Chapter Thirty-Four: Rebirth

  I and Marco came with a look of astonishment to reflect the reality of what was in front of us, it seems that "police and gangsters are in cahoots" still has some truth to it. At this time, the female police officer stood beside Zhang Wei's bed, looking at him with a complex gaze, while Zhang Wei, a man who had an iron-like impression on me, did not dare to look her straight in the eye at that moment.

  "Oh! Is this your sister? I'm Mark, and this is Kang Jian. We're both Zhang Wei's buddies." The relatively quick-witted Mark proactively extended a friendly hand to the female police officer, in an attempt to break the awkwardness between her and Zhang Wei.

  "Oh! Hello! I'm Wang Li, and Zhang Wei always mentions you guys." The girl squeezed out a faint smile from her cool expression, extended her hand to shake hands with Marco and me, then continued staring at Zhang Wei. At this moment, I took the opportunity to carefully observe Wang Li, who was about 1.65 meters tall, not particularly outstanding among Northeastern girls, possibly due to being a police officer, with a seemingly gentle appearance but not lacking in majesty, sporting short hair that made her look very spirited, and should be considered a "police flower" among the force.

  "Uh... you guys keep talking, I'll be outside with Marco for a bit." After saying that, I pulled on Marco and was about to head out.

  "No need, I still have to go back to the police station, I haven't finished work yet. Wait until I finish work and come again!" Wang Li said after finishing, walked in front of Zhang Wei, stretched out her hand, Zhang Wei thought Wang Li was going to hit him again, subconsciously dodged a bit, didn't expect Wang Li gently touched the place on Zhang Wei's face that he had hit earlier, then helped Zhang Wei adjust the pillow leaning against his back, with obvious concern in her eyes, and said deeply "I'm leaving, come over after work." Then turned around and left under the gaze of the three of us.

  "Go on, young man! Play the vanguard! The mouse is in love with the cat! Exciting enough!" Mark exclaimed to Zhang Wei after Wang Li left. At this time, Zhang Wei's face was still red.

  "Last time when we were drinking at your place, that mysterious phone call you received must have been her! I guessed it and you little rascal definitely got something going on! Tell us how you two met! You little rascal! You even reached into the People's Public Security Bureau! Harbin version of Infernal Affairs!" I also started to fan the flames from the side, while Zhang Wei just kept smiling foolishly with a red face. Under my and Ma Ke's "torture", Zhang Wei finally told us his story with Wang Li.

  Originally, Wang Li was not a real police officer, but just a student of the Black Police Department, and she was about to graduate, so she was interning at the local police station. One time, Wang Li and two female classmates went to Zhang Wei's disco hall to dance, where they were harassed by several drunken hooligans. Although they had studied at the police academy and learned some martial arts, it was basically useless in this situation, and with their uniforms and guns, they might have been able to show some power. So at that time, they were basically helpless. At the critical moment, Cupid proved his value again by arranging for Zhang Wei to step forward, and stopping trouble in his disco hall was also part of his job. In this way, Zhang Wei, who should have had a thug-like image in many people's minds, appeared as a heroic figure under Cupid's clever arrangement, rescuing three young girls from the jaws of danger. It is estimated that at that time, Zhang Wei probably did not even dream that the three girls he rescued would become police officers.

  Perhaps to make his heroic image end perfectly, Zhang Wei voluntarily offered to send Wang Li and the other two girls back to school after solving this matter. It's estimated that Cupid had applied a slow-acting drug on the arrowhead at that time, so neither Zhang Wei nor Wang Li thought much about it, and the matter ended there. After some time passed, one of Zhang Wei's underlings was taken to the police station for gambling. Upon receiving the news, Zhang Wei rushed to the police station to try and get him out. Unbeknownst to them, Cupid had arranged or coincidentally made it so that the police station Zhang Wei arrived at was exactly where Wang Li was interning. When they ran into each other at the police station, they both froze for half a minute before bursting out laughing simultaneously, which is when Cupid's drug started taking effect. That day happened to be a busy one due to another case, and all the other on-duty police officers had gone out, leaving only Wang Li on duty. Since it wasn't a major issue, Wang Li, without much thought, took it upon herself to release Zhang Wei's underling.

  As a token of gratitude, and also for some unspoken purposes, Zhang Wei suggested taking Wang Li out to dinner. Coincidentally, Wang Li had been looking for an opportunity to thank Zhang Wei for helping her out the other day, so she proposed that she would treat him instead. In the end, they ended up having a meal together in a unclear situation of who was compromising with whom, and from then on, the two started frequently exchanging text messages.

  Although both of them had an inexplicable urge to see each other, the gap between their social status made it almost impossible for them to even be friends. Finally, Wang Li was forced to make a choice and deliberately chose a stormy night to explain the pros and cons of their relationship to Zhang Wei, suggesting that they should not contact each other again in the future.

  Although Zhang Wei had a lot of sexual experience, he had never been in love before. In middle school, he liked a girl but didn't have the courage to confess his feelings until the end. So Wang Li could be considered his first love. On that stormy night, Zhang Wei chose to do something stupid that men who fail at their first love often do - he got drunk. However, I have to admire Zhang Wei's persistence and determination. Under the influence of alcohol, Zhang Wei ran to Wang Li's dormitory building again in the middle of the night and shouted her name loudly. Drunk people are often impulsive, and when Zhang Wei was being reckless, he didn't consider his surroundings at all. The whole courtyard was almost full of future public security personnel, so the consequences were predictable. In less than a few minutes, he was taken to the police station. In the end, Wang Li rushed over and told the police that Zhang Wei was her boyfriend and they were having a dispute. The police saw that it was someone from their own department's family and warned Zhang Wei before letting him go. Wang Li seemed like a girl who hadn't experienced much of the world, but she was deeply moved by Zhang Wei's actions, which also made her famous in school overnight. From then on, the emotions they had forcibly suppressed in their hearts became unstoppable.

  "What are you going to do then? You're a thief, after all, and she's a soldier!" I suddenly shifted the topic to a more serious aspect.

  "To be honest, these days are really not easy to get through. Every day is a struggle. I never thought about the future before, but since being with Wang Li, my mind has been preoccupied with these problems all the time. After I recover from my injury, I plan to quit and wait for her graduation, then we'll get married. With the money I've earned and my bar business, it should be enough for our future life."

  Zhang Wei said this with a heavy heart as he lay in bed. Although Zhang Wei entered society earlier than me, he's always been impulsive, never considering the consequences, and acts solely on his sense of justice, which makes him seem simple-minded and sometimes worries me. But now, the Zhang Wei in front of me has suddenly matured a lot, and I can feel how important this relationship is to him.

  At this time, a middle-aged man who was not very tall pushed the door and entered the house. Two more people followed behind him, all with serious expressions. Zhang Wei saw them and hastily sat up from the bed.

  "Brother Gang! You're here!" Zhang Wei called out warmly to the middle-aged man. If it weren't for Zhang Wei's greeting, I wouldn't have been able to tell that this person was a big brother in the underworld - he looked no different from an ordinary laid-off worker to me.

  "Xiao Wei! How is it?" Zhang Wei's godfather asked with a kind tone, making people feel less of the gangster atmosphere.

  "It's nothing! Old man! Just a minor injury, it'll be fine after some rest!" Zhang Wei said nonchalantly.

  "That's good! Take care of your injury! Don't worry about the rest, I'll take care of it for you!"

  "Uncle... forget it! Since I don't have anything going on, I won't go look for them. Otherwise, when will it ever end!" Zhang Wei suddenly said to his uncle after a few seconds of silence.

  "What do you mean!" Zhang Wei's godfather also fell silent for a few seconds after hearing Zhang Wei's words, then calmly asked, but his tone was still dignified, making people feel that he was an experienced person.

  "I... uncle, from now on I don't want to get involved in gang affairs anymore, I just want to quietly run my bar business."

  "Have you thought it through?" Zhang Wei's godfather asked after a deep sigh, his eyes gazing out the window.

  "I've thought it through, Father, I don't want to spend the rest of my life like this."

  "I know. Your uncle has been through a lot, and I've also heard about that girl. Although it seemed absurd at first, now seeing you like this, your uncle won't force you anymore. Fighting and killing isn't a long-term solution after all!" Zhang Wei's uncle sighed deeply again, speaking with a heavy heart.

  "Uncle Gan, you know everything?" Zhang Wei asked in surprise.

  "Haha, I've heard a bit about it! When are you getting married? Don't forget to invite me when the time comes!"

  "Of course, when the time comes, Uncle will be my witness." Zhang Wei said happily, at this moment I saw that Zhang Wei's eyes seemed to be welling up with tears...