Chapter 70: Can You Please Make Yourself Clear?

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“What’s… what’s wrong with him? Why is he yelling like that, as if… he’s in a lot of pain!”

On the pedestrian street, Bai Zhijun watched with a mixture of surprise and confusion as a man in a baseball cap curled up on the ground, clutching his groin and howling in agony.

“I… I don’t know either. I just hit him a little, it really wasn’t hard,”

Yang Qing looked bewildered and a bit panicked. He really hadn’t used much force.

Here’s what happened…

An hour earlier, Yang Qing and Bai Zhijun had gone to find Bai Dazhu and his crew, intercepting them just as they were about to head off to work. They told them to take the day off and start work again tomorrow. Yang Qing also called Wang Ming, explained the situation, got permission for Bai Dazhu’s group to have the day off, and invited Wang Ming over for dinner the next day.

With their business settled, Yang Qing and Bai Zhijun found themselves at loose ends, so they decided to stroll around the streets and buy some groceries to cook at home. But as soon as they set foot on the pedestrian street, they were startled by a piercing scream.

Immediately after, Yang Qing saw a man in a baseball cap clutching a woman’s handbag, running frantically in their direction.

Instinctively—truly, it was pure reflex—when the man was just half a meter away, Yang Qing whipped his jacket around and struck the man in the face.

The man instantly collapsed to the ground, popped back up, then curled up again, howling in pain.

…And so, things ended up like this.

Yang Qing felt extremely wronged—he really hadn’t hit the man that hard.

“Not hard?”

Bai Zhijun rolled his eyes. “You swung your jacket in a full arc and smacked him in the face, and you call that not hard? Honestly…”

“Ahem, I was just startled, it was a reflex, not on purpose,” Yang Qing said sheepishly.

Bai Zhijun: …

“Thank you… thank you both so much.”

At that moment, a woman with bright red lipstick, carrying her high heels, hurried over and thanked Yang Qing and Bai Zhijun.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Miss, you’d better check if anything’s missing from your bag. If nothing’s gone, we’ll get this guy to the hospital,”

Bai Zhijun said to her, looking at the moaning man on the ground and the helpless Yang Qing, inwardly grumbling.

Unlucky things just keep piling up! If only I’d read the almanac before going out… What kind of mess is this? What should have been a good deed—catching a thief—has turned into an incident!

“Sigh, I’ll call an ambulance,”

Yang Qing, seeing the man’s pale face contorted in pain, was shaken and quickly pulled out his phone to dial.

“Wait!”

Just then, the woman stopped him, saying, “He… he’s not actually injured, just in a lot of pain.”

“Huh?”

Yang Qing froze, and Bai Zhijun was similarly taken aback.

“Miss, you shouldn’t say things like that. Pain means injury! Don’t worry, we’ll cover the medical expenses,” Bai Zhijun said, baring his teeth in frustration.

“No… no, that’s not what I meant,”

The woman blushed, pointing to a spot that had just been shielded by her handbag.

“He… he must have been poked by that.”

“Hm?”

Bai Zhijun and Yang Qing looked over curiously, and saw, on the ground, a slim, finger-thick iron rod, standing upright, about ten centimeters long.

The two men looked from the rod to the moaning man, then at the woman, their eyes full of confusion.

“Where exactly did it poke him to cause so much pain?”

“It… it…”

The woman’s face turned as red as blood, unable to say it outright.

“Where? Just say it,”

Yang Qing was getting anxious. “Never mind, I’ll call the ambulance.”

“No, really, it’s not necessary!”

The woman exclaimed, “He’s just in pain, he’ll be fine in a while.”

“Really?” Bai Zhijun was amazed that she stopped Yang Qing again.

The two men looked at each other in bewilderment, while the woman, face burning, avoided their eyes. She walked over to the now quieter man and, with a sharp glare, barked,

“Stop howling! If you keep it up, we’ll take you to the hospital first, then to the police station!”

“Gah!”

A miraculous thing happened—the man immediately stopped crying out, looking at the woman with tears streaming down his face.

“See? He’s fine now, no need to call an ambulance,” the woman smiled at them.

Bai Zhijun: (￣д￣;)

Yang Qing: …

Miss, are you… threatening him?

He’s a snatch thief, of course he’s scared of going to the police! And you’re actually using that to threaten him? Look at him, he’s holding back tears!

“Let’s stop fooling around. We should take him to the hospital, then the police station,” Yang Qing suggested helplessly.

“No… I… I don’t want… to go to the hospital,”

Before he finished, the man struggled to his feet, hunched over in pain, and said haltingly, his features contorted, “I… I don’t want… to go to the hospital… Will… will you really… not call the police?”

“Yes,” the woman nodded, “As long as you don’t insist on going to the hospital, I won’t call the police. Besides…”

She glanced meaningfully at the spot the man was clutching and said with a soft laugh, “You really don’t need a hospital, do you?”

“N-no,” the man gasped, shaking his head.

The woman smiled gently. “It’s normal for it to hurt. After all, it’s your first time. Just go home and rest, you’ll be fine. Off you go.”

So, under the bewildered and astonished eyes of Yang Qing and Bai Zhijun, the man hunched over and limped away.

“He… he just left? And you’re really not calling the police?”

Yang Qing was dumbfounded by the whole bizarre episode.

“Everyone has their struggles. Let’s give him a chance. Besides, I think he’s learned a lesson he’ll never forget.”

Seeing Yang Qing didn’t insist on calling the police, the woman let out a quiet sigh of relief and smiled. “Thank you again, both of you.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,”

Yang Qing waved his hand, then looked at her seriously. “Are you sure you don’t want to call the police?”

“No need, thank you. I’ll be off—bye.”

With that, the woman left, leaving Yang Qing even more confused. What kind of situation was this? But with the parties involved gone, there was nothing more he could do.

“Let’s go,” Bai Zhijun said irritably, “They’re all gone, what are you still fussing about? Next time, go easier when things like this happen! Good thing he didn’t need to go to the hospital, otherwise…”

Yang Qing looked at his jacket, breathed a sigh of relief, and muttered, “Yes, I’ll be gentler next time.”

Bai Zhijun: …

Didn’t you just say you hit him lightly? Such hypocrisy!

“Ring ring ring…”

As he was silently criticizing his friend, his phone suddenly rang. When he saw the caller, his face broke into a broad smile.

“Hello, Lingyue! What made you think of calling your brother?”

“What! You’re in Yang City? Getting off the train in an hour? Why are you coming here…”

Ten minutes later, after hanging up, Yang Qing noticed Bai Zhijun’s smile had faded and asked curiously, “Who was that?”

Bai Zhijun sighed helplessly. “My sister. She’s coming to Yang City. She’ll be here in an hour.”

“Wait, your sister?! You never mentioned you had a sister—is she… your real sister?”

Bai Zhijun glared. “We have the same mother! What do you think?”

Yang Qing: “…If your own sister’s coming, what are you worried about?”

“Why wouldn’t I worry? That girl just graduated from college, won’t even go home, just ran straight here!”

Bai Zhijun sighed again. “What’s she going to do here? Sure, it’s only a junior college degree, but if she buckles down, she could still study for the civil service exam. Coming here… sigh…”

He fell into silence, and after a moment, Yang Qing smiled and said, “Everyone has their own path. Don’t fret—young people have their plans. Besides, now that she’s in Yang City, she can still study for the exam. It’s not like the two conflict.”

“That’s true!”

Bai Zhijun’s smile returned. “Come on, let’s go pick her up together!”

“Aren’t you going to call your wife?”

“Forget it! Let’s give her and the kid a surprise. Little Bai loves her aunt.”

“Heh… A surprise, huh? Be careful it doesn’t turn into a shock. When your wife finds out…”

“What are you talking about! Who are you doubting here?”

“Haha! I’ll cook a few extra dishes tonight to welcome your sister.”

“Sounds good!”