It's been a long time since I last drove that Cadillac. He sat on the passenger seat, staring outside of the window listlessly while I was about to drive him home.
"Do I still have the smell?"
I leaned to him and sniffed, "You smell alright." Of course, he took a shower just now.
He shut his eyes. His voice was cracked by the torment a while ago, "Stay away from me."
I smiled and started the car.
When we were still a distance to his place, I stopped the car and untied my safety belt, "Drive this car back. It's better that I don't go with you."
"I will get off."
I held his hand, "It's probably not a good idea for you to walk home right now. Just drive back."
After some struggling, he agreed, "Then fuck off."
"I am fucking off. Remember to come see me tomorrow." Before I left, I reminded him through the front window.
I stood in front of the window and reminded him.
He looked ahead holding the steering wheel, "For what? To butcher you?"
I laughed, "Sure. I will wait for you."
"......"
He rolled up the window, stepped on the gas and drove ahead.
With the car quickly disappearing in my sight, I finally relaxed the smile on my face, and gradually became expressionless.
Rubbing my face to relax the muscle, I sneered at my split personalities developed by following him for too long.
I turned around and slowly walked back.
My steps were a bit heavy. For months, I wasn't able to sleep a sound and wasn't able to taste the taste of food. What needs to be done was being done, and what was to come came as expected.
The relationship between Lin Ye and his father might be very different from what people imagined.
Beneath the moon high up on the sky, I was kicking the rocks on the side of the road on my way back pondering.
Today, Master Lin treated me to more than a meal.
He told me he could save Chu Yuan Jiang, and in return, I packaged and offered him my stance.
I seemed to become a pawn of both the father and the son to fight against each other. One used me as a rebellious tag; the other a bargaining chip.
I lit up a cigarette from the box Lin Ye forgot here. Blew out series of smoke rings, my steps echoed in the quiet, empty night.
The interlaced tree shadows in front me dragged my thoughts into the enticing scene a moment ago.
His red lips that were half-opened,
His broken moans that were trembling,
His resentment from the disabled outrage which he couldn't vent on me,
......All were turning into surrender beneath me again and again. \n
The red marks he scratched on my back would probably take a long time to heal.
I raised my head, looking up at the weak star lights blurred by the mist.....
In the most vulnerable moment, I did not miss the deeply suppressed obsession and craze at the bottom of his eyes.
Deja vu.
All the women that had such eyes were sent away from me at once; but with him, I would have to keep tormenting.
Until the day when Chu Yuan Jiang was completely free.
*** *** *** \n
After that day, I had never seen Lin Ye again, but the hearings of Chu Yuan Jiang's case came as scheduled.
I never missed a single trial. Sitting in the family area, sometimes I could meet with Chu Yuan Jiang's eyes from a distance.
All I could do were nodding and staring.
The final trial went as expected. After a list of death penalties for organized crime, he was the only one that received a life sentence, with a fine of 150 million.
I was satisfied.
After this, he started serving his days in the City X prison. \n
"Boss Ou, Young Master asked you to come." I was surprised to receive Da Biao's call in my office. Checking the caller ID, I figured he was calling from the inner line.
I hadn't seen him for a long time. Two and a half month had passed since I forced him last time.
I knocked gently on the door of the CEO's office. "Come in." It was Da Biao's voice. I opened the door.
Lin Ye was sitting in the office chair. His fingers crossed supporting his chin on the desk. He was motionless with his head lowered, and I couldn't see his expression.
I walked in front of the desk, waiting for him to lecture me, but on the desk was not the new quarter report I handed in yesterday, but a photograph.
On the photo was a bloody man with a mangled face, as it was covered in crawling black and red worms. The blood splashed everywhere on his prison suit.
After a slight hesitation, I noticed the man was not Chu Yuan Jiang. I was very sure. However, my body froze unconsciously, because I had very, very ominous feelings.
Lin Ye sighed with his eyes still fixed on the photo, with a voice that was as cold and aloof as usual, "A sharpened toothbrush pierced into this man through his left eye, then he fell on a cloth hook, spilling his brains all over the floor."
I went up and picked up the photo.
"Do you know who he is?" He raised his eyes, those fierce, gloomy snake eyes.
"I don't know."
Lin Ye suddenly smashed the Qinghua* porcelain pen holder next to his hand on my head, "Han Dong has toiled for me for years! And he ended up like this! Ou Jiang Jun what do you want me to explain to my men?"
[Qinghua: a style of white porcelain with blue patterns on it.]
The pen holder fell on the floor into pieces, dropping all the pens on the floor. I tried my best to open my eyes, despite the blood running down from my forehead blocking my sight.
I asked, "Who did it?"
He gave me a grimly sneer, "Who did it? Are you fucking retarded? Who else other than the motherfucking Chu Yuan Jiang?"
Until then I knew that Chu Yuan Jiang and Han Dong were both serving in the City X prison.
I took a deep breath, "Where is Chu Yuan Jiang at the moment?"
Lin Ye squinted at me, "This is your attitude? You are not bothered to ask if I am okay right now?"
"Even though the fault is on Chu Yuan Jiang, the primary responsibility is on the management of the prison not being in effect."
"Well, well......" He pointed at me, "You just wait and see."
Then he stormed out.
I caught DaBiao who was following him, "Brother Biao, where is Yuan Jiang right now?"
DaBiao gave me a glance, "In XX hospital."
I bought the ticket the same day afternoon flying into City X. I was never a man of principle in front of Lin Ye. I could compromise on anything, but my only bottom line was Chu Yuan Jiang. Without this bottom line, everything else......was meaningless.
Even though I arrived in person, I wasn't able to see him. The process to visit a patient in the prison X central hospital was even more complicated than visiting a prisoner.
After lots of inquiries, I finally knew that Chu Yuan Jiang was still in a coma.
The doctor said that he was pushed down a stair during the fight with Han Dong. His arm broken, and his spine damaged in multiple locations.