Chapter 24 – That Kind-Tempered Friend
Crash—
The sound of glass shattering pierced the air, painfully sharp against the eardrum.
A weight fell on top of Huo Chuan, and a faint scent filled his nose. His vision turned white as the person who had lunged at him knocked him backwards. They both tumbled onto the lawn, sliding back a short distance.
Then came the clatter of shards hitting the ground, countless pieces crashing down in a deafening cascade. The flying fragments landed nearby, embedding themselves into the grass.
The person who had tackled Huo Chuan held him tightly and only let go after the sound had completely died down.
The cold hand that had cushioned the back of his head withdrew. Huo Chuan looked up to see the pink-haired person above him, their hair disheveled from running, and their light gray eyes focused on him.
The person caught their breath and asked, “Are you okay?”
For a moment, Huo Chuan didn’t respond.
Seeing no answer, Chen Bai widened his eyes and leaned in closer, carefully checking the Huo Chuan. Only after confirming that his pupils were focused and his breathing was normal did Chen Bai finally exhale in relief.
It seemed like nothing was wrong—he was probably just too scared to speak. At least Chen Bai’s next few months’ salary was safe.
Who knew that despite the God of Wealth’s tall stature, he actually had such a timid side?
Turns out, the champagne tower was the culprit. Fortunately, Chen Bai had been keeping an eye on Huo Chuan the whole time.
As the voices of the crowd grew closer, Huo Qing pushed her way through and shouted in alarm, “Brother! Bai brother!”
Chen Bai propped himself up and stood, shaking off the shards of glass that had stuck to his back. The glass fragments fell harmlessly onto the grass. Waving it off with a smile, he reassured her, “We’re fine.”
After calming Huo Qing, he bent down and offered Huo Chuan a hand.
He had rushed over too quickly and hadn’t managed to stop in time—he hadn’t intended to knock the God of Wealth to the ground.
His arms were thin, the sleeves of his shirt hanging loosely. The man on the grass stood up on his own.
Less effort for Chen Bai, so he quickly withdrew his hand.
“…”
Huo Qing, panting as she caught up with them, glanced up and immediately noticed the bleeding hand peeking out from beneath Chen Bai’s white shirt sleeve. Her eyes widened in alarm.
The hand Chen Bai had just withdrawn was suddenly grabbed again. He looked down to see a pair of teary eyes on the verge of shedding tears.
He quickly stopped her and, in a low, hurried voice, said, “Don’t cry, your makeup will smudge.”
“…”
That worked better than any other form of comfort—those tears held back just in time.
Once she had composed herself, Chen Bai added, “It’s just a scratch, no big deal.”
The back of someone’s head is fragile, so when they fell, he had used his hand to cushion Huo Chuan’s head, preventing any injury. The slide across the ground had scraped his hand, making the wound look more serious than it really was. It was just a regular scratch that needed some simple treatment.
As the crowd approached, the person who had dropped their phone came over with trembling legs to apologize. After apologizing here, they went to apologize to the couple as well.
Apologies echoed around him, but Huo Chuan paid little attention. His gaze shifted to the spot where he had been standing earlier.
Where he had once stood was now a pile of glass shards, with champagne soaking the ground. The fragments were embedded into the earth, sharp and dangerous.
He turned his gaze back to the person standing beside him and said quietly, “Let’s go to the hospital.”
Chen Bai assumed that “going to the hospital” meant he would be going alone.
But as it turned out, the God of Wealth stood right next to him, and Huo Qing did too, with no signs of leaving.
Apparently, “going to the hospital” meant they were going together.
They got into the car, driven by a familiar chauffeur, and naturally, Chen Bai greeted him.
Their destination was a nearby hospital. The driver glanced at Chen Bai, noting that he seemed unusually energetic for someone heading to a hospital.
Once inside, the doctor immediately began treating the cuts on Chen Bai’s hand.
There were abrasions on the back of his hand and knuckles, with some dirt and debris mixed in, making the cleaning process slow and meticulous.
Watching the cotton swab touch the raw, red wounds was enough to make anyone wince.
But Chen Bai showed no reaction, carefully observing the doctor’s technique as if he were learning something.
Huo Qing, sitting nearby, averted her eyes from the wound and asked, “Bai brother, doesn’t it hurt?”
With her brother present, she awkwardly corrected herself.
Chen Bai shook his head slightly and smiled, “It’s not too bad.”
Not only did his hand need treatment, but his back had also sustained some shallow cuts, likely from the glass shards. They were superficial and only required simple disinfection.
During the treatment, Huo Qing’s mother, having heard the news from her daughter, called to check in.
The call was originally a video chat, but given the less-than-ideal state of his back, Chen Bai opted to switch to voice.
Huo Qing had stepped outside to buy water, leaving only Huo Chuan in the room. He sat silently, watching Chen Bai make the call while receiving treatment.
At one point, Chen Bai glanced at his phone and turned to Huo Chuan, asking, “Xiao Qing wants to know what drink you’d like.”
“…”
Huo Chuan replied, “I don’t need anything.”
He then asked, “When did you two exchange contact information?”
Chen Bai, typing a reply to Xiao Qing, looked up with a smile, “Quite a while ago.”
But as soon as he said it, something felt off. He took a closer look at Huo Chuan’s expression and suddenly remembered: although he had Huo Chuan’s contact information, they had never actually added each other as friends.
He had added Huo Qing and even Huo Chuan’s mother, but somehow, not him.
“……”
After the wound treatment was finished, there was a faint sound in the quiet room. Just as Chen Bai added a new friend, Huo Qing returned from fetching water.
She walked in just in time to witness the friend request being accepted.
Glancing back and forth between the two men, she eventually looked away and handed the cup of water to the person sitting by the bed. “I got this warm water from a nearby spot. It shouldn’t be too hot.”
Just as she handed over the water, the phone of the person sitting on the other side lit up with a call.
Huo Chuan stepped outside to answer it, and he was gone for a while.
When he returned, Huo Qing, already familiar with this kind of situation, looked at him and asked directly, “Is there something you need to take care of?”
The person who entered the room nodded.
As she had expected, Huo Qing, now used to such things, waved her hand. “Go ahead, Bai brother is fine with me here.”
So, Huo Chuan left.
Chen Bai’s visible wounds still needed to be bandaged, so Huo Qing stayed to keep watch.
The God of Wealth had only been gone for about ten minutes. As Chen Bai waited for the doctor to write up the prescriptions after the bandaging, his phone chimed twice. He picked it up.
The first message was a bank transaction alert, showing a deposit of 200,000 yuan into his account.
The second was a WeChat message from his newly added friend, who simply sent: [Medical expenses]
Though it was labeled as medical expenses, the amount far exceeded what was needed for treatment—just the tip of the iceberg—and the driver had already covered the real medical bill.
This was hard-earned money, so Chen Bai thanked the generous God of Wealth and accepted it without hesitation.
Welcoming such a generous and taciturn benefactor, a big sum of money had fallen into his lap. He looked at his phone, smiling so broadly it was hard to suppress.
Huo Qing, who had been watching, opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but ultimately changed her mind. She awkwardly offered, “After everything’s finished, I’ll have Uncle Meng drive you home. The subway is probably too crowded by now.”
Last time, on their mother’s birthday, the driver had mentioned that Chen Bai didn’t ask to be driven all the way home, likely taking the subway instead. If he went home on his own again, he would probably take the subway.
Though Huo Qing had never ridden the subway, she’d heard from classmates that it’s always packed during holidays, especially near the city center. With his hand injured, squeezing into the subway would be even harder.
Still holding to his principle of keeping work and home separate, Chen Bai waved it off with a polite refusal: “No need. A friend is coming to pick me up.”
Kindhearted as ever, the God of Wealth’s sister said, “It’s inconvenient by yourself. I’ll wait with you until your friend arrives.”
Chen Bai: “……”
Faced with such kindness and unable to find a good excuse to refuse, Chen Bai lowered his head and pulled out his phone, trying to summon a friend.
The first person he texted was his friendly neighbor.
The neighbor must’ve been on their phone, because the reply came quickly: [Which hospital?]
Chen Bai glanced at the slip of paper on the table and told them the hospital’s name.
After a brief pause, the neighbor replied: [I’ll be there in half an hour].
Surprisingly, it was an easy and swift success.
Once the wound treatment was done and the medicine was ready, all that was left was the waiting time, which wasn’t long.
Sitting together in the hospital lobby, Huo Qing lifted her dress slightly to avoid it touching the floor. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she asked, “Is this the friend you mentioned in the livestream who lives next door?”
Chen Bai confirmed with a smile, “Yes, he’s the one with an especially good temperament. And he’s quite handsome when he smiles.”
Huo Qing thought so too. Her mind conjured up an image of someone always smiling, holding a thermos, speaking slowly and calmly.
To put up with all of Chen Bai’s antics, this friend must indeed have a good temperament. And being friends with someone like him, this person must also be someone who smiles often.
Sure enough, a person with a good temperament would arrive right on time. Half an hour later, Chen Bai’s phone buzzed. He looked at it and then said, “He’s here.”
Huo Qing also looked up and glanced toward the entrance of the lobby.
But she didn’t see the friendly, approachable, smiling person she had imagined. Instead, she saw someone holding a thermos, wearing a hat and mask, dressed entirely in black tactical gear. As they strode into the lobby, their presence was as intimidating as her brother’s.
Looking around, unable to spot the person she was looking for, her curiosity grew. She turned to Chen Bai and asked, “Where is he?”
Chen Bai glanced in a direction, nodded with a smile, and said, “Over there.”
No need to look; the person was already walking over.
The black tactical gear made a swishing sound as he walked, getting closer until he stopped right next to them. Huo Qing turned her head and found herself face-to-face with the person she had noticed earlier.
He was tall.
Standing this close, the sense of pressure was even more intense than it had been from afar.
She watched as the man bent down and handed over the thermos. The person sitting next to her casually took the thermos in hand.
She asked, “…That friend with the good temperament?”
Chen Bai, holding the thermos that had already been unscrewed for him, patted the hand of the person next to him and smiled. “That’s him.”
