Chapter 143 - 122: A Life for a Life! A Debt Must Be Paid! (Part 2)

Chu Xi thought for a moment before starting with a familiar line.

"Have you eaten?"

"I have, I have! I’m so full I couldn’t drink another sip of water."

Xu Huo said quickly.

Hearing this, Chu Xi nodded. She regretfully placed the little dessert she had just made with the hotel’s kitchenware on the table.

Staring at the portion, which was enough to feed a pig, Xu Huo felt a wave of dread.

"Let’s go, let’s go! If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss our flight!"

Saying this, he didn’t give her a chance to protest, grabbing the well-dressed Chu Xi and heading for the door.

Chu Xi looked beautiful, youthful, and stunning.

Her outfit was also quite conservative.

A pair of white sneakers, black straight-leg pants, a loose-fitting white shirt, and a khaki trench coat.

She didn’t normally bother dressing up; after all, even her most casual outfits were enough to make other girls gossip enviously behind her back.

But today was a special occasion...

"They’re here, they’re here! The flight takes off in three hours, so we’ll make it just in time!"

Inside the Criminal Investigation Division headquarters, a group of people in neat plainclothes were gathered, speaking cheerfully.

Besides Xu Huo and Chu Xi, who had just arrived, Li Jianye, Qian Hua, Wang Chao, Song Min, and Sun Yang were also there, along with a few dazed-looking young Police Officers.

"Brother Huo, Brother Li yelled at me!"

The moment they met, Wang Chao scurried behind Xu Huo to tattle.

But when Li Jianye heard this, his face darkened. "I told this brat I’d find him a job for two thousand a month with full benefits, so he’d stop daydreaming about being an entrepreneur all the time."

"And what does he do? He gives me a condition! Says he’ll give up on his business idea if I do it."

"That little bastard! He told me to go hide on the side of the national highway. Then, when a semi-truck driver passes by, I’m supposed to jump out and give them a scare. If I manage to scare them, *then* he’ll give up on his business idea."

"Tell me, doesn’t he deserve to be chewed out!?"

Xu Huo gave Wang Chao a couple of kicks. Wang Chao was indignant, feeling that they were trying to stifle an entrepreneurial genius.

"Alright, that’s enough. It’s getting late, we should go."

Xu Huo put an end to the farce, smiling as he steered the group back to the matter at hand.

A day ago, Sun Yang had given him a condition. If he met it, she would talk.

The condition was that he take her out to have some fun.

There was no cure for paraquat poisoning. Death within fourteen days was certain. She didn’t want to die in a hospital bed; she wanted to go out and play.

And so...

They left.

Since they were going out to have fun, the more the merrier. Qian Hua had invited Xu Huo’s "pet" and a few others to come along.

"So this is an airplane?!"

Sun Yang sat in first class, staring in awe at the blue sky and white clouds outside. She pressed her curious face against the window, fogging it up with her breath, then blinked and wiped it clean.

Xu Huo watched her with a kind smile.

"Holy shit, I’m flying!"

Wang Chao was aghast at the view, his face a mask of shock. It was his first time on a plane, too, and he pressed his face against the glass without a shred of dignity.

"You’re embarrassing us. Sit properly!" Xu Huo’s expression changed in a flash.

The group’s first stop was Hai City.

It was a bustling metropolis, one of the economic centers of the Eastern Country, filled with high-flyers and elites.

After they landed, Wang Chao pushed Sun Yang’s wheelchair, running wildly down the street. An infuriated Li Jianye gave chase, yelling and cursing at him.

There wasn’t much in the way of scenery, just two main attractions.

First, the towering skyscrapers and neon lights lining the streets.

Second, joining the locals to watch angry old men and women curse out the younger generation.

Xu Huo felt as if he had returned to his past life—if he ignored the digital screens and the internet, of course.

Sun Yang was having a great time. Wang Chao gazed at the skyscrapers, his eyes fixed on the highest peak in the city center.

His thoughts drifted, and he started singing under his breath, "That year, I was eighteen... at the school gala... standing there like an ant..."

But a swift kick to the rear from Li Jianye shattered his dream of a triumphant comeback.

Time was short, so they couldn’t afford to linger in one city for too long.

A day later, the group was on a plane once more.

This destination was Wang Chao’s suggestion.

However, when they arrived at their destination, everyone fell silent.

It was a mountain.

"Let’s go, Brother Huo! Time to climb!" Wang Chao was itching to get started.

The group remained silent. They looked at the towering mountain before them, then at Sun Yang in her wheelchair and the blind, seventy-year-old Song Min, and fell into a contemplative silence.

"I’m going to fucking kill you!"

Li Jianye laughed, exasperated. He took off his shoe and started smacking Wang Chao with it.

Wang Chao dodged. "Heh, you missed."

Immediately after.

WHACK!

Qian Hua landed a follow-up strike right on his butt.

"How dare you hit me! Do you have any idea who I am?!"

Wang Chao roared.

"And who might you be?" Li Jianye leaned in.

"My name is Wang Chao, born in 1980, from Linlan City in Hanhai Province. I’m 23 years old, I enjoy entrepreneurship, and I have a small amount of savings..."

Wang Chao recited his personal details with a deadpan expression, then turned away nonchalantly.

"It’s getting late. We should get going."

Li Jianye: ?

Li Jianye’s mouth twitched. The last time he’d been rendered this speechless was... well, the last time.

In the end, Wang Chao ended up carrying Song Min and Xu Huo carried Sun Yang. They climbed for a while before, as per Wang Chao’s plan, taking a cable car to the summit.

The brat had a plan to get up the mountain all along but decided not to mention it. He just had to ask for a beating first.

「The next day.」

After watching the sunrise, Xu Huo and the others took the cable car down, leaving Li Jianye and Wang Chao behind.

Li Jianye dragged Wang Chao, who was trying to get on the cable car, and proceeded to "kick" him all the way from the summit to the base of the mountain.

Then he "kicked" him onto the plane.

He really made Wang Chao fly!

...

「October 4th.」

It was the eighth day.

Compared to the past few days, Sun Yang’s condition had worsened. She could usually manage a smile, but not anymore. For the last couple of days, she’d had to avoid any major emotional swings, or she would struggle to breathe.

Her pulmonary fibrosis was getting progressively worse.

A heavy silence fell over the group.

Wang Chao went to a temple, kowtowed, and prayed for a consecrated protective amulet.