A Discharge Gift

Time flew by in a flash.

Half a month passed, and Shen Yu's memory showed no sign of returning. That allowed Luo Ningsang and the others, who had spun those lies, to breathe a little easier.

Xie Shuyang stared at the examination report for a long time.

Luo Ningsang hardly dared to breathe, his face tense.

Shen Yu, meanwhile, sat helplessly in a wheelchair. He suspected that Seventeen had smashed their brains rather than his. His legs weren't even hurt; it was his arm that was injured, yet they insisted on putting him in a wheelchair and covering him with a thin blanket.

For a moment, the scene was very strange.

Sitting behind his desk, Xie Shuyang turned another page of the medical report in his hands.

As soon as he did, the people around Shen Yu all sucked in a breath.

Shen Yu: "...?"

What is this supposed to mean?

Luo Ningsang stood behind him, gripping the wheelchair handles tightly. He looked so anxious that one would think he was listening to his own examination results rather than Shen Yu's.

Xu Shenzheng had put away his usual lack of decorum as well and leaned against the doorway in a rigidly proper manner.

Lu Yanjin, on the other hand, had taken to staying close to Shen Yu. He crouched beside the wheelchair, warming Shen Yu's hand in his own.

Lu Xianchang leaned against the only bed in the office, used for examining patients, his gaze fixed on the person sitting in the wheelchair at the center of the room.

The one actually facing Xie Shuyang was Lin Xinluo, who had been run off her feet these past few days.

Whenever the others had a moment to spare, they came running over here, leaving Lin Xinluo to clean up the mess they left behind at the office. She had finally been called over to see Shen Yu, only to find herself face-to-face with his grim-looking attending physician.

Lin Xinluo: "*^_^*"

If I ever write another report for you, I'm a dog!

"Overall..." Xie Shuyang raised his eyes, looking past everyone in front of him and sweeping his gaze over their tense faces. Out of sheer mischief, he drew out the pause. "The recovery has been fairly good."

"Yay!" Xu Shenzheng happily high-fived Lu Xianchang. "Nice! The meals you and the boss made with love weren't for nothing."

Luo Ningsang relaxed too and rubbed Shen Yu's little head. "So Xiao Yu can be discharged?"

Xie Shuyang closed the report. "Yes."

Then he changed his tone. "However, for the next week, avoid fishy and spicy foods as much as possible, don't stay up late, talk less, take your medicine on time, and no prolonged strenuous exercise."

Lu Yanjin produced a little notebook from somewhere and carefully wrote down every instruction.

"And Xiao Yu, if you experience dizziness, nausea, vomiting, a sense of imbalance when walking, or any other problems, contact me right away."

Xie Shuyang wrote down a phone number and handed it to Shen Yu.

Shen Yu reached out and took it. "All right, Dr. Xie."

Xie Shuyang watched the group leave, keeping only Luo Ningsang behind.

"My junior has time at three this afternoon. He's a fairly authoritative expert on psychological issues. I'll send you the address later?"

Luo Ningsang cracked a rare joke. "You've helped me so much, Dr. Xie. If you ever commit a crime, I'll be sure to find someone to plead for leniency on your behalf."

Xie Shuyang laughed, swore at him, and punched his shoulder. "Get lost. Treat me to a meal when you're done being busy. I'm going to take you to the cleaners."

"No problem!" Luo Ningsang made an "OK" gesture and hurried after the others.

Lin Xinluo came around to the front of Shen Yu. She was about 1.7 meters tall, with a slender figure, bright round eyes, and a face that was both rounded and angular. Her long chestnut-brown hair was pinned up, with two gently curved strands framing her cheeks. Dressed in a brown trench coat, she looked at first glance like the gentle big sister next door.

She half-crouched in front of Shen Yu and produced a golden gift box from behind her back. It was wrapped in a pale blue ribbon, with a card attached that read, "Xiao Yu, happy discharge!"

"We all chipped in to get you this discharge gift!" Lin Xinluo placed the box on Shen Yu's lap and looked at him expectantly.

The five of them gathered around him, all eyes on him as they waited for him to open the carefully prepared gift.

Shen Yu didn't quite know what to say.

He seemed to be very bad at facing such direct, pure, undisguised sincerity.

The gift in his hands felt as though it weighed a thousand jin, pressing down on him until he could hardly breathe.

The people were wonderful, and so was the gift.

But he was a fake.

A departed soul occupying someone else's body.

Their kindness toward him was all because of the original owner, not him.

[Host.]

[Without the original owner's permission, we couldn't have come here.]

[He asked you to come and live on in his place, so...]

[Please accept their love and experience the truth, goodness, and beauty of the world. This is both my wish and the original owner's.]

Shen Yu gazed at the words flashing rapidly across his retina.

He lowered his eyes, hiding his expression from view as a gentle breeze brushed the loose strands of hair by his ears.

After a long while.

He broke into a brilliant smile and reached out again with the hand that had paused.

Under everyone's gaze, he opened the gift box. Inside was a square phone, only the size of his palm, but far better than his flip phone.

"Xiao Yu, your phone was confiscated as evidence, so we talked it over and chipped in to get you a new one!" Xu Shenzheng said with a smile.

"It has the latest Xiaomi system. It's super fast for games, messages, and everything else. We've already saved our contact information in it, so remember to save Dr. Xie's number too," Lu Xianchang reminded him.

"Do you like it?" Luo Ningsang asked.

Shen Yu looked up, his gaze sweeping over their faces one by one. "I really like it," he said with utmost seriousness.

"Thank you."

"No need to be so polite. The boss's little brother is my little brother! I'm an only child, so this is my first time finding out what it's like to have a little brother, hehe." Xu Shenzheng leaned in beside Shen Yu with a cheeky grin. "Can you call me Brother Zheng one more time?"

Lu Xianchang hurriedly pulled him away, his face dark. "How about I call you that? Would you dare answer? Xiao Yu will call you that naturally when he wants to. You're so monkey-eager, you don't look like an older brother at all."

Lin Xinluo, meanwhile, casually squeezed out Luo Ningsang, who was still standing there foolishly, and took hold of the wheelchair handles. She leaned close to Shen Yu's ear. "Ignore that bunch of big idiots. Just remember that I'm your Sister Luoluo. You can call them whatever you like."

"How about it? If you agree, I've got a computer tower at home. I'll bring it over for you tomorrow."

Lin Xinluo coaxed him patiently.

In her eyes, Shen Yu was at just the right age to like computers. She had him in the palm of her hand, all right?

And indeed, things went just as she had expected.

A computer in exchange for a form of address.

Where had this foolish daughter of a wealthy landlord come from?

Shen Yu's eyes lit up. He tilted his head back to look at Lin Xinluo behind him and said crisply, "Sister Luoluo!"

Hearing that, Xu Shenzheng stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "Why!?"

Lu Xianchang, standing beside him, was equally shocked.

Lu Yanjin witnessed the whole thing, but he was penniless and had nothing suitable to offer. After thinking it over, he simply threaded a red cord through the ruby he always carried with him, which had a safety talisman drawn on it, and hung it around Shen Yu's neck.

"I personally went to Fomi Temple to ask for this safety talisman. May it keep you safe and sound from now on."

After saying that, Lu Yanjin didn't leave. He continued to wait.

But Shen Yu was able to follow his peculiar train of thought. He chuckled, tilted his head up, and called him, "Brother Jin."

Lu Xianchang understood now too. A starry-sky mechanical watch appeared on Shen Yu's wrist, perfectly covering the scar on his left wrist. The pale blue starry sky went very well with Shen Yu's long blue hair, as expected.

Satisfied, he received a "Brother Xian" in return.

Lu Xianchang smiled at Xu Shenzheng.

Xu Shenzheng: "...?"

Didn't you all say we were chipping in for a gift? Why are you giving him individual presents after we already gave him one!?

So after all that, you're just singling me out?!

Luo Ningsang watched the scene with amusement and shook his head as he followed at the back of the group.