Chapter 18: Consider It Your Payback

As they passed by the men slumped on the ground, the man furiously kicked at them, “Idiots, get up now!”

The thugs, beaten black and blue, scrambled back to their feet and rummaged through the piles of trash scattered around, pulling out wooden sticks to rejoin the fight. They ignored You Chong, heading straight for Lin Hexi instead.

Lin Hexi had no trouble handling a few thugs, but he still had to stay alert for any sudden attacks from behind. You Chong stepped in to block a wooden stick that a thug was about to smash down on Lin Hexi. Just as Lin Hexi kicked another thug away and turned to thank him, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a sharp piece of glass reflecting a blinding light in the sunlight, aiming straight for his temple.

He quickly ducked down, taking cover behind You Chong.

Caught off guard and suddenly becoming the other’s shield, You Chong’s face was filled with shock and anger. Yet, he still reached out to block the highly lethal shard of glass.

Feeling reassured that the main attacker was in his hands, Lin Hexi turned to deal with the remaining thugs on the periphery.

The main attacker fought much more viciously than his followers. After seeing the glass bottle blocked by You Chong, he immediately followed up with a punch, giving no time to catch a breath.

You Chong shook off the hand holding the glass bottle and sidestepped to avoid the incoming punch, then coldly kicked away someone who had quietly approached from behind. At that moment, as he detected a sharp wind rushing past his ear, he realized it was too late to dodge the glass bottle aimed at his shoulder.

In an extremely short span of time, You Chong adjusted his stance, intending to minimize the area and depth of the wound. However, in the blink of an eye, he saw an arm swiftly extend across his field of vision, tightly pressed against his back, blocking the incoming glass bottle for him.

The sound of the bottle shattering, mixed with the crunch of glass embedding into flesh, echoed in his ears—a sharp noise with a dull undertone. You Chong’s eyelids twitched slightly, and a faint trace of astonishment passed over his face.

He grabbed Lin Hexi’s unharmed right hand and, with a swift motion, yanked him behind himself. Then, he raised his fist and slammed it into the attacker’s nose and cheekbone, knocking him flat on his back.

Seeing the attacker trying to get up again, Lin Hexi quickly stepped forward and delivered two kicks to his abdomen and chest.

Finally, the exhausted thugs showed signs of fear. They quickly lifted the now helpless attacker off the ground and hurriedly, albeit clumsily, made their escape.

You Chong glanced at his arm, which was hanging by his side and dripping blood. With a deep frown, he said, “I chose to fight this on my own. You didn’t have to block that for me.”

Lin Hexi curved his lips slightly, as if not bothered by the injury at all, and casually replied, “Consider it my payback.”

You Chong’s gaze deepened as he looked at him.

Lin Hexi truly didn’t seem to care much. He looked down calmly and even started pulling the larger pieces of glass out of the flesh in his arm. The person beside him had already bent down to pick up the scattered pieces of bread from the ground. “Let’s go.”

He paused for a second, “Where to?”

You Chong tossed the trampled bread into the trash can and began walking out of the alley. “To the hospital.”

They found their car parked by the roadside. You Chong opened the door and got into the driver’s seat. Seeing Lin Hexi standing still beside the car, he, already in a bad mood due to Lin Hexi’s injured arm, lowered the window and asked in an even deeper voice, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Hexi looked at him and softly said, “Aren’t you worried that I’ll get blood on your car?”

You Chong’s expression paused for a moment. He opened the door, got out of the car, and checked the trunk, but couldn’t find any clean cloth to use.

Lin Hexi remained standing in place, unmoving. Seeing this, he teased, “Why not take off the shirt you’re wearing and use it to wrap my wound?”

Without answering him, You Chong walked back to the driver’s seat, opened the glove compartment, and found a box of tissues, which he handed to Lin Hexi through the car window.

After taking the tissue box, Lin Hexi began tending to his wound, still joking as usual, “You don’t want to? Your refusal is making me a bit sad—”

“No,” You Chong interrupted him decisively, glancing at the person standing outside the car. “The shirt I wore is too dirty; it has bacteria on it.”

Hearing this, Lin Hexi was momentarily stunned and looked up at him with a slightly surprised expression.

You Chong drove him to a hospital in the city, and the whole process—from seeing the doctor, getting medication, to treating the wound—took about two hours. By the time they left the hospital, it was already 9 PM, and the streets outside had transitioned from day to night.

They decided to have dinner at a restaurant on the street behind the hospital.

Halfway through, You Chong received a call from a classmate. The classmate, knowing that You Chong was in the city, asked him to pick up some items from the mall. Since it was a classmate he had a decent relationship with, You Chong agreed.

By the time he hung up, the food Lin Hexi ordered still hadn’t arrived. Calculating the time it would take to drive to the mall and back, plus the time spent there, it would take about half an hour. You Chong left him in the restaurant, saying, “I’ll be back in about half an hour. If you finish eating before I return, you can take a taxi back to school on your own.”

Lin Hexi lazily responded with a “sure.”

You Chong had underestimated the weekend crowd at the mall and had forgotten how difficult it was to find a parking spot in the city. By the time he left the mall with the items in hand, nearly an hour had passed since the time he had agreed to return to Lin Hexi.

He considered calling Lin Hexi on WeChat, but then dismissed the idea, thinking that Lin Hexi was not a child and would naturally leave if the agreed time had passed.

As he drove past the intersection and stopped at a corner waiting for the red light to turn green, his thoughts wandered as he stared at the straight-ahead lane.

The countdown of the red light ended, and the arrow for turning green indicated it was time to move, but You Chong’s car remained still.

The drivers in the cars behind, unconcerned whether the person in front was a rich kid driving a luxury car, impatiently honked their horns.

With a quick glance in the rearview mirror, You Chong turned the steering wheel, pulled onto the straight-ahead lane before the oncoming cars arrived, and parked the car, waiting for another round of the traffic light cycle.

Regardless of whether Lin Hexi was still there, it wouldn’t take much time to return to the restaurant and check.

It was around 10 PM, and the roadside night snack stalls were just starting to set up, while the small restaurant had already closed. You Chong hesitated for a moment as he sat in the car, then finally unbuckled his seatbelt, got out, and walked over to confirm.

The inside of the restaurant was pitch black, and a heavy lock hung on the door. The sign above confirmed it was indeed the place they had chosen. You Chong couldn’t quite identify what he was feeling, but he let out a slow breath and turned to head back to the car.

As his gaze swept absentmindedly ahead, he paused abruptly, gripping the half-open car door.

Across the street, under a solitary streetlamp, someone stood alone, bathed in its light. A figure, with one arm wrapped in white bandages, rested in a slightly awkward and almost comical manner on the edge of their knee. The dim yellow light cast shadows on the person’s face, outlining features that You Chong recognized well.

Or maybe not so well.

He had never seen Lin Hexi this quiet before.

You Chong stood there, inexplicably feeling a surge of anger.