A man with four pregnant women around him, each with faces blessed by the gods. A family lineup like that was bound to attract attention no matter where they were. Plus, this was the family of China’s Father of Rifles.
But to that, Xia Lei had no comment. He wasn’t staying humble on purpose either, there were just too many mysteries that surround him.
Watching Xia Lei and his four pregnant wives, Tang Yunhai couldn’t suppress the cold snort that bubbled out of his throat. His expressions were that of disdain too. Xia Lei had forfeited a marriage arrangement with the Tang family in public and chose to marry Fan Fan instead of Tang Yuyan. Tang Yunhai had every reason to despise him.
Contrastingly, Xia Lei seemed relaxed. He approached the older man with a grin. “How have you been, Lord Tang? Why are you here? How is Yuyan doing now?”
“There’s no need for your concern. She’s a tough one, she’ll survive,” huffed Tang Yunhai indignantly.
It was almost as if he had thrown a bucket of water over Xia Lei’s crown.
Fan Fan would not tolerate any disrespect shown towards her man. In her heart, Xia Lei was the world’s hero! Hearing those words spat out by Tang Yunhai with malice had her nose scrunched up. “Tang…”
That was the only word she had managed to mutter out before Xia Lei seized her arm. “Fan Fan, let’s go check on Yuyan.”
He knew everything about his lovers. He was fully aware of what Fan Fan was attempting to do. With her identity and position, Tang Yunhai wouldn’t be able to do anything to her if she went on and gave him an earful. However, there was no need for that. Tang Yunhai was Tang Yuyan’s grandfather after all.
Back when Long Bing’s Japan operation was faced with compromisation, Xia Lei was unprecedentedly pissed at Tang Yuyan. He felt ill towards Tang Yuyan. But after the events that transpired today, there was no way he could treat her like before.
“Xia Lei, go ahead into the ward. My father and mother are there with Yuyan. I’m on my way to the doctor’s office with grandpa to ask for specifics,” uttered Tang Bochuan.
“Sure. Go on ahead, Bochuan. I’ve asked for her ward number at the receptionist, I know where it is.” Then, Xia Lei led his wives away to Tang Yuyan’s ward.
Coming from the opposite direction, a young nurse approached them with an instrument cart in the same corridor. She watched the ensemble curiously, studying Xia Lei’s face and the four expecting ladies trailing behind him.
But as they were about to brush past each other, the nurse abruptly reached over.
Xia Lei quickly stepped to the side, dodging her extended arm and seized her neck. Before his fingers were wrapped around her windpipe, he immediately deflected his palm away to land it atop her shoulder gently. He flashed her a soft smile. “Miss, is there something I can help you with?”
Long Bing and Liang Siyao were ready to fight, but as soon as they noticed that Xia Lei had given up on assault, they eased their grip on their pistols.
“I… I…” The nurse’s cheeks were flushed red. “Are you Mister X...Xia Lei?”
“Yes, that’s me. Have we met? Or is there something wrong?” Xia Lei was calm.
“No. Uh…” The nurse was having a hard time calming down. “M...Mister Xia, aren’t you dead?
Fan Fan reprimanded almost immediately, “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!”
“Sorry.” She fumbled over her words. “It’s because our department had learnt about Mister Xia’s past activities and I’ve heard a lot of his heroic deeds. Mister Xia is my idol. I hope this isn’t too much but… Mister Xia, can you please give me your signature?”
Xia Lei was taken aback.
He almost forgot. He was supposed to be dead. Everywhere in the country was learning things about him and his patriotism. He was already marketed as the era’s hero. And while everyone in the country had learned that he was dead, he was back. Alive and well. No wonder the nurse was staring at him as if she had met a ghost.
“Sure, no problem.” Xia Lei’s answer was quick.
“Mister Xia, can you sign the back of my uniform?” The nurse looked at him with wide pleading eyes as she held out a pen.
Xia Lei nodded and retreated behind her. Gripping her ink pen, he signed his name on the back of her clothes.
Once he was done, he returned the pen to her and stepped closer to the side of her face. He whispered, “I wrote a phone number on your back. Please dial the number later, okay?”
“You…” Stars were positively clouding up her vision now.
Xia Lei’s next words were perhaps out of context. “Tell that person that I’m alive and well. Tell her not to worry too.” And with that, he brushed past her shoulder and left.
The young nurse stayed rooted to her spot, watching the dreamy retreating back of Xia Lei.
The four pregnant ladies came next in a formation of two in the left flank and the other two in the right flank. All of them patted the nurse’s shoulder. No one said a word but the suffocating murderous intent was unmistakable. Their stares seemed to have lowered the temperature around the corridor by a great notch.
The four pregnant ladies left.
How was the nurse supposed to stay frozen for another minute longer? She quickly pushed her cart away to safety.
Returning to the nurse’s station, she stripped off her ivory uniform to marvel at Xia Lei’s signature. It was then that she noticed the discreet line of numbers written in the seam. It was a telephone number.
The nurse brought out her phone and dialled it. There was a beat of silence before a woman’s voice came ringing over the line. “Hello, Shentu Tianyin speaking. Who is this?”
“Huh? Shentu Tianyin…?” The nurse slapped a palm over her mouth.
“You have five seconds to answer me. Where did you get this number from?” Shentu Tianyin’s voice was heavily doused in annoyance and displeasure.
It was only then that the nurse calmed down slightly from the spike of anxiety. She frantically explained, “I got this number from Mister Xia Lei…”
“Wait, what? Who gave you this number?!”
“Mister Xia Lei.”
“That’s a lie!”
“It’s not a lie. I just saw him earlier and he signed my back. It was him who gave me your number and told me to tell you that he is alive and well. He says of you to not worry,” answered the young nurse.
Crash! The shattering sound of glass came through the speaker.
“Miss Shentu? Are you alright?”
“Where are you? Tell me.”
“Mister Xia Lei did not mention anything about this. I need to ask him if I can disclose his location.” said the nurse.
“I’ll pay you one hundred thousand RMB for the address.”
There was only one second of hesitation. “The Army Hospital.”
And with that, Shentu Tianyin hung up.
Anything that could be solved with money was measly for the queen of the Vientiane Group.
This was the same for her and Xia Lei.
In one of the wards, Xia Lei led his wives into Tang Yuyan’s room. Their appearance earned a wide-eyed look from both Tang Tianlong and Zhang Yumei. The old couple did not greet him. They only spared him a glance of unhidden resentment.
Xia Lei could only offer them a wry smile. He was aware that he had now the impression of a flaky man in their eyes. He braced himself and greeted them courteously. “Hello, uncle and aunty. How have you been?”
“Well, not dead as you can see,” responded Zhang Yumei nonchalantly.
Tang Tianlong scoffed coldly. “Director Xia, I must congratulate you. You’re becoming a father to so many children soon. Please do remember to invite me to their one-month celebration.”
Tang Tianlong was definitely not going to show up if the invitation came.
Xia Lei chuckled, “Sure, I’ll send you the invitation personally when the time comes.”
The four pregnant ladies did not greet Tang Tianlong and Zhang Yumei. They headed for Tang Yuyan’s bed straight.
“Yuyan, thank you.” Liang Siyao felt regretful. “I… misunderstood you in the past.”
“It’s nothing, I quite like arguing with you,” said Tang Yuyan with a smile all while watching Xia Lei out of the corner of her eyes.
Long Bing grabbed her palm. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah. The doctor said that I’ll be well after two days with some medication and rest.”
“If there’s anything you need, feel free to ask us. There’s no need to be so courteous with us, let us do something for you,” offered Fan Fan with uncharacteristic generosity.
Tang Yuyan chuckled at that. “Okay, I’ll tell you if there’s any.”
Jiang Ruyi placed a thermos container on the bedside drawer. “Yuyan, I made you some chicken soup. Make sure to drink it while warm, it’ll help your recovery.”
“Alright. Thank you, Ruyi.” Tang Yuyan was equally courteous.
The five women chattered with a hint of caution in the air.
Initially, Xia Lei wanted to converse with Tang Yuyan briefly. But with his four pregnant wives around, he couldn’t even make the choice to go close to her bed. Plus, Tang Tianlong and Zhang Yumei were still in the same vicinity.
While Tang Yuyan’s expressions gave nothing away, her heart was sullen. All she wanted was for Xia Lei to visit her alone so they could enjoy some privacy. In that environment, she could say anything. She had rescued his four pregnant wives, that was a good reason for her to do something along the lines of that, right? But the fact that Xia Lei was accompanied by his wives was something she did not expect. Eight watchful eyes had full control over their interactions. How was she going to confess?
“Alright, you’ve been here for too long. Yuyan needs to rest now. You’ve visited her and it’s time to go.” Zhang Yumei chased them away subtly.
The four pregnant ladies seemed to already have a plan of their own earlier. They bid their farewells and turned to leave.
Liang Siyao wrapped her arm around Xia Lei’s elbow. “Hubby, let’s go home.”
Xia Lei looked at Tang Yuyan. “Yuyan, please take care. There’s no need to fret over the case. I will help investigate it too. If I find anything new, I’ll update you right away.”
Tang Yuyan’s heart could only sigh. She mustered out a smile to send them off. “Alright, I’ll look forward to the good news.”
Under the protection of the four pregnant ladies, Xia Lei was brought to the door.
But as he was about to step foot into the corridor, Tang Yuyan was reminded of something. She quickly called out, “Xia Lei, the location Ah Bing had informed me under your instruction has been under the careful watch of my people. The area is closed for the moment but I hadn’t laid instructions for any action in fear of alerting them.”
Xia Lei turned around. “Alright, got it. Rest well.”
And the little peculiar family left.
The moment the door click shut was the moment Zhang Yumei let her emotions free. “Bastard! What kind of a person is that?! He’s a gigantic pervert, how could anyone call him the people’s hero?! Does he think he’s the emperor?”
“Mom, that’s enough. You don’t know the full story between them,” muttered Tang Yuyan.
“I don’t know? Do you know then? You’re supposed to be the rightful wife to Thunder Horse’s owner. The Liang woman is such an eyesore. She’s obviously a fox!” Zhang Yumei continued to run her mouth,
Tang Yuyan could no longer communicate with her own mother.
Tang Bochuan and Tang Yunhai returned to them minutes later. They both did not mention a single thing about their earlier conversation, only opting to discuss topics about Xia Lei.
In the matter of another few more minutes, the door to the ward was pushed open to allow the entry of a panting Shentu Tianyin. She scanned the room with anxious eyes, her turbulent mood settling down into calmness. There was a prolonged silence before she could ask, “Where is Xia Lei?”
Tang Yuyan answered, “He left. But I highly suggest that you call his number and not find him at the Peace Mansion. The four female tigers are crazy protective.”
Tears began to flow down the curves of Shentu Tianyin’s cheek.
The Tang family could only watch her silently at her displays of despair.