The Taming of the Ruffian Hero

“Uncle, what are you doing?” Lin Wenxi was very shocked, and he hurried to help him up.

“Please hear me out, and I won’t get up until I finish!” Zheng Zihuan choked with sobs.

“Uncle, if you have anything to say to me, I’ll feel more comfortable when you stand up and tell me. Otherwise, the only thing I can do is to run back and ask Zhao Yuan why.” Lin Wenxi knelt down, too.

“Wenxi, you are A Yuan’s roommate and Director Lin, Lin Ziwei’s son, are you?” Upon hearing Lin Wenxi’s words, Zheng Zihuan rose unsteadily to his feet and helped Lin Wenxi up. He was to speak and then hesitated. But finally, he opened his mouth.

“Zhao Yuan have told you…” Lin Wenxi wondered.

“Zhao Yuan’s father and I are life and death childhood friends. Everything happened in his family, except for him and his son, I know best. Do you know why your Uncle Zhao became like this?” Zheng Zihuan asked.

Lin Wenxi suddenly looked at Zheng Ziheng solemnly. He knew that what he was going to say would be extremely confidential and essential.

A few minutes later, Lin Wenxi fully understood what exactly Zhao Mingjiang and Zhao Yuan had experienced during this period.

In the village, Lin Wenxi just learned that Zhao Mingjiang had committed a crime and Hong Xuan only said that Zhao Mingjiang was seriously ill. But Lin Wenxi did not know that Zhao Mingjiang had committed a murder and he became ill because someone attacked and almost killed him. Such dangerous and cruel things that had never crossed Lin Wenxi’s mind and the things that he didn’t even dare to think about actually happened to Zhao Yuan and his father. Zhao Yuan, whose mother’s present whereabouts was unknown and who had hung on only with his father, took on all of those things. But Zhao Yuan was only two years older than him!

It didn’t know how long the ever-burning red lantern had been hanging there. At this time, Lin Wenxi seemed to see that the lantern was swaying with the wind right before him. In the lantern, the light flickered. It looked like that any carelessness would pull the light into a dark abyss. The fierce and piercing look of Zhao Yuan when he was in the boxing field and the sadness on his face when he survived from the life and death boxing match clearly reappeared before Lin Wenxi’s eyes. However, the voice of Zhao Yuan on the phone still sounded affectionate enough even when he just went through a cruel match. At that time, Zhao Yuan told him that he would come back soon, and soon they would meet again.

Lin Wenxi could not restrain his tears anymore and burst out crying.

“Boy, don’t cry. You cannot cry at this point. The matter about whether or not the Chen family is involved in, the more solid the evidence is, the less we can to let A Yuan know about it. Do you know now that Chen Wanxin is not only A Yuan’s girlfriend but also his strongest bargaining chip against the Chen family?” Zheng Zihuan held back his tears and firmly grasped Lin Wenxi’s arm.

“Moreover, you should try not to show anyone of the Chen family that you know something about them. Though they are afraid of Director Lin, they may not fear you. They are a group of people who are capable of doing anything!” Zheng Zihuan seemed to be very emotional.

“Well, things happened to Zhao Yuan’s father may not be done by the Chen family.” With this, Lin Wenxi could not help feeling bouts of great pain deep down. If it were not the Chen family who had done all of this, the Chen family would pose no threat to Zhao Yuan. But if it was, Lin Wenxi believed that even though Chen Wanxin had tried by every means to help and accompany Zhao Yuan, Zhao Yuan could ignore Chen Wanxin’s feelings and directly break their friendship because of all the complicated affairs happened in previous. All of a sudden, Lin Wenxi felt that he was very selfish. However, he could not afford a single mishap.

“That’s what I was afraid of! Besides, I’m almost certain that the Chen family must have already intertwined with this matter! To prevent Zhao Mingjiang from revealing the event happened at that year, they spared no effort to kill Zhao Mingjiang when he was in prison. Once they know that they have aroused the suspicion of Zhao Mingjiang’s son, they will surely bring him a lot of trouble!” Zheng Ziheng said desperately.

Lin Wenxi nodded seriously. He thought for a moment and whispered a question. “Did Zhao Yuan ever have a pet name Fangfang?”

With certainty, Zheng Zihuan replied, “No.”

“Did he live near the government compound of the White Poplar Town in Yangzi County when he was a child?” Lin Wenxi asked again.

Zheng Zihuan shook his head. “When A’kai was born, I moved to another county. Later, I heard that Mingjiang made a career, and then he was down and out. But at that time, he was already in Yangzi County. So I have no memory of the things that you just talked about.”

“When Uncle Zhao became a little sober, could you please take some time to ask him for me?” Lin Wenxi said. At this time, there was a nurse upstairs calling the family members of the patient, so the two of them hurried there.

The door of the ICU was open.

Some nurses were bustling around Zhao Mingjiang. Zhao Yuan found that they connected a few more tubes to his father. The nurses specially indicated the function of each tube and emphasized that the firmly fixed red tube was necessary to maintain the patient’s heart rate, so they should not touch it easily.

Using their mobile phones, Chen Wanxin and Zheng Zihuan recorded those important matters one by one. Lin Wenxi really wanted to help but he could not. He could only watch them. Thus, in the meantime, Lin Wenxi felt a little lost. He hoped that the person who could do these things for Zhao Yuan was him. But suddenly he felt a little relieved because if they were here to take care of him, he would no longer need to worry about the situation of Zhao Yuan. Some day in the future, Zhao Yuan’s father would get better. He could help them find out who the person behind all of this was and bring this person to justice.

Zhao Mingjiang had seen Lin Wenxi’s elegant personal style and appearance from Zhao Yuan’s albums in his phone long ago. At the time when he slowly woke up, he spotted the child in the albums standing right in front of him. Zhao Mingjiang managed to squeeze out a smile and stretched out his hand with difficulty, even though the veins in his hands bulged like withered vines in the night.

Lin Wenxi felt startled when he saw such a pair of hands in a sudden, and then he held Zhao Mingjiang’s hands tight. He was somewhat surprised. Even after meeting only once, Zhao Yuan’s father looked delighted to see him again.

For so many days, Chen Wanxin often thought that although Zhao Yuan’s father was kind to her, she always felt that something was missing. Until now, when she witnessed his attitude toward Lin Wenxi, she finally realized that Zhao Yuan’s father had never been so close to her.

“Did Wenxi often go to play at Brother Yuan’s home?” Chen Wanxin felt that she suddenly became insanely jealous that even her voice was trembling.

“It is the first time I met Uncle. Presumably, Zhao Yuan has already introduced me to him at an earlier time.” Lin Wenxi smiled gently. “I have never thought that something like this would happen to you. Uncle Zhao, please rest assured. I will find ways to help you! I am not a very capable person, but I will never regret to do anything that I have promised to do even at the cost of my life!”

Zhao Mingjiang nodded slightly and laughed very peacefully.

Lin Wenxi thought that Zhao Mingjiang began his career as a mason, but he dared to seek his fortune with his skills. Then, he became the legend in his hometown. At that time, Zhao Mingjiang must have been in high spirits and full of ambition. Who would have thought that he was reduced to such a situation now? Lin Wenxi couldn’t help feeling sadness welling up. With a sad and regretful look, he sat on the edge of the bed until Zhao Mingjiang fell asleep again.

Lin Wenxi had received several short messages, from Hong Xuan.

Hong Xuan had been surveying the situation around the hospital for a long time. He found that the prison seemed to have loosened its vigilance. So he immediately reported this change to Lin Ziwei, and then he stayed in a parking lot nearby to wait for Lin Wenxi. But he had waited for too long. This time, Hong Xuan didn’t ask for instructions from Lin Ziwei and decided by himself, though he did not know what the consequences would be. Huang Xiya knew that he had carried Lin Wenxi off to the outside of the town, so now she was in such a hurry that she made a lot of phone calls to urge him to take Lin Wenxi back.

Lin Wenxi said that he had to come back tonight. Zhao Yuan walked with him all the way downstairs and said, “There’s no car here at this time.”

“Don’t worry. Someone will pick me up.” Lin Wenxi smiled and said, “Wanxin, how about taking a walk with me?”

In surprise, Zhao Yuan watched at the two persons who usually were hard to get along with each other strolling idly along the street and chatting leisurely.