Chapter 0400: Acting Heroically

Zhao Fusheng had imagined it countless times, but he never thought that one day he would encounter a robbery. Although he knew that Ninghai was still very chaotic at this time—in 2003, there were even robbers with guns who broke through a toll station in the west of the city and exchanged fire with the police—

when it actually happened to him, Zhao Fusheng still felt his heart racing.

“Hand over all your money,” the man standing in front of Zhao Fusheng said rapidly.

There were three of them, all with their hands hidden inside their jackets, but Zhao Fusheng was sure they were holding weapons.

Probably not guns—after all, the country had strict gun control these days, and someone with a gun wouldn't be lurking here to rob him; it was most likely knives.

With a “smack,” Zhao Fusheng, without a word, took out his wallet and threw it on the ground.

He wasn't a superhero. He might have been able to handle one robber, but facing three surrounding him, clearly armed with knives, he knew he wasn't capable of taking on three at once. It was better to just hand over the money.

“You know the drill,” said the man who had spoken earlier, about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, wearing a leather jacket.

In those days, there were no surveillance cameras on the streets, though there were some inside the bank. But the spot where they were standing was a blind corner, completely out of view.

And at this hour, there were few people passing by the hospital, so they were bold enough to act.

Just as the man was about to bend down and pick up Zhao Fusheng's wallet, a figure suddenly rushed from behind!

Bang!

“Ouch!”

With a muffled groan, one of the three standing there clutched his head and fell to the ground.

Then, before anyone could react, the figure charged at another robber and, before he could recover, struck him on the head.

Bang!

After a dull thud, the man shook his head and collapsed to the ground.

In just a few seconds, two of the three robbers were down, and it looked like they wouldn't be getting up again.

“Get lost!”

The man coldly uttered a single word, directed at the one in the leather jacket.

The leather-jacket man was completely stunned. He scrambled away with his accomplice, disappearing from Zhao Fusheng's sight. Though he didn't know why the man didn't catch them, since they could escape unscathed, it was best to run.

By the moonlight, Zhao Fusheng finally saw who had saved him and was quite surprised: “It's you?”

It was the young man who had been eating steamed buns with water.

The young man's face was calm. Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, he nodded: “Thanks for the meal and the fruit.”

Then he turned and walked toward the hospital.

Still shaken, Zhao Fusheng quickly picked up his wallet and followed.

“Um, thank you,” Zhao Fusheng said as he walked, expressing his gratitude. After all, without him, he would have lost some money and might even have been beaten.

“No need to thank me,” the young man said, walking at a steady pace. Zhao Fusheng noticed that each of his steps seemed about the same distance, and his breathing was very calm, as if the incident hadn't affected him at all.

“It's only right. Without you, I would have suffered a loss,” Zhao Fusheng said.

“I ate your food; it's only right,” the young man replied.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback. He never expected such an answer.

As they spoke, they entered the hospital. Zhao Fusheng noticed that the young man was wearing a gray work uniform covered in dust, as if he had just come from a construction site.

“Just got off work?”

Looking at him curiously, Zhao Fusheng asked in confusion.

“Mm,” the young man nodded and walked straight upstairs.

“My name is Zhao Fusheng. What's yours?” Zhao Fusheng's heart stirred, and he continued asking.

“Zhang Qian,” the young man hesitated before answering.

“Oh, hello,” Zhao Fusheng said. He could tell that Zhang Qian seemed uncomfortable interacting with others and wasn't very talkative.

They went upstairs together. Zhang Qian apparently didn't intend to say more to Zhao Fusheng and headed straight for the ward. Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment, took a few hundred yuan from his wallet, and stopped Zhang Qian.

“Here, I don't know how to thank you properly. Take this money, buy some fruit for the old man, consider it a token of my respect for him,” Zhao Fusheng said to Zhang Qian.

As an adult, he was good at dealing with seemingly proud young people like this.

Zhao Fusheng was a hundred percent sure that if he said the money was a reward for saving him, Zhang Qian wouldn't accept it. But if he said it was a gesture for the old man in the hospital bed, Zhang Qian couldn't refuse.

Sure enough, Zhang Qian's originally tense expression softened slightly after hearing Zhao Fusheng's words.

Clearly, Zhao Fusheng's words had worked.

Just as he had said, it was a gesture for the old man.

“Take it. I'm in the pediatric ward. Let's chat sometime,” Zhao Fusheng said, patting Zhang Qian on the shoulder, not minding the dirt on his work uniform.

Zhang Qian was startled. Before he could react, Zhao Fusheng had stuffed the money into his hand and walked away.

At this moment, it wasn't that Zhao Fusheng didn't want to talk more with him. The problem was that Zhang Qian was clearly shy and not good with words. Since Zhao Fusheng didn't know him well, he could only take it slow.

Back in the ward, Zhao's mother looked at her son curiously: “Why were you so long?”

From the time Zhao Fusheng went out to get money until he returned, nearly half an hour had passed, and she had been worried.

“Nothing, I ran into a friend and chatted for a bit.”

Zhao Fusheng said casually. He naturally wouldn't tell his mother what had just happened. After all, if she knew he had almost been robbed, she would never let him go out alone at night again.

“Oh, does your friend have a family member in the hospital?” Zhao's mother asked casually.

“Yeah, in the surgical ward,” Zhao Fusheng nodded, took three thousand yuan from his wallet, and handed it to his mother: “Go pay the deposit tomorrow morning, and get Beibei a check-up while you're at it.”

In his opinion, Fan Beibei was somewhat frail and prone to illness, which seemed to run in the family from Li Yuan.

Since he said that, Zhao's mother didn't ask further. She took the money from Zhao Fusheng and nodded: “I'll have your dad pay you back later. But how come you have so much bonus money? It seems like you never run out.”

Zhao Fusheng stuck out his tongue. He had always claimed that his daily expenses came from his salary and bonuses at Future Advertising, and his parents hadn't asked much.

Fortunately, Zhao's mother just asked casually. Seeing that her son didn't answer, she didn't say anything more and turned to put the money into her purse.