38 Heroes
Zhou Qi subconsciously gripped the doorknob, then quietly closed the door with a calm expression. He was still holding a book, clearly a good student seeking instruction.
"Put the knife away! You've got the wrong person." Zhou Qi glanced at Fang Qiu's pale face, then turned to the middle-aged man with a fierce look and said, "This is Doctor Guo's student."
"Don't meddle in other people's business. Get out of here!" The middle-aged man's frustration at finding no one after all his efforts instantly turned to anger. For a moment, the veins on his neck bulged and twisted. The black mask on his face bulged slightly with each deep breath, and beads of sweat of varying sizes covered his forehead like a spiderweb.
Zhou Qi didn't respond. Instead, he took a slow half step forward, staring directly at the increasingly ferocious man in front of him, and continued, "Doctor Guo has already finished his shift. Whether you want revenge or to add to the score, using a knife to hurt an innocent student is not worth it."
"I don't care! He has to register for me today, or I'll kill him." The middle-aged man spoke with such agitation that the knife pressed against Fang Qiu's neck began to tremble, the sharp blade cutting Fang Qiu painfully. The extreme fear magnified everything. For the first time in his life, Fang Qiu felt how difficult it was to breathe, something he could barely feel on a normal day.
Like a dying black carp lying on the chopping board, its gills flared from time to time.
"He's Dr. Guo's most prized student. If you really want to hurt him, Dr. Guo might not help you. It's better to let him go and let him plead with Dr. Guo on your behalf. Firstly, he can speak up for you with Dr. Guo, and secondly, you don't want to be arrested when your family needs you."
Zhou Qi gave Fang Qiu a look, urging him to cooperate with his next move. Fang Qiu's entire hopes and life depended on this junior fellow apprentice, with whom he had virtually no personal contact. Upon receiving Zhou Qi's message, he desperately mobilized every muscle on his face, blinking vigorously in response.
The sweat dripping down his forehead fell into his eyes as Fang Qiu blinked hard, and he felt a burning sensation in his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, Zhou Qi reached out, about to hand the textbook to the knife-wielding middle-aged man. "These are the notes from class that Teacher Guo asked me to show you. Take a look if you don't believe me. Also, if you trust him, you can show him your family's medical records."
Taking advantage of the moment when the middle-aged man's gaze shifted and he reached for the book with his other hand, Zhou Qi nodded slightly to Fang Qiu and then slammed the book into the middle-aged man's face. He couldn't dodge and instinctively raised his hand to block the blow. Seeing the knife shift, Zhou Qi rushed forward, pulled Fang Qiu out, and slammed the door shut.
Seeing the criminal still not opening the door, Zhou Qi suspected he was about to escape by jumping out the window. He pulled out his phone and immediately contacted security, warning them that he might be carrying a knife. After he finished his round, he turned around and found Fang Qiu slumped to the ground, his legs weak and sweat pouring down his body.
"Brother? Are you okay? You should get your neck bandaged." Zhou Qi bent down and helped him up. Fang Qiu was still a little unresponsive from the shock, and they had to walk quite a distance before he finally realized what was happening and thanked Zhou Qi.
"If you weren't here today, I'd probably be with my grandma right now." Fang Qiu wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm, finally regaining some strength. "Your name is Zhou Qi, right? After today, we'll be friends for life. As long as I'm still in this business, I'll definitely protect you."
Fang Qiu has always been a man who values friendship and keeps his promises. Even on the day he resigned from the hospital to open his own restaurant, he didn't forget Zhou Qi. He squeezed in tasks that could be done by one person, requiring minimal effort and giving them to Zhou Qi, yet paid him several times the salary of a part-time job. Zhou Qi felt embarrassed to take advantage of him, so whenever he had free time, he would rush to the restaurant, researching dishes, testing them, cleaning windows, washing dishes—he did everything.
Fang Qiu sometimes thought Zhou Qi was incredibly stubborn, insisting on working as hard as he was paid, never taking more. He'd simply lock up the shop early, figuring the midterms and finals would arrive, and tell him to go back and study. He even managed to find a copy of his class schedule and schedule him accordingly, even factoring in travel time.
Over time, the two men's relationship, slightly strained between them, grew into close buddies. Fang Qiu finally realized that Zhou Qi wasn't a taciturn or reserved person, but simply had a great sense of propriety, never saying a word he shouldn't.
Until he saw Zhou Qi standing in front of little Yang Xiao, so alive.
His eyes were fixed on her, and he began to feel nervous, timid, laugh, and even jealous.
As for those bullshit ideas, Fang Qiu didn't care. After all, he was just a short-sighted, mediocre mortal. What was wrong with pursuing happiness legally and sensibly, without breaking the law? It would be truly a shame if everyone cared so much about what others thought and thought, and missed out on what truly brought them joy.
...
Yang Xiao repeatedly checked the scheduled mass email, carefully checking it back and forth to ensure there were no mistakes before clicking send. After all, this was Zhimiao's first employee recruitment email. She still remembered when she was working at the institute, her overworked colleagues once submitted a document that turned in an internal control report instead of an underwear report. When it was sent out, no one noticed, and they were treated as a laughing stock until they realized it.
"It's time to get off work, Mr. Yang." Yang Zhi turned off his computer and began jingling his car keys again. "Come on, Mr. Yang, I'll give you a ride. Mr. Yang, why don't we put our company's assets to use? Why keep them? They're just depreciating when we buy them. You can't drive, can you?"
“…”
"Who picked you up from the airport last time? Ghost?" Yang Xiao really thought Yang Zhi had said everything to encourage her to drive and avoid the crowded subway. "I was thinking, let's open it after the employees have started working. Besides, I don't have a parking space for rent at my house. It will take some effort and time to find someone to sublease it to me through the property management group."
"Let me put this out there first. It's impossible for me to drive my car home first and then drive the company car home to park it. As for the sublease of the parking space, once you've made the arrangements, I'll go sign the contract with you and use the company's account." Yang Zhi really felt that the word he said most frequently these days was "use the company's account."
"OK."
While waiting for a red light, Yang Zhi glanced at Yang Xiao, who was sitting upright in the passenger seat, and suddenly remembered the scene of his first meeting with Yang Xiao. In fact, their first meeting was not at the police station, but more precisely, it was the first time Yang Zhi met Yang Xiao personally.
It was the day Yang Xiao came to the office for an interview. He went to the tea room for a drink and saw rows of people sitting outside, waiting for their interviews with the manager. Yang Xiao was the third one from the left. She had jet-black hair in a high ponytail, a small face, and a pair of eyes as black as her hair, round and glossy as grapes.
He didn't recite his resume or self-introduction, nor did he chat quietly with anyone nearby. He just stood there like a stick. His eyes were either fixed on the floor or, with his back straight, he glanced out the window, like a backpacker. Yang Zhi couldn't help but stare at him for a while longer, until the cup under the water dispenser overflowed, and then he came to his senses.
Yang Zhi later vividly remembered her first team-building trip. Someone had come up with the awful idea of climbing Mount Tai, and the manager, oblivious to their fragile bodies, readily approved the proposal.
In fact, no one wants to go, but no one wants to offend this smiling tiger.
After making the arrangements, they were asked to join the group chat one by one, confirming their participation and that they would gather early in the morning to depart from Beijing. There weren't many people in the group, only about a dozen, so it was easy to tell who hadn't joined the chat.
So, Yang Xiao is the first person who doesn't continue the conversation or respond.
Although it was later revealed that she was being squeezed so hard that she fell into a deep sleep, and upon waking, she saw countless unread messages in the group chat, during the time Yang Xiao didn't reply, the group chat became completely viral.
The young women who had joined the same group also started saying they weren't feeling well and wouldn't go, followed by the seasoned veterans who hid behind the newcomers, saying things like "Me too," "Sorry, manager," and "It's not convenient right now." That month, Yang Xiao briefly became a hero, saving their aging bodies.
The great hero himself also heard about it from Yang Zhi after he left his job.
"Okay, you've told me this story of the hero saving the entire team at least five times." Yang Xiao sat in the passenger seat and subconsciously touched her ear. She suspected she was about to develop calluses there. "As soon as I heard you say, 'Oh, Yang Xiao, you don't know,' I knew what you were going to say. I know Mr. Yang, and I haven't got Alzheimer's yet."
"Every time I talk about it, I feel incredibly happy. Just thinking about that smiling tiger getting humiliated makes me happy." Yang Zhi was about to go back on his words, "Oh, Yang Xiao, you don't know. Xiao You said Wendy had a stinky face when she first arrived on Monday. I don't know what she's trying to achieve. She's thirty-five or thirty-six, and she still wants young people to accompany her to climb Mount Tai."
"Boss Yang, I've heard about this before." Yang Xiao pointed at the road sign and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Just leave it here for me. Thank you, Boss Yang, for giving Boss Yang a ride today. Boss Yang will make a fortune for Boss Yang in the future."
Yang Zhi snorted, "Open the door, keep an eye on the electric bike—"
Before he could finish his words, he glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Yang Xiao about to open the door and get out. He leaned over to the passenger seat and reached out to pull her back, then slammed the door shut. "Didn't I just tell you to watch the car?"
"Oh, oh, oh, I'll pay more attention next time. I was just thinking about something, sorry." Yang Xiao touched her nose embarrassedly, and once again confirmed that there were no electric bikes before opening the door and jumping out of the car. "Boss Yang, come back soon!"
"Or I'll wait until you've spent all your money. Let's go." Yang Zhi closed the passenger window and headed onto the main road. But the hand that had grabbed Yang Xiao's arm and placed it on the steering wheel felt a little uneasy, like a little bug crawling around in his palm, tickling wherever it touched, but unable to scratch anywhere vital.
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