What Are Your Tastes? chapter 34
Assault
His forearm felt a sharp, dull pain, as if it had been broken. Zhou Yanchuan’s mind remained clear; he hadn’t lost his judgment. He had been attacked with a long stick.
Immediately after this, a second stick followed, but this time he was prepared. He dodged slightly to the side, and the stick grazed his shoulder.
Zhou Yanchuan rarely engaged in physical altercations; the few fights he had were back in middle school, dealing with delinquent teenagers who robbed elementary students.
He hadn’t trained in martial arts, but he had strength and courage enough to not necessarily lose out against one or two young men of similar build. However, he quickly realized that tonight’s attackers were three in number.
Was it a random attack, or were they targeting him intentionally? With no time to ponder, Zhou Yanchuan, with his arm numb from the blow and facing opponents armed with weapons, could only defend with his left hand and kick hard at the unidentified individuals blocking his way against the wall.
These three people didn’t seem like ordinary thugs; either they had training or extensive experience in combat, and their attacks were precise and ruthless.
Zhou Yanchuan was almost powerless to retaliate with his injured arm, and he had to protect himself from critical hits.
“Are you guys crazy or what?”
“Shouting won’t help,” the person with the stick kicked Zhou Yanchuan in the abdomen, “You’re supposed to be tough, aren’t you?”
His abdomen was in severe pain, and Zhou Yanchuan involuntarily crouched down. In the cold moonlight, he saw the ugly face of the attacker in front of him, a face completely unfamiliar.
“How far do we go?” another person asked.
Taking advantage of their quiet exchange, Zhou Yanchuan took a deep breath and half stood up, breaking through two of them and quickly running towards a brighter place.
“Get him!”
Injured and unable to run fast, Zhou Yanchuan felt a chill down his back. He knew it was the force of the stick swinging down, but he couldn’t avoid it and suddenly felt a severe pain in the back of his head, making him dizzy and unable to move.
“Don’t move, police!”
The light from a cell phone flashlight illuminated the narrow alley, and from the intersection came a nearly broken shout, causing the three men to be startled.
Zhou Yanchuan gasped desperately, looking in that direction with hope: was he dizzy from the concussion? Why did this police officer look so much like Lu Yunchu?
Zhou Yanchuan hadn’t mistaken him; indeed, Lu Yunchu had called the police, but they hadn’t arrived yet.
Lu Yunchu had walked quite a distance away earlier and had brushed past three men who didn’t look quite decent, one of whom was holding a stick.
They were headed towards the public restroom. According to the restaurant owner, that direction was currently a dead end due to road construction.
Whether it was a sixth sense or not, Lu Yunchu became wary. After walking a short distance further, he couldn’t shake off his unease and turned back towards the restroom. Sure enough, he heard the sounds of a fight.
Lu Yunchu had even less fighting experience than Zhou Yanchuan, having only punched Meng Xiao once in a fit of anger.
Knowing he stood no chance against three men, he picked up a brick from the base of a wall and held it in his hand. Pretending to be a policeman, he scared the three men. Taking advantage of their moment of panic, he quickly stepped forward, threw the brick hard at the man holding the stick, hitting his calf, and simultaneously kicked another man in the groin.
The two men screamed, clutching the parts of their bodies that had been hit. The third man was clearly caught off guard.
Lu Yunchu took advantage and leaped forward, grabbing him from behind by the neck, trying to mimic the moves he had seen in cop movies, attempting to twist his arm back.
Reality was different from the movies; the man was skilled and, once calm, wasn’t going to give up without a fight. He struggled fiercely, almost breaking free from Lu Yunchu’s grip, cursing loudly, “You damn excuse for a cop with your feeble kung fu! what kind of police are you!”
Zhou Yanchuan, still reeling from almost being knocked out, gritted his teeth through the pain to help Lu Yunchu hold the man down.
“Think my skills aren’t good enough?” Lu Yunchu said cheerfully. “Don’t worry, the police will be here soon to keep you company!”
The two men groaning on the ground exchanged glances upon hearing this. “Retreat!” Ignoring their pain and leaving their companion behind, they scrambled up and ran off.
“Hey, wait for me!”
Though they didn’t manage to apprehend all three, holding onto one was enough. They didn’t dare relax and held their ground until the police arrived moments later.
After the danger passed, Zhou Yanchuan finally let out a breath of relief. The pain from various parts of his body surged like a tidal wave, the impact on the back of his head causing dizziness and nausea, leaving him unsteady on his feet.
“Zhou Yanchuan!” Lu Yunchu helped him to a brighter area and, seeing no obvious wounds, couldn’t determine where he was hurt specifically. “We should go to the hospital immediately.”
Zhou Yanchuan blinked rapidly to clear his vision. He touched his mouth; there was no blood, and he didn’t taste any in his throat either, suggesting the injuries weren’t too serious. However, the weakness in his arm was hard to ignore—it might be fractured.
Despite his strong reluctance to visit a hospital, for the sake of his health and future injury assessment, he needed a thorough checkup.
Lu Yunchu drove him to the People’s Hospital. After a round of examinations, it was confirmed that he had a fractured right arm and a mild concussion. The doctor recommended a few days of hospitalization for recovery. Fortunately, there were no internal organ injuries, and his overall condition was not severe.
A simple meal turned into a week-long hospital stay. Zhou Yanchuan was filled with anger towards the troublemaking hooligans but had no choice but to wait for the investigation results.
The single hospital room was quite nice, with a sofa, TV, private bathroom, and balcony.
Zhou Yanchuan, who hadn’t had a chance to use the bathroom earlier and had been too tense to think about it during the commotion, now felt the urgent need to pee, which was becoming increasingly unbearable.
With a nurse coming soon to set up an IV drip, using the bathroom would only get more inconvenient.
But Lu Yunchu was still in the room, watching him closely and insisting he stay in bed.
“I’ll go buy you some necessities. You just stay put.” Lu Yunchu stood up as soon as he sat down.
These tasks could be handled by a nurse, but Zhou Yanchuan, having seen Lu Yunchu’s attentiveness earlier, feared that if he stayed, he would insist on accompanying him to the bathroom.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t move around. I’ll be right back,” he instructed.
As soon as Lu Yunchu stepped out, Zhou Yanchuan sat up. Still feeling a bit dizzy, he slowly stood and carefully moved towards the bathroom.
“Why are you up again?” Before he reached the end of the bed, Lu Yunchu peeked back in.
“Why are you back?”
“I forgot my bag.” He looked at Zhou Yanchuan, “Where are you going?”
“Oh, I… I need to use the bathroom.”
“I should also buy a urinal…”
Zhou Yanchuan overheard Lu Yunchu’s muttering, grateful he hadn’t bought one yet.
“It’s fine; the bathroom is right here, convenient.”
“Let me help you then.”
Zhou Yanchuan felt like Lu Yunchu saw him as half-paralyzed.
At the bathroom door, Lu Yunchu skillfully opened the door. Zhou Yanchuan, flustered, grabbed him. “You’re coming in too?”
“Huh?” Lu Yunchu asked seriously, “Didn’t you hurt your hand?”
It wasn’t that Lu Yunchu was making a fuss over nothing; he had no experience caring for the injured and instinctively thought he had to handle everything for him.
Seeing Zhou Yanchuan’s embarrassed face, he chuckled softly: “I don’t mind. Why are you, a straight guy, being so shy?”
Lu Yunchu hadn’t overthought it. Even if he liked Zhou Yanchuan, he wouldn’t let romantic thoughts run wild while the other was injured.
“It’s not that,” Zhou Yanchuan steadied himself. “I just injured one hand. I can manage to, uh, take off my pants.”
“Okay then,” Lu Yunchu relented. “I’ll wait outside.”
The door closed, and the tall figure on the frosted glass confirmed he was right there.
The bathroom was small, the toilet barely a meter from the door. Zhou Yanchuan’s eyes were constantly drawn to the shadow on the door. Knowing every sound he made would be heard, he found it hard to relax.
“Lu Yunchu?” he called softly.
“Yes?”
“I think I left the tissue on the bedside table. Can you get it for me?”
“Okay, wait a moment.”
The shadow on the door flickered and disappeared. Zhou Yanchuan relaxed, his body following suit.
“I can’t find it,” Lu Yunchu’s voice floated back. “Are you sure?”
“Is it in the drawer?” Zhou Yanchuan, having finished, held up his pants with one hand. “Sorry, I remember now; it’s in my pocket.”
He opened the door and walked out.
“Lu Yunchu, you should go home early too,” Zhou Yanchuan said, back in bed and reluctant to trouble him further. “I’ll ask the nurse if I need anything.”
It was indeed late. Lu Yunchu picked up his bag but didn’t leave immediately.
Still troubled by the events of the evening, he hesitated before asking, “Who were the guys who attacked you tonight?”
Zhou Yanchuan initially wanted to brush it off as a regular robbery, but seeing the knowing look in Lu Yunchu’s eyes, he had to confess: “They were likely sent to retaliate against me, but I don’t know who I offended.”
Lu Yunchu wasn’t naive. Retaliatory attacks were common in society; there were even recent news stories about entrepreneurs being poisoned. But when it happened to someone he knew and cared about, it was hard not to worry.
“The police will figure it out, don’t worry,” Zhou Yanchuan reassured him, not wanting him to fret. “If they really wanted me dead, they would have stabbed me today.”
“Don’t say that,” Lu Yunchu steadied himself. “Don’t overthink it. I’ll come to see you again.”
Hearing this, Zhou Yanchuan felt a bit hopeful. Instead of saying “no need,” he changed it to “Okay, take care on the way back.”
Zhou Yanchuan had a restless night. Even though he tried to tell himself not to dwell on things, his mind wouldn’t cooperate.
If he had had any unpleasant encounters recently, it would likely be the acquisition deal that was halted midway. However, such occurrences were common in business, and it shouldn’t have led to any animosity.
Could it be for personal reasons? There was also the trouble Zhang Hao caused a few days ago, which didn’t seem like a mere act of mischief.
People from his past, whether friends or foes, flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.
“Mr. Zhou, please give me another chance.”
He remembered someone saying this to him. At the time, he had responded, “Impossible,” and as he turned away, he thought he saw a contorted face.
In his dreams now, that sinister face became increasingly clear, until it dispelled all other illusions in his mind, becoming a sharp blade piercing through his senses.
“You are—”
Zhou Yanchuan woke up with a start, his eyes opening immediately, cold sweat covering his back.