CH 23

Both of them spent more than two hours in Jewelry City but they were still empty-handed. Except for the 36 yuan for breakfast, not a penny was spent.

Lin Dongyang was tired of shopping. He felt like they had visited every corner inside and outside of the Jewelry City, and there was really nothing worth seeing. He said to Qiao Yichen, “What exactly do you want to buy? Choose another place.”

Lin Dongyang complained a lot about Qiao Yichen’s uncertain attitude. He picked a bracelet and was rejected, he picked a teddy bear and was rejected, then he picked high-heel shoes and was also rejected. Lin Dongyang was speechless as he looked at the sky and thought: What do you want in the end?! What else do you want?!

Qiao Yichen pursed his thin lips, he was speechless when asked this by Lin Dongyang. Lin Dongyang, looking at his tangled appearance, let out an exasperated sigh. Finally, they drove to the Athena International Building Shopping City, parked the car in Area A on the second floor, and took the elevator to the ground floor. They then walked around each floor in a sweeping manner. 

Lin Dongyang looked at the elevator despairingly, he didn’t even want to take a small step. He had to say that it was too tall. Ten stories, not including the entertainment area on the top floor. They walked until Lin Dongyang began to doubt his life. He looked at Qiao Yichen’s upright waist and said with sincere admiration, “How can you shop better than a woman? I can’t walk anymore.”

After saying it, he squatted on the ground in spite of the public’s eyes, saying that he would not leave!

Qiao Yichen also showed exhaustion, but his breathing was fairly stable. He looked at Lin Dongyang, who was squatting on the marble floor, just like he had after the race at the sports meeting. He was disgusted and said, “You should exercise, the gift hasn’t been chosen yet, hurry up.”

“Choose a fart ah! Do you have a list in your heart so as to be able to torment me for so long? I want to buy a drink, I am so thirsty!” Lin Dongyang had been walking for so long and he was on the verge of an emotional breakdown. He had never shopped so desperately in his life.

Lin Dongyang went to the nearby milk tea shop and ordered two glasses of lemonade with ice. As soon as he got it he drank a big mouthful of it and he walked towards Qiao Yichen, who was sitting in a public lounge chair.

“For you.” He handed the other cup to Qiao Yichen and said, “Don’t torment me anymore. You don’t lack anything.”

Taking the cold drink, Qiao Yichen held it in his hand for a while. When the warm and sweaty palm touched the ice-cold drink, his tired spirit eased a little, and he said stubbornly, “It’s her coming-of-age ceremony, so we must choose the best one.”

“You’re still a sis-con ah. Then you can just spend more time with her.” Lin Dongyang really didn’t want to continue shopping anymore. He wanted to make the unrepentant Qiao Yichen give up this treatment quickly. Sitting next to Qiao Yichen in the public lounge chair, he sipped the ice-lemonade from time to time to get some strength back. 

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“I can’t draw,” Qiao Yichen replied without thinking.

Lin Dongyang: “I can ah!” 

Qiao Yichen: “Then, it’s not my drawing.”

As soon as Lin Dongyang heard that there was a way out, he volunteered excitedly, “I’ll teach you! Hand in hand!”

“Why would I draw a self-portrait?” Qiao Yichen didn’t understand, “Taking photos is not much more convenient either.” He still felt that this method wasn’t feasible at all, but his thinking was based on ‘expensive’.

Lin Dongyang: “Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘goose feathers may be light for a gift; but sent from afar, they convey profound feelings’?” 

“What does it have to do with this?” Qiao Yichen looked at him with contempt.

“You don’t understand, right? Since it is meaningless to give valuable things, then give affection.” Lin Dongyang said earnestly and began to explain, “I tell you what, your sister doesn’t need anything, but she definitely lacks her brother’s company. You stay at home for two days a week. Judging from how much you value your sister, your brother-sister relationship must be very good. This is not something that money can measure at all. It’s because you can’t draw, so you try your best to draw it and give it to her. She will definitely be very excited! If it changed to me, I’d also feel excited! Because you have done something for her that you wouldn’t have done before. Furthermore, taking a photo is a matter of pressing a button, but drawing pictures is to infuse the pen with your soul.”

Qiao Yichen listened cluelessly as he went on a bunch of tangents. He unexpectedly thought about it seriously. Holding half a cup of lemonade, he drank with both hands, and fell into deep thought.

Seeing that he hesitated, Lin Dongyang continued his efforts, “I will definitely teach you! If I can’t, you can pack me and give me to your sister!” He really didn’t want to shop anymore. This morning, he felt that he had spent a whole year strolling around the shopping mall. 

Qiao Yichen, who couldn’t think of any other good ideas, finally nodded hesitantly and agreed, because he felt that Lin Dongyang was right. Weiwei really lacked his company, and maybe there would be even less opportunities after her coming-of-age ceremony.

After Lin Dongyang’s painstaking persuasion, the matter was finally settled and they took the elevator to the second floor of the underground parking lot.

At this moment, it couldn’t be mentioned how happy Lin Dongyang was. If only he had known this earlier, then he wouldn’t have had to suffer for a few hours, where his feet never stopped, and he felt that the soles of his shoes were going to wear out.

The underground parking lot was very spacious, both of them walked side by side to area A. Lin Dongyang was so happy that he was full of energy. He kept talking to Qiao Yichen about how simple drawing was and how easy it was to draw, but Qiao Yichen didn’t listen to a word at all. He seamlessly looked at the reflections on the car windows. 

Behind them, a few figures deformed by the glass of the car windows slowly approached them sneakily.

Qiao Yichen stayed mindful, stepping lightly, and listening carefully to the movement behind him as he walked forward. The footsteps were getting closer and closer, when suddenly there was the sound of breaking in the air. It was the sound formed when an object tore through the air at a high speed. Qiao Yichen, who had always been alert, directly avoided it. The sneak attacker failed with the first bat so without waiting for Qiao Yichen to make a return attack, another bat was thrown over. This time, the target was Lin Dongyang, who was unaware of it.

Seeing that the baseball bat was about to fall on the back of Lin Dongyang’s head, Qiao Yichen didn’t have time to make any noise to warn him, his body had already responded by raising his arm to firmly block the bat for him. He clenched his teeth in pain and couldn’t hold back a muffled groan.

Lin Dongyang only then realized that he was almost hit by someone! 

The sneak attacker stopped hiding once he saw he had failed to injure the vital point. He swung his baseball bat arrogantly and pointed his nose at the both of them while saying, “Yo, you’ve returned. I’ve been waiting for you two b*stards for a long time.”

The vigilant Qiao Yichen saw that the group of people in front of him weren’t easy to deal with. So, holding his left arm, he whispered to Lin Dongyang, “You go ahead.”

At that moment Lin Dongyang was still in fear from the nerve-wracking attack. Can’t he be afraid?! If that bat had really hit the back of his head he might have ended up half-dead, in a vegetative state, lying in bed for the rest of his life! But even though he was terrified, he also felt irritable at the same time. Staring at this group of attackers, his eyes, which were usually clear and smiling, for once showed a terrible cruelty.

An unconventionally-dressed man held a baseball bat with his thick wrists and casually passed the other four men. Standing in front of the group, the flower shirt that was tucked into his suit pants, and his wolf leather belt, both enhanced the bad social scum aura. His instant noodle-like, explosive hairstyle with his fierce-looking face was more obvious than if he had written ‘bad guy’ on his face. This person is not good! 

Lin Dongyang saw Qiao Yichen holding his left arm and thought, if he hadn’t blocked that bat, the consequences would have been unimaginable. “How’s your arm?” He asked with concern.

Qiao Yichen stared solemnly at the five men holding lethal weapons in front, always on guard in case they attacked again. “It won’t get in the way.”

At such times, Lin Dongyang could only ask symbolically, because the critical treatment couldn’t be carried out at all. The sneak attackers in front of them weren’t like ordinary thugs looking for trouble, they had a purpose. “Are they after you?” Lin Dongyang asked Qiao Yichen.

Qiao Yichen: “En, you should find a chance to leave and call the police.” 

Flower shirt spit out the toothpick in his mouth, and the lackey behind him immediately licked his lips and handed over a cigarette. After lighting the cigarette, Flower shirt exhaled a breath of smoke and said in an arrogant tone. “Want to go? That won’t work. Neither of you can leave today.”

Looking back at Qiao Yichen, Lin Dongyang uttered an off-topic remark in this serious and tense atmosphere. “It seems that I can’t leave, so I just have one request. Can my medical expenses be reimbursed in full?”

Seeing Lin Dongyang, who was still glibly asking him for medical expenses at such a time, Qiao Yichen let out a laugh unsuited for this atmosphere, but this time without any mockery or disdain, and he replied in the same tone. “Plus tonic.”

Both of them joked together, without the slightest fear at all, which made Flower shirt very angry. Feeling insulted, he rained curses on them without restraint, “These little b*stards’ deaths are near at hand but they are still arrogant, tie them up for me!” 

“Boss, that one doesn’t seem to be the person we were supposed to tie up.” A tall, thin man with tattoos of fangs and claws on his arms took out a photo and handed it to his leader, Flower shirt. Flower shirt took a puff of his cigarette and compared the photo several times to Lin Dongyang, he nodded: Indeed different.

“Anyway, he demands two people, even if it isn’t him, just tie them up for me!”

After Flower shirt’s fierce roar, he took the lead in rushing over with a baseball bat. The four lackeys behind him watched their boss step on the battlefield and then followed with the same intimidating action of swinging their bat. Just as Lin Dongyang wanted to break through from the side, he was yanked behind by Qiao Yichen as he lifted up one of his long legs and kicked Flower shirt’s belly.

Flower shirt flew back with a loud ‘Ai-you’ and immediately knocked down the two lackeys behind him. Three of the five fell in an instant, and they lost the advantage in the first round. The force of the action pushed Qiao Yichen back several steps. It could be seen that a lot of effort had been behind that foot. 

Lin Dongyang supported Qiao Yichen from behind. At the moment they were grasshoppers tied together with a piece of string, and needed to work together. He didn’t know what had happened to Qiao Yichen, but the current situation couldn’t tolerate any ideological differences between them. There was room to reverse the situation, only if they were united.

Each of the five opponents were holding a baseball bat. From their words, they could understand that these people had a purpose, they weren’t here just to fight. If they restrained them, Lin Dongyang didn’t dare to think about the consequences.