One of our own, Bro Knife Loyal and righteous, Brother Doudou

"Beep beep beep..."

"Hello, Wanyi?"

"I'm almost there. Dudu, turn on the video. I want to see Little Hanhan..."

Shen Ming: "..."

"Click!"

Shen Ming took a photo and sent it over, then started reciting his lines as Ye Cheng had prearranged.

Mm... that's right, Ye Cheng had even anticipated this sudden move from the wife. The moment the call came in, Shen Ming gasped.

This kid was terrifyingly sharp!

Then... he started reading his lines.

"Hey, Wanyi, hurry up. Hanhan here... hey..."

Before he could even finish a single sentence, he sighed three or four times in a row, each sigh carrying deep exhaustion and helplessness, with a faint hint of lingering fear woven in.

No acting—it was all genuine emotion.

Of course it was. After staying up all night gaming, how could he not be exhausted and helpless? It was no exaggeration to say that if he closed his eyes now, he’d be out cold instantly.

If it weren’t for the fear that opening his eyes might reveal an extra person in the hospital room, Shen Ming would have been asleep long ago. This was torture.

As for the lingering fear... that was even simpler. This time, whether he succeeded or failed, he’d pay a heavy price. Unfortunately, he had no way to turn back now.

Either way, he’d take a hit. He might as well choose the angle and method of the cut himself, because at least that way he’d look a little more like he had some spine.

Damn it!

"Sniff, sniff... Wuwuwu, Dudu, it’s all my fault, wuwuwu..." The wife’s pitiful voice came through the phone, sounding like she even had a runny nose.

Shen Ming: "..."

Seriously?

If that’s the case, then he was going to die a miserable death, huh?

Shen Ming’s mouth twitched. The once-comfortable leather sofa suddenly felt like it was burning his butt, leaving him unsettled and on edge.

"It’s okay, Wanyi. It’ll be fine. Brother Ming and I will be there soon—about half an hour, I think. I’ll take good care of Wanyi. She’s not very stable right now..."

The soothing voice of the madame came through the phone.

drip, drip, drip. If you listened closely, you could even hear the faint sound of water flowing.

Not long ago, she had fished a certain wife out of the sea, and as a result, both of them ended up soaked. After the first failed dive, the wife had quickly attempted a second free-fall maneuver...

After all that back-and-forth torment, she’d finally managed to calm down emotionally, spotting the docked port over in the Sea City area.

And now, here was the phone call.

"Alright, got it. Just come straight over when you get here..."

"Beep beep beep..."

The call ended.

The expression on Shen Ming’s face turned strange. A sudden sense of crisis crept up on him: "Half an hour, meaning... there’s at most about fifteen minutes left?"

Half an hour was just the time frame given by the madame, not the wife’s actual timing.

The wife had now entered a state called 'Maternal Fury,' which came with a speed boost, and not just speed—critical hits too.

As for who would receive those critical hits... well, tough to guess, huh.

Shen Ming: "..."

"Beep beep beep..."

Shen Ming quickly dialed Ye Cheng’s number.

"Pick up, Xiao Cheng!!!"

The one who was about to settle the score was coming back. Don’t leave him here to hold the line alone—this would be a death sentence!

Shen Ming had always thought of himself as a steady guy who could handle things calmly and methodically. Now, he realized he’d overestimated himself—his heart rate was about to hit two hundred beats per minute.

He had never been this panicked in his life. Images flashed through his mind of being tied up and beaten for three days and three nights, eventually turned into little bear cookies.

NO!!!

Pick up, Xiao Cheng!

It seemed that heaven had been moved by Brother Dudu’s sincerity. After dialing for what felt like ages, the call finally went through.

"Hey, what’s up, Brother Dudu?"

"Xiao Cheng, hurry back! Wanyi’s about to be here, and I can’t hold the fort alone!"

"What? So soon? Alright, hold on. I’m dealing with something here—I’ll be right back. Stick to the plan... Damn it, stop chasing me!"

Shen Ming: "???"

Suddenly, Shen Ming heard faint, indistinct shouting in the background of the call, along with the sound of wind whipping by, like someone was on the run.

Shen Ming froze. Ye Cheng’s breathing and speaking pace were far too steady, completely not suggesting he was sprinting—it sounded more like he was just strolling.

"Xiao Cheng, what’s going on over there? It sounds like someone’s chasing you?" Shen Ming asked, his expression odd.

"Not like it—they are." Ye Cheng replied with some exasperation, his tone still remarkably calm.

Shen Ming could hear it now. The shouts and cries that had been tailing Ye Cheng were fading, as if the distance between them was growing, stretching further and further apart.

Mid-conversation, Ye Cheng had effortlessly widened the gap between himself and the pack of bodyguards and doctors chasing him, heading quickly toward the school gate.

All the while, he didn’t forget to swap details with Shen Ming on the other end of the line.

A true workhorse among workhorses.

Shen Ming: "???"

"What’s happening on your end?"

Shen Ming couldn’t wrap his head around it. In this day and age of peace, why was Ye Cheng being chased, and in broad daylight? If he remembered correctly... the most likely person to do such a thing would be his other half, right?

And now there was another one?

"Relax, it’s nothing. I’ve already shaken them off. Alright, I’m at the school gate—I’ll be back in ten minutes. Brother Dao, open the door!!!"

Ye Cheng hung up the phone.

"Beep beep beep..."

Shen Ming: "..."

Shen Ming sat alone in the hospital room, silent, shooting a glance at his dozing daughter, then thinking about the 'Siberian Heavy Artillery' that was about to return with a vengeance. Gulping.

You better make it back on time!

A pained, grimacing smile—straight out of a meme—stretched across Shen Ming’s face like a flinch-worthy reaction. The pain, oh the pain!

If Ye Cheng didn’t come back, Shen Ming might not just eat it today—he’d be taking two lumps to go...

...

Meanwhile.

At the entrance of Sea City’s Aristocratic Academy.

A short-haired woman sat in the car, staring at her phone, waiting for Ye Cheng’s arrival and his call.

"Did the young madam really remember? What if she forgot? Should we..."

"Brother Dao, open the door! Brother Dao!!!"

The short-haired woman’s train of thought was interrupted. She paused, looked toward the source of the voice, and rolled down the window. There was Ye Cheng, sprinting toward her at a terrifying speed of about ten meters per second.

His tone sounded urgent, but his appearance showed zero signs of distress. Quite the opposite—he seemed completely at ease.

Not a drop of sweat on his head. If you zoomed out a bit, you could see a massive, chaotic crowd behind him—white suits, black suits—a whole pack of people chasing after him.

Red-faced and panting, they were gasping for air. An entire mob, and not one of them could catch up to Ye Cheng, who looked 'panicked' but was totally unfazed.

Short-haired woman: "???"

That fast!

In the blink of an eye, Ye Cheng was already in front of the short-haired woman. He opened the car door and got in, his movements fluid and seamless.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry, Brother Dao, let’s get out of here!” Ye Cheng felt like his soul was about to flee in terror.

He wasn’t scared of those people—what he feared was being caught, dragged back for blood tests and physical exams. Then, boom, he’d just fall apart. After that, there would be no hope of a good life. He’d be as good as dead.

The short-haired woman snapped out of her daze. Her gaze hardened with resolve as she nodded. “Yes, Young Madam, leave it to me!”

With a roar, she floored the accelerator. The black company car blurred into a shadow and disappeared down the road. A group of people chased to the entrance, watching Ye Cheng speed away, feeling an inexplicable sense of relief.

Finally—they could report back.

It was embarrassing that so many of them couldn’t catch Ye Cheng, but if he had someone waiting to pick him up and speed off, that was a different story. At the rate Ye Cheng was running, they probably would have been led around by the nose. Instinct told them he wasn’t even going all out—he was just toying with them.

Whenever they stopped chasing, he slowed down. When they almost caught up, he’d speed up again, widening the gap…

How shameless!!!

“Miss, we’ve lost Young Master Ye. He had an escort waiting at the gate—it looks like someone from the Shen family…”

A bodyguard was on the phone, reporting the situation to his young mistress.

…

Inside the car.

“Phew, that was too close. I almost got caught.”

Ye Cheng wiped non-existent sweat off his forehead, acting like he’d just survived a disaster.

Short-haired woman: “…”

If… she wasn’t mistaken, it wasn’t “almost,” more like “a tiny smidge.” The distance between them and catching him was about the width of a galaxy.

Yeah, just a little.

“Oh, by the way, Brother Dao, have you checked if your mistress sent you any messages?”

Ye Cheng seemed to remember something. He perked up, leaned over the driver’s seat, blinked, and stared at the short-haired woman without moving.

“Actually, Brother Dao, this must be inconvenient for you. Want me to check it for you?”

Short-haired woman: “…”

At this point, she’d have to be an idiot not to get what Ye Cheng meant.

He wanted to see her phone.

The short-haired woman shook her head. “I’m sorry, Young Madam, I can’t agree to that. The head of the family’s information is classified—I can’t reveal it to outsiders…” She looked troubled.

Ye Cheng raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.

“Hey, Brother Dao, what’s with that? Aren’t we family? You call me Young Madam—do I even need to explain my relationship with your young master?”

“How could I be an outsider? I’m one of you, Brother Dao!!!”

Ye Cheng’s words were like a devil’s whisper, slowly brainwashing her. By the time he hit “one of you, Brother Dao,” she was completely convinced.

The short-haired woman had grown up in the Du family. Collective honor came first—loyalty to the head of the family…

Yes, she was one of them!

“Young Madam, you have a point, but…”

“Oh, relax! If the mistress asks, just say I forced you. I’ll subtly shift the blame onto the young lady, and—you get it, right?”

Ye Cheng raised an eyebrow, a wicked look on his face.

Done deal!

And just like that, Ye Cheng got his hands on the short-haired woman’s phone and started flipping through it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find any chat records from the mistress—just older ones. They were all boring chatter, nothing interesting.

Ye Cheng put the phone back. “Brother Dao, you’re a good person.”

The short-haired woman frowned, not entirely sure what he meant, but nodded anyway, speeding up as they continued toward the hospital.

Before long, the car stopped at the hospital entrance. Ye Cheng and the short-haired woman walked inside.

Ding!

As soon as he stepped off the elevator, Ye Cheng spotted a familiar figure pacing anxiously back and forth outside a hospital room, muttering to himself.

“Why isn’t he back yet? Xiao Cheng, you have to come back. I can’t die alone, you…”

Ye Cheng: “…”

Oh, Doudou? So this is how you repay me for giving you ideas?

Just you wait. I’ll swipe your medical insurance card and use your money to make the mistress dive-elbow you!!!