Chapter 9

The person lying in the hospital bed seemed oddly familiar, yet An Xiaohai couldn’t quite place where he had seen him before.

This wasn’t unusual; as long as a person participates in society, they encounter countless strangers daily—most are just fleeting glances, or moments quickly lost in the crowd.

An Xiaohai had hyperthymesia, so whenever someone appeared before him, even briefly, they would leave an impression. This man on the bed was likely one of those fleeting impressions.

“Hey, it’s you! My idol! What a coincidence to see you here!” the man suddenly exclaimed, interrupting his own dramatic groans.

An Xiaohai frowned, observing the man. He looked to be around Xiaohai’s age, quite handsome, with dyed blonde hair. He must have only recently been admitted, otherwise, his hair would have been cut short. But no matter how hard An Xiaohai tried to recall, he couldn’t figure out who this person was.

“Idol, didn’t recognize me, huh? Let me introduce myself—I’m Xu Tianyou, nice to meet you!” Xu extended his hand for a handshake, though he was at least two or three meters away from An Xiaohai.

An Xiaohai kept his calm, but a wave of shock swept over him as he suddenly recognized the man before him. Xu Tianyou was a young ringleader in the Haifuye drug cartel; his father was none other than Xu Chonghua, a notorious drug lord in Haixi Province.

Years later, Xu Tianyou and his gang would be cornered by police on an island, and they held out for almost a month using every weapon they had before finally being captured, starved to the bone. The last moments of that standoff were even broadcast live, showing a close-up of Xu Tianyou being dragged out of a mountain cave.

Yet An Xiaohai couldn’t shake the feeling that his sense of familiarity with Xu wasn’t solely from those news reports.

“Come on, idol, don’t ignore me! Shake my hand!” Xu Tianyou cheerfully insisted, looking harmless enough.

An Xiaohai raised his right hand and gave a distant wave to humor Xu.

An Xiaohai knew well how dangerous Xu Tianyou could be; his cheerful words could turn to violence in an instant. He was nothing short of a madman. Sometimes it’s better to just go along than risk conflict.

“Haha! Finally, I got to shake hands with my idol!” Xu Tianyou laughed heartily, shaking so hard that he almost seemed to convulse, then tried to get up for a hug. The young police officer beside him quickly pushed him back down onto the bed.

“Xu Tianyou! Behave yourself!”

Xu shrugged and gave An Xiaohai an exaggerated, helpless look, then fell silent.

The doctor lifted the sheet covering Xu Tianyou, revealing both legs wrapped tightly in blood-stained bandages. He cut through the bandages to treat the wounds before giving Xu an injection, which eventually made him fall asleep. The police officer then cuffed Xu’s hands to the bed before shooting An Xiaohai a warning glare and leaving.

The room fell silent.

An Xiaohai rubbed his aching temples, still unable to understand why he felt such an inexplicable familiarity with Xu Tianyou. The feeling wasn’t from those news broadcasts, that much he was certain.

“Whatever,” he thought. “Maybe I ran into him on the street before.”

Giving up on his thoughts, he lay down, pulled the thin blanket over his head, and dozed off, wondering if he should request to return to his cell—being in the cell felt much safer than being here with Xu Tianyou.

Morning came swiftly.

Half-awake, An Xiaohai sensed something off. He opened his eyes to see Xu Tianyou’s face hovering inches away, close enough to feel his breath. Startled, An Xiaohai saw that Xu had somehow managed to break one of the bed rails and drag his entire bed over to Xiaohai’s side.

This was absurd.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

“Idol, you’re almost healed, aren’t you? You’re about to be transferred back to your cell, right?” Xu Tianyou asked, ignoring Xiaohai’s question.

“Yeah, probably in the next day or two.”

“I don’t want you to go!” Xu pouted, feigning a sad look.

Damn it…

An Xiaohai felt his skin crawl. Was Xu Tianyou… interested in him?

Just as Xiaohai wondered how to handle the situation, Xu suddenly lunged forward, slamming his head down hard on Xiaohai’s cast-covered right arm. There was a loud crack—he couldn’t tell if it was the cast breaking, Xu’s head, or his arm re-fracturing.

Before Xiaohai could recover, Xu raised his head and smashed it down again.

“Ah!” An Xiaohai let out a cry of pain. The agony was excruciating.

Xu looked up, his forehead covered in blood, but his eyes were wild with excitement. “Hang in there, idol! Just one more break, and we’ll have a few more days together!”

Enough of this!

Enraged, Xiaohai kicked Xu in the stomach, making him let out a theatrical groan. But instead of retreating, Xu grabbed hold of Xiaohai’s leg and bit down hard.

Damn it…

“Aaah!” Xiaohai screamed as pain shot through him.

Doctors and police officers finally rushed in, pulling Xu off with great effort. Blood covered Xu’s face, his teeth also stained red, and his wounds were bleeding profusely. But his expression was one of pure exhilaration.

The scene left An Xiaohai covered in goosebumps.

It took the medical team a full hour to clean up the mess. Xu Tianyou was placed on a sturdier steel bed, restrained with cuffs on both his hands and feet, and wrapped in bandages like a mummy.

Unfortunately, the prison’s infirmary had only this one observation room.

An Xiaohai’s arm was re-cast; his freshly healed bones had indeed been re-fractured.

“Why did he attack you?” Officer Liu Cong asked, with Officer Sun Li making notes beside him.

“Attack me? No, we were just fooling around,” Xiaohai replied, forcing a wry smile.

“Fooling around? Do you think we’re all fools?” Liu’s voice grew angry.

An Xiaohai’s demeanor was more like a seasoned inmate than an innocent young man wrongfully imprisoned.

“We were really just messing around,” Xiaohai insisted, feeling resigned.

“Hey! Don’t bully my idol! If you have a problem, take it up with me!” Xu Tianyou called out from his bed, still unwilling to keep quiet.

“Shut up! I’ll deal with you later!” Liu shouted before turning back to Xiaohai. “Why does he call you his idol? Do you two know each other?”

“I have no idea why he calls me that. We’ve never met before,” An Xiaohai answered calmly.

Liu looked skeptical.

“Because he is my idol! That’s why I call him that! We didn’t know each other before this!” Xu Tianyou shouted.

Frustrated, Liu eventually walked out, only to quickly return. Leaning close to An Xiaohai, he whispered, “I’m warning you: Xu Tianyou is dangerous. Don’t get involved with him, or your life is over.

They’re ruthless criminals who even opened fire and injured two officers in a standoff in Haifeng Town. Watch yourself.”

“Thank you, Officer Liu. I understand,” An Xiaohai replied, genuinely touched.

These words went against regulations, yet Liu had spoken out. The young, honest officer truly wanted to help him.

So there was light in this dark world after all, though, in another life, An Xiaohai had ignored all of these faint glimmers.