novelaction Chapter 1036 Only Minutes
Chapter 1036 Only Minutes
Yusuke Ichijo didn't give the man, who was lying on the ground like a pile of mud, another glance. He called out towards the door, "Come in."
Then the two military police officers who brought Li Shouren came in.
With a wave of his hand, Yusuke Ichijo signaled to the standing military police: "Take him away, according to the established plan."
"Hi Yi!"
Two military policemen stepped forward, one on each side, and lifted the exhausted Li Shouren off the floor as if he were a lifeless object.
His legs slumped to the ground, and as he was being dragged out of the office, he glanced at Yusuke one last time out of the corner of his eye. He saw that Yusuke had already lowered his head again, focused on the documents in his hands, as if the moment that had decided the fate of Li Shouren and Xiaojuan had never happened.
The corridor was dimly lit. Li Shouren was half-dragged and half-carried forward, looking lost and his mind was blank.
The moment of decision has passed. What fills his heart now is not relief, nor clear sadness, but a huge, empty sense of bewilderment.
In the end, Li Shouren was taken to the room next to Xiao Juan's, where he was met by Military Police Sergeant Nishimura.
Nishimura then carefully explained some things to Li Shouren, after which came a long wait.
A few hours of waiting was far too short for Li Shouren.
It was so short that he was peering through the crack in the wall, and before he could even get a few glimpses of Xiao Juan, she was gone.
Every minute, every second, my mind was rehearsing the upcoming meeting.
Nishimura's cold voice echoed in his ears: "This is the final farewell."
Make her completely give up on you, and on the past. If you can't do that... you know the consequences.
What would be the consequences? Would Widow Sun and the children immediately lose this fragile "protection," would they have their hands and feet broken and be thrown into the icy Qinhuai River, or would they suffer even more cruel torture?
He dared not think about it, only feeling a chill rush from his tailbone straight to the top of his head.
The heavy footsteps of military boots with iron nails on the concrete floor came from outside the door, growing louder as they approached, and finally stopping at the doorway.
The key was inserted into the lock, producing a harsh metallic scraping sound.
The door was suddenly flung open, and a flood of light rushed in, making Li Shouren squint. There were still the same two expressionless Japanese military police officers, like two cold, malevolent gods.
One of them shouted in broken Chinese, "Li Shouren! Get up! You can go now!"
The military doctor, Yamaguchi, stood a little distance away, his white coat impeccably tailored, his face bearing a complex expression that mixed professional indifference with a hint of barely perceptible pity.
He said nothing, but simply turned slightly to the side, signaling Li Shouren to follow.
Li Shouren struggled to stand up from the sack. His legs were numb and stiff from being curled up and crouched in the crack in the wall for so long that he could hardly stand.
He staggered, grabbing the cold wall to keep from falling.
"Only ten minutes." The military doctor Yamaguchi said to the military police in a low voice in Japanese, then glanced at Li Shouren, his eyes seemingly reminding him not to do anything irrational.
Li Shouren was pushed inside.
The ward was filled with the strong smell of disinfectant, but you could also faintly smell blood and ointment.
His gaze, almost greedily, immediately locked onto the snow-white hospital bed in the center of the room.
Xiao Juan was lying there.
So small, so frail, as if it could be swallowed up by the white sheets and pillows at any moment.
Her face was so pale it was almost transparent, and her lips were cracked and bloodless.
Long eyelashes, like two small fans, cast a faint shadow under the eyelids.
Her breathing was weak but steady, and her chest rose and fell gently with each breath.
Her left arm was in a thick cast, firmly secured by bandages, and rested on the blanket.
A thin IV tube was inserted into the back of her right hand, and clear liquid was dripping into her delicate veins.
Seeing his daughter alive and breathing, Li Shouren felt as if his heart had been gripped tightly by an invisible hand. A mix of sorrow and relief welled up in his throat, almost bringing him to tears on the spot.
He longed to rush over, touch her forehead, check her temperature, and tell her, "Daddy's here, don't be afraid."
But he can't.
He bit down hard on the inside of his mouth, a metallic, sweet taste spreading through his mouth, helping him maintain his last shred of consciousness.
He used all his strength to control his body, which was about to lunge forward uncontrollably, and stood stiffly a few steps away from the hospital bed.
He could feel the cold gazes of the two military police behind him, like tangible blades pressed against his back.
At the entrance, the military doctor and the nurse stood quietly, exerting pressure without making a sound.
This was no farewell; it was a performance of dancing on the edge of a knife, and he had to play the role of a heartless, ruthless man who sold his daughter for personal gain.
Perhaps sensing an unfamiliar, or rather, familiar yet oppressively oppressive atmosphere, Xiao Juan's long eyelashes trembled a few times on the hospital bed, and she slowly, with great difficulty, opened her eyes.
At first, her eyes were empty and blank, as if she were still immersed in a terrible nightmare or the chaos brought on by the anesthetic.
She looked blankly at the ceiling, then blinked and focused her gaze.
When her gaze finally fell on the familiar yet unusually haggard and stiff figure in front of the bed, an unbelievable light instantly burst forth in her large eyes, which had been as dull and lifeless as a pearl covered in dust!
That light was mixed with pain, dependence, and grievance.
Tears quickly filled her clear eyes, forming large teardrops that rolled down her pale cheeks.
Her chapped lips trembled, and with all her might, she managed to squeeze out a faint, almost inaudible cry from deep within her throat, a cry that struck Li Shouren's heart like a heavy hammer:
"father...?"
His voice was hoarse and his breath was barely a whisper, yet it was like a bolt of lightning that shattered all the psychological defenses that Li Shouren had painstakingly built.
He saw her struggle to raise her uninjured right hand, the one with the IV drip inserted. Her small hand trembled slightly from blood loss and weakness, her fingertips white, stubbornly reaching out to him.
She wanted to hold onto him, just like countless nights in the past when she could only fall asleep peacefully by tightly clutching her father's clothes.
Li Shouren subconsciously stepped forward and grasped Xiao Juan's small hand.
This cold little hand represents his daughter's complete trust in him and her last reliance on him.
Feeling the complete trust conveyed in his daughter's eyes and actions, like a fledgling returning to its nest, Li Shouren's heart, his heart that was already riddled with holes, felt as if it had been scalded by a hot iron and then plunged into an ice cellar, convulsing violently!
An overwhelming urge surged through his body; he wanted to rush over and hold his daughter's small, battered body tightly, telling her in the warmest voice, "Daddy's here! Daddy's here! I'll never leave you again! Don't be afraid! Xiaojuan, don't be afraid!"