EWH 35

Yang Moshou had a dream.

In the dream, he and Xu Wanhe were eating at Shujiuxiang. Xu Wanhe dipped his food in sesame oil, while Yang Moshu dipped his in sesame paste. Each of them had a bottle of soy milk.

They ordered extra spicy. Every section of the pot was packed full of chili peppers. Yang Moshou couldn’t take the heat, so he put down his chopsticks and chugged soy milk like crazy. Xu Wanhe, on the other hand, acted like it was nothing, holding a cigarette between his lips as he dunked goose intestines into the broth.

Yang Moshou’s mouth was on fire. “Xiao Mei… it’s so damn spicy… sss… sss…”

Xu Wanhe lifted an eyelid and gave him a look full of disdain.

“You fucking idiot. Dipping it in sesame oil helps with the spice.”

Yang Moshou wasn’t having it. He wanted to argue, but his lips were so swollen he couldn’t even speak.

Just as he was fuming, he saw Xu Wanhe fishing out all the freshly cooked goose intestines from the pot. Yang Moshou’s anger shot through the roof. He slammed the table and was about to start a fight when he woke up in a panic.

His mouth was still burning.

A young nurse’s pale face swayed in front of his eyes.

“You’re awake…”

A few more people crowded over right after.

“Fuck, he’s awake, he’s awake. Hurry, go get Xu-ge!”

“What’s the rush, Xu-ge’s still putting medicine on his foot. Fuck those sons of bitches, those dog-fucking bastards. Couldn’t beat Xu-ge head-on so they sneak-attacked our Yang-ge. Look at how worried Xu-ge was, he even fell climbing up the steps trying to save him. His foot’s bleeding like hell…”

“Xu-ge shouldn’t have worn sandals… would’ve been better if he wore leather shoes…”

“Alright, let’s go find Xu-ge. Once the medicine’s done, we’ll tell him.”

After everyone left the room, Yang Moshou finally sat up on the bed.

He patted his arms and legs, making sure everything was still there, then turned to look at the young nurse nearby.

“Nurse… hey… Xiao Tian, it’s you.”

Nurse Tian looked at him. “Doctor Yang, your department head’s been looking for you all afternoon. You didn’t even apply for leave. Turns out you ran off to get into a street fight?”

Yang Moshou checked his head. “Am I okay? No lasting damage, right?”

“Nope, just heatstroke. Your lips are swollen from the fall, but everything else is normal.”

Yang Moshou got off the bed. “Oh, right. I came with someone… the dark one. Is he alright?”

Nurse Tian packed up and walked out. “He’s fine. Just chipped part of a toenail. Bled quite a bit. He’s next door getting disinfected.”

Yang Moshou hurried to the next room.

Outside the neighboring ward was a solid crowd of men.

Word had gotten out that the boss was attacked by enemies, so everyone had dropped whatever they were doing at home, kids and all, and rushed over. Some even brought weapons, thinking there was going to be a fight, but when they realized it was just a hospital visit, they stuffed the iron rods under their clothes, with the ends sticking out from the collars.

Yang Moshou squeezed through the thick crowd.

Someone wasn’t having it and elbowed him in the chest.

“The fuck you pushing for, huh?”

Yang Moshou raised a finger and pointed at his own swollen mouth.

“Fight buddy. We fought together. I just want to check on him.”

“You want to get in and see him? Fuck off, I’ve been waiting here for half an hour and haven’t even seen a damn hair of him yet. We’re all jammed here, stop fucking squeezing, my hip bones are about to snap.”

Yang Moshou couldn’t be bothered to argue. He tried to shove his way in again, but it really was impossible.

It was getting a little hot. He wanted to back out, but he couldn’t even squeeze his way out.

Xu Wanhe really had a lot of loyal people. Just losing a toenail and so many people showed up to visit. Unlike his own room, which was empty and deserted. There were two people watching over him earlier, but the moment he woke up, they both left.

Feeling stuffed and annoyed, Yang Moshou pulled out his phone and called Xu Wanhe.

Xu Wanhe sounded a little surprised when he answered, but once he heard that Yang Moshou was stuck outside in the crowd, he immediately told the guys at the door to clear out and let him in.

When Yang Moshou stepped inside, he saw the iodine on Xu Wanhe’s right foot still hadn’t dried completely. He was slouched back in a chair, cigarette dangling from his lips, one eyebrow slightly raised.

Even though he looked like he was trying a little too hard to be cool, Yang Moshou still thought he looked badass.

Badass enough that he stood at the door for a while, reluctant to move, just quietly admiring him.