Next to the Concord Hospital, there’s a well-known braised food shop called “Wang Xiaoshi.” After Li Cu sat down in this shop, he realized he was still wearing a hospital gown. “Hey, young man, did you sneak out of the hospital to eat something heavy? Oh, is this your sister? She looks quite striking,” the shop assistant teased, finding it amusing.
“Not my sister, I’m his classmate! Are you going to order, or should we go to another place?” Liang Wan snapped. “Alright, alright, no need to be so fierce, miss,” the assistant stuck out his tongue and ran away.
“Is this how you usually act?” Li Cu asked Liang Wan.
“What do you mean?” Liang Wan replied, fiddling with the menu on the table. “Be more specific.”
“Your unpredictable temper.”
“Hmm, that’s true, but it’s not the kind of unpredictability you’re thinking of.” Liang Wan quickly flipped through the menu. “This topic isn’t for you and me to discuss.”
“Then can you tell me about the person who carved on my back—” Li Cu asked. Liang Wan glanced at her watch, “Don’t rush, we haven’t even ordered yet, and the main person hasn’t arrived.”
“Main person?” Just as Li Cu finished asking, there was a commotion at the door, and he heard the assistant’s voice from a distance: “How many of you?” “Someone’s here,” a deep voice came from the entrance. Liang Wan immediately looked up and waved, “Over here, over here!” Li Cu turned around and saw a thin man in black clothes walking in, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
“Wang Meng.” The man walked up to Li Cu and gave him a casual handshake.
Li Cu looked at Liang Wan in confusion, only to find that she was already staring at Wang Meng, her cheeks flushed.
She’s crushing on him. Li Cu felt a small punch in his chest, a bit hurt, but fortunately, the emotional knife struck too quickly for him to feel anything significant.
Right? As expected, such women wouldn’t be interested in younger boys. She probably just thought he was harmless because of his age.
However, Wang Meng didn’t pay any attention to Liang Wan; he only nodded politely at her and asked Li Cu, “Is your back alright?”
“It’s fine. Who are you—?”
“I’m the colleague of the person who attacked you.” Wang Meng placed a car key on the table.
Li Cu was taken aback, taking a few seconds to process this before stepping back, “Don’t joke around.”
“I’m not joking. That person’s name is Huang Yan, and he’s my partner. I just finished giving my statement at the police station.”
“What do you want? I don’t have any more space on my back for you to carve,” Li Cu said, shrinking back a bit.
Wang Meng waved his hand apologetically, “No, you misunderstood. I’m just here to apologize and offer some compensation, hoping you won’t pursue this matter further. Liang Wan mentioned that you might be left with a scar on your back, and we will provide reasonable compensation.” After saying that, Wang Meng took out a piece of paper and pushed it towards Li Cu.
“What is this?”
“This is a transfer check.”
Li Cu took it; it was the first time he had seen such a magical thing. It was a small pink slip with a string of numbers printed on it. He saw there were many zeros, but he couldn’t tell if it was ten thousand or a hundred thousand.
But even if it was just ten thousand, he felt like he was about to become rich.
“How do you use it?”
Feel free to ask if you need further assistance!
“I’ll take you to the bank later and teach you how to deposit the check, but first, we have a condition.” Wang Meng pressed down on the check. “I hope you won’t go back to the hospital tonight. I want to have a detailed conversation about what happened that day. I’ve booked a suite at the hotel across the street; we can talk there, and you can tell me some details. Then you can just sleep there tonight.”
“What is there to talk about? I was just stabbed hundreds of times, and I passed out at the time. I don’t know anything.”
Wang Meng glanced at Liang Wan, who said, “I told you, but you didn’t believe me.”
“I still need to know the details because many actions that seem meaningless to others could be life-or-death matters in our line of work.” Wang Meng lit a cigarette and asked Li Zu, “What do you think?”
At this point, Li Zu had already counted the check several times and confirmed it was indeed 100,000 yuan. Wang Meng’s sudden question startled him: “Sure ! I’ll go! It’s just a hotel room, right?”
“Hey, aren’t you supposed to keep me company tonight?” Liang Wan said anxiously.
“It won’t take too long; after all, the young brother is a patient and needs to rest. I need to wrap this up quickly; I don’t want to bother my boss to handle it personally, or it could lead to big problems.” Wang Meng moved aside to let a waiter pass with a large serving of braised food, which was then placed on the table.
“Eat up; it’s on me today.”