Chapter 6 Door Slam and Cliff
That night we went at each other like two beasts that had lost their minds, tearing into each other in the bedroom.
Ji Yanli was younger after all, and his hits were vicious and precise.
I could not get half an inch of advantage. I took a proper beating.
In the end he stepped through the wreckage on the floor, slammed the door, and did not look back.
He left one line behind: "Qin Ye, I never want to see you again in this life!"
He was gone.
I gritted through the pain and lay on that big bed like a dummy for two days.
I almost burned up with fever and died at home.
Until my people found me and dragged me to the hospital.
That was the only reason I did not get cooked into an idiot.
Later I was so pissed I could not stand it, and I wanted him so badly it hurt.
But I could not swallow my pride enough to go after him.
I kept thinking I would wait until he cooled off, then find a way to bring him back.
Too bad. I waited until there was no chance left.
I did not wait for a chance to make up with him. I waited for my own people to betray me, and for the nest to get raided.
Once I fell, my people scattered.
On the road out of the province I panicked, took a wrong turn, and went off a cliff with the car.
I kept my life. One leg came out ruined.
The cops found me in the hospital, barely breathing.
After that I went to prison. Eight years.
The day I got out, the sun was as sharp as it was that afternoon.
The world had already changed.
Now it was the sixth month and seventh day since I got out.
I pedaled that beat-up tricycle, hauling jug after jug of water, scraping by.
And him, Ji Yanli, sat in a wide bright conference room in an expensive suit, already someone I would never reach.
The old wound in my leg usually hurt on wet days. Right then it started to ache anyway.
I stopped the tricycle, planted one foot, and rubbed that dead leg.
I looked up at this strange, prosperous city.
It was so fucking messed up.