Army General Hospital.
“Stretch your hand over more,” instructed the female doctor in the laboratory.
Xia Lei stretched his arm into the window. The doctor tightened a rubber band around his wrist, then inserted the needle into his vein to collect blood.
“Wait for half an hour for the results.” The doctor took the blood samples and walked off.
Xia Lei walked away from the window and sat on a metal chair to wait. Few patients came in the night to the laboratory and it was quiet. His imagination ran wild in this quiet.
‘Long Bing was knocked out in that basement but I wasn’t. There wasn’t even any effect when I breathed it in directly. This isn’t normal… Does my blood have something that is like an antibody to anaesthetic? Or is there something else in my blood? But why don’t I feel anything?’ Thoughts whirled in Xia Lei’s head.
It was difficult to say if being immune to anaesthetic was a good or bad thing because it would be troublesome indeed if he had to have surgery one day.
Half an hour passed quickly and the laboratory doctor placed his test results in the window.
Xia Lei stood and walked over with a smile. “Is there anything wrong with my blood, Doctor?” he asked politely.
The female doctor glanced at him. “You should take your results and go consult a doctor.”
Xia Lei laughed. “Aren’t you a doctor too? I’m just having my blood tested. I’ll be going back if there are no problems.”
Maybe it was Xia Lei’s handsomeness but the female doctor looked at him again and picked up the test results. She read it and said, “There’s no problem with your blood. You’re very healthy.” She then smiled. “You don’t have to go see another doctor. What do you do?”
“I do electric welding on construction sites. I’m a welder,” said Xia Lei.
“I see…” The doctor turned and walked off, not bothered to continue the conversation with Xia Lei.
This proved again that men could not depend on their faces to live. A man wouldn’t be able to get a girl even if he looked like David Beckham if he were a labourer.
Xia Lei smiled wryly. He tore the test results up into pieces and threw them in the bin.
Xia Lei left the laboratory and mulled over the results as he walked towards the wards. ‘There’s nothing wrong with my blood and I used my X-ray vision on my organs too and there’s no problem there. This means I’m a normal person. But why was I fine after inhaling anaesthetic gas? Does this mean that the hospital equipment is unable to find any special components in my blood?’
The results were out and he should be heaving a sigh of relief but this problem still plagued him.
Xia Lei entered a room when he got to the wards.
This was Lu Sheng’s ward. He had suffered external injuries and had received treatment for them and was out of danger. He was already awake and turned to look at him when Xia Lei walked in.
“How is Xue?” asked Lu Sheng anxiously.
“She’s fine,” said Xia Lei.
Lu Sheng let out a breath of relief. He made to get up but Xia Lei pressed him back on the shoulder.
“Don’t move. Just lie back,” said Xia Lei.
Lu Sheng sighed. “Lei, I really.... I am ashamed. I get injured all the time. It’s fortunate that nothing happened to Xue, otherwise I… I really wouldn’t know how to face you.”
Xia Lei smiled. “I should be thanking you instead. She would have been harmed long ago if you were not protecting her.”
“This time was because I didn’t do my job well. I should have told you when I discovered that that punk was interacting with Xue, but…” Lu Sheng did not continue.
“I know, it was Xue who told you not to tell me. I know my sister better than you do. She caused trouble for you. I’ll get her to apologise to you later.”
“No, no, what apology?” Lu Sheng hurriedly rejected it. “I don’t need that.”
Xia Lei laughed. “Then is it fine if she comes to visit you? Let her see the result of her willfulness.”
Lu Sheng smiled wryly. He did not reject it this time.
Xia Lei chatted with Lu Sheng for a bit before leaving his ward. He made a decision. He was going to buy Lu Sheng a good car and a house with the company accounts when Lu Sheng was discharged. This was the best way to handle it since Lu Sheng would reject these things if Xia Lei used his personal accounts to purchase these for him, but it was a different matter if it came from the company.
A few Bureau 101 agents nodded in greeting in the corridor.
Xia Lei gave them a smile and nodded, then entered another ward.
This was Long Bing’s ward. She needed to be kept under observation for 24 hours in the hospital because she had inhaled too much anaesthetic gas.
Xia Lei did not knock and he saw Long Bing right away when he walked in. She was taking off the hospital elastic trousers, and had it pulled down to her knees. The stark contrast between her black lace underwear and her white skin drew the eye.
Frostiness shot from Long Bing’s eyes.
Xia Lei got the hint and turned away. “Sorry, I.. I didn’t see anything.”
Smack! A slipper flew from Long Bing’s hand, hitting Xia Lei in the back of his head.
Xia Lei held the back of his head and turned around to look at Long Bing. He smiled wryly. “What’s this for?”
Whoosh! Another slipper came flying.
Xia Lei dodged this time. The slipper smacked onto the door and dropped. He picked up both slippers from the floor and brought them over to the bedside. He placed them neatly by the bed, just waiting for Long Bing to put them on.
Long Bing was still looking at him angrily. She was actually mad over what had happened in the basement. Xia Lei had got her to wet her clothing and he had seen her bare bottom but she had still been knocked out by the anaesthetic gas. This humiliation, this grudge - throwing two slippers at him was not enough!
“Um… Are you okay?” Xia Lei changed the topic. He was getting nervous with her glaring at him like this.
“I’m fine.” Long Bing’s temper flared and cooled quickly. “Did you bring me to the hospital?”
“It wasn’t me but the comrades from Bureau 101. I was rushing off to catch Ahn Suhyeong after I got out of the basement, so I contacted Tang Yuyan and Tang Bochuan. They arranged everything.”
Long Bing was silent. “You weren’t knocked out?”
“Nn, I was lucky. I was affected too after you were knocked out but I held on. About a minute later Ahn Suhyeong got someone to remove the gas and I ambushed his men. Six of them, all killed by me,” said Xia Lei.
“Six people? You sure are skilled.” Long Bing suddenly remembered something. “We both wet our clothing. I was knocked out - why were you fine?”
Xia Lei had an answer ready. “Maybe it’s because I peed more. You didn’t pass a lot of urine.”
Speaking of urine, the scene of herself exposing her pale bottom to Xia Lei while wetting her clothing surfaced in Long Bing’s head again and even an iceberg like herself melted partially - her face turned red but she retorted, “Are you a horse? How did you have so much urine?”
Xia Lei was speechless.
“You get out first. I want to change, then leave.” Long Bing changed the topic too.
“The doctor said you have to be hospitalised for 24 hours. Where are you going?” asked Xia Lei.
“I want to question that Ahn Suhyeong fellow.” Resentment flashed in Long Bing’s eyes. She had almost ended up in his hands, and she wanted to take her anger out on him for this incident.
“But…”
“Get out. You want to have another look?” Long Bing glared at Xia Lei.
Xia Lei quickly made himself scarce.
Long Bing walked out of the ward a few minutes later. The Bureau 101 agents gave her odd looks but no one dared to ask why she was leaving the hospital.
Half an hour later, at the Bureau 101 headquarters, in an underground detention area.
Xia Lei followed Long Bing down a passageway. Thick iron doors lined both sides, and there was not one window. Xia Lei used his X-ray vision on two of the doors and he saw a person behind each door. The cell had no television, no bookshelves and nothing other than a bed and a toilet bowl.
This was Xia Lei’s first time in this place. The cold and gloomy atmosphere here made him feel rather depressed.
“The people kept here are enemy spies, agents and terrorists.” Long Bing explained as she walked. “These are not ordinary people, so they cannot be imprisoned in normal prisons. The interrogation room is ahead; let’s go.”
Xia Lei saw three people standing in the doorway - Shi Boren, Tang Bochuan and Tang Yuyan. They were looking at a special glass wall in front of them. There was no need to guess or use his X-ray vision to know that Ahn Suhyeong was being interrogated behind that wall.
Xia Lei did not find it strange that Shi Boren had turned up here either, since Ahn Suhyeong had a special status. Putting aside Ahn Suhyeong’s status as the young master of Shinyeok Group, they had to also consider that his father Ahn Geungan could be the next South Korean president.
“Long Bing, why did you run here instead of staying in hospital?” Shi Boren saw Xia Lei and Long Bing.
Tang Bochuan and Tang Yuyan looked over too. Tang Bochuan looked at Long Bing while Tang Yuyan stared straight at Xia Lei. The siblings did not speak; they just looked.
“I’d like to interrogate Ahn Suhyeong.” Long Bing cut straight to the chase. “That punk is too daring. If Xia Lei had been knocked out by the gas too then Xiao Wu and I would have ended up in his hands.”
“Are you going to use force on him?” asked Shi Boren.
“Of course. He has to suffer,” said Long Bing fiercely.
Shi Boren shook his head. “No.”
“Why?” Long Bing was discontented.
Shi Boren wrinkled his brows. “Know why I’m here? Because I was afraid that you’d use violence on this punk. He has a special status - we will definitely have Ahn Geungan lead some international dispute against us if we use violence on him. South Korea is currently on close terms with us in Free Trade, Asian investments and banking. Both our countries have common interests in these. If a dispute arises from the South Korean side because of this then it will affect our interests.”
Long Bing wrinkled her brows but said nothing.
Politics was the most complicated thing on Earth, and this matter could not be handled normally as long as it involved politics.
Xia Lei stood before the glass wall. He saw Ahn Suhyeong inside, and a person responsible for recording his statement. That person was obviously a Bureau 101 agent, but he wore a policeman’s uniform. It seemed Shi Boren did not want Ahn Suhyeong to know what sort of place he had been brought to.