Chapter 87
Well-Matched
For a child who had just turned fourteen, to set aside every scrap of adolescent pride — in front of cameras and watching eyes — and make that request: it was no small thing.
Her love for her mother had outweighed the particular sensitivity and self-regard that belonged to that age.
She stood with her head down, face flushed, the red string clenched tight in her hand, barely able to meet any of the eyes around her.
Chao Musheng saw her embarrassment and nodded warmly. "The auspicious lion brings blessings and drives away all illness — what a good idea. You thought of everything."
"Come on." In front of everyone, Chao Musheng led Zeng Ning through the crowd.
Xu Chenzhu held the drip bag overhead and followed with complete composure — entirely unaffected by the curious looks around him.
Curly Hair noticed this and had to work to keep her expression steady.
Boss Xu — you're holding a drip line for Xiao Chao, not delivering a speech at a state assembly. You don't need to look quite so serene.
The lion dancer, seeing the young man and the girl suddenly appear in front of him from the crowd, tilted the lion head to one side, uncertain what they wanted.
"The young lady's mother is unconscious. She hopes the auspicious lion can offer a blessing and wish her mother a swift recovery." Chao Musheng crouched beside Zeng Ning in front of the lion.
The two performers inside — one at the head, one at the tail — were momentarily at a loss. They weren't trained lion dance inheritors; they usually took jobs where the work was just to liven up the atmosphere. The client didn't mind their limited skill, they didn't mind the modest pay, and everyone was happy with some festivity.
Faced with the girl's expression — entirely earnest, entirely asking — they couldn't bring themselves to say no.
The head performer dug through his memory for the blessing sequence used by proper lion dance masters, steeled himself, and signaled his partner at the tail. "Auspicious lion, grant your blessing."
Blink. Roll. Bow. Leap.
"Excellent!" The performance drew the crowd in; calls of appreciation went up.
The lion circled Chao Musheng and Zeng Ning three times and stopped before her, lowering the lion head.
The round, fuzzy head swayed gently from side to side. The guileless, slightly dopey movement produced laughter all around.
Chao Musheng took Zeng Ning's hand — the one holding the red string — and placed it on the lion's head. "Touch the lion's head, and fortune comes ahead."
The lion blinked and nodded — seeming to agree.
It lifted one paw, indicating it wanted to shake hands.
"Dispel disaster, drive away misfortune, let all illness depart."
Chao Musheng brought Zeng Ning's hand and the lion's paw together and looked at her sidelong. "With the lion's blessing given to you — your mother will wake soon. Don't be afraid."
A bodyguard handed Chao Musheng two red envelopes. He took them and placed them in the lion's mouth. "Many thanks to the auspicious lion for the gift of fortune. May luck and prosperity follow."
The lion, having received its red envelopes, bowed three times to Chao Musheng, then returned to working the crowd to a round of applause.
"Up you get." Chao Musheng helped Zeng Ning to her feet with one hand. "Go back and be with your mother. I hope she wakes soon."
"Thank you." Zeng Ning lifted her head and looked around. No mockery in any of the eyes — not what she'd braced for.
"Nothing to thank me for." Chao Musheng smiled. "What kind of uncle doesn't look after his niece?"
Under everyone's curious and sympathetic gazes, Zeng Ning went back to her room.
The man — who had been absent for nearly a full day — was sitting on the sofa. He looked up when she came in with a practiced expression of concern. "Ningning — where were you just now?"
"What does it matter to you?" Zeng Ning stepped past him to the bed and tucked the red string she'd been clutching under her mother's pillow.
"What did you put there?" He watched her hands and reached toward the pillow.
Zeng Ning pushed his arm away. "Don't touch it!"
The muscle at the corner of his eye twitched. Both nursing aides were watching. He pulled his mouth into a thin smile. "All right. I won't."
He turned and opened the meal container on the table. "I brought the congee you like. Have some — skipping breakfast is bad for your stomach."
"Stop performing your idea of paternal warmth." Zeng Ning's voice was cold. "Your face is disgusting."
"Ningning — what is the matter with you?" He seemed genuinely unable to comprehend. "What have I done wrong?"
"How long are you going to keep up the act?" She looked at him with something close to hatred. "I won't say in front of my mother what I know you've been doing outside these walls. But every time I hear your voice, I feel physically sick."
His expression shifted through several things. He looked at the unconscious woman in the bed and said, in a tone that was somehow wrong: "Ningning — your mother's condition is serious. From now on I'll be raising you alone. You need to learn to be sensible."
"Get out! Get away from me!"
He was driven out of the room. Finding Chao Musheng and Xu Chenzhu standing in the corridor outside room two, he quickly assembled a pleasing expression.
He took the meal container his daughter had thrown out at him, got into the elevator, and his phone rang.
He glanced at the incoming call, looked up at the security camera in the elevator, and declined.
If Chao Musheng hadn't interfered with his affairs, he wouldn't be in this position.
Wait. Don't rush.
Chao Musheng was being discharged tomorrow.
*
"Mr. Chao — you and the little girl from next door are trending."
The nurse came to remove the IV line and smiled. "A lot of people online are saying you're very handsome."
"Really?" Chao Musheng took out his phone and opened the short video app. Before he'd even typed a search term, he'd already scrolled to the clip of him and Zeng Ning crouching before the lion.
The person who'd edited it was clearly skilled — slow-motion, mood music, the entire thing shot to look like an idol drama.
The moment he placed the little sister's hand on the lion, I saw something divine in him.
Are you sure this isn't a drama production?
Idol drama male leads — please set this as the standard. I have had enough of faces more irregular than a mountain road.
Handsome, don't touch the lion — touch me!
The comments kept spiraling in directions that turned Chao Musheng's face quite red.
He quietly closed out of the video, shut the app, and slid his phone under the pillow. "Ahem."
The nurse, suspecting he'd read the comments section, kept her head down and tried not to smile visibly.
"What video?" Secretary Liu was curious. He opened his phone, searched, found the comments section—
This wasn't a comments section. This was the unpoliced frontier of shameless behavior.
He hoped the boss wouldn't—
He looked back. The boss had already found the trending video on his phone.
Too late.
In the video, the young man placed the girl's hand on the lion's head, and in the moment he lowered his eyes, the movement of light across his features was like ink dispersing in water — like a pleasant dream — impossible not to watch, then watch again.
Xu Chenzhu opened the comments.
If I could have this man, I would happily maintain a balanced diet for the rest of my life.
Disgraceful. No manners. Unacceptable behavior.
"Mr. Xu — you don't need to keep reading." Chao Musheng touched his own face, uncomfortable. "Let's have lunch."
People had entirely too little sense of appropriate boundaries.
"Of course." Xu Chenzhu locked the screen. "I'll have the bodyguard bring the food up."
There were simply too many people in the world. Too many, and too loud.
*
The three of them had made a conspicuous splash. The remaining player — now alone — felt the pressure acutely.
His partner had already failed the instance. The other three had quietly formed something like an alliance. The situation was against him, and he needed a plan.
He scrolled through the mission prompt the system had issued.
The choice between life and death…
Maybe this was what it meant: if a player killed a patient, they could clear the instance.
Player dies — seriously ill patient recovers.
Patient dies — player clears the instance.
That was it. That had to be it.
He stood up, put on his gloves, and began pretend-mopping the corridor while thinking through which patient to target tonight.
Not room seven — the old woman was clearly You Jiu's territory, and You Jiu held grudges. He had no interest in making an enemy there.
The rooms Qi Shi and Wang Xiaojuan covered were also to be avoided. Neither of them was manageable.
That left the rooms his former partner had covered. Those were his best option.
Taking down an NPC patient in the quiet of the night — simple enough. As long as nothing unexpected happened tonight.
*
Late that night, the player glanced at the other three dozing in the break room, got up, and went out.
The air conditioning ran cold at night. He walked the silent, empty corridor and shivered involuntarily.
The vent by the wall was blowing hard. He pressed himself against the wall to avoid it.
Does this hospital not have electricity bills to worry about?
A flash of white in his peripheral vision — he looked up sharply, and found himself face to face with another person.
Just a person. Moving quietly — for a moment he'd thought it was a ghost.
The resident glanced at the mop in the player's hands and offered a friendly tip. "No one checks this time of night. Mop through once before the morning shift handover — that's fine. Find a chance to rest."
Overnight cleaning staff ran such long shifts precisely because sleeping on the clock at night was an unwritten agreement. New staff still too earnest.
The player glanced at the resident's dark circles and put away the tool he'd been about to use. "Thanks for the tip."
His movements had been seen. He'd have to wait for a better opportunity.
"Good to know." The resident yawned. "Get some rest."
He'd been about to go check on his grandmother, but now that the cleaner had seen him, he'd have to wait a while before slipping out.
Thirty minutes later, they met in the corridor again.
Player: "..."
What was this resident's problem — wandering around in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?
Resident: "..."
Didn't I just say you could skip the mopping? Can't this new cleaner follow a simple instruction?
Their eyes met in the corridor. Neither said anything.
The resident stared at the player for a few seconds, then simply took off his white coat and headed for the elevator.
The player stood in place a moment, confirmed no one else would appear, and moved quickly toward the target room.
The attached rest room door was shut — unclear if anyone was inside. The patient room had only the patient.
He used a tool to open the door without a sound, was about to step in—
The call bell panel lit up.
"Doctor!"
A sharp voice from room two cut down the full length of the corridor.
"Doctor! My mother moved her fingers — she's waking up!"
Perfect timing for this.
The player shut the door with some force and bent over his mop.
Half a minute later, medical staff rushed toward room two — including the resident who'd just been in the elevator, who came running back out.
*
Chao Musheng was woken by the commotion in the corridor. He sat up, still half asleep.
The rest room door opened. Xu Chenzhu came out, buttoning his shirt as he walked over. "Zhaozhao — you're awake?"
"What's happening out there?" Chao Musheng rubbed his eyes and worked to surface properly. "I think I heard Zeng Ning's voice."
She was still just a child. He was worried. He put his slippers on and moved toward the door. Xu Chenzhu went ahead of him and opened it. "Mind the cannula on your hand."
"Mm." Chao Musheng nodded blankly.
"Come on." Seeing he was still half-dazed, Xu Chenzhu took his arm and brought him to the door of room two.
A ring of medical staff was inside. Zeng Ning was behind them, wiping tears with shaking hands.
"Xiao Ning — what happened?" Chao Musheng was awake now and went to her in a few strides.
"Uncle Chao!" She found him and latched on to his sleeve, crying and laughing at once. "My mother's fingers moved — she's waking up!"
Medically speaking, a finger moving didn't guarantee consciousness — even patients in a vegetative state could have involuntary limb movement.
But looking at this child's face, Chao Musheng hoped it was a miracle.
*
Ms. Zeng opened her eyes.
Everything blurred white. She blinked several times and eventually made out a white wall.
Her throat burned with dryness. She turned her head slowly and found a room full of strangers.
"Ms. Zeng — I'm your attending physician. Can you hear me?"
A doctor.
She frowned. The fall — she remembered now.
"Mom!" Zeng Ning let go of Chao Musheng and pressed toward the bed, hovering near without daring to touch. "Mom — it's Ningning. Does it hurt anywhere?"
Ningning.
Consciousness returned to her gradually. She looked at her daughter, gathered what strength she had, and slowly moved her hand to rest on the back of her daughter's.
Don't be afraid, Ningning. I'm here.
"Mom." The girl who had been holding herself together for days felt, the moment her mother's fingers made contact, the full weight of everything she'd been carrying — and it came out at once.
Ms. Zeng opened her mouth and made a sound, very faint.
"Mom — what are you saying?" Zeng Ning put her ear close.
"Call—" She gathered everything she had and repeated it: "Call the police."
The medical staff exchanged a grave look. A patient's first coherent act upon waking was to call the police. The injuries were almost certainly deliberate.
"Ms. Zeng — rest and recover. We'll contact the police now." The attending doctor looked around the room. The patient's spouse was not present.
"Young lady — we need to take your mother for some tests." The nurse spoke gently to Zeng Ning. "Can you wait here while we go?"
Zeng Ning shook her head. "I want to stay with her."
She had waited too long for this moment. Nothing would make her leave.
"Then stay." Xu Chenzhu spoke. "I'll have two bodyguards go with you. They can help with anything you need."
"Thank you, Uncle Xu." Genuine gratitude.
"No need to thank me." He curved his mouth slightly. "Take care of your mother."
Chao Musheng glanced at Xu Chenzhu. He might be imagining things, but Xu Chenzhu seemed to have a particular softness toward Zeng Ning.
Was this just the patience and indulgence adults extended to young people?
*
After a night of medical care, Ms. Zeng had recovered enough to speak clearly with the officers when they came to take her account.
"Ms. Zeng — you're saying the fall occurred at approximately 11:30 that evening?"
"Yes."
"Our investigation found that your husband placed the emergency call at 2:05 the following morning." The officer handling the case was a woman; her tone was steady. "Anything you suspect or want to tell us — we'll follow every lead you provide."
"Before I fell down the stairs, I'd found evidence that my husband had been misappropriating company funds." Speaking of her husband, Ms. Zeng's voice was flat. "He was afraid I would go to the police. So he pushed me."
"Two days ago, your husband told neighbors that he'd discovered you had an inappropriate relationship with an employee, that you'd argued, and that he went to the guest room alone. He says he only found you unconscious at two in the morning."
"That's a lie — he's the one who broke his vows!" Zeng Ning came in from the corridor. "Last month I saw him walking with another woman — arm in arm — and she was pregnant."
"Ningning — be polite in front of the officers." Ms. Zeng tried to sit up; Zeng Ning immediately moved to help her. "Mom — you have injuries. Don't move."
She gave her daughter a tired, gentle smile, then turned to the officers. "I'm in business. I've always been cautious. So I also installed security cameras in the home."
Which meant—
The victim had footage of her husband deliberately harming her.
A formidable woman. Calm under pressure. Decisive even against someone who had hurt her.
*
The man came out of the elevator carrying a thermos. Something in the atmosphere on the floor felt strange — as though there were eyes on him from all directions.
He turned to look at the nurses' station. The nurses were bent over their work. No one appeared to be watching.
He must be imagining it.
He walked straight to room two and pushed the door open — and found three officers in uniform standing inside.
His mind went blank. He turned and ran.
He made it perhaps three steps before walking into a bodyguard and falling hard.
"Just so you know — running in the hospital corridor is not permitted."
He looked up at the voice.
Chao Musheng. Again.
How?!
His composure collapsed entirely. He was about to say something when the cool weight of handcuffs closed around his wrists.
"Mr. Wang — we have reason to suspect your involvement in multiple criminal offenses. Please cooperate with our investigation."
"I didn't mean to kill her — she drove me to it." He hunched over, shoulders curled in, cringing like something that lived in dark places.
Zeng Ning stood at the door of room two and watched the man called her father debase himself in front of the police. She felt a combination of sorrow, disgust, and something she couldn't understand.
A man with so little courage — how had he still dared to betray his wife? How had he still been able to hurt her?
All of his daring and malice, only ever turned on family.
"Ningning!"
He saw her and began writhing, straining toward her. "Ningning — I'm your father. You have to help me, this is all a misunderstanding—"
"My mother woke up." Zeng Ning felt nauseous, her stomach turning.
"What did you say—" He went still. "She woke up?"
How could she have woken up?
He'd spent months quietly teaching himself acupuncture for this moment. After she fell and lost consciousness, he'd sealed the vital points himself — even if she survived, she'd only be a vegetable. How could she wake up?
"Ningning." He pressed out a dreadful smile. "Are you lying to me?"
He was even capable of performing helplessness in front of his own daughter, if it meant a chance to escape charges.
Zeng Ning finally couldn't hold it any longer. She bent against the doorframe and dry-heaved.
Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
The officers had seen enough. They hauled him up and removed him — until the elevator doors closed, he kept looking back, still waiting for his daughter to plead his case to her mother.
*
"Ningning." Ms. Zeng looked at her daughter's ashen face and gripped her hand with everything she had. "Are you all right?"
"Mom — I'm fine." Zeng Ning smiled. "You waking up is the only thing that matters."
One of the nursing aides came over with a warm smile. "Little Zeng-zong — time to change your mother's dressings."
"Little Zeng-zong?" Ms. Zeng heard the title and managed a faint, weak smile. "That's an interesting name. Thank you to my very capable little Zeng-zong, for keeping me safe."
"Uncle Chao helped me find the aides." Zeng Ning began gently lifting the edge of her mother's blanket, letting the aide work.
"Uncle Chao?" Ms. Zeng didn't recall her daughter knowing anyone by that name. "Who is he?"
"He said his company has a project with yours." Zeng Ning thought for a moment. "He's the president's assistant at Kunlun."
"The Kunlun assistant?" Ms. Zeng was so startled she nearly jolted upright. "How did you meet him?!"
Her company — at best, it had caught some of Kunlun's overflow. Calling themselves a partner was generous.
"He was ill and staying next door. A few nights ago he heard me arguing with—" She stopped. "He heard the situation. I told Uncle Chao what was happening." She gave her mother the full account. "He's been very kind. Without him, I couldn't have protected you."
"Our Ningning has been wonderful." Ms. Zeng's smile was tender. "And without you — why would Mr. Chao have helped me?"
Zeng Ning flushed at the praise. "His boyfriend is very kind too."
His boyfriend?
Ms. Zeng turned this over in her mind. She'd heard the way the industry talked about Kunlun's young assistant — still a university student, exceptional, and unattached, the sort of person people said made them envious of whoever eventually had the luck to be with him.
Apparently in under two weeks, he had a boyfriend?
A knock at the door. The aide opened it.
Chao Musheng was standing in the doorway holding a bunch of flowers. "Ningning — may I come in?"
"Yes, yes!" Zeng Ning jumped up to meet him.
He handed her the flowers. "Congratulations to Ms. Zeng on her recovery. I hope you heal quickly."
Ms. Zeng looked at the young man who had appeared in her doorway, and then at the tall, striking figure behind him carrying a fruit basket.
She had, for the first time in recent memory, genuine cause to resent her broken leg — she couldn't leap out of bed to receive them properly.
What kind of person was she, to have Kunlun's actual boss come visit her in person?! With a fruit basket! This was the kind of scene you only saw in fantasies.
"Mom — this is Uncle Xu. Uncle Chao's boyfriend." Zeng Ning cradled her flowers with a bright, satisfied smile — the energy of a child showing off a very good friend to a parent. "Aren't they perfectly matched?"