while, Li Sui’s expression looked like he’d be very depress if Leung ZiRui decided not to take his blood. After some thought, Leung ZiRui found that to be a good idea, just so that Li Sui would not have too much energy and do crazy things.

“Are you alright?” The nurse was concerned as she drew blood from Li Sui.

Li Sui nodded, “I’m fine.”

Li Sui looked at the red blood that was flowing out of his own body, then drained to a container bag through the plastic tube. Somehow, when he thought about the blood eventually flowing into Lu Shang’s body, Li Sui suddenly felt an odd feeling. He and Lu Shang were not blood relatives, but they are still connected, they were in each other’s blood.

After the nurse finished drawing blood, she put the utensils away. It was customary to give Li Sui milk tablets to replenish his blood glucose content. Leung ZiRui said to the nurse before she left, “This is a pack of designated use blood. Please store and label it separately.”

“Okay.”

When Leung ZiRui came out, he found that Li Sui was staring at the piece of milk candy.

“Are you feeling dizzy? Why are you daydreaming?”

Li Sui shook his head and explained, “Lu Shang often bought this kind of candies for me before, and I almost never not see any around at home.”

Leung ZiRui laughed and said, “He hasn’t left yet and you’re already reminiscing?”

“I’m just curious,” Li Sui put the candy into his mouth and said, “It’s clear that I’m not a clueless kid anymore. Why does he still keep all these habits? No matter if it’s food or just in general.”

Leung ZiRui looked at him and said in an obvious tone, “I think it’s because, no matter how old and strong you get. In his heart, you will always be his dear child.”