"Your body is fine for now. You just need more exercise," the doctor said after glancing at Zhao Yu's medical report.
"Thank you, Doctor. I'll pay attention to that from now on." Zhao Yu nodded, took the report, and left the medical examination center.
"Sigh~ So Lord Yu is the stay-at-home type who doesn't exercise either, huh~" Yuuka teased.
She rarely had no classes today, so she had kept the video call with Zhao Yu on the whole time.
"I've just been slacking off lately. I'll definitely get back to my peak soon," Zhao Yu replied stubbornly.
"Oh~ Is that so? Then you'd better work hard, Lord Yu who doesn't exercise~" As Yuuka spoke, she brought her lips close to the receiver, as though whispering into Zhao Yu's ear.
"Otherwise, you won't be able to protect me properly~"
Boom! Those words struck Zhao Yu like lightning, throwing his mind into complete chaos.
Yuuka's words kept echoing in his ears. Her rising tone was like a fox's tail, lightly brushing against his heart, and his earlobes reddened before he realized it.
"D-Don't worry! I'll go home and exercise properly today. With my physical condition, there's absolutely no problem!"
Now that he had said that, what excuse did he have not to exercise? A real man could never say he couldn't do it!
"Pfft, Lord Yu is really adorable!" Yuuka could not help laughing. Her eyes sparkled like agate.
"Huh? Hey! Were you messing with me?" Only then did Zhao Yu realize Yuuka had been teasing him, and a wave of embarrassment rose within him.
What was going on? How had Yuuka gotten such an easy grip on him all of a sudden? Thinking back to how confidently he had just spoken, Zhao Yu felt as though it had become a dark chapter of his life.
"How could I? I was serious~" Yuuka blinked innocently.
"Where did you learn all these tricks?" Zhao Yu complained.
"Well~" Yuuka glanced at the shojo manga and children's psychology book beside her.
"That's a secret~"
"You've changed. I remember you weren't this..." Zhao Yu did not know how to describe it. Saying Yuuka had been dumb before and had become smarter now would have been somewhat rude.
"Hehe, it's all Lord Yu's fault..." Yuuka said.
"Huh? How is it my fault again?" Zhao Yu looked utterly confused.
"Because you always indulge me so much," Yuuka said seriously.
"...I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going downstairs first." Zhao Yu stiffened and hurried down the stairs.
After Yuuka said that, he had even forgotten to take the elevator and simply headed down to the first floor by the stairwell.
"Are you embarrassed?"
"No!"
"Lord Yu is really easy to read~"
Damn it! So that was how she wanted to play? Let me think of how to strike back later! Zhao Yu stayed silent, already plotting how to make Yuuka feel what he was feeling now.
"Ms. Li, if your child doesn't undergo surgery soon, his condition may worsen."
A conversation suddenly echoed through the stairwell, making Zhao Yu stop in his tracks.
He looked down over the railing and saw a haggard-looking woman speaking face-to-face with a doctor.
"Could you give us a little more time?" The woman's voice was weary.
"I'm sorry. I've already done my best to buy you time. If the surgery isn't performed now, then there's a high chance..." The doctor did not continue, but the meaning was obvious.
Another unfortunate soul... Zhao Yu looked at them, his expression complicated.
Since his father passed away, he had rarely come to hospitals, because he always saw partings between life and death here. Zhao Yu instinctively resisted such things.
"How about this? I'll go speak with the director again, but I still hope you can agree to the surgery as soon as possible. Otherwise..." The doctor sighed and turned to leave.
The woman stood there blankly for a moment before leaning against the wall and silently crying. After a long while, she took out her phone and began making calls.
"Brother Wang, how have you been lately? Could you..."
"Old Li..."
"Auntie..."
Zhao Yu stood by the stairs and listened as she repeatedly called people for help. Although Yuuka could not understand most of it, she keenly sensed that something was wrong with Zhao Yu and said nothing.
One call after another brought her despair again and again. After the final rejection, she walked toward the ward like a walking corpse.
Zhao Yu hesitated for a moment, then followed the woman into a corridor filled with the smell of disinfectant.
Only when he saw her approach a child did he stop outside the ward door and quietly observe what was happening inside.
"Mom, will I get better? I really want to go back and see my classmates..."
A little boy lay in the hospital bed. He looked weak, receiving an IV drip as he gazed innocently at his mother.
The woman, however, was completely different from before. A gentle smile appeared on her face as she reached out and rubbed the boy's head.
"It's okay, Tongtong. Be good. In a few more days, you can go back to school. Look what Mommy brought you today."
As she spoke, the woman took a Kamen Rider figure out of her bag.
"It's Kamen Rider!" The boy's eyes lit up.
"This is your reward for coming first in your exams. When Mommy isn't around, let him keep you company, okay?" the woman said.
"Where is Mommy going?" The boy grew uneasy.
"Mommy just has some company matters to take care of. I'll be back soon..." The woman turned her head away, a complicated expression on her face.
Zhao Yu could not bear watching any longer. He looked up at the ward number, then turned and left.
"Lord Yu, what's wrong?" Yuuka finally asked cautiously.
"It's nothing. I just saw something that reminded me of the past," Zhao Yu said.
When Dad was sick, Mom had also borrowed money everywhere, but in the end, she still could not save him.
No one in this world understood the weight of one hundred thousand yuan better than Zhao Yu. That was why, when he earned his first sum of money, he had transferred one hundred thousand yuan to his mother without hesitation.
Zhao Yu remembered telling Yuuka that it was not just children who needed heroes in this world. Adults needed them too...
When he was little, no hero had appeared. His mother became his hero, quietly raising him on her own. Now, perhaps it was time for him to become a hero.
Meanwhile, after comforting Tongtong, the woman finally borrowed ten thousand yuan from a colleague and hurried toward the payment counter.
"Your surgery fee? Someone has already paid it." The nurse at the counter wore a strange expression.
"It's been paid? There's only my son and me here. No other relatives came." The woman froze.
"How about this? Let me check the payment slip. There's a signature on it." The nurse picked up the slip and frowned.
"What's wrong, Nurse?" the woman asked.
"See for yourself..." The nurse handed her the payment slip.
In the space where the payer's name should have been written was a line of small words.
A passing Kamen Rider.
At the same time, Zhao Yu had already ended his video call with Yuuka. He had returned home and was now talking to his mother on the phone.
"Son, did you go and do something bad?" his mother's worried voice came through the phone.
Hearing his mother's voice, Zhao Yu calmly began explaining everything that had happened recently.
"Mom, you won't have to worry about money anymore. This is only the first one hundred thousand. There'll be more one hundred thousands in the future."
"You... Silly boy, are you still thinking about your dad?" His mother sighed.
"No. It's just that I feel... it would have been better if I'd had money earlier." Zhao Yu's voice choked up.
Sometimes, people had regrets they could never make up for. That was precisely why they did not want to see others suffer the same fate.
He had been somewhat impulsive today, but Zhao Yu did not think he had saved that little boy.
He had only saved the mother who could not afford the surgery back then, and his former powerless self, who could only watch his mother cry in silence.
Before you continue