382 The Real Genius

July 18, 20X2 (Saturday)

Various Locations

In the hospital, there was a rapid succession of happenings. Nurses scramble in and out of the operating rooms, Doctors hurrying from one room into another, and Guards assigned into formations. In one room, Dr. Zhang Li Xi was operating on Zhao Yu Rong for almost five hours now. In the next room, Zhao Qinyang, who had no fatal wounds, was being mended by another experienced doctor that the Zhao Family trusted.

In the middle of these two rooms was Mother Zhao sobbing at the shoulder of her anxious husband. The burden of the events that happened was still heavy in their hearts.

The hospital had at least a hundred guards around the premises; some were in disguised as civilians, and others were in specialized masks to hide their identity. 

Chang did his best to talk to The Fool, prying on things and testing the limits of his questions. He wanted to know the exact location where they were so he could plan without worry. Chang had proudly memorized all the public city maps in the country in case they ever get lost. He was confident that he could guide Ling Ling and himself back to the Manor if only they could escape. He knew one wrong move, and they'll die, and if they do have the chance to escape, it will only happen once. 

His Death. He had thought of it a lot when he was in the streets begging for scraps, so it wasn't a foreign concept to him. The difference now is that he has a sister to worry with him. Chang eyed the unknown boy on the side and mentally added the tally of people he had to worry over. No way was he going to plan to leave without the beaten up boy.

David, The Fool, left after a while of taunting and seeing that the kids had no fear directed at him like the nephew of his failed spy. For the Fool, Chang was just a curious boy while the young girl was lethargic and sleepy. He did not realize that these kids were geniuses in their own right- Chang with his high I.Q. and Ling Ling with her quick wit.

After an hour passed, when the Fool left the room, Chang and Ling Ling started their conversation. 

"What are we going to do?" Chang lowered his voice. He had no other way to communicate, so he had to speak even if he knew the probability of a listening device might be around them. 

Ling Ling stopped her wiggling for a while to stare at her big brother before casually replying, "We have to wait for mom and dad..." 

"But..." Chang tried to change Ling Ling's mind. 

"As much as we want to escape, we can't. We are still children without ammunition!" Ling Ling has always been a cutesy kid. When Chang heard her hiss at him, he knew that Ling Ling must be masking her fear with calmness. He couldn't blame her; he was just as scared. 

Ling Ling tilted her head, "Is that where you got your bruises from?"

The quiet kid only nodded.

Chang and Ling Ling could see Wei Linjun's lips were cracked, and his face had purple and red bruises littered all over. His hands that were almost unrecognizable with open wounds, and had messy dried blood. Clothes were tattered, and some seams could not hold into what it was stiched with. 

"How long have you been here?" Chang asked after a while of silence.

"I don't know. Months? I don't know it felt like years, though."

Ling Ling wiggled closer to Wei Linjun's side and said, "I don't have much right now, but I'll share some of my body heat."

Chang had to snort when Wei Linjun deadpanned, "It's July. It's already hot."

Ling Ling pouted and humped. She would have crossed her hands if it were not tied to her back.

Chang almost chuckled when his eyes drifted down to the tied hands of Wei Linjun. He nearly choked when he saw Wei Linjun signing alphabets. Chang's wide eyes meet with Wei Linjun's, and he could see why a quiet kid like him could survive. The fire he saw could light even damp wood. 

A.S.L.

Chang subtly shifted his position, so his hands were shown as he talked, "I'm sorry for my sister. She means well."

At the same time, he talked, his right hand spelled, I. C.A.N.

Wei Linjun's eyes flashed in understanding and followed Chang's behavior, "Just because she means well doesn't mean I want it."

Chang read Linjun's hands, O.N.E.D.O.O.R.L.I.S.T.E.N.I.N.G.A.L.W.A.Y.S.N.O.C.A.M.E.R.A

One. Door. Listening. Always. No. Camera. Chang's eyes slide at the door, knowing one was snooping in their conversation.

The two boys could hear Ling Ling start to whine loudly. Chang smirked, Ling Ling has been the one that learned A.S.L. first. She had always been the most social person he knew. She always wanted to talk to people even if the method of talking is though signs. 

Chang has a high I.Q., but Ling Ling has always been the one with the stubborn motivation to survive and flourish. Chang eyed the teddy bear on Ling Ling's side and motioned to it.

Ling Ling grinned, and her hands subtly shifted as her childish whines of bad boys with cooties grew annoying. T.R.A.C.K.I.N.G.D.E.V.I.C.E.O.N.

And the two boys could only stare at each other in shock when they realized the last words that Ling Ling signed. I.H.A.V.E.S.T.U.N.G.U.N.T.E.A.S.E.R.K.N.I.F.E.

Ling Ling is the real Genius.

Now, Chang has to search for the right chance. As Sun Tzu stated, The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Villains like to monologue anyway, so he will take all the information he could. Even those things that The Fool would not be willing to share, Chang had to look for them, Afterall, the body speaks the words that the mouth keeps in secret.

With Ling Ling's grating complaints in the background, the boys plotted with the use of their hands. They may be kids, but small surprises are the least obvious.