Okay, that was an exaggeration. I wasn't going to faint from something as trivial as being stabbed in the thigh.
However, it was true that the loss of blood from a ruptured major artery was making me lightheaded, so I staggered backward. The policemen and my bodyguards – Alan Shou and Brad Biao having shown up shortly after to check on me – grappled with the kid, yanking the knife out of his hands and dragged him away.
"Let me go!" Roland Rong shouted, struggling in their grip. "I have to kill that cheating bastard! How dare he steals my mommy away from my daddy?! He must DIE!"
Take note, this was a five year old kid we were talking about here. Don't ask me why. I didn't understand either. Most kids in CEO novels do not behave like children supposedly of their age at all. I mean, when you had five-year-old kids hacking better than any professional adult hacker, you knew something was wrong.
Not that I cared. Alan Shou and Brad Biao rushed forward, immediately applying first aid and staunching the bleeding. I gestured toward their laser pistols weakly.
"Cauterize the wound with those."
"But…"
"I trust you guys," I muttered before I lost consciousness.
When I woke up in hospital, I found Lily Ling waiting next to me. She was watching me with a worried expression, only to break into a relieved smile when she saw me sitting up.
"How are you feeling?" She asked. I shrugged.
"All right, I guess. I've been better, but I'm happy to still be alive."
"I can't believe that you survived through three tanker collisions and explosions unscathed, only to be grievously hurt by a kid." Lily shook her head in disbelief. Her face grew dark and she placed a hand on my arm. "That child…I don't know how Riley Rong brought him up, but he seems to disregard human life so casually. Like his father, he's so ruthless and merciless, thinking he can do whatever he wants and gets away with it because of his identity, status and wealth. His background."
That was CEO novel characters for you.
"What happened to him?" I asked. "I saw the police taking him away, but that's all I remember before I blacked out."
"He'll be put under probation, undergo intensive psychiatric counseling and be confined to his home. House arrest, in other words."
"I'm very sorry." Richard Rong chose that moment to show up. He must have heard that I had woken up and rushed over as soon as possible. "This is all my fault. I should have educated my nephew better. I didn't expect him to dash over and stab you like that…"
"Hell, even I didn't expect him to do something so extreme, and I've read a lot of CEO novels." I shook my head, trying to assure him that he wasn't to blame for this misadventure. "Don't worry about it. The fault lies with Roland Rong alone, not you."
"No! As his uncle, and an adult taking care of him, I must take responsibility!"
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow at that. There was little point in arguing, so I decided to simply ask him. "How do you intend to take responsibility?"
"For starters, the Rong family will bear all medical expenses, and compensate you with damages as well." Richard Rong then looked ashamed of himself. "After the debacle with my parents, I understand if you want to bring this to court, but I assure you, we will do whatever we can in order to rehabilitate Roland."
"Oh, don't worry about that. I have no intention of suing you or anything. I'll leave the medical expenses to you."
"Thank you." Richard Rong bowed deeply. Fortunately, he wasn't that sort of crazy character in a CEO novel where he would vow vengeance against me for "humiliating" him or his nephew. In fact, I was the victim here, no matter how you looked at it. Add the fact that I had literally saved his life, along with the lives of his staff and even his nephew, he owed me far too much.
He couldn't simply murder me or plot revenge just because his nephew went mad and stabbed me. Wait, how did that even work? Oh, right. CEO novel drama/son-in-law novel/cultivation story logic. Because every character was out to kill the female lead or main character over the most inane reasons ever. Every little word I said or do was an offence that "humiliated" the other party, therefore they must kill me. No, seriously. I had no idea how the fuck that worked, but it seemed that every character that the protagonists met operated the same way.
This being a similar trashy story, I wouldn't be surprised if I ran into characters like that. In fact, I was sure I already did. Fortunately, it appeared that Richard Rong wasn't one of them, apparently because he was named after the protagonist of a summoner story written by the same author.
"I'll go discuss with the hospital the billing and everything. I'll ensure that you get the best wards and treatment…"
"No need for that. I want to get discharged as soon as possible. I don't want to be hospitalized for long. I have a lot of work to do."
Richard Rong hesitated a little, and then nodded. "It depends on what the doctor says, but after suffering a life-threatening injury like that, it's best if you take it easy and rest."
"Yeah!" Lily smacked me in the head. "Don't push yourself needlessly! You are not some superhuman who can immediately heal after such a serious injury! You keep risking your life like this…do you know how worried I am?!"
"Sorry."
I decided not to argue. This wasn't the best time to correct her misconceptions. Besides, this was just a flesh wound. They had sealed the artery, and with today's modern medical technologies, treating such injuries was a piece of cake. I wasn't worried at all.
Rather, I wanted to invent a new robot – one based off my Locusts, but in a much larger scale…
"Speaking of which," Lily said, her voice cold. "Mr. Rong, can you tell Roland that he will never see me again?"
"…yes. I will." Richard Rong lowered his head. He understood her feelings. The kid had tried to murder her husband right in front of her. While we weren't so petty as to blame him, he couldn't use the "just a child" excuse to justify all his crimes. He needed to be punished, and Lily never appearing before him again was even more of a punishment than the probation, counseling and other measures.
The spoilt brat had to learn that he couldn't always get his way just because he wanted it.
"I'm sorry." Lily smiled apologetically at me. "I should have severed the relationship with Roland in the first place. If I had been more decisive and ruthless, he would never have hurt you."
"It's not your fault," I assured her. "It's nobody's fault…except that brat."
"He…he is just a child," Richard Rong said helplessly. "I failed to educate him."
"Let's hope your plans to reeducate and rehabilitate him work then," I grumbled darkly. "Because if they don't…he'll grow up to become quite the tyrant, like his father. No, worse. Even Riley Rong didn't try to murder people with a knife or a gun in broad daylight."
"We will…do our best," Richard Rong promised.
"You should get some rest now," Lily told me. "And don't try to bully the doctors into discharging you early. You won't be leaving here until you're fully recovered, is that understood, mister?"
"Yes, ma'am." I sighed, cursing my fate. What was I supposed to do in the hospital? Stare at the ceiling for days until the doctors were satisfied with how my wound healed? Damn it, I was too careless. Should never have let Roland Rong get near me.
After Richard Rong and Lily left, trusting the doctors of this first-rate hospital to do their job, Bu Fan arrived.
That was when I realized that I had forgotten about our secret operation to decapitate the leadership of the three guilty corporations behind the hiring of the mercenaries who launched the cruise missile attack on G City. And now hired these desperate guys to blow up Rong's Tower too. The last thing I remembered, they were infiltrating the companies' headquarters and subsidiary buildings with the Locusts that I had invented.
"How did it go?" I asked.
"Perfect," Bu Fan replied, showing me a thumbs up. "Everything went as planned. We don't have to worry about anything ever again."
"Excellent. With this, we don't have to worry about any other attacks in the city."
"Oh, yeah. For now, anyway." Bu Fan sighed and leaned against his seat. He then glanced at my leg, as if he could see the gauze tied to my thigh underneath the hospital gown-like trousers that they gave me to wear. He shook his head and chuckled. "I heard you had some trouble with a kid."
"Yeah, well…I didn't expect him to charge at me with a knife and stab me."
"I don't think anyone would. To think that the great Trevor Shen, the hero of several military battles and the inventor of war walkers, fell victim to a child…"
"Not just any child," I reminded him. "This is the son of the Rong family we are talking about here. The heir to the Rong Group."
"The Rong Group is finished." Bu Fan snorted. "With the death of Riley Rong and the majority of the shares bought out by other groups, they are doomed. My Bu Businesses have acquired plenty of the shares that the Er Enterprises, Ye Conglomerate and Hao Holdings grabbed from the Rong Group, but we can't buy all of them. We will be raising way too much suspicion otherwise."
I nodded in understanding. As an aside, my Shen Industries had no plans to purchase any of the Rong Group shares at all. They were like a ticking bomb and I resolved not to touch them as much as possible.
"Seriously, though, just because he's a kid doesn't mean we must let him get away with it," Bu Fan said thoughtfully. I frowned, suddenly on high alert. When Bu Fan took on that tone, he was definitely scheming something.
Something ominous.
"Children can be dangerous…ruthless. You heard of child soldiers in the Middle East, right? If you don't shoot back, they will kill you. It's the same logic here. You can't allow their age a free pass. Even if they are children, you must fight back…or they think they can walk all over your head – no, even cut your head off and get away with it."
"They plan to rehabilitate and counsel him. They will also punish him – I heard that corporal punishment is in order. He will be caned."
Bu Fan shook his head. "That's not enough. The brat attempted murder, you know? And he's getting away with caning and counseling sessions? He'll think that if he tries to kill you again, that's the worst that will happen. So he won't be afraid to try again. No, we need more drastic measures."
I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at his words. Meeting his gaze evenly, I narrowed my eyes.
"What do you intend to do?"
Bu Fan simply smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know?"