Chapter 86 Miss You

Chapter 86 Thinking of You

Seeing the caller ID, Zhan Jiayu paused, then swiftly and discreetly moved away from the one-way mirror outside the interrogation room.

The person seated in the interrogation room, in the defendant's position, was none other than the Yan family's second son.

"Zhan Jiayu, are you busy?"

Yan Zhoubai's voice came through the phone. Zhan Jiayu was standing by the window on the third-floor corridor of the Zhongcheng Precinct, watching the sparse figures in the courtyard and the bustling traffic beyond.

It was dusk, the sky just beginning to darken, the fiery sunset's last glow about to fade.

"No, not busy."

Zhan Jiayu's voice was somewhat hoarse and hesitant, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.

"You're awake."

His tone was cautious, as if fearing that any sudden movement might startle the person on the other end.

"I just woke up a little while ago."

Yan Zhoubai didn't detect any difference in Zhan Jiayu's tone from usual, but he was still delighted to have reached him.

"How are you feeling? Any discomfort? Is anyone with you? Should I come over now?" Zhan Jiayu rattled off a series of questions.

"No, no need. I'm perfectly fine. The doctor said I'm okay for now; I just need to rest," Yan Zhoubai felt he was doing well.

"When I woke up, my parents, my elder brother, and even Bu Qiran were all by my bedside. It quite startled me. Especially my elder brother—he looked incredibly haggard, as if he hadn't slept properly for days."

Yan Zhoubai was eager to share his current situation with Zhan Jiayu.

"That's good," Zhan Jiayu's voice remained raspy.

Yan Anxuan haggard? Shouldn't that be expected? A perfectly healthy person in the Yan family was dragged through the gates of hell because of them. It would be a blessing if Yan Anxuan didn't have to atone with his life!

Why didn't he stop Yan Zhoubai from taking that glass of wine? Is that how an elder brother acts? And he still has the nerve to put on airs in front of me?

Even if Yan Zhoubai owed the Yan family in the past, this ordeal should have settled all debts.

"What's wrong? You sound upset, and your voice is a bit hoarse. Are you sick?"

After a few exchanges, Yan Zhoubai finally noticed that Zhan Jiayu wasn't himself. He responded to everything Yan Zhoubai said, but offered nothing more.

This wasn't right. Couldn't he show more explicit concern after Yan Zhoubai nearly died from poisoning? And here Yan Zhoubai had called him the moment he woke up, remembering how he'd been waiting for Zhan Jiayu to come to the banquet before everything went wrong. And this was the reaction he got?

Yan Zhoubai subconsciously pouted, feeling a little displeased. Yet, his words still conveyed concern for Zhan Jiayu first.

"Not sick, but I haven't been resting well. I've been dealing with some things."

Zhan Jiayu's system silently grumbled: Not just not resting well, he's barely closed his eyes these past few days.

Who would have thought that the Yan family's second son, who was almost a non-entity in the original plot, could be involved in such a massive case? Even the system was stunned.

The severity of this case far exceeded the Yan family's capabilities. If it were merely an attempted poisoning, its host wouldn't need to get too involved—the Yan family could easily crush this second son and ensure he never recovered.

But with drugs involved, the Yan family was utterly powerless.

The Zhan family dealt in arms overseas and never touched drugs, but in such matters, the Zhan family—or rather, its host—was far more experienced than the Yan family. He not only wanted to crush the Yan family's second son but also to unearth everyone involved behind the scenes.

Yan Zhoubai had no idea that Zhan Jiayu was handling something related to him. He thought it was still about the earlier incident that had delayed Zhan Jiayu from attending the banquet, and that Zhan Jiayu had been busy with it all these days.

"Oh, I see," Yan Zhoubai felt inexplicably disappointed. "Then it must be quite important. My celebration banquet shouldn't have kept you from handling serious matters."

Though he said that, what Yan Zhoubai really thought was: But my celebration banquet only happens once! I'm so clumsy, I'll definitely not get into grad school, so if you miss this one, there won't be another.

Though exhausted from days without sleep and mentally sluggish from the sudden good news of Yan Zhoubai waking up and calling him to report his safety, Zhan Jiayu's keen instincts were still sharp. He immediately realized Yan Zhoubai had misunderstood.

"What's going on in that little head of yours? How could I possibly miss your celebration banquet?" Zhan Jiayu finally showed his first genuine smile in days. "But someone was quite cruel to me—I arrived at the banquet hall just in time to see him unconscious and being carried away by paramedics."

His tone was playful, but Zhan Jiayu wasn't joking.

The image of Yan Zhoubai lying on a stretcher, eyes tightly shut, lips pale, and face contorted in pain, had been haunting him for days, replaying in his mind like a nightmare. It was one of the reasons he hadn't slept much.

He didn't dare dwell on that scene too deeply. If Yan Zhoubai had remained unconscious, he didn't know what would have happened next.

"You came?!"

Yan Zhoubai didn't understand why he was so happy or why he cared so much about whether Zhan Jiayu had attended his celebration banquet. He only knew that when he thought Zhan Jiayu hadn't come, his heart ached with a bitter, uncomfortable sourness.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't expect something like this to happen. Did it scare you?"

After his initial excitement, Yan Zhoubai realized Zhan Jiayu had just mentioned seeing him being carried away. It felt terrible to invite someone to a banquet only to have them witness such a frightening scene.

"Yes, it scared me to death. The last time I felt this much dread was when I was eighteen, got shot, and found out the bullet was just a few centimeters from my heart."

Zhan Jiayu watched as the last traces of the sunset vanished outside the window, the distant sky turning a deep, dark shade. His tone was faint, as if his words could be carried away by the wind.

"Ah? You've been hurt that badly before? You never mentioned it."

Yan Zhoubai was shocked to hear that Zhan Jiayu had suffered such a severe gunshot wound. He started trying to recall if he'd ever seen a scar on Zhan Jiayu’s chest.

Had he? No memory of it. Maybe it had faded over time? But a gunshot wound that serious would definitely leave a mark. Had he been too careless?

After three minutes of thinking, all Yan Zhoubai could remember was Zhan Jiayu's well-developed pectorals. Realizing this, his face flushed despite himself.

Zhan Jiayu gave a faint smile. "If you want to know, I'll tell you about it next time."

"Oh," Yan Zhoubai replied vacantly.

"Your parents haven't told you what exactly happened, have they?" Zhan Jiayu asked.

"Not yet."

"You can ask them when you're feeling better, or wait until I can tell you everything in detail."

Zhan Jiayu stood by the corridor window, fiddling with the window latch.

Yan Zhoubai was puzzled. What was the big secret? He'd been through a brush with death, but he hadn't lost his memory. Wasn't it just his second uncle trying to poison him? Why couldn't they talk about it directly?

"Wait until then? You don't have time to visit me soon?"

Yan Zhoubai suddenly caught the important words.

For some reason, the person he most wanted to see after waking up was Zhan Jiayu. Perhaps it was because, before passing out from the poison, he'd been waiting for him to come to the banquet. The longing had lodged in his mind—the more he couldn't see him, the more he wanted to.

"I might not have time these next couple of days. The earliest would be the day after tomorrow. Once I've handled this matter, I'll come see you right away."

Zhan Jiayu was eager to see Yan Zhoubai, but before that, he wanted to resolve this matter completely. Because what he wanted wasn't just to see Yan Zhoubai—it was far more than that.

After such an incident, he would never keep Yan Zhoubai in the Yan family under any circumstances—it was clear that Yan Zhoubai had only suffered harm there.

"Oh, alright then," Yan Zhoubai said.

Yan Zhoubai agreed obediently as always, but his lack of enthusiasm was evident.

"What? Do you really want to see me right now?"

Noticing Yan Zhoubai's downcast mood, Zhan Jiayu suddenly felt in a better mood. His low, husky voice carried a tingle-inducing, electric effect at that moment.

"No, not at all."

Yan Zhoubai could have easily admitted that he did want to see Zhan Jiayu, but for some reason, hearing Zhan Jiayu's teasing, husky voice made his cheeks grow inexplicably hot, and he ended up defiantly saying the opposite.

"Oh," Zhan Jiayu deliberately drew out the syllable, clearly not buying it, yet he said, "It's fine. If you don't miss me, then I'll miss you instead. I really miss you, Yan Zhoubai."

Even after hanging up, Yan Zhoubai still felt a bit dazed. Why was Zhan Jiayu sweet-talking today? It wasn't like him.

Well, maybe he wasn't acting normal either—he was acting all mushy too.

"Baby, it might be that subconsciously you just don't feel safe in the Yan family. What happened to you was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time—your idiot second uncle wasn't even trying to poison you. His real targets were your eldest brother or Bu Qiran. He didn't even have you on his radar," the system said.

Yan Zhoubai couldn't remember much after drinking the wine due to the pain, but he hadn't completely lost consciousness, so the system had caught every word Second Uncle Yan said.

"How could that be? The Yan family is my home, and they're my family. Why would I feel unsafe?" Yan Zhoubai didn't think that was the reason.

"Then why did you shy away from them after waking up?"

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The author has something to say: Here it is [confetti].