Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Late at night, a black Porsche sped along the highway.

Chen Jinsheng stomped on the gas, countless images flashing through his mind—a chaotic jumble, all finally coalescing into the image of one person. He thought of Chu Heng's past innocence and youth, his current maturity and competence, his consistent hard exterior yet soft heart, and finally, unavoidably, forced himself to picture what scene awaited him right now.

Or rather, what scene awaited him in a few hours.

He thought he would see the closed doors of an operating room, Little Mei and Old Ding covered in Chu Heng's blood outside, others anxiously awaiting the surgery's outcome, and then he would rush over to become one of them.

Or perhaps it was just Chu Heng with minor injuries, safe and sound, conscious, impatiently trying to get off the hospital bed, then going slack-jawed when he saw him, awkwardly asking him to lie down together before falling asleep peacefully in his arms. Just like last time.

But what ultimately awaited him was a Chu Heng who had finished surgery, lying there unconscious on the hospital bed.

He lay there quietly, like a lifeless doll.

Little Mei sat beside him, her face deathly pale, eyes swollen like two goldfish eyes, staring blankly at Chu Heng—or perhaps just into the distance—her expression a mix of lingering fear and relief at having survived.

There was no one else. The ward was tomb-like in its silence.

Chen Jinsheng dug his fingers into the doorframe until sharp pain shot through his palm, then walked over step by step until he reached the bedside. His tall figure loomed silently. Little Mei suddenly jolted out of her stupor, trembling before bolting up from her chair, fear instantly spreading across her haggard face—until she recognized Chen Jinsheng.

She stared blankly, as if finally finding her anchor, tears streaming down her face: "Brother Chen... The boss... The boss he..."

She broke into sobs within moments. Chen Jinsheng felt every muscle in his face stiffen, his vocal cords dry and painful as if crushed by truck tires. He asked hoarsely, "What happened to him?"

He forced himself to shift his gaze from the empty floor tiles, following the bed frame, sheets, blanket, the hand with the IV, the arm and shoulder wrapped in striped hospital gown, finally arriving at Chu Heng's chest.

It was a chest that was rising and falling faintly.

"The doctor said he's not in life-threatening danger..."

Chen Jinsheng's legs went weak, and he reached out to brace himself against the edge of the bed.

"Brother Chen, I was so scared. I thought the boss was going to die. I thought he'd never see you again..."

Yes, Chu Heng hadn't seen him.

If his injuries had been more severe, if the ambulance had arrived any later, he would never have seen him again.

He hadn't made it to his side in time.

Chen Jinsheng felt cold all over. Little Mei's muffled sobs echoed in his ears, reminding him of this cruel reality.

This young girl had suffered a great shock. Chen Jinsheng managed to speak: "Little Mei, thank you for staying with him. Go rest now. I'll take over here."

"Brother Chen, are you sure you'll be okay alone?"

"I'll be fine."

The moment the ward door closed from the outside, Chen Jinsheng collapsed to his knees. His spine, rigid all night, suddenly gave way. He grasped Chu Heng's cold hand, pressed his forehead against it, and let out a few rough, gasping breaths from his throat like a dying beast.

He remained motionless in this position for a long time before finally closing his eyes.

"Xiao Heng, please wake up..."

Chu Heng did not wake up as expected. He simply lay there quietly, his breathing almost imperceptible.

Chen Jinsheng kept vigil by his side, from day to night, and from night to day again. Medical staff came and went, performing various checks on Chu Heng. Directors and producers he didn't know returned repeatedly, discussing the publicity fallout. Wang Yelong, who showed up late, wore a worried frown, always sitting in the ward for a while before leaving, returning with a faint scent of tobacco.

Chen Jinsheng sat in the visitor's chair, not speaking to anyone.

Once, Wang Yelong placed a paper bag in front of him and said, "Go change your clothes, wash your face, and eat something. I'll watch over him here."

Chen Jinsheng didn't move, carefully tending to Chu Heng's lips with a cotton swab dipped in water.

Wang Yelong sighed. "You need rest. You don't want Chu Heng to wake up and see someone even more haggard than him, do you?"

Chen Jinsheng gazed at Chu Heng, then slowly withdrew his hand after a long moment, picked up the paper bag, and went to the bathroom.

He changed out of his pajamas and made a phone call.

"Second Uncle, it's Jinsheng."

...

A day later, Chen Jinsheng received a callback.

"Hey, cousin, we caught him."

The police station temporarily holding the suspect was in a neighboring city. After wiping Chu Heng's body and having lunch, Chen Jinsheng drove there, arriving just as the police station was closing for the day.

Chen Qirui was startled to see him. "Jinsheng, are you okay?"

Chen Jinsheng only said, "Where is he?"

Chen Qirui seemed hesitant but, after a slight pause, turned and walked in a direction. "Follow me."

Due to special attention from higher-ups, the arrest operation across regions was carried out with unusual zeal. Within a few days, they caught the man in a small county several provinces away. The victim's high social status and public attention, along with certain unspoken reasons, meant the case would later be transferred to the B City Public Security Bureau. The suspect was only temporarily held in the local detention center during the transfer process.

Given the special nature of detention centers, maps couldn't provide navigation. Chen Jinsheng followed Chen Qirui through several alleys, entered the detention center, and met the man he had only seen once before in the visitation room.

Two tall police officers holding batons stood behind the man. They weren't surprised to see them and gave Chen Qirui a nod before leaving.

The door clicked shut. The man flinched, his slightly plump body curled behind the table like a repulsive ball of flesh. His face and neck bore long bruises, clearly from police batons.

Chen Jinsheng stared at him coldly. "Jia Xianyi, husband of He Mingshuang, right?"

"Don't mention that woman!" Jia Xianyi suddenly looked up and roared, eyes bloodshot, expression frenzied. "It's all that bitch's fault! She's a whore! She drove me to kill—"

Chen Jinsheng kicked the table violently. Jia Xianyi toppled over with his chair, pinned under the table. Chen Jinsheng kicked again, the table scraping across the floor with a loud, sharp screech in the confined space. Jia Xianyi's body slid against the wall. Chen Jinsheng pressed his foot against the table, forcing the table corner into Jia Xianyi's neck, making his face turn purple-red as he gasped hoarsely.

He tried to push the table corner away, his fingers twisting into distorted shapes, but the corner didn't budge. His eyes began to roll back, mouth opening painfully as he tried to breathe, drool even dripping from his lips.

Chen Jinsheng remained expressionless, pressing the table corner tighter. Just as it seemed about to pierce the fragile throat, Chen Qirui, heart pounding, grabbed Chen Jinsheng's arm.

"Cousin."

He had never seen such violent fury in Chen Jinsheng, so far removed from the calm and refined man he remembered. His heart tightened as he said, "Don't kill him. He needs to stand trial."

Chen Jinsheng lowered his eyes. "He won't die."

Chen Qirui released his grip, then said after a moment, "I'll wait outside. Watch the time. Chu Heng is still in the hospital. He might wake up soon."

Chen Jinsheng paused, his expression largely unchanged, but the chilling, sinister ferocity in his eyes faded slightly. He removed his foot and took a step back.

The suffocating table corner was finally pushed away. The man on the ground erupted into a fit of violent coughing. Chen Qirui sighed in relief and turned to leave. As he neared the door, the coughing behind him gradually subsided.

"Hah... hahahahaha—Go ahead and kill me if you dare! You coward, you don't even dare to avenge your lover. Is Chu Heng dead? Hahahaha, he deserved it! Not only did he seduce my wife, he even tried to take my son! I wish I had stabbed him to death! Stabbed him into mincemeat—"

A torrent of savage curses mixed with crazed laughter made Chen Qirui’s eyelids twitch. After a long moment of hesitation, he still didn’t turn back, because he could no longer hear the words that followed—they were replaced by the horrific, sickening sounds of flesh and bone colliding.

He pushed the door open and stepped out, shutting all the noise inside that small room.

The two police officers at the door exchanged glances, but Chen Qirui offered no explanation, simply lowering his head to check his watch. After twenty minutes had passed, he opened the door again and called out loudly, “Cousin, you should go back to the hospital to see your husband!”

All controllable sounds in the room came to an abrupt halt. Only then did Chen Qirui see Chen Jinsheng, who stood with his back to the door, and the suspect curled up on the floor, barely recognizable and on the verge of death.

Then Chen Jinsheng straightened up and turned around, his expression calm as he said, “I know.”

He was as calm as if he hadn’t just nearly beaten someone to death.

At that moment, Chen Qirui felt that his grandfather’s decision—to persuade Chen Jinsheng to return to the Chen family, a decision that had always been treated as gospel by the Chen family—was a mistake.

A director of the Chen Group could be gay, could be childless, but he couldn’t be a madman.

That would destroy the long-standing rules and order of the Chen family.

The night sky was pitch black, without a single star. The light from the detention center only illuminated a three-meter path. Chen Jinsheng remembered the call he’d picked up by mistake.

It was a brief and cryptic conversation.

He Mingshuang said, “Hello, Mr. Chen,” then asked how Chu Heng was doing, and finally said, “Mr. Chen, sometimes I really envy you.”

Envy what?

Chen Jinsheng slipped the ring he’d deliberately removed back onto his finger. Was she envious that Chu Heng had given him this ring?

But aside from this ring and the forty percent of the shares, Chu Heng hadn’t given him anything else.

He knew Chu Heng had already given him a lot—a stable future, an inseparable bond, and beautiful promises. But was that really enough? Chen Jinsheng thought greedily.

He wondered if the look in Chu Heng’s eyes he had seen that day was an illusion, a delusion he used to comfort and deceive himself. Could there be another explanation for Chu Heng’s actions in the photo? Otherwise, how could he just lie there, so cruelly unwilling to even open his eyes to look at him?

Chen Jinsheng drove back to the hospital, where Wang Yelong was staying by his side, though he was drowsy and nodding off.

Chen Jinsheng told him to go rest, then fetched hot water to wipe Chu Heng’s face, neck, chest, and hands.

After pouring out the hot water, he turned off the lights in the room, sat down, and took Chu Heng’s hand.

And then, that hand moved.

Chen Jinsheng froze in place.

This must also be an illusion, Chen Jinsheng told himself. But after more than ten seconds, the hand moved again. First, the fingers curled, the fingertips pressing against the back of Chen Jinsheng’s hand, then easily pulling free to grope its way up to Chen Jinsheng’s face, slowly tracing along his jaw, cheek, nose, lips, and chin before finally lowering.

In the darkness, Chu Heng seemed to manage a weak smile as he said, “You forgot to shave again.”