The Heart of a Smith

Chapter 55: Crisis

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

(Unedited)

Early in the morning, it rained cats and dogs on the usually warm tropical island. The strong wind made the trees bow their heads. Leung ZiRui turned around from the window and saw Dr. Leon walking out of the CCU.

“How is he doing?”

Leon made an “OK” gesture with his hand and slapped Leung ZiRui on the shoulder as they passed each other, “Relax, my child.”

Leung ZiRui also knew that he might overly nervous. His shoulders were loosened, and he laughed, “I haven’t done such a challenging operation for a long time already, to be honest, I’m a little worried.”

“Don’t you Chinese people often say that life and death are long scripted in one’s destiny? All we can do is try our best to fulfill our duties, the rest depends on God’s will. Don’t put excessive pressure on yourself, we are just doctors. At times like these, the patients rely on us to be confident in ourselves and to do our best.”

Leung ZiRui pursed his lips together and nodded, “I understand.”

At nine o’clock in the morning, Lu Shang was pushed into the operating room.

Leon was the leading physician, Leung ZiRui and the hospital head was the lead assistant and second assistant respectively. All the physicians, anesthesiologists and even the nurses who delivered the instruments were carefully selected. They had already been cooperating with each other for many times in the past, the operation team was basically impeccable.

“How long has morphine injection to the muscles continued?”

“15 minutes.”

“Continue for a bit longer,” Leon said, turning to the anesthesiologist, he directed, “Later, during the surgery, we will intubate the aorta first, hook it up for blood rewarming cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)1. Increase anesthesia dosage when closing up the chest with wires. Also, after intubating the trachea, inject him with Aprotinin2 or Ulinastatin continuously, then do blood salvage3.”

“Understood.”

“And perfusionist.”

“Yes.”

“Remember the CPB should be set at mild to moderate temperature, the average arterial pressure should be maintained between 50 to 70, set it to dilute blood flow moderately…”

“Understood.”

“How long has the intramuscular injection continued for?”

“29 minutes.”

“Are the ECG monitor and venous transfusion all set up?”

“They are all ready.”

Leon glanced at everyone in the room and said, “Then let’s get started.”

Under the bright lamp, Leung ZiRui looked at Lu Shang’s face, “Bro, please stay strong. Whether I can rest in peace depends on you, okay?”

Lu Shang laid quietly on the operating table with his eyes closed, his breathing was still as weak as ever.

Thousands of miles away, Li Sui suddenly raised his head from the sink, he looked at his wet face in the mirror, and used his hand to wipe it.

“How are you?” Xe WeiLan turned the water tap of the sink next to Li Sui, he washed his hands as he asked.

Li Sui hung his head down and let the drops of water run down his cheeks. There was a muffled “Hmn” in his throat. Although it was his idea to send Lu Shang off to the island for the surgery, he was still worrying from the bottom of his heart. His hands and feet kept sweating. His mind was all over the place, it was only through the cold water did he manage to calm himself down a little. Li Sui knew that he couldn’t afford to be distracted right now, but with the pressure of the meeting and the operation weighing down on his shoulders at the same time, Li Sui really couldn’t feel relax at all.

Xe WeiLan stood in front of the mirror and adjusted his tie, he said with awe in his voice, “I never thought that I would have the pleasure to see this milestone of Tong Yan in the ten years I have been working here.”

Li Sui looked at him and Xe WeiLan said, “Did Lu Shang ever tell you about how Tong Yan developed?”

Li Sui shook his head. Lu Shang seldom talked about the past.

“Tong Yan was originally founded by Lu Shang’s father and his comrades who fought with him together in the war, amongst those people included Liu XinTian. At that time, they built the company purely on their friendship. For quite a long time, it was one of the best local enterprises. However, people’s desires had no limits. As time passed, they had more money and soon there was a gap between everyone’s hearts. It was especially evident when the next generation were born, the confrontations expanded.”

“Later, they realized that the divide was becoming a problem. In order to avoid the company’s shareholders from just taking the money and fleeing, they made an arrangement. If anyone wanted to sell or transfer shares, it must be approved in the shareholders’ meetings first. Whoever wants to amend this rule will have to reach 2/3 of consensus in the meeting.”

“This agreement prevented the split of leadership in Tong Yan, but at the same time, it hindered the development of the company. In the world today, the rule has become a major obstacle to the company’s development. Our battle today could be described as a milestone on reforming the company.”

On the topic, Xe WeiLan sighed, “Every time I think about the bloody history of Tong Yan, I just can’t help but shudder at the power of money and the waves time brings. How could the once intimate brothers, become sworn enemies so easily. Maybe there really is nothing in this world that could fight against the torrent of time.”

Li Sui thought for a moment, then said, “…I think there are.”

Xe WeiLan smiled and said, “So, are you getting yourself back together now?”

When Li Sui came back from his thoughts, Xe WeiLan snapped his fingers and said, “Let’s go then.”

The atmosphere in the conference room had almost dropped to absolute zero. At the end of the long conference room table, the place which had always been occupied by Lu Shang, Liu XinTian was there as if he owned the place. He seemed to be enjoying the moment very much. His eyes swept down at everyone below him satisfyingly, when he saw Li Sui coming in, the corner of his mouth twitched.

“This is the shareholders’ meeting. Did you get lost?”

Li Sui ignored him and sat down in a less crowded place comfortably. Liu XinTian wanted to say something but seeing Xe WeiLan come in behind him, he just snorted coldly. He turned to Fang Miao and asked, “Who else hasn’t arrived yet?”

Fang Miao looked around, “The Meng family.”

“Call Meng XinYou… No, call official Xu.”

Fang Miao nodded his head and walked out the room.

Li Sui exchanged a look with lawyer Xe.

A moment later, Fang Miao came back in, his face full of joy, “He said she’s on her way, she will be here soon.”

Liu XinTian waved his big hand around and said, “Humph, woman just loves dilly dallying. We don’t have to wait for her, we can start first.”

“There are two main reasons for me to call all of you here today. First, it is to re-elect the members of the board of directors. Second, we all know the matters with director Lu. I found that to be a most unfortunate thing, he had died after working diligently for the company. Sadly, dead people can’t come back to life, so I hope all of you can deal with the sorrow. Although director Lu is not here with us anymore, but he left Tong Yan behind for us. We shall inherit his good will and make the company grow…”

During Liu XinTian’s speech, Xe WeiLan had continuously glanced over at Li Sui, fearing that Li Sui might throw the chair at Liu XinTian in the next second. However, unexpectedly Li Sui had a calm expression, it was as if he did not hear a word he said.

“So first of all, according to the company’s charter, we have to talk about the issue of the division of shares, because as you all know, Lu Shang has been busy working for the company and has not gotten married yet. He neither have any children, nor spouses or siblings, so on the subject of his legal predecessor…”

There seemed to be an understanding amongst everyone’s hearts on the subject. When he said that, most people in the conference room moved their gazes onto Li Sui. Liu XinTian’s speech was interrupted and he showed immense dissatisfaction, “Director Li, I have already allowed you to partake in the meeting. How are you not satisfied, do you have anything you wish to raise?”

Li Sui slowly turned his head up and said lightly, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”

“Isn’t it inappropriate to talk about dividing Lu Shang’s shares right after the announcement of his death?”

No one in the conference room answered, Liu XinTian smiled, “This is a large company, we’re talking about tens of millions of capital flow every day. If we ignore it for a day, do you know how much profit would be lost, we are also thinking for the company’s future.”

Li Sui listened and looked across the room, “No one object?”

The conference room was once again silent, Liu XinTian directly laughed and said, “Li Sui, this is not a school. I suggest if you want to stop us from dividing Lu Shang’s shares, you should study on company laws for a few years first. At your age, you should be reading some more, don’t interfere with adults’ business.”

“Since no one object.” Li Sui ignored his provocation and faintly nodded to Lawyer Xe.

Xe WeiLan took out a document and walked straight to the middle of the conference table. He raised the document up and cleared his throat, he said, “This is the will written by director Lu before he died. Now, I shall read the part about Tong Yan on the will.”

Everyone was stunned. No one thought that something like this would appear out of the blue like this, even Liu XinTian changed his expression. Only Li Sui remained silent, he sat quietly in the sides and listened to Xe WeiLan recite the words that had already long been imprinted in Li Sui’s heart.

“Impossible!” Before Xe WeiLan finished, Liu XinTian stood up and interrupted him, looking very angry. “How could Lu Shang possibly give the Lu family’s long years of efforts to an outsider? This will must have been forged.”

Xe WeiLan said slowly, “He knew there will be doubts, so director Lu especially sent the will to the notary office. This is the notarial certificate, everything is written in black and white, there’s a stamp and a case number. Anyone who has doubts can go to the notary office and search for the files at any time.”

As soon as Xe WeiLan uttered the words, the whole conference room was in an uproar. Li Sui stood up and said, “You said I was an outsider, director Liu? Lu Shang might have called you Uncle Liu, but don’t tell me you really think of yourself as an ‘insider’?”

“You…”

Li Sui stood up opposite to him and asked, “Since you’re also an outsider, why wouldn’t he give his shares to a person he nurtured instead of giving it to you? Are you simply blinded by the profit or are you just too optimistic about your relationship with him?”

Someone saw the atmosphere going sour and immediately suggested a different topic, “Even if the notary office approved, it is not necessarily the wishes of director Lu himself. I mean, isn’t it strange that director Lu had just got admitted into the hospital and he almost immediately died? He was almost immediately cremated, there wasn’t even a memorial service. What on earth are you trying to hide? Besides, what exactly happened before Lu Shang’s death? Only you know, Director Li. This will may have been written by you. In my opinion, maybe even the death of director Lu…”

“Zhang Meng!” Unexpectedly, Li Sui wasn’t the one who stopped him, it was Liu XinTian who interrupted him.

Li Sui sneered from the bottom of his heart, “If you have doubts, let’s call the police and find the people from the hospital to investigate. They can definitely find clues. I also wondered why it just happened that the surveillance camera broke down that night. He seemed to be recovering, so how is it that they suddenly said he died of heart failure?”

“This is a meeting, not a criminal investigation.” Liu XinTian drew the topic back.

“Even if you inherited Lu Shang’s shares, so what? Are you qualified? Can you carry the huge burden that is Tong Yan?”

“Whether someone could carry that weight is not something you or I can say. Even if you say so, or if I say so, there’s no point,” said Li Sui, he glanced around the conference room, “Please begin voting.”

In order to prevent cheating, the voting was conducted without anonymity, the voting papers were handed out, and the meeting room went silent. Li Sui glanced at the old shareholders who were on good terms with the Lu family. They seemed to be talking about something. Li Sui thought of Zhang Meng’s malicious speculations just now, that made him slightly nervous and he lowered his head to sip tea.

It was not unreasonable for people to say that rumors are made by just one mouth, but to slash a rumor, even breaking a leg might not be enough. There’s also the very irresponsible saying “Since everyone says so, then more or less, it should hold some truth”. No one actually bothered to search for the truth, the truth wasn’t worth much when everyone just leaned toward believing in what they hear.

Li Sui caught a glimpse of Liu XinTian’s calm expression. He took a moment to think about it, then he shivered, this was bad, he was tricked. Liu XinTian deliberately shook the matter out through another person’s mouth, he planted the idea of Li Sui forcing Lu Shang to write the will in everyone’s mind. It seemed like Liu XinTian did not only knew that Lu Shang would transfer the shares to Li Sui, he even prepared for that to happen and suggested that Lu Shang was forced.

No matter how intimate and close he was with Lu Shang, Li Sui was not his legal spouse, that was his greatest weakness. It was difficult for outsiders to identify with the feelings he had for Lu Shang. However, Liu XinTian was different. No matter what he did or say, he had been one of Tong Yan’s directors for many years. From the perspective of the old shareholders, Li Sui was truly not competitive when compared with Liu XinTian. After all, in the eyes of the old shareholders, he was the real outsider, and now, he was also suspected of murdering Lu Shang.

Li Sui had lost completely in the first round. He sweated a little, he was not worried about losing his rights in the board of directors, but if he failed at reforming the company this time, if Tong Yan were to fall into the same predicament again, it would mean that all of Lu Shang’s efforts would have been wasted.

What Li Sui feared for came, the first three ballots were handed up from the group of old shareholders Li Sui reached out to before. Li Sui stretched his neck and saw that the ballot had three words written on it, Liu XinTian. Li Sui felt his blood froze instantly.

Xe WeiLan frowned and looked at him. Both of them looked at each other with immense seriousness.

Liu XinTian seemed quite satisfied, “Thank you for your trust. I can’t thank you enough.”

With the first three votes casted, Li Sui had now lost 6%, and his original anticipated support percentage of 54%had shrunk.

“What should we do?” Asked Xe WeiLan.

Li Sui clenched his hands together, he raised his head up and gritted his teeth without answering.

The rain on the island was still going on, and beside the operating table, Leon moved quickly and accurately, “The right internal thoracic artery has been successfully moved out of the way, now we need to begin removing the pericardium4.”

“Control your breathing.”

“Right.”

“The harmonic scalpel.”

“Here.”

As their vision of view widened with the incision, they had full view of the aneurysm. Even the hospital head who had been doing heart surgeries for years was shocked, “This position…”

Leung ZiRui frowned and looked at Leon, “Be careful.”

Leon nodded and said to the nurse, “Forceps.”

The light from the lamp reflected onto their faces, everyone in the operating room looked serious.

Leung ZiRui had just clamped the blood-stained cotton ball away, and the blood pressure monitor suddenly rang, breaking everyone’s already tense nerves.

“Blood pressure has dropped,” the monitor rang.

Leon focused on the surgery, “The suture.”

Leung ZiRui looked at Lu Shang, his face was extremely pale. He was clearly in a deep coma, but his breathing gave Leung ZiRui the impression that he was in pain.

“Low blood pressure, 50, 48…” the monitor continued to rang.

Leung ZiRui quickly turned his head around and said, “Phenylephrine5.”

“Yes.”

“Hurry up, 2cc.”

The nurse wiped the sweat off Leon’s head, while the latter was extremely focused.

“Oh no, the blood pressure is spiking too much.”

“How much?”

“200… 210!”

Leung ZiRui felt cold sweat dripping down his own head and subconsciously looked at Leon.

Leon was also sweating heavily, he had a serious look as his hands continued moving, “The Aneurysm ruptured. Quickly, ready the pump.”

“Anesthetist, inject anesthetics to stabilize blood pressure.”

“Notify the support team and prepare for blood transfusion.”

All of a sudden, the whole operating room got busier, the blood pressure monitor continued to ring, the sound was like a call for them to hurry up. Leung ZiRui clicked his tongue and turned his head back to the nurse who was obviously anxious, “The blood pressure isn’t stabilizing.”

At this time, the hospital head, who had not spoken at all, said, “Blood, transfuse that bag of blood.”

The nurse immediately understood, she quickly interchanged the pack of transfusing blood with the pack that was especially marked. After changing it, she began the blood transfusion again.

Leung ZiRui fixed his eyes on Lu Shang. In a few moments, the nurse said happily, “It’s beginning to stabilize.”

The alarm rang a few more times, but like a crying child that was just offered candy, the alarm gradually subsided.

Leung ZiRui sighed with relief, “…Well, that’s amazing.”

“They are the most compatible.” The hospital head pointed out.

At present, there was no medical research showing that the source of blood transfusion could directly affect the results of a surgery. Leung ZiRui thought, when this operation was over, maybe he should open a research on the topic. He recalled Li Sui’s words when he asked to provide blood for the surgery. Perhaps amidst the coma, Lu Shang really did feel something. They were not just lovers, they truly were bounded by blood even from the beginning.

“The position of hemorrhage are all sutured up,” Leon took a deep breath as he said.

“Is the ECMO6 ready?”

“It’s ready.”

“Okay. Now we’re going to repair the ruptured coronary arteries. Assist 1, help with intubating it.”

Leung ZiRui stabilized his mind and said, “Yes.”

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