002 Reform oneself

"Ah!" Chen Hao was startled and let out a loud shriek.

"Haozi, is that really you?" However, a familiar and aged voice quickly rang out from behind him. The speaker was none other than Chen Hao's grandfather, Chen Che, an Onmyoji. Due to excessive blood loss, Chen Hao had been issued a critical condition notice when he was first admitted to the hospital. Until last night, before Chen Che left the hospital, Chen Hao had still been in a deep coma. Unexpectedly, upon arriving at the entrance to the hospital's surgical building this morning, Chen Che was shocked to find his grandson awake and even able to walk about, and he could hardly believe his eyes.

"Grandpa!" Chen Hao immediately turned around and embraced Chen Che. With the Onmyoji as his grandfather, he didn't have to worry about unclean things. Sure enough, a few seconds later, when Chen Hao slowly looked back, the two old patients and the female doctor who had been arguing heatedly had vanished without a trace.

Chen Che gently pushed Chen Hao away, his trembling hands holding onto Chen Hao's arms as he looked him over with tear-filled eyes, weathered by time. After a long while, he let out a deep sigh and in a choked voice said, "Haozi, Grandpa thought you..."

...

As he was speaking, the old man choked up.

"Grandpa, I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about anymore!" Chen Hao's own eyes moistened, and he raised his hand to support Chen Che's arm. Two days apart felt like years, and seeing his grandfather now, Chen Hao thought he had suddenly aged a great deal, with his temples even whiter than before.

Thinking of his grandfather's earlier years, the sorrow of losing his wife, the hardship of the elder serving the younger, and the tireless effort of raising a troublesome grandson who never seemed to mature, Chen Hao silently vowed in his heart to work hard and become successful, hoping to bring a peaceful life to his grandfather as soon as possible.

After exchanging looks for a while, Chen Che suddenly gazed at Chen Hao with astonishment and asked, "Haozi, Grandpa only patted you a moment ago, why did you react so strongly?"

"Grandpa, I," recalling all he had seen after waking up last night, Chen Hao became extremely agitated. But just as he was about to share these bizarre occurrences with his grandfather, he hesitated. Seeing a few more wrinkles on his grandfather's face and the sorrowful, heavy fatigue in his eyes, he did not want to add to his grandfather's worries. Hence, with a light smile, he explained, "I was lost in thought just now, and you suddenly patted me from behind, of course, I was startled."

After returning to the ward, the attending physician was astonished to see Chen Hao able to get out of bed and walk around. With over a decade of clinical experience, the doctor had never seen such a rapid recovery. It took only one day to move from issuing a critical condition notice to transferring to a regular ward and another day from being comatose to getting out of bed and walking around. It was nothing short of a medical miracle worthy of being recorded in human medical history.

After a thorough examination and the doctor confirming that there was nothing seriously wrong with his body, Chen Hao finally convinced his grandfather to let him be discharged. He really didn't like staying in the hospital that felt chilling to the bone, especially fearing the sight of those strange things again. Before his discharge, the doctor also removed the stitches from Chen Hao's scratched right eye. Now that both of his eyes could see clearly, the world seemed different to Chen Hao.

After leaving the hospital, Chen Hao had no intention of going home to rest but instead wanted to go to school for classes. Eventually, after his persistent insistence, his grandfather could only agree.

Twenty minutes later, Chen Hao arrived at Jingwen Middle School. Standing at the school gates, he swore to himself to stop fighting, troubling his classmates, and to study hard and strive for improvement for his grandfather's sake. The first matter he needed to deal with was to resolve his conflict with the "Four Young Tyrants" of the school.

The "Four Young Tyrants" were known as the four bosses of Jingwen Middle School's current senior year. The four called each other brothers, not only were their families wealthy and powerful, but they were also skilled in fighting. In Chen Hao's senior year Class 10, one of them was Xie Xiaofeng, the youngest of the "Four Young Tyrants."

Xie Xiaofeng's grandfather was an Onmyoji, just like Chen Hao's. However, unlike Chen Hao's grandfather, Xie Xiaofeng's grandfather was very wealthy. Chen Hao had known Xie Xiaofeng since they were young, and they had always gotten along well. After entering high school, under Xie Xiaofeng's introduction, Chen Hao got to know the other three members of the "Four Young Tyrants."

In the first and second years of high school, Chen Hao may not have been as famous at school as the "Four Young Tyrants," but by virtue of his good relationship with them, he also had some influence and was considered a notable character at school. However, everything changed because of his ex-girlfriend Lin Xiaofan, leading to a falling-out with the "Four Young Tyrants."

Lin Xiaofan was originally Chen Hao's neighbor, and the two could be described as childhood sweethearts, going to school and coming home together since elementary school. After they got to middle school, Lin Xiaofan developed into an elegant and lovely girl next door, slender and cute. At that tender age when feelings bloom, they naturally started dating. However, after entering high school, Lin Xiaofan's family moved out of the old building and into a wealthy district; she learned to dress up and bought expensive cosmetics and clothes. In the second year of high school, Lin Xiaofan, belittling Chen Hao's poor family background and lack of ambition, broke up with him.

After the breakup, Chen Hao could not let go of Lin Xiaofan and pestered her daily. By the second semester of senior year, Lin Xiaofan got a new boyfriend, who was Lin Yifei, the third in rank among the "Four Young Tyrants." Lin Yifei told Chen Hao to stop harassing Lin Xiaofan, but Chen Hao refused, and that's when he made enemies with the "Four Young Tyrants."

Since then, Chen Hao was often on the receiving end of punches and kicks from the "Four Young Tyrants," and the students he had bullied before, knowing about his feud with them, also came to take revenge. Gradually, Chen Hao became someone everyone at school could ridicule and spit upon, and his nickname "One-Eyed Hao" was brought up again.

But even so, Chen Hao persisted in his entanglements with Lin Xiaofan like an indestructible cockroach. That he was chased onto the road and hit by a truck two days ago, resulting in an accident, was because he had gone looking for Lin Xiaofan and was chased by Lin Yifei and his gang.

When Chen Hao entered their class' room, it was shortly after the end of the first period. At that moment, the class president, Ma Biao, was standing at the podium, rallying his classmates to donate money for the deeply comatose Chen Hao. Seeing Chen Hao walk in from the back, Ma Biao was instantly petrified and at a complete loss for words. All the students turned their heads, and their faces showed extreme surprise upon seeing Chen Hao.

"Chen Hao, you," Ma Biao was a bit overwhelmed and hurried down from the podium.

Afterward, Chen Hao awkwardly took his seat. Due to his family's poverty, his position as last in class ranking, and frequent bullying, Chen Hao was extremely unpopular among his classmates. Hence, when he sat down, no one tried to comfort him or ask about his condition, leaving him feeling somewhat cold-hearted.

After the bell rang for class to begin, Xie Xiaofeng sat next to Chen Hao. He patted Chen Hao's shoulder with his right hand and asked coldly, "Chen Hao, the police didn't come to question you about the car accident, did they?"

Xie Xiaofeng asked this because he was worried that his few brothers might get dragged into a criminal investigation for indirectly causing Chen Hao's accident.

Chen Hao looked at Xie Xiaofeng, feeling a sense of injustice within. Why was it that, even though they both had grandfathers who were Onmyoji, Xie Xiaofeng's family was so wealthy and he himself so handsome? Except for a slight advantage in height, Chen Hao felt inferior to Xie Xiaofeng in every way.

"No!" Chen Hao shook his head expressionlessly, "Don't worry, if the police come to me, I know what to say. But I have a condition. You guys stop bothering me from now on, and I promise I won't harass Lin Xiaofan anymore."

"Oh!" Xie Xiaofeng was quite surprised, a faint smile appearing on his handsome face. "Finally come to your senses, have you?"

Xie Xiaofeng stared at Chen Hao, sensing that the Chen Hao before him seemed different, but couldn't exactly pinpoint how. It was as if Chen Hao's temperament had changed!

"Do you know, at the moment I was hit by the car, time suddenly seemed to slow down. I was so scared. If I had died, what would my grandfather have done all alone?" As he spoke, Chen Hao's eyes once again grew moist. "So I realized, I can't keep worrying my grandfather! As soon as class is over, I'm going to explain things to Lin Xiaofan."

"Hmm!" Xie Xiaofeng was somewhat moved.

After the second class ended, Chen Hao went to Class Three of the Senior Three. Seeing Chen Hao approach, Lin Xiaofan, who had been chatting and laughing with her desk mate in the classroom, was first stunned, then quickly got up and walked out of the classroom. She came up to Chen Hao and, without a word, slapped him hard across the face.

"Chen Hao! You were almost killed by a car; why are you still harassing me? What do I need to do for you to leave me alone?" Lin Xiaofan shouted hoarsely.

"Lin Xiaofan!" Being slapped in front of so many people enraged Chen Hao. Unable to contain his anger, he pushed Lin Xiaofan away with both hands.

Lin Xiaofan stumbled backwards several steps, nearly falling over.

"Chen Hao, you dare to push me!" Lin Xiaofan erupted in a shrill scream.

"So what if I pushed you!" As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Hao slapped Lin Xiaofan again, "I'm telling you, today I came to..."

"Chen Hao, you dare to hit my girl!"

Before Chen Hao could finish speaking, Lin Xiaofan's current boyfriend, one of the "Four Young Overlords," Lin Yifei, had already arrived with three other people.

Two minutes later, Chen Hao was on the ground, curled up, hands protecting his head, as six or seven people surrounded him, punching and kicking.

It wasn't until Xie Xiaofeng arrived and pulled people away that Chen Hao was rescued. After Xie Xiaofeng spoke to Lin Yifei and Lin Xiaofan, they agreed to let Chen Hao go.

Chen Hao slowly got up from the ground, his eyes on Lin Xiaofan and Lin Yifei, and said with a bitter smile, "You've hit me and everything has been said by Xiao Feng. From now on, we owe nothing to each other, let's live and let live."

With that, he turned and left.

On the way back to the classroom, people pointed at him and whispered, with jeers, discrimination, and curses... Chen Hao tried to appear unfazed, but he vowed inwardly: Lin Xiaofan, I have truly let go of you in my heart. I will study hard and no longer let my grandfather worry about me.