“Oh, pretty little friend, who are you to this guy?” The woman switched to fluent Mandarin as she walked out of the room, looking at Su He and asking.

The woman seemed familiar to Su He, and he recalled seeing her photo and introduction in the lobby at the entrance. She was the person in charge of the charity event’s recipient organization, the Hong Ying Society, named Yang Manfeng.

She was a plump and voluptuous woman, around forty years old, with wavy curls and red lips that added to her charm. However, because of this outfit, Yang Manfeng had been criticized by the Guangzhou media for years, saying she didn’t look like a woman who would be devoted to charity at all.

Su He, in a businesslike tone, said, “Hello, Miss Yang. I’m Mr. Sheng’s assistant, surname Su.”

The woman raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked with a smile, “You know me?”

“I saw your introduction while passing through the lobby,” Su He answered truthfully.

Su He had some impression of this name because, in the latter part of the book’s plot, it was mentioned that two years later, the old site of the Hong Ying Society’s welfare home was maliciously set on fire. Yang Manfeng pulled nearly ten trapped little kids from the fire; her curls were scorched, and her purple long dress had holes exposing burnt skin. Her glance at the journalists’ cameras after the disaster earned her a rather wicked nickname from the media, “Red Lotus Guanyin.”

Yang Manfeng nodded, thinking this young man was quite attentive, matching the face with the name he had seen once. She had just finished scolding someone, and her anger hadn’t subsided. She put a cigarette in her mouth, looking for a lighter, and Sheng Jingyu handed his lighter over just in time.

The two sat down and started talking, appearing very familiar with each other. Su He listened in with his ears pricked and gradually understood the ins and outs. Sheng Jingyu represented the Sheng family at this event every year but never participated in the auction. Instead, he directly transferred the dividends from his projects to Yang Manfeng’s account.

In Yang Manfeng’s words, “These starving ghosts eat up more than fifty percent of the charity funds every time. Aren’t they afraid of choking to death?”

Charitable acts in the name of charity were nothing more than tools for the wealthy to amass wealth in disguise.

Sitting on the sofa, Su He couldn’t stop his anxiety while listening to their conversation. He desperately wanted to find out the whereabouts of that girl. At this moment, the two people in the conversation suddenly fell silent.

Su He sensed the eerie silence, looked up, and found two pairs of eyes looking at him. He was momentarily stunned.

Seeing his dumbfounded look, Yang Manfeng liked him even more. She covered her mouth with a smile, stood up, and formally said to him, “Mr. Su, thank you for your help. If it weren’t for you bringing Sha Sha in front of Ah Yu, I might not have made it in time.”

Her gratitude was sincere. The auction manager didn’t dare offend Sheng Zhilin and kept the matter hidden. If Su He hadn’t stumbled upon it, Yang Manfeng didn’t dare imagine the consequences.

Su He unconsciously stood up as well, genuine concern on his face, “Is she okay?”

“I’ve already asked my assistant to take Sha Sha back. Don’t worry, Mr. Su, she’s fine,” Yang Manfeng said.

Only then did Su He nod.

So, he had wronged Sheng Jingyu…

No wonder Sheng Jingyu was so angry, but why didn’t he just tell the truth?

He couldn’t help but glance at Sheng Jingyu, who was looking at him with a light gaze, snorted coldly, and then turned to say something in Guangzhou dialect to Yang Manfeng.

The voice wasn’t too loud or too soft, and Yang Manfeng laughed upon hearing it, asking who had upset him.

Su He had almost never heard Sheng Jingyu speak the local Guangzhou dialect, which was quite different from his usual speech, more calm and gentle. He didn’t react at first, but after carefully savoring it, he realized Sheng Jingyu was saying, “The greedy ghost is never satisfied, and the one who reports to the authorities is blind.”

This double entendre was subtle yet impolite, the first half scolding the auction organizers, and the second half pointing out Su He as the “blind” reporter.

The young master Sheng was still angry and scolding him!

Su He awkwardly pursed his lips. After all, it was his misunderstanding. He didn’t like owing people favors, and he didn’t like being resented either.

So he stood up straightforwardly and apologized to Sheng Jingyu, “I’m sorry, Mr. Sheng. I shouldn’t have misunderstood you.”

Sheng Jingyu paused, not expecting Su He’s apology to be so straightforward, which made him seem a bit petty in comparison.

“Alright, the kid has apologized to you. What more do you want?” Yang Manfeng, with a cigarette in her mouth, smiled and acted as the peacemaker in the conflict.

Sheng Jingyu tapped his fingers on the table, the back of his hand showing bright red scratches. Su He saw it and knew those were from his own nails.

He said embarrassedly, “There’s a first aid kit in the car. I’ll go get it. It shouldn’t be far from the underground garage.”

Sheng Jingyu didn’t look at him, clearly still angry and not wanting to bother.

Yang Manfeng pressed the call button on the table and said inside, “Someone, take our little friend here to the underground parking lot.”

Su He escaped from the deafening dynamic music, his ears buzzing, and followed the bodyguard Yang Manfeng called, winding through the corridors and taking the elevator to the parking lot.

The bodyguard indicated he couldn’t leave the activity area and waited for him in the building.

Su He took the car keys and went out. Before he could walk out of the passage, he heard a muffled conversation not far away, “These rich kids are stingy, huh? I’ve been covering the Hong Ying Society auction for three years, and some people haven’t bought a single thing in three years.”

“You must be talking about the one from the Sheng family who just came back, right? With such a wealthy background, they don’t even pretend to do charity, just here to indulge in pleasure. Truly a wastrel.”

“We can only talk about this in private. If it gets online, we won’t be working at the news agency anymore…”

A group of people with work badges on their chests, carrying cameras, walked by. They were too far away for Su He to see which reporters they were, and the group disappeared at the corridor entrance.

Just a moment ago, Su He himself was among those who had such prejudices against Sheng Jingyu, but after the misunderstanding was cleared, he realized Sheng Jingyu wasn’t as heartless as he seemed.

This young master actually did things with more warmth than the coldness he displayed.

Maybe he’s someone with a tough mouth but a soft heart.

Su He took the first aid kit from the trunk and was about to return the way he came.

The parking lot was dimly lit, and suddenly, a chaotic sound of footsteps approached from not far away. Su He paused, a sense of unease rising in his heart.

Sure enough, the footsteps grew closer, and several men in black carrying sticks appeared in the corridor, blocking his way.

The leader was on the phone, and after hanging up, he said to the thugs beside him, “Young Master Sheng is understanding, he only wants one arm. Since Third Young Master doesn’t care about his life, you don’t need to hold back.”

This was Sheng Zhilin unable to swallow the anger of having his good deed interrupted, sending people for revenge!

Su He sighed inwardly, wondering if he had stepped out with the wrong foot today, to be so unlucky!

He took two steps back, clutching the first aid kit, and ran towards the elevator entrance, with the thugs in hot pursuit!

Su He wasn’t particularly athletic, and his body was weak. He was out of breath after just a few steps, but he didn’t dare stop.

In an instant, the elevator door was close, but pain shot through his back!

The leading thug kicked Su He in the back, sending him tumbling forward, almost crashing into the elevator door.

Su He had little experience with getting beaten, relying only on instinct to curl up, taking punches to his forearms and back. The pain was almost explosive. A thug grabbed his shoulder, trying to flip him over, a fist flying towards Su He’s face!

A flash of white light—

Su He thought he was done for.

However, the anticipated pain never came. In his daze, Su He heard the sound of the elevator door opening.

Someone stepped over him, intercepting the punch aimed at him.

Twisting the attacker’s arm, they kicked the person away.

Su He gritted his teeth and got up, seeing the figure who had suddenly appeared. Sheng Jingyu’s skills were excellent, quick and fierce.

Whether he was using the opportunity to vent or not, the punches landing on the thugs carried the sound of a whistling wind. If his clothes hadn’t restricted his movements, these people would probably all end up in the operating room.

He sat on the ground for a while, enduring the pain, before finally standing up.

The once-arrogant thugs lay scattered on the ground, being tied up one by one by Sheng Jingyu’s men.

Sheng Jingyu shook his left wrist, turning to look at Su He. His beige clothes were now dusty, covered in footprints, with a scrape on his cheek and a bruise on his arm.

The first aid kit he held, however, was intact, making him look rather pitiful.

Sheng Jingyu frowned impatiently, saying, “You even managed to mess up getting something from the car. Should I get you a personal bodyguard?”

“No need, thank you. I’m fine,” Su He replied.

He glanced at Sheng Jingyu’s drooping hand, which had been scratched by him earlier. Now, after the fight, the entire knuckle was stained with blood.

“Your hand…”

“Get back in the car.”

Both of them spoke at the same time, their words colliding. Su He stopped first.

“Oh.” Su He withdrew his gaze, obediently limping back to the car and sitting in the back seat of the Cayenne.

After ten minutes, Sheng Jingyu returned. Su He had already cleaned his dirty face and put a band-aid on the wound on his cheek.

The night’s chaos finally came to an end. The car drove out of the underground parking lot and, upon entering the unrestricted speed zone, began to accelerate.

The road was bumpy, and Su He caught a glimpse of Sheng Jingyu in the rearview mirror, noticing that his right hand, which was in a splint, was trembling uncontrollably, almost to the point of spasming.

Yet he was forcibly suppressing it with his other hand, trying to resist this physiological tremor.

Both of Sheng Jingyu’s hands were in bad shape—one bleeding, the other trembling—and it was hard to say which was worse.

Sensing his gaze, Sheng Jingyu looked over with a tone that wasn’t friendly, “What are you looking at?”

It was probably from the secondary trauma during the fight earlier. Su He half-rose, leaned towards the driver’s seat, and said to the driver, “Please drive steadily, Mr. Sheng is injured.”

The driver quickly responded, not daring to slack off, and immediately adjusted the speed.

Sheng Jingyu, clutching his wrist, squinted at him, his gaze lacking any warmth or gratitude, instead carrying a slightly mocking tone, “Assistant Su is quite impressive now, ordering my driver around.”

Su He knew he was probably still angry and didn’t take the sarcasm to heart. He got up to rummage through the medical kit he brought, “There’s pain relief and spray in the kit. Let me help you with it.”

As Su He reached over, Sheng Jingyu pulled his hand back first, “No need, just give it to me.”

His hand paused mid-air and silently retracted. This wary attitude reminded Su He of that proud stray cat from earlier, baring its claws at him.

He tilted his head slightly, reasoning, “You saved me just now, you don’t know how timely you were. Thank you! Otherwise, they would have cut off my hand. Now it’s only right for me to help you.”

Su He finished speaking, looking eagerly at Sheng Jingyu.

The latter, feeling uncomfortable, cleared his throat, looked at him for a while, then averted his gaze, “You’re overthinking it, I didn’t come to save you.”

“But you still saved me, so I should say thank you.” Su He smiled.

They weren’t very close, but Sheng Jingyu seemed to catch a hint of banana milk scent, which started to disturb his mind. Or maybe it was the aftermath of a concussion, making him close his eyes in frustration.

When Su He reached out again to touch Sheng Jingyu, he was caught once more, but Sheng Jingyu, perhaps too lazy to push him away, didn’t move with his eyes closed.

He pushed up Sheng Jingyu’s sleeve, and under the light, saw the redness and swelling on his forearm. He first took out a disinfectant cotton ball to clean Sheng Jingyu’s hand joint, applied a medical band-aid, and then moved on to treat Sheng Jingyu’s trembling right hand.

He sprayed pain relief spray, fanned it a bit, then rolled up his sleeves, poured medicinal oil into his palm, and warmed it up. The warm hand landed on the firm forearm, gently massaging in circles.

Su He didn’t use too much force, afraid of hurting him. His fingers were flexible and soft, and his technique was quite comfortable.

Sheng Jingyu’s lightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and the slight warmth from the friction seemed to alleviate the throbbing pain in his right hand.

“Does it hurt?” Su He looked up and asked.

Sheng Jingyu didn’t open his eyes, “Like a cat’s comfort, how could it hurt?”

“Then should I use a bit more force?”

Sheng Jingyu didn’t object, so Su He held his forearm in suspension, applying pressure as he slowly massaged the knotted muscles. When he was a child, his grandmother used to rub medicinal wine on his bruises this way.

Just then, the car passed over a speed bump, slowing down. Su He, exerting force, almost pulled Sheng Jingyu off his seat.

Caught off guard, Sheng Jingyu steadied himself by holding onto the front seat, glaring at Su He, who was holding back laughter, eyes curved in amusement. Sheng Jingyu clicked his tongue, asking irritably, “Did you do that on purpose?”

Su He quickly shook his head, “I wouldn’t dare, you’re still injured.”

Only about one-tenth of it was intentional. Who told Sheng Jingyu to joke about killing him?

Just as Sheng Jingyu was about to say something, his peripheral vision caught sight of the bruises on Su He’s fair arm under his sleeve. They were no less than his own. He paused, saying, “You too, do you know who you were fighting?”

“I have a rough idea,” Su He replied.

“You really know how to cause trouble for me,” Sheng Jingyu commented, not too harshly.

Su He pursed his lips and fell silent. Just then, Sheng Jingyu answered a call from Assistant Fang, seemingly reporting on the handling of the thugs.

Even from a distance, Su He could hear the chilling screams in the background. He glanced at Sheng Jingyu’s usual expression and sighed, this man really wouldn’t hesitate to tear someone apart!

Su He began to worry for himself again.

The night was bright with the moon high in the sky.

The car turned into Xiaoxie Garden, and Sister Ling, the housekeeper, came out to help Sheng Jingyu with his clothes. The dusty Su He quickly took a shower, and when he came out clean, the living room had returned to silence.

S037 informed him that Sheng Jingyu had already gone upstairs to rest and had instructed not to be disturbed. Dr. Gu would visit the next day.

There weren’t many living people in the villa now, and the “no one” directive was quite clear.

Su He looked towards the upstairs direction and sighed heavily. It seemed he would have to be on guard again in the morning because Sheng Jingyu’s condition was bound to worsen.