"I'm ready. Are you?" Wei Xuanming turned to ask his old friend.
Old Li remained silent.
"Since Xiao Ya came back, I've increasingly realized something - my dominance, my arbitrary decisions, even my achievements have become shackles for Wenjun and the others."
"I always felt they weren't doing things well enough, here and there. But if I'm gone, would they really be unable to stand on their own? They'll find their way eventually, even through trial and error."
Old Li clenched his teeth and interrupted, "Stop talking, it hasn't gotten to..."
"Hasn't gotten to the worst point yet. But do we really need to wait until then?" Wei Xuanming's speech was still coherent, though slightly slurred.
"Wait until I can't open my eyes, can't move my hands, can't speak, can't recognize people, my brain confused, unable to tell day from night, lying here like a living corpse on life support?"
"That would be dying without dignity." Wei Xuanming's voice lowered, followed by two violent coughs.
His breath created a layer of mist on the oxygen mask.
Old Li glanced down at his arm exposed above the blanket.
The upper arm was covered in blue and purple needle marks, traces left by pain medication.
"I'm ready too," his old friend finally spoke slowly.
Four fifty-seven in the afternoon.
Xiao Ya stepped out of the elevator with her backpack.
Her uncle had work to handle today and would bring her aunt over later.
She thought she could do her homework beside grandfather for a while... Xiao Ya's steps faltered mid-thought, and she looked up in confusion.
She heard hurried footsteps.
The beeping of machines penetrated through the thin walls into her ears.
She peeked into the ward: "Where's grandfather?"
Old Li steadied himself against the wall, turned to look at her, and said hoarsely, "In emergency care."
After a long moment, Xiao Ya softly uttered a single word: "Oh."
She took off her backpack, hugged it to her chest, and sat down on the hallway bench saying, "Then I'll wait here for uncle and aunt."
Old Li gave her a surprised look.
The child was strangely calm.
Or perhaps she didn't quite understand what emergency care meant.
Xiao Ya didn't have to wait long.
When Wei Wenqing arrived with Wei Wenyi, the doctor came out at the same time, pulled down his mask and said, "Would you like to see him one last time?"
Wei Wenyi froze for a moment, asking her brother, "Should we see father?"
Wei Wenqing was dazed and couldn't respond.
It was Xiao Ya who grabbed their hands and looked up at the doctor saying, "Yes, we want to see grandfather."
"Come then, put on shoe covers, masks, and goggles. Try not to cry, and don't touch anything unnecessarily to avoid contamination..." the doctor led the way.
Xiao Ya walked down the cold corridor to the ICU.
"Is there really no hope?" she asked the doctor quietly.
The doctor sighed and nodded, finding it difficult to meet the family's eyes. Especially with such a young child... it made everything even more heartbreaking.
Xiao Ya nodded: "Okay."
She turned to look at the elderly man on the bed, moved closer, and said, "Mom and grandfather haven't seen each other for many years, but Mom has Dad to care for her now."
Wei Xuanming's eyelashes trembled slightly, as if trying to smile.
But in the end, the ECG flatlined.
He didn't say any final words to them, but over these days, everything that needed to be said seemed to have been said - between father and children, and between grandfather and granddaughter, they had shared rare moments of tenderness.
"Goodbye, grandfather," said Xiao Ya.
Wei Wenqing was still in a daze, and he and Wei Wenyi were led out by Xiao Ya.
The sound of the door closing startled him, and he began to tremble and sob quietly.
Seeing them come out, Old Li knew his old friend had finally reached the end, and with reddened eyes, he couldn't help but cover his face and cry.
In contrast, Xiao Ya was surprisingly the only one who didn't cry.
She even reached into her pocket and offered them tissues.
Old Li took the tissue and couldn't help glancing at her twice, then pulled Wei Wenqing aside and whispered, "Wenqing, does your child not understand what death means? Or is she so shocked she can't even cry?"
Upon hearing this, Wei Wenqing immediately stopped crying.
He quickly turned back to look at Xiao Ya with concern.
He knew Xiao Ya had always been strong - was she holding back? Yes, at a time like this, how could adults still let a child shoulder responsibilities?
Wei Wenqing calmed down a bit and went back to hug Xiao Ya.
After hugging Xiao Ya, he went to check on his sister, worried about how she might be taking it.
Wei Wenyi tapped her head, mumbling, "He was fine before, he was fine, how did this happen?"
Wei Wenqing reached out to take his sister's hand but stopped halfway.
Then he typed emotionally: "Father's condition had been stable recently, why did it suddenly deteriorate?"
Old Li wiped his tears, thinking 'finally you ask.'
He sighed: "Cancer is like that, I suppose. In the late stages, multiple organ failure can happen suddenly, leading to a quick death."
"Is that so?" Wei Wenyi suddenly turned her head.
She hadn't fully recovered to her normal self yet.
Looking half-mad and half-lucid, her momentary glance was somewhat chilling.
Old Li was stunned for a moment before continuing, "There's something else, though I don't know if it's related."
"What?" Wei Wenyi stared at him.
"Your father received an international video call before he was sent for emergency care. You can check the records for details."
Upon hearing this, Wei Wenqing immediately went aside to call Wei Wenjun.
"...I understand." Wei Wenjun listened to his brother's explanation on the other end of the line.
He didn't cry or show anger.
He hung up the phone, then pulled open a drawer and took out a gun, beginning to load it manually.
He loaded one bullet.
He frowned.
He had to press down hard on the back of his hand to control its trembling.
After pressing for half a minute, he continued loading.
After an unknown amount of time, the bodyguards outside the office suddenly heard a loud crash.
"Young Master! What happened?" They hurriedly pushed open the door to find Wei Wenjun had fallen to the ground.
Wei Wenjun gripped the corner of the desk, straining until his veins stood out.
His voice was hoarse and emotionless as he said, "I suddenly forgot I couldn't walk and fell."
The bodyguards rushed to help him up.
Wei Wenjun no longer felt any resentment or unwillingness about needing others' help.
After sitting down, he calmly said, "Please ask the directors to come to the conference room."
"Yes!"
The directors received the message and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Looks like that video call worked."
"Of course, we're all veterans here with deep experience. Especially Director Wu and the others - Wei Wenjun still has to call them uncle. Why resort to such severe measures that kept everyone up at night?"
They discussed as they walked into the conference room, where Wei Wenjun was already seated.
"Let's begin." Wei Wenjun signaled to start recording the meeting.
"Wait, Young Master, aren't we still missing Director Lin?"
"He won't be coming."
"What do you mean?"
"He's on his way to death."
The board members exchanged glances, their expressions changing slightly: "What... what do you mean by that?"
Wei Wenjun looked up: "I'm afraid the interrogation later might not go smoothly, so I'm giving you a demonstration of non-cooperation."
Now all the board members' faces changed, urgently saying: "Young Master, what are you planning to do?"
"Is the group disposing of us after using us?"
"Did you have assassins kill Director Lin?"
"This is too much! If your father were here, he would never allow you to do something that would so deeply discourage the staff!"
Wei Wenjun interrupted: "Indeed, father is gone. So let's talk about that final video call you all had with my father before he died. What exactly was said?"
"Which one of you killed my father?"
Wei Wenjun's cold gaze swept across them.
The conference room fell silent instantly.
They looked at him in disbelief.
Dead?
The old master was dead?
"No, something's not right here..." someone mumbled, but immediately realized they were in the same situation as Director Lin.
No explanation would suffice now.
If they had known what kind of meeting this would be, they wouldn't have come - they would have fled with bodyguards, openly hired assassins to deal with Wei Wenjun!
But it was too late for regrets.
"I'll allow you to inform on each other," Wei Wenjun's voice rang out again.
At these words...
Everyone exchanged glances, and the atmosphere instantly became extremely tense.
Outside the conference room, employees peeked through the glass and caught a glimpse of what was happening inside.
"Why does it look like the Second Young Master is facing them all alone?"
And he seemed to have the situation under control?
That cripple had finally grown into someone truly intimidating after their father's departure.