"…"Xiang Wan was shocked.
For a moment, she could not react.
Get married? Did he just propose?
Uh! Was this even considered a proposal?
… Propose at a time like this?
Did she have a choice to begin with? Yes or yes?
To conclude, the man was really crafty!
"I"m asking you a question!" He was a little domineering. Seeing that she did not respond, he bit her lip lightly.
"… What if I refuse?" Xiang Wan raised an eyebrow, her smile was mischievously charming.
"Hur! Then you"re dead meat!" His breath was as hot as fire, his eyes were full of excitement, but he did not push her. Instead, he pressed his lips together and asked in all seriousness once again. "Comrade Xiang Wan, will you marry a detective?"
"I do!"
She replied too fast.
Xiang Wan felt a little embarra.s.sed.
"Did I… agree too easily?"
"No, I like it! It means that you wanted to marry me right away! I"m so happy." It elated Bai Muchuan. It seemed that this short time they had spent together had pleased him very much. Like a wolf cub just learning to hunt, he held his prey tightly in his grasp and loved her with all his might…
…
The rain outside started to pelt against the window.
They were not sure when the rain got heavier.
The room gradually fell into silence.
Bai Muchuan embraced Xiang Wan in satisfaction and saw that she was looking at him as if she had suffered some grievance and felt amused.
"Woman, you need more practice!"
"… You still have the cheek to say this!?"
Xiang Wan felt so weak that she even thought that bickering was tiring. After taking a bath, they huddled together in their sleep. Although she knew that she would feel sticky afterward, she was still willing to do so. It was winter, and she was actually a little afraid of the cold. Sometimes when she woke up in the morning, she noticed that her feet were cold…
This guy was like a heater pad; she felt warm in his embrace and could fall asleep easily.
She wanted to continue hugging him like this!
However, Bai Muchuan did not seem willing to let her off; their snuggling seemed to trigger the little beast within him once more, and he was energized again…
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Xiang Wan did not dare to continue hugging him. She sprang up from the bed, eager to find her mobile phone.
"D*mmit! I just remembered that I have to call Yuanyuan!"
For her to not return for a night, and it was under such circ.u.mstances, Fang Yuanyuan and her family must be so worried about her!
Xiang Wan took her mobile phone; on it, she could see that there were unanswered calls and messages from Fang Yuanyuan.
There were also birthday wishes…
One of them came from Cheng Zheng.
"Happy Birthday!"
It was simple and direct; no novelty and no emoticons.
It was just like him; methodical, prim and proper.
Xiang Wan was dazed for a moment and snuck a peek at Bai Muchuan. Seeing that he did not show any reaction, she felt relieved.
All these messages arrived on her inbox about one and a half hours ago.
Since she was feeling vexed earlier, when she left all by herself, she had switched to silent mode.
"Oh no, oh no!" she muttered to herself, wanting to make a call when she suddenly thought of something. "When will you be returning to Xi City?"
Bai Muchuan"s handsome face sank slightly. "Six o"clock tomorrow morning."
That meant they could only be together during these few hours?
That night really felt unreal.
Xiang Wan pressed her lips together for a moment and covered her face. "Oh."
…
Bai Muchuan remained silent.
In the silence, there was also powerlessness.
…
At this moment, Bai Muchuan"s phone rang, interrupting the silence between them.
"Little Bai? Something happened!" It was Quan Shaoteng.
Quan Shaoteng was always relaxed with a somewhat arrogant tone. He would only sound serious when something grave had happened.
Bai Muchuan looked grim immediately when he heard his tone.
"What happened?"
"I can"t explain properly in just a few sentences. You should come back right now!" Quan Shaoteng sounded like he was panting. "I don"t care what you"re doing right now. Don"t even waste a second!"
True enough, Bai Muchuan did not waste a second. "Alright."
After ending the call, he put on his clothes and was ready to leave.
However, when he was about to go, he stopped.
He turned back and looked at the woman on the bed, his eyebrows pointed downwards slightly at the corners.
"You rest for a while. I"ll get the driver earlier to pick you up. Be careful on your way back!"
Besides these, what else could he say?
He felt sorry.
Xiang Wan understood his gaze.
She returned a warm smile, nodded and waved at him.
"Just go!"
…
He was in such a rush that she couldn"t ask another question.
Neither could she raise any objection nor try to keep him.
Bai Muchuan"s figure quickly disappeared from the room.
Just like when he came, he also left like a gust of wind.
Xiang Wan looked at her hand. There was a sparkling diamond ring on her finger.
For a second, she felt like she was in a daze…
If this thing had not felt so real, she couldn"t believe that what had happened that night was real.
Somehow, it reminded her of that sentence Bai Muchuan asked earlier.
"Will you marry a detective?"
Previously, she had felt that it was just a casual sentence.
However…
When Bai Muchuan received a call and had to leave her all alone on the bed, she realized that this sentence—actually packed a lot of meaning in it.
Life as a detective was difficult.
Being a detective"s wife was difficult as well!
…
Xiang Wan did not wait for the driver to come pick her up.
The gloominess before the storm prevented her from remaining calm for another minute.
In less than 20 minutes after Bai Muchuan left, she was also ready to leave the hotel.
In contrast to the distracted and dispirited look she had during the past two weeks, the way she walked out of the hotel room was so cool and capable that she could hardly believe it herself.
… Love seemed to be really important to women.
… Before he came, she looked dejected and with seemingly no energy in almost everything she did.
… After he came, she looked like she was a transformed person.
Now that she had calmed down, she started to mull over something.
What made Bai Muchuan leave in such haste?
The case!
There must have been some progress in the case!
Huff! Xiang Wan finally regained her intellect and her logical senses that had been bogged down by the abominable remarks she received in the internet.
She left the hotel, hailed a cab, and messaged Mei Xin immediately.
Bai Muchuan was too caught up to answer anything, but Mei Xin could do that for her.
She was Cheng Zheng"s a.s.sistant. No matter what happened in Xi City, she should be someone who could know what was going on.
When Xiang Wan took her mobile phone to check the time, she saw that it was already 10:35 p.m.
There was an hour and 25 minutes left before her 27th birthday ended at midnight.
Many years later, Xiang Wan could still remember this very day clearly.
In the somewhat heavy atmosphere, she could hear the heavy pitter-pattering sounds of the rain outside as she talked to Mei Xin. Her question was rather long since she did not want to be involved or learnt things that she should not know.
Mei Xin"s reply was crisp and cold.
"Tu Liang died!"
…
Tu Liang died?
Tu Liang died?!
Tu Liang died!
That felt like she was. .h.i.t in the head with a heavy hammer, leaving her ears humming.
For a moment, she could not digest what she had just heard.
Just like one who had received the sudden news of the death of someone close, her first reaction was disbelief.
"How could this be? What happened?"
Just half a month ago, Tu Liang was still fine.
He was the recognized "Butler" of Serious Crime Division One.
He was a straightforward and tough guy who had a meticulous side in him.
He had taken care of everything on the trip to Nanmu; He had taken care of her and the group of detectives.
He took care of everyone but failed to take care of his wife and daughter.
Xiang Wan"s mind went blank. All she could think of was how Tu Liang looked—
When he talked to everyone about his wife and daughter, that cheerful smile he had on his face.
When he asked about the housing prices in Xi City, the weight he must have felt that was shown on his furrowed eyebrows…
Such a sincere and lively person, how could he be gone just like this?
Xiang Wan couldn"t hold back her tears. It slipped down her cheeks continuously—she could not control her emotions.
The rain pelted against the gla.s.s windows so hard that the windscreen wipers had difficulty moving.
The rain was too heavy!
Xiang Wan could not distinguish if it was her tears or the heavy rain outside that had obscured her vision.
The driver looked at her strangely.
She covered her face, sobbing to herself.
Mei Xin sent another message. "I"m now on my way to the crime scene. I will only know more details when I got there!"
…
Xiang Wan did not ask anymore.
They were busy with their own stuff…
She shouldn"t be imposing on them.
She sniffed her nose while she looked at the rain and the trees which were swaying in the wind.
Like a child stranded on an island…
Unable to find a way out…
Her heart was beating away in pain and confusion…
…
Five minutes later, she booked an air ticket with tears in her eyes.
When she came back to Fang Yuanyuan"s house, she quietly packed her laptop and clothes.
Fang Yuanyuan was already asleep when Xiang Wan came back and started packing. She was so confused and shocked that her mouth was agape.
"It"s already late, what are you doing?"
When Xiang Wan returned to the neighborhood, she was drenched and her hair was still dripping with water. Nevertheless, her expression was unusually calm.
"I"m going to Xi City!"
"Now? Are you crazy or have you become a moron?"
Besides saying that, Fang Yuanyuan really did not know what else to say…
She was now totally awake. She kept asking Xiang Wan for a reason, but the latter"s mind was blank. She refused to say more.
Eldest aunt and eldest uncle-in-law also woke up because of their little commotion.
The whole family was wearing pajamas, looking at Xiang Wan whose face was so pale as if she was a lunatic. They thought she had acted abnormally since she had been out of love and started to persuade her. However, Xiang Wan could not show the most painful scar in her heart.
"A friend"s in trouble. I need to go there to take a look."
The moment Fang Yuanyuan heard this, she was dumbstruck for a moment.
Which one of Xiang Wan"s friends did she not know?
"Who"s that?" she asked.
Xiang Wan hesitated for quite a while.
"Tu Liang."
Fang Yuanyuan knew Tu Liang from the "Gossip" WeChat group.
The moment she heard it, although she did not know what exactly happened, she could sense the gravity of the issue and started to get anxious.
"Okay, I"ll accompany you there!"
"You don"t have to…" Xiang Wan wanted to reject her, but when she saw Fang Yuanyuan blinking at her, she finally took the hint.
Xiang Wan puffed a sigh and nodded her head.
She had been separated from Bai Muchuan for half a month. It was the same for Fang Yuanyuan and Huang He.
…
At that time, there were no more flights from Jin City to Xi City.
The earliest flight they could book was around six o"clock in the morning—
They had still some six hours to go, but both of them had already lost the desire to sleep.
They quickly packed their luggage and stayed up until four o"clock in the morning. Eldest aunt and uncle-in-law kept asking them to take care of themselves and both of them took a taxi to the airport.
They reached the airport early and there were very few pa.s.sengers in the airport.
In the empty and s.p.a.cious hall with so few pa.s.sengers, it felt especially cold and quiet.
Throughout the journey, Xiang Wan and Fang Yuanyuan hardly conversed with each other.
At that time, no matter what they say, the topic would be too heavy.
They couldn"t even crack those little jokes they would often say when faced with difficulties.
Xiang Wan had been searching for Bai Muchuan after they got their boarding pa.s.s…
Before he left the hotel, he had told her that his flight was also around six o"clock in the morning.
However, with his character, he wouldn"t have waited till this hour to take this flight.
Hence, the greatest possibility was that he could have taken the last train last night…
Huff!
Xiang Wan held the air ticket to her chest, her heart had been very uneasy for a while now.
Fang Yuanyuan patted her back quietly and said nothing.
Waiting was always a test of endurance and suffering.
Throughout the entire process of boarding the plane to Xi City, Xiang Wan was in a daze. She couldn"t remember how she got on the plane or what she did on the flight.
When the plane landed, she sent another message to Mei Xin.
"I"ve arrived in Xi City. Where are all of you? Is it convenient for me to come and see Tu Liang?"
Mei Xin"s reply was simple. "Hospital."
Hospital?
Didn"t she say that Tu Liang died?
Or… there were also others who got hurt?
Xiang Wan"s worried and uneasy heart sank even further.
Mei Xin sent her a GPS location and said nothing more.
Xiang Wan did not want to cause her more trouble. She and Fang Yuanyuan quickly took a cab to that location.
…
It was dawn. The sky was lighting out.
The sky in Xi City was cloudy, and it was drizzling with snow in the cold weather.
The large red cross representing the hospital felt terribly grim and miserable.
When Xiang Wan came out of the elevator and walked down the corridor, she heard Bai Muchuan shouting.
"You sent someone to fetch them already? Are they here yet?"
"They"re on the way, Captain Bai! On the way here! They"ll arrive very soon! Soon!"
Ding Yifan explained in a soft tone; he was hanging his head low and was quite pitiful to look at.
Quan Shaoteng was sitting and smoking quietly. A few familiar faces were standing outside a ward or sitting on the chairs outside; some were leaning against the wall, not saying a word…
Only Bai Muchuan had his head leaning against the white wall; his shoulders were heaving up and down. His expression told the gravity of his agony.
At that moment, the door of the ward opened.
Everyone looked at the doctor.
"Doctor, how is it?"
The doctor shook his head. "Have the patient"s family arrived yet?"
Bai Muchuan"s tone was anxious. "Almost! They"ll be here soon!" he implored, "doctor, please… please keep him, keep him for a little while more!"
The doctor shook his head again. "I"m afraid… that"s not possible. We"ve tried our best!"
The atmosphere was strangely quiet.
Those words weighed heavily on their hearts.
Bai Muchuan suddenly rushed into the ward and shouted toward the hospital bed.
"Tu Liang! You gotta bleeping hang in there! Your wife and daughter are on their way here now! They"re coming to see you now!"
…
Silence.
No one answered.
The dead silence sent chills on their hearts.
"Teacher Xiang?"
The detectives at the corridor saw Xiang Wan and Fang Yuanyuan, both holding their suitcases, sobbing quietly.
"What are you doing here?"
Xiang Wan"s face was tear-stricken.
"… I"m here to see Tu Liang."
"He…" Ding Yifan glanced at the ward. He was a man but tears were about to burst from his eyes. "He"s very strong! He has been hanging on, waiting to see his wife and daughter… for the last time…"
They suddenly heard the sound of someone crying.
They were not sure who was the one who started to cry.
It broke the cold and quiet environment.
It seeped through their chilled hearts.
Yet it actually felt soft and gentle at the same time…
As if that was their goodbyes to a soul that was about to go on a journey far, far away…
…