It was Xiao Fei's scream, as she saw her boss unhesitatingly grab the blade with his hand, her heart almost leaping out of her throat.
Xiao Fei braced one hand against the wall, the other covering her mouth, staring dumbfoundedly as blood trickled down Wei Qian's hand from the groove of the dagger, then he lifted his knee, pressing it into the stomach of the short man. Xiao Fei heard a dull thud, could almost imagine the pain; the man let out a short "ah", saliva spraying out unintentionally, bending over involuntarily, then promptly receiving a fierce elbow to the back of his neck.
The short man staggered, fell down like a dying fish, eyes rolling back slightly, twitching on the ground.
It wasn't until then that Xiao Fei felt a slight pain in her ankle.
The elevator door opened, a security guard patrolling the underground parking lot, intending to go upstairs, was startled by the bloody scene and took two steps back.
"Call the police," Wei Qian picked up the knife from the ground with his remaining good hand, phone sandwiched between his shoulder and ear, telling San Pang who hadn't had the chance to hang up yet, "I'm in our building's parking garage."
His suit was too snug for such vigorous activity, Wei Qian felt it when he threw Xiao Fei out, sure enough, looking down, his jacket had a tear.
He simply took off the torn coat, wrapping it around his still bleeding hand.
San Pang yelled hoarsely, "You scared the shit out of me! What the fuck is going on?!"
"Tsk," Wei Qian said, "Maybe we should invest in a clothing factory, torn clothes sell for a fortune, yet they're so flimsy."
San Pang: "Get the fuck outta here! Damn it, stay put!"
With that, San Pang hung up with a clatter, replaced by a busy tone.
Xiao Fei frantically rummaged through her bag, pulling out a pack of tissues, limping over, pale-faced, wiping Wei Qian's profusely bleeding hand, looking at the gruesome wound, Xiao Fei felt herself starting to faint, "This, this, this won't do, we need to go to the hospital. Director Wei, you scared me to death just now, do you know? He still had a knife, aren't you afraid of him..."
"Me, afraid of him?" Wei Qian raised an eyebrow lightly, then nonchalantly stepped on the back of the man lying on the ground, elaborating, "Back when I was a thug, risking my life, that guy was probably still wearing diapers."
"What a time to joke!" Xiao Fei didn't buy into his story at all, pulling Wei Qian out of the elevator with trembling hands, "Hey, this guy is too dangerous, you stay away from him! Security, can you figure out how to tie this lunatic up? He's a knife-wielding maniac."
The security guard immediately called for backup through the walkie-talkie, and several people clumsily surrounded Wang Dongliang's nephew.
"I'm not joking with you," Wei Qian wiped his hands while speaking to Xiao Fei, "When I was young, my family was poor, couldn't afford to go to school. To make money, I went to the underground boxing ring in Guangdong, ended up discovering it wasn't just boxing, it was a testing ground for new drugs. I barely escaped with my life."
Xiao Fei stared at him expressionlessly for a moment, then flatly responded, "Oh, actually, when I was young, my family was poor too, couldn't afford to go to school. To make money, I worked as a spy for extraterrestrial agents, specifically catching cats and dogs to send them for research. Eventually, that agent got bitten by an unvaccinated dog, died of rabies, and that's how I got out of the double-agent life."
Wei Qian chuckled in sync, but inside, an indescribable feeling welled up. In just over a decade, the experiences he had lived through, now when spoken, no one believed them.
Is life really that tumultuous?
Or has he rushed to live out someone else's entire life in his brief half-life?
Wei Qian didn't dwell on it, merely asked gentlemanly, "By the way, my hand was a bit heavy just now, your foot is okay, right? Didn't sprain it, did you?"
At this, Xiao Fei inexplicably cheered up, breaking free from her earlier state of fear and trembling, smiling brightly, "Director Wei, did you really lift me with just one hand?"
Wei Qian raised an eyebrow, pretended to smile modestly, straightened his shirt cuffs, waiting for her to praise his bravery.
But to his surprise, Xiao Fei just held her face, gleefully saying, "That's great, it seems like I'm not fat at all, no need to diet!"
Three minutes later, Xiao Fei called two people from upstairs, one drove Wei Qian to the hospital, the other stayed with her to wait for the police to handle the situation.
Outside, thick fog enveloped everything, visibility was low, the driver, watching Wei Qian's continuously bleeding hand, was extremely anxious, changing lanes several times, driving recklessly.
Wei Qian remarked, "Didn't hit any major blood vessels, bleeding's almost stopped on its own, it's not like a miscarriage, why are you in such a hurry?"
The driver cast a nervous glance at him.
Wei Qian frowned, leaning back against the seat, "Drive slower... with this thick fog, who knows if we'll take off on time."
The answer is no.
The airport was crowded with a large group of people, resembling a Spring Festival train station. Wei Zhiyuan finally found a seat in a coffee shop, passing time by reading. Unexpectedly, after finishing a book, he still didn't get any reliable flight information, so he had to take out his laptop and go online again.
Wei Zhiyuan idled away his time, aimlessly browsing several websites. Suddenly, a piece of local news popped up. He was about to close it as usual, just giving it a hurried glance, but he felt the picture below the news seemed somewhat familiar.
Taking a closer look, it was the underground parking lot of his brother's company.
The headline read, "Man wielding a knife in office building subdued."
Wei Zhiyuan immediately dialed Wei Qian's company landline, no answer, transferred to the front desk.
Just after listening to a few sentences of the situation, Wei Zhiyuan broke out in a cold sweat, then dialed Wei Qian's mobile phone.
Wei Qian was at the hospital, inconvenienced by his hand, it took him a while to fish out his phone: "Hey, you haven't taken off yet?"
Wei Zhiyuan: "Where are you?"
"I... uh," Wei Qian paused, vaguely saying, "I'm outside, something came up..."
Wei Zhiyuan impatiently interrupted him: "Where are you injured?"
Wei Qian was taken aback, "You're quite well-informed."
Wei Zhiyuan couldn't hold back his urgency: "Stop beating around the bush! Where are you injured?!"
Wei Qian had never been yelled at like this before, stunned for a moment before coming back to his senses: "What are you shouting about? I'm not dead yet—just a small cut on my hand, nothing serious."
The coffee shop was crowded, the heating was sufficient, but Wei Zhiyuan felt his hands were so cold they were numb. He closed his eyes, calmed down for a moment, forcing himself to speak slower, lowering his tone by an octave: "I'm going to reschedule."
"Are you bored out of your mind?" Wei Qian's tone sounded somewhat lazy, "I'm not reimbursing you for the taxi fare."
"I'm heading back too, I can't rest easy without seeing you."
"Sigh... Fine, hold on a moment," Wei Qian reluctantly stopped him. Wei Zhiyuan heard him sigh, then there was a click.
After a while, his phone alerted him of a multimedia message. Wei Zhiyuan opened it to find a photo sent by Wei Qian. The wound had been cleaned around it, a doctor in a white coat avoiding the camera, bowing his head to treat it, wiping away the blood stains. Although it still looked rough, it didn't seem too serious.
"Seen it yet?" Wei Qian said, "Once you've seen it, just wait there honestly, don't keep fussing back and forth."
Wei Zhiyuan frowned, feeling strangely perplexed.
For one, he had never seen Wei Qian take photos with his phone. Wei Qian wasn't accustomed to using his phone, he either made calls or sent texts, nothing else. Would someone who never used it remember to take a photo at such a critical moment, just to stop him from rescheduling his flight?
And just for the sake of preventing him from changing his flight?
Indeed, coordinating the investment funds needed Wei Zhiyuan's involvement, but it wasn't urgent. A delay of half a month wouldn't make much of a difference. Even if nothing happened on Wei Qian's end, due to flight delays caused by the fog, couldn't he just call and say, "Bro, I might not be able to leave today, how about changing to a better weather?" Would Wei Qian stop him from going back?
That's impossible. Wei Zhiyuan felt, with his brother's temperament, he might even personally drive over to pick him up because he's worried about the bad weather.
Overthinking everything, Wei Zhiyuan became even more nervous. Wei Qian was obviously pushing him away. Then... what exactly happened on his end?
Wei Zhiyuan never knew his imagination could be so rich. From running out of the airport to getting into the taxi, all sorts of worst-case scenarios flashed through his mind like a carousel.
He felt his heart rate was about to skyrocket to a hundred and eight.
Without hesitation, Wei Zhiyuan rushed to the hospital, only to find it empty. Immediately, he hailed a taxi and headed back home. It wasn't until he opened the door and saw the person lying on the sofa that he finally felt relieved.
Leaning against his own door, Wei Zhiyuan felt his legs turn to jelly. After calming down for a while, he walked over slowly.
The TV was on, playing some boring variety show, while Wei Qian was already asleep on the sofa. One hand rested on his abdomen, the other injured and wrapped in a clean bandage, lying by his side.
Wei Zhiyuan didn't disturb him, he bent down to carefully examine Wei Qian's injured hand, making sure his complexion was still good, and there were no more injuries on his body. Only then did he completely relax, muttering to himself: "Damn guy, what's with all the secrecy? You nearly scared the soul out of me."
"I'm heading back too, I can't rest easy without seeing you."
"Sigh... Fine, hold on a moment," Wei Qian reluctantly stopped him. Wei Zhiyuan heard him sigh, then there was a click.
After a while, his phone alerted him of a multimedia message. Wei Zhiyuan opened it to find a photo sent by Wei Qian. The wound had been cleaned around it, a doctor in a white coat avoiding the camera, bowing his head to treat it, wiping away the blood stains. Although it still looked rough, it didn't seem too serious.
"Seen it yet?" Wei Qian said, "Once you've seen it, just wait there honestly, don't keep fussing back and forth."
Wei Zhiyuan frowned, feeling strangely perplexed.
For one, he had never seen Wei Qian take photos with his phone. Wei Qian wasn't accustomed to using his phone, he either made calls or sent texts, nothing else. Would someone who never used it remember to take a photo at such a critical moment, just to stop him from rescheduling his flight?
And just for the sake of preventing him from changing his flight?
Just then, the phone Wei Qian tossed on the hall table rang. Wei Zhiyuan walked over, picked it up, and glanced back at Wei Qian, who was fast asleep. He answered the call and walked to another room. "Xiaofei, it's me."
Xiaofei hesitated for a moment. "Hey, Xiaoyuan? You didn't leave? Where's your brother?"
"I saw the news at the airport, got worried, and came back," he replied. "He's asleep. Is there something urgent?"
"That's great," Xiaofei said. "Could I trouble you to come over? There's an urgent document at the project company that needs his signature immediately. The people there need to catch a train back tonight. I was supposed to deliver it, but today, your brother broke a heel in the elevator. I just borrowed a pair this afternoon, but they're not very comfortable. Could you..."
Wei Zhiyuan readily agreed, put his luggage back in the room, and took Wei Qian's car keys before leaving.
He was quiet from start to finish, and Wei Qian didn't notice a thing.
It wasn't until Wei Zhiyuan had been gone for quite some time that Wei Qian was awakened by the unexpected knocking on the door from San Pang.
San Pang said, "I've come to console the comrade with the broken claw. How's it feeling?"
Wei Qian, rudely awakened from his deep sleep, was already feeling annoyed. "There's a kitchen knife in the kitchen, why don't you chop off a finger and see how it feels— isn't that nonsense?"
San Pang plopped down on his sofa. "Come on, you're quite the hero. I heard Xiaofei almost made you out to be some kind of hero. Going back, you'll have two months of admiring glances from little girls."
As San Pang spoke, he pulled Wei Qian's arm and glanced at his hand wrapped like a dumpling. "You've become the one-armed swordsman now. Ah, why is it so short? Xiaoyuan left at this crucial moment, and there's no one at home to take care of things. I've been saying you should get married, settle down, make others give up hope, and you'd have settled down long ago. Now... oh well! The more I say, the worse I feel. By the way, where's your sister?"
"Her agent called yesterday, asking her to go back to look at the script," Wei Qian replied.
"Oh? She's gone too?" San Pang scratched his head. "Yang Guo, my friend, what kind of shitty luck are you having? Otherwise, I'll come over these days?"
"No need," Wei Qian hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said, "Ma Chunming is up and about, right? I might take a short break in a couple of days. If there's anything at the company, discuss it more with him."
"Wait a minute, something's not right with what you're saying. Where are you going?" San Pang asked.
"It's nothing, just a minor surgery. I plan to stay in the hospital for a few days," Wei Qian replied.
San Pang was taken aback. "Surgery? What surgery?"
"Just... nothing major, really," Wei Qian replied.
San Pang asked, "Chronic appendicitis?"
"Yeah," Wei Qian confirmed.
"What do you mean 'yeah'? Who are you kidding?" San Pang frowned, scrutinizing Wei Qian with infinite suspicion. "You better explain clearly to me, no way around it."
"There's a small lump on my lung. I've had an appointment with the hospital for over half a month now, and I'm going in for surgery in a couple of days," Wei Qian said, noticing San Pang's incredulous expression and quickly adding, "It's really nothing serious, benign. Once it's removed, I'll be fine."
San Pang's anger surged up instantly. He interrogated him, "I... I fuckin'... Wei Qian, you... when the hell did this happen?"
"It was during the company's medical check-up this autumn. They found a shadow on my lung in the X-rays. I also did a PPD test, and it wasn't tuberculosis. The antibiotics didn't work, and it wasn't inflammation..." Wei Qian saw San Pang's increasingly grim expression and immediately changed his tone, adding, "But there were no signs of cancer in the bronchoscopy or sputum. Most likely it's benign. Can you stop freaking out like you've lost your own father?"
"Most likely?!" San Pang's voice suddenly reached a frequency beyond human reach. He yelled at Wei Qian's ear, "Lost my father! You better go die, Wei surname, can't you speak human language? What the fuck is 'most likely'?"
Wei Qian rubbed his ear. "I knew you guys would..."
"Fuck your third uncle, you can keep this shit to yourself and not say a word, you fucking turtle spirit?" San Pang paced around the room, glaring fiercely at Wei Qian, then leaned in close to him with a ferocious expression. "No, brother, I've been timid since I was a kid, not even as brave as a needle. What did the doctor actually say? Is it reliable? Don't 'most likely' me, give me a definite answer, is it benign or not?"
Wei Qian leaned back against the sofa. "It's really nothing, the doctor also said it's not a big issue. But he can't say for sure. You understand, right? If he definitively diagnoses it as benign, and then during the surgery, they find it has already spread, his responsibility would be enormous..."
San Pang jumped up three feet high. "I'll fuckin' beat you! Spread spread spread... What the fuck are you saying?"
Wei Qian waved his hand. "Pah, pah, pah, that's not what I meant. What I meant was..."
"Shut the fuck up!" San Pang plopped back down, gave him a fierce glare, then took a while to calm down, his tone slightly weaker. "I get it— I was wondering why the hell this dumbass of yours suddenly quit smoking recently, thought you were turning over a new leaf, turns out you were waiting for me. If you weren't about to leave the company for a while, you wouldn't have planned on telling anyone, right?"
"You see your jittery behavior, who should I talk to about it?" Wei Qian propped his feet up on the coffee table. "Let's leave it at that for now. Don't spread it around, especially..."
"Especially Xiao Yuan," San Pang chimed in.
"Yeah, and Xiao Bao too. We'll talk about it after the surgery. For now, keep it quiet."
San Pang calmed down and sensed something from Wei Qian's seemingly indifferent face. "Qian'er, do you also feel uncertain deep down?"
Wei Qian forced a smile. "It's like bungee jumping. Logically, I know everything's fine, but there's still this uneasy feeling. I can handle it alone."
San Pang stared into his eyes. "Honestly, when you first found out about the shadow on your lung, and after ruling out tuberculosis and inflammation, what were you thinking?"
"What else could I think?" Wei Qian peeled an orange, popped a segment into his mouth, and said flatly, "There are plenty of things that could cause a shadow on the lung. Just because we ruled out those two doesn't mean it's not lung cancer."
"Stop bullshitting after the fact. You must've felt like the sky was falling back then," San Pang retorted.
Wei Qian tossed the orange peel at him and chuckled, "Thanks, but no need to project your anxieties onto me."
With their close relationship, San Pang could tell from Wei Qian's non-denial what was going on in his mind.
Yet despite everything, there had been no clues or signs before. San Pang was certain that if he hadn't noticed, no one else had, not even Wei Zhiyuan.
But now, thinking back, perhaps there had been some subtle hints, starting with the proposal for that industrial park.
Wei Qian had always harbored the idea of building a mature property team. He had been saying all along that the timing wasn't right and the risks were too high, so the proposal had been in the works, but he had never shown it to anyone. Now... did the timing suddenly become perfect?
San Pang, like everyone else, had assumed that Wei Qian had been closely monitoring the situation and had seized the opportunity of Wei Zhiyuan's return and Wang Dongliang's provocation to unveil his plan. However, while he had rolled out the plan, he hadn't personally overseen it; instead, he had handed it over to Ma Chunming.
San Pang quickly grasped the implication – Wei Qian had seemed to be deliberately relinquishing the power he had held for years.
At that moment, was Wei Qian anxiously awaiting what might have felt like a death sentence?
So, considering Wei Qian's arrangements for hospitalization and surgery half a month earlier, along with his intentional efforts to send Wei Zhiyuan and Xiao Bao away, had he been relieved of the impending doom just over a month ago? Did Wei Qian behave any differently then than he did normally?
It seemed... not really.
Perhaps there were subtle differences, but no one else knew?
San Pang didn't know. When Wei Qian was awaiting the test results, besides unveiling the plan, he had done something else regarding Wei Zhiyuan. He also didn't know that after the alarm had been lifted, as Wei Qian planned to send both kids away, he had felt a sense of relief, allowing Wei Zhiyuan to do something for him.
San Pang gazed into the eyes of his old friend, feeling a mix of emotions.
Suddenly, he felt like engaging in casual conversation and asked Wei Qian, "Back when Sister Chen was sick, you told me that if you ever got a terminal illness, you'd just disappear and die quietly. Was that true?"
Wei Qian replied, "Of course not. How could I do such a thing?"
San Pang blinked in surprise.
"That was then, this is now," Wei Qian said, pressing the neatly peeled orange peel onto the table and handing half of the fruit to San Pang. "I'll seek treatment, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery – whatever works."
"Aren't you afraid of losing all your hair and wasting away? Aren't you afraid of burdening others?" San Pang asked.
"Chen Lu was born a beauty, so it's natural for her to fear becoming ugly. What do I have to fear?" Wei Qian smiled. "Money-wise, I won't burden anyone. I can stay in the ICU for the rest of my life without worrying about money."
"So, you're afraid of dying? I said back then..." San Pang began.
"It's not that," Wei Qian interrupted. "When my grandmother passed away, I realized that if someone is suffering from illness, with a bad temper from long-term illness, and ends up dying like a monster, family members usually feel relieved, not hard to accept. But if someone dies suddenly, I wouldn't mind it, but I'm afraid Xiao Yuan and Xiao Bao... they might not be able to accept it, especially..."
He didn't finish his sentence as the door was suddenly kicked open – perhaps San Pang had left it ajar when he entered, leaving a gap, easily pushed open. Both men looked up to see Wei Zhiyuan standing at the door, his face devoid of color, holding a briefcase.
When Wei Zhiyuan had returned with his belongings, he had coincidentally overheard part of San Pang and Wei Qian's conversation at the poorly closed door. He hadn't heard everything, just caught Wei Qian's words "...seek treatment, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery – whatever works."
Wei Zhiyuan stood there, completely stunned.