Chapter 31 Lu Boyan"s Sudden Appearance At The Police Station
Su Jianan was never one to avoid dealing with her problems. At first,she had been unwilling to accept the reality of her mother"s pa.s.sing.But at the same time, she also knew that she had to come to terms it atsome point. That way, she could move on and live a good life, justlike her mother would have wanted.
Back then, she had sat before her mother"s grave for one day and one night.
She sat there until she saw the first trace of daybreak emerging fromthe east, the rising sun of a new day. At that moment she had arevelation. She realized that even though her mother had been turned toashes and buried beneath layers of ocher, even though she had lost hermother forever, none of that would affect the sun"s rising and themoon"s descent. Life had to go on.
Even a reality as painful as her mother"s death she had accepted, yetshe somehow could not bring herself to do as Jiang Shaokai said - findout how Lu Boyan truly felt about her.
It was Lu Boyan who had promised Han Ruoxi that he would get a divorce.
It was Lu Boyan who had told her that he had no interest in littlegirls, that this mutually beneficial marriage would come to an endafter two years.
But it was also Lu Boyan who came to her rescue when she was kidnapped and a.s.saulted.
Also, the light brush of their lips from last night, the kiss they had shared in the car.
She did not dare delve deeper into it.
Lu Boyan had told her that he would be divorcing her, yet he protectedher and even kissed her. Just when she had ascertained his feelingsthrough his actions, his words would force her back into doubt.
If that was the case, she might as well not think about it at all.
After she finished lunch and cleared away all utensils, she began towonder if she should send Lu Boyan a text to express her grat.i.tude.
The problem was, they had never exchange texts or calls with eachother before. If she sent out a text all of a sudden, would Lu Boyaneven know that it was from her? Calling him seemed quiteunneccessary...
"Forget it," she thought. "I"ll just tell him tonight. It"ll be the same thing anyways."
Well, Su Jianan did not have the chance to do that.
Just when Jiang Shaokai returned from lunch, their colleagues from thevice squad came rushing in. "We"ve received police reports of ahomicide in Ming An District. An entire family was murdered. Shao Kai,Jianan, you"re with us."
Situations like these were frequent. Su Jianan and Jiang Shaokaisprang into action. The swiftly gathered their things and hopped onto apolice car to visit the crime scene.
Lu Boyan"s workload was not heavy today. It was rare that he couldmake it home early, yet there were no signs of Su Jianan when he gothome.
"Young Madam hasn"t returned from work yet," Uncle Xu told him. "YoungMaster, would you like the cook to start preparing your dinner?"
Lu Boyan frowned. "No need. Get the ingredients ready. I"ll wait for her."
Uncle Xu left to instruct the cook to ready the dinner ingredients. By 6pm, there were still no signs of Su Jianan.
Since Lu Boyan was upstairs, Uncle Xu took the chance to call SuJianan. There was some kind of ruckus over her end of the line, soUncle Xu had to raise his voice. "Young Madam, why haven"t you comehome?"
"I"ve got some work on my hands. I need to do overtime today," SuJianan said. "Uncle Xu, please ask the cook to prepare Lu Boyan"sdinner. I can"t make it back today. My phone"s about to die too, so I"mhanging up first, okay?"
When Uncle Xu told Lu Boyan about Su Jianan"s overtime, Lu Boyan frowned. "Did she tell you when she"ll be back?"
"No, she didn"t. But I"ve already called the station. Apparently,there"s a family ma.s.sacre down at Ming An district. It would keep YoungMadam and her colleagues busy for a while."
Lu Boyan"s frown deepened, though he did not comment further, onlyasked Uncle Xu to instruct the cook to skip dinner preparations. Afterthat, he left the villa.
He drove to the summit clubhouse.
The clubhouse was by no means famous. In fact, the place did not evenhave an official name. Everyone just called it the "summit clubhouse".Its general popularity was less than even the KTV nightclub over at thepedestrian zone. However, this clubhouse was the go-to place among therich and wealthy. More than anywhere else, it was a symbol of socialstatus and power.
This was also the only clubhouse Lu Boyan would ever set foot in. Theclubhouse was open to its members only, whose memberships were allobtained through direct invitation. Without a membership invitation, noamount of money could get one past the door.
The list of members included billionaires from not only the various cities within the country, but from abroad as well.
Everybody knew that by spending a few hours here, they might end upgaining a few connections or even securing new business deal.
Everyone in the circle was well aware that the Summit Clubhouse wasthe true creme de la creme of all clubhouses in the country.
Lu Boyan owned the entire clubhouse, including the private suite onthe top floor. The suite could only be accessed through a privateelevator, which he now rode.
When he entered the suite, there were already two occupants sittinginside. One of them was Shen Yuechuan, who wore a suit. The other onewas Mu Sijue.
Mu Sijue, a man with a clean-shaven head and an imposing look,definitely did not look like someone to be trifled with. His featureswere hardened and intense, and his arms were lined with bulgingmuscles. The way he sat on the leather couch with a 4-figure leg crossand a cigarette in his mouth bespoke his wild, untamable belligerence.He looked as if he were some kind of bada.s.s who could stir up ama.s.sacre and kill dozens of people within minutes.
Brows raised, Mu Sijue glanced at Lu Boyan. "Well, well, well. Look who"s here. Didn"t you say you"re not coming?"
"Wife didn"t come home, I bet," Shen Yuechuan goaded as he took alighter from Mu Sijue to light his own cigarette. "A certain somebodyused his recent illness as an excuse to get off work early today.Didn"t expect to find that his wife has to do overtime."
Mu Sijue burst into laughter. Before his laughter subsided, Lu Boyan"schilly stare swept towards him. Well, he had nothing to fear at all,because that stare was aimed at Shen Yuechuan.
Shen Yuechuan shivered all over. "Hey, hey. There"s Pu"er tea in frontof you. Freshly-prepared. That stuff costs a grand per 50 grams! Theyjust arrived at the clubhouse today!"
The tea set, which was immaculately cleaned, was meant for Lu Boyan"sprivate use whenever he was here. He picked up a cup and breathed inthe tea"s aroma. "Tea"s very good."
Shen Yuechuan felt instant relief. Just when he was about to smile, LuBoyan put down the cup and said, "But you"re still taking a trip toNepal."
People had been right in calling that place "Land of the G.o.ds" sinceonly G.o.dlike beings could live and survive there. For one, the placewas constantly filled with dust and grime. One could put on ten masksall at once and it would not make a darn difference. Having been toNepal a few times, Shen Yuechuan swore he would never set foot on theplace again. Now, he just wanted to lie down and play dead. "What?!Why?! On what grounds?! When you were at the hospital, it was allbecause of me that Su Jianan would even be there to see you! What theh.e.l.l did I do this time?!"
At that point, the injustice and anger Shen Yuechuan was feeling in his heart could not be eased no matter how loud he yelled.
Lu Boyan took a sip of tea nonchanlantly. "You gave her a fright."
Shen Yuechuan was rendered completely speechless.
Mu Sijue looked at Shen Yuechuan mockingly. "Man, you"re f*ckinguseless! After all these years, is there even a single thing Lu Boyandid that he would want Su Jianan to know about? Why not just pick onefrom there and use it as leverage?"
Lu Boyan looked at Mu Sijue coldly. "Oh, so you"re willing to replace Shen Yuechuan for the Nepal trip?"
Mu Sijue shut up instantly. Shen Yuechuan was still wallowing in hisgrievances. Truth was, he had already thought of using those things tothreaten Lu Boyan. But Lu Boyan had told Shen Yuechuan that he had over ahundred ways to prevent Su Jianan from believing in whatever ShenYuechuan said to her. In fact, he could even make Su Jianan believe ShenYuechuan to be a complete nutcase!
In the end, Shen Yuechuan had to leave to make preparations for his"business trip". Lu Boyan and Mu Sijue stayed in the suite to discussmatters.
It was already past midnight by the time Lu Boyan came home from the clubhouse. Su Jianan still had not returned.
He knew that in Su Jianan"s line of work, this was how things usuallywere. If things got hectic, she would not even have time to blink letalone come home. He dialled Su Jianan"s number and heard the operator"svoice saying that Su Jianan"s phone had been shut off.
"Young Madam told me just now that her phone was about to die." UncleXu appeared suddenly. "Young Master, you should go get some rest."
Lu Boyan nodded and went back to his room.
The next morning, there were still no signs of Su Jianan. On thesurface, Lu Boyan seemed to be fine and dandy, but when he left for thecompany, he took a roundabout route just so he could pa.s.s by thepolice station.
Coincidentally, he had already noticed Su Jianan from afar. Su Jiananstood at the intersection and she still wore yesterday"s clothes. Herdark tresses was pulled back into a messy bun, which looked a littlebedraggled and loose. The twigs on the trees had filtered and split themorning sunlight into thread-like streaks. The light fell upon herface gently, giving her profile a beautiful glow.
She was walking side by side with Jiang Shaokai. Each of them had acup of coffee and a bag of takeway coffees in their hands. As theywalked, they were laughing and chatting with each other. There seemedto be a lot of chemistry between them.
The car neared, and Lu Boyan could now see the way Jiang Shaokai waslooking at Su Jianan. His gut told him that something was not right.
Lu Boyan stepped on the accelerator. The ONE77 pulled up at the policestation"s entrance imposingly as if it were some unstoppable force. SuJianan had ridden on Lu Boyan"s car a few times, so she was veryfamiliar with the sound of his car. Just that for a moment, she couldnot believe what she was seeing. When Lu Boyan stepped out of the car,she felt like she was dreaming.
However, the Lu Boyan before her eyes seemed so real.
The dark-colored tailored suit accentuated his tall and perfectphysique. His tie, which came in the same brand as his suit, gave him acorporate, businessman air. When he lifted his hand, the cuff of hiswhite shirt would peek out from under the sleeve of his blazer,revealing a delicate but modest cufflink. Subtle details like thesemade him look like the perfect gentleman.
His handmade Oxford shoes were spotlessly clean, as if they held not asingle speck of dust on them. Each step he took carried hisidiosyncratic aura of prominence. For a moment, Su Jianan was unable toher eyes away from him. Women who were pa.s.sing by stared at himovertly. The only thing missing from the picture was one of those womencoming up to him to chat him up.
Lu Boyan"s eyes were locked on Su Jianan from the start, as if Su Jianan was the only thing that existed in his world.
When Lu Boyan reached her, his hand automatically went to relieve SuJianan of the bag, which contained 6 huge cups of coffee. Only then didSu Jianan snap out of her haze. "What are you doing here? I mean youwon"t pa.s.s by the station... on the way to the company."
"So? I can"t come see you if it"s not on the way?" Lu Boyan stroke theapple of Su Jianan"s cheek. "You didn"t get any sleep last night?" Thedark circles under her eyes looked heavier than they had beenyesterday.
At the mention of last night, Su Jianan felt the sudden urge to cry.While everyone else was in bed, she and a couple of icy dead bodies hadspent the entire night in the morgue. She could not even count theamount of coffee it had taken for her to stay awake.
"Nope. There"s been a murder case. I can"t afford any sleep. I"ll be busier than you were a while ago."
It completely escaped her how aggieved her own voice had sounded.
A smile formed on Lu Boyan"s lips. He wrapped an arm around Su Jianan"s waist and guided her into the building.
Before Su Jianan knew it, Captain Yan, Xiao Ying, and the rest of hercolleagues had already been giving her suggestive looks. She shifteduncomfortably but Lu Boyan tightened his hold on her waist. He bentdown, asking, "Have you guys had breakfast?"
"Not yet." Su Jianan felt as if the stares of the entire vice squad would soon burn holes on her body.
"I"ll have someone send over breakfast for everyone, okay?" Lu Boyan"stone held nothing but pure affection. "Moon Chasing House? Orsomewhere else?"
"Moo... Moon Chasing House, then." She could practically hear those guys salivating.
Lu Boyan smiled. "Okay." Then, he looked as if another thought had come to him. "How"s your tongue?"
This time, Su Jianan played it smart. She turned around obediently andstuck out her tongue for Lu Boyan. "I applied some cream yesterday.It"s healed now." Her face had grown warm, and she struggled in hisarms for a bit. "You"re going to be late for work."
Lu Boyan glanced at his watch, looking as if he had only just realizedthe time. He let go of Su Jianan and politely bid farewell toeveryone. Before he left, he leaned in to whisper into Su Jianan"s ear."Breakfast will arrive in half an hour."
Su Jianan did not snap out of it despite the fact that Lu Boyan"sfigure had vanished from the entrance for quite some time. When shelooked at her colleagues, the looks on their faces were nothing butsalacious. All of a sudden, Captain Yan looked at Xiao Ying caringly."Honey, how"s your tongue?"
Playing along, Xiao Ying stretched out her tongue. "I applied some cream yesterday. It"s healed now."
Su Jianan felt a sudden chill. "As if we could ever be that gross."