"Speaking of which, you even lied to your wife, you’re simply worse than a beast..."

"Hello? Hello?"

Eric blinked his eyes, realizing that the series of questions he had planned to ask hadn’t been completely posed before the call was cut off.

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

The watch on his wrist kept ticking, keeping time with Eric’s pounding heart.

Eric stared at the phone and began to panic again... was it a "person" who called, or... a "ghost"?

The lyrics go well with this moment...

The most frightening thing is when the air suddenly goes quiet.

"Yin Shixiu! Damn you!"

————

In a small two-bedroom apartment at Tianjin Port, Yin Shixiu held a phone that had already automatically powered off, glancing at the man scratching his head nearby...

"It’s out of battery, I forgot to charge it."

"..."

Yin Shixiu took a deep breath, feeling the hot blood rush to his head, though the words that came out remained relatively calm,

"Charge it quickly, I haven’t explained everything to Eric yet, in case he urgently tells Xiaomeng——"

"I understand."

The man plugged in the phone to charge, and as soon as it rebooted, a call from Eric came back,

Yin Shixiu directly turned on the speakerphone,

"Do you realize how scary you are like this?"

Eric seemed too exhausted to roar and just asked him earnestly.

"Uh, the phone ran out of battery."

"At such a critical moment, you tell me the phone ran out of battery? Why would you make a long-distance call if the battery’s low?!"

"Calm down, calm down..."

"It’s only because it’s you, if it were anyone else, I’d go straight to the police!"

Eric chattered on incessantly.

Yin Shixiu just listened, while the man sitting on the chair by the bed slightly frowned.

Even though Eric and Yin Shixiu were speaking English, he could understand the gist of it.

This British man is really... noisy.

Yin Shixiu understood Eric’s nature.

This guy was too excited...

Eric’s excitement wouldn’t easily subside, after all, a man publicly declared dead, whose death had been announced worldwide, was calling him.

Anyone else would likely need plenty of time to digest such news.

Taking a deep breath,

"Arthur... you’re alive, that’s really great."

Yin Shixiu chuckled lightly,

"It’s good that you didn’t hang up on me."

"Quit joking! Hurry up and tell me what’s going on!"

Eric sounded like a child, his emotions fluctuating greatly, showing no inhibition.

Yin Shixiu’s eyes darkened, the smile on his lips vanished as he looked at the ordinary, expressionless man beside him,

"Someone saved me..."

"..."

...

Yin Shixiu spent nearly half an hour recounting the events of that day to Eric.

After listening, Eric felt his scalp almost about to explode.

Although he was good friends with Yin Shixiu, Eric didn’t really understand the matters involving the Yin Family.

He only knew a bit about Yin Shixiu and Yin Shiqing from the news.

Now, having heard from Yin Shixiu, Eric realized how dire Su Xiaomeng’s situation was.

"I don’t care about what happens to the Yin Family, I just want Xiaomeng to be safe."

"Understood."

"I think I might need to trouble you to come to China to pick me up."

"Okay, I’ll get started on preparations right away."

Yin Shixiu responded, finally ending the call.

The man beside him listened to the entire conversation and looked towards Yin Shixiu,

"Can this person really be trusted?"

"He can be trusted."

As Yin Shixiu spoke, he felt a certain lack of confidence, not because he had doubts about Eric, but because the blow dealt by Wu Rong was too severe.

Yin Shiqing, Rong Jing, even others who clashed with him over interests...

He could face them calmly, but the moment Wu Rong betrayed him, he truly realized...

No matter how much you believe you’ve developed the insight to see through people, you can still fall into the trap of unpredictable human nature.

But people... no one can truly trust no one and nothing.

Eric was probably his last line of defense.

If he couldn’t trust even Eric, then he would have to resign to fate.

After ending the call with Yin Shixiu, Eric immediately began preparations to bring Yin Shixiu to London for treatment.

He dared not delay even a second; over 1,700 kilometers away, his dear friend’s life was at stake.

Keep it confidential, the fewer people who know, the better.

That was Yin Shixiu’s request.

While Eric was racking his brain on how to arrange manpower and time, a call came in from Su Xiaomeng.

Seeing the caller ID, Eric felt a jolt in his heart.

He hesitated for a long time before answering, and before he could even say "Xiaomeng," she asked,

"Who called you just now?"

Su Xiaomeng clenched her fist, not daring to directly ask if it was Yin Shixiu.

Only three people knew that Yin Shixiu might still be alive.

She didn’t want to unnecessarily expand this circle, not even to Eric, who had generously provided her with financial support just moments before.

Eric blinked, finding it strange that Su Xiaomeng was so fixated on the recent call.

"Which ’just now’?"

"The one in the café, where you answered in a panic."

"Oh, that was a call from the school teacher, a student had an asthma attack, I’ve already checked it out, it’s fine now."

"..."

"What’s wrong?"

"Was it really the school teacher?"

"What’s up with you? Why would I lie to you?"

Su Xiaomeng pressed her lips together, thought for a long time, and ended the call.

Eric put his phone aside.

He was also puzzled as to why Yin Shixiu chose to keep his survival a secret from Su Xiaomeng. Even as Yin Shixiu’s friend, he really found this... inhumane.

"Neither Yin Shiqing nor Wu Rong seem to be taking Xiaomeng seriously right now. They think I’m dead, that Xiaomeng can’t hold on for long, but what if they know I’m alive?"

"Me being alive is the biggest threat to Yin Shiqing and Wu Rong. Wu Rong has the clearest understanding of what happened that night, even more so than Yin Shiqing."

"Shi Shengde’s death put Wu Rong at ease."

"But if he knew I was alive, what do you think Wu Rong would do? He would certainly repeat his old tricks; Xiaomeng, Shuangshuang and Huanghuang, any member of the Yin family could become his bargaining chip."

"Xiaomeng is indeed strong, clever, and wise, but even I’ve come to this end, how can I naively hope everyone around her loves and protects her?"

"I know my supposed death was an incredibly heavy blow to her, but she’s made it through the hardest time."

"If I were to appear before her now in this state, it might be better if I didn’t appear at all."

With that said, Eric more or less understood Yin Shixiu’s reasoning.

Right now, Su Xiaomeng is surrounded by hidden dangers, and too many people are watching, waiting to pounce at any opportunity to tear her and the entire Yin Family and Yin Corporation apart.

If the news of Yin Shixiu being alive got out, all the lurking dangers they hadn’t yet detected would emerge immediately.

They wouldn’t even have time to prepare a defense.

Su Xiaomeng has already overcome the toughest hurdle and has proven she is sufficiently strong; for now, let her continue doing what she believes is right.

The news of Yin Shixiu’s "resurrection" is too "chaotic" and "explosive" of an event.

So "chaotic" and "explosive" that they might not even be able to manage it.

Concealment was the course Yin Shixiu chose as his response.

However, neither Eric, Yin Shixiu, nor even the ordinary-looking man ever imagined, that Su Xiaomeng had already figured out the severed arm wasn’t her husband’s and that she already knew he was alive...

————

Su Xiaomeng held her phone tightly.

Her mind was racing with thoughts, unsure if Eric’s words contained any hidden truths...

Just pondering,

If Shixiu was conscious and able to make phone calls, he would likely try to contact her first... Why would he skip her and reach out to Eric?

Su Xiaomeng, where’s your brain?

She scratched her head, looked out the window, her heart beating chaotically within her chest.

The view outside the car window seemed so blurry, like the paths they’d walked together?

The male celebrity endorsing a product on the billboard, there was something about his brows and eyes that reminded her of him...

She even heard him calling her name... Meng Meng... Meng Meng...