Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen: (Real) I’ve Done My Best

“YAN JIN!!!”

……

Xiao Yu felt like he had a very, very long dream. In that dream, he had experienced a lifetime.

However, it wasn’t right.

He felt pain, the kind of pain that could not be felt in dreams. It was heart-wrenching.

One second before his heart was almost shredded into pieces, he woke up from his dream.

Presently, Xiao Yu did not even realize what condition he was in. Was he a human? A hamster? Dead? Alive? Where was he?

He saw a person and immediately pounced toward him, grabbing his collar.

“Where’s Yan Jin? Where is Yan Jin?”

“Ugghh…” the person who was caught opened his mouth slightly, but he could not react immediately.

From the audience’s perspective, what happened in that split second earlier was –

The person who had been declared dead suddenly opened his eyes and shot out of the bed like a bullet, flashing like a thunderbolt as he pushed the IV stand away.

The metal stand fell toward the equipment at the side as its metallic end stabbed the monitor screen. The sparks flashed twice before it went dead.

Before the person could even get to his feet, this fiend in front of him was clutching his necktie.

*PING* *BANG* *CLANK*

The glass shattered into pieces and scattered all over the floor.

The tiny pieces of glass, the splattered transparent liquid, the swaying metallic stand, and the toppled equipment were playing a heroic symphony together.

“B-bro.” That person was on the verge of crying: “D-did the crash cause you to become psychotic? C-calm down, t-the s-sentence can be reduced for psych – “

“Where’s Yan Jin?! How is he?”

“W-who…”

“Yan Jin.”

“Yan- oh! YL’s chairman. H-he was discharged a long time ago. Cough, cough, cough.”

Upon hearing that Yan Jin had been discharged from the hospital, Xiao Yu calmed down instantly.

His memories started to return as well as his rationality.

At this point, Xiao Yu finally realized that he could talk normally and not squeak while speaking.

He lowered his head and saw the limbs that belonged to a human being.

He had transformed back!

He was a human again! The kind that could draw designs, speak the human language, have a place in human society, jump into Yan Jin’s…

Hold on, the last one was not needed right now.

In short, the great, heavenly news made Xiao Yu so excited that he felt like jumping around.

A glimmer of hope at one’s darkest hour – this was probably what it felt like.

But before that –

“B-brother, cough, cough, could you let go first, l-let go…” The other person couldn’t stop coughing.

“Ohmygod, I forgot about that. My bad, my bad.”

Xiao Yu released his hands and finally shifted his attention to the innocent bystander in front of him: “Eh? Y-you’re Old Wu, our human resources personnel from next door?”

“That’s me, that’s me.” Old Wu wiped the sweat off his forehead, as if rejoicing for the new lease of life.

“I’m really sorry about that. I don’t know what I was doing earlier. All of a sudden, I–”

He recognized the person in front of him as his colleague from SI, making him feel inevitably guilty.

Old Wu was considered a senior employee in the company. When Xiao Yu first arrived at SI, Old Wu took care of him. Since they were from different departments, they eventually stopped talking because of the little interaction they had. Old Wu was one of those kind-hearted guys who would help anyone whenever they needed it. He did not have a high position for his age, but his interpersonal relationships with everyone were exceptionally good.

“No worries, it’s okay.” Old Wu shrugged his hand: “You just woke up, so it’s normal to be weird. How are you feeling now? You should lie down quickly, I’ll get the doctor for you.”

“Oh.” It was now that Xiao Yu realized that he was in a hospital ward. He took two steps toward the bed in a daze and sat down at the edge: “Wait, Old Wu.”

“What’s wrong?”

“C-can I ask what happened? Right now, I-I’m a little confused.”

Xiao Yu glanced through the ward and all he saw was a mess.

Poverty had made him guilty.

“Do you still remember that you were in an accident? You were speeding and you crashed into another vehicle at the bridge before you fell into the river.”

“I remember that.”

“What happened exactly? You just got awarded and you got yourself into this mess. Did you get set up by someone?”

Old Wu drew a line across his neck with his finger.

“It can’t be. I wasn’t set up…”

Xiao Yu scratched his head as he answered. All his memories were crystal clear at the moment, compared to the last moments of when he was as a hamster. Back then, he felt muddle-headed every day, unlike how his thoughts were clear now. He felt like he could suddenly understand a lot of things.

How should he put it? The event that had happened to him was so confusing that it made his clear thoughts become muddled again.

However, the memories of the crash were still vivid in his mind. His braking system malfunctioned, and by the time he realized it, he had already crashed. No matter which perspective one took, he was the one responsible for the accident.

“Who did I crash into?” Xiao Yu asked, stammering. That was the question he was concerned about the most right now.

“YL’s chairman. You asked that earlier?” Old Wu acted as if it was strange.

It really was Yan Jin.

Alright, at least that point was confirmed.

“O-oh. About that, is he alright?” Xiao Yu felt his heart clenching again.

“Thank god he’s fine. Otherwise, you…” Old Wu sighed and continued, “You crashed into him, yet your own vehicle fell into the river. If it wasn’t for the fact that Chairman Yan had some humanity left in him to instruct the police to pull you out of the river, I’m sure you would’ve been in hell now.”

“T-Then, he…”

“Chairman Yan’s injuries weren’t announced to the public, but I think he’s fine. He went home without even admitting himself into the hospital.”

“Ohh. That’s good.” Xiao Yu breathed out in relief. Then he suddenly remembered an important question: “What is today’s date, and what time is it right now?”

“Today is the seventh and it’s almost noon. You got into an accident on the night of the fifth and you were rescued several times. Remained in a coma for an entire day, and the doctor said that you weren’t coming back. Although from how I see…”

Old Wu hesitated to speak.

Xiao Yu felt awkward as he quickly apologized repeatedly.

He tried moving his limbs and felt that he was not missing anything or injured anywhere.

He did not even need to try. Judging from his bright enthusiasm earlier, he could tell that he did not break his legs, nor did he lose an arm.

“Old Wu, I think I’m doing fine? I don’t feel pain anywhere, not even a fracture. Why did the doctor say that I wasn’t going to come back?”

“I’m not sure about that. You were ushered into the surgery room yesterday and when you came out, the doctor declared that he had done his best.” Old Wu studied Xiao Yu and was bewildered as well: “That doctor is an award-winning resident doctor here. H-he can’t be lying…”

Xiao Yu wasn’t sure why, but Old Wu’s words made an idea flash through his mind.

Xiao Yu suddenly thought of an extremely ridiculous yet extremely logical guess.

After all, Xiao Yu did know a certain doctor who spouted nonsense everywhere he went and did not care about the patient and their family’s feelings.

There was only one that he knew of.

Then again, there should not be such a coincidence.

“What’s the doctor’s surname?”

“I didn’t ask that… I heard that you were not going to make it yesterday. Our colleagues came by, but your mobile could not be reached. I thought that no one would be here today so I dropped by to visit you…”

That did seem like Old Wu’s way of doing things. Xiao Yu felt grateful and depressed at the same time.

So, it turned out that he had been reduced to a state where only strangers cared about him.

“Where’s Lin Zhou?”

“Lin came over yesterday. He did visit this morning as well. He just left a while ago. I’m kind of taking over for him.”

“Thank you. I sincerely mean it.”

“Look who’s talking. We work under the same company – we should help one another.”

Xiao Yu wasn’t sure what he was feeling. If he had not experienced the past events, he probably would still think that “we should” help one another. However, at this juncture, he clearly understood that there was no such thing as “we should” in this world.

Even when it came to friendship, there was no “we should”.

To prevent his eyes from tearing up, Xiao Yu looked away and examined his surroundings. Then, he saw the doctor-in-charge’s flamboyant signature at the bed’s headrest.

A doctor’s signature was hard to recognize. But when it was a signature of a person that he knew of, the difficulty level was much lower.

Chu Ge.

—— You were ushered into the surgery room yesterday and when you came out, the doctor declared that he had done his best.

Dammit! I knew it was you!

Xiao Yu gritted his teeth angrily.

That fellow had not cured a lot of people, yet his ability to sentence a person to death was so astounding.

He must find Yan Jin to complain. He must complain!

We shall wait and see. Chu Ge, you asshole.

Xiao Yu silently added that into his little secret book in his heart.

Then, Xiao Yu suddenly realized a problem.

Speaking of which, did he really become a hamster and live with Yan Jin for eight months?

Wasn’t it just a dream?

Old Wu said that he was in a coma for an entire day. Did that mean that he had an eight-month-long dream in a single day?

“You lie down first. I’ll get the doctor for you. Also, about that…” Old Wu took a few glances at the shattered glass on the floor and spoke quietly: “Remember to say that you were in a state of confusion when you woke up earlier. This is the first time I’ve been to this hospital, but I’ve never seen such equipment before. If they were to charge…”

“Got it, got it.” Xiao Yu nodded, terrified.

“Hey, Old Wu…”

Even a good-natured person like Old Wu would get angry after getting stopped twice while trying to leave: “Xiao, could you just say everything that’s on your mind?”

“Just, just one last question.” Xiao Yu rubbed his hands nervously: “D-do you know how much I have to compensate?”

Old Wu sighed in defeat: “That I can’t comment on. But I heard that you are fully responsible. Chairman Yan was driving normally. If we didn’t know better, we would think that you deliberately crashed into him.”

“Why would I crash into Yan Jin? My brakes weren’t working back then…” Xiao Yu started mumbling incoherently.

“Of course I believe you. But did you know that car of his is worth at least this many digits?” Old Wu extended his five fingers.

Xiao Yu answered in a daze: “Rolls-Royce Phantom?”

“You knew that and you still hit it?!”

“But it’s strange.” Old Wu’s expression turned solemn: “The crash site had no surveillance cameras. It would be hard to tell whose fault it is, but god knows what Chairman Yan was thinking. He installed fifteen surveillance cameras in his car and recorded the whole process of you crashing into him. Don’t you think it’s too weird, like he’s doing this on purpose?”

Xiao Yu laughed awkwardly.

“I really think there’s something amiss. Why would anyone install so many surveillance cameras in their car? The front bumper was completely ruined, but all the cameras still work well? I didn’t expect someone who looks as proper as him to do such a thing.” Old Wu started analyzing the situation.

Xiao Yu: “……”

If those eight months of memories were not a dream, then perhaps he could explain why so many surveillance cameras were installed in Yan Jin’s vehicle had so many surveillance cameras installed.

“You were almost gone for good, but Chairman Yan left the hospital in one piece. And now he’s making a false counter charge against you as the offender. The cameras are in his hands, he can say anything he wants. Then – “

“Old Wu, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Xiao Yu broke into a cold sweat: “It’s my fault, really my fault. He’s a chairman after all, he wouldn’t risk his life just to frame me.”

“That’s debatable. Think about it. If you’re gone, then what does YL have to fear?”

Old Wu was still deeply stuck in his conspiracy theory.

He was not to blame. Fifteen surveillance cameras were indeed illogical.

Xiao Yu had no other choice, so he tried to change the topic: “Old Wu, could you get the doctor over?”

“Alright. Lie down, I’ll go get him.”

“Oh right.” This time, it was Old Wu who turned back from the door: “There is something wrong with that Chairman Yan. Can you guess what has he been doing for the past two days?”

Xiao Yu shook his head.

“It’s all over the industry and quite a few people from our company went too. Your life is still at stake in the hospital, yet Chairman Yan is holding a funeral for his pet with great fanfare!”

Xiao Yu: “……”

T/N: Hey everyone! Just wanna inform you guys that our Ko-fi page is up and running! So, to some of the readers who have contacted me previously to ask about supporting us, you may check us out there! Special thanks to K. Samel who mentioned their love for RIAH! ♥♥♥

P.S.: I may stop inserting hamster icons at the end of the chapters… for now.