Searching for someone in northern Myanmar, and you call that earning tuition fees?

Li Changfeng and Lao Zhao's barely suppressed laughter was particularly jarring in the quiet intensive care unit.

"Beep beep beep beep!"

Suddenly, the electrocardiogram monitor next to me sounded an urgent alarm, and the numbers on the screen jumped wildly.

The smiles on their faces froze instantly, and their hearts, which had just settled, jumped into their throats again.

"What's wrong? Kid, hang in there!" Old Zhao rushed forward, at a loss for what to do.

Su Ming looked at the screen, then at himself, and weakly raised his eyebrows: "It seems... I'm a little short of breath from laughing."

"..."

With a "bang," the ward door was pushed open.

A head nurse wearing a mask and with a stern look rushed in, followed by two junior nurses.

"What are you doing! This is the ICU! Do you think this is a market?" The head nurse's gaze was sharp as she swept over Li Changfeng and Lao Zhao. "The patient just woke up and needs absolute rest! Do you want him to go back to bed?"

The two men, who would never flinch on the battlefield, now looked like schoolchildren who had made a mistake, shrinking their necks and not daring to utter a sound.

The head nurse walked to the bedside, skillfully checked all the data, and then looked at Su Ming's pupil response, muttering to herself, "Vitality signs are stabilizing, consciousness is clear, a miracle... truly a medical miracle."

While adjusting the IV drip rate, she said to Su Ming, "It's good that you're awake, but now you shouldn't talk too much, move too much, and especially not laugh too much, understand?"

Su Ming blinked, indicating his agreement.

The head nurse nodded in satisfaction, but before leaving, she glared at Li Changfeng and Lao Zhao: "One of you go out, the other stays. If you keep making noise, you'd better both stay in the corridor."

After the door closed, the ward became much quieter.

Old Zhao tactfully moved a small stool and sat in the corner furthest from the bed, pretending to be a potted plant.

Li Changfeng pulled up a chair and sat down on the edge of the bed. Looking at Su Ming's face, which was covered in bandages, he hesitated for a long time before finally speaking: "Kid, let me tell you something about what's going on outside."

Su Ming didn't speak, he just looked at him.

Li Changfeng paused after speaking, his expression somewhat strange: "The good news is that the old general has approved the highest level of treatment for your work injury, covering all medical expenses. The bad news is that you might have to fill out a few forms later."

Su Ming's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of wariness in them. He mouthed the question silently: "How many?"

"Not many, maybe a hundred or two hundred," Li Changfeng said in a serious tone, spouting nonsense.

Su Ming's face visibly darkened, and the heart rate on the monitor began to rise again.

Li Changfeng quickly waved his hand: "I was just kidding. You don't need to fill out a single one. The mess you made this time... no, the contribution you made is a bit too big."

He lowered his voice, his expression turning serious: "About the mole..."

Su Ming's eyelids twitched.

"It's solved," Li Changfeng said succinctly.

He leaned forward slightly and said in a casual tone, "We arrested two old geezers. One is surnamed Chen, and the other is surnamed Liu. They used to be people who could appear on the evening news. The one surnamed Liu wanted to escape. He booked a private plane to Panama. He was already on the gangway when the military police pulled him down. I heard it was like catching chicks."

Old Zhao, who was eavesdropping in the corner, couldn't help but interject, "I heard he was so scared he collapsed and had to be carried into the car. Serves him right!"

Li Changfeng glared at him, signaling him to shut up, and continued to say to Su Ming: "That Chen fellow is quite the actor. When the military police sneaked into his villa where he was recuperating, he was still leisurely making tea. After he went in, he didn't say a word, like a clay idol."

Su Ming listened quietly; these names and events seemed so distant to him. During the nine days he was unconscious, an invisible war had clearly been raging outside.

But he didn't care about the fate of those important figures.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his gaze passed through Li Changfeng, landing in the distance.

Li Changfeng immediately understood.

He stopped joking, sat up straight, and said clearly, word by word, "The orphanage is safe."

Su Ming's gaze hardened.

Li Changfeng emphasized: "It's not just temporary safety, it's complete safety. The old general has uprooted the intricate network of relationships those two old geezers had in China, and all related overseas accounts and contact points were wiped out overnight. Now, let alone sending people over, even if a fly wants to get into the welfare home, they have to check three generations of household registration first."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Su Ming.

Those eyes, which once burned with the flames of revenge in the mining area and were icy and piercing, are now slowly melting away their coldness and hardness.

After a long while, Su Ming slowly blinked, as if he had completely digested the news.

He mustered all his strength and asked a question in a hoarse voice that stunned both Li Changfeng and Lao Zhao.

"So... which account will the cost of this security upgrade be processed through?" Su Ming asked seriously. "Will it be deducted from my payment?"

"..."

Old Zhao almost collapsed the stool he was sitting on in the corner.

Li Changfeng held his breath, then slowly exhaled, feeling his blood pressure surge.

He raised his hand, wanting to slap the kid, but seeing Su Ming's serious expression that said "even close brothers should keep clear accounts," his hand fell limply to his side.

Li Changfeng glared at him angrily: "Deduct it! Deduct it! You've used up almost all the blood plasma in the entire Southwest Military Region this time! The old general said this is on your tab, and it'll be deducted from your pay later!"

Su Ming thought about it seriously for a moment, then gently shook his head.

He felt that Li Changfeng was lying to him.

Seeing Su Ming's "Do you think I'm stupid?" expression, Li Changfeng finally couldn't hold back anymore. He leaned back in his chair, let out a long sigh, and showed the first truly relaxed smile in nine days.

He patted Su Ming's uninjured arm: "Alright, brat, focus on recovering. The sky outside won't fall down, and even if it does, someone will hold it up for you."

Carrying...

Su Ming stared at the ceiling.

Twenty years have passed.

From as far back as he can remember, his nerves were always on edge, never daring to relax for a moment. He worked tirelessly to learn skills and earn money, all so that he could build a wall for the orphanage, a wall that could shield it from all storms.

He always thought of himself as that wall.

Now, someone is telling him that an iron legion has already formed outside the wall.

The string that had been taut for twenty years finally let loose completely.

A profound sense of exhaustion washed over him, quickly overwhelming his consciousness. The pain from his wounds also subsided.

He closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually became steady and long.

The numbers on the monitor gradually returned to the normal range, emitting a regular and reassuring beeping sound.

In the ward, Li Changfeng and Lao Zhao looked at his sleeping profile.

A relaxed smile appeared on that young face.

That was a genuine, relieved smile after all the burdens had been lifted.