Chapter Eighty: Mad Meg (2)

A doctor, clutching his eyes and screaming, stumbled out of the psychotherapy room and was stopped by the guards who rushed over. The man was in terrible pain; blood was running from his eyes, and no matter what anyone asked him, he could not answer at all. But when they saw little Meg being carefully carried out by one of the guards, with blood on the index finger of her right hand, they already understood what had happened.

That scream had awakened everyone in the middle of the night, but because no one dared approach this building casually, it was still very quiet outside. Yet within the range covered by that cry, no one could sleep anymore.

Luckily, this was a hospital. A wounded doctor was immediately sent for treatment, while Lu Man hurried to report the situation to the chief steward, Lin Jian. When he mentioned Meg, he saw that she was looking at him with a chilling smile on her face, and her eyes were disturbingly unsettling.

Xiao Tianci had no choice but to say goodbye to Tian Ni ahead of time and step outside. The chief steward, Lin Jian, was there with King Kong and Fang Meng. “What happened?”

“Lu Man just reported that the psychiatrist treating Meg was nearly blinded by her hand. He’s being treated now. We still don’t know the full extent of it, so I had Lu Man send her back to her ward first.” After speaking, the chief steward Lin Jian let out a deeply regretful sigh. He had seen that lovely little flower seller clearly at the time, and never imagined that such a tragedy would turn her into this.

Even during the day, Xiao Tianci could toy with the president of the great overseas power and ignore him completely, but the moment Meg was mentioned, he felt a stab of pain in his hand. It was truly vexing. In truth, he knew he could completely wash his hands of her, hand her over to some welfare home, or simply throw some money at it and let someone else take care of her. It would be far easier that way.

But for some reason, he just could not bring himself to rest easy. Perhaps this was what fate meant. Xiao Tianci had not grown up in a great clan; as a child, he had always been alone. Ever since he had rescued this little girl and learned of her miserable past, he had felt that he could not abandon this little sister. It was as though she were his own flesh and blood. Even when she went mad and bit his finger, he had thought of leaving her be. But in the end, he still could not let go. Now, hearing that she had caused trouble again, his head began to ache.

He wanted to ignore her, but could not bear to. Yet now she was like a little lunatic, injuring anyone she saw, and that was truly troublesome. Xiao Tianci thought it over and instructed, “Have Lu Man assign people to keep watch over her around the clock. We can’t let her cause any more trouble. Especially when she’s receiving treatment from the doctors. Also, Chief Steward, you go on my behalf and apologize to the director and the psychiatrist who was injured. As for compensation, give them whatever is needed directly.”

After saying that, Xiao Tianci shook his head helplessly, rubbed his fingers, and brought King Kong to Meg’s room. Two guards were holding her down so that she lay there; she did not struggle, only looked back and forth at the people pressing her with those deeply unsettling eyes.

This time Xiao Tianci had King Kong stand beside him. Someone brought a chair, and he sat by the bedside, then waved the two guards away. Little Meg was like a vampire that had gone hungry for many days. As soon as the two large hands left her shoulders, she lunged at Xiao Tianci’s arm and bit down.

Xiao Tianci sat there unmoving. This time, things were not as they had been the first time. Meg froze at once, because she had bitten onto a finger. The finger was long and thick, just left there for her to bite, yet no matter how hard she tried, she could not make it give way.

After biting twice and finding it impossible, Meg seemed enraged. Crying out in a muffled, furious voice, she kept biting wildly at King Kong’s hand, then at his fingers, the back of his hand, and later even clamped onto his forearm. Watching her, it looked as though she were gnawing on a pig’s trotter, and Xiao Tianci did not know whether to laugh or cry.

At last, Meg grew exhausted to the point that she could not even open her mouth. She fell back onto the bed, and tears in her eyes streamed from both corners like little brooks. Xiao Tianci hurriedly wiped at his own tears, not knowing when they had also begun to fall. Damn it, why was he crying? If anyone found out, how embarrassing would that be? A grown man, crying like this.

Yet seeing little Meg in that state, he could not stop his tears. His hand slowly reached out. King Kong’s hand moved slightly, because if Xiao Tianci drew too near, and Meg went mad again, it would not be easy for him to protect the boss without harming her. “Boss, be careful.”

Xiao Tianci looked at King Kong and nodded, then waved a hand. “You go out first. Without my orders, do not come in.”

“Boss...”

Xiao Tianci patted the sleeve that Meg had just savagely bitten. It looked tattered like a beggar’s rags, yet there was not a single mark on it. He smiled. “Don’t worry. I may not be as strong as you, but even if she really gets in a couple of bites, it’s nothing.”

Looking at the little Meg lying there, Xiao Tianci sighed. “It’s really hard to explain this feeling. Fate, perhaps. Or maybe it’s because our backgrounds are both so miserable. I don’t even know why. Or perhaps she is just too lovely. Or too pitiful. From today onward, she is my little sister, Xiao Tianci’s little sister. From now on, she is one of the Xiao family.”

“Yes.” King Kong nodded and turned to leave.

In this world, the torments of the flesh are never the limit of pain. King Kong had walked through life and death countless times. He had thought himself long since numb. After the master’s passing, he believed he would never again shed tears for anything. Yet today, when he stepped out of that ward, he found his eyes slightly damp.

At that moment, the chief steward Lin Jian was also coming over. Seeing King Kong’s expression, he took two cigars from his pocket. “Take one.”

King Kong accepted it casually. He did smoke, though he had no craving for it now. Before, he had been like the ordinary guards, with a fierce addiction to tobacco. During battles or missions he could endure it, but as soon as he changed shifts or had a chance, he could smoke one after another without stopping.

But after King Kong’s inner strength had reached a certain level, the craving somehow vanished without his noticing. At first he still smoked a little, purely out of habit. Later, when he realized he could take it or leave it, he smoked less and less.

Chief Steward Lin Jian lit his first, then lit his own, took a drag, and looked toward the ward door. “The boss is in there by himself?”

King Kong nodded. “Mm. He seems to be very taken with this little girl. He already said he would take her as his little sister.”

Lin Jian chuckled. “Heh, I could tell. Maybe that’s what fate is. A wondrous thing, wouldn’t you say?”

King Kong shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m not as learned as you.”

The chief steward laughed out loud. “Heh... I never expected you to joke around either.” Saying that, he punched King Kong hard on the arm. “Not bad. You’ve improved. How come I never noticed before?”

King Kong took a few more drags and steadied his emotions. It was already past midnight, and the guards were stationed on both sides of the doorway; only the two of them were there. King Kong’s tone was calm, but the words carried a heavy sting. “Because in the past, you had to call me uncle.”

“Cough... cough...” Mentioning that, Chief Steward Lin Jian nearly choked. He hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand, his face red as he struggled to recover. After a while, he finally said, “Cough... that was all in the past. We each go by our own ways now.”

King Kong did not press him further. Once they fell silent, even the air seemed to go still, broken only by the occasional sound of smoking.

“Actually, I didn’t think you would really keep doing this,” Lin Jian said.

Perhaps because of his lung capacity, King Kong smoked exceptionally fast. Before Lin Jian had finished even a third of his cigar, King Kong had already nearly finished his. He gently pressed it with his finger. His fingertip did not touch the cigarette, yet it went out instantly.

Seeing this, Lin Jian was unruffled. “What, am I not doing a good job?”

King Kong said, “Good. Very good. Just like your father. In some ways even better than your father did. You are absolutely fit to be chief steward. But back then, your father forced you to continue doing what you didn’t like. You nearly had a falling out with him over it. Later, the master stepped in to mediate, and in the end it was agreed that you would first work three years as an ordinary steward. After three years, no matter what you decided, no one would stop you.”

Lin Jian watched the smoke leave his mouth and drift upward, recalling those days. “Heh... heh... who can say? Maybe I was just young and impetuous. From the moment I was born, my father began teaching me to become the Xiao family’s chief steward. Everything I learned from childhood was aimed at making me the future chief steward. It was only after I went out on my own and went to school that I thought I had finally found my true self. I no longer wanted to be some chief steward. Why should I be the chief steward? When the time came, I told my father what I thought, and he made me kneel for a full day and night.”

Hearing Lin Jian speak of the past, King Kong suddenly wanted a cigarette again. Perhaps it was the smoke drifting beside him that stirred the urge. He asked for another one and lit it. “Actually, your father cared for you very much. When you were being punished to kneel, he was pacing outside, sighing over and over.”

Lin Jian said, “Yes. Only after losing something do people learn to cherish it. When family is by your side, you never realize how precious it is. It’s only after it’s gone that you understand. That’s why they say the tree may wish for stillness, but the wind never ceases; the child may wish to support his parents, but they are no longer there.”

“Mm. And later...”