In the car, Lin Zhuo looked at the unconscious Fu Baizhou and still could not help but sigh to himself that he was insanely handsome.
His facial features were refined and three-dimensional, and his jawline—what was that saying again? was sharper and clearer than his own life plans.
“Aunt, where are we going?” Lin Zhuo was more worried about his immediate survival.
Since he had chosen to stay in this world, he needed to plan for the long term. He certainly could not end up living like a homeless person.
“I have a vacant house. You and your friend can go stay there for a while.” Her gaze drifted to Fu Baizhou, who looked heavily injured, and she asked, “Does your friend not need to go to the hospital?”
As soon as her voice trailed off, the car braked sharply ahead. Fu Baizhou’s head banged against the car door, and Lin Zhuo’s heart skipped a beat as he hurriedly reached out to steady him.
A bump visibly swelled on Fu Baizhou’s forehead, and his wound split open once more. Lin Zhuo said, “It looks like we are heading to the hospital after all.”
Before going to the hospital, Lin Zhuo had asked the system. Fortunately, although Fu Baizhou was an unidentified entity, his human anatomy was similar enough to an ordinary human, so at least he would not be captured and taken away for research.
Watching Fu Baizhou being wheeled into the operating room, Lin Zhuo stood at the entrance with two burly bodyguards beside him.
An Wan went to pay the hospital bills and returned after nearly ten minutes.
“Don’t worry, everything will be fine.” As an elder, An Wan comforted Lin Zhuo and motioned for him to set his mind at ease.
Lin Zhuo was not particularly worried; instead, he was quite curious. He had helped Fu Baizhou, but Fu Baizhou had still died. Would he still return to that same time node?
However, given Fu Baizhou’s sheer vitality, making him die really seemed quite difficult.
When the nurse pushed Fu Baizhou out, she instructed the two of them, “The patient’s condition is a bit complicated. The doctor says that if he makes it through tonight, he should be mostly out of danger.”
“Okay, thank you,” Lin Zhuo said, and the nurse pushed Fu Baizhou toward a ward.
After all this commotion, Lin Zhuo was also tired. Upon learning about Fu Baizhou’s condition, he turned to An Wan and said, “Aunt, I really troubled you today. The doctor said he won’t be in the clear until he gets through tonight, so I plan to stay at the hospital to keep watch. If you don’t have anything else to do, Aunt, you can head back first.”
Lin Zhuo was practically an orphan in the real world. His parents had abandoned him before he could form any memories, and an elderly scavenger woman had picked him up and raised him.
Now, under the system’s manipulation, he suddenly gained an aunt. Aside from feeling unaccustomed to it, he also felt a little pleasantly surprised.
An Wan pondered for a few seconds and nodded. “I have a business dinner tonight, Xiaozhuo. If you run into anything you cannot handle, remember to contact me.”
Lin Zhuo smiled and said, “Okay, Aunt.”
When he smiled, two pearled dimples appeared at the corners of his lips, and his curved eyes looked like crescent moons.
After An Wan left, Lin Zhuo walked outside the ward and looked through the glass door at the man on the hospital bed.
Lin Zhuo did not know why Fu Baizhou wanted to destroy this world, so he could only take things one step at a time.
He stretched his back and pushed open the ward door.
The VIP ward arranged by An Wan was completely free of the smell of disinfectant, replaced instead by a faint, pleasant fragrance.
Before he could even sit down, the door was suddenly knocked.
Lin Zhuo walked out and found that it was An Wan’s bodyguard, who was holding a paper bag in his hand.
He said, “This is prepared for you by President An.”
“Thank you,” Lin Zhuo said politely, taking the items.
The bodyguard handed over a bank card as well. After telling Lin Zhuo the password, he left without staying.
Lin Zhuo put away the bank card and closed the door.
The bag contained a clean set of clothes, including underwear and socks.
The VIP ward had a water heater. Lin Zhuo glanced at Fu Baizhou, whose eyes were tightly shut on the hospital bed, and then briskly stripped off his damp upper garments.
Whether it was due to his biological parents’ genetics or a lack of proper nutrition during puberty, his height was only one meter seventy-three.
During those years, in order to grow taller, he often played basketball under the sun. The result was that he did not grow taller, but he got several shades darker.
It was only later when he went to college and stayed out of the sun that his skin gradually returned to white.
Lin Zhuo carried the bag into the bathroom. Above the washbasin was a mirror, reflecting his face and upper body.
His pale, boiled-chicken-like physique possessed zero muscle definition, and even though he occasionally went to the gym to lift weights after work, his build remained unchanged.
After adjusting the water temperature, he took off his pants and suddenly felt a chilling sensation behind him, as if a pair of eyes hidden in the dark was watching him.
Lin Zhuo looked back, but behind him was empty space with nothing there.
“System, is there a surveillance camera in the bathroom?”
[No.]
Then he must have been overthinking it.
Lin Zhuo stood beneath the shower heater as the water temperature felt just right.
The lingering fatigue was washed away, and his body temperature gradually rose.
After showering, Lin Zhuo put on the clothes An Wan had prepared for him.
The fabric was soft, comfortable, and fit him just right.
After drying his hair, he spun around twice in front of the mirror.
His aunt had a much better eye for style than he did.
Lin Zhuo let out a yawn and walked out of the bathroom. Overwhelmed by a wave of drowsiness, he ignored his rumbling stomach, collapsed onto the bed, and fell fast asleep.
In his dream, he felt his face grow very wet and sticky. He lazily swiped at it with his hand, rolled over, and continued sleeping.
Right beside his ear, a low, persistent voice tinged with obsession sounded, “I finally found you.”
Found your grandpa.
Lin Zhuo’s brows furrowed slightly. When his entire body was wrapped up, it felt as though he were experiencing sleep paralysis, completely unable to move.
His heart skipped a beat, and he jolted awake from his dream.
The night was quiet.
He panted heavily, a thin layer of sweat slicking his back.
The room was kept warm with adequate heating. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and shifted his gaze toward the window. The sky outside had turned completely dark.
Pulling his gaze back, he saw Fu Baizhou lying peacefully on the bed.
Filtered through the light leaking in from the window outside, Fu Baizhou took on a slightly mysterious aura.
After steadying his heart rate, he turned on the light, slipped into his slippers, and walked over to the window.
Downstairs, only a few people were wandering about, and the neon lights formed a sharp dividing line against the darkness of the horizon.
“System, what time is it now?”
[Two in the morning. The host has slept for about ten hours.]
Lin Zhuo had not expected to sleep for so long.
Waking up to see the scene before him, his brain was completely dazed.
He still had not fully adjusted to everything that was happening right now.
Rubbing his hollow stomach, he muttered, “I am so hungry, I want to eat.”
[Four hours ago, An Wan brought a thermal food container. It is on the cabinet by the hospital bed.]
Lin Zhuo eagerly walked over and opened the container. When he caught the aroma of the food, tears almost welled up in his eyes.
The food was still warm, and he picked up his chopsticks to feed himself a bite.
The culinary skills of his aunt’s family housekeeper were truly amazing; even restaurants could not cook this well.
After finishing the meal, he said to the system, “I know you were the one who contacted my aunt. Help me say thank you.”
[Host, what about the mission?]
“I will do it well, but I can only say I will do my best.”
He was just an ordinary person; where would he get such grand, supernatural abilities?
[Understood, the message has been sent. Please complete the mission well, host.]
Lin Zhuo stared at the white ceiling, sorting out what he needed to do next.
Should he send Fu Baizhou to a reform school? But if he resisted, would he end up implicating innocent people?
No, wait, he was the most innocent person of all!
After who knows how long, Lin Zhuo got up, preparing to turn off the light and go to sleep. As soon as he stepped out of bed, he caught sight of Fu Baizhou’s opened eyes out of the corner of his eye.
“What the hell, when did you wake up?” Startled, he stumbled and almost fell flat on the floor.
Fu Baizhou’s unblinking pupils looked like a pool of unmelting ink, completely devoid of ripples inside.
Lin Zhuo cautiously walked closer and raised his hand to wave it in front of Fu Baizhou’s eyes.
Fu Baizhou’s gaze remained entirely vacant. After about a minute, he tilted his head slightly and looked at Lin Zhuo.
The gloom shrouding his eyes gradually receded, and abruptly, he called out, “Wife.”