Chapter 9: No Choice But to Fight

“What’s going on with Yang Fan?” Zhang Chen couldn’t help but ask.

It wasn’t just him; everyone could sense Yang Fan’s odd behavior today. He was unusually quiet, preoccupied, not at all his usual self.

“Just get your red envelopes ready,” Xu Zihan said.

“Yes, yes, yes, hand them all to me!” Ai Xiaomei exclaimed with delight. She was a little money-grubber, always the most enthusiastic about collecting red envelopes.

“Who’s the bride? Do we know her?” Xu Tao asked.

“Her name is Zhao Jing. You probably don’t know her.”

“That’s awfully fast!” Zhang Chen and the others looked at each other, all stunned.

Yang Fan was indeed weighed down by his thoughts. The marriage contract had thrown his mind into turmoil.

Though all signs indicated that Zhao Jing was merely having him do her a favor—that even if she hadn’t run into him that day, she’d have found someone else…

Still, who was Zhao Jing really trying to get away from?

After delivering his packages in a daze and refusing his friends’ warm invitations, Yang Fan stood alone beneath the building, in the darkness beyond the reach of the little garden’s lights, gazing up at the countless lit windows around him.

“What are you doing right now?” At last, Yang Fan sent the message he’d been hesitating over. He couldn’t bring himself to call.

The reply came quickly—a photo from Zhao Jing, showing her eating dinner in an empty room.

A flood of emotions surged in Yang Fan, ones he couldn’t even name.

“I want to ask you something. May I?”

Again, the reply was almost instant, as if Zhao Jing was earnestly fulfilling every clause of the contract.

And perhaps that was why Yang Fan felt a pang of guilt.

“I know what you want to ask, but I can’t tell you right now. But don’t worry—the marriage contract is in effect. I know what I must do, and every clause in that contract is my duty now.”

The glow from his phone screen was harsh in the enveloping darkness. Yang Fan took a deep breath to steady himself, then finally dialed Zhao Jing’s number.

On the other end, she was clearly still eating. Yang Fan found himself at a loss for words.

“Why did you choose me?” he asked at last.

“Because you didn’t make me dislike you,” Zhao Jing replied.

Yang Fan let out a bitter laugh. “I don’t even have twenty yuan to my name—I had to borrow it from you. Girls these days probably look down on someone like me.”

“You should think of it as fate—a twenty yuan connection. I was actually waiting for you today, wondering how to strike up a conversation, and then you approached me first,” Zhao Jing said on the phone.

“And you never thought, what if I already had a girlfriend?” Yang Fan teased.

“Have you eaten yet?” Zhao Jing changed the subject.

Yang Fan was momentarily taken aback, then smiled. “There’s soup in the pot, still hot from the hotpot we had. I had a little when I got home.”

“Did you cook for yourself?”

“Of course. I don’t have a girlfriend, after all. But tonight, it was my best friend who cooked for me and my sister. And then a few friends came over for hotpot.” Yang Fan answered casually, hoping to reassure her.

Sometimes, fate between people is just that—a fleeting moment.

“Your best friend?”

“Yes, my best friend and my sister. I’ll introduce you to them someday.”

“I’d like that.”

…

Yang Fan was in the middle of an enjoyable conversation when suddenly, something odd showed up on the SkyNet Eye surveillance system.

Two people, acting suspiciously, whispering—Yang Fan could hear every word.

Who else could it be?

He’d thought the SkyNet Eye was a waste, since tonight was the third and final day before it expired. He never expected to catch someone by simply waiting.

“I have to take care of something now.”

“Can you stay on the phone?” Zhao Jing asked.

“Of course,” Yang Fan replied firmly. Perhaps Zhao Jing, too, needed someone to rely on.

He now understood that the contract had become a responsibility.

Watching through the SkyNet Eye as the two thieves entered the building next door, he mentally reached out to Ai Xiaomei.

“What? The thieves are back! We have to check this out!” Ai Xiaomei found the whole thing thrilling.

After cutting off the telepathic link with Ai Xiaomei, Yang Fan recounted the story of the two foolish thieves to Zhao Jing as he waited downstairs.

Less than a minute later, Ai Xiaomei and the others had all come down.

“Brother!”

“Yang Fan, where are the thieves? If they dare to steal from my idol, I’ll beat them to a pulp.”

Yang Fan handed his phone to Ai Xiaomei, who saw Zhao Jing was still on the line and immediately started chatting with her, cheerfully calling her “sister-in-law.”

“Haoyu, you guard your two little aunts down here. The four of us will go up.”

“Don’t worry!” Haoyu replied.

The four of them, bristling with indignation, set off. The mention of those two thieves enraged them—they had nearly ruined Aunt Chen’s family, and every hardworking family in this garden community, losing their savings of years to these criminals…

As for the two thieves, luck was not on their side. They’d barely started before being discovered, and as they tried to escape, they were cornered.

What puzzled them was that they’d never failed before—how had they been caught so quickly this time?

“Gentlemen, we’re just migrant workers! We had nowhere to stay, so we just found a spot for the night!” one thief pleaded.

Yang Fan sneered and punched him. Their excuse might have fooled others, but not him. Did they really think the SkyNet Eye was just for show?

“It’s true, we’re just migrant workers!” the two thieves trembled. But no matter how much they were beaten, they couldn’t admit the truth.

“Really? Weren’t you the ones who robbed a farmhouse in the North District last night? And you’re currently staying in an abandoned house there, aren’t you?”

“How did you know?” the two thieves stammered.

“So you admit it?” Yang Fan pressed.

The thieves frantically shook their heads.

“Fine, you won’t admit it? Then listen to what’s happening outside.”

There was a real commotion in the corridor. Word had spread like wildfire, and in less than five minutes, the entire community had gathered.

“Even in this building, people are opening their doors and coming this way.”

“Xiaofan, where are the thieves?” someone else called, their face set on vengeance.

“Uncles, it’s these two. They won’t confess, so we have no choice but to beat it out of them,” Yang Fan said.

“Then beat them until they confess!” someone shouted.

Seeing the crowd, the two thieves were on the verge of tears. Hugging their heads, they broke down, “We admit it! We admit it! But we’re just small fry—our boss sent us to steal!”