Eric Bennett was truly confused. Even after a few days, when he thought back on it, he still felt dizzy. A high school boy, being led down the street arm-in-arm by such a beautiful doctor, the silky touch of her fair, delicate hand almost made him faint.

If it weren’t for what happened afterward, this day would have been perfect—even getting a few more cuts would have been worth it. After what happened next, he had thought this to himself.

Next to Peking University First Hospital, there was a famous lu zhu (stewed offal) shop called “Wang Xiaoshi.” It was only after Eric Bennett sat down in this shop that he realized he was still wearing his hospital gown.

“Kid, after being in the hospital, your mouth must be craving something flavorful, huh? Sneaking out for some heavy-tasting food? Oh, is this your sister? She’s really pretty.” The shop assistant couldn’t help but tease as he saw them.

“Sister, my ass! I’m his classmate! Are you ordering or not? If not, we’ll go somewhere else!” Grace Thompson snapped.

“Alright, alright, no need to be so fierce, miss.” The assistant stuck out his tongue and quickly ran off.

“Are you always this hot-tempered?” Eric Bennett was startled and asked Grace Thompson.

“What temper?” Grace Thompson asked as she flipped through the menu on the table. “Be more specific.”

“The kind of temper that leaves people at a loss.”

“Yeah, that’s true, but not the kind you’re thinking of.” Grace Thompson quickly flipped through the menu. “Anyway, this isn’t a topic for you and me to discuss.”

“So can you tell me now, the person who carved words on my back—” Eric Bennett asked.

Grace Thompson glanced at her watch. “Don’t rush, not a single dish has arrived yet, and the main person isn’t here either.”

“The main person?” Eric Bennett had just spoken when suddenly there was another commotion at the door, and he heard the assistant’s voice from afar: “How many of you?”

“Someone’s here.” A deep voice came from the entrance. Grace Thompson immediately looked up and waved, “Over here, over here!”

Eric Bennett turned to look and saw a thin man in black walking in from the door, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

“Samuel Cooper.” The man walked up to Eric Bennett, reached out and shook his hand. “You must be Eric Bennett.”

Eric Bennett glanced at Grace Thompson in confusion, only to find that this woman was staring at Samuel Cooper, her cheeks flushed.

Smitten, huh. Eric Bennett felt like he’d been punched in the chest, a little hurt, but thankfully the emotional blow was quick, so he didn’t feel it too deeply.

Right, a woman like her would never like a young boy. She only flirted with him because he was young and seemed harmless. But then why did she bring him to have dinner with her crush? Does she like having a third wheel? I don’t even know her well—this third wheel can’t even light up.

But Samuel Cooper didn’t pay any attention to Grace Thompson, just nodded politely at her, then asked Eric Bennett, “Is your back alright?”

“I’m fine. You are—?”

“I’m a colleague of the person who attacked you.” Samuel Cooper put his car keys on the table.

Eric Bennett froze for a moment, taking a few seconds to react, then immediately shrank back. “Don’t joke around.”

“I’m not joking. That person’s name is Peter Harris, he’s my associate. I just finished giving a statement at the police station.”

“What do you want? There’s no more space on my back for you to carve anything.” Eric Bennett wanted to leave right away, thinking: Damn it, this crazy woman sold me out, didn’t she?

Samuel Cooper waved his hand apologetically. “No, you’ve misunderstood. I’m just here to apologize and offer some compensation. I hope you won’t pursue this matter any further. I heard from Grace Thompson that you’ll likely have a scar on your back. We’ll provide reasonable compensation.” With that, Samuel Cooper took out a piece of paper and slid it across the table to Eric Bennett.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a cashier’s check.”

Eric Bennett took it. It was his first time seeing such a thing—it was a small pink slip with a string of numbers printed on it. He saw a lot of zeros, but couldn’t tell if it was ten thousand or a hundred thousand.

But even if it was ten thousand, that was a considerable sum for him.

“What do you want?”

“This is your compensation. I’ll take you to the bank in a bit and show you how to deposit it. But before that, we have one condition.” Samuel Cooper pressed his hand on the check. “I hope you won’t go back to the hospital tonight. I’d like to talk with you in detail about what happened that day. I’ve booked a suite at the hotel across the street. We can talk there, you can tell me some details, and then you can get a good night’s rest there.”

“What’s there to talk about? I was just stabbed a few hundred times, then I passed out. I don’t know anything.” Eric Bennett glanced at the check. He remembered seeing such things on TV—they did seem valuable. But he felt uneasy, because he didn’t think what he knew was worth that much.

Samuel Cooper looked at Grace Thompson, and Grace Thompson said, “I already told you, he really doesn’t know anything. You still don’t believe me.”

“I still need to know the details, because a lot of things that seem meaningless to others could be a matter of life and death in our line of work.” Samuel Cooper lit a cigarette and asked Eric Bennett, “So? No matter what, this hundred thousand is yours.”