Chapter 83.4

When Li Zhuiyuan returned to campus, it was nearly noon. He’d originally planned to check if Tan Wenbin had woken up yet, but as he passed by the discount store, he spotted Runsheng.

Runsheng was still in that white tank top, bandages visible at the shoulder.

“Xiaoyuan.”

Runsheng jogged over, his arm movements still a bit awkward.

Li Zhuiyuan stayed put, watching him approach.

He’d been trying, in close relationships, to stop putting on an act—hoping his real self could offer some emotional response.

The upside? It might help him grow. The downside? It hurt people.

After all, even healthy, well-adjusted friends can end up breaking ties when they start being “brutally honest.”

“How’s the injury?”

“Still not great, but I’m out of bed. Nothing much going on lately, so I got discharged. Lying around all day wasn’t doing me any good anyway, hehe.”

He hadn’t left the hospital yesterday out of worry it’d seem like he was desperate to rejoin the action—he didn’t want to pressure the team or become a burden.

Li Zhuiyuan opened his arms and stepped forward, but halfway through, the gesture turned into just a slap on Runsheng’s hand.

Then he turned and headed back to the dorms.

“Hehehe.” Runsheng glanced down at the back of his hand, where Xiaoyuan had slapped it, then walked into the store.

Standing on the steps outside, Yin Meng had witnessed the whole exchange and whispered, “Looks like Xiaoyuan’s still mad at you.”

“Nah. He was real friendly.”

…

Over the next several days, Li Zhuiyuan’s life settled into a routine.

Recovering Dead Sinkers was a bit like fishing—the joy for anglers came from stealing a moment of peace amid the chaos.

Tan Wenbin, meanwhile, launched himself into previewing college coursework—studying deep into the night before finally falling asleep.

Each morning, Li Zhuiyuan would head to Liu Yumei’s place for breakfast, then spend half the day with Ah Li. At noon, he’d eat lunch at Runsheng’s shop, then pack up another meal to take back for Wenbin, who only woke up in the afternoon.

That extra step hadn’t always been part of the plan. But when Wenbin woke up hungry, he had a habit of stopping by Lu Yi’s dorm room to snack on red sausages. Lately, he’d even helped himself to the dumplings.

Lu Yi’s family wasn’t well-off. That’s why he’d stayed on campus during summer break to work part-time. After Wenbin’s constant pillaging, Li Zhuiyuan had no choice but to bring food back for him.

Especially since Lu Yi’s dorm door had been broken—by Li Zhuiyuan himself during that whole possession incident—and couldn’t be locked when Lu Yi wasn’t there. That meant Wenbin could stroll in anytime and enjoy the “offerings.”

The repairman wouldn’t be on full duty until the school officially reopened. During the break, they only came around occasionally to fix issues in batches. Technically, repairs could be reported to the dorm supervisor, and the lock could be fixed in a few days—except their dorm supervisor had vanished.

Lu Yi had asked about it at the maintenance office. The person on duty said that the newly appointed maintenance director for their area… had also gone missing.

Runsheng had reported Sun Hongxia’s disappearance too. Even though they all knew the truth deep down, the official process still had to be followed.

Freshmen needed to go through military training, and check-in dates were already set in advance. Other classes had already organized students to collect their training uniforms. But for Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin’s class—and two neighboring ones—nothing had happened. Because… their counselor had gone missing as well!

Lately, the frequency of police cars on campus had skyrocketed.

Five disappearances at a university—that was a huge deal. And a little digging showed that the origin traced back to a case from seven years ago. Naturally, it drew intense scrutiny.

One evening, as everyone sat around the shop eating hot pot, Xue Liangliang, who had gone on a business trip to Shan City with Luo Gong, called the store directly and asked,

“What the hell did you guys fish up this time?”

The police had contacted Xue Liangliang—he was, after all, the shop’s owner, and Sun Hongxia had been his employee. He quickly saw through the campus uproar and its real cause.

Tan Wenbin took the call and replied,

“We’re fishing up fresh beef tripe and honeycomb tripe. Perfect texture—want to come back for a taste?”

Xue Liangliang caught the hint and said he’d return soon.

He added that Luo Gong had been pretty exasperated about it too. After all, the last time, he’d arranged that banquet specifically to help Xiaoyuan get settled into school. And now, three of the key contacts they’d coordinated with had gone missing.

Which meant they’d have to throw another banquet once they got back to Jinling.

After hanging up, Yin Meng asked, “You think our phones are tapped?”

“Nah. I just didn’t want to waste breath with Brother Liang. My tripe’s about to overcook.”

Tan Wenbin sat down and started fishing with his chopsticks.

At that moment, a few people approached the shop from outside.

Runsheng looked up and said to Tan Wenbin, who was still focused on scooping food,

“Cops are here. It’s your dad.”

Tan Wenbin didn’t even look up.

“Bullshit. My dad’s just a lowly team lead at a township precinct. If he suddenly got promoted all the way to the provincial capital, there’s only one explanation—our ancestral grave must’ve caught fire!”

Li Zhuiyuan shifted his seat, moving a bit farther away from Tan Wenbin.

Yin Meng and Runsheng also picked up their bowls and edged away.

Tan Wenbin looked puzzled. “Eat, all of you! It’s gonna overcook. Heh. If you don’t want it, I, Zhuangzhuang, will eat it all!”

Bang!

Wenbin went flying with a kick.

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