Right after finishing that phone call, Qiu Dapeng’s face turned as ugly as a dead man’s. He wheeled around in a panic and barked, “Stop it, quickly!”
Then, under the astonished gazes of the whole room, he walked over to Wen Desheng and dropped to his knees with a thud. “Elder Brother, I’m here to apologize to you, brother — I’ll take my men and get out right now.”
He began kowtowing to Wen Desheng most respectfully.
Qiu Lingyun’s expression turned to one of utter bewilderment. “Dad, what are you doing? Who was that on the phone just now?”
“Shut your mouth!” Qiu Dapeng seemed to regret his actions so deeply his guts had turned green with remorse, and he kept apologizing to Wen Desheng in a soft voice. “I’m sorry, I’m not even human — whatever compensation the shop needs for its losses, I’ll do exactly as you say, Elder Brother. Or would you like to slap me a few times yourself?”
Wen Desheng had already been beaten by Qiu Dapeng until his face was unrecognizable, half his cheek swollen high, his mouth full of fresh blood — a truly terrifying sight.
Hearing what Qiu Dapeng said, he mustered every ounce of strength to spit a mouthful of bloody foam right into Qiu Dapeng’s face. But instead, a gurgling sound rose in his throat, and he choked, coughing up a great mouthful of blood.
“Dad!” Wen Tingli was frightened out of her wits. She quickly bent down and used her handkerchief to wipe the blood from her father’s face, but Wen Desheng kept coughing up blood, and even his breathing grew ragged and broken.
Infuriatingly, Qiu Dapeng was still putting on an act. “Wh-what’s going on here? I wasn’t even really fighting with Elder Brother.”
Wen Tingli ground her teeth in hatred. She had seen that whole brawl clearly just now — Qiu Dapeng had struck to kill, and in just a few punches, every single one had landed on her father’s vital points. But there was no time now to argue with this scoundrel. She stood, her heart burning with urgency. “The car rental company’s taxi won’t get here in time. Uncle Zhou, Uncle Chen, I’ll go flag down a rickshaw on the street — please, could you help carry my father?”
Qiu Lingyun had also grown somewhat panicked by now. “Dad, what do we do?”
Qiu Dapeng’s eyes darted around several times, then he wiped away his sweat and stood. “Saving a life comes first. Quick! Take our car, it’s faster.”
There wasn’t a single rickshaw in sight on the street. Wen Tingli, desperate to save her father, judged that Qiu Dapeng wouldn’t dare pull any more tricks at a moment like this, and so together with her father’s two friends, she helped carry her father into the Qiu family’s car.
The nearest hospital was Cixin Hospital.
This hospital had been founded by that Dean named Deng Yi whom she’d met once before at the Qiao family’s, and it had always been kind to the poor.
Once inside, the emergency room was packed with people. After asking around, she learned that a group brawl involving the Bailong Gang nearby had sent in a number of wounded, and all the doctors on duty were currently occupied — not one could be spared to attend to Wen Desheng.
Old Zhou and Old Chen were stamping their feet in anxiety. “What do we do now?”
Qiu Dapeng had vanished without a trace by this point. Qiu Lingyun was still there, and seeing the situation, he quickly said, “My father seems to know the head of internal medicine at this hospital — I’ll go find him.”
Wen Tingli, however, walked straight up to the eldest of the foreign doctors present and whispered something in his ear. The foreign doctor started, then hurried over with two nurses to examine Wen Desheng. After one look, he said in stiff Chinese, “Notify the operating room immediately, prepare for surgery.”
On the way to the operating room, Old Zhou asked Wen Tingli in a low voice, “What did you say to that foreign doctor just now, that he agreed to see him so quickly?”
“I told him I was good friends with their Dean Deng.” Wen Tingli hurried alongside, helping push the gurney. In truth, she had only met Dean Deng once, but she felt that the Dean had a kind, approachable face, and thought that even if she was borrowing the old lady’s name without permission, Dean Deng likely wouldn’t hold it against her.
Once inside the operating room, Wen Tingli was told to wait outside. That wait stretched through most of the night, and it was almost dawn by the time Wen Desheng was finally wheeled back out.
Strangely enough, in just a few hours her father’s body seemed to have shrunk by half, sinking limply into the snow-white bedsheets, his face swollen and sallow.
“Not good.” The foreign doctor named Thompson said bluntly. “Did your father drink heavily, in ordinary times?”
“Yes, though he had already quit drinking a few months ago. Is my father’s condition very bad?”
“Your father has a moderate degree of liver cirrhosis. Normally, with proper care, it wouldn’t be a serious problem, but he’s currently suffered severe external trauma, which has caused internal bleeding in his digestive tract. You’d best prepare yourselves mentally… given the patient’s current physical condition, I’m afraid he won’t hold on much longer.”
Wen Tingli felt as though she’d been struck by lightning.
“Who was it that beat your father last night? This is serious bodily harm — the police need to be notified.”
Wen Tingli gritted her teeth and looked around. Qiu Lingyun, having presumably heard that her father’s condition was critical, had already run off as well. She said bitterly, “I’ll go report it to the police station right now.”
Old Zhou spoke up quickly. “Your father needs someone by his side. Old Chen, why don’t you stay and help Tingli look after Old Wen — I’ll go to the police station.”
Wen Tingli thanked him repeatedly. The group escorted Wen Desheng to the internal medicine ward, and just as they’d moved the patient onto the bed, Wen Desheng suddenly grabbed Wen Tingli’s wrist. “Don’t… don’t let that Qiu bastard get away.”
“I know, I know.” Wen Tingli nodded fiercely. “Uncle Zhou has already gone to the police station to report it. Qiu Dapeng absolutely cannot escape. Dad, just focus on recovering — once you’re better, everything else can be dealt with.”
Before long, Old Zhou returned, saying that the police from the station would come by shortly to take statements.
Wen Tingli stayed by her father’s bedside, not daring to leave even for a moment. Fortunately, after a morning of careful treatment, Wen Desheng’s condition finally stabilized. But with this came an alarming pile-up of medical costs. Although the hospital had proactively waived half the fees, the remaining half still needed to be paid promptly.
It was only then that Wen Tingli realized the Qius, father and son, had fled without even paying the hospital admission deposit. Fearing this would delay her father’s treatment, she quickly entrusted her father’s care to the two uncles and rushed home in a hurry to fetch money.
Zhou Sao had been on tenterhooks the entire night, only refraining from going downstairs for fear of frightening Xiao Taozi. Coming down in the morning to find the shop in complete disarray, she was now pacing anxiously in circles.
The first thing Wen Tingli did upon entering the shop was open the cash box — all the loose change added up to two thousand silver dollars, which she guessed was the family’s entire savings. Fortunately, her father had exchanged a large banknote the day before for the purpose of renting a house, and it was inconspicuous enough to carry on her person. Heavy-hearted, she tucked the banknote into her schoolbag, then went upstairs to fetch a change of clothes for her father, before heading back to Cixin Hospital with Zhou Sao and Xiao Taozi in tow.
After getting off, she first bought several servings of rice cakes and soy milk, asking Zhou Sao to bring them up to the ward for Old Zhou and Old Chen, while she herself took the bill to the accounting office to pay the hospital fees. But the accountant said, “Wen Desheng, is it? His hospital fees have already been settled.”
Wen Tingli was startled — could it be that the Qiu man had suddenly grown a conscience and come back?
The accountant continued, “I heard it was a friend of the Dean’s who paid on his behalf.”
“May I ask, was that person a gentleman or a lady?”
“I’m not entirely sure either,” the accountant said with a wry smile. “Why doesn’t Miss Wen just go ask the Dean herself?”
Wen Tingli returned to the ward, puzzled. Inside the room, Xiao Taozi was lying at the foot of the bed, silently watching her father in a daze. After a while she grew frightened and turned to hide in Zhou Sao’s arms, but the moment she looked up and saw her sister come in, the tears she’d been holding back for so long burst out like a waterfall.
“Waaah — waaah.”
That piercing wail rang out through the entire ward.
Wen Tingli quickly gathered Xiao Taozi into her arms and hushed her softly. “Xiao Taozi, don’t be scared. Father loves hearing you tell stories more than anything — why don’t you whisper to him quietly, maybe he’ll get better faster if he hears your voice.”
By this time, Old Chen and Old Zhou had already finished the breakfast Wen Tingli had brought. She accompanied them to the nurses’ station to have their wounds treated — fortunately the two had only suffered minor superficial injuries. Wen Tingli urged them repeatedly to go home and rest, and after much persuasion managed to see them off at the hospital entrance, insisting they take some fruit with them before finally letting the matter rest.
She had barely sat down when the police finally arrived.
“Who is Wen Desheng?”
Wen Tingli hurried out to meet them. “I’m his daughter.”
The two policemen glanced carelessly through the doorway, then stayed in the corridor to ask questions.
“How is your father’s condition now?”
“Badly hurt. The assailant, Qiu Dapeng, lives on Qiulin Er Road. Last night, after beating my father, he got scared of the consequences and fled the moment he’d dropped my father off at the hospital.”
The policeman on the left spoke up. “Before coming here, we got a rough picture of the situation. The other party involved, Qiu Dapeng, also filed a report last night — apparently he was quite badly hurt himself, and is currently being treated at Mary Hospital. After we finish here, we’ll need to go check on Qiu Dapeng’s condition there as well. Oh, and Qiu Dapeng works at Dabao Trading Company, which falls under the French Concession — this case might not fall under our jurisdiction at all. You may need to file the report again in the French Concession.”
The more Wen Tingli listened, the more astonished — and the more furious — she became. Not to mention that Qiu Dapeng had clearly only suffered minor superficial injuries — how could this case suddenly not fall under the Public Concession’s jurisdiction at all?
The policeman went on, “If the other party’s injuries also aren’t serious, you two might consider settling this privately. Brawls like this happen every day around here — we can’t just take your word for what happened.”
“How can you call this a brawl?” Wen Tingli said urgently. “My father is dying. This is a matter of a life at stake. Last night the assailant Qiu Dapeng brought bodyguards to our door looking for trouble — not only did he severely injure my father, he also smashed our shop’s belongings to pieces. All the neighbors can testify to this. Officer, this isn’t an ordinary brawl — this was premeditated attempted murder!”
The two policemen exchanged a glance, and the one on the right said impatiently, “Alright, alright. Who’s your father’s attending physician? We’ll go find him first to get the details.”
Wen Tingli led the two policemen to Thompson’s office. She had intended to stay and listen in, but the policemen firmly refused to allow it.
She returned to the ward and sat for a while, then quietly went back to check — only to find the two policemen had already left.
Such an attitude was utterly perfunctory.
Seeing Wen Tingli return, Zhou Sao quickly asked, “How did it go? Did they catch that pair of hooligans, father and son?”
Wen Tingli shook her head, her face cold.
“Don’t worry too much. Anyone who sees your father beaten like this will understand what happened, at a glance.”
“It’s not that simple. That Qiu knows he’s caused a huge disaster — he fled to Mary Hospital last night to hide. That old scoundrel is thick-skinned and black-hearted; if he really did give himself new injuries, he might just turn around and accuse us instead.”
Zhou Sao was both shocked and furious. “Who came up with such a rotten idea? Is there no law left in this world?”
Just then, Wen Desheng suddenly opened his eyes on the bed. “Little Orange… Little Orange…”
Wen Tingli started — that was her childhood nickname, one her parents had long since stopped using. She thought her father must be delirious, and hurried over to hold his hand.
Wen Desheng gasped weakly. “…Your father is useless. I meant to win justice for you and your mother, and instead it’s come to this. But Dad — Dad had no choice but to do it. If I hadn’t torn things apart completely, who knows what despicable methods that Qiu man might use in the future to force you to marry his son… If the police won’t handle this properly, you must never act rashly on your own. Qiu Dapeng has made all sorts of unsavory connections over the years…”
“Don’t worry. The police haven’t made their final decision on this yet. Your daughter knows what she’s doing — just focus on recovering.”
Xiao Taozi began to wail again. Wen Desheng tried to turn his head to look at his little daughter, but his eyes were swollen shut and he couldn’t open them at all. He could only force out a pale smile. “Xiao Taozi, don’t cry. Dad’s fine. Oh, right, Tingli — don’t forget to ask the school for leave.”
Wen Tingli slapped her forehead — she really had forgotten about that. Fortunately, there was a telephone installed on the wall of the internal medicine ward, though it was only for the medical staff’s use. Wen Tingli went over and said a few kind words to the staff, and once given permission, immediately called the school.
The call was answered by Director Wang of the Education Department, who was also one of the school’s trustees and responsible for overseeing student discipline.
Director Wang’s tone was somewhat stiff.
“The school was just about to contact you. At the meeting this afternoon, it was decided that you would be expelled as a warning example. Don’t be surprised — if you had simply been late, or skipped one or two classes, there might have been room to discuss it. But you missed an entire day of school, which is the most serious disciplinary violation in this school’s history. The administration has recently been trying to tighten up school discipline and make an example of someone — if we don’t expel you, who should we expel?”
Wen Tingli hastily explained that her father was critically injured.
Director Wang sighed on the other end of the line. “Something like this happening to your family — the headmistress feels for you too. Which hospital is your father in? Tomorrow the headmistress will bring some classmates to visit him.”
Wen Tingli thanked her profusely, then added, “Director Wang, I wasn’t skipping class without reason. My father is still in the hospital receiving treatment — please, ask the school to forgive me this once, given how sudden the circumstances were.”
Wen Tingli was the best at being coquettish and coaxing, and she often dared to speak this way to Director Wang in normal times. Director Wang clearly softened, covering the receiver to discuss with someone on the other end. For a while, all Wen Tingli could hear was a rustling “shh-shh-shh” sound over the phone. After some time, Director Wang picked the receiver back up.
“Tingli, expelling you was a unanimous decision made by several trustees. The school’s stance right now is very firm. There’s nothing Director Wang can do about it.”
Under normal circumstances, the school would never have been so unreasonable. Wen Tingli recalled what Qiu Dapeng had said yesterday — this must have something to do with the Qiao family!
No, she had to get to the school as soon as possible. Luckily, Old Chen and Old Zhou had brought some neighbors over to visit Wen Desheng, so she asked them to look after things for a bit, then rushed out and hailed a rickshaw to the school.
The moment she entered the school gates, she saw an “Expulsion Notice” prominently posted on the announcement board.
“Third-year student Wen Tingli has seriously violated school discipline. After deliberation, the school administration has decided to expel her. Xiude has always taken it as its mission to cultivate talents of both virtue and intellect, and shows no tolerance whatsoever for any behavior that shows contempt for school rules. Let all students take heed from this incident.”
Blood rushed to Wen Tingli’s head all at once. She hurried through the flower beds and up the stairs to find Director Wang.
Director Wang wasn’t in her office. Wen Tingli then went to find her homeroom teacher, Huang Yun. Huang Yun seemed to have been expecting her — the moment she saw Wen Tingli, she silently pushed an official document across to her without a word.
Written on it: “Notice of Student Dismissal.”
Wen Tingli said urgently, “Teacher Huang, the school can’t do this. There was a reason I skipped class today!”
Huang Yun was only twenty-five this year. She had taught at Xiude ever since graduating from the Women’s Normal University, and was well known for being kind and easygoing — she always protected the students in her own class more than anyone.
She sat with her head lowered in silence, then let out a hoarse sigh. “I already guessed you must have had some urgent matter that kept you away. Because of this, I spent the whole day protesting to the school. This afternoon I learned from Director Wang that something terrible had happened at your home, so I went to appeal to Principal Liu again. But the administration absolutely refused to budge — just now they even warned me that when a student violates discipline, the teacher bears some inescapable responsibility, and if I keep arguing on your behalf, the school will consider expelling me along with you.”
Wen Tingli was stunned.
“This is completely unreasonable. Come, Teacher, let’s go find the principal together. If they really intend to expel you along with me, well — at worst I’ll switch schools and find you a teaching position elsewhere.”
By the time they reached the principal’s office, however, there wasn’t even anyone there to see. Huang Yun wanted to go to the principal’s home to argue in person, but Wen Tingli grabbed her arm to stop her.
“I think the school is serious about this. If you go there, you might really drag yourself down and lose your job too.”
Huang Yun said angrily, “But this matter absolutely must be argued for!”
Wen Tingli said, “If arguing reasonably would have worked, wouldn’t you have already won the school’s understanding for me, Teacher? It won’t work. Right now we need to try something else. Teacher, do you have a telephone here? I’d like to make a couple of calls.”
An hour later, a Citroën car pulled up in front of the Carlton Café. The waiters at the entrance clearly recognized the owner of this car and rushed forward to open the door. The woman who stepped out was a well-dressed matron in her forties or fifties — her attire wasn’t particularly extravagant, but her bearing carried a faint air of overbearing authority. After getting out, she peered through the window toward a certain corner of the café, and her gaze sharpened into something fierce.
The woman walked into the café and sat down directly across from a girl at a table.
“Mrs. Qiao.”
Mrs. Qiao studied Wen Tingli calmly. Wherever this girl appeared in a crowd, she carried a certain dazzling, treasure-like radiance about her. Every man seated nearby couldn’t help but glance in Wen Tingli’s direction.
What a menace! No wonder her son had lost his head over her.
Mrs. Qiao set down the jade-colored soft satin purse in her hand with an air of indifference. “What were you calling Liyun and Baoxin for? Miss Wen, I’m warning you! Xingchu and Liyun are about to be married. If you dare do anything at this juncture to sabotage their relationship, neither the Qiao family nor the Bai family will let you off!”
Just an hour before, the Qiao residence had suddenly received a phone call from a female student at Xiude, saying that a classmate was about to leave Shanghai, and before leaving wanted to invite Baoxin to meet at the Carlton that afternoon.
The Qiao family’s servants, having already been instructed by the master and mistress beforehand, had politely declined over the phone.
Unexpectedly, the girl on the phone then said: she had originally wanted to invite both Baoxin and Bai Liyun for coffee, but since Baoxin wasn’t free to come out, she’d have to arrange to meet Bai Liyun alone instead.
Upon hearing the servant’s report, Mrs. Qiao secretly suspected this had something to do with Wen Tingli. She immediately called the Bai residence, and sure enough, Bai Liyun had already gone out. Growing more and more uneasy, Mrs. Qiao immediately dropped everything she was doing and rushed to the Carlton.
But now, facing Wen Tingli’s mocking smile, she suddenly understood. The person Wen Tingli had wanted to meet was never Bai Liyun at all — from beginning to end, it was her she’d wanted to see.
How infuriating, to have walked right into the trap without realizing it.
She had underestimated this child’s tactics!
“What exactly are you planning?” Mrs. Qiao said, her face darkening. “You don’t actually think that meeting me alone will move me, do you? Let me tell you — even without Liyun, our Qiao family would never agree to let Xingchu be with you!”
“Who wants to be with your son?” Wen Tingli said with a cold smile. “I came today to tell you Qiaos — a cornered rabbit will bite. Don’t push things too far in anything you do!”