Whoosh! Under the terrified gazes of the crowd, the truck sped through the red light!!

"Ah!"

"Run!"

"It's going to hit someone!"

Screams echoed all around!

Evelyn Carter was completely stunned, her face filled with panic. The first thing she did when she snapped out of it was to grab the old man and pull hard, "Quick! Run!"

"Young lady, you go! Don't worry about me!" The old man frantically pushed Evelyn Carter away.

But it was too late—the roaring truck was already almost upon them.

Four meters...

Three meters...

Evelyn Carter and the old man both looked utterly hopeless!

Just as everyone thought the two of them were doomed, Alan Cooper, who had already realized the truck would run the red light, suddenly sprinted up behind them. Using the momentum, Alan Cooper wrapped his arms around Aunt Xuan and the old man's waists, one on each side, and, with all his strength, continued to charge forward. With a loud shout, he swung both of them out of harm's way!

"Ah! It's over!"

"Someone's dead!"

Many timid onlookers closed their eyes.

Whoosh! The murderous truck sped past, barely grazing Alan Cooper's back!

The old man slid half a meter north, scraping along the ground on his side!

Evelyn Carter was also flung to the ground by Alan Cooper's swing, rolling over and over!

Alan Cooper took the worst fall, landing askew on the road, gritting his teeth against the pain in his waist and legs, gasping for breath!

Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Then, cheers erupted on the street!

"They're alive! They're all alive!"

"That young man is amazing!"

"Clap, clap, clap." Someone started applauding, and the surrounding bystanders all joined in, clapping for Alan Cooper.

Screech—the culprit truck only belatedly slammed on the brakes a dozen meters away, stopping in the middle of the road. The window rolled down a bit, and a drunken head poked out. After a few seconds of hesitation, the truck's engine roared, and it sped off again in a cloud of dust.

"He ran!"

"Quick, get his license plate!"

"Yeah! Call the police!"

The old man on the ground was helped up by a traffic assistant who rushed over from across the street. Seeing Alan Cooper lying there motionless, the old man anxiously shouted, "Young man, are you okay? Are you okay?"

Evelyn Carter also got up, clutching her arm. She didn't even bother to put on her fallen high heel, running barefoot in a panic to Alan Cooper, squatting down and shaking him, "Xiao Bin! Xiao Bin! What's wrong? Say something! Don't scare me, okay? Wake up! Wuwu! Don't scare me!" Tears streamed uncontrollably down Evelyn Carter's face. "It's my fault! I didn't listen to you and get out of the way sooner! Wuwu! Wake up! If anything happens to you, how will I explain to your mother? Wake up! Wuwu!"

Alan Cooper let out a breath, still shaken, and turned his head with difficulty, "I'm fine... just... took a hard fall..."

Evelyn Carter's hand froze, and she hugged him tightly, crying tears of joy, "You scared me to death! You really scared me!"

Uh... Having never been this close to his beautiful neighbor before, Alan Cooper immediately stiffened up.

The old man was also moved to tears, his eyes red, "As long as you're okay! As long as you're okay!"

All three had some scrapes on their hands and legs, but fortunately, no serious injuries. The traffic light was about to change, so the three of them supported each other and made their way to the side road across the street.

As soon as they steadied themselves, the old man shakily grabbed Alan Cooper's hand, gratefully saying, "Thank you, thank you. We're not even related, yet you risked your life for us... I don't even know what to say. You're still young, you have your whole life ahead of you. I'm almost eighty, and I was just diagnosed with lung cancer recently—don't have many days left. If you'd lost your life for an old man like me, I'd never forgive myself. Thank goodness, thank goodness you're all right." Judging by his accent, the old man was also a Beijing native, and from his manner and bearing, he was probably a scholar, highly educated.

Alan Cooper rubbed his arm, panting, "No need to thank me."

Evelyn Carter, eyes red, straightened Alan Cooper's crooked collar, opened her mouth, but said nothing.

"My surname is Hu. You can just call me Grandpa Harris. Young lady, young man, what are your names?"

"I'm Alan Cooper, and she's Evelyn Carter."

Grandpa Harris said, "Leave me your contact info. I'll come by and thank you both properly another day."

Evelyn Carter tenderly wiped the dust from Alan Cooper's face with her hand, "You don't need to thank me. The only reason we're standing here talking is all thanks to Xiao Bin."

"You both deserve thanks, both of you."

Unable to refuse Grandpa Harris's persistent requests, in the end, Alan Cooper thought for a moment, then pulled a one-yuan bill from his jeans pocket and wrote a phone number starting with 139 on the white edge.

Soon, the traffic police arrived, and Evelyn Carter and the old man recounted what had just happened.

But Alan Cooper's mind was elsewhere, his head filled with confusion.

The three of them had clearly been hit and killed by the truck—so why had they suddenly returned to the moment before, waiting at the crosswalk for the light?