Super Soldier in the City

"Yes. From now on—today, tomorrow, and the days after." Li Yifei put away his smile and asked solemnly.

Zhang Tianxing’s expression froze and he fell into thought. After a while he finally said, "Boss, to be honest, I haven’t thought it through yet. What happened yesterday was a bit sudden. If you hadn’t come, I might have just accepted my fate yesterday. It was because you showed up that I suddenly realized these past years I’ve been living way too uselessly. I shouldn’t be like this. But that’s as far as I’ve gotten—I still don’t have a concrete idea about the future, I still don’t know how to plan things."

But his mindset really had changed, because even though he said that, the defeated look from before was gone from his face. Li Yifei grunted in acknowledgment and said, "I’m asking you now, and you’re aware of it now, so do you have at least a rough idea?"

Zhang Tianxing grinned, his eyes looking over at his parents and family in the distance. In a firm tone he said, "Step one is to let my family live better. My body’s shot now, but my brain’s still here. Everything I learned and trained over those years is still there, my skills haven’t really been affected much. So I can use my two hands to make money and improve my family’s life."

"Not bad." Li Yifei looked at him with appreciation, then asked, "That’s career-wise. What about other aspects?"

"Other aspects?" Zhang Tianxing clicked his tongue, shook his head and said, "Things like relationships, I’m not considering for now. To tell you the truth, Boss, these years of being so down and out had me ready to just let myself go. Otherwise, knowing what kind of person that woman from the Lang Family was, how could I have agreed to her? So it’s a good thing the marriage is off. If I suddenly woke up some day, it would’ve just turned into a big fight." Zhang Tianxing sighed as he spoke.

Li Yifei frowned and said, "Let’s not bring that up. Answer my question first."

Zhang Tianxing went a little dazed. Li Yifei patiently waited for him. The former shook his head with a helpless smile and said, "Actually... I still can’t quite forget that girl. But it’s been years with no news. I don’t know if she’s woken up. If she has, did she recover? Is she living like a normal person, does she have a job, a boyfriend, maybe even got married!" At this point, Zhang Tianxing paused, licked his somewhat dry lips, his voice lowering as he said, "I also don’t know how she ended up. If she’s gone... that would really be too much of a regret."

Seeing him finally mention that girl, Li Yifei couldn’t help but smile and said, "What, if she’s fine and doesn’t have a boyfriend, you still want to marry her?"

Zhang Tianxing’s body trembled. He instinctively raised his head to look at Li Yifei, wanting to speak but stopping, then he shook his head and sighed, "Boss, don’t make fun of me. Look at my legs, look at my situation. Even if she’d take me, I wouldn’t dare. Of course, that’s assuming she’s okay. But is that even possible? Actually over these years, I’ve had several times where I wanted to go see her. Even if I was dirt poor, I could still afford the fare. But... I’m really afraid of seeing bad news. If I never see her again, as long as she can stay healthy, I’m willing!"

By the end, he was already sounding very agitated. Li Yifei understood how he felt, patted his shoulder and said, "Tianxing, you’re a good man."

"Good what... Ai. Boss, I remember back then we had a slogan: ’Believe in fate, but don’t surrender to it.’ We said that for the brothers who weren’t that gifted, telling them not to resign themselves. As long as they worked hard, dared to fight and could fight, miracles could still happen. Now I’d rather there really is such a thing as fate, that she and I were never meant to be, in exchange for her safety."

Li Yifei pondered for a moment, then asked seriously, "Tianxing, if I gave you a chance and set everything else aside, would you be willing to marry her?"

"Boss, my answer is I would. But those things can’t be set aside. Not to mention whether she’s still around, whether anything else has changed—just my situation alone, I don’t deserve her. I’m a cripple..."

"I told you yesterday, I can fix your leg. Your arm I can’t—after all, it’s already gone!"

"You can really fix it?" Zhang Tianxing gave a somewhat bitter smile, finding it hard to believe.

"I can, of course I can."

"I believe you, Boss, but even if it’s fixed, I still can’t..."

"Tianxing, didn’t you ask why we were all being so mysterious? I’ll tell you now—last night your sister-in-law gave me a suggestion!"

"What suggestion?"

"First we fix your leg, and then..." Li Yifei deliberately dragged the last word out. Zhang Tianxing instinctively tensed up, held his breath, waiting for Li Yifei to reveal the answer: "Then we go into the city, find the girl you like, and you propose to her fair and square. If she’s willing, we come back right away and hold the wedding. If she’s not, then you think about your future again."

"Boss, don’t mess with me!" As soon as he finished listening, Zhang Tianxing whooshed upright, eyes wide, a bit anxious as he said, "This isn’t something you joke about. Leaving aside whether she’s still around, even if..."

"Since I’ve said it, of course I know the girl is still alive!" Li Yifei cut him off.

Zhang Tianxing froze at once. His eyes darted, blinking a few times, his heart caught in a struggle. He asked softly, "Is the girl... okay?"

"Same as a few years ago," Li Yifei said.

Zhang Tianxing suddenly lifted his head, looking at Li Yifei in disbelief, his lips trembling a few times. He looked somewhat disappointed and pained as he said, "So she still hasn’t recovered?"

"You can’t say she hasn’t. It comes and goes—most of the time she’s in a coma, and occasionally she wakes up," Li Yifei said.

Zhang Tianxing squatted down in pain, covered his face, and took a deep breath. Clearly, although they hadn’t known each other for very long and their actual contact wasn’t that much—just eating together, chatting, strolling and walking her home—his feelings were very deep. At least in this regard his feelings ran deep, otherwise when the girl was assaulted, he wouldn’t have gone on that personal revenge in a fit of rage.

Of course he knew that kind of personal revenge was illegal, even if the other party deserved it. So he paid with a hand and a leg, and it made him sink further into decadence these past years.

He fell silent. He didn’t know what to say. After hearing about the girl’s current condition, he had no doubt about Li Yifei. The fact she was still alive let him breathe a sigh of relief, but her condition coming and going like that, being in a coma for so many years—how much suffering had she and her family gone through, anyone could imagine. Not to mention, even if she woke, she probably couldn’t move—how was that different from being dead.

Thinking back on every little thing about the girl, Zhang Tianxing’s pain only deepened. How could such a pure and beautiful girl be made to suffer like this!

Seeing him squatting on the ground, face full of anguish, Li Yifei didn’t want him to stay in that state. He simply said, "I can fix your leg, and I can cure her illness too. So what I want to ask you now is: if she wakes up, even recovers to a normal person, what will you do?"

"Boss, are you serious?" Zhang Tianxing wasn’t doubting Li Yifei, he just couldn’t believe it. He lifted his head, eyes full of hope as he looked at him. Li Yifei nodded lightly and said, "I’ve always done what I said I would."

Whoosh. Zhang Tianxing immediately stood up and said, "Boss, if it’s real... I... I want to ask her if she’s willing to marry me!"

After saying that, he paused, seeming a bit hesitant, and said, "If she’s willing, I want to marry her. I may be down and out now, but I’ll work hard to change that. I’ll definitely let her live a good life. If... if she’s not willing, I’ll have no regrets either. These years I’ve always kept this in the back of my mind. It’s time to put an end to it."

"That’s enough. Tianxing, I can fix your leg and cure her illness, but remember, you can’t force anything!"

"I understand, Boss. A forced melon isn’t sweet. But... I really want to give it a try."

With things said to this point, the matter was basically set. Zhang Tianxing’s thoughts came alive. If his leg was fine and the girl’s illness could be cured, he had plenty of confidence. Of course, even if she woke up and refused his proposal, he could accept it. Deep down, what he cared about more was letting the girl become healthy and live a normal life. He didn’t say that out loud, but that’s just the kind of person he was.

Li Yifei was confident too. After discussing this with Na Yi last night, he immediately had people look into the matter. It wasn’t hard to find the girl’s family, and it wasn’t hard to learn about her condition. One look at the medical report and Li Yifei knew he could basically wake her up and cure her. After all, his treatment methods were different from those doctors. True Qi was the foundation of everything. With his current level, he could even extend someone’s life out of thin air, let alone deal with a pathological illness.

It took Zhang Tianxing a while to digest the news. When he came out of the house, he was already a different person. That was what members of the Flying Hawk Squad were like—their hearts were incomparably strong, they could withstand a lot. Li Yifei had him tell his parents himself. Of course this was something he had to inform them about.

After learning about it, his parents didn’t know for a moment whether to support or oppose. In the end, his father nodded and said, "Since you’ve decided, we’ll support you. Tianxing, you have your own judgment. We won’t try to stop you too much."

"Thanks, Dad, I know."

The Parents of Zhang family couldn’t really stop him either. Their son had been willing to break the law and violate discipline for that girl, and end up disabled. What could they possibly stop now? Even if, as parents, they didn’t want their child to be this ’stupid’.

The few members of the Flying Hawk Squad gathered together like soldiers waiting to set out on a campaign. Just like before, the seven of them stood side by side, heads held high, chests out, their energy and spirit blazing. They were even a little excited. Li Yifei stood in front of them, hands clasped behind his back, legs slightly apart. Silence fell on both sides, but in that silence, long-lost feelings surged up again.