Chapter 29: Girlfriend and Mobile Phone

  Liu Handong politely accepted these gifts, which he deserved. That day, driving a motorcycle on the winding mountain road of Yunshan was quite dangerous. If he hadn't had rich experience in riding three-wheeled vehicles, he would have fallen off the cliff and died. In fact, when he arrived at the hospital, the guy whose finger had been cut off had already vomited from being shaken around.

  "Master, my name is Du Wei. The one who got hurt is my brother Du Qiang. On Sunday, there was no one in the factory, and he accidentally cut off his finger with a machine. He's a technician and relies on his hands to make a living. Thank you so much!" The man stretched out his hand and shook Liu Handong's hand, asking what to call him.

  Liu Handong.

  "Master Liu, thank you so much, you're busy first, I'll invite you to a special dinner after my brother is discharged from the hospital." Du Weiqi thanked him profusely and left. Liu Handong carried the cigarettes and wine, suddenly remembering that he hadn't visited Ma Ling's father in the hospital yet. Although Ma Ling had strictly forbidden himself from going, after all, they were comrades-in-arms, not visiting would be impolite.

  It's definitely not good to go empty-handed, these two packs of cigarettes and four bottles of wine are a ready-made gift. Liu Handong put the bag in the car and drove his motorcycle to the Medical University Hospital. At the hospital entrance, there was a long row of electric bicycles, motorcycles, and bicycles parked. Just as Liu Handong was about to park, a parking attendant came over with a stack of small tickets and said, "Your vehicle will be three yuan."

  "Aren't motorcycles all the same?" Liu Handong's pockets were clean and slippery, he couldn't even scrape together the parking fee.

  "Is this an ordinary motorcycle?" The aunt asked him sternly.

  Liu Handong knew he was in the wrong, his car took up the space of three bicycles, so naturally he had to pay more. To save three dollars, he parked it in a residential area behind the hospital and came to the inpatient department with his things, asked around and easily found Ma Guoqing's ward.

  Ma Guoqing has been in the hospital for more than half a month. The grassroots police are very hardworking, and this time he is thoroughly rested. Several times he wanted to go back to the office to work, but was persuaded by his wife and children, saying that with such a stomach injury, you are still eating liquid food, what work can you do? Hurry up and lie down for me. Ma Guoqing is afraid of his wife, even more afraid of his daughter, so he had no choice but to stay in the hospital every day, chatting with fellow patients.

  They were discussing the pros and cons of Chairman Mao's life when the door to the hospital room was pushed open. It wasn't a nurse with medicine, but rather someone visiting. A young man in his twenties carrying gifts walked in and politely asked: "Officer Ma, how's your recovery going?"

  Ma Guoqing recognized Liu Handong at a glance and immediately stood up, saying: "It's Little Liu, what are you bringing? Come on in, sit down quickly."

  Liu Handong put down his things and started talking with Ma Guoqing. He asked, "Officer Ma, is the case closed? What's going on?"

  Ma Guoqing said: "The case has been closed, with all the evidence and witnesses in place. Gu Changjun's kidnapping and extortion were well-deserved crimes, but since he is already dead, there is no way to hold him criminally responsible. His accomplice will probably be sentenced to 10-8 years."

  Liu Handong said, "I think this case is not so simple. Gu Changjun wouldn't use eight hitmen just to extort money. He's completely reckless and doesn't care about the consequences. He must kill Xiaofei and also take revenge for his brother by killing me. Moreover, there must be someone inside the Public Security Bureau collaborating with him. Gu Changjun's death is also a case of murder to silence him. There must be a dark force behind him."

  Ma Guoqing's heart was filled with shock and horror, this young man's analysis was the same as his own, but now the municipal bureau had suppressed the case, prohibiting any mention of it, and the provincial hall also tried to downplay it, after all, Qing Shi High-tech and Shi Feng Group were both major taxpayers, their backgrounds were not ordinary, just how deep was this water, even he, a veteran public security officer with twenty years of experience, didn't know.

  "Xiao Liu has watched too many movies, it's not that complicated. Gu Changjun died of a heart attack, and the Public Security Bureau would never silence someone in their own compound." Ma Guoqiang said with a faint smile.

  The patient in the next bed also nodded, looking at Liu Handong with a hint of disdain, and chimed in: "Young man, do you think this is the old society under the Nationalist Party?"

  Liu Handong scratched his head, just wanting to say something, when he suddenly heard someone behind him say: "What are you doing here?"

  Turning back, it was Ma Ling who came, holding a thermos bottle, with a cold and angry expression. Seeing the gift on the table, he became even more furious, picked it up and glared at Liu Handong: "You come to the hospital to visit patients, bringing two packs of cigarettes and four bottles of white wine? Do you know that my father has severe stomach problems and can't drink alcohol? Do you understand common sense? Take your cigarettes and wine and get out!"

  Liu Handong awkwardly stood up and was kicked out of the ward by Ma Ling.

  "See you at the gate in half an hour." Ma Ling tiptoed and gave Liu Handong a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying away.

  Back in the ward, Ma Guoqing looked suspiciously at his disheveled daughter. With his many years of experience as a public security officer, he felt that there must be something fishy going on here, but now was not the time to ask questions.

  Liu Handong touched his face, feeling sweet and gentle inside. He picked up the cigarettes and wine and went downstairs. After some thought, he came to the orthopedic ward again and found Wang Zhigang's bed. Wang was lying in bed with a plaster cast on his leg, reading a tabloid newspaper and muttering the headline: "National first-class actor Andy Lau was killed at Hong Kong's Causeway Bay MTR station, wow, what big news, why didn't TV broadcast it."

  "Brother Wang, I've come to see you." Liu Handong walked in with cigarettes and liquor. Wang Zhigang was extremely enthusiastic: "Ah, Big Dong has arrived, quick, sit down, have some tea." Seeing the cigarettes and liquor in his hand, he became even more excited, this was exactly what he liked. On the spot, he tore open a pack of cigarettes and said: "Let's smoke one, I've been craving it for days."

  Liu Handong said: "Smoking is not allowed in the hospital."

  Wang Zhigang said, "I don't care about that. What can the nurse do to me? Bite me? Cut me?" He lit a cigarette and puffed out smoke, saying, "Dadong, I heard you beat up Zhao Yufeng yesterday. How did it end?"

  Liu Handong said: "Tonight I and Tu Hongbin went to Hua Bao Company to investigate, just clarify the matter."

  Wang Zhigang praised: "The flower leopard can't pursue it, and really give you face."

  "He's not giving me face, he's giving it face."

  Wang Zhigang burst out laughing: "One thing, uh, my legs and feet are not convenient, or you help me buy some peanuts and chicken claws, we two brothers will finish these four bottles of wine."

  Liu Handong said: "I don't drink well."

  "Let's start with two bottles first, isn't a kilogram still not enough?" Wang Zhigang said magnanimously.

  "Drinking? You know I'm drinking! Drink to death if you can!" Zhang Dajie stormed in, furious. Wang Zhigang immediately became a hero with a short breath: "I was just joking around, not drinking anymore, from now on I won't touch a drop of wine."

  At the same time, in Ma Guoqing's ward, Wang Yulan, Ma Ling's mother, also arrived. A fellow patient joked: "Sister, your daughter is so beautiful, does she have a husband?"

  "We haven't found one yet, don't worry. My daughter is so beautiful, 1.7 meters tall, and has a formal job. There aren't many boys who can match her."

  The fellow patient said: "What specific conditions do you have? I'll take a look."

  "There are two conditions: first, they must be civil servants; second, they must be at or above the deputy department level. If either condition is not met, it's not acceptable."

  The patient's friend said: "The conditions are really not low, just find someone with money and that's it."

  Wang Yulan sneered: "What's the use of having money? A word from an official can kill him, in this day and age being a civil servant is still the most secure, with guarantees, drought or flood, there's always a steady income and social status."

  As for his wife's high opinion, Ma Guoqing did not express an opinion, in fact he couldn't get a word in edgewise, at home the wife has the final say.

  Ma Ling felt uncomfortable and picked up her bag: "I should go, I have work."

  "Drive slowly." Wang Yulan said, listening to her daughter's footsteps disappear, and sighed: "It's not good for a girl to drive a bus after all. It's better to think of a way to transfer her to the office and be a dispatcher or something."

  Ma Ling ran downstairs and rushed to the hospital entrance, where she saw Liu Handong standing there in a daze. She sneaked up behind him and covered his eyes: "Guess who I am?"

  "You're a horse driver." Liu Handong had long heard the familiar footsteps and deliberately let her come to cover his eyes.

  "What a driver, so annoying. Let's go, take me to work." Ma Ling grabbed Liu Handong's arm and they walked together, the two of them having a tacit understanding, neither mentioning what had just happened.

  On the 12th floor ward window, Lao Gong An Ma Guoqing saw his daughter and Liu Handong walking side by side with their arms around each other, and his heart sank, unfortunately guessing correctly!

  Ma Ling and Liu Handong walked side by side to the residential area behind the hospital, saw the broken bicycle locked with a chain on the utility pole, suddenly opened his mouth and turned around in circles for several times, asked: "Your bike?"

  "How's that, handsome enough?" Liu Handong said.

  "Awesome, awesome enough! Did you run on the mountain trail two days ago?" Ma Ling's tone was filled with uncontrollable excitement.

  "It seems like I've walked past, took a customer to the troop hospital, what's wrong?"

  "Did you run into a group of kids on motorcycles?"

  "Yes, didn't notice, guest's finger was cut off and rushed to hospital for surgery, what happened."

  "Do you know or not, your current battered vehicle is now known as the 'Inferno Chariot' in the motorcycle circle of Kinki." Ma Ling laughed.

  "What a literary name!" Liu Handong didn't take it seriously, straddled the motorcycle, Ma Ling crawled into the carriage, and the rumbling sound drove away.

  A tricycle motorcycle was driving on the main street when suddenly Ma Ling knocked on the carriage: "Stop for a moment."

  He stopped the car, Ma Ling got out and ran into a mobile phone store by the roadside. Less than five minutes later, she came out with a box and tossed it into Liu Handong's arms: "For you."

  This is a brand new mobile phone packaging box, Coolpad 7295.

  "There's also a China Unicom mobile card inside, with 200 yuan of phone bill already topped up, and it's connected to my new phone number, so we can call each other for free. Note: you're not allowed to use WeChat to chat with others, and you're not allowed to use Momo to hook up with girls, got it?"

  Liu Handong held the box with a surprised and delighted expression: "For me?"

  "Yeah, I bought it for you, you owe me one." Ma Linghuan smiled and climbed onto the train carriage.

  Arriving at the 520 starting point station, Ma Ling got off the bus and asked Liu Handong: "What is your specialty?"

  Liu Handong said: "I can drive a car, I can fight and shoot very well."

  "Do you have a driver's license?"

  "Yes, but it's a military driver's license."

  "Hurry up and go to the vehicle management office to change your driver's license, then take an operating certificate. Huaijiang Taxi Company is recruiting drivers, it's a job after all, better than driving a broken car." Ma Ling said seriously.

  "Got it." Liu Handong's heart felt warm and fuzzy. Apart from his mother, Ma Ling was the first woman to care about him so much.

  "Do you still have money on you?" Ma Ling took out his wallet and pulled out all the large bills, "You silly fool, what are you buying cigarettes and wine for when visiting someone in the hospital? You don't even understand basic human relationships and you're wasting money like this. You must be broke by now. Take these first, buy a new pair of pants to wear, if you're short on cash send me a text."

  Liu Handong didn't want to, thinking it was embarrassing to spend a woman's money.

  Ma Ling got angry: "Take it, otherwise I'll kick you."

  Liu Handong had no choice but to continue.

  "Also, if you drive a tricycle for a living, you need to wait for customers at the bus terminal. In the city, there's no business and it's easy to get caught by traffic police."

  Liu Handong nodded, he didn't understand this, a complete outsider.

  "Hurry up, remember to call me, the number is written on the box." Ma Ling took a look at the time, turned around and ran off. Liu Handong saw her off as she drove away on his three-wheeled motorcycle.

  Inside the bus dispatch room, a man wearing a uniform held a cup of tea and asked: "Xiao Ma, who is that?"

  A friend.

  "Ordinary friends or non-ordinary friends?" The man continued to ask.

  "Is it related to you?" Ma Ling asked him a sentence and walked away with his head held high.