Chapter 90 Demanding Someone

"Hello?"

Yan Zhoubai was just looking for an opportunity to ask Zhan Jiayu why he was helping the Yan family without telling him, when, as if on cue, Zhan Jiayu's call came through.

"How are you feeling today? Any better?" Zhan Jiayu's first words were about Yan Zhoubai's health.

"Much better. I can feel myself recovering little by little."

This wasn't just a reassuring fib; after two days of rest in the hospital, he genuinely felt significantly better than when he had first woken up.

He felt like his discharge was just around the corner.

"That's good."

"So," Yan Zhoubai hesitated for a moment before speaking, "why didn't you tell me that what you've been busy with these past couple of days is related to my second uncle's poisoning?"

Zhan Jiayu on the other end of the line fell silent. After a few seconds, he slowly replied, "So you already know. I thought your family hadn't told you."

He had helped resolve the matter, but he wasn't doing charity work, so he had already made his demands. Yet, during their last call, Yan Zhoubai clearly had no idea, so the Yan family must still be keeping it from him.

He didn't need to think hard to understand why. The Yan family didn't want to agree to his demands, but they also hadn't done much in dealing with the second uncle situation. They were deeply indebted to him but couldn't satisfy him, so they were just dragging their feet.

But how long could they drag it out? Sooner or later, Yan Zhoubai would find out, and he would take Yan Zhoubai away eventually.

"No, my shixiong told me. He came down from the mountain today to visit me at the hospital."

Shixiong? Zhan Jiayu frowned. Yan Zhoubai's shixiong from Cangru Guan? He had almost forgotten about that.

"Which shixiong? How old is he? How many shixiong do you have?" Zhan Jiayu's voice inexplicably deepened.

"Just my youngest shixiong, Senior Qin. He should be twenty-three this year. Even if I tell you, you wouldn't know him. Besides, I have many shixiong and shijie because I was the last disciple taken in by our master, so I'm very junior in rank."

Yan Zhoubai clearly felt happy talking about his shixiong and shijie, his tone noticeably lifting.

Twenty-three? That meant there wasn't much of an age gap—almost the same age as Yan Zhoubai. Were they close? He even made a special trip all the way down the mountain to visit.

Yan Zhoubai had only stayed at Cangru Guan for three years; he hadn't pledged his life to them. Why were they all so concerned about Yan Zhoubai?

Many shixiong and shijie? With Yan Zhoubai's cute and well-behaved personality, everyone would like him except for that blind bunch in the Yan family. He must be quite popular at Cangru Guan.

Zhan Jiayu's mind instantly started wandering. The words "shixiong" made him think of many things, to the point where he didn't even notice that his thoughts were inconsistent.

He suddenly felt an unexplainable sense of danger, especially upon hearing that this shixiong, who had specially come down the mountain to visit Yan Zhoubai, was only twenty-three—around the same age as Yan Zhoubai. He had previously overlooked that aside from the Yan family, there was another group of people connected to Yan Zhoubai.

Zhan Jiayu unconsciously rubbed his slender fingers.

Tch, how annoying.

Right now, he only wanted Yan Zhoubai to be connected to him; everyone else can step aside. The Yan family had come to him themselves, and he would handle it this time to ensure they stayed away from Yan Zhoubai's life in the future. But the Cangru Guan side seemed more complicated.

He recalled the excuse he had made up last time to get Yan Zhoubai to come to the Zhan family's old residence under the pretense of checking the feng shui, which had ended up backfiring on him when Yan Zhoubai actually discovered a problem.

The feng shui arrangement that the old man had created seemed pretty complicated. Yan Zhoubai had mentioned that he needed to consult his master about it. Wasn't this an opportunity he had inadvertently given Yan Zhoubai to strengthen his bonds with his sect?

"I'm on my way to the hospital now and should get there to see you in about ten minutes. Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you in person when I arrive."

Temporarily setting aside the matter of Cangru Guan, Zhan Jiayu steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Okay."

Yan Zhoubai was happy to hear that Zhan Jiayu was coming. He had been counting the days, waiting to see Zhan Jiayu.

"By the way, since my shixiong came to visit me this time, I asked him about the feng shui arrangement at your family's old residence. I already know how to break it now."

Yan Zhoubai's voice was as cheerful as if he had just gotten a perfect score on a test as a child, eager to share the good news with Zhan Jiayu.

"That's great. Next time, Little Master can help me resolve this feng shui issue."

When Zhan Jiayu had previously used the term "Little Master," it had carried a teasing, affectionate tone, but this time, his tone was noticeably flat.

Because Yan Zhoubai had brought up his shixiong again, Zhan Jiayu really didn't want to hear about him right now.

"Yay, I'll definitely be able to solve it."

Yan Zhoubai didn't notice Zhan Jiayu's displeasure at all; he was completely absorbed in the joy of having found a solution.

…

When Bu Qiran woke up, he was completely confused. He slowly sat up in the hospital bed, massaging his temples, and as he opened his eyes, he saw Yan Zhoubai propped up against a pillow playing with his phone. There was no one else in the room, and everything seemed unchanged.

"What happened to me just now?" Bu Qiran asked.

"How would I know? You suddenly fell asleep slumped by the bed. I tried to wake you for a long time but couldn't, so I just let you be. If you're not well-rested, you should go home and sleep. There's really no need to stay here all the time."

Yan Zhoubai lied without batting an eye. He felt that the more he lied, the more skilled he became at it. Especially when it came to Bu Qiran, he felt absolutely no psychological burden.

Bu Qiran had woken up less than a minute after he ended the call, just as Senior Qin had said—about five or six minutes after the sleep curse was lifted.

"How long was I asleep?" Bu Qiran continued.

"About half an hour."

This time, Yan Zhoubai wasn't lying. Bu Qiran had indeed been asleep for that long. Qin Hemeng had only stayed in the room for a little over half an hour.

"Something's definitely wrong. You fell asleep suddenly, but I don't know what happened. Once you were asleep, I couldn't sense anything from the outside world either."

Bu Qiran's system sounded somewhat anxious. As a system, it had never encountered such a situation before, and it felt a sense of tension from suddenly losing control without understanding why.

"I know."

Bu Qiran replied to the system in his mind and then ignored it, letting the system babble on with its various theories.

"Did anyone come while I was asleep?"

Bu Qiran continued questioning Yan Zhoubai, his tone dropped his casual tone he'd had these past few days to a serious one.

"No. After you fell asleep, I just played on my phone. No one else came after Sister Qi Hua left. If any more people came, there wouldn't be any space left in the room for anything else."

Yan Zhoubai smoothly omitted mention of Qin Hemeng's visit. He tilted his chin toward the room, indicating for Bu Qiran to see for himself.

Yan Zhoubai's hospital room was indeed filled with tonics and supplements brought by visitors, each more expensive than the last, though frankly, they didn't help his recovery much.

There were so many flowers that they covered the table and even lined the floor. The cleaning staff had to clear out dead flowers and foliage every day.

Yan Zhoubai's eyes were hidden behind his raised phone, so from Bu Qiran's angle, he couldn't see Yan Zhoubai's dark, large eyes darting about behind it.

Bu Qiran didn't press further, but there was no way he was going to let this matter slide so easily—it was just too strange.

It wasn't his imagination; he had passed out for no apparent reason. He began to wonder whether he had eaten something he shouldn't have recently.

That old bastard who wanted him dead was connected to a drug trafficking ring—could it be that the old man had more tricks up his sleeve? Had they secretly slipped him some slow-acting poison long ago, causing these sudden, unexplained blackouts?

Just as Bu Qiran was spiraling with these wild thoughts, the door to the hospital room opened—Yan Anxuan had arrived.

Seeing Yan Anxuan enter, Yan Zhoubai instinctively put down his phone, pretending he had only just picked it up to check the time.

There was no particular reason—it was just that during his stay in the hospital, Yan Anxuan had repeatedly emphasized that he shouldn't spend too much time on his phone and needed plenty of rest.

But lying in bed all day was driving him crazy, and if he couldn't even play on his phone, he'd truly die of boredom.

Bu Qiran, on the other hand, never nagged him about it. Although Bu Qiran stayed in the room all day, he never monitored Yan Zhoubai's phone use. Sometimes, he even insisted on playing online games together.

Yan Zhoubai wondered—was this guy really here to take care of a patient? He acted more like he was on vacation.

"Stop hiding it, I saw everything."

Yan Anxuan had brought some freshly baked pastries from a certain five-star hotel. Seeing Yan Zhoubai's flustered attempt to hide his phone, he could only smile helplessly.

It was like this every time—Yan Zhoubai never learned, and Yan Anxuan always caught him red-handed.

"Have something to eat first."

Yan Anxuan set the pastries on the table and casually moved the flowers that were taking up space, placing them on the floor.

"Brother, is Zhan Jiayu handling the case involving Second Uncle's connection to the cross-border drug trafficking ring?"

Yan Zhoubai took a bite of the still-warm egg yolk pastry and asked.

The question made both Yan Anxuan and Bu Qiran freeze for a moment.

Yan Anxuan smiled weakly. "How did you know? I hadn't gotten around to telling you yet."

"Then why didn't you just tell me? Was it really that hard to say something?"

"Because they didn't want you to go with me."

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Author's note: Here you go!