APR 61

A rebellious youth with an unruly nature often finds not the arrogant clashes with others, but the complete and utter cold shoulder, the most unbearable.

Zhong Su’s dismissive attitude did nothing to quell the situation; instead, it only further stoked He Jinzhao’s anger.

“Stop, you pretty boy up ahead! I’m telling you to stop!”

Seeing the other about to walk away, He Jinzhao’s temper flared. Without even a glance at the red light, he jerked the steering wheel hard, the car body swinging violently across the crosswalk and blocking Zhong Su’s path head-on.

“Hey, I’m talking to you! Are you deaf?” He Jinzhao pushed his female companion aside, jumped out of the car, and shoved his hands into his pockets, his posture unbearably arrogant.

“You still recognize me, right?” The red-haired youth stared intently at Zhong Su, the platinum pendant around his neck clinking noisily. Gritting his teeth, he spat out each word deliberately: “Don’t you dare play dumb with me! Back at the hospital, you hit me in front of all those people, and now you think you can just walk away like nothing happened? Dream on!”

Zhong Su glanced at He Jinzhao’s right leg. The bandages that had once tightly wrapped the fractured bone were gone, and both legs stood straight, it seemed the injury had healed well.

Zhong Su curled his lips emotionlessly and said, “Little cripple, now that your leg’s finally healed, don’t go looking for trouble again. If you insist on fighting, you’ll end up back in the hospital lying down, your body will suffer, and I’ll have to pay your medical bills, which will hurt my wallet. It’s not worth it.”

He was injured and in a bad mood, not looking for trouble.

He Jinzhao laughed in sheer anger. “You’ll pay my medical bills? What a joke.”

He swept a disdainful glance over Zhong Su’s cheap attire and sneered, “Forget about you being done for tonight just for crossing me, even if I really made you pay, you couldn’t afford it. The measly scraps you have aren’t even enough to buy paper to wipe my shoes.”

One of his troublemaking friends, seeing He Jinzhao so furious, curiously leaned in and asked, “Young Master He, who is this guy? A new face I’ve never seen. How did he offend you?”

“Shut up, who gave you the right to butt in?” He Jinzhao snapped at him irritably, then pointed at Zhong Su and shouted to the others, “Surround him. Whoever lets him get away tonight will take his beating.”

“After we’re done with him, I’ll treat everyone to an all-nighter at the bar.”

This pack of privileged brats were naturally arrogant, domineering, and fond of stirring up trouble. Rarely did they get a chance for some street-side entertainment, so they all perked up at once, snickering as they closed in on Zhong Su.

The circle tightened around him. Zhong Su retreated a step without a change in expression. One of the lackeys, eager to seize the first credit in front of He Jinzhao, lunged forward with a roar, but his fist swung only halfway—

Zhong Su lifted his foot and delivered a solid kick to the man’s side. The lackey flew sideways like a sandbag, crashing headfirst into He Jinzhao’s arms.

“Get off me, don’t touch me!” He Jinzhao couldn’t stand others crashing into him. Disgust twisted his face as he shoved the man away.

Before He Jinzhao could even react, Zhong Su closed the distance in a few strides, grabbed his wrists, and drove his knee hard into He Jinzhao’s stomach, the movements fluid, precise, and ruthless.

“Ugh—!” He Jinzhao grunted, the dull pain instantly sapping his strength.

In the next instant, the world turned upside down in his vision. His back slammed into the hard concrete, the impact sending a metallic taste of blood surging up his throat.

"I told you it would hurt." Zhong Su pressed down on his forehead with one hand and slammed it straight down. He Jinzhao's head hit the ground with a thud, a sharp pain exploding through him. The force was perfectly controlled, painful, but not enough to break the skin.

After the impact, Zhong Su’s palm slid to the back of the young man’s head, lifting it as he leaned down to stare at him, his voice low and irritated. "Had enough yet? You and your friends couldn’t even take me on together. What more do you have to complain about?"

He Jinzhao could clearly smell the lingering scent of engine oil on Zhong Su’s fingers, sharp and metallic.

Dizzy and disoriented, all he could see were Zhong Su’s pale lips moving, as if saying something, but his ears were filled with the pounding of his own heartbeat, making it impossible to hear Zhong Su’s words.

Like being burned by fire, He Jinzhao frantically pushed Zhong Su away, his voice hoarse as he said, "Get away, get away from me… stay away."

Zhong Su let go and stood up.

"Disgusting, what do you do for a living, a mechanic? Your hands are covered in oil, and you’ve smeared it all over my hair." He Jinzhao scrambled up from the ground, slightly hunched over, his posture awkward, as if Zhong Su’s earlier pressure on his waist had injured him.

The surrounding followers were first stunned into silence, then rushed over to help He Jinzhao, all talking at once.

"Mr. He, Mr. He, are you alright?"

"Where are you hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Someone shouted, "Damn it, call for backup! What are you all standing around for?"

He Jinzhao’s anger burned with frustration and resentment. He shook off the hands reaching out to help him. "Don’t touch me, all of you are so annoying."

He pushed through the crowd, wanting to chase after Zhong Su, but a sudden, sharp cramp in his lower abdomen hit him, as if an invisible clamp were tightening around the muscle.

Clutching his stomach in pain, He Jinzhao had to stop, his face pale and flushed, his eyes fixed on Zhong Su’s retreating figure as he shouted hoarsely, "Don’t you leave! Your phone… what’s your phone number?! Hey!"

Zhong Su couldn’t be bothered to deal with the spoiled brats’ barking. He casually brushed the dust off his pants and quickly disappeared into the night at the street corner.

The late-night encounter with the entitled troublemakers didn’t affect Zhong Su’s plans to wake up early the next day and go to the hospital to get an IUD removed.

At the hospital, Zhong Su filled out his medical records at the front desk, took a number, and waited in the corridor for his turn.

Since it was a weekday, the hospital wasn’t as crowded as on weekends. Only a few people were scattered along the benches in the corridor.

Zhong Su chose a seat with no one around and sat down. As he looked up, he saw a public health poster about common male reproductive health issues on the wall directly opposite him.

["Care for Men’s Health, Start ‘Now’"], complete with diagrams of genitalia, detailing the names of each part in a straightforward, almost vulgar manner.

A cleaning lady was mopping the floor, leaving the tiles slick and shiny, the faint scent of disinfectant lingering in the corridor.

Zhong Su’s phone rang in his pocket. He glanced at the colorful patterns on the poster, looked away, and answered the call.

It was Chen Huan.

Chen Huan asked, "Su Er, are you at the hospital now?"

"Yeah, good guess," Zhong Su replied casually.

"Which hospital?!"

Zhong Su chuckled, "What's with you, asking in such detail? Want to come see me make a fool of myself?"

He glanced at the people passing by. "I'm at Renkang Hospital, quite far from your place. Getting a ring removed isn't a major surgery anyway, so just focus on your own things. No need to make the trip."

He casually brushed off Chen Huan's offer to come, not wanting him to join in the commotion, and ended the call with the excuse, "They're almost calling my number."

As soon as he hung up, the door to the examination room swung open. A young man walked out, his gait awkward, legs clamped together and limping, as if in excruciating pain below the waist.

The nurse reminded him, "Your urethritis is due to poor hygiene. You need to take your medication on time and pay attention to cleanliness. The inflammation will take some time to subside."

The young man awkwardly agreed repeatedly. Once done, he leaned against the wall and shuffled toward the pharmacy window. Despite the obvious pain, it was clear he couldn't wait to scramble away from the examination room as fast as possible.

A cleaning lady watched his retreating figure and muttered sarcastically, "Tsk, tsk, these youngsters nowadays. So young and unmarried, yet they're already catching all sorts of filthy diseases."

Zhong Su's eyelashes trembled slightly, but he pretended not to hear the cleaning lady's words.

The nurse leaned out and called out, "Next, number 24! The person whose number is called, come in."

Zhong Su glanced at the number 24 slip in his hand, confirmed it was his turn, and stood up to head toward the examination room. Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the hallway, rapidly approaching.

"Make way, please! There's a student injured in a car accident!" The anxious male voice sounded somewhat familiar.

Zhong Su turned around and saw Yu Zizhuo, his face covered in dust and sweat, half-carrying and half-supporting a bloodied victim as he stumbled frantically in his direction.

Zhong Su moved to the edge of the hallway to make way for Yu Zizhuo. Before the two even reached him, the pungent smell of blood had already filled his nostrils.

Yu Zizhuo was entirely focused on the injured student, paying no attention to his footing—the freshly mopped floor was still wet. As he stepped onto it, he instantly lost his balance.

"Oh no—!" In his panic, Yu Zizhuo instinctively grabbed Zhong Su, who was standing nearby.

Caught off guard, Zhong Su was yanked downward. The two of them tumbled uncontrollably to the ground like marionettes with their strings cut.

"Ugh!" Zhong Su felt an indescribable, sharp pain in his lower body. Looking down, he realized Yu Zizhuo had tugged on his pants.

As luck would have it, he was wearing a pair of coarse, stiff denim jeans that day. The rough fabric scraped against the metal ring adorning the tip of his private parts, dragging it harshly across the delicate, sensitive skin.

The pain was so intense that Zhong Su's vision went dark, and he nearly passed out.

Medical staff arrived just then, pushing a hospital bed. Seeing the three people sprawled on the floor, they looked momentarily stunned. "What happened? Why are you all on the ground?" "Which one is the injured person? Hurry and get them onto the bed. We need to prioritize emergency treatment."

"It's this student who's hurt. He was hit by a speeding car while crossing the street and dragged for over ten meters." Ignoring his own fall, Yu Zizhuo gritted his teeth, got up from the floor, and lifted the unconscious student onto the bed.

The student's uniform was soaked in dark red blood, which had also stained Yu Zizhuo's casual clothes. The sleeves and back of his jacket were blotched with deep crimson stains.

The doctor lifted the school uniform and glanced at the student's wound, his expression instantly turning tense. "Clear out the operating room on the third floor and initiate a massive transfusion protocol. The injured person is in critical condition and has already fallen into hemorrhagic shock."

"Understood."

"I'll go retrieve the plasma right away."

Medical staff pushed the stretcher carrying the injured person, their hurried footsteps echoing through the hallway as they quickly ushered them into the elevator, heading straight for the operating room.

As the chaotic footsteps faded away, Yu Zi suddenly remembered, the person he had knocked down earlier still hadn't gotten up from the ground.

He hurriedly bent down to help them up. "I'm sorry, the situation was too urgent just now, and I didn't notice… Where did I hit you? Let me take a look."