TF01 52

The matter with Weisai was mainly explained by Ying Ming.

Shi Yi spoke very little, only occasionally adding a few words on the side. He knew full well that his father was upset about him getting injured in a fight, and at a time like this, anything he said wouldn’t do him any good.

Ying Ming told everything as it was, without hiding anything. He laid out the entire situation, including how Weisai’s lawyer had come knocking.

Shi Yi’s father listened through to the end without responding immediately. He considered for a moment before looking up. “Your stance is still the same as before?”

“Yeah.”

Ying Ming nodded. “Hasn’t changed.”

After a long while, Shi Yi’s father finally gave a slight nod and smiled faintly. “It’s good for young people to have their own ideas.”

There was a hint of appreciation in his gaze toward Ying Ming. Then, he shifted his eyes to Shi Yi. “Alright, stay out of Weisai’s business for now. We’ll talk about it later.”

He stood up. “Come home with me first and get your eye checked again.”

Though he didn’t look at Shi Yi when he said it, it was clearly directed at him. Shi Yi paused for a moment, wanting to say something, but in the end, he kept quiet. He just glanced at Ying Ming, raised a brow helplessly, and then followed behind his father.

As they were about to reach the door, Shi Yi’s father suddenly turned back and looked at Ying Ming. “Among friends, sometimes it’s better to talk things out rather than covering for each other. If something truly irreversible happens, you’ll regret it.”

Ying Ming nodded cooperatively. “I understand.”

After watching Shi Yi leave with his father, Kou Jing and the others walked into the ward and asked, “How’d it go? Got scolded?”

“No.”

Ying Ming instinctively pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He had been holding back for days, mindful that Shi Yi was a patient.

But with one arm in a cast, his movements weren’t exactly smooth. Haozi leaned over and helped him light the cigarette. “What’s up with Shi Yi? Going home with his dad?”

“He’ll definitely have to go back. The hospital in the military district should be better than this one.” Ying Ming took two drags of his cigarette, then slowly exhaled the smoke.

Shi Yi’s father was far more imposing than he had imagined, but he wasn’t the kind of unreasonable tyrant he had expected. Before today, he had assumed that people with a general’s title would be harsh and unkind. Seeing him in person, however, he realized the man was quite different from what he had pictured.

It was clear that he truly cared about Shi Yi. Though there was blame and frustration in his tone, he kept his temper in check. The wisdom and clarity accumulated through years of experience wrapped around him like an invisible force, making it feel as if nothing could escape his perception.

With a father like that, it was no wonder Shi Yi turned out the way he did.

Ying Ming chuckled and lowered his gaze. “Since Shi Yi went back with his family, things should be fine now. Kouzi, help me find out where Zhao Zicong has been hanging around lately.”

Hearing him suddenly bring up Zhao Zicong, Kou Jing only needed a second to catch on. “Was it him who came after you two?”

Seeing Ying Ming nod, he clenched his teeth hard. “Fuck!”

They hadn’t even settled the last score, and now that bastard was looking for death again.

Haozi was just as pissed. He glanced at Ying Ming. “What are you planning?”

Ying Ming took another drag, his eyes narrowing slightly. The swirling smoke made his expression hard to read.

After years of navigating the ups and downs of the entertainment industry, he wouldn’t call himself a big shot, but he had seen, heard, and experienced plenty. As long as people didn’t mess with him, he was easygoing. But once they crossed the line…

He sneered. “I’ll handle it the way it should be handled.”

—

The night Shi Yi went home, Ying Ming sent him a text.

It was just a reminder not to take off his glasses while showering.

Shi Yi replied almost immediately, saying his family was arranging surgery for him.

Ying Ming frowned and called him right away.

The phone barely rang once before Shi Yi picked up. A familiar low chuckle came through first. “I was just about to call you.”

“You got scolded when you got home?”

“Of course. But with my mom around, it wasn’t too bad. Just a few nagging words.”

Shi Yi leaned back on the sofa in his bedroom, ran a hand through his hair, and let out a deep breath. “What about you? Can you manage with that arm on your own?”

“I’m not disabled, you know. Doesn’t affect my daily life.” Ying Ming chuckled, then shifted to the real reason he called. “The surgery your family arranged. Is it for your eyes?”

“Yeah. They want me to get a cornea transplant.”

Shi Yi’s voice was calm, without any fluctuation in emotion. Ying Ming frowned slightly. “You don’t want to?”

Though it was phrased as a question, there was already certainty in his tone.

Shi Yi let out a light scoff, unsure if it was mockery or just exasperation. After a pause, he sighed. “The doctors said even with surgery, there’s no guarantee how much my vision will recover. Getting it back to how it was before is basically impossible. At best, I’d reach around 0.3.”

Ying Ming didn’t say anything.

“Since I won’t regain full vision anyway, why waste a cornea? It’s not like I’m blind. There’s no need to go through all that trouble.”

Corneas weren’t exactly rare these days, but there were still long waiting lists of people hoping for one. He would have to wear glasses either way, and a few hundred degrees of difference wouldn’t make much of a change.

It took a long time before Ying Ming finally spoke. “Your family agrees with you?”

“Of course not.” Shi Yi took a sip from the tea on the table and set the cup down slowly. “My mom is already furious with me.”

On this matter, his entire family was united, including his uncle. Every one of them was doing everything they could to force him to go through with the surgery.

But he had already made up his mind.

He would talk to them again later. There really was no need for it.

At first, it was hard to accept. But after learning the truth and struggling with it for so long, Shi Yi had already come to terms with the fact that he would be stuck with glasses for the rest of his life. Fortunately, it didn’t affect his appearance much, and after wearing them for a while, they no longer felt as uncomfortable.

“Ying Ming, I remember you wear glasses too.”

The thought suddenly came to him, and he perked up. “Come with me to get a new pair when you’re free.”

Ying Ming frowned. “I don’t wear them all the time. Just when I read or when my eyes get too tired.” He paused for a moment, then spoke in a restrained tone. “Shi Yi, I want to convince you to get the surgery too.”

Shi Yi didn’t respond immediately. After a moment, he asked, “Why?”

“No reason. It’s just better for you.”

“Ying Ming, I understand why my family is pushing for it. They’re anxious and not thinking rationally. But you know as well as I do that this surgery is just a psychological comfort. It won’t actually change anything.”

There was no point in going under the knife for something that would likely only lead to another disappointment.

If he were completely blind, he would have accepted the surgery without question. After all, there was a fundamental difference between being unable to see at all and being partially sighted. But in his case, it was just a matter of degree. The nature of his condition wouldn’t change.

Ying Ming let out a quiet laugh. “Shi Yi, I’m not exactly being rational right now either.”

There was a hint of teasing in his tone, a trace of helplessness, but mostly a touch of self-mockery.

Shi Yi sensed that something was off about Ying Ming’s attitude, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He frowned slightly, and a brief silence settled between them.

Just as the pause started to feel awkward, Shi Yi cleared his throat lightly. “By the way, have you decided what to do about Zhao Zicong?”

His father had said that the Weisai situation was no longer his concern, but he hadn’t mentioned how to handle Zhao Zicong. It was clear that this debt had to be settled.

Even if they reported him to the police, they had to make sure he paid for what he did before he was locked up. He owed them an arm and an eye.

Ying Ming leaned against the wall, staring at the clock on the opposite wall. His expression remained unchanged. “I told Kouzi to find him.”

“Let me know when there’s news.”

“Don’t worry…” Ying Ming tugged at the corner of his lips. “I won’t forget your share.”

When Kou Jing finally found Zhao Zicong and notified them, nearly everyone showed up.

Even Haozi was there.

Shi Yi arrived with Ou Yang. Not long ago, his little uncle had given him a small gift. The four guys who had attacked him and Ying Ming that day had all been caught, charged with organized crime. With multiple charges stacked together, they were facing four or five counts. Shi Yi hadn’t seen them in person, but his uncle had someone send him pictures. Even if they were just hired thugs, they were the ones who had carried out the attack. Not a single one of them could escape.

As for Zhao Zicong, this time, they had to deal with him personally.

Later, Shi Yi heard from his uncle that the Zhao family had gone to beg his father for mercy. They had nearly dropped to their knees, just to get the Shi family to spare Zhao Zicong.

The beating had already happened, and the guy was lying in a hospital bed, not daring to make a sound. But if he really went to prison, his life would be over.

Shi Yi’s father, however, stood firm.

He simply said that he had no idea Zhao Zicong was behind it at the time. Since they had already called the police, the case had drawn quite a bit of attention. A lot of people knew about it now, and since it had entered the judicial process, there was nothing he could do.

Ying Ming asked Shi Yi how long Zhao Zicong would be sentenced. The latter just smiled. “That depends on how much power his old man has.”

With how much of a coward he was, no matter how many years he got, it would be more than enough for him to suffer.

True to their word, the people from Weisai never came after Ying Ming again. The scandal that had caused such a stir eventually faded from the spotlight. By the time Shi Yi and Ying Ming thought about checking up on it again, the news had already died down.

Later, Shi Yi got himself a pair of black-framed glasses. They didn’t look bad on him.

Ou Yang’s comment was that he looked even more like a refined scoundrel. Kou Jing, on the other hand, said he looked more like a gangster.

Only Ying Ming didn’t say anything. He simply stood to the side, smoking in silence.

Zhao Zicong ended up in prison, and it didn’t take long for the whole circle to figure out what had happened.

Before, some people didn’t take Ying Ming and Shi Yi seriously. But now, after what happened, no one dared to underestimate them or joke about them anymore. Some even went as far as paying Ying Ming’s tab when they saw him at a bar, knowing better than to step on the wrong toes.

Liu Li ran into Ying Ming once at a press conference. Their exchange was brief, but she smiled and said, “Ying Ming, I always thought I was good at reading people, but I was wrong about two. One was Shi Yi, and the other was you.”

Ying Ming didn’t take it to heart. He let it pass as soon as he heard it.

That was until Shi Yi and Kou Jing secretly put together a birthday party for him, renting out a bar and tricking him into coming by telling him Shi Yi had an emergency. He rushed over, only to be showered with confetti the moment he pushed the door open.

He frowned and couldn’t help but curse, “What the hell! How old are you guys to still be playing this crap?”

No one dared to make a sound.

Only Shi Yi responded at a leisurely pace. “How old we are isn’t the point today. The point is how old you are.”

Then he led the others in shouting, “Happy birthday.”

It was as cliché as it could get.

Ying Ming stood in the middle of the crowd, frowning. His gaze swept over to Shi Yi, and finally, he couldn’t hold back. He closed his eyes.

—What a fucking idiot.

The things he had been barely holding together were already slipping out of his control. If this kept up, they were both going to crash and burn.

Later, when Shi Yi came to toast him, Ying Ming looked up and said, “Shi Yi, you’re asking for it.”

The other guy just chuckled. “If it ever comes to that, I won’t be able to help dragging you down with me.”

Shi Yi was joking.

But Ying Ming wasn’t.