Ye Qiao spent most of her time dealing with her family matters, especially her father's injury, which had to be treated immediately.
The biggest mistake that her father had ever made in the past was listening to her uncle-in-law, which led to a series of unfortunate events. He took the man's advice and visited the uncertified clinic for sessions of acupuncture. The clinic did not even have a license and operated under unhygienic conditions. During the treatment, her father was, unfortunately, treated with unsterile needles. As a result, her father's wound became infected and began festering, which left him no choice but to undergo a surgical operation.
His recovery did not go well as a result of malnutrition. The protein level in his body was too low to support his system, and yet he was unwilling to spend his money on the necessary supplements. Eventually, her father became incurably sick.
On the second day of Ye Qiao's arrival, she immediately took her father to the best hospital in the city and registered him under the consultation of a reputable doctor.
The doctor only had to perform a very minor operation on his swollen leg to draw out the clogged blood. With the use of anti-inflammatory medication, her father should be able to start walking again in just a couple of days.
It happened that there was a newspaper booth right next to the hospital's entrance, with a bright orange telephone that reminded Ye Qiao that she should be giving Lu Beixiao a call.
She hated to say it, but as soon as she picked up the phone, she realized that she had long forgotten the proper way to use a payphone.
It was already 2015 the year she died. By that time, pagers were already extinct for more than a decade. How was she supposed to remember how to call a pager?
With the help from the owner of the newspaper booth, Ye Qiao was finally able to make the call. The paging centers were still manually operated back then, but it did not take long for the paging operator to answer her inquiry, "Hello, please leave your message."
"Xiao, I'm currently in L City. I miss you! Mwah!"
Ye Qiao was unapologetic in expressing her feelings, which came as a surprise to the owner who sat by the telephone. Bewildered, the poor old man had to put his reading glasses and newspaper away to give Ye Qiao a good look.
With a sigh, he felt that girls these days had truly become very open.
"Excuse me, how much is it?" Ye Qiao politely asked.
The owner held up two fingers in response.
"Two bucks?" Ye Qiao was about to pay.
"Two cents!" The owner corrected her.
"That's so cheap!" Ye Qiao murmured to herself.
"Do you have the choppers arranged? You have less than a minute! One hostage dies for every minute that you delay!"
"Don't kill me! Help! I don't want to die!"
One of the robbers held an office girl as his hostage as soon as he made his point.
The countdown began.
"Last three seconds!!! Where are the choppers? I'll kill her right away!"
"Bastard, time for you to go to hell!" Lu Beixiao laid an ambush from a higher ground to help him aim better. Without delay, he pulled the trigger of his snipper.
The bullet went through a window and killed the robber with a perfect headshot. Fortunately, the hostage remained unharmed. It was a perfect shot.
"Xiao, three o'clock!" Ye Cheng's voice came through the wireless headset. He was the analyst that provided the intelligence necessary to help Lu Beixiao aim better.
"Xiao? You should be addressing me more respectfully as Lord Xiao," Lu Beixiao said indifferently. He turned to his three o'clock and killed the robber with another clean shot.
"That's funny. Who knows, someday you'll have to pay your respect to me." Ye Cheng was older than him by a year, and he would possibly even be related to the man in the future.
Damn! It was a painful realization that Ye Cheng would one day become his brother-in-law.
The lockdown was lifted in less than ten minutes as all five robbers were shot dead. The rescue mission had already ended before the onlookers even realized.
"What's there to be proud of by fighting all day and oppressing the weak? A real man should be fighting off criminals instead, with real swords and spears!" Xu Yi, a gangster among the crowd of onlookers, voiced his opinion.
Very soon, a helicopter came to carry the A-Team of Blood Wolf away from the scene.