I lowered my head again.
Old Zhang seemed to have immediately grasped the crux of the problem. He asked, "Who exactly are the people helping you in the competition?"
"..."
"What can't be said?" Old Zhang's words were full of sarcasm, and the meaning was clear: what is there to keep secret from someone who is about to die?
I said hesitantly, "If I don't tell you, you'll be unhappy; if I do, you might not be able to handle it, and we can even save on anesthesia tomorrow."
"Then let's skip it!"
I steadied myself before saying, "You know about the 108 heroes of Liangshan, right..."
...
Ten minutes later, Old Zhang stared at me blankly.
I quickly waved my hand: "Don't believe me. Just pretend I didn't say anything."
Old Zhang picked up a piece of apple peel and threw it at him, cursing, "You little bastard, you only tell me now that I'm about to die."
I asked in surprise, "You believe that?"
“I felt something was wrong from the beginning. And those 300 students, I remember one named Wei Tiezhu, who said his courtesy name was Xiangde, and who—Yue Yun—gave him that name?”
I nodded: "Yes, they were all Yue Fei's personal guards."
"If I weren't about to die, I would hardly believe it. Please give my regards to them and ask them to pass on my regards to Marshal Yue."
I laughed and said, "They won't be able to see Yue Fei either."
"Those so-called teachers of yours, isn't that the big black guy Li Kui?"
"Yes, he lost his first match. He beat his opponent half to death, but his score was 0."
As we talked, Lao Zhang and I both laughed. We chatted for a while about the heroes' funny stories, and Lao Zhang asked me, "Even so, you can still win the competition, right?" Lao Zhang seemed to remember something and grabbed me excitedly, saying, "Yes, you can win! Once Yucai becomes a national martial arts training base, you can help those kids. Xiao Qiang, I'm counting on you!"
I gently patted Old Zhang's thin, bony hand: "It's not like that. The heroes only have one year, including the 300 Yue Family Army soldiers, it's the same for them all, and they're all leaving soon. After winning the competition, when the funds come through and the trainees are sent over, what will I do?"
Old Zhang was stunned for a moment, his disappointment evident. He withdrew his hand, and after a long pause, he said calmly, "You did the right thing."
I sensed his disappointment and indifference. I stood up, wanting to say a few words of comfort, but I couldn't find the words. Old Zhang waved his hand weakly at me: "You can go now, I'm tired."
I walked to the door and looked back one last time. Old Zhang was lying flat on the bed, so thin that he looked like he couldn't bear the weight of the blanket. Now even his spirits had waned.
I moved outside the door like a wooden pole, and Baozi ran up to me and asked, "What did Teacher Zhang say to you?"
I asked her in return, "Where's Sister Zhang?"
"I told her to go back and get some sleep, and come back tomorrow morning."
I plopped down on a bench in the hallway, burying my face in my hands and remaining silent. Baozi carefully sat down beside me and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
I abruptly turned to her and asked, "Am I an idiot?"
Baozi answered without hesitation, "Yes."
I continued to hold my head in my hands.
"But you can be pretty cool as a jerk sometimes."
No wonder he's a student taught by Old Zhang...
In the dead of night, Baozi fell asleep on my shoulder. I stared intently at the opposite wall all night, my mind a jumbled mess. By the time dawn broke, my entire eyelids and eyeballs were bloodshot. Aside from the occasional blink, I didn't move an inch. I held fast to one conviction: what I was doing was right, absolutely right, and I thought Lao Zhang would understand my situation…
Baozi was startled when she opened her eyes. She whispered, "What are you doing?" I went back to sleep.
I don't know how much time passed before I was awakened by a commotion. Looking up, I saw Sister Zhang had arrived and was helping a group of doctors and nurses push Old Zhang out. Baozi was anxiously watching from behind. To maintain optimal condition, Old Zhang was on oxygen; his eyes were darting around, clearly searching for someone. When he saw me, he finally stopped searching and just stared at me, his pupils flickering as if he wanted to say something. I quickly pulled out my phone and typed to him; he only wanted to say two words: "Child..."
I couldn't hold back any longer. I jumped up and shouted at Lao Zhang, "Leave it to me! We won't lose!"
Old Zhang nodded contentedly, closed his eyes, and let himself be pushed away without any worries.
I glanced at my watch; it was already 8:30. I frantically pulled on my coat and ran outside. Baozi grabbed me: "Where are you going?"
"I'll show you another cool move!" I shoved her aside, dashed into the car like the wind, and sped off into the distance in seconds. I called Zhu Gui and asked, "Has the race started yet?"
Zhu Gui said, "Brother Lin Chong has already lost; now it's Zhang Qing's turn to fight."
I yelled at him, "Make sure they win no matter what!"
Zhu Gui immediately caught his breath and said, "Did I hear that right? After we leave..."
I yelled, "To hell with them, I'm just going to win!"
Chapter Twenty-Six: Ideals and Reality
The hospital wasn't far from the stadium; it would only take seven or eight minutes to get there at 60 mph. But it took less than three minutes, and they couldn't even go 6 mph anymore.
It was 8:30 in the morning, and the traffic was a complete mess. I kept honking my horn, sticking my head out to yell at the driver in front of me, and spitting at the car trying to cut in front of me. My eyes were bloodshot, my hair was disheveled, and I looked utterly terrifying.
Finally, a bright blue police car, having had enough, pulled me to the side of the road, its siren blaring a piercing sound like an elephant farting: boom boom—
Two patrol officers walked towards me, hands on their hips. They were clearly still half asleep and had a bad temper. They grumbled at me, "Are you out of your mind? What's wrong with you?"
I yelled at them, "I'm in a hurry for the competition, I'm the team leader of Yucai!"