Chapter Three: I Can Return

There was no written explanation, but Cheng Yin had already rolled over and gotten out of bed, completely ignoring the pain in her knees.

She opened the ticketing app; the earliest flight was five hours later.

Booking tickets, calling a taxi, packing simple luggage—all the actions were done in one smooth motion, with a skill so adept it was heartbreaking.

This is just a way of repaying a debt of gratitude, a habit.

As the elevator descended, she remembered the number in her memo.

It will soon break through 250,000, then 300,000, and there will be no end to it.

But Cheng Yin didn't care, just as she didn't care that Xu Shen would never say thank you, or that she would never get a warm half of the bed.

The lights at the Earl of Hou Kong General Hospital were blindingly white.

Cheng Yin stood in the elevator, watching the floor numbers keep changing. The location Xu Chen sent only contained the hospital name and floor, without any explanation.

The elevator doors opened, and the smell of disinfectant hit us.

Cheng Yin followed the signs toward the surgical ward, her footsteps echoing in the empty corridor. There was no one at the nurses' station, so she went straight to the innermost ward, its door half-open.

Xu Chen leaned against the hospital bed, his left arm in a cast, his right eye swollen shut, and dark red scabs on the corner of his mouth.

"You've arrived?" The man didn't even look up, speaking in elegant Cantonese, "Miss Cheng arrived sooner than I expected."

She didn't know who this man was, but her intuition told her that this was the trouble Xu Chen had gotten himself into.

She gently closed the door and walked to the other side of the hospital bed.

A complex emotion flashed in Xu Chen's eyes when he saw her, but then returned to a stagnant state.

"How much money does he owe you?" Cheng Yin asked directly, her voice more steady than she had expected.

The man finally looked up. He was in his thirties, with striking features, and a diamond stud in his right ear gleamed under the light. He put down the knife and apple, took a piece of paper from his suit pocket, and gently unfolded it.

"Eight hundred and seventy thousand, including principal and interest." He smiled slightly. "Mr. Xu lost his last chip at Golden Scale last night and also injured two of my men."

Cheng Yin took the paper. It was filled with loan records, and the last column indeed showed 870,000 yuan.

She looked up at Xu Chen, but he turned his face away, his jawline taut.

"I can pay it back." Cheng Yin folded the IOU, "It will take some time."

But he simply walked around to the foot of the bed and leisurely observed the two of them.

Cheng Yin's fingertips were icy cold. This man not only knew her income, but also her spending habits.

Li Yaodong continued staring at Cheng Yin: "I'm very curious, what kind of relationship would make a woman support a good-for-nothing for ten years straight?"

He took a step forward, a faint scent of ambergris emanating from him: "Love?"

"no."

Cheng Yin answered so quickly and decisively that Xu Chen's expression froze instantly.

Li Yaodong raised an eyebrow: "What's that?"

Cheng Yin did not answer immediately. Her gaze passed over Li Yaodong's shoulder and landed on Xu Chen's swollen face.

The sunlight in the warehouse when he was seventeen was at the same angle, streaming in from the small window high up and illuminating Xu Chen's profile as he held a cigarette in his mouth.

"To repay a debt of gratitude," she said softly.

Li Yaodong suddenly burst into laughter, the sound echoing in the ward.

He clapped his hands, like a child witnessing a spectacular magic show: "Brilliant! Such a classic act still exists in the 21st century!" His laughter abruptly stopped, and he leaned closer to Cheng Yin, "What if I told you there's another way to pay off the debt?"

"Li Yaodong!" Xu Chen's voice was hoarse like sandpaper rubbing, "I'll pay back the money, but don't you dare try to take advantage of her!" Before Cheng Yin could react, Xu Chen had already struggled to get off the bed.

He dragged his left hand, which was in a cast, and grabbed Li Yaodong's collar with his right hand: "You fucking dare touch her and see what happens!"

Li Yaodong easily pried Xu Chen's fingers apart and pushed him down. Xu Chen hit the headboard and let out a muffled groan.

Cheng Yin instinctively wanted to step forward, but was stopped by Li Yaodong.

"I'm asking Miss Cheng," he said, his voice as soft as a viper's tongue, "would you be willing to try a method that doesn't require you to repay the money?"

Cheng Yin finally understood his implication.

She felt neither shame nor fear, only a numb calm.

"Okay," Cheng Yin heard herself say. "When?"

"Cheng Yin! Are you fucking crazy?!" Xu Chen's voice was almost ripping apart. He tried to get out of bed again, but the pain caused him to fall to his knees. "Get out! Get back here right now!"

Li Yaodong observed this scene with great interest. He reached out and lifted Cheng Yin's chin, forcing her to look directly at him: "Why?"

"Because it's worth it," Cheng Yin answered mechanically. "Eighty-seven hundred thousand divided by my current hourly wage is equivalent to six hundred and fourteen hours of work. If it were done the way you suggested, it might only take a few hours."

These calculations came out of her mouth as if she had rehearsed them countless times in her mind.

A flicker of surprise crossed Li Yaodong's eyes, quickly turning into a strange admiration. He released his grip and took a step back. "Interesting," he said, turning to Xu Chen on the ground. "You've got a good dog, but unfortunately, you don't know how to appreciate it."

Xu Chen's eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at Cheng Yin, his voice barely audible: "Why..."

Li Yaodong straightened his suit cuffs: "Tomorrow at noon, Jiabo Room 3306. No waiting for latecomers." He walked towards the door, then stopped. "By the way, Mr. Xu, your personal freedom is temporarily guaranteed by Miss Cheng. Don't even think about running away; you know the consequences."

The sound of the door closing echoed in the ward.

Xu Chen remained kneeling on the ground, his shoulders heaving violently. Cheng Yin went over to help him up, but he pushed her away.

Cheng Yin calmly squatted down, looking him in the eye: "Do you need some water?"

Xu Chen's expression was as if he had been punched in the chest.

He grabbed Cheng Yin's shoulders, his fingers almost digging into her flesh: "Look at me! What did you just agree to? For 870,000? For a piece of trash like me?"

Cheng Yin let him shake her, her gaze falling on the wound on his brow bone. There were four stitches there, and the ends of the stitches were still stained with blood. She suddenly reached out and gently touched the wound.

"Do you remember the warehouse behind the high school building?" she asked, her voice as soft as a feather falling, "the day you kicked the door open."

Xu Chen loosened his grip: "What?"

"I was planning to jump that day," Cheng Yin said, looking him straight in the eye. "I knew the lock on the rooftop door was broken."

Cheng Yin continued, "They tore up my homework, wrote 'bitch' on my school uniform, and said they were going to find a boy to 'inspect the goods.'" She paused, "I calculated that if I jumped from the sixth floor headfirst, I would definitely die."

The air in the ward seemed to freeze. Cheng Yin could hear the dripping of the IV bag and Xu Chen's increasingly rapid breathing.

"And then you showed up." A slight smile played on her lips. "You didn't even lift a finger; you just said 'Get lost,' and they ran away."

Xu Chen's hand completely loosened, hanging trembling slightly at his sides: "So these past ten years... were all because of a single, fucking casual remark I made?"

Cheng Yin stood up, poured him a glass of water from the bedside table, and handed it to him: "Not entirely. Later you gave me half a piece of chocolate, remember? It was melted and stuck to the wrapper. That was the first time I ate something that wasn't expired."

Xu Chen didn't take the water glass. His expression shifted from anger to confusion, and finally to a pained bewilderment: "You're crazy...you're absolutely fucking crazy..."

Cheng Yin placed the water glass where he could reach it, then turned to tidy the hospital bed: "Go to sleep. You have a brain CT scan tomorrow morning."

Xu Chen suddenly grabbed her wrist: "You're not really going, are you?"

Cheng Yin didn't answer, but gently withdrew her hand and helped him cover himself with the blanket.

Xu Chen's eyes shone eerily in the dimly lit hospital room: "Listen, I will pay you back all the money I owe you, every single penny. But you can't go see him, understand?"

"You can't pay me back," Cheng Yin said bluntly. "You don't even have a proper job."

Xu Chen's jaw tightened: "I'd sell a kidney, sell my blood, sell anything the hell!"

Cheng Yin shook her head, as if coaxing a sulking child: "Go to sleep, you need to rest."

Xu Chen abruptly ripped the IV from the back of his hand, and blood gushed out immediately. He grabbed Cheng Yin's shoulders, forcing her to look at him: "I'm not joking! If you dare go, I'll jump off the Haojiang Tower!"

Cheng Yin was stunned.

This was the first time Xu Chen had shown his concern for her, even if it was in such an extreme way.

She reached out and pressed her hand against his bleeding hand, then took out gauze from the bedside table and skillfully bandaged it. "Why?" this time it was her turn to ask, "Didn't you always hate it when I followed you around?"

Xu Chen turned his face away, his Adam's apple bobbing: "Because...because it's different."

"What's different?"

"I'm spending your money because you fucking bastard insisted on giving it to me!" Xu Chen's voice was hoarse, "But I never thought... never thought of letting you..."

Cheng Yin waited for him to finish speaking, but Xu Chen seemed unable to find the right words.

She gently patted his hand: "I'm used to it."

These words were like a knife plunged into Xu Chen's chest. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Cheng Yin helped him lie down again and rang the call bell to call the nurse to start the IV drip again.

While the nurse changed the dressing, Xu Chen stared at the ceiling, his fists clenched.

Cheng Yin stood by the window, gazing at the dazzling night view of Haojiang. From this angle, she could see the Haojiang Tower, its slender structure piercing the night sky, its top flashing red aviation warning lights.

"If I jumped," Xu Chen suddenly said, "would you stop?"

Cheng Yin turned around. Xu Chen's expression was more serious than ever before, making her realize that this was not a threat, but a real problem.

"No," she answered honestly, "I would jump after them."

After the nurse left, the ward fell into a long silence.

The liquid in the IV drip bottle dripped down drop by drop, like the second hand of a countdown.

Xu Chen finally closed his eyes, while Cheng Yin sat in the accompanying chair and opened her mobile banking app to check the balances of all her accounts.

The total is 237,651.8 yuan.

There is still a shortfall of over 630,000.

She opened her notes app and added a line at the bottom of the "C" document: "August 15, 2023: Room 3306, Jiabo Hotel (debt settlement of 870,000), None."

The light from the screen reflected on her calm face, like moonlight shining on a stagnant pool, without stirring the slightest ripple.