Hao Jian stood up, and Lin Dongyang followed suit. Hao Jian looked at Baldy and said, "We've had our meal and drinks, it's getting late now, so I'll take my leave."

Baldy saw Hao Jian standing up to leave, and he immediately stood up as well, along with a group of his men. He looked at Hao Jian and laughed, saying, "It's just ten thirty, not even eleven yet, it's not late. Why not stay and drink a bit more? If you drink too much, I have a car here that can take you home, Brother Hao."

Although Baldy said this, Hao Jian was not some naive youngster new to society. He naturally understood that Baldy was simply being polite. If Hao Jian wanted to leave, Baldy certainly wouldn't stop him; he was merely making polite conversation.

Such talk of course reached Lin Dongyang as well, who understood the undertone. So, Hao Jian smiled and declined Baldy's kind offer, saying, "Maybe another day. I'll definitely drink properly with Brother Guang next time. I'll stop here for tonight; there's something I need to do at home."

Baldy saw Hao Jian say this, and didn't press further, raising his hand and saying, "Alright then, let me see Brother Hao out."

Hao Jian nodded and smiled. Then Baldy led his group to see Hao Jian out of the restaurant. With a nod, one of his men took some money and went to settle the bill, while Baldy watched Hao Jian get into a taxi.

"Goodbye! See you next time!" Hao Jian said.

Baldy smiled and replied, "Goodbye, see you next time!"

After Hao Jian and Lin Dongyang rode off in the car, it quickly vanished from sight. Only then did Baldy leave the restaurant with his men, his face wearing a slight frown upon departure.

Throughout the dinner, he had been probing Hao Jian, trying to get him to reveal his true intentions, but no matter how he tried, Hao Jian's responses were always measured, never explicit or specific. Crucially, he hadn't revealed what his motives might be.

It seemed as though his assistance was entirely subconscious, not premeditated, not done for any gain, but simply out of a genuine unbegrudging nature.

Baldy found it hard to believe this himself, but he had no choice. Despite trying to probe Hao Jian numerous times, it seemed like he just came for a meal.

Baldy pondered that he had initially thought Hao Jian's help had a hidden agenda, but throughout the dinner, he saw no indication of this. Even when Hao Jian left, he did not divulge the slightest hint of his intentions.

Baldy was quite surprised. If possible, he really wanted to ask Hao Jian directly what he was up to, and why he helped without any apparent reason. But since Hao Jian hadn't revealed anything during dinner, it wouldn't be appropriate to question him now, lest he seem suspicious minded and project a scheming image.

Besides, Baldy was merely a small-time gang leader with only a dozen followers. Often it was even problematic to feed his men. So if Hao Jian wanted to gain something from Baldy, what could he possibly gain?

While initially thinking this way, after the dinner and some contemplation, Baldy realized he must have overthought things, suspecting people without cause, and concluded perhaps Hao Jian helped simply out of instinct with no ulterior motives.

With this thought, Baldy felt at ease realizing that befriending someone like Hao Jian could be beneficial. After all, having a friend is always better than having an enemy. Furthermore, Hao Jian seemed to carry a sense of mystery, with his skills the previous day beyond Baldy's expectation, and he even arranged a VIP hospital room for him, which made Baldy question Hao Jian's identity.

VIP hospital rooms are scarce, and generally only the wealthy or influential can occupy them. But Hao Jian managed to arrange one for Baldy easily, raising questions about how he did it, though it was unquestionable that Hao Jian's status was not simple.

Thinking about it, it made sense why, knowing Yellow Hair was from the Axe Gang, Hao Jian still decided to intervene without hesitation. It was clear he was not afraid of the Axe Gang; otherwise, he would have steered clear and wouldn't risk getting involved.

Thinking along these lines, Baldy realized he may have delved into unfounded suspicion, questioning what he had that could serve Hao Jian's interests. He felt overly cautious today, suspecting malevolence without reason, and wondered if his abrupt departure mid-drink was a result of discomfort from these thoughts.

This realization prompted a sense of guilt, feeling like he wronged Hao Jian by adding conspiracy theories to his actions. Baldy decided he must apologize to Hao Jian next time, as not doing so would seem unjust.

Fortunately, Baldy had exchanged contact information with Hao Jian during the dinner, enabling easy future communication. He vowed to sincerely thank Hao Jian the next time they spoke.

Yet, currently the priority was handling the threat from the Axe Gang. News came today that after Yellow Hair and his men left last night, they immediately went to the Axe Gang headquarters to report the incident. What followed was uncertain, but given the Axe Gang's reputation, there was no way it ended simply. Retaliation was undoubtedly coming.

Thus, Baldy braced for a fierce counterattack. He had no time to breathe and needed to meticulously plan his next move.

...

The taxi directly drove to Lin Dongyang's home. After he exited, it took Hao Jian to his residence, where he paid the fare, got out, and went upstairs. The lights were still on upstairs, suggesting Liang Xiaohan hadn't slept yet, as all he did was have a meal, which didn't take long, so she wouldn't be sleeping early.

The moment the door opened, Liang Xiaohan was sitting on the sofa watching TV and glanced at him subconsciously, without saying anything. He entered wearing slippers, changed into casual clothes in the bedroom, poured a glass of water and took a sip, then sat on the sofa.

At this moment, Liang Xiaohan glanced at him and suddenly asked, "Do you have any plans for your cousin visiting this weekend?"

Regarding this, Hao Jian had already thought it through and replied, "Spend a day enjoying ourselves, then just follow her lead, whichever activities she likes, we'll do them."

Liang Xiaohan responded, "Alright, and make sure to resolve the thing with Gu Peng. Otherwise, if she visits and everything is still a mess, I won't go easy on you."

Hao Jian promptly nodded, saying, "Alright, alright, you don't need to worry about that, I'll handle it."

"Good," Liang Xiaohan replied and suddenly got up. Whether she was done talking or feeling sleepy, she went to the bedroom to sleep.

Hao Jian glanced at her, chuckled, then got up to turn off the TV, tidied up casually, and headed to his bedroom to sleep as well. Exhausted, he quickly fell asleep soon after lying down.

The next day at school, attending some classes, he found them uninteresting, and lethargically zoned out. During break, Hu Lai and Fatty dragged him outside. Thinking they had something to discuss, he was surprised to find out they just wanted to scout out girls, prompting him to roll his eyes at them.

Checking out girls, when Liang Xiaohan and Zhang Danlin are far prettier than those outside. With such beauties at home, why go out to look? It seemed pointless, and the girls they were ogling weren't exceptionally pretty either; Hu Lai and Fatty were just idle.

Thus he gave them a glare, then returned to class on his own, leaving them salivating at the scene.

Afternoon classes were lighter, intentionally arranged not as rigorously as the morning with Maths, Language, or other core subjects tightly packed.

Today, however, included a period of gym class. Despite being overweight and uninvested in studying, Fatty somehow became the sports committee member. Generally, Hao Jian avoided gym due to its simplicity, but Fatty not being someone he could leave alone meant he couldn't skip classes without them.

So, each time gym class was held, Hao Jian was dragged along by Fatty. Regardless of anything, they had to accompany him, with promises like sharing joys and bear difficulties as brothers.

Therefore, today as gym class started, Hao Jian was pulled over by Fatty. Otherwise, no one could usually stop him from skipping, not even Li Weiwei.

Once class began, Fatty first called roll, then reported the attendance to the PE teacher.