It was nearly eleven at night when Yan Feifan returned home. As soon as he stepped inside, he couldn’t help but twitch his nose.
"Sis, were you eating durian in the living room again!"
"No, I wasn’t!"
Yan Ziruo, who was half-lying on the sofa watching TV, pointed to the trash can by the coffee table and retorted loudly, "That ’little puppy nose’ of yours is just smelling the durian shells I threw in the trash."
She immediately followed up, "Does that Yao Yiyi really have a brain tumor?"
Yan Feifan grunted in affirmation. "We can confirm it’s a brain tumor, most likely a benign meningioma."
"She’s been admitted to the neurosurgery department. We’ll have a definitive confirmation after further tests tomorrow."
Yan Ziruo said sympathetically, "How pitiful. She’s only twenty-four or twenty-five and she already has a brain tumor."
"Hey, Feifan, I’m starting to think you have the makings of a jinx."
"The girl just came to you for a doctor’s note, and you ended up finding a brain tumor in her."
Yan Feifan sat down on the sofa next to his sister.
He casually picked up a big, red apple from the fruit bowl on the coffee table and took a bite.
"How does that make me a jinx?"
Yan Feifan defended himself, "That tumor has been growing in her head for a few months, if not years. I just discovered it."
"She should be thanking me."
"If the tumor were left to grow, the constant pressure on her brain tissue could lead to brain damage, a stroke, or even a cerebral herniation."
"Besides, the larger the tumor, the greater the surgical risk."
Yan Ziruo nodded. "That’s true. Any other doctor probably would have just written her a doctor’s note and been done with it."
"But you, with your Eyes of Golden Flame, saw the problem."
"In other words, you could be considered her savior."
Yan Ziruo then declared dramatically, "It’s like the great hand of fate, moving mysteriously in the background, ensuring Yao Yiyi was destined to meet you today and escape disaster."
Yan Feifan rolled his eyes and snorted, "You can attribute any coincidence to the guidance of fate if you just work backward from the result."
He finished the apple in a few crunchy bites and stood up. "I’m tired. Going to wash up and go to sleep."
"Sis, you should go to bed too!"
"I was waiting up for you!"
Yan Ziruo turned off the TV with the remote, stretched luxuriously, pulled her phone out from between the sofa cushions, and stood up.
Just then, her phone rang.
"Huh? A video call from Uncle!"
Hearing this, Yan Feifan turned and came back to his sister’s side.
Their uncle had been working as a seaman for the past few years, traveling all over the world. He often went a month or two without contacting them.
The video call connected. Once the image on the screen stabilized, the siblings were met with a frightening sight.
The person on the screen was battered and bruised beyond recognition. His right eye, in particular, was so swollen shut he couldn’t open it.
If the siblings hadn’t known their uncle so well, they almost wouldn’t have recognized the man on the screen as their once handsome and dashing uncle.
"Uncle, what happened to you?" the alarmed and worried siblings asked in unison.
Their uncle on the screen winced, then sucked in a sharp breath in pain. He said slowly, "I’ve run into some terrible luck this time."
"I’m in a bit of trouble. I need twenty thousand USD to fix it, or one hundred fifty thousand RMB."
"Xiaoruo, Feifan, I need you to help me this one time."
Seeing the state of their uncle’s face, Yan Feifan knew the trouble he was in this time was serious.
Just then, Yan Ziruo’s expression turned cold. She asked icily, "Uncle, you didn’t go gambling at a casino and rack up debt, did you?"
On the screen, their uncle raised his right hand and swore to the heavens, "Xiaoruo, I swear, since the day I quit gambling, I haven’t gambled even once."
"I’ll be honest with you..."
Their uncle sighed, dejected. "Anyway, my image in your eyes isn’t that great to begin with. One more bad thing won’t make a difference."
"The ship was docked for repairs this time, so I went ashore to have some fun with a woman."
"But I got targeted and fell for a honey trap."
"They’re threatening to chop off one of my hands if I don’t give them twenty thousand USD."
Yan Feifan said urgently, "Uncle, you have to call the police!"
On the screen, their uncle’s facial muscles twitched, and he winced in pain again.
"Feifan, this isn’t like back home. You could say the police are their protectors here. It’s better not to call them."
"The truth is, I’m still under their control right now."
"I either pay up or leave a hand behind. That’s the only way I can get out of here."