Give Me Another Smile

Due to a long period of inactivity from the party leader, Yin Zhao-an was automatically assigned as the new party leader.

Yin Zhao-an had just finished conquering the dungeon they were raiding all by herself. As for her two party members, they remained idle the entire time, and she had no idea where those two had disappeared to in real life. After sending several more messages through the party chat and failing to get a response, Yin Zhao-an decided to disband the party and grind for levels herself.

After reading the conditions for becoming Fated Partners just now, Yin Zhao-an decided to play a second account. She wanted the bonuses that came with having a Fated Partner, but she had no intentions of entering a relationship with anyone but Tang Yu. She refused to budge on this point, even if this was only a game.

The new character she created was female, and she deliberately modeled the character after Tang Yu. The character had gentle and spirited eyes, pink cherry lips, and a soft and small face.

As for the character's ID…

She wasn't very good at naming things, so she quickly settled on a slightly modified version of her ID and entered the game.

The class she chose for her second character was the Heavenly Dancer class. It ranked second alongside the Mystic class in terms of healing, and it ranked fourth in terms of physical DPS. However, the Heavenly Dancer class's low physical DPS didn't really matter since it attacked mainly with ranged magical attacks.

While Yin Zhao-an was busy with the "Tang Yu" in the game, the Tang Yu in the real world decided to take a break from studying. Pushing her textbook aside, she walked to the balcony to catch some fresh air.

Noticing the movement, Yin Zhao-an turned to look at Tang Yu. However, as soon as she laid eyes on Tang Yu, she completely forgot about her game and simply kept staring.

Sensing the gaze fixated on her, Tang Yu turned around to look at Yin Zhao-an. Then, she tilted her head and asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

"You're pretty," Yin Zhao-an blurted without thinking.

Chuckling, Tang Yu responded, "You're pretty too."

A low, buzzing sound suddenly resonated in the room, and the two girls turned their heads toward the source.

It was Yin Zhao-an's phone.

Tang Yu walked over and picked up the phone. When she saw it was Wen Tao calling, she handed the phone to Yin Zhao-an and said, "It's Wen Tao."

Yin Zhao-an took the phone and answered the call. Before she could say anything, an urgent voice came through the phone:

"Big Bro! Li Beining got into trouble!"

…

When Tang Yu arrived at the small apartment Wen Tao mentioned, Zhao Yu and Gao Rang had already arrived, and Gao Rang was in the middle of stopping Li Beining's bleeding. Currently, Li Beining's silver hair was in a mess and stained with blood, and it looked like red plum blossoms were blooming in the snow.

"What happened?" Tang Yu felt a sudden pain in her eyes when she saw the basin of red liquid next to Gao Rang. Hurriedly, she averted her eyes to look at Wen Tao, who had a swollen nose and face.

"Li Beining helped drive away a few thugs for me, but who knew those bastards had a knife!" Wen Tao said, gnashing his teeth.

"You two probably picked a fight with someone, right?" Gao Rang asked. He had worked in the hospital for several years now, so he had seen all sorts of patients, and many among them were brought in due to fights and brawls.

When receiving such patients, the hospital was obligated to report them to the police, and they would almost certainly end up with a criminal record. If they turned out to be the aggressor, depending on the severity of their actions, they might even have to go to court for trial. Seeing as Wen Tao and Li Beining had chosen not to seek help from a hospital, they were most likely the aggressors in their so-called fight and trying to avoid prosecution.

In response, Wen Tao defended himself and Li Beining, saying, "Just now, Li Beining and I went to a bar and saw a student-looking girl getting forcibly pulled inside. I couldn't stand by and watch, so I stepped in to help. But who knew those bastards would retaliate… Those lowly scumbags!"

Wen Tao was still wiping his bleeding forehead as he spoke. Zhao Yu couldn't stand seeing this anymore, so he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to the other party.

If Yin Zhao-an was here right now, she would definitely mock Wen Tao for being a loser. After all, he tried to play the hero despite being weak.

After providing some basic treatment for Li Beining, Gao Rang looked up at the person whose face had turned pale due to excessive blood loss and asked, "Why didn't you guys call the police?"

If the situation was as Wen Tao described, there was no reason not to call the police. After all, they were only helping a damsel in distress.

In reality, Wen Tao wanted to call the police. However, Li Beining forbade him from doing so.

Meanwhile, hearing Gao Rang's question, Li Beining frowned and hoarsely said, "No. Tao'er will get a criminal record if we call the police."

Tang Yu raised an eyebrow when she heard Li Beining's words. She felt as if she had just stumbled on an interesting development.

"Stop visiting these shady places and getting into trouble if you don't want a criminal record. Otherwise, you two will end up in jail sooner or later," Zhao Yu said from his small tool. Although his tone wasn't very good, what he said made sense.

Once Gao Rang was done wrapping Li Beining in bandages, he started to pack his tools while speaking to Wen Tao, "This is as much as I can do with the tools I have. His hand is broken, so he must go to a hospital for surgery if he wants it treated."

Li Beining tried to sit up on the sofa to thank Gao Rang, but Wen Tao quickly stopped him, saying, "Can you not move?"

So, Li Beining remained lying on the sofa as he said to Gao Rang, "Thanks."

Nudging his glasses, Gao Rang said, "It's no big deal, but you're going to need a family member's signature if you plan to go for surgery. Will that be convenient for you guys?"

"I can take care of that," Li Beining wearily said. At this point, even breathing was somewhat of a challenge for him.

Hearing Li Beining's response, Gao Rang picked up his medical kit and stood next to Zhao Yu. "We'll be taking our leave first, then. Remember to go to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible."

"Will you be leaving as well, Big Sis Tang? Do you want a ride back?" Zhao Yu asked as he was leaving.

"I'll stay behind to see if I can help with anything. Please tell An-An for me," Tang Yu said. She lacked a phone, so she could only rely on others to inform Yin Zhao-an.

"Okay. We'll be leaving, then."

Meanwhile, Wen Tao was both anxious and angry. He felt that Li Beining was incredibly stubborn. Not only did Li Beining refuse to let him call the police, but Li Beining also refused to go to the hospital. He had no idea what was going through Li Beining's mind. It was fortunate that he remembered Yin Zhao-an being acquainted with a doctor. Otherwise, who knew what would have happened to Li Beining?

Not to mention, all the extra suffering Li Beining had to go through turned out to be in vain, as he ultimately needed to go to the hospital still!

…

TL Notes:

Rest assured, there won't be any detailed development between Wen Tao and Li Beining like there is with Gao Rang and Zhao Yu.