Chapter 38: What One Act of Bravery Brings |
Late at night, in the South Ward, inside Yan Huan''s rented apartment.
The desk lamp burned brightly, its soft light illuminating the words on the scattered papers across the desk.
Yan Huan lay flat on his bed, his face pale, his mind completely blank, and his mouth slightly ajar. Various symbols and text even seemed to float before his eyes.
Suddenly, as if he had just figured out the answer to a complex mathematics problem, he clutched his head, his black bangs slipping through his fingers.
His bloodshot eyes gleamed with excitement, radiating the light of absolute intellect.
"I think I solved it. As long as I take the integral..."
From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the illusory text at the edge of his vision, which seemed to be counting down.
[Learning Conqueror, Stacks: 10, Time Remaining: 1 minute 28 seconds]
Yan Huan subconsciously tried to sit up and return to the desk to continue his focused studying, hoping to maintain his conqueror stacks.
"Yan Huan, you need to rest."
Yan Huan paused slightly, looking at Myau-chan in front of him.
The cat''s words seemed to awaken the physical pain in his body, snapping him out of his intense focus.
He suddenly realized that his entire body was intensely sore, and his head had grown incredibly heavy and dizzy.
Utter exhaustion always followed extreme overwork...
"Hiss..."
Yan Huan drew in a sharp breath of cold air, uncomfortably rubbing his sore shoulders as he asked Myau-chan,
"What time is it?"
"It is already almost two in the morning, meow."
Myau-chan trotted over to his side and gently swept its tail across the mobile phone he hadn''t touched in hours.
The phone screen lit up, displaying the time as 1:48 AM, along with several notifications from Plane.
"You have been reading non-stop since five o''clock yesterday evening. That is nearly eight continuous hours. You still have school tomorrow. If you keep this up, your body will not be able to handle it."
Hearing this, Yan Huan raised an eyebrow. He reached out to rub Myau-chan''s head and let out a helpless smile.
"It is mostly because I didn''t expect this buff to be so ridiculous. That feeling of gradually and perfectly understanding new knowledge is truly exaggerated."
In truth, it wasn''t that learning itself was too boring. After all, curiosity was one of humanity''s most important fundamental traits.
The core issue was that, more often than not, studying lacked obvious positive feedback.
This was especially true for an extremely difficult subject like mathematics.
Most of the time, even if a majority of people spent hours, a whole day, or even several days on it, they still couldn''t understand what it was trying to convey or what use it had, leaving them feeling as if they had gained absolutely nothing.
Because of this, the very concept of studying had become synonymous with being tedious.
Reflected in quantitative exams, it meant that no matter how hard you tried, the questions you couldn''t solve remained unsolvable.
But if you could receive incredibly distinct positive feedback for every half hour of study, then learning fundamentally became no different from any other highly addictive activity.
This was essentially what Yan Huan was experiencing after using the Learning Conqueror ability.
The more focused he was, the faster his progress became, and the more concepts he could comprehend and absorb.
Furthermore, the instantaneous surge in intellect upon reaching maximum stacks allowed him to immediately figure out all of his previously unresolved doubts and confusions.
Back and forth, it was simply addictive.
Moreover, there was also the existence of the stack mechanic.
He didn''t know if it was a touch of mild OCD, but every time Yan Huan entertained the thought of taking a break, watching those hard-earned conqueror stacks about to vanish made him involuntarily force himself back into a state of deep focus.
However, he absolutely had to stop now.
Yan Huan let out a yawn, watching as the remaining duration of Learning Conqueror slowly ticked down to zero.
The moment it ended, his previously brilliant and rapid-firing mind seemed to instantly grow significantly heavier.
Although Yan Huan''s baseline intelligence was not low by any means, having experienced the sensation of a massive intellect boost, he could finally grasp the true meaning behind that famous saying:
"Even among geniuses, there is a gap!"
Dragging his exhausted body, Yan Huan walked over to his computer. He tidied up the notes and scratch paper he had written, and closed the digital textbooks he had read more than half of.
Afterward, he shut his laptop, preparing to wash up and go to sleep.
"Oh right, Myau-chan, how about I open a can of cat food for you?"
"Meow?"
Yan Huan crouched down and popped open a tin of cat food, which Myau-chan stared at with a face full of absolute resistance.
It glanced at the can on the floor, then threw a sidelong glance at the highly expectant Yan Huan next to it.
Then, it extended a paw, batting lightly at Yan Huan with its toe beans, as if trying to awaken his rationality.
"Hurry and eat. Little cats need to eat this stuff to grow nice and plump."
"Meow..."
Myau-chan blinked, then approached the can with extreme reluctance. It stuck out its small tongue, taking a tentative lick.
''Huh?''
''It seems the taste isn''t totally unacceptable?''
"Slurp... smack..."
And so, Myau-chan''s licking grew increasingly rapid, making Yan Huan smile as he gave the cat''s head a fond rub.
Opening his phone again, he realized he hadn''t checked Plane all night due to being in focus mode, so he prepared to go through his messages.
''Hmm...''
''In the Student Council''s main management group, Yurianna mentioned that she is also going to the Linmen gaming convention this weekend.''
''Then, upon hearing that, Yinggong said she wanted to go check it out too.''
''Well, that works out nicely. It''s basically a Student Council team building event this weekend.''
He didn''t have the time to send a message in the group and disturb their rest. Just as he backed out of the chat window, he noticed a red notification dot hovering over the "Contacts" tab at the bottom.
''Someone added me?''
Yan Huan blinked and tapped into "My Friends," immediately spotting a new friend request sent around ten o''clock the previous night.
"Xin Yi"
"Requests to add you as a friend"
"Source: Plane ID Search"
Yan Huan studied the user''s profile picture, which was a simple musical note, and pondered in his mind while walking toward the restroom to wash up.
''It must be Bai Yi, right?''
''Since I added her mother on Plane earlier, it wouldn''t be difficult for her to find my account ID.''
After thinking it over for a moment, Yan Huan tapped to accept the request, though he didn''t send a message, instead focusing on washing his face and brushing his teeth.
By the time he came out of the restroom, Myau-chan had already completely demolished the tin of food and was currently licking its paws clean.
''It seems I don''t even need to prepare a litter box for it. This is the true convenience of having a god for a pet...''
''But taking things in without ever letting anything out... why does it feel more like a mythical Pixiu?''
"Time to sleep, Myau-chan."
"Meow~"
Yan Huan turned off the lights and lay in bed, utterly exhausted, massaging the bridge of his nose.
Myau-chan bounded over to his side, blinking its crystal-clear emerald eyes as it asked,
"Didn''t you send a message to the boss you work for earlier? Has she still not replied to you?"
Yan Huan, who had been right on the verge of falling asleep, was reminded by Myau-chan and picked his phone back up.
''Right...''
''Tong Yingying still hasn''t replied to my message.''
''Not a single word all night. Just what exactly has she been doing?''
Glancing once more at the completely unresponsive chat window, Yan Huan hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided against typing another message.
Instead, he set the phone down and pulled Myau-chan into his arms.
"Forget it. No matter what it is, I''ll just ask her what''s going on tomorrow."
"Meow~"
Yan Huan closed his eyes and prepared to drift off to sleep.
Time rewound slightly to Thursday evening, inside the Kyogo Ward.
In a room on the first floor of a luxurious mansion, the warm glow of the lamps spilled like water, illuminating the various furnishings across the spacious room.
An electric guitar was still plugged into a computer, with several other musical instruments resting nearby. The computer monitor was brightly lit, displaying a premium, professional music production software.
The audio tracks on the screen were fully populated with the sounds of various instruments, painting a rainbow of different colored and sized blocks across the dark interface.
A brand new song was on the verge of being born.
Ever since she composed her second song a year ago, she hadn''t released a single new track.
It wasn''t that she hadn''t been writing. Throughout the year, no matter how overwhelming her workload had been, she had persevered and managed to finish the rough melodies and arrangements.
But as for the rest—the song title, the lyrics, and the final polish—she hadn''t even begun.
Firstly, it was because her daily work schedule was simply far too busy. Secondly, her mother''s constant dismissals and denial had made her begin to doubt whether she should even continue composing at all.
However...
It was only yesterday she discovered that Yan Huan, the very same boy her mother was constantly nagging her about, was actually a fan of her music!
''Was he lying?''
''But why would he lie?''
''Every time I saw him before, it was through the Indifference state. He doesn''t even know me at all. He has absolutely no motive to lie.''
''Besides, he is so outstanding. He is one of the top prominent figures in the entire school. He could have beaten me in the auditions based on his looks alone...''
''Someone like him...''
''Is actually waiting for me to release a new song?!''
"Mmph..."
At this thought, Bai Yi, who was sitting on her bed in a dress, hurriedly buried her face into the throw pillow she had been clutching.
Her feet, clad in white socks, kicked up into the air, excitedly drumming against the mattress and producing a rapid series of rhythmic thumps.
She then hugged the pillow and rolled across the bed a couple of times. Her dark hair fanned out behind her like flower petals, making her flushed, red face look as beautiful as a blossoming stamen.
The corners of her mouth curled up uncontrollably, and she couldn''t stop giggling foolishly.
''Calm down, Bai Yi!''
''You are an idol!''
''I must...''
''I must maintain my image! And I need to work even harder!''
With that, she hastily straightened her expression.
Yet, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it, that bright smile quietly slipped out from the corners of her lips once again.
Bai Yi set down the pillow and walked over to her computer desk.
Her mobile phone was resting on the desktop. She had already typed in a certain someone''s Plane ID, which she had secretly memorized by peeking at her mother''s phone.
All it took was a single tap on the screen to send out the friend request.
Pouting, Bai Yi extended both her index fingers, hovering them over the button for a long time, but she just couldn''t bring herself to press it.
"Ah... I can''t. No, I just can''t do it."
She hurriedly covered her flushed face again, using her cold fingers to cool down her heated cheeks.
''Adding him right now is way too weird.''
''And what if he asks me when I''m releasing a new song? What if he asks if I''ll be singing at the gaming convention this Sunday?''
''Not only have I not written the lyrics for the new song yet, but my mother will also definitely never allow me to sing on stage this weekend...''
''She... she despises my singing the most.''
Thinking of this, the warmth in Bai Yi''s flushed face slowly faded away.
She pursed her lips, looking sadly at the audio tracks on her music software.
It was like a painted dragon missing its eyes, lying lifelessly inside her computer.
"Why are you back?"
Just then, the sound of the front door opening echoed from outside, followed by Zuo Jiangqin''s voice.
"Ah, I heard that Yiyi ran away from home, so I dropped my work and rushed back to Linmen..."
Answering her was a middle-aged man''s voice.
It was Zuo Jiangqin''s second husband, Jiang Xion, returning home.
"Honestly... she was just throwing a minor temper tantrum. She''ll be fine in a few days. She properly attended her events today, so she probably already knows she was wrong."
"Even if it is just a temper tantrum, running away from home is a very serious matter. Is Yiyi asleep?" "I don''t know, she probably should be by now."
Footsteps approached. Bai Yi turned her head toward her bedroom door just as a knock rang out.
"Knock, knock..."
"Yiyi, are you asleep?"
Bai Yi pursed her lips. After hesitating for a brief moment, she spoke up.
"The door isn''t locked, Uncle Jiang."
"Click."
The door opened, revealing an elegant, refined man with half-white hair and a few faint wrinkles on his face. He hadn''t even changed out of his formal attire yet.
Wearing a pair of glasses, he took a look at Bai Yi inside the room and smiled.
"Your mother told me you ran away from home the day before yesterday?"
"Yeah, but everything is fine now..."
Jiang Xion crossed his arms, responding noncommittally.
"Is that so..."
Seeing the atmosphere gradually quiet down, Bai Yi turned to look at him, taking the initiative to ask,
"Is everything alright at the company? Rushing back to Linmen so suddenly must severely impact your work, right?"
"On the contrary, things are going splendidly. I was planning on returning to Linmen soon anyway. The top boss of Ye International has sent his daughter to Linmen. There will definitely be a lot of business operations here soon, and I''m planning to see if I can establish a connection with Ye International."
"Ye International? That''s way too powerful, right? Can you really make a connection with them?"
"Others might not be able to, but your uncle here shouldn''t have a problem. You know me, Yiyi. Even if I lack outstanding personal abilities, I have quite a lot of friends."
Jiang Xion smiled faintly as he stepped into Bai Yi''s room.
He didn''t close the door, merely pulling up a chair and sitting down.
"That new head in charge, named Ye Lan, actually went to the same university as me. She was my senior by one year.
"I even gave a cash gift when she got married. However, she didn''t have a good eye for men; the husband she found was pure trash. While their child was still young, he started messing around outside. After my senior caught him, she kicked him so hard he permanently lost his fertility. So later, my senior was forced to take her child and leave the marriage with absolutely nothing."
Jiang Xion seamlessly tossed out an intriguing piece of gossip, instantly capturing the attention of Bai Yi, who previously hadn''t wanted to talk. She asked in pure disbelief,
"Ye International... Isn''t your senior''s family incredibly wealthy? How did he even dare to cheat?"
"It is quite complicated. I only heard bits and pieces of it myself, so I don''t know the full specific details."
Jiang Xion helplessly spread his hands and explained,
"I heard that when Ye International was just starting out, their financial situation was rather difficult. Furthermore, my senior has other siblings, which left her quite strapped for cash during her undergraduate years.
"Later, when her family''s conditions improved and my senior fell in love freely and brought her partner home, her family ended up looking down on the poor boy. They refused to agree to the marriage no matter what."
Bai Yi blinked, looking intensely curious.
"So..."
"Ah, so when my senior got married, her parents didn''t even show up. I imagine her family never agreed to it right until the very end. However, it might not have been entirely because of the guy''s family background. They probably sensed that the bastard simply wasn''t a good person."
After hearing this, Bai Yi''s expression became somewhat complicated, and she could only sigh.
"The adult world is way too complicated..."
"Isn''t it? That is exactly why I would rather you spend more time with your peers and work a little less."
Bai Yi caught the underlying meaning in his words. Pouting, she muttered,
"Isn''t this how all celebrities are? They have to constantly attend events. Besides, what if I stop being popular later? So Mom''s intention is that while I still have this popularity, I need to participate in more activities."
"There is no end to earning money, Yiyi."
Jiang Xion took off his glasses and smiled warmly.
"Even my senior, the top executive at the massive Ye International, is dealing with a mountain of absolute garbage, let alone us ordinary people. Rather than letting your mood deteriorate so much that you actually run away from home, you might as well just take a good, proper rest."
Bai Yi glanced at Jiang Xion, then said in a small voice,
"Then what about the breach of contract fees? That is a huge sum of money, right? We probably can''t afford to pay it, can we?"
"That''s right, we can''t afford it."
"Then why are you even talking about it!"
Hearing his blunt agreement, Bai Yi angrily chucked a plush doll from her desk at him. Jiang Xion easily caught it with one hand.
"Don''t be so rigid and stubborn... What I mean is, after you finish all your current ongoing projects, we will simply take on fewer jobs going forward.
"Life is long, Yiyi. You need to go to school more, spend more time with your classmates, and read more books. Even if your grades aren''t great, it doesn''t matter; you still need to expose yourself to more perspectives and viewpoints.
"Then, once your schedule frees up, you can spend time doing the things you truly love."
The middle-aged man in front of her toyed with the plush doll in his hand for a moment before tossing it gently back to her.
"Our family isn''t overly wealthy, but we aren''t poor either. Thinking of the worst-case scenario, even if you achieve absolutely nothing, you certainly won''t starve to death. So relax a bit, and be a little braver."
Bai Yi caught the doll instinctively, but she simply stared at Jiang Xion, unable to say a single word for the longest time.
It wasn''t until quite a while had passed that Zuo Jiangqin''s voice rang out from upstairs.
"What are you doing down there? Go take a shower immediately! Wash up and come up to sleep right now!!"
Bai Yi blinked upon hearing her mother''s voice, while Jiang Xion''s back slightly gave out under Zuo Jiangqin''s aggressive, overbearing aura.
Soon after, a layer of cold sweat broke out across his face.
Clearly, that shout seemed to be the rallying horn for a certain kind of nighttime activity.
Jiang Xion reached out, tremblingly carrying the chair back to its original spot, and shot Bai Yi a helpless smile.
"I''m going to bed then. You should rest early too, okay?"
"Mhm, Uncle Jiang."
Bai Yi nodded, watching as Jiang Xion left the room and closed the door behind him.
''Be a little braver...''
Bai Yi turned to look at her phone, where the profile interface of a user named "Huan" remained displayed on the screen.
Pouting, she extended her finger and pressed down on the "Add Friend" option.
A light tap, and then—
"Friend request sent!"
''It worked!''
Bai Yi nervously held up her phone, staring at the contact request waiting for the other party''s approval. Her heartbeat rapidly began to accelerate.
''Will he accept it?''
''Or...''
''Will he reject it?''
Clutching the phone with both hands, she threw herself onto her bed, staring nervously at the glowing screen.
One minute passed...
Five minutes passed...
''Ahaha, he might just be busy, so he hasn''t seen it yet, right?''
''I''ll just scroll through some short videos for a bit. It''s fine.''
Bai Yi opened her short-video platform and began scrolling through her feed.
However, after every few videos, she would switch back to Plane running in the background to double-check if the other party had accepted her request yet.
Every single time, the answer was exactly the same.
''He hasn''t!!''
''So why in the world did I even send that friend request in the first place?!''
''Is there seriously no option to unsend it?!''
Her face burning red, Bai Yi began rolling around wildly on her bed again, the very picture of absolute frustration and regret.
One moment of bravery had earned her an entire night of crippling introversion.
Little did she know, at that exact moment, Yan Huan hadn''t even seen the friend request she sent him.
In his eyes, there was only studying!
At that same exact moment, in Linmen''s South Ward, at the Ballad tavern.
The main doors of the tavern were tightly shut. Not only was a "Closed for the Day" sign hanging on the outside handle, but even the interior metal roller shutters had been completely pulled down.
As a result, the situation inside was utterly completely isolated from the outside world''s prying eyes.
"Yingying, you have to help us!"
A sizable crowd had gathered inside the closed tavern. Quite a few burly, muscular men sporting wing tattoos were looking mockingly at the two severely injured men kneeling in the very center of the room.
These two men bore obvious knife wounds and burns, looking like they were in critical condition. Yet, they seemed completely oblivious to their own agonizing pain, their eyes fixed desperately forward.
Directly ahead of them, lounging on a sofa, sat a red-haired woman dressed in a short black T-shirt and denim jeans. Her eyes were dull and listless as she scrutinized the two kneeling figures before her.
Inside the tavern, aside from the burly muscle, there were also several gorgeous women with curvaceous figures dressed in fur coats and tight cheongsams, their every graceful movement accompanied by wafts of intoxicating perfume.
Smoking cigarettes and holding wine glasses, they rested their chins in their hands, giggling cheerfully as they observed the unfolding scene.
Tong Yingying remained completely silent. Instead, one of the burly men nearby chuckled coldly and cursed at them,
"Hey, you don''t even have the respect to address her as Sister Tong, and you still expect her help? Do you have no clue about the rules?"
"Sister Tong, Sister Tong..."
One of the kneeling men belatedly corrected himself, shuffling a short distance forward on his knees toward Tong Yingying.
"You absolutely have to help us. Help us skip town, I''m begging you."
Tong Yingying let out a long sigh and yawned, appearing utterly bored and unbothered.
"...When you guys are making fat stacks of cash and dividing up the profits, you conveniently forget I exist. But now that everything has gone to shit, you suddenly remember how to find me?"
The surrounding muscular thugs burst into raucous laughter, while the beautiful women holding wine glasses elegantly sauntered over, giggling playfully as they spoke to her.
"Sister Tong, you are a highly educated top student, after all. The things we do aren''t exactly clean, so the big bosses just couldn''t bear to see your pristine hands get dirty~"
"They''ve completely screwed the pooch this time. Everyone knows you used to follow Mother Bai, Sister Tong, and all of her extensive connections lie entirely in your hands. Can you see if there is any way to smuggle them out of the city?"
Tong Yingying didn''t reply. She merely pulled out her cigarette case and placed a ladies'' cigarette between her red lips.
Just as she began fumbling for her lighter, a sudden, rapid succession of lighter flints striking echoed out around her.
"..."
Tong Yingying''s beautiful eyes raised slightly. Surrounding her sofa from every possible angle—front, back, left, and right—the cheongsam-clad beauties with wing tattoos had simultaneously sparked their lighters, respectfully leaning in to light her cigarette.
The dense cluster of dancing flames ignited the previously dull, lifeless gaze in Tong Yingying''s eyes, allowing a terrifying, suffocating aura to seep through.
"Sister Tong~"
"Please~"
The fragrant breeze flowing from their delicate hands made the small flames atop the lighters sway and flicker gently.
''No one else would dare to roughly snatch a cigarette right out of my mouth. Only that brat would ever have the nerve to do something like that.''
But after pondering for a moment, Tong Yingying reached up and pulled the unlit cigarette from between her lips herself.
The beauties gathered around her covered their mouths, chuckling lightly as they asked,
"Sister Tong, do you prefer to smoke ours instead?"
"Forget it..."
Tong Yingying breathed out a long sigh, saying helplessly,
"I''m trying to quit smoking."
One by one, the lighters around her were extinguished. None of the women offered any comments, merely continuing to look at Tong Yingying with wide, smiling eyes.
Tong Yingying leaned back against the plush cushions behind her, staring blankly at the two heavily injured men kneeling before her...
Everyone''s gaze slowly shifted to her, seemingly waiting for her ultimate verdict.
Then, they suddenly saw Tong Yingying''s eyes light up. She raised a single index finger and said,
"Ah, I do actually have an idea."
The rest of the crowd instantly wore expressions that clearly spelled ''doomed'', while only the two ignorant outsiders kneeling on the floor remained hopelessly confused.
"Ah... ah?"
They foolishly believed they had finally caught a glimmer of hope, and thus their faces lit up with desperate expectation.
But Tong Yingying just offered them a faint, chilling smile and continued,
"You two do realize that you have messed up extremely badly, right? It isn''t just the Linmen police who have locked onto you; the opposing syndicates are hunting you down too."
"Y-yes... that''s right."
"Well then, I do possess the means to safely smuggle people straight out of Linmen."
"R-really?!"
Tong Yingying rested her chin in her hand, her smile abruptly morphing into something utterly terrifying.
"Yes. However, out of the two of you, only one gets to leave.
"So, you two get to decide amongst yourselves. Who gets to walk out alive?"