Chapter 811: The Story of Ling and Heng (74)
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The man’s voice was patient and gentle in a way that Feng Ling had never heard before. She assumed she had heard him wrongly when, suddenly, he placed two folded jackets behind her back to ease her posture. His movements were unbelievably natural.
Feng Ling was flabbergasted as she stared at him, yet Li Nanheng appeared completely composed. “What are you looking at? The base’s treatment of injured members has always been this humane. You’re already injured. I can’t possibly continue torturing you.”
Feng Ling: “…”
Boss, would it kill you to say something nice?
Or is it that you’ll keel over and die if you perform too many kind gestures?
—-
The helicopter arrived at the largest hospital in Central Los Angeles.
Qiao Fei was in the other helicopter and was directly sent back to the base. Feng Ling did not have the time to contact him, but she felt that Qiao Fei’s character was quite good. He was also reliable. It was unlikely for him to tell anyone about her secret. Thus, she did not worry herself over it and followed Boss Li’s order to be admitted into the hospital.
However, Feng Ling had never received serious injuries before. This time, she needed to have comprehensive check-ups done. This also meant that there would be no way for her to conceal her gender.
When Nanheng left the lobby to answer a call, she took the opportunity to explain her situation to the doctor. She shared that she was actually a girl, but for the sake of looking for a suitable home for herself, she had no choice but to dress as a boy. Aside from lying about her gender, she has never done anything to harm anyone. In fact, she was an orphan and it hadn’t been easy for her to find a place to return to. She shared all about her painful, emotional reasons and even said that if she were exposed, it would cause a lot of trouble. Even the hospital would be disturbed by the US military and police. She spoke half-truths and half-lies and shared a lot with the doctor.
The doctor was an old, American man around the age of fifty. As Feng Ling had grown up in America, she was proficient in both Chinese and English, and she expressed herself very well.
The doctor pushed his glasses up his nose bridge and asked several more questions before finally agreeing. If her superior did not intentionally ask about her gender, he would not carelessly share about it nor would he bring it up. However, if he did ask, he could not lie and would only reply honestly.
Such a response was already considered the best outcome for Feng Ling.
After all, this was her first meeting with a doctor who was completely unrelated to her; a man who did not even fully understand her circumstances. She could ask him not to pick at the issue, but she could not demand him to lie for her.
In this case, she could only test her own luck.
—-
Feng Ling’s lungs were indeed affected by the thick fumes she had inhaled. However, it wasn’t as serious as they had all thought. She needed to be admitted into the hospital for at least a week to receive medication and treatment, but she did not require surgery.
When she heard this, the tension in Feng Ling instantly eased. While she was not fearful of going under the knife, she was worried that if Boss Li helped her to change her clothes or wipe her body while she was unconscious, he would discover her gender. If that happened, her life would truly come to an end.
Feng Ling stayed in the hospital. Nanheng confirmed with the doctor that her injury wasn’t serious and headed to her room.
At the time, Feng Ling was in the midst of receiving aerosol therapy. She pressed the inhalation mask to her face and breathed in the medicine. As she had choked on water earlier, her throat and nose were aching painfully as she received the therapy. The doctor had already explained that this would happen and that it was a common symptom. After a few days, the pain would pass.
“The US military has sent people to the base. I’ll be heading back first. I’ll come back after the mission is completely resolved. Xiao Xu will stay behind to accompany you. Let him know if you have any problems,” Nanheng informed her.
Feng Ling lifted the mask off of her face. “All right, Boss, there’s no need to come to visit me again. I’ll cooperate with the treatment and return to the base as soon as possible. I won’t delay the sniper team training.”
“You’re already injured, what training are you speaking of? Nurse yourself back to health first.”
Right after he spoke, his phone rang.
Nanheng had just concluded an important mission, yet he did not directly return to the base and actually brought someone to the hospital. The members back at the base and the people from the military were all in disarray.
Nanheng’s expression was cold and heavy as he left with his phone in his hand. Feng Ling watched as he carelessly closed the door. She did not say anything and picked up the inhalation mask to press against her nose once more.
As the sky gradually darkened, Xiao Xu pushed open her room door to see that she had finished with therapy. She was leaning against the bed with her phone in hand.
“Wow. This injury of yours is really good. It’s serious yet you won’t have to receive any operation. You can lay here on the bed and relax for a whole week.” Xiao Xu chuckled as he placed dinner he had bought for her on her bedside table.
Feng Ling lowered her phone to glance at him. “Do you want to give it a try? After experiencing the discomfort, you won’t be able to say these words again.”
“Aiya, I understand how painful it is. I also experienced a similar rescue mission when I first entered the base. At the time, a fire broke out in a high rise building. The room was also filled with poisonous gas. I inhaled quite a lot of it and, afterward, my lungs ached for a long time. No matter how I laid down or stood, the discomfort wouldn’t leave. I really wished I could just die.” Xiao Xu chuckled. “I understand your feelings. But at the very least, Boss himself personally ordered you to stay here to rest. This means that you weren’t injured for anything. You’ve been in the base for so long; it’s rare to actually have an opportunity to rest.”
“That’s true. Usually, I’m either participating in missions or training. I’ve never actually laid down for an entire day.” Feng Ling smiled.
“Boss actually has everything planned out in his heart. If the situation on that cruise was really too dangerous, he wouldn’t have let you go.”
“…Why? Didn’t he sent me because I’m adept with water?”
Xiao Xu shook his head. “Boss always personally takes on the most dangerous situations. Just like today, when we encountered those terrorists, all of them were armed with bombs and guns. The warehouse also contained various weapons they had bought from the underground gangs. We were also faced with an ambush in every direction. That was the most dangerous aspect of this mission.”
Feng Ling watched him.
Xiao Xu chuckled and asked her: “Otherwise, do you think it’s that easy to be the boss of the XI Base? Even though he has his own responsibility to manage, he still pauses to weigh every member’s condition. He won’t easily allow any of us to die. However, what happened to you on that cruise was truly the mayor’s wife’s fault. She refused to jump even in that difficult situation. Thankfully, you sent the child down first. Otherwise, with such an explosion, the child definitely would have lost his life.”