Xu Lan had a frown on his face when he anxiously called out to the man. He then looked at the stretcher. With eyes wide open, he took deep, bellow-like breaths, and his mouth was spitting out white foam.

‘Oh f*ck, what the hell happened?’ Xu Lan looked at Meng Chengjun suspiciously and thought. After the stretcher was sent into the operation room, the doctors and nurses lowered their heads and uttered something under their breaths. The door was then promptly closed shut.

Having sent Bai Wu back to the ward, he asked a few simple questions, then left Ka Daiwen there and rushed back over to Meng Chengjun.

“What’s the story here?” At first, Meng Chengjun was unable to recognize Xu Lan, mainly because the latter was much thinner than before, and compared to a month ago, his appearance seemed to have aged by a few years.

“Uncle, he, he got into a fight with Sergeant Xiao. He didn’t regain his strength, not to mention his asthma and high blood pressure acted up at the same time…” Meng Chengjun flashed a bitter smile.

Xu Lan always felt that Meng Chengjun was being fake. That impression came mostly because of the ever-present feigned smile on Meng Chengjun’s face. For the first time, Xu Lan learned that Meng Chengjun could feel so helpless and had something other than that fake smile.

“Don’t worry. Everything’ll be alright.” Xu Lan shook his head and patted Meng Chengjun on the shoulder while uttering words of comfort.

“He’s been admitted a few times now, but this is the first time he’s like this…” Meng Chengjun spread out his palms and placed them on his face as if to wipe away all traces of depression.

Xu Lan sighed and sat beside him. They were both grown-ups and men at that. Words, at a time like this, were superfluous.

“Did you bring any cigarettes?” Xu Lan asked out of the blue.

“… This is a no-smoking area.” Meng Chengjun did not anticipate that question and thus replied expressionlessly.

“F*ck! Go to the toilet then, you’ll be sitting around here doing nothing anyway.” Xu Lan let out a muted scolding and looked at Meng Chengjun as if he was a ghost. Sure enough, Xu Lan found himself unaccustomed to mingling with such people. Despite all the benefits that came with playing by the book, being too straight and narrow might drive him insane.

Meng Chengjun snorted and let out a chuckle, then got up, patted his own behind, and headed toward the toilet. He did not know if Xu Lan was genuinely stupid or playing stupid; after taking credit for so much of Xu Lan’s work, the man still came to comfort him as though nothing had happened.

‘Pa-ta…’

With the flicker of a blue flame, Xu Lan borrowed Meng Chengjun’s cigarette and took a deep puff. It was ages since he last smoked, and the feeling he got – where his whole body, as well as all his bones, relaxed immediately – was truly indescribable.

“Is the case settled yet?” Xu Lan licked his lips and lifted up the cigarette with his hand. Ah, it was Chunghwa. No wonder he felt energetic when he smoked it. Still, Xu Lan preferred his Yunyan Special ¹ ; it was always best if the cigarette suited one’s tastes.

“Mm. After we caught that hooligan, we never touched ‘Sparrow’ again. When it came to that Zhao kid, there were never any clues to begin with. Just a few days ago, Lan Er found out that someone from Laos logged into the game, so Sergeant Xiao urgently requested to contact the informer whom we stationed in Laos. It was also this that led to their argument.”

Meng Chengjun blew out a puff of smoke. Xu Lan was unable to see Meng Chengjun’s emotions clearly due to the haziness, but he knew instinctively that there was a hint of disapproval when Meng Chengjun mentioned Xiao Feng.

“Was anyone hurt?” Xu Lan squinted and asked.

“None. That’s why it’s so hard to deal with!” Meng Chengjun let out a bitter chuckle, then put out the cigarette by pressing the cigarette butt to the dustbin. “I’ll go back and take a look.”

“Mm.” Xu Lan nodded and also put out his cigarette. After Meng Chengjun had left, he headed to the opposite end of the inpatient department.

Bai Wu looked on while the doctor pointed a water gun on his wounded flesh. It was painful, but once he relaxed, he immediately fell into a deep sleep.

“Cough, cough…” Xu Lan awkwardly coughed. Ka Daiwen immediately glared at him coldly.

“Can we talk?” Xu Lan asked.