A while later, Zhong Yongliang was pushed up onto the operating table. Terror seized him. He wanted to scream, wanted to fight back, but he could not. He was fully conscious, yet his body no longer answered to his brain.

"Brother Wen, everything's ready! You can make the cut now!" the tattooed man said respectfully to An Jianwen.

An Jianwen walked into the operating room carrying a scalpel. Looking at Zhong Yongliang on the table, a cold and vicious glint flickered through his eyes. In all of Songshan City, you dare snatch a woman from me? If I don't show you a thing or two, you'll never learn your place!

"How do I cut?" An Jianwen swaggered over, raising the scalpel and making ready to strike.

Zhong Yongliang's eyes were filled with panic. He did not know what this man meant to do to him; seeing the scalpel, he wondered whether he meant to take his life. How on earth had he provoked such a fearsome creature? He wanted to cry for help, but he could not. He wanted to shut his eyes, but even his eyelids were beyond his control.

"Brother Wen, one cut right here will do it, about this long..." a mask-wearing doctor explained to An Jianwen.

"I understand!" An Jianwen nodded. As far as he was concerned, it hardly mattered if the wound was a little large — at worst it meant a few extra stitches. As for whether Zhong Yongliang suffered, well, the more the better.

That doctor was the sort who could kill without blinking, so he was not in the least nervous, nor did he worry that An Jianwen might butcher the man outright. After all, not ten but eight men had died on that table already.

"Damned bastard! You remember this! There are people you cannot touch. If you dare lay a hand on Gu Mengyao again, I will take your life!" An Jianwen glared viciously at Zhong Yongliang. "This time I cut out one of your kidneys as a lesson. Next time, I'll cut off your head!"

Only now did Zhong Yongliang understand: this man had come to avenge Gu Mengyao. But when had Gu Mengyao come to know such a ruthless man? Could Gu Pengzhan have sent him?

Zhong Yongliang wanted to shout 'You dare!', but that was only a fantasy. He could not make a sound at all.

"Slash..." An Jianwen paid Zhong Yongliang no mind and had no wish to hear any explanation from him; he simply opened a long gash across Zhong Yongliang's body with the scalpel.

The pain set Zhong Yongliang's face twitching, yet there was nothing at all he could do.

"Let this burn itself into your memory! If you dare set your mind on Gu Mengyao again, next time it won't be so simple!" With that, An Jianwen tossed the scalpel aside and turned and walked out of the operating room.

He would have liked to give Zhong Yongliang a few more cuts, but he was afraid of ruining the kidney. A single kidney could fetch several hundred thousand! That was money!

Being cut open without anesthetic had already left Zhong Yongliang in unbearable agony; if the kidney were taken without anesthetic too, he would surely die. After An Jianwen left, the doctor administered the anesthetic, and soon Zhong Yongliang knew nothing at all.

The doctor's technique was deft and clean: he cut out one of Zhong Yongliang's kidneys outright, then had the tattooed man dump him at the entrance of the First People's Hospital, after which they swept off without a backward glance.

Had he not feared blowing the whole thing out of proportion, An Jianwen would simply have finished Zhong Yongliang off.

When Zhong Fabai received the hospital's call and heard that one of his son's kidneys had been cut out, he flew into a towering rage and hurried to the hospital. His son had already woken up lying in a sickbed. Zhong Fabai was both shocked and furious! In Songshan City, someone dared lay hands on his son — did they have a death wish?

Seeing his father come in, Zhong Yongliang burst into loud wailing. To have a kidney cut out for no reason at all — it was a calamity dropped on him from a clear sky. He knew well enough that once a kidney was gone, a man's health would suffer with it, and whether he could still be a normal man in the future was anyone's guess. It left him feeling bitterly wronged! Worst of all, he still had no idea who had done it!

"Dad, you have to get revenge for me. I lost a kidney for no reason at all — how unlucky can a man get..." Zhong Yongliang sobbed.

"Who did it? Damn them! When I find out, I'll wipe out their whole family!" Zhong Fabai was blazing with fury as well. Zhong Yongliang was his only son. How could he not be enraged?

"I don't know either. They pushed me straight onto the operating table, put me under, and then cut out my kidney..." Zhong Yongliang said, weeping. "But the man who cut me open said it was because of Gu Mengyao. He told me to stay far away from her from now on..."

"Oh? Gu Mengyao?" Zhong Fabai was taken aback. "Could Gu Pengzhan have done it? No, that can't be right. Even if you were courting his daughter, he wouldn't go so far as to cut out one of your kidneys."

"I'm sure it must be him, or at the very least he's behind it! Before, I..." Zhong Yongliang had meant to keep it hidden, but after a moment's hesitation, he told his father what he had done...

Zhong Fabai's face turned ugly at once. Zhong Yongliang had been far too bold — he had dared to kidnap Gu Mengyao? And dared to go threaten Gu Pengzhan in his own home? At first, when Zhong Fabai heard it was Gu Pengzhan's doing, he wanted to seek the man out for revenge; but now, hearing Zhong Yongliang's explanation, he fell back into silence.

After all, in this matter he had been in the wrong first, and the other man's retaliation was only to be expected — it was only the method that was a little too vicious! A beating, a broken leg, and it would have been over and done with; but this was a kidney cut out of him!

Though in the past few days he had just established ties with Young Master Bing, Zhong Fabai, on his own strength alone, was no match for Gu Pengzhan. For now, he could only talk it over with Li Cihua and see whether he would help him. After all, he worked for Li Cihua; his son had had a kidney cut out — surely the man could not just turn a blind eye?

So Zhong Fabai left Zhong Yongliang in the hospital. To set his son's mind at ease, he instructed him to focus on his treatment — missing a kidney was nothing; at least he would not die.

Zhong Yongliang knew well enough that missing a kidney would not kill him, but he could not lose it for nothing. His health would surely be far worse than before; he would not even have the stamina to chase women. A pang of sorrow washed over him — but mourning was useless now. Getting revenge, and quickly, was the real business.

Zhong Fabai and Li Cihua's relationship was in its honeymoon phase just then, so when Zhong Fabai called to ask for a meeting, Li Cihua gladly agreed. The place was set at the Geli Fuyun Bar.

"Brother Zhong, what brings you to me so early in the day?" For Li Cihua to rise and welcome him at the bar was already giving Zhong Fabai considerable face.

Zhong Fabai was startled — it was already noon; how was this early? But then he recalled that Li Cihua ran a bar and as a rule did not rest until the small hours, so calling this morning was not far off the mark.

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