2: Chapter 2 Do you think I'm an idiot?
"Zhang Fan, are you crazy?!" Gu Feifei screamed. Her eyes twitched, and a flash of icy ruthlessness flickered in the depths of her usually smiling eyes.
Before Zhang Fan could react, she suddenly reached out and shoved him hard in the chest—
"Get the hell away from me!"
The force was fast and cruel, like being suddenly bitten by a venomous snake.
Zhang Fan's heels were right against the edge of the stairs. His balance instantly gave way, and his body tilted backward like a kite with a broken string. A short, muffled groan escaped his throat, and he instinctively reached for something, but his fingertips only caught cold air.
"Bang—"
The back of his head slammed heavily onto the concrete steps, and a searing pain like red-hot iron wire instantly surged through his entire body.
A dull sound like bones cracking exploded in his skull. His vision first went black, followed by a burst of blinding blood-red, and his eardrums buzzed as if countless cicadas were frantically flapping their wings.
"Bang!"
The back of his head slammed heavily on the steps, and sharp pain surged through his body like an electric current. He felt as if his bones had cracked; his vision went dark for a moment before a flash of blood-red erupted.
He tumbled down the stairs step by step, his back slamming against the hard concrete. Every impact felt like it was shattering his internal organs. His backpack fell to the side, and his phone tumbled out, its screen shattering.
He finally came to a stop when he rolled onto the twelfth-floor landing.
He lay prone on the cold floor, a warm liquid with a metallic, rusty taste oozing from the corner of his mouth. In his blurred vision, he saw the two people on the thirteenth floor looking down at him. Chang Yuan was even smiling, while Gu Feifei frowned as if she were looking at something filthy.
"What a useless piece of trash." Chang Yuan's voice drifted down the stairs, clearly reaching his ears.
"Brother Yuan, let's go quickly. Someone might see us later." Gu Feifei pulled on Chang Yuan's hand, her tone filled with impatience.
"What's the rush?" Chang Yuan's voice was full of mockery. "Let him lie there a bit longer and think about what he really is."
The footsteps gradually faded away, and silence returned to the stairwell.
There was only the sound of Zhang Fan's heavy breathing and the "drip-drop" of blood falling onto the steps.
He lay on the ground, feeling his bones creak with every slight movement. The physical pain was far outweighed by the despair in his heart, which felt like a massive black hole slowly swallowing his consciousness.
He couldn't understand how the girl he had treated with his whole heart could become so strange. How could the happiness he had worked so hard to grasp shatter so completely?
He thought of the old photo frame his parents had left him, containing the only photo of him with them, which still sat on the nightstand in his rented room. He had originally planned to take Gu Feifei to visit his parents' graves once he had saved enough money, to tell them he had found the person he could take care of for the rest of his life...
It turned out it was all a joke.
His consciousness grew increasingly blurred as darkness rushed in like a tide.
When the smell of disinfectant entered his nostrils, Zhang Fan snapped his eyes open.
An IV bottle hung beneath the white ceiling, a needle was stuck in the back of his hand, and cold liquid slowly climbed up through his veins. There was still a dull ache in the back of his head; any movement felt like a blunt knife was churning inside.
"You're awake?" The nurse walked in and glanced at the IV tube. "You're quite lucky, young man. You've been unconscious for several days. We didn't think you'd make it, but here you are."
Zhang Fan opened his mouth, his throat painfully dry. "How... how long have I been out?"
"Seven days." The nurse lowered her head to record the medical chart. "Someone found you tumbled in the stairwell last Friday evening and called 120 to bring you here. Your things are all here; I put them in your nightstand drawer."
Seven days?
Zhang Fan's heart sank. He struggled to sit up but was pressed down by the nurse. "Stay still! I just finished changing your dressing."
He had to give up, his mind a mess. The scenes from the stairwell replayed like a movie—Gu Feifei's dress pulled up to her waist, Chang Yuan's greasy hands, and that sentence: 'We are not from the same world.'
His chest felt like it was being crushed by a giant boulder, making it hard to breathe.
As he was thinking, the ward door was pushed open, and two figures stood backlit in the doorway.
It was Gu Feifei and Chang Yuan.
Gu Feifei was wrapped in a long camel-colored down jacket with a fluffy raccoon dog fur collar. She wore exquisite makeup and carried a fruit basket. Seeing Zhang Fan awake, her face squeezed out a look of hypocritical concern. "Brother Fan, you're finally awake. You scared me to death."
Chang Yuan followed behind with his hands in his pockets. His face was expressionless, but his eyes hid a sense of impatience.
Zhang Fan turned his face away, not wanting to look at them.
"I've come to see you every day. The doctor said that as long as you woke up, it wouldn't be a big deal, you just need to recuperate for a while."
Gu Feifei placed the fruit basket on the nightstand, her tone as light as if she were talking about someone else's business. "Director Chang had the company advance your hospitalization costs. You can just focus on recovering."
Chang Yuan cleared his throat and spoke with a patronizing arrogance. "Xiao Zhang, this whole thing was an accident. Feifei didn't push you on purpose, so don't take it to heart."
He paused as if announcing a major decision. "Considering your injury, the company is giving you a chance—come back to work once you've recovered. I'll promote you to team leader and give you a two-thousand-yuan raise. How about it?"
Zhang Fan finally turned his head and looked at him coldly. "Do you think I'm a fool?"
Chang Yuan's face darkened. "Zhang Fan, don't be ungrateful. If it weren't for the fact that you're still somewhat useful, do you think the company would bother with you?"
"My use is to have the fruits of my labor replaced with your name?" Zhang Fan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a bone-chilling coldness. "Or is it to keep watch while you screw my girlfriend?"
"You!" Chang Yuan was so choked up he couldn't speak, and the hand he pointed at Zhang Fan was shaking.
Gu Feifei quickly tried to smooth things over, pulling on Chang Yuan's arm before turning to Zhang Fan. Her eyes reddened as she squeezed out a few tears. "Brother Fan, we know we were wrong. Could you just forgive us this once? Brother Yuan is doing this for our own good. It's not easy for you to struggle alone in Jiang City; a stable job is very important..."
"A stable job?" Zhang Fan laughed, his throat aching from the effort. "One where I watch the two of you fooling around in a stairwell in exchange for a two-thousand-yuan raise?"
"Zhang Fan, don't be so ungrateful!" Chang Yuan completely lost his patience. "Do you think you can find a better job after leaving Blue Whale Games? With your meager skills, you'd just be a bottom-tier coder out there!"
Zhang Fan closed his eyes, not wanting to waste any more words on them. "Get out."
"What did you say?" Chang Yuan raised his voice.
"I said, get out," Zhang Fan's voice was resolute. "I will definitely report your scandalous behavior to General Manager Wei and CEO Allen. I don't believe the company won't give me an explanation for this kind of mess."
Gu Feifei wanted to say something more, but Chang Yuan grabbed her.
He glared fiercely at Zhang Fan. "Fine, you've got guts! But kid, I hope you can keep being this stubborn after society teaches you a lesson."
The two slammed the door and left, and the ward finally became quiet.
Zhang Fan stared at the ceiling, and tears fell without warning. It wasn't because of the pain or the hate, but because he found it ridiculous—the person he had loved with all his heart for a year couldn't even offer a sincere apology in the end.