Pedestrians and automobiles filled the roads at around 5 or 6pm. I looked towards the direction Xiao Qin disappeared to and chased her until I finally spotted that familiar Mickey Mouse backpack.
“Stop, give me back my stuff.” I shouted.
Xiao Qin spun around and spotted me chasing her. Usually, she would be excited if I was chasing her, but today she acted out of character and ran straight into the subway station. I couldn’t keep up with her at all.
I didn’t want to give up, so I pushed my way through the crowd of people and tried to chase her into the subway station, but was stopped by a familiar face.
“Stop, what are you trying to do in broad daylight?”
Officer Ma, who was dressed in plain clothes, happened to come out of the subway station and saw me chasing a girl down the street, so of course he had to stop me for questioning.
I stood on my tip toes to peer over the crowd. Xiao Qin had a smirk on her face as she merged into the crowd waiting to pass security.
“You’re stopping the wrong person!” I shouted at Officer Ma in exasperation, “That female student is carrying dangerous items and leaving her alone will be harm the subway system!”
I was speaking like an alarmist mainly because I was hoping that Officer Ma would let me through. It would also have been a big loss to me if the army knife was confiscated.
Officer Ma had a mocking smile, it was obvious he didn’t believe me.
“Ye Lin, I think anyone could tell you’re more dangerous. So what are you trying to do, harass her or rob her?”
She was the one who robbed me. It felt like my face was getting disfigured by my anger.
“Eh, your face looks a little bit better than usual.”
Officer Ma actually had the leisure to say sarcastic remarks.
Xiao Qin successfully passed the security check and got on the subway because Officer Ma held me up. It seems that you won’t be stopped by security for carrying a Swiss army knife, which slightly relieved one of my doubts.
But I was too late, the Swiss Army knife was taken away by Xiao Qin. After going home today, Xiao Qin will be like the dragons in Western mythology counting their treasures: “one robot, two robots, three robots… and the knife I got today, hehe…”
I got mad just thinking about it. As for the meddlesome Office Ma, he should go and fight real crime if he has time to ride the subway.
“Hey, Officer Ma, are you off today? Criminals are active all year round.” I taunted him.
Officer Ma suddenly dragged me aside and pointed behind me and asked, “Do you know that person? I recommend you to be forthcoming, if I find out later your relationship…”
I casually glanced back with disinterest and said, “It doesn’t matter which criminal you’re stalking, but it has nothing to do with me…”
I was dumbstruck halfway through my sentence because the person Officer Ma was pointing at was Uncle Long of the Triads. The one-eyed uncle sent by Xiao Qin’s dad to protect her.
What was he doing here at this time? Was he secretly protecting Xiao Qin on her route home from school? Anyone, even if they weren’t a police officer, would be able to identify him as a bad guy with his black eye patch and black suit.
As if to break my psychological defenses, Officer Ma talked about the information he had on him.
“According to my informers, his nickname is ‘Uncle Long’ and he’s from Hong Kong. He was involved a certain narcotics trade more than ten years ago, but we haven’t found any evidence of his crimes in recent years. But he’s definitely up to something if he suddenly came to the mainland, are you sure you don’t know him?
“No, I, I don’t know him.” My tone wasn’t as confident as before.
If I said I didn’t know Uncle Long, then I shouldn’t have looked over at him. Uncle Long only had one eye, but he quickly spotted me. Since I was the boyfriend of the boss’s daughter, he gestured at me with a nod and squeezed out traces of a smile at me.
My suspicion in the eyes of Officer Ma immediately rose a thousand percent. If it wasn’t because he received a more important call, he definitely would have invited me to the police station for tea and interrogated me.
After getting away from Officer Ma, my heart was palpitating while I was also furious thinking about my Swiss Army knife joining Xiao Qin’s collection.
Although I could threaten her with “removing her as a girlfriend” and asked her to return the Swiss Army Knife or Optimus Prime, she would always came up some rotten ideas and I would fall into her trap again.
On the way home, in front of a newly opened drug supermarket, an image of a condom gave me an idea.
I associated it with: Auntie Ren got pregnant because my dad didn’t use a condom. The fetus was still safely lying in Auntie Ren’s belly, but if I can use it as an opportunity to facilitate the marriage between my dad and Auntie Ren, then I could get back brother Optimus Prime and the Swiss Army knife.
There might be some jumps in my logic, but I’ll break it down:
First, my dad and Auntie Ren get married → Xiao Qin and I become a family → a family has to live together → Xiao Qin’s collection can only be placed in front of my eyes → successfully saved the kidnapped hostages.
It might be a bit roundabout, but it’s completely feasible. As long as my dad and Auntie Ren get married, I can get all my treasures back, mwahahahahaha.
In order to execute my “Save brother Optimus Prime and Swiss Army Knife Plan”, I finished dinner and immediately made a phone call to Auntie Ren’s father, Gramps Ren.
The purpose was pretty much the same as the last time. I was hoping gramps would put pressure on his daughter to not have the abortion and also choose my father as her partner for the rest of her life.
But this time, I added new information I had acquired, and referred to Xiao Qin’s lying skills of telling truths along with lies. I had to make sure that Gramps Ren became a firm advocate of the marriage.
“Gramps, something-, something big happened!” I pretended to panic.
“Why are you panicking?” Gramps Ren had a calm and collected attitude, “Young people just don’t have enough experience. Don’t tell anyone you learned martial arts from me if you keep acting this way…”
“Gramps, it’s not because I’m inexperienced, it’s because Auntie Ren’s ex-husband, Huo ZhenBang came to Dong Shan city!”
“Who, who did you say?” The old man was immediately angered and was even less calm than me.
“That dog, why did he come here? What does he want with my daughter?”
Gramps’ disgust for Huo Zhenbang was still overflowing even after many years. If the two of them met, gramps would strangle his former son-in-law to death.
“Gramps, I just found out Auntie Ren’s ex-husband is in the triads. He came to force Auntie Ren to remarry him, but because my dad blocked his way, he…. he sent people to kidnap my dad to the mountains and threatened to kill him if he doesn’t break up with Auntie Ren!”
Actually, I was the one kidnapped to the mountains. Plus, Huo ZhenBang, who had AIDS, already gave up on trying to get remarried to Auntie Ren. But gramps already had a bad impression of him, so there was no better person to use as the scapegoat.
Gramps Ren burst into a fiery rage and I could almost smell the smoke through the phone.
“I guess Huo wants to die. I can’t catch him if he hides in Hong Kong, but since he came to my door, then I have to teach him a lesson.”
“Hong Li too, if she’s already pregnant with his child, then she should just get married. It will also prevent Huo ZhenBang from pestering her… no, I have to press her harder. I would rather my daughter marry a random man off the streets than let her get remarried to Huo ZhenBang.”
After ending the call with Gramps Ren, I sat on the sofa with my legs crossed, quite content with myself.
Xiao Qin thinks she has the upper hand because she controls brother Optimus Prime and the Swiss Army knife, but I’m going to help my dad steal your mother and let’s see who wins. Don’t think you’re the only one who can play tricks, I’m going to give you a taste of your own medicine.
The next day was Saturday, but I still had to go to class.
Xiao Qin was surprised to see that I didn’t mention the Swiss Army knife, so she was happy.
It was Ai Mi’s side who worked extremely efficiently. In less than 48 hours, Dr. Yu SuiLiang, a surgical expert and body modification fanatic, flew across the Pacific back to the land where he was born and raised.
After Peng TouSi picked him up from the airport, he didn’t even meet Ai Mi, the little master he was going to serve, Amy, instead he asked for a quiet bedroom and slept for 12 hours to replenish his energy.
On the way back from the airport, Peng TouSi had already told Dr. Yu that he was needed for a brain surgery. He was excited he had work to do right after returning, but he still needed sufficient rest to prepare for the surgery.
He sounded like a pretty reliable doctor. I think and Ai Mi and Peng TouSi were both a bit biased when they said he was strange.
Dr. Yu spent most of Sunday sleeping while Peng TouSi ran around and took care of all the remaining problems with the hospital and surgical equipment.
On Monday, July 1, the anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, Dr. Yu officially walked onto the operating table to operate on Li CunZhuang.
Before entering the operating room, Dr. Yu saw Li CunZhuang’s parents’ worried faces and asked with a Beijing accent:
“Is it okay as long as your son is alive?”
Li CunZhuang’s parents were shocked and thought that their son would be paralyzed after the surgery. The mother cried while Dr. Yu scratched his head:
“I didn’t mean it that way. I’m asking, since you rarely open the skull, it would be a shame to only remove the tumor. Are you sure you don’t want to add other functions.”
Damn, do you think it’s like opening a computer case and installing a graphics card? Do you want to install a GPS system in Li CunZhuang’s head or something? You’re going to scare his parents to death.
I wasn’t at the hospital because I had classes, I learned about it later from Peng TouSi.
Apparently, Dr. Yu’s surgery took two hours longer than usual. The physician in charge of Li CunZhuang, Director Han, gloated in the corridor, “The American might not be really capable. Look at how long the surgery has been extended, I’m afraid it was a failure.”