After Wang Ronghuo died, Xu Hang made an agreement with Ruan Xiaodie that when she saw the news of Zhang Yaochen’s death in the newspaper, she should return to Lincheng and go to Zhaofeng Road. He would write down what she needed to do in a letter and put it in the mailbox.
To attract bees is to attract butterflies.
No one would have thought that Ruan Xiaodie, who had been on the run for so long, would come back again. It has been so long that no one remembers the case that shocked the whole city anymore.
It was so convenient for her to sneak into the city.
This move was truly unexpected, and Duan Yelin also sighed in admiration.
He passed the bowl of porridge to Xu Hang: “Drink it.”
Xu Hang paused for a moment, then took it and drank it: “That’s enough, you don’t have to waste your time here anymore.”
“I don’t think I’m wasting my time,” Duan Yelin looked at him expressionlessly. “I’ve been fooled by you for so long, and now things have changed. It’s finally time for you to be defeated by me. How can I let you off so easily?”
Xu Hang had never seen Duan Yelin like this before. He seemed to have no humanity at all and was as cold as an interrogator: “What do you want to do?”
Seeing Xu Hang’s nervousness, Duan Yelin curled his lips and said, “When I was in the army, there were many soldiers who secretly smoked marijuana and became addicted. I am very good at helping people quit drugs.”
An ominous premonition loomed over his head.
“The natural quitting method has no shortcut, it just cuts off the source of the poison. The only downside is that… it hurts a bit.”
Xu Hang’s lips trembled slightly, and there was no trace of blood on them. He looked like a small volcano about to erupt. He was quiet for a moment, then suddenly sat up and rushed towards Duan Yelin to hit him: “Duan Yelin! Get out! Get lost!”
Xu Hang was not so irritable and violent before. His drug addiction has turned him into a different person.
Duan Yelin folded his hands and pressed them down on the bed with one hand and said without letting him refuse, “Save your strength for dealing with your drug addiction. You will suffer in the next two weeks!”
Xu Hang gnashed his teeth, as if he really wanted to bite Duan Yelin’s flesh and blood.
The first night passed relatively peacefully, but from the crowing of the cocks on the next day, the morning at Jinyan Tang began with the sound of cracking wood and splintering boards.
When Duan Yelin ran in from the side room, Xu Hang was lying on the ground, twitching constantly, biting his lower lip so hard that it was bleeding.
Afraid that Xu Hang would bite his tongue, Duan Yelin pried open his mouth, wrapped the handkerchief roughly around the back of his hand, and then stuffed it into Xu Hang’s mouth.
Although there was a handkerchief between them, the pain from being bitten did not dissipate at all. In addition to the biting, Xu Hang’s nails, which had not been trimmed for a long time, dug deeply into Duan Yelin’s arm.
“Chan Yi! Chan Yi!” He shouted, calling in Chan Yi, who had been waiting outside to boil the medicine. “Go get the handcuffs! Wrap the handcuffs with medical gauze and bring them back! Also find a short wooden stick!”
“Alright, alright!” Chan Yi ran off to find handcuffs and gauze.
Xu Hang bit for a long time, and saliva was sliding down the corners of his mouth. His eyes were dazed, and he collapsed in Duan Yelin’s arms. His hands were held by Duan Yelin, and he couldn’t move at all.
He spoke incoherently but kept repeating one word: “Morphine… give me morphine…”
Duan Yelin held his forehead and pressed it on his shoulder: “Don’t even think about it! Xu Shaotang, hold on for me!”
The two people’s breathing sounds intertwined with each other and seemed particularly clear in this space.
This is the sound of two cracked souls colliding.
Xu Hang tilted his head back, his whole body embedded in Duan Yelin. He was almost out of strength. He looked at the beams and said softly, “…Please.”
It felt like a steel needle was piercing his spine. Duan Yelin widened his eyes and looked sideways. What did Xu Hang, who never gave up, just say?
“What… did you say?” He asked in disbelief.
“Please, I beg you… give me morphine… I’ll tell you where the medicines are, give me the morphine, alright?”
Although there were no tears in those eyes, they looked watery and bloodshot, like the eyes of a wounded rabbit, with the word “prayer” written in them.
For the sake of morphine, the upright and generous Xu Hang was actually willing to lower himself and beg Duan Yelin in such a humble and pitiful manner?
It felt as if a devil’s claw with long, sharp nails was clutching his heart. Duan Yelin was filled with heartbreak and angry, angry that the familiar appearance of the one he loved had vanished.
He burst out word by word, suppressing endless anger: “Even if you tell me where the medicines are, I still won’t give you even a drop of morphine, Xu Shaotang, just bear with it!”
Hearing the rejection, Xu Hang uttered a dull groan, and his body trembled uncontrollably. At this time, Chan Yi had already come in with handcuffs. She hesitated at the door and was glared at by Duan Yelin, he yelled, “What are you standing there for! Give it to me!”
The handcuffs were cuffed on Xu Hang’s wrists with a crisp sound. Duan Yelin carried Xu Hang back to the bed, sat on him, and suppressed his restless kicking.
Probably knowing what was about to happen, Xu Hang’s whole body was expressing rejection, and his voice was very hoarse: “No! Duan Yelin, who gives you the right to control me! Let go, get lost! Get lost!”
Duan Yelin listened to Xu Hang’s curse and quickly opened his collar to allow him to breathe, then wrapped the short wooden stick in a thick handkerchief and stuffed it into Xu Hang’s mouth.
After doing all this, Duan Yelin was sweating all over. He rolled off Xu Hang, hugged him from behind, and held him tightly.
“Umm…!” Xu Hang, unable to make any sound, used all his strength to bite the wooden stick.
Duan Yelin panted, turned his back to Chan Yi, and ordered, “Go out, I will call you if there is anything here. Make some porridge for dinner. By the way, take away all the fragile items in the room.”
Chan Yi could not hold back her tears anymore just by looking at it. She responded a few times, then closed the door and went out. She clasped her hands together and prayed for a long time outside the door.
Duan Yelin hugged Xu Hang tightly. The person in his arms was convulsing to an astonishing degree. In just a moment, the bedding beneath him was soaked with sweat. Sometimes his skin turned red from the heat, and sometimes he shivered from the cold.
He could do nothing but hold Xu Hang in his arms to prevent him from doing anything to hurt himself.
He had once seen drug-addicted soldiers in the military camp, confined alone in small, dark rooms, nine out of ten never made it out alive. Occasionally, there were a few who survived, and the first thing they did when they were released was to start smoking opium again.
He had personally buried the bodies of his comrades who died of opium, so he had no idea how confident he was in helping Xu Hang quit drugs. But he was sure that he would not give up until he got through it.
Seeing that Xu Hang wanted to curl up in pain, Duan Yelin covered his clenched fists with his hands, forcing him to open them, and clasped their fingers together to prevent him from using too much force and hurting his palms.
Xu Hang seemed to have lost his mind due to the pain, and he just trembled and hummed subconsciously. Duan Yelin hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear, “Shaotang… get better soon.”
“Umm…”
“If you want me to leave so badly, get better soon.”
