Just Bros

Lin Yu hadn't expected the matter to be resolved so easily. As he left the police station, he still felt a sense of unreality.

"Thank you for your help today."

Stepping out of the police station's main entrance, Lin Yu stopped and thanked the man beside him.

"Don't mention it."

The man waved his hand dismissively. He pulled out his phone, brought up a QR code for adding a contact, and said,

"Master Yu, let's exchange contact info. If you ever need anything in S City in the future, just look me up."

Lin Yu nodded, took out his own phone, and added the man's contact.

Seeing Lin Yu add his contact, Wang Shuo happily put his phone away and introduced himself,

"Master Yu, my name is Wang Shuo. You can just call me Shuozi."

Lin Yu nodded.

Inwardly, Lin Yu didn't really like the title "Master Yu." It was too flashy.

Lin Yu also knew his own worth; he really wasn't qualified for others to call him 'Master.'

But this title probably originated from Zhao She. Since he used it, his subordinates naturally followed suit.

What else could they call him?

Have their own separate system?

Your boss calls me 'Master,' and you call me 'bro'?

Do you want to go take a swim with the river fish?

Since it couldn't be corrected, Lin Yu decided not to dwell on it. Instead, he asked about some things he was more concerned about.

"What brings you here?"

"Are Zhao Dahu and Zhao She here too?"

Wang Shuo shook his head and explained,

"Brother She and Brother Hu are in T City. I came here to handle some business Brother She assigned."

Wang Shuo briefly revealed his reason for being there, showing no intention to elaborate.

Lin Yu wasn't interested in pressing further either. He looked at Wang Shuo and continued asking,

"How long will you be staying in S City?"

Wang Shuo thought for a moment, shook his head, and said,

"Hard to say. But I'll definitely be in S City this year, and probably next year too."

"After that..."

Wang Shuo shrugged and said helplessly,

"I really can't say for sure."

Lin Yu nodded. Having nothing more to ask, he said goodbye to Wang Shuo, and they went their separate ways.

After all the commotion, it was already dusk.

Lin Yu took out his phone to check the time: 5:37 PM. It was almost six. He estimated in about an hour, it would be completely dark.

With the phone unlocked, a flood of advertisement notifications popped up. Lin Yu swiped through the screen, glancing at each message.

Most of the dozen or so messages were ads from shopping apps, with a few spam messages from his mobile carrier mixed in.

Lin Yu's focus wasn't on them. After a quick scan, he swiped right to delete them.

But even after deleting all the notification messages, Lin Yu didn't see the message he felt should have appeared on his phone.

After a moment's thought, he opened the messaging app.

There were quite a few unread messages: food pictures sent by Gu Yue, notifications in the class group chat, and a game invitation from Lang Hua.

But these weren't what Lin Yu was looking for either.

He scrolled down the screen until a chat window with the ID "BambooCat" appeared.

Looking at the chat window with no new messages, Lin Yu felt a slight surprise.

He had thought that after disappearing for so long with several women, Xia Muzhu would have at least sent him a message—either asking directly or probing subtly to find out where he was, what he was doing, and when he'd be back to see her.

But Xia Muzhu hadn't sent a single message.

A warm feeling gathered in Lin Yu's heart at that moment. The feeling of being trusted was truly wonderful.

But immediately after, a bitter sense of guilt began to spread within him.

For a moment, Lin Yu felt even more exhausted.

He tapped the call request button under the chat interface. The phone screen had just switched to the call interface when the call was answered, so quickly it left Lin Yu somewhat stunned.

Putting the phone to his ear, Xia Muzhu's soft, gentle voice came through the speaker.

"Are you finished with your business?"

Lin Yu replied softly,

"Yes, finished."

"Sister Zhuzi, where are you now?"

"I'll come find you."

"I'm at the hotel right now. I'll send you the location."

A location message arrived quickly. Lin Yu hung up the call, hailed a taxi by the roadside, and headed to the hotel where Xia Muzhu was staying.

After getting out of the taxi and registering at the front desk, Lin Yu found her room based on the room number she had given.

Standing outside the door, Lin Yu took a deep breath, trying to perk himself up as much as possible. Then he raised his hand, knocked on the door, and said softly,

"Sister Zhuzi, I'm here."

Footsteps sounded from inside the room, approaching from a distance. The next moment, the lock clicked softly, the door was pulled open, and Xia Muzhu appeared behind it.

She looked just the same as always.

Her delicate features held a gentle warmth, the corners of her lips always carrying a faint smile—the epitome of the girl-next-door type, radiating a strong sense of approachability.

However, soon, the gentle smile on Xia Muzhu's face turned into one of concern and puzzlement.

She reached out, pointing at Lin Yu's left cheek, and asked,

"What happened to your face?"

Lin Yu instinctively raised his hand to touch it.

Before coming upstairs, Lin Yu had checked his injuries in a mirror.

Although those slaps weren't light, the swelling wasn't severe. After an afternoon of recovery, the signs of swelling were hardly noticeable now.

Lin Yu knew Xia Muzhu was very observant; she might notice the slight asymmetry between his left and right cheeks.

But he hadn't expected her to spot it at a single glance.

"It's nothing. Just had a minor... friction with someone earlier."

"Nothing serious."

Lin Yu grinned, putting on a bright smile, not wanting Xia Muzhu to worry or overthink.

Xia Muzhu wasn't reassured by Lin Yu's explanation. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly. With a heartache, she gently brushed her hand over Lin Yu's left cheek, then took his hand and said,

"Come, let me take care of it for you."

Lin Yu didn't refuse. Choosing to follow Xia Muzhu's words, he obediently sat down on the sofa in the room.

After a short while, Xia Muzhu emerged from the bathroom holding two tightly wrung and folded damp cloths.

She placed one of the damp cloths into the room's mini-fridge, intending to chill it slightly. After closing the fridge door, she took the other cloth and sat down beside Lin Yu, ready to apply it to his face.

As a man's man, Lin Yu usually paid little attention to such things.

What was there to apply?

As long as no bones were broken, no tendons injured, and there was no prolonged, unrelenting pain or pain that grew worse, Lin Yu couldn't even be bothered to take medicine. He left it all to his body's natural healing ability.

Why be polite with your own body?

We're bros!

Especially for a minor, insignificant injury like the one on his face now.

But seeing that Xia Muzhu had already prepared the cloths, Lin Yu didn't refuse and let her do as she pleased.

The cool cloth pressed against his face—to be honest, he didn't feel much.

But being so close, feeling the fragrance and warmth emanating from Xia Muzhu, seeing her gentle features and concerned gaze right before his eyes, Lin Yu suddenly felt he very much needed this kind of treatment!