Desperate Pretense At Being Poor

Chapter 75 – Zhang Hongrui (1)

Fu Zhihuan received a call.

“Mr. Fu, after investigations, we finally found Zhang Zhiwei’s son, Zhang Hongrui.  After comparing the DNA, it is confirmed that he is your younger sister’s murderer.  It’s only that……..”

“Only what?”

“Two months ago, Zhang Hongrui was diagnosed with a late-stage brain tumor and is now in intensive care.  The doctor said that he may not have much time left.”’

By the time Fu Zhhuan and Wen Ruan arrived at the hospital where Zhang Hongrui was warded, the sky had turned dark.

The atmosphere at the entrance of the intensive care unit was very depressing.  Uniformed policemen were standing guard at the door and the medical staff moving around looked tense.

Upon seeing that Fu Zhihuan had arrived, a police officer hurriedly came forward and explained in a low voice.

“Mr. Fu, the doctor told us that Zhang Hongrui’s vital signs are currently very unstable and he is in a serious condition as he is slipping into unconsciousness.”

Zhang Hongrui was more than 50 years old but did not receive any education and was not skilled.  However, he made a lot of money relying on those despicable things he did and indulged in a life of luxury in the latter part of his life.

A few years ago, he married a wife who was 20 years younger than him.  However, after being diagnosed with brain cancer half a year ago, that woman ran away with all his money and did not leave him a single cent.

He spent half his life living extravagantly and did not save much money.  To save his life he had to sell his house and used up all his wealth.  However, he did not get better, instead, his illness deteriorated and the tumor spread to the other organs in his body.

Wen Ruan did not enter the ward and instead looked into the room through the glass window of the door.

It was the first time she laid eyes on the man.

He was incredibly thin with deep sunken eye sockets just like a human skeleton covered by an armor of skin.  As the skin was extremely loose, the creases on the skin were deep and dense.  The dry skin had a yellowish color and the shocking spots on the skin gave one a feeling of numbness in the back.

But his pair of round eyes was like an abyss and inside, one could vaguely see a monster with a bloody mouth that seemed to devour everything.

However, Zhang Hongrui’s current appearance made one feel less sympathetic but more disgusted with him.

Fu Zhihuan walked to Wen Ruan’s side, followed her gaze, and asked the police officer in a calm tone.

“How long more can he live?”

The police officer sighed.

“The doctor said the longest should not be more than a week.  The soonest…….maybe tomorrow or today.  The doctor said that Zhang Hongrui discussed with his son some time ago that if his condition doesn’t improve his son is to inform the hospital to do euthanasia because he can no longer stand the painful process of chemotherapy anymore.”

Wen Ruan frowned and lowered her eyes.  She felt depressed and uncomfortable as though a hand was squeezing her heart.

One week?

It will take a month to go through all the procedures before a normal court session can be held.

And one week is definitely not enough even if an application for an early hearing is made citing the reason of special circumstances.

However, Fu Zhihuan looked calmer than expected.  He just looked at the man lying on the hospital bed through the glass window of the door.

That man is aged 59.

He had enjoyed his whole life and now with just a pat on his butt, he is going to die in such a carefree way.  He treated all the heinous things he did in the past just like a fart and let it off.

Isn’t this too disgusting?

The doctor pushed open the door, took off his mask then glanced at the police officer and sighed.

“The patient’s condition is not optimistic but he had regained consciousness.  If you have any questions, you can quickly go in and ask.”

Upon seeing that the policemen entered the ward one after another, Fu Zhihuan closed his eyes with a frown as if he was digesting some emotions.

A long time later, he opened his eyes and said to Wen Ruan in a low voice.

“Wait for me in the car, okay?”

Wen Ruan nodded.  “Mm.”

She understood that Fu Zhihuan did not want her to enter the ward to prevent her from hearing something and having unpleasant memories of Zhang Hongrui.

***☆☆☆***

Only after taking a closer look could one see how terrifying was Zhang Hongrui’s appearance.

The tumor had spread throughout his body and the daily chemotherapy tortured him until he no longer felt like a human.  Even a beast looks better and brighter than him.

At this moment, his pupils were dimmed.  Although he was leaning against the bed with the help of the nurse, his eyes were devoid of spirit.  He could not even focus on a point and looked like an empty shell that was drained of its soul.

When questioned by the police, he pursed his lips tightly throughout the whole process without uttering a word.

The police had a headache.

Although the DNA comparison was enough to confirm that the murderer was Zhang Hongrui, the trial could be expedited if they could directly get the criminal’s confession as it could reduce many unnecessary processes.

But at present, he refused to say a word.

It looked like he was ready to stubbornly hold on to the end.

It was clear that no matter whether he was dead or alive, he did not want others to live well.

Fu Zhihuan leaned against the wall and watched him for a long time.  His eyelids moved then he stood up abruptly and walked slowly to Zhang Hongrui’s side.  He lowered his head with eyes that were calm and asked a question lightly with just three words.

“Was it you?”

""

Zhang Hongrui’s eyes finally regained some light.  His eyes flickered then he turned his head stiffly like a puppet and stared at Fu Zhihuan.

A long time later, he said in a hoarse voice that sounded a little scared.

“Who are you?”

“Her elder brother.”

Without even an explanation of the word ‘her’, Zhang Hongrui already understood.

When he heard this, Zhang Hongrui exhaled slowly, his chest started to heave up and down and his body stiffened.  He turned his head back, closed his eyes, and leaned back.  His body spread out like a puppet that had lost its stand and he cried out in pain.

“Ouch, ouch…….”

It looked like he was not willing to say anything.

Words of a man on his deathbed will always come from the heart…….the precondition of this sentence is that the person concerned must be a human.

Throughout his life, Zhang Hongrui earned money by selling his conscience and had nothing to do with this sentence long ago.  A heart that was twisted to the extreme in pain due to continuous chemotherapy, even if he was hanging onto his last breath, he would still pull a few people along to suffer with him.

“You won’t die.”

Fu Zhihuan seemed to have long guessed that Zhang Hongrui would have this reaction.  His mood was very light as he chuckled softly and kept the pace of his speech very slow.

“The Fu Family will invite doctors from the world-class oncology department to keep you alive for a month and wait for the trial.”

Zhang Hongrui’s eyelids twitched.

“You will go on living like this day in and day out and the tumor that spreads inside your body will make your life worse than death.  Mr. Zhang, you should know better than me what kind of pain a brain tumor patient will have to go through with projectile vomiting and edema.   But you can rest assured that even if you already have a foot in the Gates of Hell, we will still do our best to keep you alive.”

When he spoke up to this point, Fu Zhihuan voice lowered a little like a curse that could not be shaken away.

“Since you’re unwilling to plead guilty, then we’ll wait until the day the court announces your verdict.”

The words successfully made Zhang Hongrui suddenly open his eyes wide.

The widened eyes looked particularly scary in the sunken eye sockets.  His lips kept twitching and his body shook continuously.  “You’re not qualified……”

“Your son will agree……..”  Fu Zhihuan’s voice was soft and gentle but it made him feel inexplicably creepy.

“No child wouldn’t want his father to carry on living, let alone if there’s enough money to keep him alive.”

The two people looked at each other.

Fu Zhihuan had lied to Zhang Hongrui just now.

The time given by the doctor was already very objective.  With Zhang Hongrui in this condition, even a divine doctor would not be able to prolong Zhang Hongrui’s life for more than a week.

His various body indicators had already reached the limit.

Therefore, it was important for Fu Zhihuan to make Zhang Hongrui confess to his crimes while he is still alive.

This is the first time that Fu Zhihuan had thrown away all his calmness when facing a criminal and used this kind of extreme method to say those words.

Because at this moment, his identity is not a prosecutor but a brother.

The atmosphere dropped to freezing point.

Finally, the 59-year-old Zhang Hongrui collapsed completely.  He fell backward weakly and was quickly supported by the nurse next to him.

He raised his head to look at the police officer in front of him and said in a shaky voice.

“I plead guilty.”

The sentence was like his final words.

Although Zhang Hongrui spoke very softly in a trance, he seemed to be able to hear the three words echo in the room.

Fu Zhihuan finally got the answer he wanted.

He did not stay and simply turned around to walk out of the room.  But after taking only a few steps, sudden darkness swept over him then a buzz sounded in his head and he felt dizzy.

He closed his eyes and steadied his steps.  After taking a deep breath, he adjusted his emotions but when he opened his eyes again, his eyes had already turned red.

20 years…….

After countless winters had come and gone and the stars accompanied the moon as they moved forward.

He finally got this confession.

Although the corridor in the hospital is long, it would only take half a minute to walk from one end to the other.

However, in this half-minute, there was a sudden commotion from the intensive care unit behind him.  Numerous doctors and nurses rushed in accompanied by loud shouts and chaotic footsteps.

Fu Zhihuan stopped but did not look back and stepped into the elevator.

The bright red number on the panel kept decreasing one by one until it finally reached the minimum value.

*Ding*

The elevator door opened slowly.

Fu Zhihuan passed through the bustling crowd in the lobby, through the long queues of family members making payment at the cashier’s counter, and through the countless blazing incandescent lights.

He could sense the glass door opening slowly and raised his head subconsciously……

""

Wen Ruan was standing at the door and looking over at him with a smile.

Behind her was the night sky.  Except for the moon that was in the shape of a sickle, there were only a few lonely stars that dotted the sky and their brightness was faintly discernible.

She seemed to notice something in his eyes and stepped forward.  She hugged him and stood on tiptoes to speak softly into his ear.

“Come, let me give you a hug.”

Fu Zhihuan was stunned for a moment and a light suddenly flashed in his empty eyes.  A warm feeling broke through the dense dark clouds, passed through the cold ice ridge, and spread to the bottom of his frozen heart.

“Did Zhang Hongrui plead guilty?”  Wen Ruan asked.

“Mm, he pleaded guilty.”

Fu Zhihuan returned the hug like a child who was worried about gains and losses and said in a warm slow tone.  “He had repented……..”

Wen Ruan could hear from his tone that he was deliberately coaxing himself with those words.

She could guess that the process was not as smooth as he made it out to be.  But she just curled her lips and smiled lightly without exposing him.

“That’s good.”

The two people walked forward side by side.

Through the lush foliage of the hospital boulevard, through the elegant pavilion beside the road, and through the cobblestone road.

But it is not the same as before…….. he is no longer without anything.

It was until they had gotten into the car that Fu Zhihuan’s phone suddenly vibrated…….

~ Zhang Hongrui has entered the resuscitation room.  The doctor said that there’s a high probability that he won’t be able to last the night.

Won’t be able to last the night?

59 years old.

Calculating this, perhaps it could barely be considered dying of old age.

Fu Zhihuan sneered and the corners of his lower lip curled.  He threw the phone aside, adjusted his breath and pretended nothing had happened, and was about to drive away.

But as soon as he placed his hands down, he found that he did not even have the strength to engage the gear.

His hands trembled slightly and then he lowered his head weakly.  He raised one hand to support his forehead and closed his eyes tightly.

Wen Ruan turned her head around.

Although she could not see his expression, she was still able to understand the great pain he was feeling in his heart at this moment.

Although he did not make any sound, it was a kind of piercing and roaring sorrow that tore at his heart.

She did not know why but before she could ask what had happened, she had the inexplicable feeling of wanting to cry.

She sniffled, took a deep breath, and straightened up.  Then hugging Fu Zhihuan’s head gently, she said in a husky voice.

“From tomorrow onwards, the weather will be fine in Tong City.”

There are still many things in this world that even if one is willing to wait for it, one may not get it.

But one can always wait for the day when the clouds clear.

“I will wait together with you.”