A day and a night passed, and Cheng Zhiwen still hadn't woken up.
Shen Qing stayed by the infirmary the whole time. During this time, Jiang Shen went to rest and He Fei took his place.
He Fei had a brief and friendly conversation with her in Shanghai, unlike Jiang Shen, with whom she had a direct conflict, so she had a better impression of He Fei.
If she couldn't get the information from Jiang Shen, she tried asking He Fei.
Although He Fei was straightforward, he did not dare to say outright what Cheng Zhiwen was doing. He only said vaguely, "Mr. Cheng needs to rely on some power, so he sometimes has to do certain things."
The implication is that Cheng Zhiwen's association with the traitors was not a matter of his own choosing.
Recalling what Cheng Zhiwen said at the tea party, Shen Qing felt that He Fei had probably been brainwashed by Cheng Zhiwen as well.
In this era, many patriotic young people are being exploited by external forces.
They did not want to betray the country, but external forces skillfully spread the message that the Qing government was unreliable and that foreign countries were democratic and free. Some naive young people fell into the trap, thinking that they were working for the country's freedom and democracy, when in fact they were unwittingly providing external forces with an opportunity to invade the country.
Shen Qing looked at Cheng Zhiwen lying on the hospital bed. At this moment, his brow was relaxed, his expression was peaceful, and he appeared completely harmless.
Shen Qing wondered if he, too, had been used...
Upon looking at him, Shen Qing noticed that his lips were dry again. She quickly got up, poured some warm water, and used a cotton swab dipped in the water to wipe his parched lips.
As he was wiping, he suddenly opened his eyes, and at the same time, his right hand gripped Shen Qing's neck.
Shen Qing's hand trembled, and some water spilled onto his chest.
She slapped the hand that was choking her neck and coughed violently.
He Fei stepped forward and said urgently, "Mr. Cheng, Boss Shen has been taking care of you here, so please don't be nervous."
The hand that was gripping Shen Qing's neck slowly loosened.
Shen Qing took a few steps back, coughed a few more times, and finally caught his breath. He cursed, "I took care of you for a whole day and night, and you still choked me!"
Cheng Zhiwen regained consciousness, her expression sharp: "I'm sorry."
He struggled to get up, but a sudden sharp pain in his back forced him to give up.
He Fei clumsily helped him move his body, accidentally aggravating his wound several times, causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.
Shen Qing couldn't bear to see this, so she stepped forward to help, her voice returning to normal: "How are you feeling?"
He coughed lightly twice: "My back hurts a little."
"The bullet has been removed, but a wide incision was performed. Fortunately, you have thick muscles, so the bullet was stuck in your muscles and did not damage your internal organs."
He Fei went out to find a doctor, and she sat by the bed, continuing to moisten his lips with a cotton swab dipped in water.
Seeing his relaxed brow furrow again, Shen Qing sighed: "Is it meaningful to live such a tense life? It's better to let go of all this and become a carefree hermit."
He smiled helplessly: "I'm living a carefree life now, who's going to help you import all those strange and unusual things?"
Shen Qing snorted: "You know that's not what I meant. If you were a real comprador, you wouldn't be living like this."
Cheng Zhiwen fell silent.
Shen Qing was too lazy to ask any further questions, and instead said, "But I still have to thank you for saving me this time."
“You don’t need to thank me.” His voice turned somber, carrying a sense of impending danger. “This is not a simple case of pirates boarding the ship.”
This idea coincided with Shen Qing's.
She glanced at the closed door and whispered, "I've already had Jiang Shen investigate the source of the bullet in your body."
Cheng Zhiwen hummed in agreement but said nothing.
A while later, the doctor rushed over, examined Cheng Zhiwen's wound, and prescribed some anti-inflammatory drugs and antiseptic solution for him.
He wanted Cheng Zhiwen to stay at the infirmary, but Cheng Zhiwen insisted on leaving.
Jiang Shen and He Fei each supported one side of his body, helping him back to his room, while Shen Qing followed behind carrying the medicine.
Cheng Zhiwen's room was right next to Shen Qing's. After settling him in, Shen Qing originally wanted to go back to his own room, but seeing that Jiang Shen and He Fei, two grown men, had no experience in taking care of a patient, Shen Qing simply stayed to take care of Cheng Zhiwen himself.
He scraped the top layer of porridge, which wasn't too hot to burn his mouth, and fed it to Cheng Zhiwen.
Fearing he might misunderstand, she explained, "I stayed to take care of you because I injured my hand in Shanghai, and you took care of me too. Don't think I'm just going to let you off the hook."
Cheng Zhiwen gave a mocking laugh and said nothing.
The reason she dared to say these things to Cheng Zhiwen was because she realized that Cheng Zhiwen wouldn't kill her.
The last time she stabbed him with a hairpin knife, he had three weeks to kill her, but he didn't. Apart from having people watch over her day and night, he didn't intend to kill her.
Therefore, she was certain that Cheng Zhiwen would not kill her.
As for why he didn't kill him, Shen Qing couldn't explain it either.
"Knock knock," Jiang Shen knocked on the door and came in, handing Cheng Zhiwen an envelope.
He opened it, and inside was a bronze-colored bullet and a piece of paper.
Shen Qing knew that Jiang Shen had found the source of the bullet, and asked, "What's wrong with this bullet?"
Jiang Shen remained silent.
In Cheng Zhiwen's presence, they had no right to speak.
Shen Qing looked at Cheng Zhiwen.
As he read the contents of the letter, his face grew increasingly ashen.
Shen Qing knew that this was a serious matter, so she didn't dare to ask any more questions.
After a strange silence, Cheng Zhiwen spoke calmly, "The bullets came from Japan."
Shen Qing pondered the meaning of that sentence.
The pirates who boarded the ship this time came from a country colonized by Italy. The bullets they could obtain were most likely made in Italy. However, the bullet that pierced Cheng Zhiwen's body was actually made in Japan.
There are two possibilities:
Either the person who shot Cheng Zhiwen wasn't a pirate, but someone who could obtain Japanese bullets.
Either someone who could obtain the bullets supplied them to the pirates, and the pirates boarding the ship to rob them was just a pretense, with the real purpose being to kill Cheng Zhiwen.
Regardless of the possibility, it all points to the fact that someone with access to Japanese warheads is plotting to eliminate Cheng Zhiwen.
Shen Qing subconsciously thought of the Japanese man that Cheng Zhiwen shot and killed at the Astor House Hotel in Shanghai last time.
She looked at Cheng Zhiwen nervously: "Is it because we shot that Japanese businessman last time that someone is seeking revenge?"
Cheng Zhiwen shook his head and pondered, "No, if the Japanese wanted to avenge that Japanese businessman, I wouldn't have survived leaving the Japanese consulate that day."
"Could it be someone from the Japanese civilian community who, because they resented you for shooting a Japanese person, sought revenge in secret?"
“That’s possible.” Cheng Zhiwen put the warhead into an envelope and tossed it back to Jiang Shen. “I need the list of all the Japanese on this ship!”
His gaze returned to Shen Qing's face, which had been stern just moments before, but now softened. He said in a low voice, "Most of the bullets made in Japan are poisonous. Thank you for insisting that the doctor perform the incision."
Shen Qing let out a long sigh of relief: "Thank goodness."
Jiang Shen accepted the order and left, leaving He Fei to guard the door, where two other young men stood guard.
Adding the two people at Shen Qing's door, that makes six people.
Recalling that day when the pirates pointed a gun at Cheng Zhiwen's head, and he snapped his fingers, dozens of young men with guns immediately appeared on the deck and engaged in a gunfight with the pirates, Shen Qing asked, "Do you always bring so many people with you to protect yourself when you go out?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com