"Meow!"The cat outside the window wouldn"t stop mewling, it woke Xiang Wan up from her nightmare.
When she opened her eyes, she realized that it was already morning.
Her head hurts!
Xiang Wan shook her head. She got out of bed with her bare feet and drew the curtains open.
It was already bright but there was no sight of any cat at all.
It was just her imagination!
Huff! Xiang Wan patted her forehead and looked at the laptop on the table.
She sat down and opened her book reviews and comments page.
Somehow, she still had some… hopes that that person would appear again.
Well, she was disappointed.
He did not appear.
There were no other weird comments either.
Was that person really dead?
Knock, knock, knock, knock!
She heard the familiar knocking sound.
Bai Muchuan? Xiang Wan ran to the door in delight.
"You"re back?"
"Yeah, I"m back!"
The moment Xiang Wan heard that voice, her elated expression subsided.
She lost her excitement, opened the door slowly, and looked up. "Captain Quan, what"s up?"
Quan Shaoteng was looking at her with a half-smile, tilting his head, and was holding the car keys. "I"m being ordered to take you to breakfast…"
Xiang Wan did not have an appet.i.te. "I don"t want to eat. You can go ahead without me!"
"Alright then!" Quan Shaoteng did not have any expression to give. "After breakfast, guess I have to go see Little Bai myself then."
Eh!?
Only then, Xiang Wan noticed that he was wearing a sly smile on his face and knew that she had been pranked.
"You should have said so earlier…" In just a second, Xiang Wan had a radiant smile on her face. "Let"s go for breakfast now."
"…" Quan Shaoteng had a resentful look.
Was he really so unpopular?
"I have such good-looking features, but why do I feel like a piece of decoration?"
"…"
Xiang Wan glanced at him with a smile and said nothing.
…
She did not know where he would bring her to meet Bai Muchuan.
However, at the hotel restaurant, she saw Cheng Xin, who was eating alone.
Xiang Wan did not feel too happy to see her. She just went ahead to get her food.
"Captain Quan, here…" Cheng Xin saw them and was very warm towards them.
Maybe she had felt guilty about what happened. When Xiang Wan took her food and sat down, Cheng Xin was also very friendly towards her and sat beside her.
"Umm… Teacher Xiang, is everything alright with you?"
She actually addressed her as Teacher Xiang.
Xiang Wan was quite surprised.
She looked at Quan Shaoteng then Cheng Xin. She noticed that there were sc.r.a.pes and grazes on Cheng Xin"s face, neck, and back of her hands which her clothes could not cover-up. She pursed her lips as she did not know the cause behind the sudden change in Cheng Xin"s att.i.tude.
Quan Shaoteng shrugged and smiled.
His expression was saying: "Don"t look at me; I"ve got nothing to do with this."
Xiang Wan pursed her lips to a straight line as she replied Cheng Xin. "I"m fine, thank you!"
That ended the topic.
She did not bother to ask about the condition of Cheng Xin"s injuries.
She also didn"t have any intention to continue chatting with her as well.
Cheng Xin tried to control the dissatisfaction within her.
"About that day, I"m sorry." Cheng Xin did not expect that apologizing would be so difficult. Her face reddened in an instant. "I shouldn"t have left the village by myself just because I"m unhappy with you. For what that happened to you… It"s all my fault! I hope you can forgive me!"
Was she really repentant?
Perhaps she was forced to apologize?
As Xiang Wan looked at the bitter and miserable Cheng Xin, a thought came to her mind.
She felt that even the famous author Qiong Yao would not dare to write a plot like this?
After a long silence, she plastered a smile on her face.
"It"s already over. Besides, it"s actually not your fault."
Xiang Wan knew very well that even without Cheng Xin, that person would have thought of other methods to abduct her.
In short, it was Cheng Xin"s bad luck to have encountered this.
Moreover, looking at the wounds on her body, she must have suffered as well.
She had been taught a lesson.
Xiang Wan did not want to say much to her. Moreover, they were not close enough for her to say anything either.
"Thank you!" Cheng Xin seemed relieved to have gotten Xiang Wan"s "forgiveness".
Xiang Wan just smiled and did not say anything else.
The three of them took their breakfast; they did not say another word.
After breakfast, they got out of the restaurant.
Xiang Wan then realized that Cheng Xin was also under the "care" of Quan Shaoteng…
Perhaps this dude had really became the security guard!
Quan Shaoteng drove them to Nanmu Police Station.
He did what he was told, and at this time, Bai Muchuan was still on his way back to Nanmu.
Xiang Wan looked at the time and asked Quan Shaoteng to stop the car by a breakfast eatery along the street.
At that time, Xiang Wan was sure Bai Muchuan had not eaten breakfast.
However, if she were to only buy breakfast for Bai Muchuan alone, that would not look good.
Xiang Wan carried a big bag of meat buns with her and hopped in the car with a smile.
Cheng Xin did not make any comment as she looked on.
"Wow, you"re on the way to become the perfect wife already? Tch, tch, why didn"t I think of all this? Once again, it proved that there"s something wrong with the brains of those in love!"
Xiang Wan sat at the front pa.s.senger seat and smiled at him. "It"s no wonder Captain Quan will stay single forever."
"… What the…!"
What do you mean by forever? he thought.
Quan Shaoteng felt as if he had just suffered a critical hit.
He started the car lazily and stepped on the accelerator.
"Do you believe I"ll bring a dozen girlfriends one fine day to let all of you have a look?"
"A dozen?" Xiang Wan said solemnly, "Captain Quan"s really rich. Oh yes, how much is one girlfriend then?"
Quan Shaoteng couldn"t say anything else thereafter. "…"
Gentlemen wouldn"t pit themselves against women!
He was brooding as he drove along the street. He suddenly realized that his fate was really strange…
What kind of fate? He had the fate of a security guard!
Back in Red Thorn, he helped to escort the wife of his boss. After that, his elder brother asked him to escort his sister-in-law to and fro in Jin City… Now, even Little Bai asked him to look after his girlfriend!
"I need to ask Zhan Yuan for a reading!"
His sudden remark startled Xiang Wan.
She couldn"t resist chuckling.
…
That day was a sunny day.
The sky was so blue and the sunlight was bright.
The streets in Nanmu were rather narrow and the place was not that big.
After a few turns here and there, they arrived at the police station.
Before their car drove into the carpark, Xiang Wan saw several cars parked outside the entrance as well as a group of people…
There was a familiar figure in that group.
The golden rays of the sun were s.h.i.+ning on his head. He seemed to be searching for something in a bag…
From Xiang Wan"s angle, she could make out the bulging bandages on his arm under his clothes.
His side profile under the sun felt as if it was carved and polished—he looked so flawlessly handsome.
He seemed to be a little tan than before…
Xiang Wan"s pulse vibrated within her ears.
She would be happy at the sight of him.
He did not leave for long, but it felt as if so much time had pa.s.sed.
…
Bai Muchuan got up.
He was back-facing her and was talking to Tu Liang, Captain Zhang, and several others.
At the same time, the people in the streets noticed the lively commotion—a group of policemen were talking to each other. They stood far away and talked amongst themselves as well, gossiping about what they thought was happening.
For a moment, the entrance was suddenly very lively.
Xiang Wan walked slowly toward him, looking at his back.
"That"s it then, let"s go inside."
Bai Muchuan was just about to step into the police station—
When Xiang Wan suddenly rushed towards him and hugged him at the waist from behind.
She hugged him tightly… her head against his back.
The moment she knew he had gone to Vulture"s Mouth, she had been feeling nervous. Only now had she felt her mind at peace.
Bai Muchuan was startled a little, and then he lowered his head to look at the pair of dainty hands around his waist.
Slowly, he held her hands in his palms and turned around to look at her.
Xiang Wan also looked up and met his gaze.
Both of them did not say a word.
A good while later, Bai Muchuan patted her head and laughed.
"Silly girl, I"m back!"
"Mm." Xiang Wan just looked at him, smiling.
Bai Muchuan raised his eyebrows, held her hands, and smiled at her.
"Let"s go inside and talk about the case!"