Chapter 25

Chapter 25

"025"

The air went still.

Xiao Mian blurted out, "It's right at our doorstep, isn't it? I knew it!"

Xiao Lancui frowned slightly.

The person who'd been tailing him that day turned out to be Xiao Mian, but something still felt off.

Could it really be the guys who kidnapped him last night who were following him?

Xiao Lancui didn't argue, and Xiao Mian continued, "I told you to be careful, but you wouldn't listen." He gave Xiao Lancui a once-over. "You're standing here fine, so you didn't get hurt, right? Did you call the police?"

Xiao Lancui said flatly, "I wasn't hurt, and I have no evidence. How am I supposed to report it?"

Xiao Mian was easy to fool. He nodded, his expression unusually serious. "So you're gonna catch them yourself?"

"Sort of." Xiao Lancui bent over to pick up his clothes.

Xiao Mian glanced at him, a little embarrassed, but he couldn't bring himself to help pick things up now. He stood there awkwardly, fidgeting, and said reluctantly, "If you're going after them, why drag me into it?"

Xiao Lancui picked up the clothes and shoes, saying flatly, "It's safer with you around."

Xiao Mian had studied Jeet Kune Do and had been into various martial arts since he was a kid, and he was pretty good at it. He complained, "Using me as your hired muscle again, huh..."

Xiao Lancui ignored him and took the clothes into the walk-in closet.

Once he was out of sight, Xiao Mian's lips curled up uncontrollably, a hint of smugness on his face. When Xiao Lancui came back out, Xiao Mian pulled a long face and said, "I'm not going! I'm not your cheap labor!"

Xiao Lancui was about to head out, wearing a new knit scarf. "You're not getting paid."

Xiao Mian, "..." So he wasn't even worth cheap labor—he'd be working for free! He was annoyed, but seeing Xiao Lancui about to leave, he couldn't help asking, "Why not go today? You got something going on?"

"I'm going to the hospital." Xiao Lancui pulled on his gloves and grabbed his bag. "Let me borrow your phone for a call."

Xiao Mian was a bit sensitive to the word "hospital" now. He handed over the phone and gave a little cough. "Why are you going to the hospital? You feeling sick?"

Just then, the call went through. Xiao Lancui spoke into the phone, "Dad, it's me. Yeah, I'm with Xiao Mian."

Hearing himself called "Xiao Mian," he touched the tip of his nose and quickly turned away, pretending to admire the decor.

Xiao Lancui went on, "I lost my phone. Can you come pick me up at school?"

After the call ended, Xiao Mian still hadn't turned back around. He said stiffly, "So you're having Dad take you to the hospital. How old are you, still needing your parents to go with you? Xiao Lancui, you're seriously—"

"Keep this a secret." A faint smell of ink drifted closer.

Realizing Xiao Lancui was suddenly right next to him, Xiao Mian's back went stiff. A second later, the phone was slipped back into his coat pocket, and Xiao Lancui said beside him, "About the kidnapping—I don't want the family worrying. Don't tell anyone."

"It's our secret. Eight a.m. the day after tomorrow, meet at the neighborhood gate." Xiao Lancui smiled. "I'm heading out. Don't forget to pay the bill."

Xiao Lancui left, leaving Xiao Mian's face flushed dark red.

A secret just between him and Xiao Lancui?

Xiao Mian felt a little happy. A moment later, he pinched his cheeks and tugged at them, muttering, "Stop smiling, Xiao Mian!"

A while later, after paying for all of Xiao Lancui's hotel expenses, it finally hit him.

When did he ever agree to go with Xiao Lancui to catch those guys the day after tomorrow?!

Meanwhile, Xiao Lancui got into the car. Xiao Jingli's face showed nothing unusual, but his first words still gave away his guilt: "Son, did you remember something?"

"I can't make it out clearly." Xiao Lancui shook his head. "It's like something from when I was a kid, and also a bit like—scenes from a movie?"

Xiao Jingli finally let out a sigh of relief. He figured that if Xiao Lancui really remembered that he was the one who pushed him into the sea, he wouldn't have called him last night.

But with signs emerging, Xiao Jingli once again considered getting rid of the threat for good.

Xiao Lancui was a ticking time bomb after all—he could blow up at any moment. Xiao Jingli was already scheming.

He smiled warmly and said, "It's fine. Let's go to the hospital first and see what the doctor says. If we need to, we'll go abroad for treatment."

Abroad, it would be even more convenient for an accident to happen to Xiao Lancui.

The hospital wasn't far. The car pulled up, and Xiao Lancui got out to see the prominent hospital name.

Xingkang Hospital.

Xiao Lancui's eyelashes fluttered slightly. This was the hospital where Huo Shenan was staying.

The specialist Xiao Jingli had found ran repeated tests, and the result was naturally that his memory hadn't recovered. Xiao Lancui took the chance to bring up his eye problem.

"Since the day before yesterday, my vision's been blurry."

The doctor personally took Xiao Lancui to the eye department for an exam.

The final results came back—his eyesight had gotten worse.

"When you fell into the sea, a lot of seawater got into your eyes. It may have caused crystalline myopia from the seawater exposure. Tests now show both eyes at 200 degrees, with a slight astigmatism."

Xiao Jingli said, "I still have some company stuff to handle. Stay here and get two pairs of glasses—one as a spare."

After a full day of tests, it was now past seven in the evening. Xiao Lancui didn't try to keep Xiao Jingli there any longer. If Xiao Jingli was destined to run into Sun Xiao today, then nothing could change that, and he'd have to come up with another plan.

As he walked Xiao Jingli to the elevator, Xiao Lancui said, "I lost my phone. Dad, can I borrow yours for a sec?"

Xiao Jingli's expression suddenly changed.

His phone was full of candid photos of Xiao Anfeng—especially from last year, when he'd deliberately suggested the whole family spend New Year's Eve by the sea, just to enjoy the sight of Xiao Anfeng in swim trunks.

Naturally, he'd also taken over a thousand photos of Xiao Anfeng in swim trunks.

Xiao Jingli stepped out of the elevator and called his driver to bring up his other backup phone—the one he used for business. "Here you go. It's linked to a card, and the password is your birthday."

All of Xiao Jingli's presentable passwords were set to the original owner's birthday.

Xiao Lancui took the phone back to the eye department and carefully picked out two frames—one slim silver and one frameless.

His prescription wasn't strong, so the lenses didn't need to be custom ordered. They'd be ready in half an hour.

Xiao Lancui headed downstairs. The convenience store on the first floor of Xingkang Hospital was easy to find, and he went straight for his target—the Matcha Milk Pudding Ice Bread.

He'd had dinner with Xiao Jingli at the hospital cafeteria. As the top private hospital in the capital, the food was excellent, but Xiao Lancui had deliberately saved room for the Ice Bread. He grabbed two, ate one at the store, and packed the other to go.

He also got a cup of warm water, found a single-person table in the dining area, and sat down—sipping his water, eating the Ice Bread, and flipping through Xiao Jingli's contacts.

Not a lot, not a few—around two hundred people.

Xiao Lancui had genuinely just wanted to borrow a phone—you can't get anywhere without one these days—but since it was in his hands, he casually memorized the contacts.

Might come in handy later.

Xiao Lancui scrolled to the bottom in two or three minutes, memorizing all two hundred numbers.

With nothing else to do, Xiao Lancui kicked back and finished his ice bread at a leisurely pace. Half an hour later, he returned to the elevator lobby.

Two elevators—one had just gone up, the other was on its way down.

Xiao Lancui waited for the descending elevator. It arrived within seconds, the doors slid open, and Xiao Lancui suddenly came face-to-face with someone he didn't know well but recognized.

Huo Shenan had his right arm in a cast, suspended from a sling around his neck, and his left calf was also wrapped in a cast. Combined with his baggy hospital gown, he looked absolutely ridiculous.

Xiao Lancui knew Huo Shenan was staying here, so he wasn't surprised. He didn't move, just stood outside the elevator, waiting for Huo Shenan to get out first.

People get off before they get on.

Huo Shenan had expected Xiao Lancui to say hi first, but after a few seconds of nothing, he broke into a grin. "Well, well, if it isn't our ace racer Xiao. Welcome, welcome—here to visit me?"

Xiao Lancui wasn't fazed by the teasing. He reminded him, "You gotta get out before anyone else can get in."

Huo Shenan paused, then smirked. "So you're not here to see me." He leaned against the elevator door, propping his good right leg up against the other side, and said with a grin, "I was gonna come find you for a chat after I got discharged, but since we're here, perfect—you—"

The other elevator arrived, and Xiao Lancui slipped inside. Huo Shenan's smile froze, and he yanked his leg back. "Hey, hey..."

He chased Xiao Lancui into the other elevator and saw him press the button for ophthalmology. It clicked. "You're getting your eyes checked?"

Xiao Lancui still ignored him. As the elevator went up with just the two of them, Huo Shenan was about to say more when his phone rang. He was a lefty, so he fished it out easily. The caller was Fu Chen.

With one hand out of commission, Huo Shenan just hit speakerphone.

The second it connected, Fu Chen's gleeful voice filled the elevator. "Haha, old Huo, I've got great news for you!" Before Huo Shenan could respond, Fu Chen continued, "That kid Sun Mai's in the hospital too—heard he's out cold!"

Xiao Lancui's eyelids flickered slightly. In the original story, Sun Mai had also been unconscious for a while before ending up as a vegetable.

Not long after Lu Siye and Xiao Anfeng officially got together and announced their wedding, Sun Mai flew into a rage. He had Xiao Anfeng kidnapped and hired a big guy to assault him and film it. Lu Siye got there in time, calmed Xiao Anfeng down, then stormed into the Sun house and beat Sun Mai within an inch of his life.

That was near the end of the original story—still three years off.

Xiao Lancui spoke up. "Accident or on purpose?"

Fu Chen's voice exploded when he heard Xiao Lancui. "What the hell! Xiao Lancui, you're at the hospital?"

Xiao Lancui didn't answer. Huo Shenan had no choice but to answer for him. "He's here for his eyes."

Just then, the elevator stopped at the ophthalmology floor. Xiao Lancui didn't hang around and walked straight out. Huo Shenan hobbled after him, calling out, "Hey, hey, racer, slow down—I'm a cripple now, you know!"

Fu Chen suddenly blurted out, "No idea." Then repeated, "No idea if it was an accident or on purpose."

Huo Shenan was totally exasperated. "What's the point of answering now? He's already gone!"

Fu Chen: "..."

Xiao Lancui picked up his glasses. The optician had him try them on. He put on the thin silver-frame pair—his first time wearing glasses, and it felt a little weird. After a moment to get used to them, it was fine. He turned around, and Huo Shenan was still there.

No words were exchanged. Huo Shenan just looked at Xiao Lancui and suddenly said, "Racer, weld those glasses to your face. Don't ever take them off."

This time, Xiao Lancui acknowledged him. Considering Huo Shenan's mobility issues, he walked over to him and pulled a pen from his bag.

"What are you—"

Huo Shenan cut himself off, staring in bewilderment as Xiao Lancui scribbled on the cast on his right arm.

The water-based pen produced a bold, stunning piece of wild cursive.

Done in one fluid motion, Xiao Lancui capped the pen and said flatly, "If I were you, I'd weld this prescription into my mouth and drink it three times a day."

It was a prescription for healing the leg.

With that, Xiao Lancui ignored Huo Shenan and left in the elevator.

Leaving the hospital, Xiao Lancui hailed a cab at the roadside. "Take me to the nearest place where I can buy a phone and get a replacement SIM card."

The driver quickly brought him to a telecom store.

Xiao Lancui bought a basic smartphone, installed the SIM card, and as soon as it powered on, 99+ missed calls popped up.

Among the unlabeled numbers, he spotted a few he recognized—numbers that had appeared in the original story, from Lu Siye's circle of friends.

Soon, his eyes stopped on a missed call from Zhou Fengqiang.

The call had come in ten minutes ago.

Xiao Lancui called back. Zhou Fengqiang answered instantly, his voice urgent. "Your friend is back! In bad shape—both arms are broken!"