Chapter Forty-Two

Li Li quickly finished applying the ointment to Zhang Yi’s entire right arm. Now all that was left was to rewrap the bandage, the most crucial step—one misstep and Zhang Yi’s arm could be severely injured. Zhang Yi knew how dangerous this was, but he trusted Li Li. From what he’d observed just now, Li Li was clearly an expert—or so Zhang Yi thought. In reality, Li Li simply had experiences most people never encountered.

After about five minutes, Zhang Yi’s arm was once again wrapped in bandages. The application of medicine was complete. Li Li stood up, preparing to leave Zhang Yi’s house, but he called out to her. “Li Li, thank you.”

Li Li turned back, giving a wry smile. “It’s nothing. I just couldn’t stand seeing you move so slowly, so I lent a hand. Don’t overthink it.”

“In any case, thank you,” Zhang Yi replied with a smile. “I never would have guessed you knew how to do this.”

Li Li said, “I taught myself. Today was actually my first time trying it for real, and you were the test subject. Seems it worked out pretty well.”

Li Li was about to leave when Zhang Yi called her again. “Wait, won’t you sit down and chat for a bit before you go?”

Li Li shook her head. “There’s no benefit to my staying here—if anything, I’d just be a burden to your family. This place can’t keep someone like me.” With that, Li Li slipped out the window of Zhang Yi’s room, leaving him alone.

Zhang Yi smiled—a satisfied, even triumphant smile. Earlier, while practicing quick strikes outside, he had already spotted Li Li, but pretended not to notice and kept practicing. As for the injured arm, that was an act too. He knew Li Li was secretly watching him from his room, so he took out the first-aid kit and pretended to apply medicine, even biting a pencil to make the pain look convincing. Zhang Yi’s purpose was to see if Li Li would take advantage of someone in a vulnerable position. In the end, she hadn’t.

His phone rang. Zhang Yi answered. “Hello, who is this?”

“Don’t you recognize my voice, Brother Zhang?” came the reply.

“Oh, it’s you.” Zhang Yi recognized the voice—it was Wang Tianqi.

“It’s been a while. Did you miss me?” Wang Tianqi asked.

“Miss you? Of course. I miss you all so much I could just beat you up, how’s that?”

“Tsk, such crude language! We’re cultured people, you know.”

“Cultured, are we?” Zhang Yi snorted. “Where was your culture when you cursed out Yuli?”

Wang Tianqi blushed on the other end. She hadn’t expected anyone to remember how she’d yelled at Yuli months ago, but not just Zhang Yi—everyone present that day remembered it. No one could forget how Wang Tianqi looked when she lost her temper.

“But seriously, why did you call? You wouldn’t just call for no reason, would you?” Zhang Yi asked.

“Smart as always. You’re nothing like Huang Feifan—he’s as dense as a post.”

“Just get to the point. I want to go to sleep.”

“Don’t rush, let me explain,” Wang Tianqi said.

“No games. Out with it.”

“Recently, Chen Siyu called me. She feels really guilty toward you,” Wang Tianqi said.

“Guilty? What did she do to feel guilty about?” Zhang Yi was puzzled.

Wang Tianqi continued, “When you, Huang Feifan, and Brother Xiao Jian went to help Chen Siyu, you hurt your arm protecting Huang Feifan. Chen Siyu feels terrible—she thinks if she hadn’t called for help, your arm wouldn’t be hurt, and you wouldn’t have to wait two months for it to heal.”

So that was it. Zhang Yi had never blamed Chen Siyu; he just considered himself unlucky. If Huang Feifan’s head had been injured, things would have been far worse.

Besides, they were all part of the same team, and their rule in the Tianyuan Squad was to help each other when in trouble.

Zhang Yi was silent for a moment before saying, “If Chen Siyu calls you again, tell her I don’t blame her. I was just unlucky—maybe it’s a lesson for me. If she’s ever in danger, even if I’m not fully recovered, I’ll still come to help her.”

“Wow, that’s so manly,” Wang Tianqi teased.

Zhang Yi got goosebumps at that and replied, “Just remember, if she asks, that’s what you tell her, okay?”

“OK.”

…

At that moment, Lin Ling received an email invitation. She opened it and became excited—it was a gathering for the Tianyuan Squad, sent by former members Yuxingyue and herself. It had been so long; they wanted a reunion.

Lin Ling excitedly shared the news with Yuxingyue, who received the invitation a few minutes later, as did Xiao Jian. All of them were thrilled. Was the original Tianyuan Squad finally reuniting?

“Senior sister, you’re really excited, aren’t you?” Yuxingyue’s voice had changed—his voice break came later than most boys, so Lin Ling thought it was someone else at first.

“Hugo, your voice is finally changing? Never mind, aren’t you excited?”

“I’m absolutely excited,” Yuxingyue replied, brimming with energy. “When Xiao Jian got his invitation, he was so excited he nearly passed out—he’s lying in bed right now.”

“Haha, but the meeting isn’t for another month. Seems like a long wait.”

“What’s a month? As long as we get to see everyone, it’s worth it.”

Someone knocked on Yuxingyue’s front door. Hearing it, he told Lin Ling he had to go and hung up. Yuxingyue peered through the peephole to see who was outside.

Yuxingyue’s face darkened. It was Yuchun. He refused to open the door, hoping Yuchun would think no one was home, but Yuchun kept knocking, unwilling to give up. No matter how persistent he was, Yuxingyue wouldn’t open the door.

Yuxingyue least wanted to see Yuchun. He’d made it clear twice before—whether borrowing money or anything else, they were no longer connected in any way. Yuxingyue believed that if no one answered, Yuchun would eventually give up.

What puzzled Yuxingyue was how Yuchun had found their address. He’d never told anyone, so how did Yuchun know?

The answer came quickly. Yuxingyue received a message. Luckily, his phone was on silent or it would have ruined everything. It was from Wu Siying: “Some guy downstairs asked for you, and I told him your apartment number.” Yuxingyue was speechless—he’d have to “thank” Wu Siying later.

He remained silent, waiting for Yuchun to leave. Even if he didn’t, Yuxingyue was determined to hold out.

After a long time, when he no longer heard knocking, Yuxingyue became even more cautious. What if Yuchun was using the blind spot of the peephole to trick him into opening the door? Still, Yuxingyue didn’t open it.

Then he heard voices outside: “What is this man doing, squatting at the door?” Yuxingyue guessed right—Yuchun still hadn’t left. If Yang Shuting came home, who knows what kind of trouble it would cause.

What was that old man after? Yuxingyue wondered, his feelings toward Yuchun turning cold. How could someone be so shameless?

Of course, Yuxingyue wasn’t entirely blameless. After all, Yuchun was his father, and he had hardened his heart to shut him out. But if the man refused to leave, what else could he do? With no other option, Yuxingyue quietly called the police.

He texted the authorities, saying there was a suspicious person loitering at his door whom he didn’t recognize—a pretext he’d thought up after much deliberation, hoping the police would buy it.

Within minutes, there was a commotion outside.

“We’re from the police. Why are you loitering here?”

“I’m here to see my son, is that a problem?”

“Your son? He clearly doesn’t recognize you. It’s suspicious to be waiting here when he doesn’t want to see you. You’ll need to come with us.” The police took Yuchun away, and even he hadn’t expected that Yuxingyue would go so far, or that the harm he’d done all those years ago would run so deep.

Only when everything outside was quiet did Yuxingyue open the door, sighing helplessly. He and his mother, Yang Shuting, just wanted a peaceful life, but Yuchun insisted on disturbing their peace. How foolish he was.

“You brought this on yourself,” Yuxingyue said coldly. “If you come back again, calling the police will be the least of your worries.”

His phone buzzed—Yang Shuting had sent a message. At once, Yuxingyue forced down his coldness and read carefully: she was going on a date with Sun Yao that evening. Yuxingyue shrugged helplessly. Now even dates had to go through him—who was really the parent here?

He replied that it was fine. Then Yang Shuting sent another message, asking what to do about Sun Ying while they were out. Sun Yao had suggested Yuxingyue look after Sun Ying. Not wanting to disrupt their plans, Yuxingyue reluctantly agreed to the request.