"Lin Yu, are you alright?" A familiar, gentle voice roused Lin Yu from the fringes of sleep. He strained his fatigue-laden eyelids open, looking in the direction of the soft voice. A delicate and fine face came into view, blurring into Lin Yu's sight. Hindered by severe blood loss, his brain sluggishly recognized the face as familiar, yet he couldn't muster the energy to recall who it belonged to. Amidst the haze, a nagging thought circled in his drowsy mind: he must avoid any entanglement with this girl, or trouble would ensue.

"What are you doing here?" "It's none of your concern, leave now!" Driven by that persistent thought, Lin Yu tried to send the girl away. Despite his dire state, speaking alone required an immense effort, let alone any physical action.

The girl, however, seemed undeterred by Lin Yu's gruff attitude. Instead, she seemed somewhat relieved to find Lin Yu in such a vulnerable state, as though it reassured her.

"Let me take you to the hospital; your injuries look severe," she offered with genuine concern.

"I…" Lin Yu struggled to articulate, unable to voice his refusal properly. His tongue felt as heavy as lead, rendering him speechless.

Under the influence of his strong resolve, Lin Yu managed to gather the last bit of his strength to feebly shake his head, signaling the girl to stay away from him and not to meddle further.

Yet, the girl misunderstood Lin Yu's weak gesture, thinking he either didn't want or couldn't afford hospital care. Quickly formulating another plan, she suggested, "Then let me take you to the pharmacy to see a doctor."

Her soft voice floated into Lin Yu's ears, but his exhaustive state rendered him incapable of comprehending her words. Despite wanting to resist, Lin Yu found himself unable to express even the simplest refusal.

After a prolonged silence from Lin Yu, the girl cautiously asked again, "If you don't say anything, I'll take it as your agreement."

Assuming his silence as consent, given his dire appearance, she proceeded with her decision. Lin Yu's face, partially obscured by bloodstreaked blonde hair, and the visible wounds painted a scene more gruesome than any heavily injured movie character.

Determined to help, the girl stood up, stepped out of the dark alley, and wheeled over a small tricycle parked across the street.

After organizing the condiments for her mother, the girl struggled to hoist Lin Yu onto the tricycle. Her routine physical chores for her mother had somewhat prepared her to move Lin Yu, who weighed over a hundred pounds.

After mustering all her strength to load Lin Yu, she cunningly covered his body with a large cloth to prevent him from being seen by those who had inflicted his injuries on their way to the pharmacy.

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Busy with these preparations, the girl paused to wipe the sweat from her forehead, just about to ride the tricycle away when a simple, melodic ringtone startled her.

Taking out her old flip phone, which buzzed in her tense grip, she braced herself before answering, "Hello, mom?"

"Hey, Manman, where are you now? Why haven't you arrived yet? We're almost out of condiments," came an anxious, mature female voice from the other end, inquiring why the girl was delayed.

"I, I..." Hesitating and glancing at the concealed Lin Yu, she whispered, "Mom, the tricycle's broken, I can't make it."

"Oh? That's how it is. Well, then don't bother coming. I'll send Xiaoyu to the store for some condiments, and I'll mix something up myself," the voice responded understandingly.

Holding the phone, the girl's cheeks tinged pink from guilt over her lie. She nodded and hummed in agreement before hanging up.

After ending the call, she glanced at the covered bulge on the tricycle, lost in thought, until disrupted by frantic footsteps from the alley's end. Turning, she saw two differently dyed-haired individuals wielding knives and clubs appearing at the threshold, looking around as if searching for something.

Sensing danger, the girl quickly faced away from them, and with nerves rattling, pushed the heavy tricycle out of the alley towards the well-lit, crowded street...

Awaking groggily, Lin Yu's gaze fixed emptily on the ceiling, virtually indistinguishable from someone in a vegetative state. The severe trauma and the brick's impact had left his mind in disarray, incapable of fostering a single coherent thought.

It took several minutes for his critically slow mind to register a pressing question: where was he?

Surveying his surroundings, Lin Yu noticed a modestly furnished yet clean small room, and then... no further realization came. His sluggishness extended to the point where even connecting thoughts became too taxing. The question of his location would need to wait a few more minutes for acknowledgment.

"You're awake?" Tang Manman, entering the room with an electric kettle, saw Lin Yu's eyes open. Her gaze carried a hint of apprehension as she tentatively asked.

At that moment, Lin Yu, lacking the strength even for a basic response, continued to blankly stare at the simple ceiling, as if he were still alone in the room.