"Something's happened, something's happened!"

"Xia Lei has injured his eye with the arc light! Quick, call for help!"

There were cries of alarm on the construction site, people running around, and frantic scene as someone was hastily dialing an ambulance. The situation was chaotic.

At the welding site of the construction field, Xia Lei curled up, his left eye burned black with the arc light, emitting a burnt odor. Blood and dust mixed on his face, creating a sight too ghastly to look at.

"Ah, such a handsome young lad, and one of his eyes got ruined this way. Such a pity," someone sighed.

"He has a younger sister who has been admitted to university; if he becomes blind, how can she go to university?"

"Ah, Xia Lei is quite a nice guy, always eager to work, and well-mannered. Why did this happen to him? It really seems like the heavens are blind."

The chatter was buzzing, with many sighs among the crowd.

Xia Lei's mother passed away due to illness early on, and his father disappeared mysteriously five years ago. That year, he had just been admitted to the University of Kyoto, but considering his younger sister, Xia Xue still in middle school, he tearfully tore his admission letter. When his sister asked about it, he lied that he didn't score enough. Since then, he started working at construction sites, doing any job that pays. Now, his sister Xia Xue had also been admitted to the University of Kyoto, and he had gotten into this mess...

After a brief numbness, a wave of pain came over him. His body began to twitch, and he then fell unconscious.

He heard echoing voices calling his name, but he could no longer hear them. He felt like he was adrift in the darkness, floating in a river, going deeper into what felt like hell.

Time is an elusive concept when you're unconscious.

After a while, Xia Lei opened his eyes. He saw a glimmer of light, then a rounded face. It was Ma Xiao'an, his childhood friend. However, he couldn't see clearly due to only being able to open his right eye, seeing a blurry and double vision.

"Lei, are you awake?" Ma Xiao’an's voice was trembling, filled with excitement.

"Where am I?" As he spoke, Xia Lei thought of something and reached to touch his left eye. His left eye was bandaged, and the touch brought a severe burning sensation.

Ma Xia'an earnestly grabbed Xia Lei's hand, "Don't worry, Lei, the doctor said your left eye may not necessarily go blind. If you take good care of yourself and get the right treatment, it will get better."

"What do you mean, 'may not'? What the hell does that mean?" Xia Lei was very anxious, and his emotions were somewhat out of control.

Ma Xia'an wanted to say something but stopped. It seemed that he knew something but didn't dare to tell it.

"Speak up!" Xia Lei grew even more anxious.

Just then, a plump middle-aged man in a designer's suit, decked out in gold and silver adornments, the very picture of opulence, walked in through the door. He was Chen Chuanhu, the boss of a construction company.

Seeing Chen Chuanhu come in, Ma Xia'an made way for him.

Xia Lei struggled to get up from the bed and greeted him, "President Chen, why are you..."

His words were cut off by Chen Chuanhu, "Xia Lei, what did you do? You not only burnt a welding machine but also a transformer. Do you know that it costs more than 20,000 yuan for both? This is without considering the delay in the project timetable, who's going to bear the loss?"

A surge of anger quickly flickered in Xia Lei's chest. Just a moment ago, he thought Chen Chuanhu was here to visit him, but it turned out that he was here to settle scores!

Ma Xia'an also could not hold back his anger, lividly exclaimed, "What the hell do you mean, Chen? Huh? My friend's got a ninety percent chance of going blind in one eye, and you're here spouting this crap. Are you even human?"

Like a thunderbolt, this sentence blew through Xia Lei's mind, leaving him stunned.

Ma Xia'an suddenly realized his slip, but words once spoken, like water once thrown, could not be taken back. He stood there, at a loss for how to console Xia Lei.

At this moment, Chen Chuanhu laughed coldly, "What's it got to do with me if his eye goes blind? Do we have an employment contract? No, right? So, even if you sue me to court, I'm not afraid."

Xia Lei was so outraged that his face turned ashen, and his teeth ground loudly.

Yet Chen Chuanhu continued to rub salt into the wound. "I sent you to the hospital out of pity. I've paid ten thousand yuan for the hospital fees. You can leave whenever you're better. Moreover, let me leave you with a word, consider this 10,000 yuan as compensation money. Don't bother me again, it's no use."

"Damn it!" Ma Xiaon bitterly said: "You blinded her in one eye, and you think you can settle it with ten thousand dollars?"

Chen Chuanhu raised his hand and pointed at Ma Xiaon's nose, instantly flipping out, "Kid, mind your business. If you're looking for trouble, I'll humour you! Fucking hell, why don't you find out who I am, Chen Chuanhu! If you keep messing around, I'll take you out in minutes!"

Just then, Xia Lei suddenly grabbed the water cup from the bedside table and smashed it over.

There was a dull thud. Caught off guard, Chen Chuanhu's head was instantly split open, with blood oozing down, soaking half of his scarred face in a blink.

"Damn it! How dare you hit me!" Chen Chuanhu was fuming.

Two tall and skinny young men suddenly barged through the door, with tattoos and earrings, their fierce eyes revealed that they were from the underground world.

"Attack him!" Chen Chuanhu roared, pointing to Xia Lei in the hospital bed.

The two young men pounced immediately.

Ma Xiaon moved to shield Xia Lei behind him, and the two young men's fists fell hard on his head and back. Clenching his teeth, Ma Xiaon endured the pain with his body to protect Xia Lei, at the same time preventing Xia Lei from acting impulsively.

"What are you doing?" A nurse pushing a cart appeared at the door, paused, and then shrieked, "Help! They are fighting!"

The nurse turned and ran to call security.

"Just you wait!" Chen Chuanhu left a chilling sentence, and he walked out the door. The two young men also left with him.

Only then did Ma Xiaon let go of Xia Lei. His head was already raised with several bumps, causing him to wince in pain.

"Why did you protect me?" Xia Lei was a bit out of control, he growled: "I wanted to kill him!"

"Kill him? He's a rotten person, but you still have a sister to take care of. He has enjoyed all sorts of indulgence, but you haven't had a single good day. Is it worth it?" Ma Xiaon sighed, "Lei, calm down!"

Xia Lei was not typically an impulsive person. His parents' absence had made him more independent and mature, but today's circumstances were too much to bear. The thought that there was a ninety percent chance he could lose his eyesight sent him into a panic.

"I'm sorry, Little An…" Xia Lei wanted to say something, but his mind was too chaotic to articulate his thoughts.

Ma Xiaoan patted Xia Lei's shoulder, "Why apologize to me? You'd do the same if our positions were reversed."

Indeed, Xia Lei had always stepped in to protect Ma Xiaoan when he was bullied.

"Should I tell Xia Xue?"

"No, don't tell her." Xia Lei replied nervously, "She is tutoring at school now. She will panic if she finds out."

"But she will find out eventually, won't she?"

"When that time comes..." Xia Lei bit his lip, "We'll deal with it then."

At that moment, a nurse and a security guard entered the room. The security guard questioned Xia Lei about his condition, and the nurse treated Ma Xiaoan's injury. After they left, the incident was seemingly over.

Ma Xiaoan stayed with Xia Lei until late at night before leaving the hospital. But Xia Lei couldn't sleep at all. He thought about the medical bills, his future, his sister Xia Xue, and her dream of attending university in Beijing. Eventually, fatigue overtook him, and he fell asleep.

After an indeterminate amount of time, he was roused by a terrible itching in his left eye.

He called for a nurse, but received no response. He tried the bedside call button, only to find it was broken.

"What bad luck, when will end this miserable run? What kind of shoddy hospital is this?" Xia Lei was frustrated. He got out of bed and carefully made his way to the door.

Initially, he intended to go to the nurse's station, but suddenly he stopped,

"The doctors and nurses know I'm broke, and after Chen Chuanhu's scene today they are convinced that I can't afford the medical bills. Even if I asked them to check and treat my injuries at this late hour, they surely wouldn't pay any attention to me. Perhaps even give me the cold shoulder. I'd better endure it a bit longer." With that thought, he decided to stay put.

The bathroom door was open and Xia Lei saw his reflection in the mirror. He was rather good-looking with refined features and an exceptionally high appeal. On top of that, he was tall at 1.8 meters with a toned muscular structure, the epitome of a handsome and sunny young man. Sadly, this was all about to change as if he lost sight in his left eye and a large scar remained on his face, women might avoid him entirely. Seeing his reflection filled Xia Lei with sadness.

An itching sensation abruptly interrupted Xia Lei's contemplation. He thought to himself, “Itching usually means the wound is healing, but I was just injured today. How is it possible to itch already? No, this eye is mine. I have to examine it myself to understand what's happening."

Xia Lei went into the bathroom, stood before the washbasin, faced the mirror and began unwrapping the bandages covering his eye. As he took off layer after layer of gauze, finally, he saw his left eye and was immediately taken aback.

His left eye was covered with a layer of white ointment, thoroughly applied. But what was eerie was that while he was observing his own left eye, he vaguely felt that his vision seemed to have penetrated that thick layer of ointment to see the light in the bathroom, albeit very blurry.

"This...How is this possible?” Xia Lei was absolutely stunned.

Under normal circumstances, even if his left eye was not injured, with ointment covering it, he wouldn't be able to see anything. But now he could see light!

What was going on?

...