Chapter 36

I had confirmed with my Ge's lawyer; that kid was still young and considered to be a person with limited capacity for civil conduct. Thus, the damages he had caused were to be compensated for by his legal guardian. Regardless of whether his mother had been at the side attempting to stop him, she was considered to be at fault. The owner of the car had not known about the incident during the time of occurrence, so he was not at fault. The car owner would not bear any responsibilities. I let out a sigh of relief on behalf of my Ge. It wasn't out of fear of having to compensate financially, but if my Ge had to deal with a lawsuit, he would have to get busy again.

The two of us first went to the police station, then the hospital right after. I didn't want to go at all, but my Ge didn't feel at ease with me staying at home by myself. On the way there, my Ge dialled Chen Xing Ge and asked him to come over. He said, later when Chen Xing Ge came, he'd have Chen Xing Ge accompany me. But I still wanted my Ge to accompany me the most.

I followed my Ge and loitered near the ICU. The sons and daughter of the couple in Unit 2 had arrived. One man wore gold-framed glasses and a sleeveless suit vest, while the other wore gold chains and had an Azure dragon[1] tattooed down his arm. They would argue a bit every once in a while and take a few calls. A lady wearing high heels was kneeling at the door, covering her face with a Chanel bag as she sobbed. This time, their old man had indeed been rash. In our country, a killed dog could only be considered a loss of property and the old lady getting so upset that she got a stroke could only be considered a personal health problem. He had no choice but to foot a large portion of the medical bills, and the mother of that lowly fucker of a child might have to compensate with a bit of money. But if the arm fracture was judged as a minor injury, the old man would have to be sentenced.

Luckily, his children were all capable people. Dealing with this small matter was very easy for them. This family had made it clear that they didn’t want a single cent; they just wanted the child to compensate with his life. They even threatened us, saying that they wanted to take revenge on that pair of mother and son.

They flared up at my Ge while my Ge just stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the street lights outside the window in silence. I nodded my head and said, Correct, that stupid cunt is too feral so he has to receive society's punishment. My Ge shot a glance at me to get me to shut up and talk less.

We couldn’t meddle in this affair, and we really didn’t have the energy to either. If it hadn't been for my Ge, after the incident, I wouldn’t even have recalled the existence of this old man.

Since these people didn't welcome us, I wanted to bring my Ge home. He hadn't eaten yet; his stomach would hurt later. But my Ge brought me to the orthopaedic ward instead. I stood at the entrance of the corridor, not willing to continue going forward because I had smelt a stench that was similar to that of rotting flesh. There was someone's heart here that had turned rancid.

"Alright." He patted my shoulder, "Chen Xing Ge will be here soon, I'll wait for him here with you. When he's here, he'll help me take care of you and you won't have to go in."

"Ge, can you not go in?" I wanted to grab his hand, but there were security cameras everywhere in the hospital. I was afraid that the fact that my Ge was my girlfriend would be known by too many people. My Ge had done nothing wrong, yet he was always getting hurt.

Duan Rui stuck one hand in his pocket while fiddling with a lighter in his other hand, "I have to go take a look, you don't get it."

What didn't I get? He was the only thing in my eyes, but in his heart, I only took up a tiny space, squeezed together with the big and heavy box filled with relatives, cash and leadership. Perhaps even he wanted to trick me into forgiving that shrew. Maybe he actually liked Fang Yu more? I couldn't understand my Ge at all anymore. Maybe he had been infected by a disease in the hospital. I wanted to bring my Ge out to escape this place and scrub his brain clean; there was something wrong with it.

I attempted to struggle free a couple of times, but I was still trapped in the crook of his arm, unable to crawl out. In the end, I gave up struggling and dissolved in his embrace. It turned out that my Ge was a pitcher plant.

Someone in the orthopaedic ward had heard us. I saw a woman rush out from one room; it was my mum. Behind her, more men and women gushed out of the narrow door like shaken soda exploding from a bottle.

My mum brought a few women and her new husband with her out of the room. Everyone's faces were fierce and livid, the corridor instantly becoming packed and chaotic. My Ge pulled me behind him to block them. My mum wiped her tears and shouted as she hit my Ge, "It's all your fault for not holding off that man! Xiao Yu is only nine years old, he's so young and his arm is broken already. Will there be after-effects left behind? You're the eldest child in our family, why couldn't you just save your Didi? How could you all be so awful…"

My mum was still pointing at me as she cried and yelled that my Ge had been cursed by me. Those women also rushed up in a swarm, righteously coming to punish us culprits for our heinous crimes as they grabbed my Ge's arms and yanked left and right. The blood from his wound gradually seeped through and dyed the sleeves of his shirt, exposed from beneath his suit jacket, red.

"GET LOST, DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH MY GE!" I shoved this group of shrieking women away from my Ge. At the time, my voice had probably been very thunderous. They suddenly revealed frightened expressions.

"Mum? This is the last time I'm calling you 'Mum', calling you all 'Aunt'," I was breathing a bit heavily as I pointed at their noses, "Was Fang Yu's arm broken because of my Ge? The security tape has already been handed over; nobody here needs to talk nonsense. Who doesn't fucking choose a pushover to bully? The children of those people from Unit 2 are all outside the ICU waiting. If you dare to ask them for money, go ahead. My Ge will not pay a single cent of the medical bills, nor will he get you a single house. If you have the ability to, take us to court then! When we go to court, you'll have to compensate for everything, even my Ge's FUCKING CAR!"

"XIAO YAN, COME HERE!" My Ge suddenly yanked me back. Soon after, a foot landed heavily on my stomach. The sudden pain made me black out for a few seconds. That child's father had kicked me and ruthlessly smashed my shoulder with his fist.

I clenched my teeth and raised my fists to fight back. My Ge promptly dragged me into his arms. I heard his heart beating rapidly. At this moment, Chen Xing Ge finally arrived, panting heavily after climbing up the stairs. My Ge pushed me to Chen Xing Ge and pulled off his tie along with his suit jacket, throwing them to the floor. He grabbed that stepfather's collar, "You’re just displaying that you know how to dote on your kid, eh?"

Chen Xing Ge hurriedly checked the condition of my injuries, after which he rested a hand on my shoulder and guided my breathing.

"Xiao Yan, calm down, your eyes are bloodshot. Close them for a while and calm your emotions down, come, follow my breathing…"

I felt like there was a layer of film blocking my ear; everything I heard was muffled. I could faintly hear Chen Xing Ge scolding my Ge, saying, "How could you bring him here? There are reporters here already, they've already reached the third floor! You deal with the situation here yourself, I came here on a last minute notice so I didn't bring any medication with me. I'll bring Xiao Yan downstairs first to get a tranquiliser."

I saw, with my own eyes, my Ge turn his head back and yell at Chen Xing Ge, "He's a man, since when was he so weak? Let him come over!"

His eyebrows were tightly creased together. His eyes now were completely different from his expression when I pissed him off and annoyed him.

Chen Xing Ge froze for a moment. I immediately struggled free of his grasp and ran to my Ge's side. With our tacit understanding, I could easily see my Ge's intentions. He said he would pay the medical bills, he was letting me fight back.

I definitely wouldn't hold back then. I picked up the man my Ge had flung to the floor and did a shoulder throw, conveniently elbowing and kicking his stomach. I watched him throw up vomit like fireworks were being set off in his mouth. It was a shame that there weren't any hemostatic forceps nearby, otherwise I would have been able to clamp his mouth shut. Then his brain would swell up like a soup bun[2] and ultimately explode.

That man lay on the ground, twitching as he cried in agony. That group of women screeched as though they were wailing at a funeral. Chen Xing Ge desperately pulled me back and used his doctor's coat to keep me in his chest. His lips were even trembling, "Duan Rui, come and hold him down! Do you think using your Didi to kill someone is legal?! What kind of shit Ge are you! Pull yourself together! Quickly take Xiao Yan away!

But at this time, it was already too late for us to leave. The reporters came with cameras, barging upstairs to conduct interviews regarding this car accident. We were trapped on the stairs. The reporters held a bunch of microphones up and asked questions in a chaotic mess, like whether we had witnessed the entire accident and where the parents of the child perpetrator were at this moment.

Among them, there were a few reporters who had interrogated the people at my mum's side first. After getting some questionable information, they asked us, "Your mother has made public that you have a history of mental illness. Do your family members currently have any measures put in place to watch over you?”

This question stunned me. My Ge said I wasn’t ill. I only believed my Ge, but with so many people interrogating me, I couldn’t avoid wavering a bit.

Chen Xing Ge squeezed over to help me block off the reporters, sternly telling them that this was private information and outsiders had no right to interfere in it.

One reporter quickly recognised my Ge and asked a shocking question, “Mr. Duan, I heard of some rumours that there are photos proving that you and your blood-related younger brother have an immoral relationship. How would you like to explain this?”

My Ge and I felt our throats constrict.

When I spoke, I had already lost the ability to think, stiffly replying to her, “We...are only brothers, familial...my relationship with him...is very normal, we’ve never done anything…”

I didn’t know how to deal with this kind of situation. Countless microphones that came from different directions were all shoved towards my mouth and pitch black cameras were all pointing at me. If I misspoke just one sentence, it would be uploaded to the media. When that happened, what was my Ge to do? He didn't have the omnipotent ability to just control the news as he wished. He would have to suffer his colleagues' mockery and eye-rolling, and everyone would make insulting remarks at his expense, beating up this person who was already on the ground. He would even be fired from his company. I didn't want my Ge to suffer the grievance that I had faced before. People liked to see those who shone and had never had a hair out of place be trapped deep in the mud. Nobody wished for us to be well. I understood this best.

A microphone right in front of my mouth was suddenly pulled away. My Ge took that reporter's microphone and faced the camera, displaying his usual professional smile, "He is my Didi, as well as the person I love the most. This is neither contradictory nor indecent. What you consider to be unacceptable, is just all the love he has never gotten that I can give to him as an elder brother."

Duan Rui's back was very straight. I had seen his photos from the past before; when he had stood on stage holding up a trophy and received a direct admission to university along with a national scholarship, he had also proudly stood up tall like this.

He swung my arm over his neck and brought me to the first floor to be injected with a tranquilliser, after which we ran out of the hospital. The dark night sky hung above our heads as we stood on the overhead bridge, watching the flow of traffic beneath us.

My Ge draped an arm over my shoulders. Our bodies were both covered in a layer of sweat; sticking together was very uncomfortable. But I wished that he could always be stuck to my back. I would be like a hermit crab, carrying the sea anemone that belonged to me on my back as I travelled the world.

"Xiao Yan, are you feeling better?"

"Uh."

I wanted to reply to him, but my limbs and brain were all stiff. I did my best to move my limbs to hug him, but it only became a series of intense convulsions and shivers. I couldn't even stand properly on my own.

"Xiao Yan?"

"You’re scared, is that it?"

"Mn." I rigidly hugged his neck, burying my head in the crook of his neck as I asked him, "If it weren't for me, you'd be able to live a relaxing life. I have an illness, the kind that can't be treated, right?"

"If you can run and jump then you're definitely not sick. Without you, Ge would be earning money for who to spend?"

"Ge, you shouldn't want me anymore…I'm already broken. How about you burn me, then shovel me until I'm broken into many pieces and store me in a box to keep in your pocket. When you sleep, put it under your pillow and don't forget to bring me with you when you go out. I'll definitely bless and protect you so you can earn big money…"

"Okay, in winter I'll wrap you in cotton and stuff you in my pocket, you delicate thing."

“Ge! I’m jumping now! Right now!”

"Jumping down from the overhead bridge is so troublesome for others, and if you're knocked by a car and smashed into bits, it won't be easy for Ge to pick up your pieces." Ge grabbed onto my arm and flashed the tips of his two canine teeth as he took a tissue out of his pocket to wipe my snot away, "Good boy, don't jump."

"I don't care about other people's children, but you were raised by me. I have faith in my kid." My Ge patted my ass, "I can lose anything but you."

My eyes felt a bit swollen. He said that he was simply trying to say that I was still childish and he didn't need my protection.

I blew snot all over his hand, accidentally getting some onto his clothes. I finally understood something; it wasn't that grownups all liked obedient children, rather, it was that when a child turned obedient, that was when they became a grownup. My Ge precisely was like that.

A child with someone to pacify them would never grow up. I had failed again. Because I had a Ge, I would never have the chance to grow up.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. It was his assistant.

He supported himself on one side of the railing, the night breeze lifting a few strands of his hair. The street lamps illuminated his side profile, turning it into a glittering sketch. I suddenly felt extremely sleepy, but I didn't dare to sleep without hearing the contents of the call. I internally had a faint fear that my Ge would suddenly grow wings and fly away, never coming back.

“You don’t have to report to me anymore,” my Ge said to his assistant as he took a cigarette out from his pocket and placed it between his lips.

The lighter's cobalt blue flame flickered a few times in his eyes. He exhaled a mouthful of smoke and calmly said, I've resigned.

Footnotes:

[1] - Azure dragon: One of the Dragon Gods who represent the mount or chthonic forces of the Five Forms of the Highest Deity. Also a typical fierce and 'gangster' tattoo. Pic

[2] - Soup bun: Also known as tangbao. They are a large, soup-filled type of steamed buns in Chinese cuisine, made by wrapping a gelatinous filling in dough, which is then steamed to melt the filling into soup.