Chapter 53
The second day after the holiday passed in a rush. Before leaving get off work, Zuo Xutong went to Peng Kun to get his signature. He was about to send her a message when he saw her come in. He put down his phone and said, "You've come at the right time. I was just about to look for you."
Zuo Xutong handed him the documents and asked, "What is it?"
"General Manager Li just called and said that two European car companies are interested in our membrane electrode and want samples for verification."
How many do you need? When will they be delivered?
"90 pieces, the sooner the better. I've already sent the technical requirements to your email." Peng Kun glanced at the documents she brought and said, "Tomorrow morning, I plan to convene a meeting with the heads of relevant departments to discuss the details."
Zuo Xutong nodded. She knew very well what exporting membrane electrodes meant to the company. In addition to bringing revenue growth, passing the certification of European automotive standards could also help them open up the European market and integrate into the global supply chain system.
After Peng Kun signed the document, he handed it to her: "I sent the baby to the nursing home today. Shall we go visit him after get off work?"
“Okay,” Zuo Xutong said with a smile.
After getting off work, the two grabbed a quick bite near the company and arrived at the nursing home close to nine o'clock.
The courtyard was dark, illuminated only by a dim streetlamp. Peng Kun led her across the courtyard and stopped beside the warehouse. Zuo Xutong immediately spotted the beautiful doghouse, about half a meter high, with a green, sloping roof and four legs at the bottom to keep it a certain distance from the ground, preventing moisture and dampness.
She crouched down, opened the kennel door, and the little dog's head peeked out from under the thick blanket. As soon as it saw her, it immediately crawled out, its tail wagging like a propeller, barking excitedly, and pounced on her legs.
Zuo Xutong picked it up and noticed that it was wearing a light gray outfit with a buckle on the back for attaching a leash and two reflective strips on the side. She touched the fabric and found it to be of very good quality, much better than the military coat she had bought for Peng Kun.
"This shipping company is really nice; they even included a piece of clothing as a gift. The shipping fee must have been quite expensive, right?" she asked.
"Dream on, I bought it for it," Peng Kun said.
“It must be so wonderful to be your dog,” she remarked.
"I'd be happier as your girlfriend..." He had only said half of his sentence when Zuo Xutong sensed from his hesitant expression that he was about to reveal his feelings again. Her breathing unconsciously slowed down, and a "okay" was already on the tip of her tongue.
Before he could say anything more, a shrill scream came from inside the building.
Peng Kun paused for two seconds, then immediately rushed over. Zuo Xutong put down the dog, locked it in its kennel, and followed after it.
As soon as they stepped into the building, a loud commotion came from the direction of the card room. They quickly walked to the door of the card room, squeezed past the elderly people watching, and saw a emaciated man holding a knife to a little boy's neck.
At this moment, Liu Xia also ran down from the second floor, followed by a child who looked exactly like the hostage. Zuo Xutong immediately realized that the person being held hostage by the criminals was Liu Xia's twin son.
Upon witnessing this scene, Liu Xia's legs went weak, her vision went black, and she instantly lost consciousness. Everyone rushed forward and hurriedly carried her to the corridor…
Half an hour ago, Zhang Hao sneaked into the nursing home with a fruit knife in his hand. He had come to scout the place during the day. There were no security guards, no cameras, and no one was on duty at the gate. There was only an electric sliding door that was a little over a meter high, which was easy to climb over.
Dean Feng never expected that someone would rob a non-profit nursing home. The day after Dong Jue came and took away the printer, people at the nursing home started resigning one after another, including the security guard who had been retired from the army for many years.
To save costs, Director Feng has not hired any staff, but instead has a male cleaner work part-time at the gate. The nursing home is mostly closed, so there is basically no one on duty at the entrance.
Later, after Peng Kun's company overcame its difficulties, Dean Feng didn't put hiring security guards on the agenda. He believed that thieves and robbers generally wouldn't target a nursing home. Compared to the director, he was more like a shrewd and calculating steward.
Zhang Hao is 28 years old this year. When he was in the second year of junior high school, his father died in a car accident, and his mother remarried soon after, leaving him at his grandmother's house. Since then, he has lost all contact with her. In all these years, he has lived with his grandmother. In high school, he became addicted to mobile games, and then he couldn't stop. Because he had no interest in studying, he dropped out of high school before finishing. Later, he worked at a supermarket for half a year, but was fired for playing on his phone at work. He has been playing games at home for more than ten years, living off his grandmother's pension of less than three thousand yuan a month.
He tried to quit gaming, but he just couldn't. After each game, whether he won big or lost miserably, he couldn't help but want to play another round. He would play game after game, from the moment he woke up until the wee hours of the morning, except for meals and bathroom breaks, remaining completely still.
The foam cushions on the sofa had long been worn down by his sitting, and even the uneven tile on the floor had been worn smooth by his slippers. He had worn out countless pairs of slippers.
His level in the game is very high, his skills are basically maxed out, and the rare equipment and dazzling badges in his backpack are proof of the countless hours and effort he has put in.
In recent years, he has become obsessed with a horror game set in a terrifying manor. He always chooses the villain, sometimes as a hideous ghost, sometimes as a elusive skeleton, sometimes as a witch with a snake tail and a human body. He transforms into all sorts of horrifying figures to hunt down civilians in the manor and obtain a thrill that he cannot get in the real world.
A few months ago, his grandmother, who had been his only family, passed away. On the night of the wake, he played games all night in front of her coffin. It wasn't until the next day, watching her body being sent to the crematorium, that he realized his last remaining relative had also left him. But he had long since lost his ability to earn a living and his connection to the real world through his daily gaming.
Every day, the first thing he does upon waking is pick up his phone, then get up and go into the kitchen. While boiling water, he loads a game. After the water boils, he makes a bowl of instant noodles, quickly eats it, and then enters the game world again. Lunch and dinner are also instant noodles, the only difference perhaps being the brand and flavor.
Occasionally, he would think of his grandmother. Despite being impoverished and ill, on her deathbed, she was still filled with longing and reluctance to leave this world. He couldn't help but wonder, was life like a game he was playing, where no matter how successful or unsuccessful one was, no one wanted to leave this world?
If life is a game, why is it that immersing oneself in the virtual world is considered neglecting one's duties, while pursuing wealth, fame, and status in the real world is seen as having lofty ambitions?
He couldn't understand such profound questions, so he could only continue to numb himself with games. Several more months passed in this daze. The money his grandmother left him was all gone, and the instant noodles he bought once a month were almost finished. When he opened his bank account, he saw that he only had 21.5 yuan left, and he panicked completely.
On the third day after his phone was suspended due to unpaid bills, Zhang Hao was extremely anxious and restless, experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms.
When he was desperate, he suddenly remembered a nursing home he had passed by on the bus, which was not far from where he lived. So, relying on his memory, he walked five or six miles to find Changchun Nursing Home.
He had been stealing money from his grandmother since he was a child. In his mind, old people were rich and easy targets, so he planned to rob a nursing home.
At 8:30 p.m., most of the elderly people had already turned off their lights and gone to bed. When Zhang Hao barged into the chess and card room, Jiang Shouzhi was playing chess with another elderly man. The two were engrossed in the game and didn't even notice that someone had come in.
Zhang Hao pointed the tip of his knife at them and shouted, "Don't move!"
As a result, the two looked up at him, then lowered their heads again and continued playing chess as if nothing had happened.
"Checkmate! Hahahaha..." Jiang Shouzhi slammed down a chess piece, clapped his hands and laughed. After losing three games in a row, he finally won a game by a narrow margin.
Zhang Hao was startled by the sound of the piece being placed on the ground, nearly dropping the knife. He thought to himself, "Don't these two fools know I'm robbing them?" So, he raised his voice and roared hysterically, "Stop laughing! Hand over the money!"
This time, the two elderly people finally showed some of the normal reactions one would expect, looking at him in surprise. They probably never dreamed that they would have the chance to be robbed in their lifetime.
"Young man, are you having some kind of trouble?" Jiang Shouzhi looked at him and said earnestly, "But no matter how difficult things are for you, you can't break the law."
"Stop talking nonsense and hand over the money!" Zhang Hao said, using the usual clichés used by robbers. This was his first time robbing someone, and he had no special experience. He relied entirely on the gleaming knife in his hand to keep things in order.
However, the two old men in front of him seemed utterly fearless, even attempting to persuade him to reform. After a brief standoff, several more elderly onlookers entered. Although they had led unremarkable lives, at least they hadn't turned to crime. This young man, even if he were to beg or scavenge like them, would be better off than going to jail. Compared to them, the old men suddenly felt superior; after a lifetime of hardship, they could finally feel a sense of superiority. So they assumed their moral high ground and began to berate him.
Zhang Hao didn't get a single penny, yet he was scolded like a grandson. Even his grandmother wouldn't dare discipline him like that when she was alive. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Just then, someone in the crowd said, "Why does someone so young have to be a scumbag?"
The last two words stung him deeply, and his expression changed from fierce to ferocious.
At first, Zhang Hao just wanted to scare them and get some money to continue playing games. But these old geezers weren't afraid at all. Now, he couldn't swallow his anger without doing something. To save face, he had to teach them a lesson.
Just then, a little boy squeezed through the crowd, grinning as he watched the commotion. Zhang Hao grabbed him by the collar, pulled him close, and held a knife to his thin, dark neck. The boy burst into tears. A female caregiver happened to be passing by and, seeing this, screamed in terror. Chaos erupted at the scene.
When Peng Kun and Zuo Xutong arrived at the scene, everyone was filled with fear and no longer dared to speak rudely to Zhang Hao.
"Calm down, don't hurt the child," Peng Kun said slowly, trying to keep his voice steady so as not to provoke the assailant. "Tell us what's wrong, and we can help you."
Looking at the man before him, Zhang Hao felt a little intimidated. He had always been good at manipulating the elderly, but had never dared to confront a grown man. So at this moment, he could only rely on shouting to cover up his nervousness.
"Don't come any closer! Give me money! I want money! Cash!" he shouted excitedly.
These days, nobody carries a lot of cash. To keep the thug calm, Peng Kun handed the car keys to Zuo Xutong in front of him and said, "There's a card in the armrest box. The bank is closed, so go to the ATM right away and withdraw the maximum amount." Then he recited a PIN, which Zuo Xutong memorized. She took the car keys and quickly disappeared into the card room.
Cold sweat beaded on Zhang Hao's forehead, and his neck tightened. He held the little boy hostage and retreated to the window. The flashing police lights illuminated his face. He turned his head and caught a glimpse of the police car outside. His mental defenses finally crumbled, and with a slight tightening of his grip, a bloody mark immediately appeared on the child's neck.
The boy felt pain and began to struggle desperately while crying out, which completely enraged Zhang Hao. He felt all the blood rush to his head, his rationality instantly collapsing. He swung the knife towards the boy's chest, but Peng Kun didn't have time to think. He rushed forward and grabbed the blade with his bare hands...
Zuo Xutong returned with the money, and before her car had even come to a complete stop, an ambulance sped out of the nursing home. She hurriedly got out and rushed to the card room, leaving a trail of bright red blood in her wake, but Peng Kun was nowhere to be seen.
From the fragmented accounts pieced together by everyone, she learned that Peng Kun was seriously injured. It turned out that a caregiver had secretly called the police, and the assailant, upon discovering this, lost control and attempted to kill the hostage. To save the child, he disarmed the assailant with his bare hands.
Zuo Xutong stared at the shocking bloodstains on the ground, feeling dizzy.
Not far away, Zhang Hao was handcuffed by the police and put into a police car. Only at this moment did he realize that this was not a game.
When she arrived at the hospital emergency room, Peng Kun had already been wheeled into the operating room. The surgeon, recognizing her as the patient, hurried towards the operating room while explaining the situation in rapid succession: "The patient's right hand tendons and nerves are severed, requiring immediate surgical anastomosis. However, the damage is extensive and deep, affecting the main trunks of the median and ulnar nerves. Even if the surgery is successful, poor nerve regeneration after the operation could lead to muscle atrophy and severe functional impairment. The worst outcome is permanent disability of the right hand, clinically termed 'functional amputation,' meaning that although the hand is saved, it loses its mobility, and its actual use may be less effective than wearing a high-quality prosthesis."
After hearing this, Zuo Xutong swayed almost imperceptibly. She watched the doctor enter the operating room, the automatic door slowly closed, and the red indicator light on the door lit up.
She looked up at the "Operation in Progress" display and suddenly remembered that snowy night when he led her by the hand through the ruins outside the factory. She subconsciously raised her left hand and stared at it for a long time.
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