"What kind of bullshit biological father is that? He's a beast... Please don't associate yourself with that guy, okay?" Although, in terms of blood relations, that Professor Zhong might really be Zhou Ziwei's father, the current Zhou Ziwei is just an imposter, occupying this body and borrowing this identity. But in his heart, he still puts his original identity, Yang Hongtao, first. As for Zhou Ziwei's relatives and friends, he has no feelings for them whatsoever.
Not to mention his so-called biological father, whom even his ex-girlfriend had never met.
Therefore, even if he were to actually see the scoundrel surnamed Zhong who caused this tragedy one day, Zhou Ziwei might not hesitate to kill him.
However, when Zhou Ziwei thought about how he had also had that kind of relationship with Liu Xiaofei, and what if Liu Xiaofei got pregnant after this, and then had to hastily find a man to marry in order not to be laughed at by others... then would another tragedy repeat itself on her?
Upon realizing this, Zhou Ziwei froze, and his forehead immediately became covered in fine beads of sweat...
Dangyang People's Hospital is the largest hospital in Dangyang City, and Zhou Zhengxiang, who is nominally the richest man in Dangyang, would certainly not be living in the same treatment area as ordinary people.
Furthermore, in order to better protect Zhou Zhengxiang's safety, the police naturally did not allow him to live in crowded or disorganized areas.
In the hospital's backyard, there was a three-story old building that was originally going to be abandoned. After a simple renovation, it became Zhou Zhengxiang's temporary recuperation place.
Police set up a tight cordon around the entire building, and even doctors from the hospital had to undergo rigorous checks and identity verification to enter.
Zhou Ziwei was carrying not only a cross-shaped dart but also a Glock pistol, which was inconvenient to bring inside. So he took off the pistol and the cross-shaped dart and put them in the car. Anyway, as long as the ladybug was with him, it was like a living, almost infinitely usable pistol bullet. Although Zhou Ziwei knew that the old man lying on the hospital bed inside was likely the mastermind behind the assassination attempt on him, he was not afraid at all.
When passing through the police cordon downstairs, Zhou Ziwei was thoroughly searched by the police and then let go, but Luan Yuqing, whose identity was unclear, was told that they dared not let her in.
Fortunately, there were police everywhere, so Zhou Ziwei wasn't worried that Qiao Mulin, who was far away in Tengchong, would really be so crazy as to kidnap a woman in front of a bunch of armed police officers. So he left Luan Yuqing downstairs without worry...
Accompanied by two police officers, Zhou Ziwei walked down the stairs to the third-floor ward. Just as he reached the second floor, he saw a middle-aged man with a bald head walking down from above.
The middle-aged man paused slightly when he saw Zhou Ziwei, then his facial muscles twitched a few times as he forced a smile. He quickly took two steps forward, grabbed Zhou Ziwei's hand, and said in a very enthusiastic tone, "Isn't this Ziwei... Oh my, it's been so long since I've seen you! You've gotten even more handsome... Ah... You've come to see the chairman, haven't you? The chairman has been talking about you these past few days... You'd better go on your way! Don't forget to visit Uncle Li's house later..."
Zhou Ziwei didn't have a good impression of Uncle Li, whose smile was obviously fake, but he still patiently exchanged a few pleasantries with him.
He had absolutely no memory of this person's identity or background. Although he had also received some of the memories of the former Zhou Ziwei, this Uncle Li was not a beautiful woman, and the remnant memories of the former Zhou Ziwei's soul left almost no trace of a man. So, of course, Zhou Ziwei did not know who he was.
However, since he can freely come and go from here, he must be either a confidant of Zhou Zhengxiang or one of the small shareholders of the Zhou Group.
After exchanging a few polite words with Zhou Ziwei, Uncle Li brushed past him and hurried downstairs.
Zhou Ziwei was about to continue upstairs when he suddenly caught a strange smell in the breeze created by Uncle Li's rapid descent... A jolt went through Zhou Ziwei; he had a vague sense of unease, but couldn't be entirely sure. He quickly amplified his sense of smell from twice to six times, took a deep breath, and then his expression changed slightly. He abruptly turned around and shouted sharply at the bald, middle-aged man who was about to reach the bottom of the stairs, "Stop!"
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 186: Emergency First Aid
Zhou Ziwei's loud shout startled the bald middle-aged man who had already reached the bottom of the stairs and the two police officers following closely behind him. The bald man immediately stopped, looked up at Zhou Ziwei, and forced a smile, saying, "What's wrong, Ziwei... Is there anything else you need Uncle Li's help with?"
Zhou Ziwei ignored the bald man and turned to the two officers beside him, saying, "I suspect this man is a killer. Please stop him and make sure he doesn't leave here under any circumstances."
"What did you say!"
Upon hearing this, the bald man's face changed drastically, and he trembled all over. Pointing at Zhou Ziwei, he angrily rebuked him, "Zhou Ziwei, you...you dare to spout such nonsense! I, Li Zhongquan, have followed the chairman for half my life, witnessing the Zhou Group grow from small to large, becoming stronger bit by bit. For so many years, I have worked tirelessly and without complaint. Who doesn't know that I, Old Li, am the chairman's most loyal confidant? Yet you actually call me an assassin...you...I knew you, this playboy who only knows how to eat, drink, gamble, and whore, are a good-for-nothing. But because you are the chairman's son, I still maintained a shred of respect for you. But you...you have disappointed me greatly."
Zhou Ziwei remained unmoved by the bald man's superb performance. He simply glanced calmly at the two stunned police officers beside him and asked, "Hurry up and arrest him. I think he came downstairs in such a hurry that he has probably... he has probably already killed my father. I don't want my father to die with resentment. Please, you must catch this murderer for me."
“Ahem… Comrade Zhou…” The older police officer standing on the left coughed lightly, his expression somewhat displeased, and said, “I understand you’re worried about your father, but… you can’t just falsely accuse an innocent person without any basis, can you? You just returned from out of town and haven’t even seen your father yet. How do you know… he’s been murdered? And what evidence do you have to prove that this Mr. Li murdered your father? Mr. Li is your father’s most capable assistant and one of the few people your father can completely trust. His access to this ward is always specially approved. I don’t think… I have any reason to suspect Mr. Li without cause…”
Seeing the police officer speak up for him, Li Zhongquan immediately became arrogant, snorted heavily, and said, "Zhou Ziwei, don't think that just because you inherited the shares from your mother, you've really become the helmsman of the Zhou Group. As long as the chairman is here, you good-for-nothing will never be able to step into the limelight... Humph, I'm so angry."
After saying this, Li Zhongquan flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.
"stop!"
Zhou Ziwei shouted again, but seeing that Li Zhongquan ignored him this time and strode towards the door, Zhou Ziwei snorted, then suddenly dodged in front of the older police officer next to him. With a swift movement, he drew the pistol hanging on the officer's waist, then unhesitatingly released the safety, chambered a bullet, and pointed the dark muzzle at Li Zhongquan's back, roaring, "If you dare take another step forward, I'll shoot!"
"Ah—" Both officers on the left and right exclaimed in surprise upon seeing this. The younger officer on the right quickly drew his gun and pointed it at Zhou Ziwei.
Li Zhongquan, who was about to reach the door, turned around upon hearing the exclamation and was immediately dumbfounded.
He knew that he only needed to take two more steps forward to get out of the building, but when he lifted his leg and felt the threat of the dark gun barrel behind him, he simply didn't have the courage to put his foot down.
"Put down your gun! Do you know what you're doing?" The two policemen saw Zhou Ziwei holding his gun still, but from his calm demeanor they could tell that he was definitely a ruthless character who had handled guns... and might even have killed people. The two policemen became even more nervous. The policeman who had lost his service weapon subconsciously wanted to rush forward and grab his gun back, but he had only lunged forward a little bit when Zhou Ziwei slightly turned his head and glanced at him.
With just that one glance, the police officer felt as if he had been bitten by a venomous snake. A chill rose from his heart and instantly spread throughout his body, causing him to stumble and nearly fall down the stairs.
Zhou Ziwei snorted coldly and said, "There should be some of your people on duty outside the ward upstairs, right? You can use the walkie-talkie to contact them and have them come into the ward immediately to check on my father. If he's alright, I'll return the gun to you immediately and let you accuse me of whatever crime you want. However... if something has happened to my father... then you can expect to be reported!"
When the two officers saw how certain Zhou Ziwei was, they were both slightly moved. After exchanging a glance, the older officer took out a walkie-talkie.
But before he could even contact his colleagues upstairs, Li Zhongquan, who was standing downstairs with a gun pointed at him by Zhou Ziwei, suddenly yelled and ran desperately towards the door...
"Bang—" As soon as he saw Li Zhongquan trying to escape, Zhou Ziwei immediately pulled the trigger without hesitation. However, he did not kill Li Zhongquan with one shot, but only aimed at the guy's right knee. After the shot rang out, the guy's leg was completely crippled. He fell to the ground and let out a series of pig-like screams.
"You...you fired the gun."
The young police officer's hand holding the gun trembled immediately. This person had snatched a law enforcement officer's weapon in public and shot an "innocent" citizen in public. As a law enforcement officer and a young backbone member of the criminal investigation department, he should have immediately fired to stop this crazy act.
But for some reason, looking at Zhou Ziwei's indifferent expression, he didn't dare to actually fire the gun no matter what... because he had a terrible intuition that if he really fired the gun, he would definitely be torn to pieces by the indifferent man in front of him.
Seeing that the two police officers were still staring at him menacingly, Zhou Ziwei sighed helplessly, turned off the safety of the gun in his hand, and threw it back to the older officer, saying, "You were just about to contact your colleagues when that guy ran away for his life... With his reaction, can't you guess that something's wrong? Alright... I need to go see if my father can be saved. You guys keep an eye on that murderer and don't let him get away again."
After saying that, Zhou Ziwei ignored the two policemen and immediately sped up and ran upstairs.
The two policemen looked down at Li Zhongquan, who was groaning and screaming at the bottom of the stairs, and then looked up at Zhou Ziwei, who was running quickly towards the third floor. They were both at a loss and stared at each other in a daze.
Just then, the walkie-talkies on both of them suddenly started ringing frantically.
"Attention everyone...Attention everyone...Mr. Zhou has suddenly suffocated and died...Mr. Zhou has suddenly suffocated and died...Mr. Li, who just left, is a prime suspect. Please stop Li Zhongquan! Stop Li Zhongquan!"
The two police officers, who were initially hesitant, were both stunned upon hearing the voice coming from the walkie-talkie...
Zhou Ziwei rushed up to the third floor as fast as he could, almost getting into a conflict with the police officers on guard. However, after the older officer who followed Zhou Ziwei up explained a few things, he didn't make things difficult for him anymore and let him rush into Zhou Zhengxiang's private room, which, although not very luxurious, was well-equipped.
The ward was in complete chaos. Several police officers were running around the bed like headless flies, while a doctor in a white coat and two young nurses were giving Zhou Zhengxiang CPR, making a final effort.
"I'm sorry... We've done everything we can. Mr. Zhou's heartbeat and breathing have stopped, and now even his cerebral cortex has completely stopped reacting..."
Upon seeing the data displayed on the medical equipment, the middle-aged male doctor finally gave up on the pointless rescue efforts.
"Ah... he's really dead... how could this be... wasn't he perfectly fine this morning? How could he suddenly become like this? Could it really be that Li Zhongquan did something to him just now?"
Upon hearing the doctor's words, a police officer of clearly higher rank broke down, instinctively grabbing the doctor's collar and saying nervously, "No... don't jump to conclusions so quickly... hurry... think of another way!"
The doctor gave a helpless bitter smile and said, "Captain Lin, I really can't do anything... He's really dead. I think... even if a god came, he couldn't be brought back to life now."
Zhou Ziwei appeared at the door. Upon seeing this scene, he paused slightly, then quickly walked to the bedside. Without saying a word, he slapped the chest of the middle-aged man on the bed, whose face was sallow.
Zhou Ziwei's slap was quite forceful, landing on Zhou Zhengxiang's chest with a muffled "thud," and even causing Zhou Zhengxiang's body to bounce several centimeters off the bed.
"Ah...you...what are you doing? Why are you messing with the body?" Seeing Zhou Ziwei's unusual behavior, everyone in the ward was furious. Doctors, nurses, and police officers all surrounded Zhou Ziwei, as if they wanted to tear him apart.
"I am his son..."
Zhou Ziwei slapped Zhou Zhengxiang hard on the chest, slightly above the chest, while simultaneously pulling out his ID card with his other hand and flashing it at Captain Lin.
"You're Zhou Ziwei?" Captain Lin frowned slightly after seeing the name and photo on the ID card Zhou Ziwei handed over. He said, "Even if you really are his son, you have no right to mistreat your father's corpse, do you?"
Zhou Ziwei slapped Zhou Ziwei on the neck again, coldly replying, "I'm not in the mood to torture him... I came all the way back from Yunnan just to ask him a few questions, so... this is a battlefield emergency first aid technique; I just wanted to use this method to temporarily wake him up..."
"Battlefield emergency first aid techniques." Captain Lin frowned upon hearing this and said, "I came from the military myself, how come I've never heard of such a field emergency first aid technique?"
But the doctor's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "Eh... Could this be a first aid method that came from the South African mercenaries? I've only heard of it before, but I've never seen it before... Could it really be that this method involves... tapping the deceased like this? Uh... is this method effective?"
The doctor then shook his head and said with a wry smile, "However... even if this is indeed a battlefield emergency first aid technique, it's only for the dying, right? But Mr. Zhou... he's already completely dead. Even if your method is effective, it probably won't be of any use."
"Whether it's useful or not... you'll find out soon enough."
As Zhou Ziwei finished speaking, he suddenly changed his palm into a fist and slammed it hard into Zhou Zhengxiang's lower abdomen.
"Ah—" The heavy blow made Zhou Zhengxiang suddenly convulse, and his upper body then seemed to be shaken by the force of the punch, and he sat up straight.
"Ah—" The onlookers gasped in surprise at the sight of this scene that resembled a zombie coming back to life, and instinctively backed away.
If Zhou Zhengxiang had simply been beaten so hard that he sat up, they might not have been afraid. They would have thought it was just because Zhou Ziwei had used too much force. But... just as Zhou Zhengxiang sat up, his eyes, which had been tightly closed, suddenly opened. This sudden movement startled those who had been watching his facial expressions.
Zhou Ziwei pretended to wipe the sweat from his forehead, walked forward without changing his expression, and gently helped Zhou Zhengxiang, who was sitting there in a daze, to lie down.
"Hiss—" At this moment, the people behind him were also certain that Zhou Zhengxiang had really come back to life, because after a person dies, their body will only become more and more stiff, but now Zhou Ziwei was able to help Zhou Zhengxiang lie down slowly. During this process, anyone could see that Zhou Zhengxiang's body was very soft, and he did not look like a dead person at all.
“A miracle… a miracle… he really came back to life… God… how is this possible?”
The middle-aged doctor immediately began to shake violently as if he had suffered a stroke. He tried his best to recall every step of the "battlefield emergency first aid technique" that Zhou Ziwei had just used, while taking out his stethoscope to go forward and examine Zhou Zhengxiang.
"Get out of the way..."
Upon seeing this, Zhou Ziwei shoved the doctor aside without hesitation and said coldly, "My father only has a few minutes left. I have something very important to discuss with him. Please all leave immediately...right now!"
"Ah... I see... That's right, I knew it... He was clearly dead... Hmm... It turns out it was just a temporary stimulation of the life force in the deceased's body..." The doctor nodded upon hearing this. Although he still wanted to confirm whether Zhou Zhengxiang was dead or alive, seeing Zhou Ziwei's impatient expression, he could only smile bitterly, pack up his things, and hurriedly retreat with the two nurses.
"Then...you two, father and son, can talk it out!"
After witnessing Zhou Ziwei's miraculous resurrection of the dead, Captain Lin no longer felt any contempt for this legendary good-for-nothing. Although he wanted to ask what had just happened, he didn't waste any words and immediately led his men away.
"Wait a minute..." Zhou Ziwei saw Captain Lin and the others reach the door and hurriedly called out to stop them. Then he turned to Zhou Zhengxiang, who looked completely bewildered, and said, "Dad... tell Captain Lin what happened just now... who did this to you?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengxiang's face contorted with rage. He gritted his teeth and said hatefully, "It was Li Zhongquan... that beast! I treated him well, and he actually harmed me... It was him... He injected some kind of drug into my body, and then I felt like I couldn't breathe, and then..."
“Just as I thought…” Zhou Ziwei nodded, then waved to the people at the door and said, “You all heard that, right? You can leave now. Please close the door properly…”
"Oh... thank you, Mr. Zhou..." Captain Lin's expression turned serious. He thanked him and turned off the recorder in his hand before turning around and leaving with the others.
He was quick-witted. He knew from Zhou Ziwei's question that this was the only time to record evidence. Otherwise, as Zhou Ziwei had just said, Zhou Zhengxiang only had a few minutes left. After the two finished talking, Zhou Zhengxiang would probably be unable to speak anymore. If he wanted to find out the truth about Zhou Zhengxiang's murder, he could only do so now. So he quickly turned on the voice recorder he was carrying and promptly recorded the first-hand evidence provided by Zhou Zhengxiang.
Then, by taking blood samples from Zhou Zhengxiang's body for testing, we can naturally obtain completely accurate results.
After everyone had left, Zhou Ziwei remained silent, staring at Zhou Zhengxiang lying on the hospital bed, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty. Zhou Zhengxiang also remained silent, but instead of looking at Zhou Ziwei, he gazed longingly at the sunlight streaming through the window… This might be the last glimpse of the world he would ever see! He had already died once, and this time… he knew he didn't have much time left.
"Ask me anything you want... I can tell... I really don't have much time left."
After about half a minute, Zhou Zhengxiang finally spoke...
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 187: Absolute Control
Zhou Ziwei sighed softly and said, "I don't know how to ask... You should just say it yourself! Just tell me whatever you want to say! Just treat me like someone who wants to confide in you..."
“An ordinary person confiding in someone…” Zhou Zhengxiang smiled faintly, then shook his head gently, finally turning his gaze reluctantly from the window back to Zhou Ziwei.
"Actually, with your intelligence, you should have guessed everything, right? I don't think I need to say much more..." Zhou Zhengxiang took a deep breath, savoring the pleasure of breathing once more, and then said softly, "Your mother wronged me... but she left too early, so... I inevitably transferred my resentment onto you. For so many years, I've always been very good to you on the surface, very doting, but in reality... I'm a devil who wants to drag you to hell. The first time I took you to a brothel, the first time I took you to gamble, it was all arranged by me... I guided you step by step into becoming the person you are now... Heh, actually, now that I think about it, I'm a little confused whether I did this to get revenge on your mother, or just to protect my company..."
“That’s right, your mother built this company from scratch…and developed it to its initial scale. But…when she passed away, how big was the company? Its total assets were only a couple hundred million…But over the years…how much have I contributed to this company? Why should I end up doing all the work for someone else…”
"So my first thought was to ruin your reputation. Even if you inherit 38 percent of the company's shares and become the largest shareholder of the entire group after you turn 25, the small shareholders will not choose a good-for-nothing like you to be the chairman."
“I originally thought I just didn’t want to give up my position and didn’t have much desire for money. But after I did a recent accounting of the company’s capital, I realized how huge that 38 percent stake was. That’s when I suddenly became greedy and couldn’t resist hiring an assassin to kill you… and then take all the shares that originally belonged to you…”
"But what I didn't expect was that retribution would come so quickly... Before the assassination attempt on you even succeeded, my company was already on the verge of collapse... My son and I were still fighting to the death for the company's meager profits, but now that the company is about to fall, what's the point of our fight? I originally wanted to cancel the mission to kill you, but that assassination organization called the Dark Elves claimed that one of their members had already died at your hands, so the mission couldn't be canceled. Unless you die, it's a fight to the death... I had no choice but to hire another assassin organization to protect you... Heh... I never imagined that the fee for protecting one person would be ten times that for killing one... Sigh, thankfully the company is already on the verge of collapse. We'll all be left with nothing sooner or later, otherwise... I think I would be heartbroken..."