Chapter 244
Six o'clock in the morning.
A knock sounded at the door. Rong Yu, who hadn't slept all night, got up to open it. It was Ji Yanting.
He had dark circles under his eyes, clearly having stayed up all night as well. His voice was incredibly hoarse. "Great-Grandma, is there any news about my oldest brother?"
"We have a lead," Rong Yu replied calmly. "Pack up these documents and come with me to Wangyue Mountain."
Old Master Ji dug out an old man's outfit and a hat from his suitcase. "A-Yan, you have a very high profile here in Hong Kong. It'll be hard to get things done with too many fans around. Cover yourself up well."
Ji Yanting nodded.
He put on Old Master Ji's clothes, hunched his back slightly, and put on the old man's hat. He basically no longer looked like a young man, let alone the superstar Best Actor famous all across Asia.
As for Rong Yu, although she was also a public figure, it had only been half a year since her first public appearance. While the news coverage was broad, most people forgot what they saw shortly after.
When she went out, the number of times she was recognized could be counted on one hand.
The two headed directly for Wangyue Mountain.
Wangyue Mountain was the top luxury residential area in Hong Kong. More than a dozen mansions stood halfway up the mountain; this place was a symbol of status, wealth, and prestige.
Their car drove all the way up and stopped in front of a massive estate at 7:30 in the morning.
Almost as soon as they parked, a security guard came over and knocked on the car window.
Rong Yu got out of the car and said, "I am an old friend of Chairman Li. Give this to Chairman Li, and he will naturally know who I am."
The object in her hand was a painting.
The painting depicted a very simple rural landscape: a dilapidated thatched cottage, an old woman sitting under a tree sewing clothes, and a big rooster standing on a branch.
The security guard frowned.
There were many similar paintings on the walls inside the estate, but they were all masterpieces by famous artists from various countries. This picture, however, was too simple, and the brushstrokes were quite hasty.
However, this young girl claimed to be an old friend of the chairman.
The security guard spoke up, "At this hour, the chairman is still resting..."
Halfway through his sentence, a stretched ultra-luxury car suddenly drove out from within the estate.
The security guard muttered, "In all these years, this is the first time the chairman has gone out this early..."
He ignored Rong Yu, this inexplicable visitor, and hurried over to open the gates.
The massive iron gates of the Li family required the combined effort of four security guards to push open. The car drove out from inside.
Rong Yu looked at the half-lowered car window. The over ninety-year-old Li Chunsheng leaned back in the car seat. Deep wrinkles covered his entire face, and he exuded a heavy aura of old age. In person, he looked much older than his heavily retouched photos on the internet.
"Chairman Li!"
She immediately shouted.
However, the person in the car didn't hear her at all, and the car sped down the mountain.
Rong Yu put the painting away, turned around to get into the car, and said in a deep voice, "A-Yan, go to the Li Family Hospital, quickly."
Ji Yanting didn't dare to delay for a moment.
He was young and drove extremely fast. By the time their car reached the hospital entrance, Li Chunsheng had just gotten out of his car.
The nearly centenarian was escorted by over a dozen doctors and over a dozen bodyguards as he walked through the hospital's main doors and headed straight into the elevator.
It was impossible for Rong Yu and Ji Yanting to get close.
"Miss Rong!" Wen Yan, who had just arrived at the hospital entrance, saw Rong Yu's solemn expression and hurriedly asked, "Did something happen?"
Rong Yu calmed her emotions slightly.
She spoke in a low voice, "Dr. Wen, how much clearance has this hospital given you?"
Wen Yan was taken aback. "What do you want me to do, Miss Rong?"
"The founder of the Li Family Hospital, Chairman Li, appeared at the hospital early in the morning to undergo a kidney transplant." Rong Yu enunciated every word clearly. "Can you find a way to get into the operating room?"
She paused and added, "The person providing the kidney is Ji Zhiyuan. He was kidnapped."
Wen Yan covered her mouth in shock.
Her heart began to race uncontrollably.
She took a sharp breath and said, "Although I'm only here to attend a seminar, I am a deputy director after all. Even though I'm in pediatrics, I should be able to enter the surgical area. However, the people performing surgery on Chairman Li are probably top experts and professors. I don't know..."
She babbled a bit incoherently before finally saying, "I will definitely find a way to get into the operating room. And then? What do I do?"
Rong Yu grasped her suddenly cold hands. "Stall for time."
Wen Yan squeezed her hands back.
Then she turned around and strode into the hospital.
She was a doctor sent from Haicheng to attend an international seminar at the Li Family Hospital in Hong Kong, and she wasn't involved in outpatient clinics or surgeries. But wearing a hospital lab coat and a mask, she walked toward the surgical preparation room without anyone stopping her. She entered the surgical area very smoothly.
There were dozens of operating rooms here.
Wen Yan pressed her lips together tightly.
Chairman Li should be in the largest operating room, the one with the most advanced equipment that could accommodate the most experts and professors.
In the corridor, a nurse happened to step away to attend to something else. She took the nurse's cart and pushed it straight toward that largest operating room.
There were already four or five doctors inside, all experts brought in overnight by the Li family. They were unfamiliar with the hospital staff, so when she walked in, she didn't attract anyone's attention.
Wen Yan spotted Ji Zhiyuan at a glance. He lay quietly on the operating table, his eyelashes casting fine shadows under the lights, looking as if he were asleep. But the tubes connected to his body and the red marks left by the restraint straps reminded her—
He had been brought here against his will.
The anesthesiologist was adjusting the ventilator parameters, and the chief surgeon was checking the surgical instruments with an assistant.
"The patient's blood pressure is normal, blood oxygen is normal, and anesthesia injection has started. We can notify the chairman to come to the operating room."
Wen Yan's blood instantly froze.
She pretended to organize the instruments, quietly approaching the equipment, and secretly kicked out the power cord of the anesthesia machine. The monitor let out a piercing alarm.
"What's going on?"
"How could we make such a rookie mistake!"
"The chairman will be here any minute. Don't waste time, troubleshoot the issue quickly..."
The doctors and nurses in the operating room quickly began to inspect the equipment.
She quickly grabbed Ji Zhiyuan's hands and pinched them hard, but the man didn't react at all.
Her heart sank. She grabbed a needle from the side and secretly pricked him with force.
Ji Zhiyuan's eyes snapped open.
The operating room lights pierced his clouded consciousness like a sharp sword.
He remembered that he had been kidnapped. Where was this? Why did it look like a hospital operating table?
How did he end up here?
"Ji Zhiyuan, don't close your eyes. Look at me," Wen Yan's throat felt tight. "As long as you stay awake, the surgery won't start for now. Hold on."
Ji Zhiyuan's eyelids felt as heavy as lead, but he still managed to force them open to a slit.
The halo of the surgical lights diffused into a vast white fog in his eyes. Wen Yan's figure flickered faintly within it. Her eyes seemed to carry a magical power that inexplicably gave him the strength to fight to keep his eyelids open.
Meanwhile, the founder of the Li Family Hospital, Li Chunsheng, was preparing for the pre-surgery procedures.