Chapter 6: The Kid

Xiao Tian glanced at the clock on the wall, and there were still 20 minutes left until the next patrol.

He was getting anxious.

As luck would have it, a few muffled thunderclaps sounded, and a fine drizzle began to fall.

This was great. Xiao Tian's worries had all been resolved.

Because Lao Wang had said that if it rained, the night shift patrol could be canceled.

For the first time, Xiao Tian felt like the heavens were favoring him, and he suddenly felt happy.

Li Yicheng used his exceptional intelligence and solid business skills to quickly revise the contract. Although he was new to the job and lacked practical experience, being the top student at Harvard was no empty title.

After closing the freshly revised contract, Li Yicheng stretched his lazy body, relaxing the muscles and nerves beneath his suit.

Looking at his wristwatch, it was already 1 o'clock in the morning.

Looking at the rain-soaked window, Li Yicheng suddenly felt a chill in his body.

It seemed like the industrial area was more desolate, and the temperature was slightly lower than in the city.

When he drove out through the front gate, unsurprisingly, the barrier had not been raised in time.

Li Yicheng wondered if he was particularly unpopular with that little security guard. He couldn't help but smile wryly. Somehow, he didn't honk the horn as usual but got out of the car and walked towards the security room.

The security room was brightly lit, and there was a folding iron bed against the wall, but no one was lying on it.

Li Yicheng turned his head slightly and saw a slender figure lying on the table in front of the monitoring computer, with his head resting on his arms, his eyes tightly closed, apparently asleep from exhaustion.

Originally, he wanted to wake him up, but Li Yicheng stopped. He involuntarily examined the face, and a strange feeling of warmth and familiarity surged over him again.

No, not the kind of feeling driven by primal desires. Besides, Li Yicheng wasn't the kind of person who went into heat at the sight of anyone, especially not a little security guard he had never even spoken to.

This person was peculiar.

Li Yicheng approached, staring even more intently at the sleeping face as if he wanted to find answers from that slumbering face.

Unaware of someone getting closer, Xiao Tian didn't notice that someone was approaching him. He was too tired. He had always been on the day shift before, with a fixed daily routine. This was his first time on night duty, and he had never experienced staying up late. If he suddenly opened his eyes now, he would definitely be scared to death by Li Yicheng's enlarged face.

Li Yicheng stared for a long time but still didn't know where the feeling in his heart came from or why it existed. After a while, he sighed.

The night breeze blew, seemingly colder than when he was upstairs. Li Yicheng glanced at the slender figure lying down. Incredibly, he did something unbelievable again.

He took off his suit jacket and draped it over the slender shoulders of the security guard.

He didn't know what had come over him, but he did it anyway, driven by his subconscious. Following what his heart wanted.

Li Yicheng still remembered the words of an old professor at Harvard: There were many unexplainable things in this world. When these things happened, there was no need to worry or investigate deeply. Just follow your heart.

To this day, Li Yicheng still remembers those words.

Late into the night, Li Yicheng didn't linger or waste any more time. He had to visit an uncle from his childhood who had been extremely fond of him and had retired many years ago. He wanted to inquire about the aftermath of that incident from back then.

Li Yicheng picked up the remote key from the table, opened the barrier, put down the key, and drove away.

Leaving behind Xiao Tian, who was still fast asleep and unaware. He was wrapped in the warmth of the suit jacket left behind by someone and slept soundly until morning.

"Uncle Wu, long time no see." Li Yicheng carried two bags of tea gift boxes and knocked on the door of a small villa.

"Oh my, come on in, come on in!" A white-haired old man opened the door. When he saw the visitor, his face lit up with a warm smile, and he enthusiastically welcomed him inside.

"Uncle Wu, it's been so many years. How have you been?" Li Yicheng handed the gifts to a maid and, under Uncle Wu's guidance, the two of them sat down in the living room.

Uncle Wu started to show off his newly bought tea-making utensils and began making tea for his guests. "Very good, very good, just the occasional gout, but that's all right, it's a common ailment for old folks."

"The weather has been a bit chilly lately; you should take good care of yourself," Li Yicheng said with concern.

"Thank you for your concern. Come, have some tea, have some tea!" The freshly brewed Pu-erh tea was neither too strong nor too weak, offering a perfect balance of color, fragrance, and taste, warming the heart.

"I remember back then; you were just a little bean. Now, in the blink of an eye, you've grown into a young man, with a talent. Time really flies, and I'm getting old too," Uncle Wu said, scratching his white hair. He then asked, "I wonder how Chairman Li's health has been recently?"

"Thank you for your concern, Uncle Wu; he's been doing well." Li Yicheng didn't mention Li Zhongmao's recent surgery on this elderly man, thinking it was best to avoid extra concerns.

"Oh, that's good to hear." Uncle Wu felt relieved and poured another cup of tea for Li Yicheng.

Uncle Wu was the one who rushed into the warehouse first and rescued Li Yicheng when he was a child. Later, he had a smooth career, was highly regarded by Li Zhongmao, climbed the ranks, became a department head, then a vice president, and finally retired gloriously to enjoy his later years.

"Uncle Wu, I have something I'd like to ask you." Li Yicheng, in turn, personally poured a cup of tea for Uncle Wu.

"What is it?" Uncle Wu lightly tapped the tea table, expressing his gratitude.

"It's about the incident in the scrap warehouse when I was a child. After my father carried me out, what happened to that child? Please, tell me everything you know." Li Yicheng asked earnestly. He knew that Uncle Wu must know everything because he and another executive in charge of moving operations had stayed behind to handle the aftermath.

"Oh, that incident." Uncle Wu took a sip of tea, slowly reminiscing.

"After Chairman Li carried you out, I and Manager Chen dispersed the crowd that had gathered around, and we waited for a while. Finally, the medical personnel arrived and rescued that poor child," Uncle Wu sighed. "The child was carried out on a stretcher, covered in bloodstains, and had already lost consciousness. Manager Chen, the child's father, and I followed the ambulance to the hospital."

"And then?"

Later, what happened?" Li Yicheng urgently wanted to know more but was afraid to hear bad news.

"Afterward, that child was rushed into the operating room and underwent surgery for a full three hours," Uncle Wu continued to recall. "Manager Chen and I stood outside the operating room, comforting his father."

"After the surgery, the doctors told us that the child's life was not in danger. He had been struck by a heavy object and had passed out, but a sharp steel pipe had fallen from above, piercing through the child's left shinbone. The doctors managed to patch up the shattered bone as if sewing a patch. His leg was saved, but he would need consistent medical treatment in the future to have a chance at a full recovery. Otherwise, the bone wouldn't heal properly, and he'd be left with a limp."

"What happened next? How was it handled?" Li Yicheng felt a heavy heart, unable to imagine the pain that an 11-year-old child must have gone through.

"Well, it was about the compensation after that. The child's father was a factory laborer in the workshop, and they lived together in the factory dormitory. He said that all his hopes for his whole life had been dashed. He used to go to Chairman Li's office every day to cry and make a scene, which had a bad influence. Chairman Li was the one who sent you to Beijing to study at that time. Chairman Li also felt sorry for the child and wanted to compensate him with 500,000 yuan. But the child's father insisted on something else. He said he wanted Chairman Li to appoint him as a department head. He also said that money would eventually run out, and only a position that could create wealth would truly make up for both of them. Chairman Li disagreed. Later, Chairman Li and his wife discussed it and decided to provide the child with a monthly medical allowance of 3,000 yuan until the child turns 18." Uncle Wu revealed all he knew.

"Ah, initially, Chairman Li wasn't responsible for this at all. The 500,000 yuan compensation was purely out of pity. Who would have thought that person would make such a bold demand, wanting to be a department head? It's a pity that Chairman Li's goodwill was wasted," Uncle Wu lamented. "Firstly, the company had a rule against bringing children into the work area to prevent accidents. So, the responsibility rested entirely with the parents. Secondly, that child actually took the Chairman's only son to play in such a dangerous place as the scrap warehouse. If it had been you instead of that child who had the accident, Chairman Li would have definitely not spared both of you. Chairman Li didn't pursue it; they were both fortunate."

Li Yicheng knew that Chairman Li Zhongmao's compassion, as mentioned by Uncle Wu, was simply a tactic to win people's hearts. As a businessman, he wasn't a Bodhisattva, and he didn't have that much compassion.

People often sided with the weaker party. In the eyes of those employees, the father and son were the victims of the whole incident. Chairman Li Zhongmao, as the big boss of the entire factory, would face public criticism if he didn't do something to appease the victims. It would be said that he was cold and ruthless, caring only about money.

In any case, spending a little money to settle the whole matter while also earning a good image was a win-win situation for Chairman Li Zhongmao.

"Uncle Wu, do you know where that child is now? Has he recovered?" Li Yicheng wanted to see Tian Tian immediately. Although many years had passed, he didn't know if he would still recognize Tian Tian, but he couldn't suppress his desire to see him.

The night pearls that he and Tian Tian had picked up together still lay preciously in a box on his bedside table. He had taken them to the capital, to the United States, and to every place he had visited. Whenever he missed Tian Tian, the one who had taken him to play and have fun everywhere, he would take them out and look at them closely, reminiscing.

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