On Monday afternoon, after He Wei finished swimming class, he went to the school gate to meet up with Lu Heyang. He had just passed through the passage gate when an urgent voice sounded behind him.
“Excuse me, please let me through!”
Before He Wei had time to turn around, he felt someone bump into his waist. He was tall, so the impact did not hurt at all, but the other person stumbled forward and looked as though they were about to fall.
“Careful.”
He Wei reacted extremely quickly, reaching out and grabbing the back of the omega’s collar, pulling him upright.
The omega turned around and hurriedly said, “Sorry,” before turning and running toward the roadside.
He Wei stood there in a daze for a moment. Lu Heyang was two or three meters away, looking toward the road.
He Wei walked over beside him and said, “Did you see that? The omega who just bumped into me.”
“He’s pretty good-looking. How come I never noticed him before?” He Wei was completely distracted by his attraction at first sight. “I’ll find out whose family he’s from later.”
At the Preparatory School, the things most strictly forbidden were, aside from accidentally offending a child from a rival family, accidentally dating a child from a rival family.
Lu Heyang said nothing. Curious, He Wei followed his gaze and realized that Xu Ze was also standing by the roadside. After opening the taxi door for the omega, he had gotten in as well.
“What does that mean? Xu Ze beat you to it?” He Wei asked Lu Heyang. “You knew about this?”
Lu Heyang glanced at him. “Knew what?”
“Last week when we went to the lecture, didn’t you sleep with him for one night?” He Wei said. “Didn’t he call his partner or something?”
He hadn’t called his partner. Instead, he had gone out in the middle of the night in the rain to bring food back.
“Not sure.” Lu Heyang glanced at the time on his wristband. “Let’s go.”
“The head nurse has already bandaged it. The injury isn’t serious. Don’t worry too much.” Chi Jiahan was breathing heavily.
Xu Ze’s hand was still resting on the car-door handle, as though he had forgotten to lower it. He nodded.
The taxi stopped in front of a private nursing home. Chi Jiahan lowered the window and waved at the security guard. Soon, the automatic gates opened to both sides, and the car continued forward until it reached the entrance of the inpatient building.
After getting out of the car and entering the lobby, a doctor was already waiting beside the consultation desk, his expression somewhat grave.
The two of them hurried over to him. Chi Jiahan asked, “Dr. Zhou, how is she?”
“She was given a sedative.” Zhou Zhen sighed. “Go upstairs and take a look.”
“Let’s see the head nurse first,” Xu Ze said quietly.
The elevator stopped on the third floor. At the nurses’ station, fresh gauze was wrapped around the head nurse’s left wrist.
“Xu Ze is here.” The head nurse smiled.
Xu Ze stood in front of her, lowered his head, and gave a slight bow.
“I’m sorry.”
Such a scene was not unfamiliar to him. Xu Ze had already gone through it many times before—apologizing, compensating, and taking responsibility for injuries caused by another person.
“It was also our negligence. We didn’t notice that a cotton swab was missing. I was only scratched a little. It’s not serious,” the head nurse said.
“Go take a look,” Zhou Zhen said, patting Xu Ze on the shoulder.
The transparent window on the door of the special ward was larger than usual, making it easier for the medical staff to check on the patient’s condition at any time.
Xu Ze and Chi Jiahan stood outside the door. On the hospital bed inside lay an elderly woman wearing a restraint garment. Her hair was half gray, and under the effects of the sedative, she was sleeping peacefully at the moment.
After watching for a while, Chi Jiahan tugged at Xu Ze’s clothes.
“She fell asleep. Let’s not disturb her.”
After getting the full details of the situation from the doctor, the two of them walked into the stairwell. It was very dark inside, with only a little light coming through a small window at the very top.
Xu Ze sat down on the stairs. After remaining silent for several seconds, he asked, “How much is left in the account?”
“More than fifty thousand.”
Chi Jiahan was holding the hospitalization bill and the transaction record from Xu Ze’s hospital account as he answered.
“More than fifty thousand.” Xu Ze lowered his head and looked at the pitch-black floor. “It’s not enough.”
“Not enough.” He repeated it once more before reaching for his phone.
The moment he lit up the screen, Chi Jiahan came over and snatched the phone away.
“What are you trying to do?”
“Add a few more matches.”
“You can’t. The money you get every time is already the minimum. If you ask for more matches now, they’ll only squeeze you even harder.” The anger in Chi Jiahan’s voice was almost impossible to suppress. “What if they make you lose every match and beat you half to death? Or humiliate you in public again? Or even drug you before a match and make you kill someone? Would you do that too?”
Xu Ze said nothing.
Chi Jiahan knew that he hadn’t been persuaded. Rather, he was still considering whether he should add more matches.
“And what about Tang Feiyi?” Chi Jiahan reminded him. “If you let him control you, you’ll never be able to climb back out of it for the rest of your life, Xu Ze.”
Xu Ze froze for a moment, as though he had suddenly thought of something—or someone.
Chi Jiahan stood before him, his tone softening: “Don’t worry about the hospital. We’ll figure out the rest later.”
“I know,” Xu Ze replied.
He knew he didn’t need to worry about the hospital for the time being, because Chi Jiahan had asked his older brother to put in a good word with the director to get him admitted to this private rehabilitation center. So even though the head nurse had been attacked and injured, the center wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.
But that didn’t mean the exorbitant monthly hospitalization and medical fees would be discounted. Xu Ze understood that Chi Jiahuan had already done more than enough—he’d been as generous and considerate as possible. After all, they were essentially just high school students. Chi Jiahuan was constrained by his complicated family situation and had limited funds, and Xu Ze had never intended to borrow money from him, even though Chi Jiahuan had brought it up more than once.
He brought it up again this time: “I’ll ask my brother when I get a chance.”
Before Xu Ze could say anything, Chi Jiahuan continued, “Anyway, you can’t enter the competition. If you get seriously injured, it’ll be more trouble than it’s worth. There has to be a limit to how hard you’re willing to work for money.”
Xu Ze propped his head up with both hands. He felt as though his body was heavy, sinking downward, and he was utterly exhausted. After a long silence, he said, “I’ll think it over carefully.”
During the Tuesday afternoon swimming class, aside from those who hadn’t met the midterm standards, there were still very few students in attendance. Xu Ze put his backpack in his locker and headed into the shower room with his swim trunks.
Just as he took off his shirt, his cell phone, tucked inside his school pants, rang. Xu Ze glanced at the caller ID, hesitated for a few seconds, then pressed the answer button.
“I heard you want to add a few more matches?”
“Yeah,” Xu Ze replied, looking at his school uniform hanging on the hook.
Tang Feiyi chuckled. “If you’re short on cash, why didn’t you just tell me? How long are you going to keep working yourself to the bone like this?”
“Can I add them?” Xu Ze ignored Tang Feiyi’s remark and asked in a low voice.
“Sure, as long as you ask,” Tang Feiyi said with a flippant tone. “But if I add you to the lineup, the other boxers might not be too happy about it. Some of them haven’t even been able to get a match scheduled in half a month.”
Xu Ze tightened his grip on the phone: “What do I have to do?”
“I’ve got a party tonight. Come by—we’ll have a few drinks and play some cards. ” Tang Feiyi said with a smile, “As long as you’re a little more obedient and cooperative, I guarantee you’ll make some decent money.”
“What time? Where?” Xu Ze asked flatly.
“8:30 p.m., 12th floor of the Yunwan Hotel. Have the bellhop take you up.”
“8:30 p.m., Yunwan Hotel, 12th floor. ” Xu Ze repeated mechanically, then said, “Got it.”
He hung up the phone, stood there quietly for a moment, changed his pants, and pushed open the stall door.
Almost at the same time, the door of the stall on the left across from him also opened. Lu Heyang stepped out holding his school uniform, with a pair of goggles hanging around his neck. He looked up at Xu Ze and gave him a faint smile: “What a coincidence.”
Xu Ze couldn’t think of a reply right away. He hadn’t heard anyone entering or leaving the shower area just now, so he had no idea when Lu Heyang had gotten there. He quickly recalled the contents of the phone call and concluded that even if Lu Heyang had overheard it, he hadn’t given anything away.
“Mm,” Xu Ze replied after a moment’s pause.
He stood there unconsciously staring at Lu Heyang until the other man walked past him. Xu Ze tried to say something more than just “Mm-hmm”—he didn’t want to give such a dull response every time—but he quickly realized that Lu Heyang had only greeted him out of politeness and had absolutely no intention of making small talk.
Besides, Lu Heyang probably wouldn’t have much in common to talk about with someone like him.
After swimming class ended, Lu Heyang and He Wei walked out of the school gates. On the way to the parking lot, He Wei called Gu Yunchi to ask where he was.
“Yunwan. My grandpa and I came here this afternoon to discuss some business.”
“How nice—skipping class with Grandpa in tow,” He Wei said. “Have you had dinner yet? Want to grab a bite together?”
“You guys come over here. I’m too lazy to go out. Yunwan has a new head chef—you can try his cooking.”
“Why do your family’s hotels have a new chef every other day? Are you actually running a five-star culinary school?”
Gu Yunchí didn’t even bother responding; he just hung up.
“So, shall we go to Yunwan?” He Wei turned to ask Lu Heyang.
“Whatever.” Lu Heyang’s gaze swept past the Alpha in the nearby bicycle shed who was pushing his bike out, and he replied.