Fortunately, the whip hadn’t hit a vital spot—it was just a surface wound that bled a little. After some bandaging, it was mostly fine. Gu Xing found an ice pack and tossed it to Xu Yizhou before sitting down beside him.
“This time, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have taken you to Sin.”
Xu Yizhou held the ice pack against his swollen face, surprised to hear Gu Xing apologize so sincerely for once. After coming out, he only had two thoughts: At least I survived. And I’m never going back to that damn place again. It was terrifying.
“Instead of apologizing, you should probably think about how I’m going to explain this to my brother when I get home.”
Since childhood, Wen Jiang couldn’t stand to see him get bullied. If anyone hit Xu Yizhou, Wen Jiang would always retaliate. So even though Wen Jiang had always been the top student, he was also the one no one dared to provoke. If Wen Jiang saw these injuries, he’d definitely dig for answers. And that wasn’t even the worst part—if Wen Jiang found out he’d gone to a place like that, he’d probably get another beating just for that.
Thinking about it made Xu Yizhou’s butt ache. Gu Xing shot him a disdainful look.
“Always ‘brother this, brother that’—people who don’t know better would think you’re a brother-obsessed weirdo!”
“By the way, you’re already twenty. Why are you still living with your brother?”
“It’s just that housing prices are too damn high. I can’t afford my own place.”
The property prices in City A were beyond his reach in this lifetime. Forget buying—even renting somewhere close to the studio was a struggle. Gu Xing thought for a moment, then looked at Xu Yizhou with a serious expression.
“Bro, if you’re really tight on cash, you can come to me. I’ve got money.”
“Honestly, your brother is in his mid-twenties now. If he brings home a girlfriend one day, it’ll be awkward for you to still be living there. You might even feel forced to move out.”
Gu Xing’s words struck a chord with Xu Yizhou. He really hadn’t considered any of this before. In his mind, Wen Jiang would never leave him, and he’d never had a girlfriend.
So he’d never made such assumptions. But what Gu Xing said did make sense.
“Yeah, you’re right. I guess I should start preparing to move out of Wen Jiang’s place.”
“So, finding a place to live is now your responsibility.”
Xu Yizhou shifted the topic abruptly, smiling at Gu Xing, but the movement tugged at the muscles in his face, making him wince in pain.
“You really are my ancestor,” Gu Xing couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“Fine, fine. To make up for this mess, I’ll help you look.”
“Hmm…”
For some reason, the thought of moving out of Wen Jiang’s home made Xu Yizhou feel a little reluctant. He remembered what that person A had said back in Sin. That he liked Wen Jiang.
And if he connected that with the feelings he was experiencing now… Xu Yizhou didn’t dare to think about it.
Gu Xing dropped him off at home and left. When Xu Yizhou entered, a light was left on in the living room, but Wen Jiang wasn’t there. The cautious Xu Yizhou couldn’t help but sigh in relief. Assuming Wen Jiang had probably gone to bed early, Xu Yizhou tiptoed upstairs, covering his face with his hand.
The harrowing day finally came to an end when he safely reached his room. Thinking about the injuries on his face and waist, Xu Yizhou took out his phone and asked Su Fei for a few days off, promising to complete his voice-acting tasks from home during that time.
Although Su Fei scolded him a little, she agreed. Too much had happened that day. As Xu Yizhou lay there thinking, he drifted off to sleep. In the room on the other side of the hallway, the dim glow of a desk lamp illuminated only a small corner of the space.
Wen Jiang sat on the edge of the bed, bare-chested, struggling to tie the bandages around his body. Sweat had long since beaded on his forehead, and the veins on his temples were visibly bulging.
The bandages were wrapped tightly around his entire upper body, with some areas on his back stained red with blood. In the dim light, his phone on the bedside table buzzed once, its screen automatically lighting up. With some difficulty, he reached over, picked up the phone, and swiped to check the message, only to frown involuntarily.
The next day. Xu Yizhou had taken the day off, so he slept in a little later. As soon as he stepped out of his room, he heard voices coming from the living room. A man and a woman were talking. And it sounded like they were arguing, with both parties speaking in harsh tones.
Xu Yizhou hurried to the staircase and glanced down. He saw Zhou Yuan sitting on the sofa, with Wen Jiang seated opposite her. Seeing that his mother had arrived, Xu Yizhou was about to rush downstairs, but he hesitated when he remembered his face, swollen like a steamed bun, and forced himself to stop in his tracks.
“Our family has helped you so much, and Zhouzhou treats you like his own brother. What’s wrong with asking you to buy him an apartment?”
Zhou Yuan’s voice was sharp when she was angry, clearly reaching his ears. Even Xu Yizhou couldn’t help but frown at her words. He heard Wen Jiang patiently explaining to Zhou Yuan,
“Aunt Zhou, you know Zhouzhou best. You should understand that he wouldn’t want such an apartment…”
Wen Jiang’s voice sounded weak, and Xu Yizhou wondered if he was hearing things.
Before Wen Jiang could finish, Zhou Yuan interrupted him, “I think you just don’t want to buy it. What an ungrateful person, after all our family has done for you.”
In Xu Yizhou’s memory, Zhou Yuan had always been a loving mother, especially kind to Wen Jiang. He had never imagined such harsh words would come from Zhou Yuan’s mouth, especially directed at Wen Jiang. Zhou Yuan stood her ground, arms crossed, looking at Wen Jiang with disdain and speaking sarcastically,
“Oh, now that you’ve grown up and made money, you’re trying to cut ties with us, aren’t you?”
Xu Yizhou clenched his fists as he listened from upstairs, unable to understand why Zhou Yuan would speak to Wen Jiang like that. But then he heard Wen Jiang say,
“Fine, I’ll buy it for him.”
At this point, Xu Yizhou couldn’t stay put any longer. He made his way downstairs, albeit with some difficulty and haste.
“Mom, what are you doing? How can you ask Brother to buy me an apartment?”
Although he didn’t deny that Wen Jiang had the means to do so, Zhou Yuan’s attitude toward Wen Jiang shocked him even more.
He could feel both of their gazes fixed on him.
“Sweetheart, what happened to your face?”
Zhou Yuan immediately stood up, cupping his face in her hands, her eyes filled with concern as she examined his swollen cheek. He didn’t need to think hard to know how obvious the swelling was.
“Wen Jiang, he’s your brother. How could you hit him?”
When Zhou Yuan turned to Wen Jiang, the concern on her face visibly shifted to disgust and aggression. Without even asking for details, she immediately blamed Wen Jiang.
“Mom, Brother didn’t hit me. And we were talking about what you just said—don’t change the subject.”
Xu Yizhou frowned, feeling that this version of Zhou Yuan was somewhat unfamiliar to him.
“Why are you asking Brother to buy me an apartment?”
“Mom just thought that you’re not getting any younger. If you take a liking to a girl, not having your own place might make her look down on you.”
Zhou Yuan held Xu Yizhou’s hand, wearing an expression that said,
“I’m doing this for your own good.”