The high schooler waved his hands hurriedly. “Of course it’s you. You’re the doctor, I just thought...”
“What you thought doesn’t matter,” the doctor interrupted.
The high schooler fell silent.
The doctor turned to Yue Shi, his tone remaining harsh. “How are you feeling? Any dizziness or nausea?”
Yue Shi shook his head.
“Good enough. You can leave after resting for a bit. Come back to the hospital if you feel any discomfort.” With that, the doctor turned and walked out of the ward.
Standing by the bed, the high schooler scratched his head a bit awkwardly. He introduced himself as Xia Xuanfeng.
“I saw you collapse on the road earlier, so I called an ambulance and had you brought to the hospital.”
“Thank you,” Yue Shi said earnestly.
“It was no big deal, just making an emergency call.” Xia Xuanfeng reached out to rub the snow leopard’s head; the fluffy sensation felt very pleasant.
Yue Shi smiled as well. Even if it was ‘no big deal,’ not everyone was willing to do it.
Was it kindness? Or did he have another motive?
“Could I borrow your phone for a moment?” Yue Shi asked.
Xia Xuanfeng looked troubled. After all, to modern people, a phone was the ultimate privacy.
But after a moment of internal struggle, he took the phone out anyway.
Yue Shi took the phone and looked down to browse through it.
The screen lit up, showing a lock screen wallpaper of an anime image—a child standing on a rooftop at sunset, their shadow stretching long behind them.
He unlocked the screen to find a very clean layout. There were several social apps he didn’t recognize, a browser, a video app, and a few games.
Yue Shi opened the browser and searched for keywords in the search bar, looking for trending topics.
【Experts propose latest suggestion: unmarried and childless youth over thirty must pay 40% of their income as a ‘single tax’ to effectively increase marriage and birth rates.】
【XX Network publishes an article criticizing migrant workers for their ‘malicious wage demands,’ sparking widespread debate: How can demanding wages be malicious?】
【Influencer singer Yin Runa makes her big-screen debut, chasing her dreams in the entertainment industry.】
All sorts of messy information flooded his senses.
The world where the boss of the Deep Blue Route had lived was a small, solitary world. While the environment was pleasant, one could see its end in a single glance.
This world, however, was vast, with many countries and a population of over seven billion. The internet, politics, economy, culture, technology... most of it was similar to the Central Province of the Deep Red Continent.
Day and night, the four seasons, gravitational acceleration, the speed of light—these natural laws were the same as the world outside.
The only thing special was the bullet screen.
At this moment, the sky was clean, with no bullet screens in sight.
Yue Shi wasn’t sure exactly what those bullet screens were. When would they appear? Was he the only one who could see them?
He exited the search page and flipped through the news randomly.
The domestic situation was stable, international relations were delicate, another celebrity had a scandal, and another region had an earthquake.
Everything seemed normal.
Suddenly, a push notification popped up in the status bar at the top of the screen: ‘A stream you follow has gone live.’
Yue Shi clicked directly on it.
It was a gaming stream. The streamer was trashing his own account, and the screen was a chaotic mess of colors, flooded with comments insulting the streamer’s family.
Yue Shi had no interest in games and swiped away.
The next stream was an influencer who was good at singing, dancing, and rapping, performing Kun songs live.
The one after that was a promotion for Tomato audio novels.
The one after that...
Yue Shi handed the phone back to Xia Xuanfeng. “By the way, how much was my medical fee?”
Xia Xuanfeng recited a number; it wasn’t too high.
Yue Shi pulled back the blanket and got off the bed. “I’m being discharged immediately.”
Xia Xuanfeng was stunned. “Shouldn’t you stay for a few more days of observation? I thought your injuries looked very serious.”
“No money,” Yue Shi said bluntly.
He was an undocumented resident who had traveled here. He had no currency, ID card, or bank card for this world.
He did have plenty of gold and jewelry gathering dust in his storage, but he wasn’t sure if he could use them yet.
The Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop was too strange, and this world was strange as well. Before getting a handle on the situation, Yue Shi decided to play it safe and refrain from stirring up trouble for now.
Who knew if there were hidden masters in this world?
Xia Xuanfeng looked at Yue Shi and hesitated. “I have money. You don’t need to worry about the cost.”
Yue Shi was shocked and studied Xia Xuanfeng seriously.
The sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth had a striking appearance, and his expression was open and honest, making his character seem quite respectable as well.
Yue Shi had seen many types of kindness—genuine, fake, born of interest, or done on a whim.
Xia Xuanfeng’s didn’t seem fake.
But that only made it more suspicious!
“Really? Are you just a truly good man?” Yue Shi asked.
“Of course I am,” Xia Xuanfeng replied with a bright, sunny smile.
Yue Shi sighed. “I’m still choosing to be discharged.”
Xia Xuanfeng was confused. “Why?”
Yue Shi said, “Unsolicited kindness hides a malicious motive.”
Xia Xuanfeng’s smile faltered slightly, but the corners of his mouth remained upturned. “Discharging is fine, then. The doctors in this hospital don’t look very professional anyway.”
Yue Shi nodded. “Although I don’t know your goal, I judge by actions, not intent. I only hope you don’t regret this in the future.”
Lending a hand to a great villain rarely led to a good end.
“I do good deeds without seeking anything in return, and I won’t regret it,” Xia Xuanfeng said, beaming with a smile.
“Let’s go, I’ll help you with the discharge. You don’t have a cent on you and probably nowhere to stay. Why not come to my house?”
...
Xia Xuanfeng lived in an old residential compound.
It was on the sixth floor with no elevator. The stairs were narrow, the walls were covered in small advertisements, and the sound-activated lights were slow to respond, requiring a heavy stomp on every floor.
Xia Xuanfeng walked ahead, chattering away. “This building is a bit old, but it’s quiet. The neighbors are all respectable people, except for one old man with dementia who shouts every day that he just turned eighteen.”
Yue Shi followed behind with the snow leopard perched on his shoulder, listening to Xia Xuanfeng ramble.
When they reached the sixth floor, Xia Xuanfeng took out his keys and opened the door.
Inside was a small living room, kept very clean. There were a few throw pillows on the sofa, a half-finished bottle of cola on the coffee table, and two funeral portraits beside the TV cabinet.
Xia Xuanfeng’s parents were dead; he was an orphan.
The more Yue Shi looked at him, the more extraordinary he seemed. This was damn near a protagonist template!
Xia Xuanfeng felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze. “What are you staring at?”
Yue Shi said seriously, “You’re just a high schooler. Your parents died early, and this house and money are the inheritance they left you. Yet you were willing to cover the medical fees for a stranger?”
Xia Xuanfeng set his schoolbag on the sofa and turned around. “Money is just a material thing. Life is what’s truly precious.”
“Looking at you now, you probably don’t have a single cent. Why not just stay at my place for now? It’s plenty big anyway.”
Yue Shi wore a look of confusion. He did not believe in unprovoked kindness.
Two people who had just met—one covers the medical fees for the other and even invites him to stay at his home.
Either Xia Xuanfeng was a super invincible good man, or Xia Xuanfeng wanted to get something from him.
Yue Shi believed more in the latter.
Rate on N.U.
