Without saying a word, Zhang Qing and Dong Ping rushed out. I grabbed Li Kui and told him, "Don't kill anyone."
"I understand." Li Kui simply hoisted another iron-framed bed in the room onto his shoulder, like a mutated warrior carrying a powerful weapon.
Dai Zong said, "What's there to be afraid of if they see us? We're not trying to harm Brother Hua Rong."
I said, "If we want to harm him, all we need to do is let those people come up. It's precisely because we want to save him that we can't let anyone see us." I don't want to revive a vegetable who can't even photosynthesize in front of everyone. I added, "By the way, it's best not to let them know why we're blocking their way. You just need to create chaos. Yes—just say the hospital set the patient's knee upside down, and you're the patient's family."
Dai Zong muttered, "Knee repositioned backwards...wouldn't that make me a dog?"
I said to Li Kui, "Put down the bed in this room. We can't let them know we've been here."
Li Kui put the bed back in its original spot, ran into the hallway, and casually pried open the door to the women's restroom. Unfortunately, no one was inside...
By this time, the crowd had surged into the fourth-floor stairwell. Li Kui held a door panel in front of him, slowly pushing it forward like a riot policeman, cursing and saying that his cousin's knee had been set incorrectly by the doctor there. With him blocking the way, no one could get up. Reporters pulled out their cameras to take pictures, and Zhang Qing grabbed a bunch of small bottles filled with anti-inflammatory medicine from a trash can, scattering them at the crowd, specifically targeting the reporters' cameras. With the help of Dong Ping and Yang Zhi, Li Kui successfully used the door panel to push the crowd onto the fourth-floor corridor, opening up a second front. Zhang Qing provided cover fire from the corridor between the fourth and fifth floors, beating anyone who tried to sneak past the first line of defense to the brink of death with those sturdy bottles.
Ignoring the chaos outside, I carefully fed Hua Rong water drop by drop, making sure not a single drop was wasted. He had no memories of his life, and if any more water leaked out, I was afraid he would wake up as a fool like Zhao Bailian.
Shi Qian climbed in through the window and asked, "My brothers have all arrived. What's going on outside?"
Wu Yong briefly explained the situation to Shi Qian, then instructed, "Go and have our brothers split into three groups: First, have Xiao Rang and Jin Dajian put up banners to protest, the purpose being to create a sensation so that the hospital won't have the energy to deal with us anymore; Second, have the Ruan brothers pretend to be angry reporters and fight with Zhang Qing and the others, the purpose being to create a quarantine zone on the 4th floor, preventing anyone from approaching; Third, have Li Yun'an and Dao Quan lead the team, temporarily lying in wait for my orders. Once this is over, their task is to pretend to be another group of patients' family members and step in to settle things peacefully."
Shi Qian clasped his hands in a fist salute on the windowsill and said, "Understood!" Then he disappeared headfirst. It must be said that this professional strategist had calculated everything meticulously, even arranging the cleanup.
A few minutes later, the commotion below resumed. Xiao Rang, having somehow found a brush, wrote a large, shocking character for "injustice" on a three-meter square piece of white cloth, and had two people hold it up as a protest at the hospital entrance. The onlookers gathered around, asking what was going on. Xiao Rang, brush in one hand and stroking his beard with the other, slowly said, "Don't rush, don't rush, let me show you what I've written." He then began writing on another piece of white cloth, sometimes imitating the style of the "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion," sometimes using Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy, sometimes flowing, sometimes dignified. In just a dozen or so characters, he changed his brushstrokes five or six times.
Meanwhile, the Ruan brothers and Tang Long's gang, claiming to be reporters, demanded that Zhang Qing compensate them for the camera. A fight broke out between them and Dong Ping and his group, raging fiercely until the sky darkened. Outsiders couldn't even get close enough to pass them and climb the stairs; they were all left with bloodied heads. People were saying, "Are these reporters from *Military World*? Their skills are amazing!"
Those heroes who weren't on missions took advantage of the chaos to go upstairs and into our room. Lu Junyi gestured for them to be quiet, and no one dared to make any sudden movements, for fear of disturbing me as I fed Hua Rong her medicine.
The medicine in the glass was almost gone, but Hua Rong didn't react at all. I nervously dripped the last drop into his mouth, and Hua Rong suddenly opened his eyes, which startled me so much that my hand went limp and the glass shattered.
The noise startled Hua Rong awake. He sat up abruptly, probably feeling unwell, and casually removed the tubes from his body. Looking up, he saw the room full of people. He rubbed his eyes and laughed, "Brothers, you're all here? What happened to me? Did I drink too much yesterday?" He then jumped up, but because he hadn't exercised for six months, Hua Rong stumbled. He shook his head self-deprecatingly, "I really did drink too much; my legs are still weak. Hey, brothers, why are you all looking at me like that?"
Hu Sanniang grabbed Hua Rong's arm and exclaimed, "Brother, we've missed you so much!"
Hua Rong laughed and said, "What are you all up to? Huh, Third Sister? Aren't you... Brother Zhu Gui? Brother Du Xing? Didn't you all die in battle too? Where...where am I?"
The person we rescued was indeed Hua Rong!
The heroes shouted and immediately embraced Hua Rong, some laughing, some crying, and some stamping their feet and beating their chests. Wu Yong stepped forward and stopped them, saying, "Now is not the time to reminisce; we must leave here first."
Hua Rong had regained his footing by now. He pricked up his ears and, hearing the commotion outside, immediately exclaimed, "There's a battle going on! Are we surrounded? Someone, bring me my gun and bow!"
I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "You can't show your face in front of others right now. I'll find a way to get you out of here."
Hua Rong pushed my hand away, frowned, and asked, "Who are you?"
See that? You pretty boy have no conscience, do you? I almost gave you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to save you, and now you can barely move and you don't even recognize me.
Lu Junyi said, "This is Xiaoqiang, and he's also our brother. Now you should listen to him completely."
Hua Rong immediately smiled at me and said, "Brother Xiao Qiang, Ignorance is no excuse. Please forgive me."
I felt that Hua Rong was a magnanimous and capable young man. Although he was a bit shrewd, he wasn't annoying. This was probably related to the fact that he was a military officer in the court and then a bandit. But I was still angry with him. I took off the wig from Hu Sanniang's head and put it on his head, pretending to be business as I said, "Today, I'll have to trouble you to dress up as a woman, Brother Hua."
Hua Rong instinctively wanted to take it, but seeing the solemn expressions on everyone's faces, he knew the situation was urgent and had no choice but to comply.
You know what, with that long hair and Hua Rong's delicate features, at first glance she really looks like a beautiful woman. But the more I look at her, the more awkward something seems off. I asked the people around me, but no one could explain it. I placed Hua Rong next to Hu Sanniang and then I understood—this beautiful woman has neither a curvy figure nor a shapely bottom; her flat body topped with a woman's hair—how could she not look good?
I quickly tore a pillow in half and stuffed it into Hua Rong's clothes. The two large bulges looked much more like a prop. Hua Rong awkwardly patted her chest and said, "This...this is way too big!"
I glanced at it and it was only average-sized, no bigger than a 36C. It seems that this handsome guy's vision is really too "small".
Hua Rong tried to take it out. I grabbed his hand and snapped, "Don't move! At least to outsiders you're still a woman like this. If you take it out, you'll just be seen as a transvestite." Hua Rong had no idea that there were worse situations than pretending to be a woman, and asked, "What's a transvestite?"
"...It's about eunuchs pretending to be women to trick men into bed!" Zhu Gui, having spent time in places like bars, summarized it very well.
Hua Rong's face turned pale, and he had no choice but to lower his hand: "Then I'll just be a woman."
I pushed him into the crowd and told him, "Don't say anything, just follow us."
The entire hospital was in complete chaos, with hospital leaders, doctors, and nurses frantically dealing with the emergency. Reporters, having discovered a more valuable news lead than the alleged murder of a vegetative patient, were also busy taking photos. We arrived outside the hospital smoothly, and after getting Hua Rong into the car, Wu Yong gave the signal to Li Yun and his team in the third group. Li Yun, supporting An Daoquan, stumbled into the hospital courtyard. An Daoquan, yelling in a hoarse voice, "Third brother, fourth brother, seventh brother, ninth brother, thirteenth brother, fourteenth brother… misunderstanding! This isn't the hospital!" The onlookers whispered among themselves, "How many brothers does this family have?"
Zhang Qing and Dong Ping gave a hasty reply, then climbed out the window and jumped, all running away at once. Xiao Rang had only written half of his indictment when he heard An Daoquan shout. He flung the white cloth in his hand and took off running, shouting as he ran, "Oh dear, it wasn't this hospital after all—what a pity, this is my favorite piece of calligraphy!" Ruan Xiao'er and the others chased after Zhang Qing, yelling, "Pay back our camera—"
In the blink of an eye, the heroes scattered like birds and beasts, not a single person remained, leaving only a dilapidated hospital and a bunch of bewildered people...
I quickly started the car and crashed it head-on into the highway. Hua Rong sat in the back seat, dumbfounded, saying, "This...this..." Wu Yong said, "Brother Hua Rong, you've just gotten back, take a rest first, and I'll explain in detail to you later."
Hua Rong remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Strategist, just tell me, am I a human or a ghost now?"
As I drove, I glanced at him in the rearview mirror and teased, "Don't you know whether you're a human or a ghost? Why don't you bite Wu Junshi a couple of times and see if he feels any pain, then you'll know?"
Wu Yong, fearing he might actually bite, quickly patted his shoulder to reassure him: "He's a person, he's a person..."
I left Hua Rong and the others at the classroom door and said to the heroes, "You guys teach him a lesson, I'm going to wander around."
I lit a cigarette and, with my hands behind my back, went to check on Xiao Liu and the others. Ever since these hooligans came to Yucai, they've been cooking for hundreds of people every day, so busy they haven't even had time to play cards. Seeing me come in, Xiao Liu greeted me, "Brother Qiang, have a bowl of wontons! We brought that century-old broth to our school too." I waved my hands repeatedly—people had been cooked in that broth!
Then I went to see the children again. Now they have regular academic classes. The government has temporarily transferred a group of elite teachers from regular schools, so Yan Jingsheng no longer has to teach first grade one minute and third grade the next like a rural teacher. Every day, the children have academic classes after morning exercises, and physical training and extracurricular activities in the afternoon. Actually, these are extracurricular learning groups that they participate in based on their own interests. Cheng Fengshou, Duan Tianlang, and Tong Yuan already have their own regular group members.
Looking at the thriving scene, I was thinking of finding some time to bring Old Zhang over so he could see him. The hospital was in chaos earlier, and Old Zhang knew it was me who was behind it. He called to ask what I was doing. I stammered an answer, and then I heard Li Bai shout from beside the phone, "Tell him I even helped him set a fire on the garbage dump!"
I checked the time and it was almost time, so I went back to the classroom. It seemed the heroes had finished their introductory education of Hua Rong, and the handsome Hua Rong sat there with deep emotion. When he saw me come in, he took my hand and said, "Xiao Qiang, you saved my life! I was so rude just now, brother, I apologize to you."
My face flushed red as I said, "Don't say that. I was wrong too. My original plan was to disguise you as a doctor and sneak out, but I was deliberately getting revenge on you..."
Hua Rong was taken aback, then angrily punched me in the chest. The heroes laughed heartily, all saying, "We absolutely mustn't offend Xiao Qiang."