Chapter 19 The Special Care Ward

Inside the People's Hospital's special care ward.

Gu Baisun had only been transferred to the special care ward from the emergency room this morning. He had been shot twice; the wound on the upper left chest nearly pierced his heart. A total of more than thirty buckshot pellets had been dug out of his left arm, left shoulder, and neck.

Inside the hospital.

Su Tianyu stood in the stairwell, engaged in an urgent discussion with Wei Xiangzuo and Guo Zhengdao.

Inside the ward, Gu Baisun was still unconscious, wearing a ventilator. Steel nails stuck out of his shoulder, supporting a steel plate. He looked miserable.

Inside the room, many relatives and friends who had heard the news came to visit, standing inside and outside, numbering twenty or thirty people.

"How is Little Gu?" An old man from the stevedore association asked Niu Feng.

"Not good." Niu Feng shook his head. "The buckshot in his neck and shoulder hasn't been completely removed. The doctor said... he'll need another surgery the day after tomorrow."

"Did it damage the bones?"

"Yeah. Even if he recovers, his left arm will have lasting effects." Niu Feng's expression was grave. "Surviving at all is like cheating death."

"Ah!" The old man sighed. "I watched him grow up. How did our stevedore association become like this! The higher-ups are fighting for power and profit, and it's our people who are dying and getting hurt."

Niu Feng didn't respond.

"Little Feng, I'll be going then!" A middle-aged man came over. "Take good care of Baisun. Call me anytime if you need anything."

"No problem!"

"Ah, damn it, the association is getting more and more chaotic. So many things have happened recently!" The middle-aged man sighed and walked out.

Niu Feng followed him out.

Inside the room, the sounds of conversation and discussion filled the air. Many people felt lost. Today it seemed like Lao Li's side had the upper hand, and tomorrow it felt like Zhang Ming and the garrison were stronger.

...

Inside the stairwell.

Su Tianyu, with a cigarette in his mouth, asked Wei Xiangzuo in a low voice, "Can you take over the people Yu Zheng pulled over?"

"Yes." Wei Xiangzuo replied immediately. "Little Gu had arranged things beforehand. Guo and I are both maintaining contact with the people who have already taken the money. There won't be any problems."

"That's right." Guo Zhengdao nodded in agreement.

Su Tianyu looked at the two of them and immediately gave clear instructions: "With this incident, the other side might pick up the pace, so we have to move our plan forward. Organize what we have. Brother Zuo, go contact the elders and prepare for them to propose a public vote. If they're hesitant, show them what we have in our hand, let them know that we still have a good chance."

"I understand what you mean." Wei Xiangzuo nodded.

"I'm still in charge of the external stuff." Su Tianyu glanced at his watch. "I have to go outside the district this afternoon to invite people to support us."

"Okay!"

"That's it then. Let's move quickly and try to move the date to next Friday."

"Okay!" Wei Xiangzuo nodded.

After the three finished discussing, Su Tianyu pushed the door open to leave. Wei Xiangzuo looked at his back and suddenly called out, "Xiao Yu!"

"Huh?" Su Tianyu turned around.

"Aren't you going to see Baisun?" Wei Xiangzuo asked.

Su Tianyu paused slightly. "Oh, I'll go now!"

"Okay." Wei Xiangzuo nodded and followed.

Su Tianyu grabbed the door handle, turned his head to look at Wei Xiangzuo and said, "Brother, I can't do the work of two people alone. I'm counting on you for everything here!"

"Don't worry, I can handle it." Wei Xiangzuo responded.

The two looked at each other. Su Tianyu walked out of the stairwell and quickly arrived at the door of the special care ward.

The room was crowded with people. Through the gap, Su Tianyu saw Gu Baisun lying on the bed.

Steel nails pierced his shoulder, supporting a steel plate. The gauze on his neck was stained with blood, and his entire shoulder was swollen like a steamed bun.

Seeing this scene, Su Tianyu's emotions were complex. No matter what, Gu Baisun himself had really done his best to help Lao Li succeed in the stevedore association's affairs.

After staying at the door for a while, Su Tianyu whispered to Wei Xiangzuo, "I'm leaving, Brother!"

"Okay!" Wei Xiangzuo nodded.

...

Inside the garrison headquarters.

Zhang Ming had adopted a do-or-die attitude. He hadn't slept at all since last night, staying in his office to control the progress of events outside.

Apart from Tan Mingchao, even Yang Dong and the others didn't know exactly how many votes Zhang Ming held in his hand or how many people he had won over.

This old fox was very slippery. To block the news and accurately hold onto the cards in his hand, he never used any intermediaries. All the association executives he won over met with him alone at the garrison headquarters, with cars picking them up and dropping them off, and no third party present. No one knew what the two of them discussed behind closed doors.

A little after one in the afternoon.

Zhang Ming sat on the sofa, holding the phone, and said, "That's it, the number of votes on your side is settled. I'll tell you whether to abstain or vote in favor on the day of the public vote. Okay, okay, that's it."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Ming walked around the room and dialed Tan Mingchao's cell phone: "Hello, leader, I'm almost ready here. Let the elders attack first the day after tomorrow. I'll find someone to take the lead in proposing kicking Zha Nan and Longkou districts out of the association, and then we'll see their reaction."

"Alright," Tan Mingchao nodded. "You decide."

In the following seven days, the enemy and ourselves launched the final stage of vote-getting, and each team put all their efforts into organizing their cards.

But during this stage, Zhang Ming still didn't dare to leave the garrison headquarters for half a step. Even if there were particularly important matters, he sent Tan Mingchao's people to handle them personally.

Zhang Ming really didn't dare to show his face until the last moment. He was really afraid that as soon as he stuck his head out, a big axe would fly over and accurately chop him in the neck.

Before the public vote, the two sides had a behind-the-scenes confrontation. Zhang Ming's side used the elders to propose kicking out the Zha Nan and Longkou district branches, but they suffered a third of the votes against, and a small number of abstentions.

This test gave Zhang Ming a rough idea of ​​the situation. He found Tan Mingchao alone and asked him to prepare a second plan, that is, how the garrison headquarters should respond if he lost.

Both sides finished accumulating strength, and the date for the public vote was set.

At 8:30 a.m. on Friday, the conference would officially open, with 20 representatives from the elders, 16 district presidents, and 100 core members from each branch attending.

The direct participants in this meeting numbered more than 1,600 people.

This was the most sensational internal meeting of the stevedore association outside of election years.

The final battle had begun!

...

On the night when the date of the conference was set, a group of people set off from Hua Fu and drove to The Dragon City Rises.

At the same time, the garrison headquarters suddenly transferred two regiments into the city, under the pretext of inspecting the city's military defense works and updating the military defense system.

In the evening, An Ze City lay on the rocking chair in the military headquarters, yawning and said, "We'll go back to the General Military Department on Friday and not stay in the city."