Inside the hospital room, Da Xiong heard the cursing at the door and instinctively stood up, his back ramrod straight as he looked toward the entrance.
A moment later, the half-open door was shoved roughly aside, and a tall man of fifty-six or fifty-seven strode in. His clothes were plain, even dirty and shabby. The hair at his temples had grown down over his ears, clearly untouched for a long time, and clung greasily to his head.
The tall, burly man was unremarkable-looking, with a flushed face and a bulbous, reddened nose. He also had a disability: his left hand was missing, and the scar at his wrist was clearly visible. On closer inspection, it was covered in red-tipped lumps of flesh.
Su Tianyu looked the oddly disheveled man over and asked tentatively, "And you are?"
"I'm his dad!" Reeking of alcohol, the man pointed at Da Xiong.
"Oh, Uncle, you're here!" Su Tianyu immediately braced himself against the bed and sat up a little straighter. "Please, have a seat. Da Xiong, get your dad a chair."
Da Xiong immediately pulled over a chair and placed it beside his father without a word.
His father spat a thick glob of phlegm into the trash can, took out a cigarette pack, and crossed his legs. "How's your recovery coming along? Feeling any better?"
"I'm... I'm all better. I can... can work now!" Da Xiong seemed nervous around his father, and his stutter grew worse.
Father Wu had a booming voice. Tilting his head at his son, he launched into a tirade. "You dumb bastard, your brain just doesn't work! There were all those workers at the plant, and none of them fought, but you just had to stick your fucking hands in! Didn't you stop to think? Knives and guns don't care who they hit. What would you do if someone crippled you? You're slow in the head and you stutter-you're already half-disabled. If your body goes too... how the hell are you going to survive?"
Wu Shixiong lowered his head, not daring to answer.
"If you're hurt, focus on getting better. The Su Family's a big company. They're not going to abandon you. Get yourself properly healed before you go back to work," Father Wu added.
Su Tianyu had spent a week with Da Xiong, but this was the first time he had seen anyone from his family come to visit. Then again, perhaps they were busy, or perhaps they had visited when Da Xiong was first admitted.
"Go get Su Tiannan. Isn't he in the hospital too?" Father Wu ordered.
"Oh, Uncle, my eldest brother isn't here. Someone took him out to handle something," Su Tianyu answered for Da Xiong. "But my second brother's here."
"He'll do. Get him," Father Wu replied.
"I... I'll get him." Da Xiong turned to leave, but when he reached the door, he couldn't help asking, "Dad... Dad, didn't Mom come?"
"Your second brother's sick. I just sent her home," Father Wu answered offhandedly.
Da Xiong said nothing more and left the room.
About five minutes later, Su Tianbei limped in with his arm in a cast. "Oh, Uncle Wu, you're here."
"Yeah. How are you doing?" Father Wu asked, giving him a sidelong look.
"Almost better, haha!" Su Tianbei took out his cigarette pack. "Here, try one of mine!"
Pleased by Su Tianbei's courtesy, Father Wu accepted a cigarette and lit up again, then waved at his son. "Go take a walk outside."
Da Xiong obediently left the room. Father Wu turned to Su Tianbei. "Nothing much. I came today partly to see my boy, and partly to ask you... how are you going to handle what happened to our Da Xiong?"
"The company will take care of him, Uncle!" Su Tianbei replied.
"How?" Father Wu pressed.
"The company will cover all his injury-related expenses. He won't have to work while he recovers, and his wages will be paid according to the workplace injury compensation standards." Su Tianbei smiled. "On top of that, I'll personally give him five thousand."
To be fair, Su Tianbei's offer wasn't small. For a laborer like Da Xiong, five thousand was nearly half a year's wages and bonuses.
Father Wu paused before replying, "Isn't five thousand a little low?"
"Uncle, things aren't easy for the company right now either..." Su Tianbei tried to explain.
"Whether things are easy for you has nothing to do with me, right?" Father Wu said bluntly. "When the Su Family's waste processing plant got smashed up, the seven or eight workers you employed didn't dare lift a finger to defend it. Only my son stepped up! That's a fact, isn't it? I was there when your company first started, and I've always been on good terms with your dad. Later, when my health went downhill, I sent my son to work there, but you haven't taken good care of him. He got slashed three or four times. He'll be carrying those scars for the rest of his life. Don't you agree?"
Su Tianbei nodded slowly. "Uncle, then what do you think would be fair compensation?"
"Add a little more."
"Then eight thousand!" Su Tianbei looked at him. "That's above the workplace injury compensation standard, but I'll pay it out of my own pocket. All right?"
Father Wu considered it. "Fine. Eight thousand it is. When the money comes through, transfer it straight to his eldest brother's payroll account."
Su Tianbei didn't ask any further questions. "All right!"
"Then we're settled." Father Wu stood up and tossed his cigarette butt onto the floor. "I'm leaving."
"I'll walk you out, Uncle!"
"No need. What for?" Father Wu strode toward the door.
Su Tianyu frowned as he watched him leave, but said nothing.
In the corridor, Father Wu glanced at his son sitting on a bench and cursed under his breath. "Don't be such a fucking idiot. You're getting paid while you're in the hospital for a work injury, so stay here and recover properly. Don't leave until you're completely fine."
"Okay!" Da Xiong nodded.
"...Fuck, just looking at that dumb face pisses me off. What goes on in that head of yours? You actually went and fought them?" Father Wu roared, unable to contain his anger. "You should've let them beat you to death. Saved me the trouble!"
After that tirade, Father Wu turned and left.
Wu Shixiong watched him go, his eyes dull. It took him a long while to collect himself before he walked back into the room with a toothy grin. "Brother Xiao Yu, Brother Tianbei... want... want a late-night snack? I'll go downstairs and buy some."
"Haha, no thanks." Su Tianbei waved him off.
Looking at the big, simple-minded fellow, Su Tianyu felt an inexplicable pang of sympathy. "Stop fussing over us. Come sit down, take a break, and chat."
Wu Shixiong might have been simple and guileless, but he never wanted to talk about his family. Every day, whoever he met, he greeted them with a smile, as though he didn't have a single burden in life.
The days of recovery were quiet and comfortable. In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days had passed, and all the injured men completed their discharge paperwork.
Bai Hongbo stood in the hospital room, full of swagger, waving as he shouted, "We're heading into the inner harbor tonight for a boat cruise! I've arranged everything!"
"You guys go. Count me out." Whether in actual age or mental age, Kong Zhenghui seemed to belong to a different generation from the rest.
"Fuck, don't be such a loner. We fought side by side, didn't we?" Bai Hongbo urged enthusiastically. "Come with us. Tonight, I'm treating you all to a taste of pussy."
Su Tianyu was mortified. "...Forget it. My tongue's too short!"
"You've got to train it, Little Su!" Bai Hongbo might have gone crazy from being cooped up. Grabbing Su Tianyu, he said, "Come with me tonight. We're fixing that short-tongue problem, no matter what."
In cell 403 of the Police Bureau's criminal detention center, the wiry old man who had viciously beaten Floral Shirt sat on his bunk, rubbing his bald head as he muttered, "That Dog Six is pretty good. No worse than his dad!"
"Su Zhengcai, stand up and pack your things. You've been cleared and released," someone suddenly called from outside the door.
Before you continue