Bang bang bang bang—
The bullets fired at close range instantly shattered Shen Bixin's gun-holding right hand.
Even with body armor on, Shen Bixin still felt bullets pass through her body. The tremendous force shoved her straight off the rooftop.
Shen Bixin felt the fall unfold in excruciating slow motion. In that far-from-brief instant, she seemed to understand many things.
The company's client was Tie Kuang Seng? No. If the company really wanted to make his money, they would not have sent her on this operation.
Tie Kuang Seng must have had someone else purchase the service for him and implant it into a prosthetic body beforehand. Then all he had to do was have that prosthetic body implanted into himself.
The company did not care who the client was at all. As long as someone paid, that was enough.
Thinking back on it now, none of them, the ABCDEs, had ever been able to hold their own fate in their hands. In the end, they were merely higher-grade tools.
If she had ever done anything that truly followed her heart, it might have been her sincere wish to save the client just now—and killing Tie Kuang Seng afterward.
She had been sent to save the man who killed her brother. It was absurd for a human life, but for a tool, it seemed perfectly normal.
Shen Bixin's mangled body crashed through several billboards in succession before finally slamming into a pile of construction sand.
Just as Shen Bitao had once watched a helicopter fly away, Shen Bixin, unable to move, could only watch the armed helicopter swiftly depart from the rooftop.
Were they trying to save Tie Kuang Seng's life at the first opportunity? She and her teammates were not even worth checking on.
After all, to the company, the client came first.
But none of that mattered anymore, because she had gotten her revenge.
It was only that perhaps she had been living wrong all along.
With a trace of unwillingness and relief, Shen Bixin helplessly closed her eyes.
Creak, creak—
In her haze, Shen Bixin heard the sound of a cart rolling, while every inch of her body screamed with heart-rending pain.
Was an organ trafficker dragging her away to sell her?
Then that person was truly out of luck. Her body had been damaged so badly that even her organs were probably no longer usable.
Dazed and muddled, Shen Bixin passed out again.
When Shen Bixin regained some awareness once more, the pain in her body had weakened considerably, and a familiar white light seemed to shine before her eyes.
She forced her eyes open. Sure enough, it was the operating lamp she knew so well. An old man and a young man stood nearby.
The young man whose back looked somewhat familiar was haggling with the elderly doctor in a white coat.
"Old Sun, I've introduced plenty of patients to you. Give me a discount this time. Save the dying and heal the wounded, huh."
"What? That wasn't what you said when you wheeled her in and shouted for me to save her! Didn't you say that as long as she could be saved, money was no object? Now you're going back on your word? If I'd known, I would've left the scissors inside!"
"Tch, listen to yourself. Does that sound like something a human would say?! I'm giving your service a bad review. I'm deducting twenty percent from the payment as a service fee."
"Fuck, believe it or not, I'll stab you with a scalpel. Right now. Every stab will miss the vital spots—the kind that only hurts!"
Hearing that somewhat familiar voice and seeing the distinctive hoodie, Shen Bixin remembered that the person before her was the owner of Ji's General Store, though she could not recall his name. Struggling to open her mouth, she said, "Crooked merchant..."
When Ji Qinglin heard Shen Bixin speak, he knew she had pulled through. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing his money had not been wasted.
Then he turned and reminded Doctor Sun, "Hey, hey, hey, Old Sun. Looks like her memories and brain weren't damaged, so don't prescribe the brain-protection medicine. A penny saved is a penny earned."
"..."
Shen Bixin spent quite a long time recuperating at Sun Yi Medical Clinic on Xin Dong Street before her body finally recovered.
Ji Qinglin also told her what had happened.
Old Hu from Ji's General Store had an old property beside Xin Dong Street. After the old man passed away, Ji Qinglin had planned to clear out the belongings and sell the place, since the area was not peaceful.
Sure enough, that very night, just after he finished clearing it out, a fight broke out in the building across the street. It crackled and popped like Chinese New Year fireworks.
Later, when even armed helicopters showed up, Ji Qinglin had no choice but to leave overnight. Yet the moment he stepped outside, he ran into Shen Bixin, who had only recently fallen.
Ji Qinglin discovered that Shen Bixin could actually still be saved. Since they had met before, and the Seven-Storied Pagoda had practically been delivered right to his face, he put her in the car.
Ji Qinglin also knew perfectly well that, as a member of the Defense Mobile Team, Shen Bixin would definitely have the money to pay the medical bills. So without hesitation, he brought her to a doctor he knew and saved her.
"Cough, cough."
Still recovering and preparing to have a prosthetic right arm installed, Shen Bixin sat by the window, not yet used to smoking.
Ji Qinglin dragged over a stool and sat beside her.
"I'm sorry about your brother."
"You know?"
"I do some intermediary work too. I can dig up this much information."
Hearing what Ji Qinglin meant, Shen Bixin told him the entire story. At last, she asked, "Could I trouble you to confirm whether Tie Kuang Seng is dead?"
Ji Qinglin gave a bitter smile. "You think too highly of him. His head was blown to pieces—how could he not be dead? Your company has already released an announcement. Their explanation was that he stole the company's Platinum-tier service authorization and was executed after it was verified."
When a client died, they had to give an explanation. Ancheng Company's crisis PR response was certainly fast.
What the public heard was that even stolen authorization could summon the Defense Mobile Team, proving that the Defense Mobile Team cared for clients so deeply that they would rather rescue the wrong person than miss a single one. This round of publicity ruthlessly won them another wave of goodwill.
Executing Tie Kuang Seng also gave the company a chance to flex its muscles. Why not have the best of both worlds?
Before Shen Bixin could ask anything further, Ji Qinglin added, "Also, that shareholder you rescued before is dead too. A few hours before you saved Tie Kuang Seng, Tie Kuang Seng probably went to kill your old client, then got hunted down by his men. That was why he called your Defense Mobile Team for help. He probably never expected that even disguised like that, he would still run into you. The wheel of heaven turns, indeed."
Remembering that she and her brother had risked their lives to save people like that, Shen Bixin looked out the window and said nothing more. Ji Qinglin, long accustomed to such matters, teased, "What? Seen through the dust of this mortal world?"
"You wouldn't understand unless you had the feeling of being reborn into a second life."
"..."
Then you really asked the right person.
"So what are you planning to do from now on?"
"I haven't thought about it yet."
"As long as you don't go seeking death, that's fine. You may have paid back the money, but you still owe me a favor."
Shen Bixin gave a bitter smile. "You really are a crooked merchant."
Yet this time, there did not seem to be any disgust in her words.
Using her remaining left arm, Shen Bixin extinguished the first cigarette of her life. She took a deep breath, as though making some decision. "Can you help me find a place? I want to open my own clinic."
"That won't be difficult. As long as you have money, it can be done. But I'm curious—don't you want to leave this place of sorrow?"
"It's the same everywhere. I've always lived for others before. This time, I want to try doing something I want to do."
Fortunate to meet a good soul beneath a crooked merchant's guise; just in time, a fresh flower bloomed. Though we dwell at opposite ends of the world, we are neighbors still. Tomorrow's sun and rain remain unknown.
Before you continue