"Lulu..."
The doll lifted its head to look at Teacher Yan, who, with tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, extended his arms and hugged the doll. The other party hesitated for a moment before letting itself be held, gently wiping away the tears at Teacher Yan's eyes.
"Lulu..."
"How could you have suddenly disappeared all those years ago? We all thought... we all thought..."
Teacher Yan said emotionally as he held onto it, his voice trailing off into dejection. The doll turned its head and glared fiercely at the black-robed people being dragged together by the police. Teacher Yan saw the doll's movements and seemed to understand something, saying angrily,
"Was it them! Was it they who took you away!"
"Lulu!"
The angry cry of the doll confirmed Teacher Yan's suspicion. Seeing Teacher Yan's furious expression, the middle-aged man commanding the police hurriedly put down what he was doing and came over to console Teacher Yan. As the anger in Teacher Yan subsided slightly, the middle-aged man looked at the doll in Teacher Yan's arms and said,
"Are you Lingling? Do you still remember me? I'm Chen Chao."
"Lulu~"
Seeing the doll nod, Chen Chao laughed, his eyes brimming with tears after a while. After a moment, Chen Chao patted Teacher Yan on the shoulder and said,
"Alright, once I'm done here, let's bring Lingling along to visit the young master."
When Chen Chao mentioned that familiar nickname, Teacher Yan held back his tears and nodded in agreement. After a while, he stared fiercely at those black-robed people and said bitterly,
"What about those scumbags! What are you planning to do with them!"
Chen Chao gave it some thought and understanding the situation, his eyes filled with ferocity as he looked at those people and said,
"They will definitely receive a 'warm welcome'!"
Off to the side, Feng Yuan complained to Qi Chen,
"It's so late already, let's go to the cafeteria to find something to eat."
"Do you think there's anything left to eat in the cafeteria after all this?"
"What do we do then?"
Feng Yuan pondered while rubbing Xiao Ji, who hardly had any strength left. Qi Chen glanced at him and said indifferently,
"Let's eat instant noodles."
"My instant noodles are all gone, can you share some with me?"
"Get lost! I don't eat that stuff!"
"So what do we do now?"
"Let's check out the alley to see if there's anything to eat."
"You're treating~"
"Where's your money!"
When Qi Chen reminded him, Feng Yuan looked around and shouted at the departing figure of Orlina,
"Teacher Orlina!"
Hearing Feng Yuan's shout, Orlina turned around, puzzled, and asked,
"What's wrong?"
"Can you help me sort out my discharge from the hospital? I really don't want to pay an unjust fee!"
"Can't you handle it yourself?"
"I don't even know which hospital it is."
Seeing Feng Yuan almost on the verge of tears, Orlina thought for a moment, then said with a smile,
"Alright, I'll take care of the discharge for you. It probably won't cost much, but only if you return the wheelchair in good condition."
"Eh! Wait a second, Qi Chen, help me up."
"Really, is it that necessary?"
"Hurry up."
"Ji?"
Seeing Feng Yuan's eagerness, Orlina laughed and said,
"Alright, you two come with me to the school clinic first. I remember they have wheelchairs there too. Given your condition, you should be able to walk on your own by tomorrow; actually, using it doesn't make much difference really."
"You're giving me a hard time!"
"Don't look at me like that! Fine, just for tonight, Ah Mu, help support a bit."
"Doo~"
After handing over the wheelchair to Orlina, Qi Chen supported Feng Yuan as they headed towards the snack street outside the school gate.
"Ji!"
"Umm... Xiao Ji, stop fussing... let me sleep a bit longer..."
"Ji!!"
"Alright, I'll take care of this guy, Xiao Ji, you go do your thing."
"Ji~"
In his drowsiness, upon hearing Qi Chen's voice, Feng Yuan lifted the blanket, propped himself up with one hand, and rubbed his eyes with the other, asking,
"Qi Chen? How did you get here?"
"I came to see how you were doing. Feeling any better?"
"Umm..."
After sitting on the bed and feeling a bit more awake, Feng Yuan carefully got off the bed and tried to stand, while Qi Chen quickly moved to his side, ready to help him if needed,
"I can barely walk."
Feng Yuan walked a few unsteady steps before simply pulling out a chair and sitting down at the table to check on the breakfast Qi Chen had brought.
"Eh~ Auntie's breakfast?"
"Xiao Ji~ do you want to try some~"
"Xiao Ji?"
Not hearing Xiao Ji's response, Feng Yuan looked around curiously, and Qi Chen said irritably
"Just eat your food! Xiao Ji doesn't eat our food!"
"Where's Xiao Ji?"
"Probably ran off to train."
"Huh?"
"When I came in, I overheard the guards discussing your Xiao Ji. They said it ran off to the battle arena early in the morning to train on its own."
"Eh? What's Xiao Ji up to? Just leaving me alone in the dorm like that?"
Seeing Feng Yuan's surprised face, Qi Chen put Ah Mu on his bed and fed it while saying
"Oh, come on, you were sleeping the whole time. What was there to manage?"
"Seems that way, alright, let's eat breakfast~"
"So much food~ It's so lavish~ Did auntie make you a feast last night?"
"What are you thinking! My mom got up early in the morning to make this especially for you!"
"Eh? Why? That wasn't necessary, was it?"
Qi Chen fiddled with the increasingly lush leaves on Ah Mu's head and said
"It's of course to thank you! After drinking that potion, Ah Mu clearly got a lot stronger..."
"Doot~"
"Oh~ So that's it. Then I'll gladly accept your thanks~"
Watching Feng Yuan joyfully enjoy the bountiful breakfast, Qi Chen shook his head with a smile and cautiously took out cleaning supplies to help Ah Mu clean its body.
"Ji~"
Close to noon, Xiao Ji returned to the dorm, looking exhausted. Hearing Xiao Ji's voice, Feng Yuan, who had been lying in bed playing with his phone, casually put it aside, got up, and prepared to rub Xiao Ji's back but almost fell over from too much force.
"Be careful!"
Seeing Ah Mu using its vines to steady Feng Yuan just in time, Qi Chen sighed with relief and said with some dissatisfaction, while Feng Yuan, carefully standing back up, scratched his head and said
"Got a little too excited~"
"It's all your fault, Xiao Ji, why did you run off like that."
"Ji?!"
"Come over here and let me rub you down~"
"Ji!"
"Don't run away~"
"Ji!"
"Doot?"
"Never mind them, just help me make sure he doesn't fall over."
Qi Chen looked up to see Feng Yuan and Xiao Ji chasing each other around the dormitory. Given Feng Yuan's weakness, he had no chance of catching the speeding Xiao Ji. After making sure Feng Yuan was okay, Qi Chen went back to reading his book.
After a while, realizing he couldn't catch up to Xiao Ji, Feng Yuan sat back down on his bed, looking unhappy.
"Ji?"
Xiao Ji, noticing Feng Yuan seemed to be upset, slowly moved towards him. Just as Xiao Ji nearly reached him, Feng Yuan grabbed it, and they both ended up tumbling to the floor because he used too much force.
"Ji!"
"Caught you~"
"You, I swear."
Seeing Feng Yuan on the ground, Qi Chen quickly put down his book and ran over to help him up, while Xiao Ji struggled in Feng Yuan's arms for a while before becoming still.
"Ji!"
"How did you get so dirty? Let me take you for a bath~"
"Ji!"
Seeing Feng Yuan getting ready to carry Xiao Ji to the bathroom, Qi Chen could only follow helplessly with Ah Mu.
"Hmph~ Don't think about ambushing me~"
"Ji!"
The next morning, Xiao Ji was getting ready to wake Feng Yuan with its face-smudging trick but was blocked by Feng Yuan's hand, who was already awake. Xiao Ji immediately jumped off the bed, and Qi Chen, while changing clothes, said
"You're awake? Can you walk? We swapped Beast Taming class with Literature class this morning. Hurry and get up; don't even think about bringing food to the classroom. Be careful or the teacher will get you."
Feng Yuan tested his limits carefully and said
"I'm fine now. Walking shouldn't be a problem, but why did they suddenly change classes?"
"I don't know."
"You came too late."
"I've been hurriedly dealing with those people these past days; no choice. I just slept a bit and hurried over," Chen Chao said apologetically to the displeased Teacher Yan. The gray plushie hovered next to Teacher Yan, looking excitedly at everything happening. Teacher Yan sighed and said
"Alright, get inside."