Chapter 15: Xu Danlu’s Secret Burden

  The test results came out—Zhang Yang only suffered minor injuries. On the surface, there wasn’t much to see. Zhang Yang believed Bai Liangfeng definitely had it worse, since he’d focused all his punches on his face. That tall, rich, handsome bastard’s face was probably unrecognizable, even to his parents.

  Still, Zhang Yang’s back ached to the bone from all the hits. His ribs weren’t broken, but they might as well have been. He’d have to stay in the hospital for observation for a few days.

  But the physical pain didn’t bother Zhang Yang. What worried him was how the school would punish him.

  He’d already been publicly criticized by the entire university. If he got another warning, graduating would become a real problem.

  That afternoon, when Zhou Wei came to visit with Li Jindong and Liu Qing, Li Jindong’s face looked grim. Seeing Zhang Yang like that, he sighed and patted his shoulder. “You got into all this trouble and didn’t even think to call me first?”

  Zhang Yang gave a bitter smile. “You’re studying for grad school exams. I didn’t want to bother you guys.”

  “Bullshit. Exams aren’t more important than brothers.” Li Jindong sat down beside him, his expression worried. “You might be in big trouble this time. That scumbag Bai broke a rib.”

  “Damn it, you can’t blame Yangzi for that. That bastard started the fight!” Zhou Wei protested. “Shit, at most it’s self-defense.”

  Li Jindong glared at him. “No shit. But it depends on whether the school believes your story. And you—don’t you have my number, idiot? If you’d called me, I would’ve been there right away.”

  “It all happened so fast. But I did send Xu Danlu to call a teacher. Who knew that damn Whitehead would show up too.” Zhou Wei scratched his neck awkwardly.

  “You called a teacher in the middle of a fight? Were you thinking with your dick?” Li Jindong looked exasperated, clearly about to blow up again.

  Seeing things escalate, Zhang Yang quickly cut in. “Come on, look at me. Can’t you guys chill a bit? Dongzi, you know more than anyone—what do you think the school’s gonna do to me?”

  Li Jindong glanced at Zhou Wei, his face darkening, then turned to Zhang Yang. “Did you… extort Xu Danlu before?”

  “Extort?”

  “Yeah. They’re saying you used a video to blackmail her. Even though Xu Danlu denied it, they’ve got a witness—a hot girl from the Department of Journalism and Communication, Xia Weiwei. She testified that you and Zhou Wei plotted to threaten Xu Danlu, though in the end, you went alone. Even Professor Yang saw it.”

  “What the fuck!” Zhang Yang was speechless. “Even the victim denied it, and they’re still going with that crap? Just tell me, what’s the verdict?”

  Li Jindong hesitated. “Expulsion.”

  “Fuck!” Zhang Yang slumped against the bed frame. After a moment, seeing Zhou Wei and Li Jindong’s worried faces, he smiled weakly to comfort them. “Alright, I’ll take the hit. Anyway, this useless degree isn’t much help finding a job. Consider it a sacrifice to the Bai family.”

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  “That’s not funny.” Li Jindong sighed. “I’ll ask my dad to pull some strings. Maybe we can get them to allow you to take a year off instead. But Bai Group has deep ties with the College of Chemical Engineering—it won’t be easy.”

  “Forget it. Don’t bother your father with this.” Zhang Yang shook his head. The Bai family was well-connected with several department leaders, and he didn’t want to drag Li Jindong into it too.

  “Bullshit. Don’t worry about that.” Li Jindong rolled his eyes. “But that damn Whitehead’s out to get you. Even if you somehow keep your student status, you’ll have to watch your back.”

  “Screw him. I’ll get a chance to beat him up again sooner or later.” Zhang Yang muttered angrily.

  “Yeah, after graduation, dumbass.” Li Jindong gave him a look. “Oh, and there’s something else—you know that beauty you risked your neck for? She’s in deep trouble too.”

  “What trouble?” Zhang Yang frowned. Xu Danlu hadn’t come by yet—did Bai Liangfeng send people after her?

  Li Jindong sneered. “I knew it. You’re trying to chase her, and you don’t even know what’s going on. Her dad has terminal cancer.”

  “Terminal cancer?” Zhang Yang froze, his mouth twitching as he repeated the words. The moment he heard that, he stopped caring about the rest of what Li Jindong said. His chest tightened—his own grandfather had died just months ago from that same incurable disease. And now Xu Danlu was facing the same nightmare.

  “Yeah.” Li Jindong nodded. “I ran into her by chance when I went with my mom for a checkup at Meining University Zhongshan Hospital. She looked devastated. Her dad’s got advanced hypopharyngeal cancer. Even treatment costs a fortune. Word is, that bastard Bai tried to use it as leverage—offered to pay 100,000 yuan for treatment in exchange for sleeping with her. You ruined his plan.”

  “Wait—how do you know all that?” Zhang Yang frowned. The way it sounded, Bai Liangfeng and Xu Danlu’s relationship was more complicated than just boyfriend and girlfriend.

  “Simple.” Li Jindong gave him a look. “Meining City’s not that big. That bastard Bai bragged in front of a few rich kids that he was gonna spend 100,000 yuan to buy the virginity of Meining University’s campus belle—and record a video as proof. No one believed him, said he was bullshitting, since finding a virgin campus belle these days is harder than landing on the moon. Then he straight-up dropped Xu Danlu’s name.”

  “Fuck, I really went too easy on him.” Zhang Yang’s anger flared. At the same time, he felt conflicted—if he hadn’t interfered, Xu Danlu could’ve at least gotten the money for her father’s treatment.

  “Dongzi, I need a favor.” Zhang Yang stared at Li Jindong, thinking for a while before speaking.

  Li Jindong waved his hand. “I know what you’re thinking. I could lend you 100,000, but let me say this—whether or not Xu Danlu’s worth helping isn’t the point. Even if you give her that money, it won’t save her father. You saw what happened with your grandfather—it’s late-stage. That money would just vanish.”

  “Also, don’t tell me you’re only doing this because you found out she’s still a virgin.”

  Zhang Yang shrugged. “You think too much. Anyway, you said her dad’s at Meining University Zhongshan Hospital, right?”

  “Yeah.” Li Jindong nodded absentmindedly.

  “Help me check out.”

  Li Jindong jumped up. “What the hell are you doing? The doctor said you need three days of observation! Zhou bro, help me hold him down!”

  Meining University Zhongshan Hospital was the best-equipped tertiary hospital in Meining City. Zhang Yang’s grandfather had received radiotherapy there before. Although it hadn’t saved him, Zhang Yang trusted their expertise—and he also happened to know someone there: Yang Jing, an attending doctor in the oncology department.

  On the phone, when Zhang Yang said he wanted to visit her father, Xu Danlu hesitated. “Didn’t you get hurt? You should rest first.”

  But Zhang Yang insisted until she finally gave him the ward number.

  When Zhang Yang arrived, he was surprised to see Yang Fei there too. She frowned tightly when she saw him, her beautiful eyes cold as ice, making him uncomfortable.

  “Hello, Teacher,” Zhang Yang greeted her awkwardly.

  Yang Fei only responded with a cold snort. Her long, white legs shifted under her tight purple skirt as she walked toward the door. “Danlu, let’s go check the scan results.”

  Xu Danlu shot Zhang Yang a quick glance. When Yang Fei reached the door, she whispered, “My dad just had another enhanced CT. I have to go see the results. I’ll be right back.”

  Zhang Yang nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll talk with your father.”

  “Mm.” Xu Danlu nodded and left.

  Zhang Yang turned and looked at Xu Danlu’s father, who was slowly drinking some soup with the help of her mother.

  Xu Danlu’s mother noticed Zhang Yang and quickly made room, forcing a smile. “You’re Danlu’s classmate, right? Thank you for visiting my husband.”

  Zhang Yang nodded and set down the fruit he brought. “Auntie, actually, Danlu and I went to the same high school too.”

  “Really?” Her mother looked surprised, her face softening. “Then you’re from Anping too?”

  “Yeah.” Zhang Yang nodded again. Xu Danlu’s father smiled weakly at him, acknowledging his presence. Zhang Yang took a closer look—there were visible lumps on both sides of his neck, swollen lymph nodes. It had clearly spread. Based on appearance alone, it was late-stage with bilateral lymph node metastasis. The enhanced CT would show whether it had spread further. If there were distant metastases, not even the gods could save him.

  But Xu Danlu’s father didn’t seem to realize how close death was. He smiled faintly and spoke in a raspy Anping dialect, “Good kid, getting into Meining University’s no easy feat. So, which part of Anping are you from?”

  Before Zhang Yang could answer, a familiar figure appeared at the door—it was Yang Jing. Seeing him, she paused, then smiled warmly and walked in, patting his shoulder gently. “Zhang Yang, what are you doing here?”