Xiao Shu was completely unprepared for the separation from Xiao Yu. The moment she heard what Zhang Yuqiu said, she froze, then began pacing around Zhang Yuqiu like an ant on a hot griddle. Finally, she clapped her hands together and said, "You want to send me back to where Li Xiaohao and my father are?"

"Mm," Zhang Yuqiu replied cautiously, not daring to elaborate.

"No way, I have to go back to Xiao Yu," Xiao Shu stated flatly. "You want me to go home to face that sickeningly affectionate couple, Li Xiaohao and Nangong Ying, every day? Or do you want me to go back just to jab at my brother Ming’s back and complain about him to Father? Or maybe I can just be invisible—act like no one sees me, and I see no one?"

This barrage of rapid-fire questions left Zhang Yuqiu with a splitting headache. She hadn't anticipated bringing Li Xiaoshu back would be this difficult. If she had known then what she knew now, she should have faked her own death or pretended to be inexperienced and dumped this hot potato immediately.

However, the mission was at hand, and she had secured the person; abandoning it halfway was unthinkable. The woman's notoriously cunning heart began plotting its little schemes. Whether Li Xiaoshu agreed or not, she had to get him back. If soft tactics failed, she’d resort to force; if force failed, she’d knock him out and drag him.

Thus, Zhang Yuqiu feigned concern, cooing sweetly, "Shu, I think we should put the going home issue aside for a moment. Your hand is starting to get infected. If you don't want to lose it, you really should find a place with proper facilities to clean it and get some anti-inflammatories via IV drip."

Hearing this, Xiao Shu suddenly felt a chill run through him. He looked at his hands; they were swollen like fried chicken claws, truly looking as dire as Zhang Yuqiu claimed, past the point of simple remedies.

Xiao Shu suddenly remembered that Sister Xiao Yu had been working as a temporary medic in the shelter. The two vehicles had been gone for a long time; by now, she and Old He should have returned there to rest. Compared to his stern father and detestable brother Ming, he much preferred being among ordinary friends. "Okay, I know there's a shelter in the city. They should have basic medical supplies there for sterilization and medicine. Shall we go there?"

"Where… where is that?" Zhang Yuqiu asked, while simultaneously poking her index fingers together in front of her chest—a habitual gesture she made when hatching wicked ideas. Of course, by the time Xiao Shu noticed the hidden mechanism, eons would have passed.

"It’s not far. We can walk from here. It’s in the same neighborhood where Xiao Yu lives. I figure he’ll go back there after he finds Wenshu. Since we’re separated, finding a place to wait for him is the best strategy," Xiao Shu said with a slight dejection. Although Zhang Yuqiu had pulled him away from Xiao Yu while he was distracted, she was merely executing orders from his father or brother Ming. He couldn't blame her, so he could only blame himself for being so foolish as to be mentally scattered by a couple of words—it was truly embarrassing.

Seeing Xiao Shu's insistence, Zhang Yuqiu realized it wasn't a good time for coercion and reluctantly charmed him, agreeing to the plan of waiting at the shelter for Xiao Yu. Plus, they could get his wounds treated there so those hands wouldn't be permanently damaged. However, a new thought struck her: Li Xiaohao and Sister Xiao Yu left together. If Li Xiaohao followed them to the shelter, wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?