By the noon the next day, I was totally drained of energy.
Because I didn’t eat anything, my blood sugar level dropped significantly and I felt dizzy when I was sitting on the ground, doing absolutely nothing.
If I didn’t get food, I would find it a daunting task to summon up enough energy and strength to talk with Leon, to say nothing about fighting with him.
That was the first time I was starved. I experienced hunger before, but never that severe. The hunger I was in was extreme, so extreme that I wanted to swallow everything I saw, even the toothpaste. It was absolutely a nightmare and I was on the verge of breaking down.
So I took a nap, and in my sleep I smelled delicious food. I opened my eyes and saw Leon peeled a boiled egg and placed it in front of me. He said, “Eat it. They sent this egg to us just now and now we have two eggs. Eat it and tomorrow I will negotiate with my Second Brother.”
When I heard we have two eggs, I took it and gulped it down in an instant. Leon asked me to eat slowly and grabbed me a cup of water. After drinking the water and eating the egg, I felt better and my mind got clear. Then I realized there was something wrong. “Didn’t you say there were two eggs? Where is yours?”
“I have already eaten mine.” Leon said smilingly.
Then I realized I was fooled by Leon. He tricked me into eating the only egg when my mind was feeble and weary. I felt so regretful that I wanted to cry. “I’m so selfish. I ate the only egg without even thinking about you. Now what about you?”
Then tears began streaming down my face, and I wasn’t acting. I was truly sad. I knew how precious the food can be because I was really hungry.
Leon reached out and stroked my head tenderly. “You little fool. It was only one egg. Why are you crying.”
“But there was only one egg, and we should have shared it, but I ate it all. What about you? Why am I so selfish?”
“You are too hungry. Your mind is getting tired. That’s why I made you eat that egg. It’s not your fault. Don’t be upset. We will have another egg tomorrow and I’ll eat by then, okay?”
“But you haven’t eaten anything in two days and you are must starving.”
Leon placed a finger in front of his mouth and said, “You can’t mention the word ‘starving’, or your sense of hunger will be even more sharp. And we can’t talk too much. We must save our energy so we can hold on longer.”
The one egg I ate didn’t give me as much energy as I needed. I was still hungry and I sat down quietly.
A short while later, I fell asleep again. Only through sleep could I escape the torture inflicted on me by hunger.
I woke up because of hunger at deep night and I drank a lot of water directly from the tap, which comforted my stomach a little bit.
Leon also woke up. We sat next to each other and the clock was ticking away the time second by second. When we find ourselves in happiness, time flies, and when we are in pain, time drags.
“Tomorrow morning, they will give us another egg, and you will eat it. And then I will talk with him, and beg him to release me. And you must be strong during this period of time. You need to have faith in me. I will save you.” Leon said, holding me in his arms.
I nodded slightly. I was very weak. I only had one egg within two days. And Leon didn’t have anything except water. I couldn’t imagine how hungry he was.
“Leon, don’t worry about me. I will hold on. You must deal with Chenlei Hua wisely, and try your best to turn everything around. Don’t show mercy, because he is an evil man, and if he gets what he wants, many people will go down, and Hua’s Group will also be damned.”
Leon nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him win. I will stop him, and there many things I can do if he lets me out.”
“That’s it. Let’s sleep. We need to save our energy.”
…
On the third day, Chenlei Hua kept his promise and brought the second egg to us himself. Maybe he just wanted to check our condition, to see whether we were broken or not.
“Second Brother, please let me out. What is the point of locking me inside this place.” Leon began to beg him.
Chenlei Hua was on a wheelchair, and pride was written all over his face.
“Leon, how does it feel to be hungry? Have you ever experienced it before?”
“It’s terrible. Second Brother, I don’t want to be hungry anymore. Let me out, for the sake of our brotherhood.”
“Leon, you are the well-known Fourth Brother in Hai City. You are a tough guy! How can you give in this fast?” Chenlei Hua asked in doubt.
“Second Brother. Please let me out. I’ll be damned if I don’t eat. You know low sugar blood may cause damages to the brain and I don’t want to become an idiot.” Leon begged.
“Fine. You can come with me. But this woman must stay here. If you dare to trick me, she will be dead.”
“Please be reassured my Second Brother. I will do what ever you want me to do. Look at me. What kind of trick can I still play.” Leon said with his face crumpled.
I sighed inwardly with relief when I saw Leon leaving with Chenlei Hua. I believe in Leon. There is now a glimmer of hope and I need to hold on and I will get through this.
The egg brought here by Chenlei Hua was still there. I looked at it and I really wanted to eat it, but I didn’t. I needed to save it for Leon. “What if his negotiation with Chenlei Hua failed and he came back to this place.” I thought to myself.
Leon didn’t come back. And it was late at night. I fell asleep again. At midnight, someone gave me a small bottle of glucose liquid and left.
It seemed the negotiation between them was a success. And this little bottle of liquid was given to me under Leon’s request. My blood sugar remained low because of hunger and if it continued, some irreversible damage could be done to my body. And now with this little bottle of liquid, I could feel reassured. It could ease the hunger and it could supply my body with the sugar that it desperately needed, so that my brain wouldn’t be harmed.
It was too valuable and I didn’t want to finish it at once. So I took a little sip and put it down, and that little sip proved to be very useful, cause I felt much better soon after. Or maybe it was just psychological.
When Leon was gone, I was left alone in the room/ The night seemed to be even longer. Then I thought, would I die if Leon abandoned me?
I was frightened by this idea of my own. I don’t even know why would I have such a thought.
Because it was impossible. If Leon was that kind of person, he would not take the vitamin pills as poison and swallow them that night. I believe he was not pretending. He really wanted to die for me.