Chapter 113: Forceful Land Claim?

Afternoon.

Jiang Cheng Airport, crowds weaving like fabric. Travelers haul their suitcases past in a hurry, and taxis line up in a long queue waiting for passengers.

Distant skyscrapers sparkle under the sun, and the city's clamor rises and falls.

Yu Lin stands at the exit, takes a deep breath of familiar air, and takes in all the scenery.

Counting the days spent in the mythic world, it has been nearly a year since he last returned to this city.

Now that he's back, he truly feels a sense of reunion after a long separation.

"First, let's see what's going on," he says, shakes his head, then raises his hand to hail a taxi.

"Driver, First People's Hospital."

"Sure!" The taxi driver, an enthusiastic middle‑aged man, opens the conversation as soon as he gets in:

"Young man, are you from out of town?"

"Yeah, I have a relative in the hospital, so I came back to see them."

"I see... No worries, it must be a minor illness! The weather's shifting from summer to autumn, temperature swings a lot... If you have time, take your family to Hangzhou's Great Compassion Dinghui Zen Temple to pay respects to the living Buddha; I hear it's very spiritual..."

Yu Lin watches the scenery outside the window, chatting with him in a back‑and‑forth manner.

Until they arrive at Jiang Cheng First People's Hospital.

"Young man, we've arrived. Twenty‑three yuan and sixty cents, just give me twenty‑three yuan."

"Okay, thank you."

Yu Lin hands over a hundred yuan casually, then heads toward the hospital.

He isn't short of money now, so he treats it as a chat fee for the driver.

Emotional value is still value, after all.

"Hey, young man, you gave... something's odd, where's the person?" The driver, looking at the reminder of the hundred yuan, is about to get out and return it.

But he finds that the person who was standing there is gone!

Perhaps he rushed off to the hospital.

"Driver, to Dongxian Bridge, how much?"

Business comes in just then; the driver shakes his head, doesn't think further, and as soon as the passenger gets in, he floors the accelerator and leaves the hospital.

Inside Jiang Cheng First People's Hospital, third floor.

Yu Lin asks a nurse, then learns which ward Chen Yu is in and what his condition is—his leg is broken, not from a fall but from being struck by some hard object!

Adding Li Rongrong's situation, that means... it was probably broken by someone!

Thinking this, Yu Lin's eyes flash with a cold hue, but the next moment he pulls the coldness back.

He adjusts his facial expression and gently pushes the door open.

Inside the ward, the smell of disinfectant hits the nose.

Chen Yu lies on the bedside table by the window, his left leg encased in a thick plaster, suspended in mid‑air.

His complexion is pale, a fresh bruise remains on his forehead, his once jet‑black hair has turned much whiter, making him look over ten years older.

Li Rongrong sits at the bedside, clutching a crumpled tissue.

Hearing the door open, she hurriedly wipes her eyes and forces a smile: "Xiao Lin, you're here."

"Uncle Chen, Aunt Li," Yu Lin strides to the bedside.

"What exactly happened?"

Chen Yu opens his eyes, sees Yu Lin, and a glimmer of relief passes through his cloudy gaze: "Xiao Lin..."

"Nothing serious, Uncle Chen, I accidentally broke my leg."

"I told Aunt Li not to tell you, I could just nurse him, but she wouldn't listen..."

"Uncle Chen," Yu Lin looks at him and says in a low voice:

"Stop lying to me, the nurses outside all said you were broken by someone!"

"Who exactly did it?!"

"This..." Chen Yu's words get stuck in his throat, and he remains silent.

Li Rongrong, holding Yu Lin's hand, says softly:

"Xiao Lin, forget it, our small family can't fight them, just consider it a silent loss."

"From now on, Uncle Chen and I will work harder to try to reopen the welfare home."

"We still have a house; we can squeeze in and live."

"Have you eaten? If not, I can go now to give you..."

Yu Lin stops her from getting up and pulls out his Civil Affairs Bureau ID from his pocket.

"Aunt Li, I won't hide from you any longer; I didn't go to university because I directly entered the organization."

"I went straight to the Central, right in the capital."

"Look."

"I've also met a few brothers and sisters; the lowest among them are hall directors."

He says this, then pulls out his phone, opens the album, and shows photos of himself with Su Qu and a photo of Su Qu shaking hands with the president of a small foreign country on behalf of Xia Guo:

"This is the big brother who recruited me."

"You believe it, right?"

Yu Lin's words leave Chen Yu and Li Rongrong completely stunned.

Both stare wide‑eyed, alternating between looking at Yu Lin, the phone photos, and the ID in his hand, mouths agape.

"X‑Xiao Lin," Li Rongrong's voice trembles, "You're not kidding, are you?"

Yu Lin puts away the ID and says seriously:

"Aunt Li, how could I possibly joke about this? Fabricating rumors of this level would land you in prison!"

Chen Yu struggled to sit up, his murky eyes glistening with tears: "Okay… okay! Little Lin has become promising!"

He suddenly became agitated: "Those damned guys…"

"Old Chen!" Li Rongrong quickly held him back, "Don't get worked up, watch the wound!"

Yu Lin spoke: "Uncle Chen, Aunt Li, can you finally tell me what actually happened?"

Li Rongrong wiped the corner of her eye, her voice full of grievance: "It's the Mingyue Group… they're about to develop our land, but the price they offered is absurdly low, almost half!"

"If we take their money, even if we dip into the years of savings that Chen and I have accumulated, it's still far from enough to buy a new house for a welfare home!"

Her fingers clenched the hem of her clothes tightly, "There are so many children to place, how could we possibly agree? We turned them down…"

"That night someone came and sprayed paint, even threatened the children…"

"Especially the day before yesterday, you, Uncle Chen, went to buy groceries and came back late, got caught in a sack and had a leg broken…"

"We went to report it to the police,"

"They said that day the area either had a power outage or the surveillance was down! How could it be such a coincidence?!"

"That's how it is, Little Lin, you must never force yourself. We can just endure a bit."

Yu Lin's gaze gradually grew cold.

He gently patted Li Rongrong's hand: "I can't endure it at all."

"Aunt Li, don't worry."

"I'll handle this, I'll first go ask what the situation is."

He stood up and walked toward the outside.

Only Li Rongrong and Chen Yu remained in the ward, their hearts full of worry.