A large palm slammed down on the hospital bed’s safety railing—a dull metallic thud that jolted both the person in the bed and the one beside it. An Bao’s eyes widened as he told Tu An to think carefully about whether there really was a man with one injured eye.
Tu An blinked in panic, his cheeks still flushed with that sickly red, and weakly squeezed out: “You.”
An Bao: “…………….”
“You’re disturbing the patient’s rest.” Shi Yuxing rapped An Bao’s forearm with his notepad, a warning in his eyes. Realizing his breach of etiquette, Officer An released the railing, smacked his lips, bowed his head, and stepped back. “I hope you can give me accurate information.”
Tu An wanted to nod, but a slight movement reminded him of his neck wound. He stammered out: “Mm… I, I’ll try to think hard.”
Shi Yuxing glanced at the time. “I still need to visit Chu Xiaoyun’s ward. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”
“Wait.” An Bao blocked him again. “I’ll come too. Might as well ask Chu Xiaoyun which eye the person she injured had.”
Wind slipped through the crack in the ward door, stirring Tu An’s bangs. An Bao was about to turn and leave with Shi Yuxing when he felt the hem of his clothes tugged. Tu An’s voice came from behind him.
“Of—Officer An.”
Shi Yuxing turned as well.
“Could you close the window for me?”
An Bao, confused, nodded. “Sure.” He strode over, shut the small gap in the window, and asked: “Do you want to rest? I can pull the curtains for you.”
“No need. That’s fine.”
“Alright.”
Shi Yuxing figured they could finally leave. Just as he lifted his foot, another “Officer An” startled him back. He frowned.
“If I remember any leads, will you come back?” Tu An asked, the IV fluid dripping steadily down the tube. An Bao sucked air through his teeth, thinking. “How about you add my contact info? Reach out anytime with anything—I’ll see it, pretty much.”
Shi Yuxing watched them exchange information, then deliberately lingered behind An Bao to steal a glance at Tu An. Sure enough, Tu An’s gaze was glued to them—or more precisely, to the person ahead of An Bao. When Tu An saw Shi Yuxing turn, he quickly looked down, but couldn’t hide his dark red face.
“Sister-in-law, everyone’s at lunch—why aren’t you going?”
Shi Yuxing said: “I’ll wait a bit. He said he’d bring me lunch.”
“Gu Lingzhou, huh.” An Bao clicked his tongue, lamenting how love-struck this brother had become. Though he disapproved of Shi Yuxing’s bold behavior in finding others, it was hard to stay angry at that face. Shi Yuxing was beautiful and sharp; it wasn’t hard to understand why Gu Lingzhou, after neglecting him, was now groveling to win him back.
Two little voices fought in his head—one saying, “Shi Yuxing has three men—his character is poor, you should stand up for Gu Lingzhou,” and the other saying, “Gu Lingzhou is her willing dog and doesn’t care about the number of people.” Remembering the nearly-impounded starship and the criticism from his superiors, An Bao flashed a mysterious smile and reached a conclusion: “Sister-in-law, feel free to boss Gu Lingzhou around however you like. Your big brother here will always support you.”
After all, if Gu Lingzhou himself didn’t care about his wife having a side piece, why should an outsider? Sister-in-law was sharp and brilliant—she’d just helped him out. As for that so-called Gu Lingzhou—didn’t know him, not close.
Unaware of An Bao’s mental turmoil, Shi Yuxing looked perplexed and replied politely: “I don’t boss Gu Lingzhou around.”
An Bao’s smile didn’t fade. “That’s fine—he’s volunteering for it.”
Shi Yuxing had no time to dissect his words, as they’d reached Chu Xiaoyun’s ward. After a polite knock, he explained his purpose: “How have you been resting these days?”
Chu Xiaoyun was delighted to see him and said she was much better. “Let me have a look.” Shi Yuxing checked her neck, still wrapped like a zongzi in its cast. “You’ve been sleeping on your stomach, right?”
Chu Xiaoyun’s mother said: “We check on her during the night too. She’s been staying on her stomach.”
“Good. Once the cast comes off, you can sleep on your side, and eventually flat on your back… If your heat is coming soon, have the suppressant ingredients checked by me. Other than that, everything looks fine.” After Shi Yuxing finished, An Bao chimed in: “Xiao Yun, I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?” The girl tilted her head slightly.
“When you swung the knife—left hand or right hand?”
Chu Xiaoyun answered instantly: “Right hand. Even though the knife was in the left side pocket of my bag, I automatically switch to my right hand. I’m right-handed.”
“Good. Got it. Thank you.”
Shi Yuxing figured it was time to head back and wait for his meal. Just as he was about to say goodbye, Chu Xiaoyun’s father suddenly remembered something and fumbled for his phone. “Wait, Dr. Shi—didn’t you ask if we knew someone named ‘Chu Ke’? I asked around the family, and there are three people by that name in our area. Would you like to see?”
This also caught An Bao’s attention. “Let me see.”
The screen, cracked in several places, displayed a chat log. The other party had sent three images, all taken with the original camera from tricky angles—clearly stealth shots.
An Bao zoomed in on the three photos. Slightly blurry, but the facial contours were still distinguishable.
“Where did you get these?”
“My relatives found them.”
Two adults and one child. The little girl was ruled out first. Shi Yuxing studied the remaining two adults and found neither matched that “Chu Ke.” The person in the ID photo was gaunt from illness, not overweight—thin, even. Though his face bore no distinguishing marks, that gentle, life-weary expression wasn’t on either of these people.
“Not them.”
An Bao handed the phone back to Chu Xiaoyun’s father. “Thank you for providing the images, but next time, don’t have anyone take stealth shots.”
“Yes, yes—you’re right, Officer.”
Almost the moment Shi Yuxing stepped out the door, his pocket rang: “I just haven’t figured out how to tell you~ Silence isn’t, beep—”
Gu Lingzhou, wearing a carefully coordinated gray trench coat, held a lunch container in his left hand and a large bouquet of magnolias tucked under his arm. His right hand held his phone to confirm.
“Are you in your office?”
Shi Yuxing, hearing the movement on the other end, inadvertently glanced at An Bao who was watching with interest, and turned away: “I’m on my way now.”
“Okay.”
The call ended. Shi Yuxing looked up to see An Bao smiling with ill intent. “Here he comes?” Who he meant went without saying. Shi Yuxing pointed at his phone: “I need to go eat. I’m off.”
“See you, Dr. Shi. Remember, your big brother is always rooting for you.”
Shi Yuxing had no idea when he’d acquired a big brother—he just found An Bao unusually strange today. The look in his eyes before had clearly been complicated and hesitant. An Bao walked away, quietly humming the ringtone that had just played.
“Silence doesn’t mean it’s my fault, breaking up isn’t the only outcome…”
Shi Yuxing: “…”
He should have changed the ringtone earlier. Wouldn’t An Bao find that weird? Sticking to his principle of never backing down, Shi Yuxing began pondering what new ringtone to choose as he walked to his office—and accidentally bumped into someone.
The words “I’m sorry” were about to leave his mouth when he met a pair of eyes that made his skin crawl.
“Our Dr. Shi didn’t sleep well? Walking right into people.” If those words had come from anyone else, Shi Yuxing might have taken them as concern. But coming from Dr. Yao’s dog mouth, it was a different story.
Shi Yuxing swallowed his apology and tried to step around him.
“Hey—didn’t your mother teach you to apologize when you bump into someone?”
Shi Yuxing’s heavy gaze fell on Yao Jiaqi. They were about the same height, but Yao Jiaqi felt as if that stare was boring into the ground. Shi Yuxing hadn’t wanted to argue—the hallway was wide enough, yet this man had chosen to stand right in his path. Given Yao Jiaqi’s history of picking fights, Shi Yuxing couldn’t help but suspect he’d deliberately blocked the way. If he apologized today, this guy would definitely use it against him later.
“Still half-asleep? Got dumped? Did the General dump you again?”
Shi Yuxing frowned. Why drag Gu Lingzhou into this? “Watch your mouth.”
Dr. Yao, thinking he’d struck a nerve, grew bolder: “I’m just stating facts. Besides, with everyone watching, you bumped into me and didn’t apologize, Dr. Shi.” He stepped closer, enunciating “Dr. Shi” with both force and lightness.
Shi Yuxing caught the occasional glances from onlookers. Yao Jiaqi’s face twisted with malice; the spots on his bulbous nose made Shi Yuxing turn his head in disgust. “Stay away from me.”
Yao Jiaqi’s voice rose in anger: “You bump into someone and don’t apologize—and you think you’re in the right?!”
Shi Yuxing looked up, his expression freezing for a moment. He stepped back, keeping distance. Just as Yao Jiaqi’s hand reached out, it was caught from behind in a vice grip. Yao Jiaqi cried out in pain: “Agh—!”
“Gu Lingzhou, don’t break his bones.” Shi Yuxing warned. Gu Lingzhou suppressed his anger and released his grip. Yao Jiaqi crumpled to his knees, trembling at the name he’d heard.
Gu Lingzhou stood beside him, asking what had happened. Shi Yuxing explained everything. A patient walking by for rehab chimed in: “General, that doctor did it on purpose. I saw the whole thing—he saw the doctor looking down at his phone and deliberately crossed over to make him bump into him.”
Hearing this, Yao Jiaqi scrambled up and fled while Shi Yuxing and Gu Lingzhou were listening to the patient.
Gu Lingzhou wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Who is he? Does he bully you often at the hospital?”
Shi Yuxing remembered the time in the basement when Xiao Zhou had also appeared out of nowhere. He smiled. “Even if you hadn’t come, I could’ve handled him. I’m good at cursing—no one dares to bully me.” Gu Lingzhou didn’t truly take his words to heart. He silently noted that doctor’s name, thinking he’d need to have a word with the director.
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