Chapter 133: Meeting Xu Yuqing Again

After finishing his meal, Zhang Mingyang walked out of the cafeteria with his roommates, intending to stroll around the campus.

"Ershu, does the professor know about your condition?"

Zhang Mingyang replied, "He knows. He visited me when I was in the hospital."

"Hey? Is that Xu Zihan up ahead? Who is the woman with her?"

One of his roommates pointed toward Xu Zihan, who was looking around, and Zhang Mingyang hurried to look. It was indeed Xu Zihan, and he recognized the person beside her—it was Xu Yuqing, a biological researcher at the Moon Palace Base and Xu Zihan’s older sister.

"Damn it! Why is she here?"

"Ershu, do you know her?"

Of course, Zhang Mingyang knew her. He still remembered Xu Yuqing saying she would chop up the man who abandoned her sister.

"Guys, let's talk more this afternoon. I'll come find you tonight." With that, Zhang Mingyang turned and ran.

"Hey? Ershu, where are you going?"

Lin Ruofu’s shout caught Xu Zihan’s attention. She pointed at Zhang Mingyang and shouted, "Sister! That’s Zhang Mingyang!"

Seeing Zhang Mingyang fleeing, Xu Yuqing immediately gave chase, and Xu Zihan yelled for him to stop.

As the two ran past his roommates, they were left confused. "Monkey, did Ershu offend Xu Zihan? The way they're acting, it looks like they're trying to chop him up."

Lin Ruofu shook his head. "I have no idea. Ershu has always been a homebody; how could he have offended Xu Zihan?"

On the other side, Zhang Mingyang was sprinting across campus, hoping to find refuge in his laboratory. Behind him, the two sisters pursued relentlessly. Passersby, seeing this, assumed it was a case of an injured woman chasing a "scumbag" man, and they quickly pulled out their phones to record videos, hoping to post them online.

After running for a while, Xu Zihan couldn't take it anymore. "Sister, he's running way too fast!" Seeing the distance between them growing, she stopped, gasping for air.

Just then, a campus shuttle drove by. Seeing this, Xu Yuqing quickly flagged it down, dragged the driver out of the seat, and waved for her sister to get in.

"Hey! My vehicle!"

Up ahead, Zhang Mingyang, seeing that the two were no longer in sight, stopped. He sat on a flower bed, catching his breath and muttering that the two were crazy. "Damn it! Good thing I’m fast; if they had caught me, I would’ve been finished today."

"Zhang Mingyang, stop right there!" Xu Yuqing shouted as she drove the shuttle toward him.

"Damn! Where did she get a vehicle?" Seeing this, Zhang Mingyang took off running again, shouting behind him, "Sister Xu, please, let me explain!"

Xu Yuqing called out, "Zhang Mingyang, just stop! I’m not here to capture you."

Zhang Mingyang ignored her and kept running, but flesh and blood could not outrun a machine. The shuttle caught up in no time, moving alongside him.

Xu Yuqing looked at Zhang Mingyang from the driver's seat and shouted, "Zhang Mingyang, why are you running? Stop, I have something to ask you."

Zhang Mingyang replied, "You're not here to capture me?"

Xu Zihan chimed in, "Who said we were here to capture you? Stop already!"

"Really?" Zhang Mingyang asked, half-doubting.

"Really, we aren't lying to you!"

Seeing that Xu Yuqing likely wasn't there to capture him, Zhang Mingyang slowed to a halt. As soon as he stopped, Xu Yuqing parked the vehicle, and both sisters hopped out.

Watching the panting Zhang Mingyang, Xu Zihan laughed. "Why are you running? I’m not going to eat you."

"I...!"

Zhang Mingyang caught his breath and looked at Xu Yuqing. "Sister Xu, why are you here?"

Xu Yuqing took out Xu Zihan’s phone to show him. "Zihan saw you on the school’s website and said you had lost an arm, so I rushed over."

Hearing that it was out of concern for his injury, Zhang Mingyang finally felt relieved. He replied, "Sister Xu, you should have said so sooner! I thought...!"

"Thought what?" Xu Zihan asked.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!"

It seemed Xu Zihan hadn't told her sister about their relationship yet. After resting for a moment, Zhang Mingyang stood up.

Taking advantage of their conversation, Xu Zihan leaned against Zhang Mingyang and touched his amputated arm with a pained expression. "You’ve only been out for a few months. How did you end up like this?"

Feeling Xu Zihan’s warm body against his, Zhang Mingyang offered an awkward smile to Xu Yuqing, then gently pushed Xu Zihan away. "My injury hasn't fully healed yet; don't bump into it."

Xu Zihan immediately pulled back.

Xu Yuqing looked at his missing arm and asked, "Little brother, how did this happen?"

"It’s nothing," Zhang Mingyang replied. "Just an accident during an experiment. A minor injury."

"You call this a minor injury?" Xu Zihan looked at him reproachfully. "You're not a child anymore; why don't you know how to take care of yourself?"

Zhang Mingyang laughed awkwardly. *I'm not even related to her,* he thought. *Why does she sound like a wife scolding her husband?*

Xu Yuqing, watching from the side, also noticed the tension between the two.

"Ahem!" She cleared her throat to get her sister's attention.

Xu Yuqing asked, "So, are you recovering at home now?"

Zhang Mingyang nodded. "I’ll probably be home for a while. Once I'm healed, I have to go back to work."

Xu Yuqing nodded as well. "How long will you be resting at home?"

Zhang Mingyang thought for a moment. "Until I'm healed. I estimate about a month."

"A month?" Xu Zihan wasn't happy. "What kind of workplace is that? You’re injured this badly and you only get a few months off?"

"Zihan!" Xu Yuqing warned her sister to be mindful. "Little brother, what are your plans for the near future?"

Zhang Mingyang pointed toward the laboratory ahead. "I have a project at school, and I need to take care of it while I have the time."

Just then, his phone rang—it was Senior Brother Lin.

"Sister Xu, just a moment." Zhang Mingyang stepped aside to answer. "Hello, Senior? Have you arrived?"

Lin Su replied, "Mingyang, I'm here. The rest of the team is here too; we're just waiting for you."

Zhang Mingyang glanced at the two women and replied, "Senior, please wait a moment. I ran into an acquaintance; I’ll be there in a bit."

"Alright, we'll wait for you in the lab."

"Okay."

Hanging up, Zhang Mingyang walked back. Xu Yuqing asked, "Is everything alright? If you have something to do, go ahead."

Zhang Mingyang smiled. "Sister Xu, I have an urgent matter at the lab. I’ll have to head off now. Next time I'm free, I'll treat you both to a proper outing."

"Hey...!"

Before Xu Zihan could speak, her sister interrupted. Xu Yuqing said, "Alright, go ahead. When you're free, give me a call. You still have my number, right?"

"Yes, I do!" Zhang Mingyang replied quickly. "I’m off then, Sister Xu."

"Mm."

With that, Zhang Mingyang bid them farewell and hurried toward the laboratory.