The Accomplice 02

With just a few punches, Lin Zhou was begging for mercy repeatedly, even shifting the blame onto Fang Zhiyi, who had absolutely nothing to do with the situation.

"He told me! My friend told me that people like you are illegal and that I didn't need to pay you back! He also said—he said you aren't good people and told me not to see you anymore, that's why I was hiding... Fang Zhiyi taught me all of this."

Looking at the spineless coward before them, the thugs found it both infuriating and amusing. They ordered Lin Zhou to take them to his home to get the money.

How would Lin Zhou dare? He could already picture his father beating him to death!

So, when they arrived at his doorstep, he suddenly knocked on Fang Zhiyi's door instead. Fang Zhiyi opened the door, completely confused. Before he could say a word to the Lin Zhou standing before him, Lin Zhou rushed inside.

"Zhiyi, save me!"

Fang Zhiyi was startled by the thugs filing in one after another. "What are you doing?"

A thug looked him up and down. "This kid owes us money. Are you his family?"

Fang Zhiyi wanted to speak, but he felt Lin Zhou tugging at his clothes from behind.

"Yes. Didn't he pay back some of it?"

"Pay back? Pay back what? He hasn't paid a dime!" The thug was impatient. "If you have money, hand it over now, or don't blame us for getting rough!"

Fang Zhiyi turned to look at Lin Zhou in astonishment. He hadn't expected that after giving him the money, Lin Zhou hadn't paid back a single cent!

"By the way, what did you call him just now?" a thug with colorful dyed hair suddenly asked.

Lin Zhou answered immediately, "He's that friend of mine, Fang Zhiyi."

"So it's you!" Rainbow Head seemed to hold a grudge. He stepped forward and threw a punch, hitting Fang Zhiyi so hard he almost couldn't catch his breath.

"We aren't good people? And you are?" Another thug looked around and suddenly spotted a gold-plated ornament. "If you don't have money to pay, taking stuff as collateral works too."

Seeing that he was about to grab it, Fang Zhiyi couldn't care about anything else and lunged forward. "Put it down, that's my dad's!"

The thug was pushed and crashed into the coffee table. He stood up, absolutely furious. "It's one thing to insult us, but owing money and getting physical? This is self-defense! Get him!"

Fang Zhiyi was quickly pinned down and beaten by several men, while Lin Zhou curled up in the corner, shivering and avoiding Fang Zhiyi's pleading gaze.

If he just rushed out the door and yelled for help now, Fang Zhiyi could be saved. But Lin Zhou just kept muttering, "It's not my business, it's not my business, I didn't mean to..."

The thugs only left because Fang Zhiyi had passed out. Afraid of getting into serious trouble, they warned Lin Zhou and ran off.

And after standing there in a daze for a while, Lin Zhou actually just went straight home.

When Fang Zhiyi woke up again, he was lying in a hospital bed. His father sat by the bedside with red eyes, clutching a diagnostic report, hesitating to speak. It wasn't until Fang Zhiyi pressed him that his father choked out, "Zhiyi, the people who beat you have been caught, but... the doctor said your lumbar spine is severely damaged. You might... never stand up again."

This originally strong man wiped away a tear. "You were in a coma for two days before being found. If you had been sent to the hospital sooner, maybe..."

Fang Zhiyi felt like he had been struck by lightning. He looked at his legs, which had no sensation, his mind a total blank. He struggled to sit up but was held down by his father. "Dad, where is Lin Zhou? Did he come to see me?" Fang Zhiyi wanted to know why Lin Zhou hadn't helped him or called for aid. Had he been taken away by those people?

But his father shook his head. "The day after your accident, Lin Zhou bought a ticket to another city and left."

To treat Fang Zhiyi, the family spent all their savings and went into heavy debt. His father quit his job to care for him at the hospital every day. His once jet-black hair turned mostly white in just a few months.

Fang Zhiyi watched his father's exhausted figure, his heart filled with guilt. He was only in his twenties and originally had a bright future, but now he had become a disabled person needing care. Not only could he not support his father, but he was also dragging him down.

That night, taking advantage of the silence, Fang Zhiyi struggled to crawl onto the windowsill. Looking at the lights below, his heart was desolate. He took out his phone and made one last call to Lin Zhou. The phone rang for a long time before finally being connected, but the voice on the other end wasn't Lin Zhou's. It was a strange woman's voice. "Hello? Who is it?"

Fang Zhiyi's voice trembled slightly. "I'm looking for Lin Zhou."

A moment later, Lin Zhou's voice came through, sounding somewhat impatient. "Who is it?"

"Lin Zhou, it's me, Fang Zhiyi." Tears streamed down Fang Zhiyi's face. "I just want to ask you, why did you treat me like this? After all these years? I was good to you, wasn't I?"

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, and then the busy tone sounded.

"Hubby, who was that?" A glamorous woman wrapped her arms around Lin Zhou.

Lin Zhou smiled indifferently. "Just a phony friend. Back when I wasn't doing well, he acted all high and mighty in front of me every day, as if he was doing me such a huge favor. It was disgusting to watch! Because of him, my dad and the neighbors all looked down on me. He always acted like he was doing it for my own good. I spit on that. Aren't I living the high life now anyway?"

The woman nodded. "Hmph, don't pick up calls from people like that in the future. Bad luck!"

Fang Zhiyi clutched the phone, his body trembling uncontrollably. He looked at the night sky outside the window, cast one last glance in his father's direction, and then jumped.

"The original host really had it coming. How could he associate with that kind of tiger-serving ghost of a friend for so long?"

"What is a tiger-serving ghost? Isn't that a type of spirit?" Little Hei asked with a look of curiosity.

"Right. A tiger-serving ghost. You've seen them—the ghosts that help tigers deceive humans," Fang Zhiyi explained. "They always cause trouble but can't handle the consequences. They are selfish to the extreme and incredibly jealous. You help them, but they aren't grateful; instead, they bite you when it matters most. You comfort them, and they call you fake behind your back. They complain to you about someone, and when you help analyze the situation, they turn around, twist your words, and tell that person what you said. If they fall into the water, their first thought is to drag you down with them."

Little Hei made a face of disgust. "Humans are just too complicated."

There was a knock at the door. Fang Zhiyi got up to open it and saw Lin Zhou's big face.

"You're home?" he said, walking straight in. Fang Zhiyi didn't stop him; he just narrowed his eyes.

"You got paid today, right? Aren't you going to treat me to a good meal?" Lin Zhou sat down, wearing a smile that said, 'We're best buddies.'

Fang Zhiyi recalled briefly; there was indeed such a scene. Lin Zhou would first ask Fang Zhiyi for a meal, then brag about how great his "good big brother" was, and finally ask Fang Zhiyi to lend him money to invest in a project.