The Great Worm Lich

The scorching sunshine;

The leafy palm trees with lush green leaves;

Waves that constantly made pleasing sounds of “shaaa shaaa…”;

The beautiful and pristine beach, the handsome men and beautiful ladies wearing sexy swimsuits while holding surfboards, showing off their bodies.

— these were the thoughts everybody who loved the midsummer would have when the word “summer” was mentioned and the Hawaiian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean could satisfy all of these.

Under a huge palm tree, leaning against an open-air restaurant and a cold drink stall, a tall girl with a bountiful bosom who was wearing a thin black and white striped bikini was talking on her mobile phone before suddenly looking vacant without warning.

A beautiful tanned girl with a tall nose and a big mouth beside her was sipping her beer while poking her with her finger before saying with a smile, “It’s your turn, Tina! Hurry up and spin the bottle, honey! Spin it!”

The young men sitting in a circle under the tree also began to shout, “Tina! Tina! Tina…”

“No, w-wait a minute! Something is wrong! I can feel that something is wrong! I’m not feeling well! Something is not right! I need something cold to drink! My heart is burning up! I need something cold…” Her companions’ commotion seemed to have awakened the girl. At this moment, she had completely lost interest in “spin the bottle game”. Standing up from the beach absentmindedly, she staggered as she walked towards the cold drink stall.

When the tanned girl by her side saw this, she quickly stood up to hold her new friend. “Tina, what do you want to drink? I’ll go buy it for you. Honey, are you not feeling well anywhere? You look very pale. Who called you on the phone just now?”

“Phone? That’s right! It’s Lisheng! The hell? What happened these past few months? Could it be that it’s because of him that I-I… Oh! I should call him back! I should call him back!” Tina muttered as she dialed the phone number just now.

The ringtone she received was a busy beep. After the girl dialed the phone persistently for a few minutes, the call was finally connected.

“Tina, is there anything?” Zhang Lisheng’s voice that was mostly calm and solemn resonated from the other side of the phone.

Upon hearing this voice, Tina’s anxious heart began to quickly calm down again. “I-It’s nothing. I just wanted to call you again. P-Perhaps I’ll go back by tonight’s flight! Let us meet with each other tomorrow and take a look at your factory…”

“There’s no need for that. I’ve called the lawyer Edward Wills just now. You’re the one who introduced him to me, don’t you remember? I’ve already asked him to help me find a business representative to negotiate with the annoying Farmers Union. Just like you said, he’s very useful.”

“Is that so? That’s good then…”

“Is there anything else?”

“N-No… No! Wait a minute, don’t hang up yet, Lisheng. I don’t know why but after hearing your voice when you called just now, I-I panicked…”

“Tina, what’s wrong with you? Are Trish and Sheila not with you at the moment?”

“Sheila has gone swimming with a handsome guy just now while Trish has gone to the oldest church in Hawaii early in the morning. I only have new friends around me right now…”

“Is that so?” A thought suddenly formed in Zhang Lisheng’s mind for no reason before he blurted out, “That’s right, Tina! It’s going to be summer holiday soon and I haven’t been to Hawaii yet…”

“You planned to come to Hawaii for your summer holiday as well?” Tina asked in pleasant surprise. “Then I won’t go back to New York anymore and will just wait for you right here.”

“Alright! That’s fine since I won’t be able to stay quietly in New York for these two entire months anyway.”

“It’s a promise then! There are still more than ten days to go before the summer holiday comes so you’ll come look for me the instant the holiday starts, okay baby?”

“Sure! I’ll see you then,” Zhang Lisheng replied. With a burning face, he hung his phone up. In the process, his heart inexplicably relaxed by a lot. After staring blankly at the ceiling for a while, he realized that he could not calm down no matter what. As he pondered over it, he ran downstairs with a “thud thud…” sound. “Mum! I want to go out for a walk today!”

“Alright, baby! You haven’t been out for a week. it’s good to go out and clear your mind.”

“Then I’ll go hang out with George and have lunch together with him. Is that okay?”

“Of course! But, remember, don’t think too much and don’t let your brain get too tired! Don’t eat oily foods and remember to take your medicine before your meals…” Lili nagged while preparing for lunch in the kitchen.

“I know!” Zhang Lisheng replied loudly before running out of the house.

The weather in New York in mid-June was already very hot. Fortunately, the sun today was covered by a thin layer of dark clouds the moment it appeared today. Even though it did not rain, the weather was still cooler than usual.

Zhang Lisheng wore shorts and a sweatshirts that had a cartoon print that Lili bought for him. Walking with his sandals on, he walked towards the parking lot along the shade. After calling George and deciding on a location to meet him, he called Maddie. “Check how many flights are going to Hawaii three days before the summer holiday. I need it as soon as possible. Text me the details later…”

“I’m not free! Please! Can you please not bother me today? Please…” It was apparent that the voice resonating from the other side of phone was filled with despair.

“What’s wrong with you, Maddie?”

“My father’s tumor is taking a turn for the worse. The doctor said that he doesn’t have much time left. I’m in the hospital right now with my mum…”

“The tumor is worsening? Then, is it still savable? Go to a better hospital…”

“A-Are you still willing to help me?”

“Of course! Go ask the doctor and call me later. That’s right! Don’t forget to check for the flights going to Hawaii as well.”

After hanging up the third call for today, Zhang Lisheng intuitively looked around before walking into the parking lot.

It was almost lunch time right now and there were very few people on the street. The young man could only see four to five old men walking their dogs slowly and three to four youngsters wearing helmets while skateboarding across him as they laughed together.

“Looks like I’ve been too sensitive.” Zhang Lisheng mocked himself with a smile before walking towards his Ford Explorer that he had not driven for a long time.

Not far away from him, in a long van with the words “municipal maintenance” on it parked across the street, a middle-aged man in a beige uniform with a bushy beard was watching Zhang Lisheng’s gradually disappearing silhouette with a high-strength electronic telescope from inside the car window while muttering to himself. “Target B098, the seventh monitoring. Dialed his phone three times between the period of 11.20am to 11.50am and received one call. Two of the call’s object was Target B21. There was no abnormality in either of the call. It’s deduced that there’s no abnormality and it’s recommended to cancel the monitoring.”

When the bearded man was muttering to himself, the microwave in the car suddenly made a ding sound and opened its door automatically. A short middle-aged man who had been waiting beside the microwave rubbed his hand excitedly. “Hey buddy! Our hot dog is done! We’re finally going to complete this damn monitoring task. To think that we actually had to play this hide and seek game with these few kids all day long! I really don’t know what our big boss is thinking! If there’s another mission as boring as this the next time, I’m going to bring over my frying pan and froth machine so that I can fry bacon while making milk foam at the same time!”

“Enough, Alexander! Complaining won’t get you promoted! Hey! Give me one hotdog as well! You can’t eat that all by yourself or I’ll log into the monitoring record and suggest to extend the monitoring for another week…” The bearded middle-aged man put the instrument away and smiled.

The two agents came out of the rear compartment and entered the driving compartment while chewing on their hotdogs. When they drove to their next surveillance target, Zhang Lisheng also drove his Explorer out of the parking lot.

Naturally, George would still be working at the Douzet’s Butcher Shop on a Saturday noon. After turning left and right on the New York streets for more than twenty minutes, he parked the car outside of the butcher shop.

Very soon, George, who had just gotten off work, left the butcher shop and ran into the passenger seat of the Explorer.

After hugging Zhang Lisheng, this noisy black boy remarked solemnly, “Hey, buddy! It’s good to see you safe and sound. Well, in accordance to the custom of your Chinese people, let me spend a lobster lunch on you to help you get over the shock!”

“I want to go eat at the restaurant in West End.”

“Forget about it then! Let’s just go for burgers! How about that Madison Fat Chicken Burger Restaurant? Your Little Maddie is working there and she can give me staff price too.”

“She’s not there today. I just talked to her on the phone just now and she’s in the hospital. She said that her father’s tumor has deteriorated further…”

“Oh that’s unfortunate. Buddy! Shouldn’t you be by her side accompanying her at this time? I really don’t understand what’s going on between you two. I keep seeing you two contacting each other these past few months… ugh fine! I’m sorry. It’s your private matter and I shouldn’t comment much about it. But Maddie would really need somebody to comfort her at this time. And I think that you can comfort that girl.”

Hearing his best friend’s words, Zhang Lisheng hesitated for a moment. “You’re right, George! I was indeed a little heartless in this matter. Okay! Let’s go to the hospital!”

Then, he started his car and began to make a turn, before heading to the New York’s Cassandra Cancer Research Center by relying on his car’s navigator.

After buying two burgers and two Cokes and having their simple lunch, Zhang Lisheng and George parked in front of the Cassandra Cancer Research Center that was relatively small in size — it merely occupied half a floor of a complex building — but was somewhat famous. By the time they arrived, it was already later than 1pm.

Due to the reason that other than the doctors and nurses, the people who would usually come in and go at this private hospital were cancer patients and their families, Zhang Lisheng sensitively felt stifling right away the instant he walked into it.

However, the bizarre thing was that everyone here had a smile plastered on their faces, looking as though they were in a happy mood. Even the few skinny patients were whispering to the nurses softly, neither too fast nor too slow, as though they were not pessimistic nor in despair at all.

Due to the reason that the area was separated into two wards and the medical rooms, the waiting room for the doctors’ office was not huge. With just a single glance, Zhang Lisheng could see Maddie who was snuggling close to a middle-aged woman with a smile.

He hesitated for a moment before striding towards them. “Maddie, I’ve heard about your father and I immediately came here with George to see you.”

Upon hearing his greeting, Maddie finally realized that Zhang Lisheng had come to the Cassandra Cancer Research Center. It was apparent that she was caught off guard by the young man’s appearance here. For a moment, she was dumbstruck.