Chapter One Hundred: Peace

He beckoned over the head of the logistics team and asked, “How is the situation on the riverbank?”

This was the very man who had confiscated the camera from the photography enthusiast, the one in uniform.

“The crowd has already been evacuated. Our people have taken over the riverbank in this area.”

The logistics chief was still savoring the warm, enthusiastic handshake he had just received from Chang Yu, and his sense of reality felt a little unsteady.

“Our people have already set up a cordon and are not allowing anyone to approach the dangerous zone.”

“Everyone who witnessed what just happened has been taken away for ideological education. They all cooperated and signed our confidentiality agreement.”

“Any electronic devices that captured the heroic combat poses of the two leaders have been temporarily seized. Once we have deleted all those videos, we will return the devices to their owners.”

“Very good.” Katrina nodded in satisfaction.

“See that big fish?” Katrina pointed to the culprit behind the whole incident, the great salmon drifting on the river.

“I want you to sedate it with a tranquilizer gun, then bring it back to the bureau as fast as possible.”

“Doesn’t that bunch of lunatics in the research team always complain that we never bring them any live specimens to experiment on?”

“This time, we’ll grant their wish and bring them back something fresh. That should satisfy them, shouldn’t it?”

“Understood. I’ll arrange it at once.” The logistics chief’s expression was solemn.

“Oh, and I didn’t have time to ask you earlier—what’s the story with this man?” The logistics chief pointed at the young soldier sleeping on the speedboat, with Yangyang now jumping up and down on top of him, clearly having the time of his life.

“Oh, he’s from the firing range side, and the speedboat is theirs too.” Katrina cast a pitying glance at the unfortunate soldier beneath Yangyang’s feet. “Don’t forget to send him back later.”

By then, Chang Yu had finished shaking hands with everyone and returned to Katrina with a beaming smile.

He was excited now, his spirits soaring, his face flushed red as a monkey’s behind.

For someone who had lived an ordinary life all these years, when had he ever enjoyed such a reception, with everyone welcoming him like a hero?

Well. Just like that, he had gotten carried away.

“Comrade Katrina, thank you for everything you have done for the motherland and the people.” As though he still had not had his fill, Chang Yu grinningly seized Katrina’s hand and shook it vigorously up and down, left and right, over and over again.

They said the longer a handshake lasted, the deeper the friendship between two people.

For a friendship as deep as the sea and as high as the heavens, was it too much to keep holding on for an entire day?

And so, as soon as Chang Yu caught Katrina’s hand, he refused to let go, clearly intent on taking advantage of her under a perfectly righteous pretext.

Catrina was caught off guard by the sudden grasp, and for a moment she felt a little unaccustomed to it. “It was enough for you to shake hands with them. Why are you shaking hands with me too?”

“Everyone else here has already shaken my hand. You’re the only one left, and we can’t have special treatment, can we?” Chang Yu’s face glowed with a brilliant smile, sweeter than any idol’s.

“Who says so?” Yangyang protested the moment he heard that. “You never shook my hand, so how can you say you’ve shaken everyone’s? I knew it—you just want the young lady’s body!”

Chang Yu rolled his eyes at Yangyang. If it were possible, he would much rather glare at that lecher with both nostrils.

“What kind of relationship do you think the two of us have? We’re practically body to body, heart to heart. Do we really need to shake hands? Of course not!”

“Enough. Since everything’s settled, we should be leaving.” Katrina noticed that seven or eight logistics staff members armed with tranquilizer guns were already rushing toward the great salmon in the river.

“No one is better at cleaning up a mess than the logistics team. If we stay here any longer, we’ll only be giving them trouble.” Katrina casually withdrew her hand.

“All right.” Chang Yu mournfully rubbed his empty hand. Unable to hold Katrina’s hand, he felt a great hollow loneliness in his heart.

After all this, no one was in the mood to go to the firing range and practice shooting.

Besides, Katrina still had to return to the bureau to report the full details of this sudden incident to her superiors, and she no longer had time to keep accompanying Yangyang and Chang Yu.

“Let’s put the firing range on hold for now. We’ll go another time when we have a chance.” Katrina made this promise to Chang Yu.

“Oh, right.” As she said this, Katrina turned her gaze to the logistics chief. “Take Chang Yu to the hospital later and have him checked. The fighting just now was so intense, he must be injured.”

“Hiss—” Katrina had not brought up his injuries, but the moment she did, Chang Yu suddenly felt aches all over his body.

He yanked up his shirt, revealing a clear, defined waistline and eight sculpted abs to everyone’s eyes.

At once, all eyes turned to him.

Blue and purple bruises spread across his chest and abdomen, and in some places, patches of blood had seeped through.

Worst of all, there were two clearly sunken depressions along his ribs.

These were the “gifts” left to him by that great salmon.

“There are two fractures in the ribs.” Katrina’s expression gradually grew serious. “You managed to endure this long and still keep shaking hands as if nothing had happened. That’s quite something.”

“That’s right!” Chang Yu said with great pride. “So many people were watching me. How could I possibly cry out in pain? That would be far too humiliating.”

“Get the hospitalization procedures arranged immediately.” She ordered the logistics chief. “Send him to the hospital at once.”

...

The same familiar hospital, the same suite reserved for senior officials. Chang Yu had once again returned to the very hospital where he had stayed before.

“Aaah— it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”

Lying on the Simmons bed, Chang Yu grimaced in agony.

Two splints had been fastened to his ribs, and thick bandages wrapped his chest. He did not dare move at all.

The moment he moved, it would tug at his wounds, and that bone-splitting pain would surge toward him like waves, one after another.

“Now you know it hurts?” Yangyang sat on a little stool with his chin propped on his hands, gleefully watching Chang Yu suffer. “Why didn’t you say so when you were on the riverbank?”

“What do you know?” Chang Yu turned his head away in pain. “Katrina was right next to me just now. Could I really have acted that pathetic? How embarrassing would that have been!”

“Yangyang, you’re still young. There are some things you don’t understand.” Chang Yu earnestly instructed him, “Girls these days like men who are a bit more manly, the kind who stay tough even when they’re hurt.”

“In front of her, I absolutely have to act like a real man and never complain of pain. That way she’ll see me in a new light.”

“Oh, I’m so strong. Man, your name is Strength.” At this moment Chang Yu looked exactly like someone so narcissistic that he was beyond saving.

“I’m sure of it. Katrina must have fallen for me because of my extraordinary performance just now. Oh, heavens! My damned, nowhere-to-put charm!”

“How can you be so sure?” Yangyang looked at this love-struck, self-admiring fool with undisguised disdain.

“Didn’t you see how she smiled at me before she left? That’s the best proof that she’s fallen for me. I’m guessing even her dreams tonight will be sweet!” Chang Yu stroked his own cheek in self-satisfaction... Hmm, a bit rough.

Dry, coarse, and lumpy, not smooth at all—that was the perfect description of his aging face.

Yangyang curled his lip dismissively. Chang Yu was done for; he was already showing signs of delusion.

If a girl merely smiling at a boy counted as falling in love with him, then there would not be just ten thousand girls in this world who had fallen for Chang Yu—it would be at least eighty thousand.

“Still, to be fair, you really are pretty manly.” Yangyang looked at Chang Yu’s barren, balding crown and held back his laughter with all his might.

Good heavens, he was losing his hair at such a young age. How could he not be manly?

Right now, Chang Yu had less hair than Wang Fatty.

At a glance, he gave off the weary aura of a greasy middle-aged man.

The father and son chatted casually for a while, and before long, a fair-skinned, beautiful young nurse pushed a medication cart into the room.

“It’s time for your IV. It’s anti-inflammatory.” The nurse smiled at Chang Yu, looking every bit as though she had fallen in love with him.

“Sorry to trouble you, nurse.” Chang Yu was always especially masculine in front of women.

He actually endured the pain without making a sound, even managing a gentle smile—completely unlike the comic fool who had been crying out just moments ago.

“Why are you back again? I remember you—you were only just discharged a few days ago. How pitiful.” The nurse gently hung the medicine on the IV stand and disinfected the back of Chang Yu’s hand with iodine.

“What else was I supposed to do but save the world? I’ve never been hurt this badly in my life. The motherland and the people owe me too much!”

The nurse laughed. “That’s the first time I’ve heard someone explain getting injured so elegantly. So I’m basically giving an injection to a superhero?”

When the sharp needle pierced the back of Chang Yu’s hand, he jerked all over in fright and squeezed his eyes shut, too afraid to look.

He had always been terrified of injections since childhood. Just seeing a needle made him dizzy.

“Oh? Even superheroes are afraid of needles?” The nurse was the talkative, friendly-next-door type and teased him lightly.

“You don’t understand,” Yangyang said grandly like a little adult. “All men have weak moments. Superheroes are men too.”

“This your kid? He’s adorable.” The moment the nurse saw Yangyang, she fell for this pretty little doll face.

“He’s from a relative’s family. I’m helping take care of him.” Chang Yu would rather die than admit Yangyang’s true origin, so he casually made up a lie.

To this, Yangyang only curled his lip and said nothing.

He had heard too many of Chang Yu’s lies.

One lie after another, until he was used to them, until they no longer surprised him.

“Come here, let sister hold you.” Most girls liked children, because children awakened their maternal instincts.

At her words, Yangyang sized up the nurse’s delicate face, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

Chang Yu did not know what Yangyang was thinking, but if he had to guess, the little lecher was probably thinking: Hmm... this woman is decent-looking.

“Sis, hug me!”

Yangyang sprang straight down from the little stool, waving his short little arms and toddling forward with adorable tiny steps toward the nurse.

His expression was obedient and well-behaved, fully showcasing his cute, dainty side.

His voice was soft and sweet, so tender it seemed almost sticky, always capable of stirring a girl’s urge to protect him.

Clearly, Yangyang had a well-developed theory on how to win girls over with his adorable appearance.

“Such a good boy!” The nurse scooped Yangyang into her arms, unable to stop smiling.

“Haah...” Chang Yu closed his eyes helplessly. Why did girls always get fooled by Yangyang’s cute and innocent appearance?

That kid was a complete dirty old lecher. Xia Lin had been thoroughly taken advantage of by him without even noticing.

Why did people never learn?

Yangyang repeated his old trick, acting coquettishly in the nurse’s arms, calling her “Sis, you’re so beautiful” one moment after another, until the little nurse was beaming with delight.

Chang Yu had thought Yangyang would, as before, reveal that lecherous, smug grin reserved for old perverts.

But to his surprise, this time Yangyang showed no excitement at all; instead, he looked genuinely puzzled.

He first quietly pressed a hand against the nurse’s chest, then fell into deep thought while staring at her somewhat flat front.

What harm could a child possibly have in mind?

They were so innocent, so adorable, like angels in this mortal world...

He simply did not like airport runways.

So he wriggled free from the nurse’s embrace, looking dejected.

“What’s wrong with him?” The nurse watched Yangyang’s merciless retreat with a hurt, baffled expression.

“Sorry, sorry. This child may be a little shy.” Chang Yu’s eyes were sharp enough to see that the nurse had just been rejected by her own little darling.

Bah. What a scumbag!

In the end, the nurse left Chang Yu’s room in heartbreak, and the world gained yet another wounded soul.

The moment the nurse left, Chang Yu’s face darkened. “Did you just think she was too flat?”

Chang Yu was furious, mainly because Yangyang’s behavior just now had been shameless beyond words.

Thinking of all of Yangyang’s past disgraceful exploits, Chang Yu increasingly felt that once he grew up, he would be a menace.

So he wanted to use this opportunity to educate Yangyang properly and set his crooked ways straight.

“No chest to speak of is one thing.” Yangyang was even justified about it now. “But the main thing is, it’s all padded! Padded!”

“Now I know why it felt so weird and shaky just now. The truth is finally clear.”

“Uh...” Chang Yu smacked his lips, suddenly at a loss for words.

The end.

For the fastest updates, remember to bookmark it.