After dropping Yu Feng off at the square, Zhou Yi went straight home. Yu Feng drove back to the hospital. Xie An’yu was still sound asleep, and the ward was quiet.
Yu Feng retrieved Xie An’yu’s phone from his backpack, intending to check the contacts and see if there was anyone he could call. If he remembered correctly, Xie An’yu’s parents had both passed away, and his grandmother too, but… there should still be other relatives, right?
Holding the phone, Yu Feng examined it closely—
This is the secondhand phone Student Xiao Dao bought for 488 yuan.
Yu Feng had assumed at the very least it would have a fingerprint lock, but it only had a pattern lock. He swiped several times, failing to unlock it each time.
Just as he was about to give up, the phone suddenly vibrated, the screen displaying an incoming call from ‘Zhai Jing’.
Yu Feng answered the call.
“Xiao Xie, why aren’t you back yet? Working late today?”
Yu Feng walked out of the hospital room, phone in hand, and asked, “Are you a friend of Xie An’yu?”
Zhai Jing paused, surprised. “Uh… I’m his roommate. Who are you?”
Yu Feng stated directly, “Xie An’yu is in the hospital right now.”
“Ah? What happened to him? Is he okay?”
“He was drugged and hasn’t woken up yet.”
“What? Drugged!” Zhai Jing exclaimed, shocked. “Is he going to be alright?”
“He’s mostly fine; he’ll be fine after he wakes up.”
“Which hospital is he at?”
“Fourth Hospital,” Yu Feng replied. “He won’t wake up anytime soon—probably not until tomorrow morning. Do you want to come and take him home now?”
Zhai Jing frowned. “Ah, I can’t. I don’t have a car…”
“Then don’t bother coming. Let him stay at the hospital for the night.”
Zhai Jing was hesitant and didn’t dare to trust a stranger easily. He said, “That, bro, could we do a video call? No offense, I just want to confirm that Xiao Xie is really in the hospital.”
“I can’t unlock his phone.”
“Then can I call you directly? Or you can call me—do you have an iPhone? iPhones can make direct video calls.”
Yu Feng hummed in agreement. “Alright.”
“I’ll give you my number.”
Yu Feng dialed the other party’s FaceTime number on his own phone, walked into the patient room, and pointed the camera at Xie An’yu.
“Is he really okay?” Zhai Jing asked from the other end of the screen.
Other patients were resting in the room, so Yu Feng lowered his voice and said. “He’s fine. He just unconscious.”
“What exactly happened?”
“Wait until he wakes up and ask him yourself. I’m hanging up now.”
“Mm, okay, thank you.”
Yu Feng put the phone back in the backpack and glanced at the person on the hospital bed.
Xie An’yu was sleeping deeply, his lips slightly pale.
Before leaving, Yu Feng went to the nurses’ station and borrowed a pen and some sticky notes from the on-duty nurse. He wrote down his phone number on the sticky note and slipped it under Xie An’yu’s backpack.
***
When Xie An’yu woke up, dawn was just breaking. For a moment, his mind was blank, unable to recall what had happened before he fell unconscious. He stared groggily at the ceiling, feeling utterly drained and slightly dizzy.
Lying in bed for a while, Xie An’yu gradually recalled the events of the previous night. The memories came in fragmented flashes, and the more he tried to piece them together, the worse his headache became, forcing him to close his eyes in discomfort.
A rustling sound came from beside him, as if someone were pulling back the blanket. Xie An’yu turned his head and saw the blue privacy curtain, finally realizing he was in a hospital.
Xie An’yu instinctively reached for his backpack. Seeing it neatly placed on the bedside table, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He slowly propped himself up on the bed frame and pulled his backpack closer. The sticky note tucked underneath fluttered to the floor. Xie An’yu picked it up and read it—
“This is my phone number. Call me if you need anything. —Big Brother”
Xie An’yu stared at the note for a moment.
The handwriting was as beautiful as Guo Tianyang’s.
He was amused by the signature, but the laughter triggered a throbbing pain in his temples. He rubbed his temples, folded the note, and tucked it into the inner pocket of his backpack. Then he checked his backpack, confirming both his smartphone and the old phone were still there.
These were the only two valuable items left in his bag.
***
Yu Feng had gone to the hospital early that morning, but Zhai Jing had arrived even earlier. As a working man, if he didn’t come to the hospital early, he’d be late for work.
Yu Feng walked to the ward door and heard Xie An’yu’s voice from inside, hoarse as if he had a cold.
“Brother Jing, did you see the person who brought me to the hospital yesterday?”
“No, I don’t have a car, so I didn’t come last night.”
Xie An’yu remembered what had happened the previous night, but he was too tired to explain and didn’t want Zhai Jing to focus too much on it. He simply told him he had blacked out and couldn’t remember anything from yesterday.
“How are you feeling now? Any discomfort?”
“I’m fine, you don’t need to worry about me. Go to work quickly, don’t be late.”
Zhai Jing picked up his phone to check the time and said, “Alright, I’ll go first. Call me if you need anything.”
Yu Feng waited until Zhai Jing had left before entering the hospital room. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Xie An’yu making the bed, clearly preparing to be discharged.
“Why not rest a bit longer?”
Xie An’yu looked up, his expression a little confused.
Yu Feng, carrying several steamed buns[mfn]包子 (bāozi): Steamed buns.
[/mfn] and soy milk he’d bought downstairs in the hospital building. He walked over and said, “You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?”
“Big Brother,” Xie An’yu said hoarsely.
Yu Feng placed the breakfast on the bedside table and asked Xie An’yu, “When did you wake up? Are you feeling dizzy?”
“Woke up around six. Not dizzy.”
“Kids shouldn’t lie, you know.” Yu Feng didn’t believe someone who had just woken up after being drugged would have no adverse reactions at all; he wasn’t made of steel.
Xie An’yu stood clutching the corner of the blanket, silent for a few seconds before admitting in a low voice, “…Just a little dizzy.”
“If you’re dizzy, lie down for a bit longer.”
In response to the term ‘kid’, Xie An’yu retorted, “Big Brother, I’m already an adult.”
Yu Feng nodded. “I know. Eat your breakfast first.”
“No need, Big Brother, I won’t eat. You eat.”
“I’ve already eaten, can’t eat anymore. I already bought it, wouldn’t it be a waste of food if you don’t eat it?”
Xie An’yu said dryly, “Mm… Thank you, Big Brother.”
Xie An’yu sat on the edge of the bed, nibbling on a steamed bun. His hair was a mess from being pressed against the pillow, a few strands sticking up at odd angles. He had slept in his own clothes the previous night, which were now badly wrinkled.
Yu Feng stood beside him, watching. Xie An’yu felt like he was under a spotlight even as he ate the bun, his head bowed as he mechanically chewed on the bun’s skin.
Normally, he could finish a bun in four bites. Today, he pecked at it like a chick, taking forever to even reach the filling.
Yu Feng noticed his discomfort from his stiff movements and glanced at the unruly strands of hair sticking up from his head. With no one speaking, the atmosphere became very awkward. Yu Feng worried Xie An’yu would turn into a robot from sheer tension, so he broke the silence: “Do you remember what happened yesterday?”
Xie An’yu looked up, mumbling an ‘mm’ with his mouth full of bun.
“You remember everything?”
“Not really. After you arrived, I don’t remember anything else.”
“You were already unconscious by then,” Yu Feng paused, then voluntarily told Xie An’yu, “There’s something I need to tell you. Yesterday, to admit you to the hospital, I had to go through your bag for your ID. I also went through it when I was looking for your phone.”
It was only when he saw the ID yesterday that Yu Feng learned Xiao Dao’s real name was Xie An’yu.
“It’s fine.”
After being unconscious all night, Xie An’yu’s mind felt sluggish. It wasn’t until now that he remembered to ask Yu Feng, “Big Brother, what happened last night?”
“I told them to let you go, and they did,” Yu Feng replied, omitting details like not calling the police and the three or four thousand yuan he’d lost.
“They… just let me go like that? They didn’t make things difficult for you?”
“This is a society governed by law. What good would it do them to make things difficult for me? I already saw them committing illegal acts,” Yu Feng said, pulling out his phone. “Yesterday, when you were being forced to drink that stuff, I recorded a video. The footage is a bit shaky, but you can clearly see who’s in it.”
Although Yu Feng hadn’t called the police yesterday, when he went to save Xie An’yu, he had recorded the entire process of Lu Yang forcibly administering the substance to Xie An’yu, keeping it as a backup plan.
“You can report this to the police,” Yu Feng said. “The situation was urgent yesterday, so I didn’t call them, but it’s not too late now. I can testify as a witness, and the video can serve as evidence.”
Xie An’yu stared blankly at Yu Feng, then after a moment of silence, said, “Thank you, Big Brother, but I don’t want to report it to the police.”
Yu Feng asked, “Why not?”
Meeting Yu Feng’s gaze, Xie An’yu quickly looked away, staring down at his steamed bun. “Even if we reported it, they probably wouldn’t be able to do much to him. People like him, it’s not worth actively provoking them.”
“Also… if I report this to the police, you’ll definitely get dragged into it. I don’t want you getting into trouble.”
Xie An’yu’s reasoning wasn’t unreasonable. This situation probably wouldn’t constitute a serious criminal case, and any punishment would likely be a slap on the wrist. If the other party decided to seek revenge, the consequences would outweigh the benefits.
Yu Feng hummed. “Then we won’t report it.”
Noticing Xie An’yu staring silently at the steamed bun in his hand, Yu Feng reminded him, “The bun’s getting cold.”
Xie An’yu immediately took several large bites.
“Do I look like I’d eat people? Why do you keep avoiding my gaze?” Yu Feng asked.
Xie An’yu froze. This was the first time anyone had directly pointed out his aversion to making eye contact with strangers. He looked a bit flustered, his neck stiff as he remained silent.
Yu Feng realized it wasn’t that he looked intimidating, but that the kid seemed a little shy around strangers.
Changing the subject, Yu Feng asked, “Was that guy yesterday your boss?”
“Mm…”
“You said earlier that you hit him because he was bullying your friend?”
Xie An’yu nodded.
Sensing Xie An’yu’s reluctance to elaborate, Yu Feng didn’t press further. He was simply curious. If Xie An’yu’s boss simply wanted to teach him a lesson, wouldn’t grabbing him and beating him up be much simpler? Why go through the trouble of drugging him?
Wait—
Bullying?
How was he bullied?
“Is your friend male or female?” Yu Feng asked Xie An’yu.
“Male.”
Recalling how Xie An’yu’s boss had draped his arm around Xie An’yu’s shoulder the previous night, Yu Feng couldn’t help but frown. It seemed Xie An’yu was completely unaware of his boss’s true intentions in drugging him, likely assuming the man simply wanted to knock him out and teach him a lesson.
Yu Feng warned Xie An’yu, “Don’t have anything to do with him again. Stay far away from him.”
Xie An’yu hummed in acknowledgment: “I’m not working for him anymore.”
Xie An’yu thought for a moment, then suddenly asked Yu Feng: “Big Brother, do you think he might have used that drug on other people too? Is it wrong for me not to report him?”
“Even if you report him, the evidence you have would only prove he drugged you at most. The police would just handle your case according to standard procedure. The local police station can’t possibly monitor him daily to see if he’s drugging others, and besides, they don’t have that kind of authority.”
Xie An’yu nodded.
“Don’t overthink it. We’re just ordinary people. As long as we don’t cross moral lines, protecting ourselves should be our top priority.”
Xie An’yu looked up at Yu Feng.
“The soy milk is still warm. Drink it while it’s hot,” Yu Feng said.
Xie An’yu slowly picked up a bag of soy milk and asked Yu Feng: “Big Brother, how much did it cost you to bring me to the hospital?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Shouldn’t there be a payment record on your phone?”
Yu Feng remained silent.
“I don’t have any money on me right now. Can I give you an IOU for now?”
Yu Feng was silent for a moment, then looked at him and nodded: “Alright.”
“I’ll pay you back as soon as I have the money.”
“Was that your roommate who came earlier?” Yu Feng suddenly asked.
“Yes.”
“You… aren’t from Beicheng?”
“No.”
“Relatives here?”
“Mm.”
“Then you…”
Yu Feng wanted to ask Xie An’yu why he wasn’t staying with relatives if he had them here, but then he thought better of it, feeling he was overstepping, and stopped himself.
Based on their previous online chats, he had always been quite curious about Xie An’yu’s background, otherwise, he wouldn’t have meddled by asking such irrelevant questions.
Based on their previous online conversations, he had always been curious about Xie An’yu’s background. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered asking these personal questions.
“What’s wrong?” Xie An’yu asked Yu Feng.
“Nothing.”
After finishing breakfast, Xie An’yu borrowed paper and a pen from a nurse. When writing the IOU for Yu Feng, he also planned to include not only the medical expenses but also the cost of the steamed buns and soy milk.
He asked Yu Feng how much breakfast cost in total, and Yu Feng suddenly chuckled.
“Is it really necessary to be so precise?” Yu Feng asked.
Xie An’yu’s hand, holding the pen, paused. He hummed in affirmation: “I don’t like owing people.”
Yu Feng guessed that by ‘people’, Xie An’yu meant everyone, regardless of whether they were familiar or unfamiliar.
“Being too principled can sometimes lead to overcorrection. Don’t always feel like you don’t deserve this or shouldn’t have that. And don’t impose so many rules on yourself. Sometimes, many of life’s gifts might be exactly what you deserve,” Yu Feng said to Xie An’yu. “There’s nothing wrong with being principled, but principles shouldn’t be weapons you use to oppress yourself.”
Xie An’yu slowly raised his head and met Yu Feng’s gaze.
“Did you like the steamed buns?” Yu Feng asked.
Xie An’yu paused for a moment, then nodded and hummed in affirmation.
“They’re on me. No need to pay me back.”
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 19″]
窮途末路 (qióng tú mò lù): lit. the path exhausted, the end of the road (idiom); to be very poor or desperate; to be back to the wall; an impasse; in a plight with no way out; things have reached a dead end; one has nowhere to go in life.昏昏沉沉 (hūn hūn chén chén): dizzy; have dizzy spells; dizzy and sleepy; one’s mind is in a whirl; describes a state of confusion and unconsciousness.
如芒在背 (rú máng zài bèi): lit. like (there’s) a thorn in one’s back; feel uneasy; feel uncomfortable; feel prickly; be on edge; be ill at ease; feel as if sitting on pins and needles; describes the feeling of restlessness caused by extreme anxiety.
不痛不癢 (bù tòng bù yǎng): lit. doesn’t hurt, doesn’t tickle; neither painful nor itchy; not getting to the substance of the matter; perfunctory; superficial; hesitant and equivocal in attitude (when dealing with a matter); sth is wrong, but not quite sure what; scratching the surface; perfunctory; inconsequential; insignificant; trivial. Originally referring to a physical sensation that was neither painful nor itchy, it is now often used to describe a situation where words or actions fail to address the core of a problem or completely resolve it.
矯枉過正 (jiǎo wǎng guò zhèng): to overcorrect; to hypercorrect; to overcompensate; go too far in remedying a problem; bend the stick too far in the other direction; correcting something that has gone too far, causing it to bend in the other direction. It is a metaphor for correcting a mistake or error too much, leading to another mistake or error.
條條框框 (tiáo tiáo kuàng kuàng): rigid and inflexible rules; fixed framework (idiom); restriction of social conventions and taboos (usually derogatory); regulations and restrictions; conventions and taboos; regulations that are considered fixed and cannot be changed. In practice, this idiom is used in administrative management to emphasize institutional innovation and in workplace communication as a metaphor for fixed thinking patterns.
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