Just around the time when Xia Yan was chatting idly with his roommates, seven abnormal patients had arrived at the provincial hospital. Three of them always ran around, but they would run into walls each time, so the medical staff had to restrain all of them to the beds with bands.
Among the other four, three were struggling with all their might, intending to beat up the other one who they had already beaten into unconsciousness. The man was in a very miserable state as his face had swollen up so badly that it looked like a pig’s, and he also had multiple fractures.
Therefore, the doctors restrained these three severe patients who displayed violent tendencies to the bed too.
After examining them, the doctors were all left flummoxed. Except for the bald man who had got the daylights beaten out of him, the injuries of others were light. Although the three men who kept slamming into walls were in a sorry state, they mostly just had bruises and abrasions. Naturally, they also had concussions.
As for the three who had beaten up the bald man, they appeared psychotic, and that too the aggressive kind.
The probability of three aggressive madmen gathering together was low. So it made the staff wonder how abysmal the bald man’s luck must have been to run into them.
The bald man, Bao, was infamous, so the police had identified him quickly. The police station also had records of his men, so they were all identified soon after. This also left the police perplexed. It made the squad captain speculate whether the motive behind these crooks attacking Bao was to take over his position in Chengdu’s underworld by getting rid of him.
But as it would have been easier to use a blade to do the job rather than hitting Bao, the captain couldn’t arrive at a conclusion regarding the motive. The doctors had also determined that these crooks were mentally ill but also had no traces of drugs in their system, so things made little sense.
While the squad captain was mulling over the case, a subordinate under him had come running over to report, “Captain, we have identified a man among the men who were slamming into walls…”
He wore an odd expression on his face, so the captain barked at him, “Stop skirting around and spill it!”
“He’s called Wen Yipin…”
“Which Wen Yipin? You could identify him with the pig-like condition of the face?” The captain questioned at once, shaking all over.
“He had his ID on him… it’s that Wen Yipin!” The subordinate spoke with utmost certainty.
“Wen family’s Wen Yipin?” Fear had already crept up on the captain’s face.
“Yes, that Wen family’s!” The subordinate’s voice also trembled a little.
“Darn it! This will blow up!” The captain punched his palm, stating in a tiny voice, “Quickly notify the Wen family… No wait, let me inform the bureau chief first!”
The bureau chief blanked out for a few seconds after hearing about this from the captain. He then lambasted him over the phone, “Use all available resources to investigate this case. We must find out what happened. Also, are Wen Yipin’s injuries severe?”
“Other than a mild concussion, the rest are all just superficial wounds. It’s just that he seems to have…”
“Have what?”
“It seems like something has possessed him and two others. They cannot walk properly and keep slamming into walls!”
“Did they go insane?”
“It doesn’t appear as if they have…”
“Just what the… it doesn’t matter. I will notify the Wen family and leave it to them to deal with!” The bureau chief hung the call.
In a sumptuous mansion to the west of the city, the eyes of a bigshot who could shake Sihe province to the core with a single word revealed an inkling of worry as he ended the call gloomily.
“What happened, Yuanzheng?” A stout woman wearing a facial mask descended from the stairs and questioned him, feeling astounded after seeing his expression.
“What else, it’s that son of yours…”
“Yipin caused trouble again?” The stout woman furrowed her brows, but then recalled she had applied a facial mask, so she re-assumed an expressionless look, “Although Yipin acts a bit unreasonably, he’s still young. He will gain some sensibility after he grows older, so don’t be too harsh on him…”
“You think 23 is still young?” Wen Yuanzheng screamed at her, “If it weren’t for me handling it, this little bastard would have been rotting in prison already!”
“What are you screaming for? Tell what happened to Yipin first,” the stout woman retorted resentfully.
“He got hospitalized after getting injured,” Wen Yuanzheng straightened out his clothes and walked towards the exit, “I still have a meeting to attend. You can go to the hospital yourself, right?”
“Wen Yuanzheng, you unfeeling bastard! Your son got hurt, and you don’t even go to see him?!” The stout woman pulled off the facial mask and threw it to the floor in a rage. She then went upstairs to wash her face and change into outerwear.
Wen Yuanzheng had no plans to go as his son’s injuries weren’t that serious. It was also because his son had also associated himself with an infamous crook like Bao. As the respected deputy governor of Sihe province, there was no chance he would make a visit to him. Either way, since all the reports would arrive at his desk, it was the same whether or not he went.
It was just that the description from the police about his son slamming into walls like a possessed person confounded him.
After getting into his car and pondering over it for a moment, Wen Yuanzheng made a call, “Secretary Zhang. Go to the Fengshui street, and request Master Zhang to make a trip to the provincial hospital. Look over it personally…”
☠☠☠
The military training began the next day. The freshmen of the history department’s 2nd class, which Xia Yan belonged to, felt surprised when they discovered Qi Ziyu standing alongside them in camouflage clothes.
They had seen Qi Ziyu on television before, so they were familiar with this super famous pop star. But it was their first time seeing her without makeup.
“She’s really a born beauty. Even without the makeup, she’s still a ten for me!” Zhao Qiang’s pimpled face flushed up because of the excitement.
“I wasn’t expecting Qi Ziyu to take part in the military training too. Is she not afraid of getting tanned?” Qin Jian couldn’t take his eyes off Qi Ziyu, who the girls had surrounded.
“Even if she gets tanned, she will still be my goddess!” Zhao Qiang stated, “My goddess is not shallow like the other stars!”
Just like everyone, Xia Yan also paid attention to Qi Ziyu as she really stood out from the masses and possessed a picturesque beauty. Although she was a superstar, she didn’t treat people with arrogance and hit it off really well with the freshwomen. Occasionally, she would let out a peal of laughter that sounded just like tinkling bells. In less than five minutes, everyone had accepted her.
Although it might just be a misconception on his end, Xia Yan felt that Qi Ziyu had glanced a few times towards him. [I wonder what she is looking at. Could it be me?] He laughed mockingly. [That’s impossible!]
The military instructor had also lined up to get Qi Ziyu’s signature and even organized the group lining up there. During his turn to get the signature, the instructor appeared no different from a fan meeting his idol. However, that young military instructor who had just reached his twenties, transformed into a devil when the training formally began. He then issued a series of marching commands which left the students dead tired.
As Xia Yan had done farm work for years, this amount of effort was nothing to him, so he breezed through it.
Astonishingly, a delicate superstar like Qi Ziyu had shown remarkable performance with her movements too. She even stood at attention perfectly when commanded.
As expected, the instructor chose Xia Yan and Qi Ziyu as the pacesetters. When they stood alongside each other at the front of the line, Xia Yan saw Qi Ziyu smile at him.
[Huh, was she really looking at me before?]
When the break time arrived, Xia Yan was about to return to the boys’ group, but he saw Qi Ziyu approach him, “Hello, Xia Yan!”
“You know me?” Xia Yan asked in amazement.
“Didn’t the instructor call out your name just now? Hehe!” Qi Ziyu reached in front of him and giggled.
“Haha, I forgot about it!” Xia Yan ruffled his hair while blushing.
As they stood face to face now, Xia Yan discovered Qi Ziyu was very tall. Her line of sight matched with the tip of his nose, so she was at least 175 cm tall, which was undoubtedly the perfect height for a model.
Qi Ziyu had some baby fat on her face, so she didn’t resemble those stars who had undergone plastic surgery and had sharp chins. She had a very natural and cute appearance, which was also the reason she had become the idol of the younger generation, and an absolute virgin killer.
“I am Qi Ziyu, it’s nice to meet you!” Qi Ziyu extended her hand with a smile on her face.
“Nice to meet you too,” Xia Yan shook hands with her and almost felt like never letting her soft hand go.
“Oooohhhh, quickly look over there!” Qin Jian shook Zhao Qiang desperately.
Zhao Qiang was drinking water, so it had almost come out of his nose after getting shaken so much. He raged out, “You… damn it, when did Xia Yan hook up with Qi Ziyu?”
“Hook up my foot! Don’t taint my goddess!” Qin Jian glared at him, “Did you not see? Qi Ziyu approached him and even offered a handshake!”
“Xia Yan, this guy… hid too deeply!” Zhao Qiang stated woefully, “Just what has happened out of my awareness that it led to Qi Ziyu approaching him?”
The other classmates had also witnessed this scene. The boys burned with jealousy while the girls also checked Xia Yan out, trying to figure out what was so special about him that had made Qi Ziyu approach him.
A class nearby to them was standing at attention right around this moment. The eyes of the boys in that class opened wide instantly, almost popping out of their sockets when they saw Qi Ziyu shake hands with Xia Yan from the corner of their eyes. As they had turned their heads to look over there, the instructor called them out to perform push-ups.
Xia Yan noticed that he had become the center of attention and felt elated. [Looks like I have charm after all!]
“Xia Yan, it seems like you haven’t sweat at all?” Qi Ziyu stated softly as she raised her head slightly to peer at Xia Yan’s face.
“Haha, I just have that kind of constitution, that’s all!” Xia Yan answered. The undead element fell on the negative spectrum, so with his magic power in the ranks of a novice mage now, it was equivalent to carrying an air conditioning system on him. High temperatures didn’t affect him much.
“I’m glad we are classmates!” Qi Ziyu didn’t say much to him and just glanced at him again before returning to the girls’ group. The girls surrounded her immediately and barraged her with questions. They raised their heads to look at Xia Yan sometimes and then lowered their heads after letting out a chuckle.
Xia Yan was sure they were discussing him, so he nudged the tip of his nose sheepishly. He went over to the boys’ side and had just taken a seat when Zhao Qiang and Qin Jian locked his neck in a hold on both sides.
“Spill the beans now. How long have you known my goddess?” Qin Jian stretched his fist in front of Xia Yan’s nose and interrogated him fiercely.
“She’s a superstar. Who doesn’t know her?” Xia Yan answered.
“Stop the nonsense. I’m asking about why Qi Ziyu knows you,” Qin Jian retorted.
“It just happened a moment ago. Didn’t the instructor make me and her the pacesetters? That’s how she got to know me,” Xia Yan replied honestly.
“Is that really the truth?” Zhao Qiang and Qin Jian weren’t ready to believe it.
“What else could it be?” Xia Yan questioned them in reverse, spreading his palms out.
“If we learn you dared to hide any information, you know what will happen, right?” The two of them swayed their fists before Xia Yan’s nose and threatened him.
In training later today, Qi Ziyu didn’t speak with Xia Yan. But whenever their sight met, she would always nod amiably and smile at him. This made him feel she was worthy of being a public figure who had seen various aspects of society. If it were any other girl, they would have avoided a boy’s gaze.
Xia Yan had a feeling that Qi Ziyu knew him for sure, but he had no clue how.
[Was it the Liu family?]
[Or the Fang family?]
Xia Yan had only come into contact with these two families in Chengdu. So unless it was something out of his expectations, he felt confident she had learned about him from one of them.