Volume 9 – Chapter 9: Ashes
One of the beds in the public ward at the hospital.
The secretary drew up the curtains around the hospital bed to form a narrow and enclosed space. Here, besides the secretary and the man named Mr. Lan, there was also a middle-aged uncle with Chen’s surname, the landlord.
The doctor who was summoned by them was there as well.
At this moment, the doctor said humbly, “I’m sorry! Mr. Lan Kai! I didn’t know that this patient is your brother! I will have someone send him to the best ward right away!”
President Lan… Lan Kai just waved his hand. The secretary beside him then opened the curtain and gestured to the doctor to proceed.
The doctor did not say anything. He immediately left to make the arrangement.
Lan Kai was a very famous entrepreneur.
When the Lan Group’s previous managing director passed away a few years ago, Lan Kai was selected to inherit the group. Now, the business was once again booming.
In addition, Lan Kai was also a well-known philanthropist who had donated a lot of equipment to this hospital. In fact, he and the hospital management had cooperated to develop a sanatorium in the hospital… If this were not managed well, the doctor’s career would probably end. How could he not be careful?
The landlord’s attitude was naturally more cautious compared to the doctor. – He followed the address on Lan Xiu’s ID card all the way to find the house, only to find that the house had long been deserted. After asking around, he was told that the house was sold. He asked the neighbors nearby, but they did not know much about Lan Xiu’s family.
He only found out that Lan Xiu grew up with his mother since he was a child, but no one had seen his father. With no other choice, the landlord could only go to the police for help.
At first, he was skeptical, but he wanted to give it a try… Unexpectedly, this crippled and dependent patient was the younger brother of Lan Kai, the current managing director of Lan’s Group.
One was a celebrity from a noble background. One lived at the lowest rung of society… The landlord could not help but think of the plots of many melodramatic soap operas broadcasted at eight o’clock. – This Lan Xiu was probably the offspring from some philandering activity of the Lan family’s previous generation?
At this time, the secretary moved a stool and let Lan Kai sit down. The managing director of the company was probably a little over thirty years old. At this moment, he looked at Lan Xiu on the hospital bed with indifference.
Although his skinny face looked withered, it was still possible to find some similarities between Lan Xiu’s and Lan Kai’s appearance upon closer inspection.
“Tell me about him.” Lan Kai suddenly said at this time.
The landlord was taken aback and immediately said, “Mr. Lan, I am not clear about his affairs. He moved to my place a year ago. As for me, my relationship with him was purely between a tenant and a landlord. Usually, I only meet him when I am collecting his rent. I don’t know what happened to him. Let alone why he ended up in this state! Mr. Lan, I have nothing to do with this!”
Lan Kai suddenly asked, “There is no one looking for him?”
The landlord thought for a while then said, ” There shouldn’t be…I don’t know, but at least, I have not met anybody who looked for him.”
Lan Kai nodded, then suddenly shot a glance at the secretary. The secretary noticed, and took out a swelling yellow bag from the briefcase, “This is a little something for you from Mr. Lan, after subtracting the medical expenses that you paid, the rest is all yours.”
What was in this big bag was not only more than ten thousand! This weight would suffice twenty thousand!
The landlord then smiled and reached out his hand to receive it, “Thank you, President Lan! Thank you, President Lan! Then… if there is nothing else, I will leave first!”
This guy found such a rich elder brother. Why would he, an ordinary landlord, be needed in this situation? He did not expect to make a fortune! The landlord was happy and did not want to meddle into other’s family affairs. He would naturally want to leave as soon as possible.
“Wait a minute.” Lan Kai suddenly shouted at this moment.
“Lan, President Lan, anything else?” The landlord subconsciously clung the banknotes tightly.
“I’m going to see where he lives.”
…
As soon as the door was opened, a pungent stench came out immediately.
Lan Kai took out a handkerchief and covered his nose with it. He frowned and walked into this simple, single rental room.
“President Lan, be careful!” The landlord immediately shouted at this time. “There is rubbish, hehe…Be careful; don’t get yourself dirty.”
With that said, the landlord pinched his nose, immediately picked up the rubbish placed there, and threw it aside. Lan Kai asked the secretary to wait outside before he walked into this small bedroom.
“President Lan, I haven’t moved anything since the accident happened here. Nothing has been moved!” said the landlord quickly.
“You go out too.” Lan Kai waved his hand.
The landlord nodded… To be honest, he did not have any reason to stay there, mainly because of the calamitous atmosphere.
Lan Kai took a look at the room.
On the messy bed, clothes were laid everywhere, like dried vegetables. There were also a lot of clothes on the floor, exuding a damp and stewed smell.
Suddenly, a cockroach crawled past Lan Kai’s feet, making Lan Kai’s brows frown almost like the word “川.”
Notwithstanding the stench coming from the toilet… There must probably be adult diapers that were not cleaned up in time in the bathroom.
Lan Xiu’s lower body had wholly lost consciousness. It was a common occurrence for incontinence to be directly caused by this condition.
Lan Kai was still expressionless… But, when he directed his gaze to the only table here, his gaze suddenly turned swift and sharp.
He walked to the front of the table and reached out to lift the covered photo frame… One was Lan Xiu in the photo, and the other was a woman with a radiant smile.
Lan Kai pulled back his gaze slightly. He suddenly threw the frame on the ground. His shoes stepped on the photo frame and immediately broke the glass of the photo frame.
Finally, Lan Kai picked up the photo again and kneaded it into a ball. He then took the lighter from the table and burned the photo to ashes.
He then left the stinking room.
In the car, Lan Kai opened the window, looked at the secretary standing outside the car, and ordered his secretary calmly, “Find someone to clean up the house. This matter must be settled by today. Also, ask the landlord to rent out the house as soon as possible. ”
The secretary noted it down immediately.
Lan Kai glanced out of the window at this time. The old rental house had a gloomy look. He suddenly said, “Also, this matter must be kept as a secret. Don’t tell this to anybody, especially within my family.”
“Understood, President Lan.” The secretary nodded rapidly.
The car slowly drove out of the alley. Lan Kai closed the window, closed his eyes, and leaned against his head. He was lost in his thoughts. Soon after, Lan Kai took out his phone.
“Xiao Rou, I won’t be back tonight. So, you don’t have to wait for me for dinner.”
“Anything. Whether you come or not, it’s the same. If you don’t come back, I may be a little happier!”
Toot – toot -!
The sound of the other party hanging up.
…
In an ashtray full of cigarette ash and cigarette butts, some embers suddenly began to float and split out little by little and residues that had not been completely burned.
They continued to combine in the air, gradually returning to their original appearance, and finally turned into a… photo full of wrinkles.
The broken photo frame in the ground was now restored to its original appearance in the same way.
In the end, they all fell into the hands of Boss Luo.
Boss Luo looked at the photo carefully. He did not intend to erase the traces caused by the wrinkling of the photo. Even though this kind of thing was probably as simple as drinking water for Boss Luo.
Luo Qiu just put the photo back into the frame again.
In the photo, he and she not only smiled but also raised a trophy together.
“Since it does not fit here, why not stay with me?”
Luo Qiu murmured and left there.
…
Soon after, some people in the uniforms of the transport company walked in. Under the command of Lan Kai’s secretary, they began to move the things there.
“Listen well; I must look over everything here. You can only send it to the dump after getting my consent!”