Lei Feng?
Xiao Luo looked at the man from top to bottom. He was much chubbier than Zhang Dashan. There were evident signs of aging on his skin, especially the three conspicuous lines of wrinkles on his forehead. He put the man’s age at around 45 years. Putting aside his thoughts, he quickly expressed his gratitude, “Thank you, old brother!”
Addressing him as ‘Old Brother’ was common courtesy, but little did he expect the reaction, when the man heard him. He flew into a rage and said, “What old brother? You are the old brother! Your whole family is an old brother! Let me ask you how old are you?”
Xiao Luo was confused. After some thought, he replied, “Twenty-six.”
“You’re twenty-six? I’m just twenty-two.”
“You’re twenty-two?”
Xiao Luo consciously kept his eyes from opening wide in surprise. He could not believe that this man, with the appearance of a middle-aged man in his forties, was still this young.
“You don’t believe me?”
The man fumbled for his identity card, and finally, getting it out from the inner pocket of his shirt, held it in front of Xiao Luo’s eyes, “See for yourself, am I twenty-two?”
Xiao Luo got a good look at his identity card. He was really twenty-two! He also had rather bumpkin-ish, yet down to earth name: Liu Tieguo. [1]
“See it now? Don’t just simply call someone’ old brother’. You are four years older than me. I should be the one calling you old brother,” Liu Tieguo said with a snort of contempt., keeping his ID back in his pocket.
Xiao Luo was unsure whether to cry or laugh. When he looked at Liu Tieguo’s overly mature appearance, he had to doubt whether his birth date was altered 20 years forward when he applied for his ID.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A nurse appeared at the door, followed by two police officers alongside her.
“The one on the bed is the car owner that was sent to our hospital after the car crash last night,” the nurse introduced to the cops.
The cops nodded, then stepped towards the bed. The male officer saluted Xiao Luo, “Good day, sir. Are you the owner of the car, C0019, Zhang Dashan?”
“No. I’m his friend,” Xiao Luo answered honestly.
The other female cop hurriedly recorded the information.
The male cop asked again, “What is your name?”
“Xiao Luo.”
“Can you still remember what happened yesterday?”
…
The two cops asked more than 10 questions consecutively. The scene of the car crash last night was at the blind spot of the surveillance cameras. They were unable to observe the entire incident through surveillance footage; hence, they could only question the people involved. Besides, based on their preliminary deduction, this car crash wasn’t as simple as it looked. The truck that opened up its throttle from the incident yesterday was reported as scrap one year ago. Someone had deliberately fixed it to be used in the accident.
“Thank you for cooperating with us.” The two police officers once again saluted Xiao Luo.
“My friend, I heard you said that the car accident last night was premeditated. What in the name of Heavens is going on?” Liu Tieguo asked curiously.
“It’s nothing. Don’t ponder on it. We’ll investigate it thoroughly,” the male cop said.
The other female cop echoed with a gentle smile, “Rest assured. We will definitely arrest the wrongdoers. Are you his father? Uncle, your son, is already past twenty, but you still look so young. You are really blessed.”
As a woman, she was naturally better than the opposite gender when it came to comforting words. She was smiling pleasantly, and her words of comfort were from the depths of her heart. However, for Liu Tieguo, this wasn’t comforting at all, this was blatant humiliation.
Liu Tieguo was once again piqued, “What blessed! You are the one who is blessed! Your whole family is blessed! Since when did I have such an old son? Maybe you can make one for me!” As he continued, he again took out his ID to show it to the female cop, “Look clearly, I’m only 22, don’t think that you can just simply call other people uncle because you are a cop. You are humiliating me as a person, you know?”
Upon sighting the ID and getting a clear look at Liu Tieguo’s date of birth, the female cop got really embarrassed. Her face immediately flushed liver red. She quickly apologized, “S-sorry, I-I misunderstood…”
“Hmmph!”
Liu Tieguo angrily returned his identity card to his pocket.
Xiao Luo was amused. He couldn’t remember the last time he was mistaken for being the son of someone else.
At that moment, the male cop asked, “Mr. Liu, what is your relationship with Mr. Xiao?”
“We’re totally unrelated. I’m just a passer-by. I sent him to the hospital as I saw him lying unconscious on the ground.”
Liu Tieguo raised his chin to the left and snorted, “Oh yeah, since uncle cop, and aunty cop is already here, there will be no need for I, Lei Feng, to remain.” He turned to Xiao Luo, “Old brother, the ravioli I bought you is on the table. Eat it while it’s still hot. If it isn’t convenient for you to do it yourself, ask uncle cop and aunty cop to feed you. You know, they are government servants. They should do this kind of stuff. I’m leaving, so bye!”
He had intentionally emphasized the words, uncle, and aunty. He was obviously just being sarcastic. Then, he turned away without looking back. He was in a mood of melancholy. He got called ‘old brother’ because his face looked like it was in a hurry to age, and what’s worst, he got mistaken as the father of a 26-year-old man. What the hell was going on in his life?
The two cops took on an awkward expression, but they were thinking, “Well, you looked old, how could you blame us?”
…
…
Zhang Dashan rushed over as soon as he received the news. His rough voice preceded his entrance.
“Xiao Luo, Old Xiao…”
He pushed the door open. When he saw Xiao Luo, who was on the bed wrapped like a mummy, he ran over hurriedly, “Are you Xiao Luo?”
“Who else can I be?” Xiao Luo replied brusquely.
“What the f*ck, which quack wrapped you up like this? Aside from your mouth, nose, and eyes, you are all… wrapped up! How to pee and sh*t like this?” Zhang Dashan put down his briefcase, making a point to daringly yelled the word ‘quack’ inside the hospital.
“Shut up and pay up my medical bills,” Xiao Luo said in mock anger.
“What’s the hurry? Let me ask you, did the Dragon Gang did this?” asked Zhang Dashan.
Xiao Luo nodded.
“F*ck. I really want those bastard’s dead!” Zhang Dashan gritted his teeth.
“Enough, just take care of Luo’s Workshop for me, alright? Don’t worry about the other stuff.”
Xiao Luo advised him, knowing he meant every word of it. Then he was reminded of Feng Wuhen and his companions, “Consider Feng Wuhen and rest working for me. You mustn’t mistreat them in terms of wages. When I finally destroy the Dragon Gang, you have to recruit them back to the company and give them a chance to train and improve themselves. Only in that way can they be given high posts when Luo’s Workshop expands to the other cities.”
“Old Xiao, you better settle these things yourself after you get better. Your priority now should be to take care of your injuries.” Saying that Zhang Dashan took his briefcase and went to settle his medical expenses.
Funnily, Xiao Luo suddenly thought of Liu Tieguo, who had brought him to the hospital.
If he were to let Zhang Dashan know that there was someone with a bigger and chubbier face than him, he should feel very comforted.
Then his mind wandered to yesterday’s car crash.
A cold glint emerged within Xiao Luo’s eyes. Da Yuan was dead, and Leng Bao, who got away, had now made his way into his must-kill list.
[1] Tieguo: meaning metal pot