Chapter 23

Half an hour later, Su Pu and Ouyang clocked out. Su Pu made three cups of coffee and carried them to a table in the corner of the shop.

“Little Helmet” had already taken off his helmet, revealing neatly trimmed chestnut-brown hair. His skin was so pale it was nearly translucent.

“Th-thank you… for last night,” he said hesitantly, picking at the skin on his neck.

Ouyang waved it off. “No big deal. Upholding justice is totally my style… but can you tell me what actually happened last night?”

“Little Helmet” shot him a startled glance, then lowered his head and let out a quiet sigh.

Why did they keep making him talk?

He wanted to go home.

Su Pu typed something out and showed it to him.

【We were drunk last night. Can you tell us what happened?】

“Little Helmet” kept scratching at his neck. The pale skin was already visibly red, an unsettling sight.

Ouyang reached out to stop him. “Hey, it’s all red already… oh, right, we haven’t asked—what’s your name?”

“Little Helmet” lowered his head again. After a long while, he finally spoke.

“Pei Zhicheng.”

“Oh, Pei Zhicheng—that’s a nice name,” Ouyang said with a smile, extending a hand and giving a casual wave in midair.
“My name’s Ouyang, this is Su Pu. I’m a student at University A, he’s already graduated. What about you?”

Pei Zhicheng had just put down the hand he’d been scratching with, but at the question, he lifted it again, starting to worry at the same patch of skin.

Ouyang could tell—this guy probably had some kind of compulsive habit.

One of his roommates was like that. When he got stressed, he’d wash his hands nonstop. During finals week, he’d washed them so much the skin peeled.

“Forget it, you don’t have to say,” Ouyang said, unable to bear it. “Just tell us what happened last night. And stop picking at your neck.”

“…Okay.”

Pei Zhicheng took several deep breaths before finally speaking.

“Last night, I was g-g-gotten tangled up with a group of thugs. They wouldn’t let me go, kept insisting I come with them. Then you—you showed up.”

He glanced quickly at Ouyang.

“You kicked one of them down, and then they tried to grab you—l-lift you up. You pulled me behind you and told me to r-run…”

As Ouyang listened, he tried to recall it. His mind vaguely produced a matching scene.

“Then what?” he asked.

“Th-then they did g-get hold of you…” Pei Zhicheng said.

“Huh?” Ouyang protested indignantly. “I didn’t fight back?”

Pei Zhicheng shook his head rapidly.

“Y-your stomach got hit t-twice.”

Ouyang muttered, “That explains why my stomach hurt so bad this morning…”

“Then what happened? Did they hit you too?”

Pei Zhicheng shook his head again. “N-no.”

He glanced at Su Pu. “Th-then you and your boyfriend… showed up.”

Su Pu was utterly confused.

【Boyfriend?】

“Yeah. You were sitting on his lap. The two of you came out in a wheelchair…”

“……”

Su Pu and Ouyang both fell silent.

So they hadn’t gotten out of the wheelchair at all…

Looks like they rode it all the way home…

Honestly, pretty efficient…

Su Pu recovered first.

【The person with me—did he get hurt?】

Pei Zhicheng shook his head.
“He beat them up…”

Ouyang was the first to lose it. “What?”

“You’re saying someone in a wheelchair took on two guys and won?”

Pei Zhicheng nodded obediently. “Y-you could say that.”

“One of them was holding you, the other tried to grab Su Pu. Then—then his wrist got snapped by your boy-boyfriend.”

Ouyang’s brain refreshed completely.

Pei Zhicheng continued, “The other one went after him t-too, but Su Pu kicked him a few times. Su Pu even bit his hand, got on top of him and punched him, yanked his h-hair…”

Ouyang slowly turned his head to look at Su Pu, who looked perfectly calm and gentle beside him.

Buddy… you fight like that?

Su Pu rubbed his chin. No wonder—his mouth had been sore all day.

So that was from biting someone.

No wonder Li Jichuan had been looking at him so strangely today. He must have been scared.

Honestly, Su Pu himself was surprised by his own combat power.

Maybe it was because someone was about to hurt Li Jichuan that he’d completely lost control.

“Anyway, th-that’s how it went. Not long after, the police arrived. Your d-d-driver came too, and then you left.”

By now, Ouyang and Su Pu had achieved complete enlightenment. Both felt as though the world—and they themselves—were entirely new.

“But how did you find us?” Ouyang couldn’t figure it out.

Pei Zhicheng pulled Ouyang’s part-time employee badge out of his pocket.
“Y-you dropped this…”

“Oh—thanks,” Ouyang said, cradling the badge like a treasure. “I thought I’d lost it. Getting a replacement costs two hundred…”

Pei Zhicheng shook his head vigorously.

“No, no—that’s wrong. Th-thank you. Thank you for helping me… f-for saving me.”

Ouyang blushed, scratching his head with a foolish grin. “Th-that’s nothing…”

Pei Zhicheng nodded hard.

“It’s very i-important… My psychologist tells me to do regular s-socialization training. It’s to teach me that when I face danger, I need to r-run away. When I c-couldn’t protect myself, you gave me h-hope…”

Ouyang and Su Pu both fell silent again.

Ouyang clenched his fists, holding back tears threatening to spill over.

So maybe he wasn’t as useless as he thought.

Even when he was so drunk he had no awareness, no ability to fight back, he had still stepped forward for a stranger in trouble.

If all a person ever pursued in life was fame and profit, wasn’t that too shallow?

If he were given the choice, he’d rather be an ordinary, unremarkable but kind person—someone who stepped in when he saw injustice, someone who cried freely when things hurt…

With a clear conscience, holding fast to justice—then this life wouldn’t have been lived in vain.

Thinking this, Ouyang looked at Pei Zhicheng with red-rimmed eyes, full of gratitude.

“I should thank you too.”

Confusion flickered through Pei Zhicheng’s eyes.

Thank you—for letting me believe that every bit of passion and kindness given will never be wasted.

That goodwill will return, in another form, at exactly the right moment—

Giving strength back to the one who gave it, so they can keep going, carrying a lonely courage, for a very, very long time.

…

On the other side, Su Pu’s emotions were also in turmoil.

Run when faced with danger—so that was human instinct.

Then what was it that had allowed him to overcome that instinct and fully accept the danger rushing toward him?

He knew it. There were many things in his heart that needed an outlet.

He had to face them. He had to overcome them, if he wanted to live an ordinary, peaceful life.

But it was so hard…

A few days later, Su Pu and Ouyang set up a pop-up booth for their brand on the campus of University A.

The theme of this pop-up was coffee education.

In addition to hand-brewed coffee demonstrations, there was also a workshop where participants made scented candles from used coffee grounds.

Both activities required a great deal of time and patience. During the waiting intervals, Su Pu and Ouyang handed out questionnaires produced by Li Jichuan’s company to the participating students.

Since they were idle anyway, the students were happy to cooperate, gripping their pens and filling out the forms seriously.

One of them handled the coffee demonstrations, the other the candle workshop. Across two tables, they exchanged gestures of encouragement.

Su Pu mimed inviting Ouyang out to eat after they wrapped up.

Ouyang flashed him an “OK” sign.

Satisfied, Su Pu smiled and looked down at the student carefully filling out the questionnaire.

After engaging in activities that required intense focus, the brain tends to remain in a concentrated state for a short while. Answers given during that time are more thoughtful and sincere.

Results collected this way were far more genuine than those from prize-based surveys or phone interviews.

Besides the pop-up at University A, Su Pu also contacted colleagues at other branches to help collect responses.

Since theirs was the flagship store, the other branches took the request seriously. The returned questionnaires were all high quality.

In the afternoon, sunlight poured down brilliantly.

Light gathered on Su Pu’s eyelashes, as if the sun itself were softening him.

“Su—Pu—”

But the voice echoing in his ears dragged him instantly into an icy abyss.

Su Pu opened his eyes and turned slowly.

Behind him stood Su Hui, his face twisted with barely contained rage.

“You did this on purpose to mess with me, didn’t you?”