Everyone was watching.
The man on the ground still hung his head lifelessly. The crowd noticed something was off — the pool of blood beneath him was far larger than Guo Er's, yet he remained utterly silent, not even raising his head.
Could there really be something suspicious going on?
The people from the Northeast felt like a ball being tossed back and forth, their emotions swinging wildly, but at least it landed steady in the end.
Meanwhile, Guo Er kept rambling on:
"A smart guy like me, I already sensed something was wrong from the start. I brought people over just to see who was stirring up trouble in there. Under normal circumstances, if I heard the wind blow, I could just sidestep out of the way. But I got careless — trusted my own brothers too much, and that's how I ended up taking a bullet."
Everyone: ...
Sidestep a bullet?
There's a limit to bragging, you know.
"But even after getting hit, I didn't panic. I played along and dropped to the ground, and sure enough, caught him off guard. In the blink of an eye, I took him down. He didn't have time to run. Sure, Miss Su's people are skilled, but I think my cooperation was absolutely essential too."
Guo Er lifted his head with effort.
A smug look on his face.
A faint flush even appeared on his pale, blood-deprived cheeks.
The crowd was speechless again.
But there was still some useful information to be extracted from his rambling, so someone spoke up:
"To take on multiple opponents alone, not only win decisively but also capture the ringleader — search the entire Northeastern army, and you'd find only a handful capable of that. For Miss Su to send such people to protect her cousin, it's truly touching."
The words carried a hidden probe.
No other reason.
It was too much of a coincidence — someone attacks, and they just happen to be caught. If it weren't for Guo Er's presence, it wouldn't be out of place to say this was a staged play by Su Ning.
That possibility was ruled out.
It could also be that Su Ning had learned of the attack from somewhere and turned it against the attackers, arranging people in advance.
"Mm, it's fine, I suppose."
Su Ning said casually:
"Although we came in such a hurry that we only managed to scrape together a little over a hundred, at least there's a blood tie, and he was gravely wounded while handling business for me. Sending a few people to protect him is nothing much."
Everyone: ...
A hundred-plus?
And that was just because they came in a rush and could only muster that many.
Their first instinct was disbelief — but would Su Ning really tell a lie so easily exposed? They looked again at the people behind her. Those with sharp eyes could tell these were no ordinary men — each stood ramrod straight, disciplined, radiating an aura of menace.
Could she actually be telling the truth?
In that instant, envy hit. Every single person present felt it. In this era, having money alone made you meat on the chopping block, but having money and people was different — and the people under Su Ning weren't just anybody!
What finally dispelled all their doubts was a report —
Not just the hospital — the camps where Su Ning's men were prospecting for oil had also been attacked. Though they too had won and captured prisoners, Su Ning's side had taken casualties!
Not just one or two.
A full five people dead.
"How did so many die?" the Northeast side asked urgently.
"Word is, the attackers came in overwhelming numbers. Miss Su's people managed to suppress them, but at great cost — not only five dead, but many wounded as well."
The crowd's faces went dark.
Those with weak hearts were struggling to breathe. For others, every cloud had a silver lining, but for them, it seemed it was the opposite.
Even though the dead weren't Su Ning's clansmen.
They were still her people!
Sure enough, a layer of frost had settled over Su Ning's face.
Seeing this, the Northeast side quickly spoke with pained sincerity:
"Please accept our condolences."
"The people behind this are despicable — to sabotage our deal with Miss Su, they committed such heinous acts. Five lives lost."
"Rest assured, we will do everything in our power to investigate, root out these rats, and no matter who they are, we will not spare them — they will be at your disposal."
Between their condolences and assurances, Su Ning's expression only barely improved. She said:
"Then begin the investigation."
And with that, she truly washed her hands of it — apart from assigning a subordinate skilled in interrogation, she didn't interfere at all. She went straight to check on her cousin.
...
Outside, the commotion continued.
Inside, Su Heng remained completely unaware. When the attack happened, thanks to the protection he received, he hadn't suffered any additional harm.
But he was already gravely wounded, lacking energy.
So after the crisis was resolved, he either fainted or fell into a deep sleep.
His rest was far from peaceful.
It was as if he were dreaming, or simply that too many thoughts churned in his mind — like the gruel cooked in famine years, mixing good food and bad, edible and inedible, all jumbled together beyond distinction.
He had eaten that kind of gruel many times.
It tasted awful.
Truly awful.
Though Su Family Village was the strongest force in the area, always first to win water rights every year, and he was from the clan head's branch — a well-known figure across the region — so what? The times got worse and worse. Natural disasters, man-made calamities, endless taxes and levies. With no one powerful backing them, Su Family Village were just a bunch of dirt farmers — kneaded and squeezed however anyone pleased. He refused to accept it, of course. He thought about going to Beiping to make a name for himself.
— Naturally, it didn't work out.
The city wasn't easy to navigate. Everything — food, drink, housing, travel — cost money.
As for ways to earn it, let's put it this way: even the night-soil collectors had connections above them. Even begging required professional skills, and he didn't even know how to sing beggar's chants.
He'd heard their clan once produced a great figure.
A Grand Eunuch of the previous dynasty!
Su Heng was full of admiration — as a child, he loved hearing the story of Grand Eunuch Su's rise to glory.
Unfortunately, times had changed.
Not easy to emulate.
Everyone wanted a better life, wanted to get ahead, and every path was crammed with people. So hard — hard enough to drive a man to despair.
Then Su Ning appeared.
A woman surnamed Su, rich and powerful, who valued her kin!
But the only kin she valued were three.
Half-Immortal Su, Su Zhenzhu, Su Chen.
So cold. So merciless. Utterly capricious — inspiring hatred, fear, and longing all at once. Which was why, after being wounded, besides the pain, all he felt was joy —
An opportunity.
He was the one who insisted on using penicillin, and had someone photograph and document the entire process. He was gambling — as long as he didn't die, as long as he lived, this would be proof to vindicate penicillin! And maybe, just maybe, it would make Su Ning know he existed.
As his thoughts drifted.
He seemed to hear the sound of a door opening, of voices.
Who was making all that noise?
Su Heng opened his eyes with displeasure.
Then.
He saw a face he thought of day and night, every waking hour — a face he had barely ever seen in person.
Their eyes met.
Among Su Ning's features, the first thing anyone noticed was always her eyes. Once, a friend had studied them and concluded that this was also the source of her not looking like a "good person."
Her pupils were large, very dark.
Ordinary praise for such eyes would call them black gems or obsidian — but no one could describe Su Ning's eyes with such words, because her pupils were a kind of extreme, pure, dense black.
Very heavy.
As it happened, her eyelashes were also long and thick, and not curled upward—her friend joked that she had been born with the eyeliner that TV drama villains put on for their dark transformations.
At that moment, this pair of eyes looked over.
They landed on Su Heng.
His breathing instinctively quickened, and then he heard Su Ning's voice:
“Not bad.”
“What's your name?”
Immediately, an eager, hoarse male voice answered:
“Su Heng, Heng as in 'perseverance.'”
