Back Then, I Adored You

At this time of winter, the river temperature was close to freezing. Lu Bancheng was appropriately afraid that his limbs might cramp up in the water. Additionally, his ability to climb safely onto the bank with an unconscious and injured Xu Wennuan was something he doubted he could achieve, as well as contrary to his resolve to protect her.

The most logical solution in these circumstances was to launch a sneak attack on one of the men and incapacitate him, severely injure the second, and then perish with the third man by fighting with him into the icy river. At that point, Xu Wennuan would be in the safest place.

And Wu Hao is on his way over here now and should be here soon…

Having finalized his plan, Lu Bancheng slowly shifted his eyeballs from gazing out the window to Xu Wennuan’s body. She remained in a state of unconsciousness, unaware of everything that had happened to her that night. Her expression was exceptionally calm, and her face was mesmerizing under the white light in the room at the abandoned factory.

Lu Bancheng stared at her without moving for some time before visibly and deeply gulping. For as long as he could remember, his mother had always been a teenager at heart and tremendously enjoyed all sorts of romance shows. Occasionally, Lu Bancheng would accompany her in watching those shows, and sometimes they would see the second male lead sacrificing his life to guarantee the safety of the female lead. His mother would weep and dab her face with tissues as she went on about how moving it was, while he would sit looking dumbly at the screen. Moreover, he always felt that the producers were completely off the mark, that no one would be so stupid as to put someone else’s life before his own. At this moment, however, he finally understood that his feelings for another person could drive him to set aside his own safety completely for the sake of ensuring hers.

It’s not about being stupid or not… It’s about whether one loves someone or not…

True love is unconditional and selfless, righteous and reckless, and even if I will personally suffer a lack of dignity, I only want her to be safe and stable…

The man who had been sent to find rope finally pulled out a black hemp cord in the far corner of the room. When Lu Bancheng saw him approaching, he instantly began feigning his injuries as graver than they really were and sprawled across the floor as if he was paralyzed. All three men, even the one approaching him with the rope, were still not paying attention, and Lu Bancheng sneakily shifted his hand toward the iron rod he had casually dropped earlier.

The man with the rope stopped before Lu Bancheng and was just about to bound his hands when the listless Lu Bancheng suddenly raised the rod and ruthlessly smashed it into the man’s head. He dropped instantly to the ground, unconscious, without uttering a sound.

Lu Bancheng then removed the switchblade from his thigh and used the iron rod to prop himself up while grimacing through the pain. He slowly inched closer to the other two men and, just as he was within arm’s length, one of them detected his presence and blurted out, “Watch out!” as he bent down to pick up an iron rod.

The other man spun around and looked at Lu Bancheng, who plunged the switchblade into his abdomen without pause. A pitiful cry rang out in the room, followed by the man dropping on his knees as he clutched his abdomen.

The man who had picked up the iron rod swore while waving his weapon in the air, followed by smashing it down onto Lu Bancheng’s shoulder. Lu Bancheng stumbled from the brutal force and he fell to his knees. In the subsequent moment, the man’s iron rod then landed squarely on his back. The immense pain caused Lu Bancheng’s teeth to begin chattering and then, as though he became possessed, he furiously punched and kicked the man, bracing his fingertips against the ground to steady himself until the man was unable to get up.

Well he looks incapacitated, at least for a while. … My lacerations aren’t that deep, and Wu Hao’s going to show up soon, but I still don’t know if I…