We must not let someone like Qin Yang ruin her pride, her dreams, her...everything.
Jian Changnian caught a glimpse of a cleaner's broom by the wall out of the corner of her eye. Without thinking, she grabbed it and rushed over.
"Let her go!!!"
Jian Changnian opened her mouth, but before she could utter a sound, someone stole her line. A speeding electric scooter, honking its horn frantically, whizzed past her and crashed into someone who was holding Xie Shi'an down.
Cheng Zhen rode his electric scooter like a motorcycle, weaving left and right through the narrow alleys, forcing back the people around Xie Shi'an.
Encouraged, Jian Changnian roared and charged forward, brandishing his broom. After all, being longer meant being stronger, and for a moment no one dared to get close to them.
"It's just one person, what's there to be afraid of? Beat him up!"
At Qin Yang's command, more people tried to rush forward. Cheng Zhen threw down her electric bike and swept across a large area. Jian Changnian took the opportunity to help the person up. As soon as her hand touched Xie Shi'an's shoulder, Xie Shi'an groaned and turned pale.
"You...you...are you alright?!" Jian Changnian was so frightened that she couldn't even speak clearly.
Xie Shi'an struggled to his feet, clutching his shoulder: "I'll be fine as long as you don't touch me."
In the distance, sirens blared, and lights flickered at the alley entrance.
"Brother, brother, the police are here! Let's go!"
Qin Yang spat on the ground: "Pah, you're lucky to be alive today. Just you wait and see."
After saying that, the group threw down the iron bars and ran in the opposite direction.
When the police arrived, they took a quick statement and, seeing that the women had injuries, took them to the hospital entrance.
Before getting off the bus, Jian Changnian turned back and asked, "Officer, when will you catch them?"
"It could take three to five days, or up to a month. We'll follow up with you once we catch them."
Cheng Zhen patted her shoulder: "Let's go, Shi'an's injury is more important."
Upon hearing the news, Qiao Yuchu disregarded the doctor's orders and waited for them at the entrance of the emergency department early in the morning. As soon as they arrived, she rushed over and hugged Xie Shi'an.
"Thank goodness... I'm so glad you're alright... You scared me to death..."
Xie Shi'an stumbled from the impact, bumping his arm and letting out a soft hiss.
Qiao Yuchu quickly let go of her. Seeing her clutching her shoulder and looking pale, her eyes reddened: "How could they... how could they do this! Doctor, doctor, please go in and let the doctor examine her properly!"
She pushed the person into the examination room. The doctor left the door slightly ajar, then drew the curtain to block all view.
The three people sat down on a bench in the corridor.
Seeing that she also had a bruised and swollen face, Qiao Yuchu asked with concern, "How are you? If it weren't for you tonight, I really can't imagine what Shi'an would have gone through. Thank you, Chang Nian."
When someone thanked her so sincerely, Jian Changnian smiled a little embarrassedly, which aggravated the wound on her face, causing her to grimace.
"No...it's nothing...just superficial injuries."
"That won't do. After Shi'an finishes his examination, you need to have the doctor take a look at you too."
As the two were talking, the doctor pushed open the door and came out.
"The patient is fine, no bones are broken, just a twist. He should rest well for the next few days and avoid doing any heavy work."
Qiao Yuchu quickly stood up and repeatedly agreed.
"By the way, I see you're all students, right? Where are your guardians? They need to come over and sign something."
Qiao Yuchu was about to say, "I'm her older sister..."
Before he finished speaking, Xie Shi'an lifted the curtain and came out. Because he was there for a check-up, he was wearing a coat and his face was as expressionless as usual.
"I'm an adult, I'll sign it."
"Doctor, doctor, take a look at her too." Qiao Yuchu saw that it was nothing to say, and since there weren't many people in the emergency room at the moment, she pushed Jian Changnian in as well.
"Is it Qin Yang?" Qiao Yuchu asked as the two sat on the bench waiting for Jian Chang to read it out.
Xie Shi'an nodded: "Mm."
Qiao Yuchu was also seething with hatred: "So what if you beat him? Is it necessary to be so ruthless and try to kill him?"
"We've already called the police, so they probably won't cause us any trouble for the time being."
"Don't go anywhere during this time. Just stay at the training base and take good care of your health."
Xie Shi'an smiled slightly: "I'm really fine. But you, aren't you going back to your room?"
Compared to Qiao Yuchu's head injury, hers was just a superficial wound.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear; the nurses also came to shoo people away.
"Ms. Qiao, our hospital has regulations that prohibit patients from wandering around."
Qiao Yuchu had no choice but to get up: "Alright then, I'll go back first. Are you going home later or..."
Xie Shi'an: "I'm going home."
While the two were talking, Jian Changnian finished her examination and came out.
"Um...how much is it? I'll pay later..."
Cheng Zhen just came from the payment counter: "Hey, it's only a few dozen or a hundred yuan, forget about it. You're the one who saved our Shi'an's life, don't mention this little bit of money..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xie Shi'an kicked him.
"shut your mouth."
Qiao Yuchu couldn't help but chuckle: "Alright, I'll head back to my room now. It's getting late, you should all go back and rest too."
As the group left the hospital, Jian Changnian lagged behind. She glanced at the clock on the hospital wall; it was already past midnight.
The last bus had long since stopped running by now. She checked her pockets and found she only had four yuan for the fare. Jian Changnian bit her lip, pondering where she should spend the night.
Xie Shi'an stopped and turned to look at her.
"Come to my house."
Chapter 20 Going Home
Xie Shi'an's home is located in an old residential area. In earlier years, it was considered a prime location in the city. However, with urban planning and development, the city center has moved, and this land has become worthless.
The demolition was supposed to happen, but after five or six years of eager anticipation, it never happened. As a result, some people moved, some sold their houses, most of the shops downstairs in the community were closed, and the few shops that were open had "For Rent" signs posted on them. Only a handful of lights were on in the residential buildings.
Xie Shi'an stopped at the only food stall at the entrance of the community: "Two bowls of rice noodles to go, one extra spicy and one less spicy."
The stall owner was a woman in her fifties. She recognized the voice and looked up to see Xie Shi'an.
The aunt smiled and gave them an extra half bowl of noodles.
"Isn't this Xiao An? It's been so long since you've been back."
Xiao An.
This is the first time I've heard someone call her that.
Jian Changnian curiously peeked out and saw that Xie Shi'an's face was expressionless, but there was a hint of a smile in his eyes.
"Yes, I've been in intensive training lately. Are you still driving?"
The last time she came back to pick up her things was half a year ago. The surroundings were deserted and quiet, even the supermarket was closed. The auntie wasn't setting up her stall then either, so she always thought she had moved away.
While the noodles were still cooking in the pot, the auntie deftly added various seasonings to the disposable lunch boxes.
"Sigh, we've been closed for a while but we can't stay idle. Besides, having something to do is better than nothing. And although it's not as lively as before, old residents still come to buy things occasionally. They're used to this kind of thing."
That's true. Xie Shi'an grew up eating spicy noodles, rice noodles, glutinous rice balls, dumplings, wontons, fried noodles, and fried rice vermicelli from this restaurant.
Although the auntie is getting older and has limited energy, she has fewer options and now only sells spicy rice noodles, but the taste is still exactly the same as before.
Jian Changnian's mouth watered at the smell, and since she hadn't eaten dinner, her stomach rumbled at an inopportune moment.
Are you hungry? It'll be ready in a minute.
The aunt smiled, put the cooked noodles into bowls, poured on the broth, sprinkled on chopped green onions and cilantro, and then took a braised egg from the pot of gravy and put it in a plastic bag for each of them.
"Here you go, this is the first time I've seen Xiao An bring other friends home. Here's an egg for you, you're growing up, you can't go hungry so late at night."
Xie Shi'an insisted on giving her money, but the aunt insisted on only accepting payment for the rice noodles. The two pushed and shoved each other, but in the end, Xie Shi'an couldn't persuade her otherwise and only put ten yuan into the box.
"No need, oh dear, really no need, go back now."
Seeing that she was carrying two lunch boxes in her left hand, Jian Changnian quickly ran up to her and took them from her.
"I'll do it."
Xie Shi'an did not refuse, and the two walked one after the other.
The few streetlights in the neighborhood flickered, but fortunately the moon was bright enough tonight to see the road clearly, and Jian Changnian followed her step by step.
"Are you close to the auntie who sells spicy noodles?"
Xie Shi'an gave a faint "hmm".
"I used to eat there often."
"Do you live alone?" Jian Changnian asked curiously.
Xie Shi'an silently pushed open the door of the apartment building. The old and dilapidated security door made a dull creaking sound, and the motion-activated light turned on in response, startling Jian Changnian. She looked up and saw that all the floors above were lit up.
She couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, so high-class!"
Xie Shi'an walked ahead: "Voice-activated lights, you've never seen them before?"
Jian Changnian shook his head: "In the countryside, there are only those low-wattage, dim, yellowish light bulbs."
Xie Shi'an didn't say anything more, and walked silently. After climbing one flight of stairs, one of the motion-activated lights went out. He continued until he reached the sixth floor. The moment he opened his door, all the lights in the building quietly went out.
It wasn't until much later that Jian Changnian learned that the motion-activated light in Xie Shi'an's building was specially installed for her by her grandfather. When Xie Shi'an was little, she was afraid of the dark and would not dare to go upstairs if she came home late from playing alone.
Back then, the lights in the hallway had touch switches, which she couldn't reach. Even if she managed to jump up and reach them, the lights would often go out halfway through.
Little Xie Shi'an could only stand downstairs and shout for her grandfather to come down and pick her up. Her grandfather was old and sometimes couldn't hear her, so he would make her wait downstairs for a long time. So her grandfather asked the neighbors for their opinions and asked someone to install motion-activated lights for the whole building. After all, it was a good thing for everyone and no one objected.
From then on, whenever Xie Shi'an returned home, or when she was afraid of the dark, all she had to do was call out "Grandpa," and all the light in the world would rush towards her.
Later, Xie Shi'an grew up and was no longer afraid of the dark. The light was still on, but his grandfather was gone.
***