CH 76

There was indeed only one controller. After several hypnosis sessions, Bruin De Lang was on the verge of a mental breakdown, but his answers were the same.

Luo Wencheng said he wanted to see Bruin De Lang for the last time.

Bruin De Lang himself was very sensitive to hypnosis and resisted strongly when he was hypnotised, so now he looked broken and haggard, both physically and mentally. But he was still looking forward to the day when he would be rescued, convinced that his big boss was on his way to send help.

But instead it was Luo Wencheng who came.

“You’re here. Is there any news yet? Why hasn’t anyone come to rescue me?” Bruin De Lang squinted at Luo Wencheng for a moment before he recognised him, “Quickly, get me out of here!”

In this hellhole, where at first he had been beaten and interrogated every day, but lately no one came, it was dark, there was no sound, nothing could be seen, no messages had come in for ages, everyone seemed to have forgotten him. He had waited and waited and waited, and waited, and waited until he was going mad.

“No one will come to save you.” Luo Wencheng said indifferently, “Your boss has given up on you.”

“No way! I’ve made him so much money, my brain is what he values most!” Bruin De Lang roared, and suddenly he reacted by pointing at Luo Wencheng, “You…”

“Your brain? Is it great? If you really had the ability, how could you not see that I was pretending?” Luo Wencheng chuckled, “Those drugs of yours, ah, they didn’t work on me at all. What you’ve been working on is actually rubbish, isn’t it?”

“No! No way!” Bruin De Lang was stunned, “Pretending, how could you be pretending?!”

“You think you’re high above, manipulating people’s health and their lives, when in fact you’re a clown, being played for a fool without even knowing it. You think you’re a genius, when in fact you’re nothing. You think you’re so important that you’ll never be given up on, but in fact, you’re simply dispensable. Why else do you think the big boss didn’t come to your rescue?”

Luo Wencheng stabbed him with his words, watching the old yellow-haired man rant in anger, shame, resentment and self-doubt, questioning loudly.

Being played with, teased and ridiculed by the experimental subject that he thought was firmly under his control; Bruin De Lang’s self-esteem and self-confidence couldn’t accept such a blow. He was already emotionally unstable, and he was somewhat crazy at this moment.

In the midst of his madness, someone pressed him down and poured a handful of pills into his mouth. It was the medicine he had given to Luo Wencheng. Because he thought that Luo Wencheng was a successful experiment, he made another batch of the drug in his laboratory abroad. Naturally it was all seized and destroyed, but Lu Chong got a bottle in advance.

Bruin De Lang was fed half a bottle at once, and his body on the floor was twitching, in a wretched state. Luo Wencheng had seen enough, so he turned and left the warehouse.

Afterwards he heard that Bruin De Lang had become an idiot, and then a few days later he was paralysed.

When he had been testing this drug, he had turned many people into idiots and made them suffer from paralysis, and even killed many people. And now he had finally gotten a taste of that too.

It was said that Director Li, Zhang Qingsong and Liu Lifu had ended up in the same way. The three of them had shared most of the remaining medicine in the bottle. Lu Chong mentioned it, saying that even though those three were stupid now, they still couldn’t escape the punishment.

At this point, all four people who knew that Luo Wencheng had been an experimental subject were dealt with.

The big case was put together and broadcast as a counter-terrorism special operation, which created an international strom, especially since the heinous human experiments were involved, causing widespread debates both at home and abroad. One by one, Bruin De Lang’s past and present laboratories were unearthed, and with them local investigations started into how many people had gone missing, or how many had died strangely, or how many hastily buried corpses had been found along with the investigation.

Whether they died as victims of his experiments or not, these lives were pinned on Bruin De Lang. This name was reviled and cursed by everyone, demonised as the embodiment of terror and a disgrace to the industry.

But that had nothing to do with Lu Chong and Luo Wencheng. After dealing with the four men and cleaning up all the traces of his involvement in this incident, Lu Chong disentangled himself from this matter and lived a very leisurely life with Luo Wencheng.

Luo Wencheng went through several more examinations. With the current technology, no one dared to touch the small instrument in his heart. Fortunately, that thing had plenty of power. As long as there was no accident, it shouldn’t be a problem for it to work well for ten or twenty years.

Lu Chong then began to form his own team of medical professionals in cardiology, digging up famous doctors, training outstanding newcomers, introducing the best equipment, and even setting up a special hospital to collaborate with the best hospitals in Beijing.

In short, he wanted to develop the best team in the world to provide the best and most timely service to Luo Wencheng in the future.

Luo Wencheng told him, “Don’t be so busy. My situation is very mysterious. Not to mention a new pacemaker in the future, even a new heart won’t work.” He was alive because of the little pacemaker now and could only survive on it for the rest of his life. It was a bit like a law of cause and effect that could not be changed. That was the price he paid for having been reborn and resurrected three times.

Lu Chong didn’t listen to him: “It pays to be prepared. In case the pacemaker malfunctions in a few decades, it can still be repaired with the best technology and the best talents.”

Luo Wencheng thought about it too. Anyway, they were relaxed now and didn’t lack anything, especially money and time, so they could just go for it.

Since he had enough time to spare, Luo Wencheng finally started to think about what he was going to do in the future. He couldn’t just do nothing every day, could he?

“How about I continue painting?” Luo Wencheng discussed the idea with Lu Chong. He seemed to be most interested in it, but the problem was that now he didn’t have the 20% bonus and the things he drew didn’t have such an aura anymore, and the level dropped a lot.

“You can do whatever you want, as long as you are happy.” Lu Chong gave this kind of answer, which was tantamount to not answering anything.

Luo Wencheng stopped expecting him to give him advice. He thought about it again and again and decided to start from scratch and learn Chinese painting.

Without his previous aura and skill, he could not draw so easily, but the teacher Lu Chong hired for him was very good, a famous master of Chinese painting, who was very strict. Luo Wencheng learned diligently and made very fast progress.

This teacher originally was probably forced by Lu Chong’s power or favour into teaching Luo Wencheng, but after a few lessons, he was willing. In his opinion, Luo Wencheng was very serious and hardworking, not arrogant or impatient, and had strong observation and learning ability. He originally thought it was a child of a rich family who was just playing around; but after some contact, he could see that Luo Wencheng really devoted himself to learning and wanted to develop in this regard.

And most importantly, there was something in Luo Wencheng’s paintings that had his own insights. He was able to capture the soul in every flower, grass, tree and stone. He said that he had no spirituality, but in fact this was already an extremely rare kind of spirituality.

So the teacher was attentive and began to take his student to visit old friends, pick up the wind, visit the painting exhibitions and compete with the apprentices of artists of the same level.

Luo Wencheng finally found his career direction. He was so happy and committed, and every day was particularly fulfilling, so Lu Chong, who was originally very happy for him, was a little depressed.

It was another day when Luo Wencheng practised late, holding the brush until his whole arm didn’t feel like his own anymore, sore and tired. He decided to change into his pyjamas and go to bed without taking a shower, as the weather was cold and dry anyway, and bathing every day was not good for health.

He was thinking of slacking off when suddenly the overhead light went black and the whole hall was plunged into darkness.

Luo Wencheng: “……”

The first thought that leapt into his mind was that the Lu family’s residence had been invaded by someone. Lu Chong had many enemies.

Where was Lu Chong? Where was Lu Chong?

As soon as his heart thudded and his muscles tightened, the dining room in front of him lit up with candlelight, the kind of light from dozens of candles bursting into flame at the same time as if the wind blew by.

Among clusters of candles there was a slender, tall figure holding a violin in his hands. The man slowly started playing, and the elegant sound of music flowed out.

Luo Wencheng was stunned.

It was a very beautiful piece of music. Luo Wencheng had never heard it before, but he could hear the deep and sincere feelings in it, as if someone was talking about the endless tender love of his whole life. It felt like a trickle of water flowed through Luo Wencheng’s heart.

It was warm, soft, sour and astringent, and suddenly he remembered many things from the past, all those happy and unhappy things, touching and painful ones, and slowly, they were all filled with flesh and blood again and restored to colour.

He lowered his head slightly and touched his heart, discerning that there seemed to be something different in its mechanical, steady rhythm.

After the melody ended, the overhead light above the table lit up, illuminating that area, and Lu Chong put down the violin in his hand, “Was it good?”

There was a smile at the corners of his mouth, a smile in his eyes, and a slight hint of raw nervousness. After all, it was the first time he had done something like this.

Luo Wencheng slowly approached, “You know how to play this?”

“I learnt a bit as a child, and recently trained a bit more unexpectedly, but I can’t play it well enough.”

Luo Wencheng sniffled, “I’m so touched, so what do you think, was it good? Why did you suddenly come up with it?”

They knew each other so well, and they were both grown men, so it felt strange to suddenly get so romantic.

“I wanted to surprise you. It’s your birthday today, have you forgotten?” Lu Chong smiled and said, “Happy birthday, Wencheng.”

Luo Wencheng was surprised. He had completely forgotten about it.

Only then did he notice that there were flowers and a cake on the table.

“I wasn’t able to spend your birthday with you last year. I’m sorry and I regret it. This year I want to make it up for you double. I made this cake myself, and I arranged these flowers myself, do you like them?”

As Lu Chong said that, he took Luo Wencheng’s hand and led him to the seat.

Luo Wencheng was even more astonished, looking at the cake that was neither too big, nor too exquisite and flashy, but very neat and beautifully coloured: “When did you learn this?”

“Recently too. You’ve been so busy learning to paint lately, you don’t even know what I’m doing, do you?” Lu Chong said, and in the candlelight and the hazy light overhead, his eyes seemed to be filled with deep grievances.

Luo Wencheng thought about how negligent he had been lately and felt a little guilty, “I’m sorry, I’ve just started learning and I’m too excited. I won’t do it again.”

“Well, can I blame you for that? Make a wish.”

Make a wish.

Luo Wencheng closed his eyes in front of the candles and silently thought: I wish there would be no more ups and downs in the future, and that I and Lu Chong could stay together in peace like this, forever and ever, never to be separated.

He opened his eyes and blew out the candles gently, suddenly feeling a bit girlish with this soft action. He could not help but smile with his eyes curved.

Lu Chong kept staring at him without looking away. Suddenly, he pulled out a red rose from the bouquet. Luo Wencheng, who was about to cut the cake, asked, “What are you doing?”

Lu Chong held a flower to him: “Wencheng, let’s get married.”

Luo Wencheng froze for a while.

“Let’s go get the certificate and then have a big wedding banquet to announce our relationship to the world.” Not some big brother and his little lover, not any relationship that was not serious and dignified and could fall apart at any moment, but a grand, unique marriage.

Luo Wencheng was silent for a moment and then said, “You still care about what those people think, don’t you?”

Lu Chong thought to himself: can I not care? He just couldn’t stand anyone pointing at Luo Wencheng, even if they only dared to talk about him behind his back. He couldn’t control what people thought no matter how good he was. A certificate and a wedding banquet, although a bit vulgar, would be useful against those people.

And most importantly, after the wedding, he would have enough reasons to ask Luo Wencheng to move into his room, or himself move into his room. In short, he didn’t want to sleep in separate rooms anymore. Taking his time was fine, but he found that some things just needed to be pushed and pushed, and there were some benefits that needed to be earned sooner rather than later.

Luo Wencheng was completely unaware of this careful planning and reached out to take the flower, “Okay, let’s get married then.”

He also wanted to settle down completely.

He looked at Lu Chong, who was sitting across from him, his eyebrows warm and handsome. After so many twists and turns, they had finally come to a happy ending.

He suddenly thought of something and said with a smile, “What should people by your side call me after we get married? Madam? Or Mrs. Lu?”

He was smiling, but Lu Chong realised that this was a lethal question, and if he dared to say “yes”, the sun would probably not be so bright tomorrow.

He said, “Of course it’s Mr. Luo. From now on anyone who sees you will have to respectfully and politely call you Mr. Luo.”

Luo Wencheng nodded, “That sounds like a lot of social status improvement all of a sudden.” Although some of the people around Lu Chong already called him that, that Mr. Luo was not the same as this Mr. Luo, which was much more pleasant to the ear.

“I’ve been calling you ‘sir’ for so long. In the future, when I introduce you to people, I can also say ‘this is my husband’. It’s quite wonderful to think about.” (先生 – xiānsheng – means all this – sir, husband, mister, master, teacher) Luo Wencheng smiled and held out his hand, “So, my dear Mr. Lu, please keep teaching me in the future.”