Zhan Yangyi reacted swiftly, taking down the first man who lunged at him with a sweeping leg kick.
Another person attacked him from behind with a club. Zhan Yangyi crouched down, narrowly dodging the blow, and as the attacker stumbled, he landed a punch on the right side of their face.
Chen Yutong watched from the sidelines, her heart in her mouth. Yet, a subtle shift was occurring within her; she even found the current Zhan Yangyi rather dashing.
"Yangyi, behind you!"
Seeing another man intentionally target Zhan Yangyi's blind spot while he was dealing with the person in front, Chen Yutong’s anxiety spiked to an extreme.
Zhan Yangyi, however, remained unfazed. He turned around and kicked out, sending the attacker to the ground with a thud.
But at that very moment, Zhan Yangyi frowned, his back felt strangely off.
Chen Yutong then remembered that Zhan Yangyi had taken a hit earlier while protecting her.
Her emotions surged, and she almost rushed forward, but someone beside her held her back.
Fortunately, Zhan Yangyi only faltered momentarily, and it didn't affect his subsequent performance. The thugs, meanwhile, realized that Zhan Yangyi was far from easy to handle.
Seeing the situation, the leader gritted his teeth. It was clear that even if they continued fighting, they wouldn't be able to defeat Zhan Yangyi. Simultaneously, the faint sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance.
"Tsk, let's go!"
Despite their reluctance, the leader hastily led his subordinates away.
Only then did Chen Yutong rush to Zhan Yangyi's side, embracing him tightly. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Zhan Yangyi hugged her back. "I'm fine. How are you?"
Chen Yutong looked at Zhan Yangyi, her eyes welling up. "Of course, I'm fine. You took a hit just now. Are you really alright?"
Just as Zhan Yangyi was about to say he was fine, a sharp pain made him involuntarily wince.
Chen Yutong, disregarding everything else, quickly hailed a taxi and took Zhan Yangyi to the hospital.
Along the way, Zhan Yangyi insisted he was fine, but Chen Yutong was adamant that he get a thorough check-up.
After the examination, when she learned that Zhan Yangyi's injuries were not severe, Chen Yutong finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At this point, she hadn't realized that her initial intention to appease Zhan Yangyi was merely to stay by his side. Now, however, she was genuinely worried about him.
"See, I told you I was fine," Zhan Yangyi said to Chen Yutong with a hint of helplessness.
But Chen Yutong wore a serious expression. "How can you be fine? If you were perfectly alright, the doctor wouldn't have asked you to stay in the hospital for observation."
As she spoke, she helped Zhan Yangyi onto the hospital bed.
Zhan Yangyi looked at Chen Yutong's concerned demeanor, feeling secretly pleased. If he could see her like this more often, he wouldn't mind being more seriously injured.
"Lie down properly and don't move around. What do you want to eat? I'll go buy it for you."
Helpless, Zhan Yangyi reached out and took Chen Yutong's hand. "It's alright, I don't want to eat anything. Just stay here and keep me company; maybe I'll recover faster."
Hearing this, Chen Yutong stopped fussing and sat down beside Zhan Yangyi, keeping him company in silence.
Regarding the thugs they encountered earlier, Chen Yutong wasn't entirely without her suspicions. While it was possible they had simply run into trouble by chance, she had a lingering feeling that those thugs might have been after her.
In fact, within her modeling agency, the competition for endorsement deals and performance opportunities was fierce, and she had encountered similar situations before.
But she considered herself lucky to be with Zhan Yangyi today; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but glance at Zhan Yangyi. He held her hand, occasionally playing with her fingers.
"What? Still thinking about what happened earlier?"
Chen Yutong nodded. "I think they might have been targeting me. I've caused you trouble."
"You are my wife. How can this be considered trouble for me? I only wish you would trouble me for a lifetime," Zhan Yangyi said earnestly. "After we go back, I'll have someone investigate this incident thoroughly. You don't need to worry."
"Mmm," Chen Yutong agreed, but a sense of unease still lingered in her heart.
Just then, a cheerful burst of laughter interrupted their intimate moment.
"Sorry, sorry! I couldn't help it when I saw how loving you two are."
If not for the old man's sudden interjection, Zhan Yangyi and Chen Yutong might have forgotten that another person was in the hospital room.
Chen Yutong's face flushed red. The thought that the old man had overheard her conversation with Zhan Yangyi made her incredibly shy.
"Are you two newlyweds?"
Chen Yutong nodded slightly.
The old man sighed with emotion. "The way you are now reminds me of my wife and me when we first got married. We were just like you. Sadly, she's gone now, leaving me all alone in this world."
He continued with a sigh, "Perhaps it's just old age; one always reminisces about the past. When I think back, I realize how young I was then, how I didn't cherish our time together. If I had known how to cherish it, things wouldn't be this way now."
"Grandpa, please accept my condolences," Chen Yutong said instinctively.
The old man's expression suddenly changed. He looked at Zhan Yangyi and Chen Yutong with a smile. "Listen to my advice. This is the time you should cherish each other. Don't end up like this old man, regretting it when it's too late."
Zhan Yangyi glanced at Chen Yutong and tightened his grip on her hand. "Yes, I will. I promise I'll cherish her properly from now on."
Chen Yutong also looked at Zhan Yangyi, but for some reason, the image of Zhan Mohan surfaced in her mind again.
This chaotic day had almost made her forget her true purpose for staying. She seemed to be adapting to the role of Zhan Yangyi's wife, perhaps even more easily than she had imagined.
However, Zhan Mohan was still in her heart; that had never changed. But how long this situation would continue, she herself didn't know.
"Yutong?" Zhan Yangyi called out when he saw her spacing out.
Chen Yutong snapped back to attention, smiling. "Yes, Grandpa's words are remembered. I will also cherish our current life."
Zhan Yangyi smiled back at her.
To outsiders, the couple's affectionate gazes were enviable.
But only Chen Yutong knew what was concealed behind their current relationship.