At that time, he really was like a father to me!
I spoke slowly, and the fat man didn't interrupt, listening quietly for a long time.
After listening, he suddenly sighed, stood up, and walked to the window. He looked outside with his back to me, then suddenly laughed. His laugh had a somewhat sarcastic tone: "It seems Ye Huan has misjudged this time."
"..." I looked at the fat man, somewhat puzzled.
The fat man turned around and stared at me: "What a pity, Ye Huan is ruthless enough, and his ability to control people is quite sophisticated... It's a pity he misjudged you! He misjudged you, kid!"
I still didn't say anything.
The fat man flicked his cigarette ash quickly and said calmly, "I didn't expect you to be this kind of person... Kid, I misjudged you too. You're not just persistent... you're persistent to the point of being reckless! If Ye Huan were a little smarter... hehe! If I were Ye Huan, I would find you directly and tell you face to face that I'm facing a death sentence, and if you don't die, I'm definitely doomed... If I were Ye Huan, I wouldn't send someone to kill you, but would tell you these words myself... With your personality, or with Ye Huan's position in your heart, I'm almost certain that you wouldn't even need him to send someone to kill you; you would even be willing to die for him!"
At this point, the fat man burst into laughter, as if he had witnessed the most ridiculous thing in the world: "The smarter you are, the more foolish you become! Ye Huan, Ye Huan! You've done something stupid this time!"
After laughing enough, he sighed, glanced at me, thought for a moment, and sighed, "Actually... it's not that he's stupid, it's just that with his way of thinking, he wouldn't have thought that you might be willing to sacrifice yourself."
I remained silent.
Indeed, thinking about it carefully, if Brother Huan hadn't hired someone to kill me, but instead had frankly told me face to face that if I didn't die, this matter couldn't be resolved, and Brother Huan himself would die... then in that situation, I might really be willing to die for Brother Huan!
No… it’s not “maybe”, it’s almost certain!
“A selfish person can’t understand the selflessness of others.” The fat man shook his head with a smile and sighed, “Actually, Ye Huan had no choice. Anyone would be reluctant to kill a subordinate like you… These days, there are too few loyal people! You were willing to serve him, abandoning your family and wife to flee for your life. What boss wouldn’t appreciate that kind of loyalty? He wanted your life only to protect himself… These days, what’s loyalty or gratitude? When it comes to life and death, people still think of themselves… It’s not that he’s selfish, but treating you like this from a moral standpoint is just too disheartening!”
I remained silent.
Heartbreaking...
The fat guy was right. My heart is as cold as ice right now!
I forced a smile and took a breath: "Anyway, thank you."
The fat man shook his head: "I may not be a good person. I just felt it would be a pity for a kid like you to die like this, so I saved your life."
I really think it's absurd.
Huan Ge, whose kindness is as high as a mountain, I risked my life for his daughter and still refused to give up, yet he wanted to kill me! And a fat man I had never met before saved my life just because he liked me!
I sighed. "Where is this place?"
“A safe place.” The fat man chuckled. “That doctor’s skills are pretty good, just a bit of a temper. We used to both carry guns, he was a medic, he saw the battlefield. Now he’s a veterinarian… but his skills are definitely good.” He smiled. “Don’t worry, if he says you won’t die, you won’t. That guy’s got a bad face, but his judgment is pretty accurate.”
Then the fat man walked up to me, gently touched the bandages on my body, and laughed, "It's a pity about your good skin. Wear less clothing in the summer so you don't scare the girls. You look quite energetic, but with more scars on your body, it might affect your ability to pick up girls."
I had no interest in talking about this right now. I smiled faintly and remained silent. The fat man raised an eyebrow and laughed, "Alright, actually you don't need to worry... Men don't rely on their looks to make a living! Women are the ones who rely on their looks! If a man has ability, he can have everything!"
He slowly sat down, glanced at me, and asked, "Have you thought about what you'll do next?"
"have no idea."
I'm telling the truth.
I really don't know what else I can do... I don't even know where the road is.
My original goal was simply to protect Duoduo and get that girl safely to Huan Ge's hands! Now that her matter is settled, Huan Ge wants to kill me. Who else can I turn to?
Where else can I go?
"Do you hate me?" the fat man asked abruptly, looking at my expression.
"I hate it, but I don't hate it." I shook my head, the movement of my neck aggravating my wound, causing some pain: "I can't explain it."
Just then, they suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.
The fat man frowned and shouted, "Old man, what are you knocking for? Didn't you bring your keys?"
No one answered; they continued knocking.
Bang! Bang!
Three tones, two long and one short!
The fat man's expression immediately turned serious. He slowly stood up, glanced at me quietly, then looked at them in the distance, and muttered to himself, "Damn, this kid's really stubborn..."
He smiled and slowly reached under my bed, pulling out a pistol from beneath the mattress. He looked at me coldly and said, "Lie still."
He slowly sat down, leaned back in the chair, propped one leg up on the headboard, and sighed, "Come in, isn't it annoying to keep knocking?"
The door opened silently, and first came the doctor, who looked like a pig being slaughtered, wearing a dirty white coat, who backed in step by step, his back to us. His hands hung at his sides, and his eyes coldly stared outside.
Then I noticed a gun pressed against his forehead!
Then came the arm, and finally, Jin He's imposing figure slowly walked in from outside. He held a gun to the doctor's forehead with one hand, and a pistol in the other, which he pointed at me as soon as he entered.
Jin He's face was cold and his eyes were piercing. Although he didn't even glance at me, I felt as if I were being stared at by a venomous snake!
The fat man remained leaning back in his chair, his eyes narrowed to slits by the fat on his face. He watched Jin He quietly, and when Jin He came in, he kicked the door shut behind him. The fat man sighed softly.
The doctor didn't speak, but slowly extended his hands, indicating he had no intention of resisting. Then he retreated step by step until he reached the wall. Jinhe stared at him for a while, then slowly lowered the gun he had been pointing at him.
Only then did he turn to look at me and say, "Xiao Wu."
To be honest, I feel very strange right now... very strange!
Jinhe was able to chase me all the way here and point a gun at me, but I wasn't even a little bit scared!
Yes, not even the slightest bit of fear! I felt a sense of relief, as if I could finally relax...
That's settled then!
A voice inside me seemed to say, "That's fine! It's good to end it like this."
"Xiao Jin, do you really have to do this?"
The fat man spoke, his tone calm, without a trace of murderous intent, even carrying a hint of laziness, as he looked at Jinhe with his squinted eyes.
"I had no choice." Jinhe looked at him, the gun still pointed at me: "If he doesn't die, Huan will die; if Huan dies, many people will die!"
The fat man didn't move. He just held the gun in his hand without raising it. Instead, he sighed, a hint of pity in his eyes: "Ye Huan said that, didn't he...? Do you really believe it?"
"I believe you!" Jinhe replied calmly, then slowly took a step closer and looked at me: "Xiao Wu, in life, there are some things you can't do, some things you must do, and some things you have no choice in! Do you understand?"
Suddenly, a surge of anger welled up inside me!
It was as if my empty heart was suddenly filled with overwhelming anger again!
I suddenly sat up from the head of the bed! Despite the excruciating pain from my multiple wounds, my face contorted in agony, I stared intently at Jinhe, my voice hoarse: "Jinhe, I won't answer your questions, but can I ask you a question?"
"..." Jinhe hesitated for a moment: "Okay, go ahead."
I laughed.
I don't even understand why I can still laugh at a time like this! But I just kept laughing!
"You say you had no choice... Fine!" My eyes held a complex look, but I stared intently at Jin He: "Choice!! I ask you, when you entrusted Duoduo to me, did I discuss choices with you? Did I choose not to do it?! When Duoduo was kidnapped by that big boss's son, did I choose not to get involved, not to wade into this mess?! I abandoned my family and fled for my life because of this. Did I choose not to do it? At that time, did I tell you 'I had no choice'?"
Jinhe's facial muscles twitched.
I faced his gun and continued coldly, "Fine, now I'm going to die, and you say I have to die, so you have no choice?! When things require my bloodshed, I can bleed, or I can protect myself. But I chose to bleed! Now that it's your turn to kill me, you say you have no choice!" A hint of ferocity crept into my smile as I faced Jin He. Then I pointed to my forehead: "Shoot me here!"
Jin He's expression changed slightly; he had already released the safety on his pistol, but hesitated to pull the trigger.
The fat man slowly sat up straight, then finally raised his gun and pointed it at Jinhe: "Little Jin, you've changed."
“I haven’t changed.” Jinhe shook his head: “That’s just how it is. If he doesn’t die, Huan Ge will die.”
"Are you fucking out of your mind?!" The fat man suddenly roared. He jumped up from his chair, glaring at Jin He: "I'm asking you, Ye Huan wanted to kill this kid because he was afraid that if the kid didn't die, he would... You actually believe that?? Then what about his daughter? What about Ye Huan's daughter? Why is Ye Huan's daughter allowed to live?!"
“Because we naturally have ways to find a body to replace it,” Jinhe replied quickly.
“Then this kid can be dealt with the same way. Why not?” the fat man said coldly.
"Because Ye Huan simply doesn't trust anyone!" The fat man's cold words pierced through the veil that had been covering the matter like a knife: "Because Ye Huan doesn't trust anyone! He values his life highly... To ensure his own safety, the safest way is to kill this kid! Because the dead won't speak, the dead won't leak his information, the dead won't betray him! He won't kill that girl. Because that girl is his daughter, he can't bring himself to do it! And this kid, although he has a good relationship with him, isn't his biological son after all, just a lackey, so sacrificing him is acceptable! That's the crux of the matter! Right?! Ultimately, Ye Huan doesn't trust anyone else, he only trusts himself! The crux of the matter is that if this kid doesn't die, Ye Huan is afraid he'll be in danger, but that's just a possibility! But Ye Huan won't even allow that 'possibility' of endangering himself to exist!"
Jinhe's eye muscles were trembling.
The fat man finished speaking in one breath, then slowly sat down, putting down the gun in his hand: "Whether this kid lives or dies, Ye Huan might not actually be in danger. He's just afraid that someone will find him and betray him. Actually, you could just find someone to replace him. There are so many corpses in the hospital morgue every day. You could just pick one and have a couple of experts handle it. It's just that Ye Huan is too cautious and overly careful because of his own safety!"
Jinhe's gun was still pointed at me.
At this moment, the fat man suddenly spoke his last sentence in an unusually calm tone...
These words immediately shattered Jinhe's psychological defenses!
He said slowly, "I'll ask you a question. If you can answer it, I'll let you kill this kid. I won't stop you!"
"What?"
"If..." the fat man said slowly, word by word, "if it wasn't this kid taking care of Ye Huan's daughter this time, but you, Jin He, yourself, and you were in this situation, do you think Ye Huan would have decided to kill you to ensure his safety?"
A light seemed to slowly dim in Jinhe's eyes...
The fat man chuckled: "This kid is just a mirror... Little Jin, can't you see Ye Huan's true character now? Did he really save you out of loyalty back then? If you didn't have these skills, would he have saved you? Can't you see through this kid's ways?"
He shook his massive head and said quietly, "This is disheartening to see!"
Jinhe suddenly put down his gun!
He stared at me silently for a moment, then suddenly pulled out his wallet from his pocket, took out all the cash inside—a thick wad—including both RMB and USD. He then slowly placed it on the ground, thought for a moment, and then placed his gun on top of the money.
"Don't use your card anymore, it will leave a record, and they can track you down by following the card." Jinhe's tone returned to its mechanical indifference, as if devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
He glanced at the doctor in the corner: "Old-fashioned, sorry, I'll make it up to you with drinks another day."
"Pay my ass off!" the doctor cursed coldly, then added, "Next time you come to me for treatment or to save your life, I'll charge double!"
Jinhe didn't look at him, then walked to the door and gave me a deep look: "Go, go as far away as possible! Never come back! Your family will be fine, I promise!" He seemed to hesitate for a moment, his facial muscles trembling slightly, then he gritted his teeth...
Jinhe suddenly smiled, but it was a very bitter smile: "Xiao Wu, I actually admire you a lot!"
The door had been closed for a while, and I was still staring blankly at it. The room was quiet, except for the stack of banknotes on the floor and the gun that Jinhe had left me!
After a while, the doctor suddenly jumped up, pointed at the fat man, and cursed, "Damn it! Dahai, are you fucking crazy?! Don't you know how dangerous Xiao Jin is?! You have a gun, why aren't you shooting him?! Are you just standing there like a saint?!"
The fat man suddenly became angry as well, forcefully throwing his gun at the attacker, laughing and cursing, "Go to hell! I was going to slap you too! How come your gun is out of bullets! I was on edge just now! Damn it, everyone has a gun, I'm not afraid of Little Jin! But my gun is out of bullets!"
The doctor was speechless for a moment, then rubbed his nose and said, "The gun is empty... Damn, I forgot to load it..."
The fat man then came over and patted me on the shoulder, pulling me out of my reverie: "Kid, things are only temporarily over now. Pack your things, I'll take you away from here now."
Part One: A Man in the Jianghu, Not in His Own Hands Chapter 123: Marginal Man
The fat man immediately moved away from the doctor's place.