Chapter 9

Come to the coffee shop for a date, take a walk in the square, and then inexplicably switch to the legal channel.

The world of melodramatic fiction is so unreasonable and outrageous that it scares Xia Lanzheng.

The wind whistled in my ears and my curly hair flew through my fingers.

Xia Lanzheng took out the hair tie from her mouth and quickly tied up her long hair.

This is an alley hidden behind the commercial street. There is a clothing wholesale city on the right. Abandoned clothes and packages are piled on the road, and the smell is mixed.

The truck was covered in dust, blocking the passage to the branch lane.

Xia Lanzheng slowed down and stared at the robber who was forced into a dead end a few meters away.

“Fuck, can you please stop chasing me…” The man panted, his heels pressed against the wall, his black leather bag nearly slipping from his hands.

Crash.

The old awning had become brittle from the sun and fell to the ground, breaking into small pieces.

Dust flew everywhere. Xia Lanzheng narrowed her eyes and said, "Put the things down."

He doesn't use his cell phone very often, but it contains everyone's contact information.

Family, friends, work... He hopes to get more information from these people, and it will be very troublesome if he loses them.

The man rubbed his face and said, "Handsome boy, how about this? I'll return your phone and let me keep it. You don't know that person anyway, so it has nothing to do with you."

He usually does some petty thefts, and today he was on his day off and went out to buy groceries, so he didn't bring any tools with him.

I saw a bag when I passed by the square. It was made of real leather and was sparkling. There must be something inside.

He thought he would just rob it, but he was chased by two people in a row.

"Honestly, think about it," the man cursed in his heart and took a deep breath, "fighting will not be good for anyone."

"Ah?" Xia Lanzheng said, "Isn't that immoral? It will shorten your lifespan."

A tricycle chugs past the alley entrance, its old ironwork rattling. A horn blares intermittently, and suddenly, a "Be careful when backing up" drowns out Xia Lanzheng's remaining words.

Xia Lanzheng caught sight of the figure in the car and opened her mouth to shout—

"Shut up!" A sharp object pressed against his lower back. The man pressed against his back. "Behave! If you behave, I'll let you go. Understand?"

The smell of sweat went straight into Xia Lanzheng's nose, and she couldn't help but vomit.

He used to complain that the male protagonists in novels always had a natural fragrance and were extremely showy.

Now he took it back. Lemon mint and sandalwood were better than the smell of sweat.

Suddenly I miss that kind of showy smell.

"Don't put my phone against my waist," Xia Lanzheng turned back with difficulty, "My phone doesn't have a case, it's very fragile."

"Bullshit!" The man's eyelids twitched, and he shook the phone in his hand. "I'm holding a knife!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a gentle grip on his wrist.

Xia Lanzheng turned around at some point, passed her right hand through the man's forearm, and tightly grasped the hand that was restraining the man's wrist.

A few strands of hair stuck to her cheeks. Xia Lanzheng tilted her head slightly and pressed down with her palm.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, a flicker of panic in the man's cloudy eyes. Without time to think, his feet scraped against the gravel on the road.

The man's right shoulder and back hit the ground instantly, and the back of his head hit the concrete floor hard, and he felt dizzy.

His eyes were blurry and he lay on the ground in a daze.

Xia Lanzheng pressed his wrist: "My previous coach always put his phone against my back, saying he wanted to create a sense of crisis."

So he realized what that thing was early on, and his sense of crisis soared.

He nonchalantly repeated his unfinished words: "I've practiced a little, but a fight wouldn't be good for you."

In her previous life, Xia Lanzheng had thought about what to do in a situation where she couldn't run or jump.

So, accompanied by medical staff, he learned some self-defense skills, such as the "wrist rub" in Aikido just now.

I only learned the basics, but I didn't expect it to be so useful. Of course, this was also thanks to the original owner's excellent physical fitness.

The man lay on the ground cursing, his curses mixed with cries of "Ouch, ouch".

Xia Lanzheng didn't have time to care about it. She picked up the phone and wiped off the dust. Seeing that there was a dent on the bottom, she wanted to turn around and kick the man a few times.

He had wanted to keep it and sell it secondhand, but it had depreciated in value.

There was a rumbling sound coming from the other end, circling in the alley like thunder.

The truck turned on its running lights and a stream of exhaust fumes came out from behind it.

The man stood up straight, covered his head, caught up with the truck and jumped on it as if his life depended on it.

After a brief moment of shock, Xia Lanzheng quickly followed.

"Stop chasing me." Someone suddenly grabbed the hem of his clothes with considerable force.

Xia Lanzheng fell backwards, put one hand on his lower back, and gently pushed him back.

Looking up into a pair of dark pupils, Xia Lanzheng was startled: "Why are you walking so quietly?"

The man he met in the square was holding his sheep with one hand and grabbing Xia Lanzheng's forearm with the other hand sticking out from his sweater.

The body temperature is surprisingly low.

"Your sheep are so noisy." He suddenly spoke, his face pale behind the mask. "I spilled coffee and made my hands sticky."

His voice is a pure bass, which is totally inconsistent with his almond-shaped eyes.

Xia Lanzheng led the lamb over, picked up the bag and threw it into the man's arms. She took a few steps outside but couldn't help but ask, "Did you say thank you?"

The man followed behind her, clenching his hands at his legs. "Thanks, coffee. Sorry."

Xia Lanzheng pricked up her ears to hear what he said. She curled her lips, turned back to the central square, and bought a rice ball at the convenience store.

Through the thick glass, that sinister gaze was always on him.

The automatic doorbell kept ringing. Xia Lanzheng took a step out and stood on the steps until her eye level with the man.

"The things in your bag are not lost. If you don't believe me, you can count them now."

The man shook his head. Xia Lanzheng said helplessly, "Now I'm going to the square to bask in the sun. Don't follow me, okay?"

It was the first time he had seen someone with such slow reactions, like a large dog guarding its owner.

Xia Lanzheng returned to where she had been before and sat down, chewing lettuce leaves, thinking that someone actually bought the brand-name clothing she had photographed last time.

He had no idea about fashion. After finishing his rice ball while sitting among the pigeons, he pieced together a few words in his mind: artist wandering style.

Xia Lanzheng almost choked and pounded her chest hard.

Artist? Isn't that the last protagonist's profession?

The sense of crisis surged again, even more intense than when her phone was stolen. The sun made Xia Lanzheng dizzy and her ears buzzed.

Su Cheng, the last protagonist in the book.

He showed amazing talent as soon as he learned to hold a brush, and became a highly regarded talented painter. His life has been smooth sailing ever since.

This person is paranoid, hypocritical, and has an obsession with pursuing perfection that others cannot understand.

Very perverted and extremely dangerous.

A shadow suddenly fell on the stairs. Xia Lanzheng felt a chill on her back and turned around alertly. Sure enough, she saw the man standing behind her.

"I want to sit here, too." The voice was clear and powerful, but it quickly faded. "Can I?"

He didn't give Xia Lanzheng a chance to refuse. He put down his drawing board and even made room for his bag.

Xia Lanzheng was completely speechless. While someone was wiping the floor with paper, she turned her head and took a few closer looks.

Although I can't see the face under the mask, I can vaguely feel that this person is good-looking.

The robe was loose-fitting and hung down on his body in some places, but it still couldn't hide his long arms and legs.

The mask pressed down his eyelashes, and he pulled them down, revealing a teardrop mole under his almond-shaped eyes.

It's over.

Xia Lanzheng's head was almost smoking, with bubbles gurgling and flashing.

He pulled the wool to unpack it and said in a dry voice, "What's your name?"

The man glanced at him calmly: "Zhang Cheng."

Seeing the protagonist's last name, Xia Lanzheng was suspicious: "Have you ever had long hair before?"

Zhang Cheng bent down to adjust the height of the drawing board, then handed over his ID card: "I'm not a liar."

The name above is indeed "Zhang Cheng", and the photo matches the real person.

Xia Lanzheng held down the paper that was about to fly away: "Are you studying painting?"

Zhang Cheng paused while twisting the drawing board: "No, I'm studying auto repair."

Xia Lanzheng didn't believe it.

There was a watercolor sketch of a landscape on the drawing board, and he continued to test it out: "Not everyone can draw this well, it's amazing."

Zhang Cheng's mouth moved under the mask, and after a long while he replied: "It's a painting, it's very bad, I can't draw it."

Xia Lanzheng stroked her chin and waited for him to finish speaking, thinking that he was the painter who had reached a bottleneck and was feeling melancholy alone in the square?

This character is quite consistent with the tone of melodramatic writing.

It’s a pity that his surname is Zhang, so he can’t be the protagonist here.

Thinking about it this way, Xia Lanzheng suddenly felt very close to it. He sat forward and pointed at a place in the painting.

“This cloud is painted very vividly.”

Zhang Cheng finally showed some expression, his eyebrows slightly wrinkled: "That's a, pigeon."

Xia Lanzheng laughed out loud, supporting her chin with her palm: "I know, I'm just teasing you."

Zhang Cheng pulled out a box of watercolors and placed it on his lap. The two of them sat quietly, watching the white dove take off and land several times.

Finally, Zhang Cheng rubbed his wrist: "On a weekday, why are you here?"

A heavy cloud floated over directly overhead, and the sun hid in the shadow.

Xia Lanzheng hugged her knees: "The reason is similar to yours."

Zhang Cheng said "hmm".

"My family doesn't know I don't have a job," Xia Lanzheng said with a sullen look, half-seriously, "I'm just pretending to work here."

The wide-leg jeans he wore just reached his knees, his calves long and straight, every muscle beautiful and perfect. His eyelashes trembled as he lowered his eyes, and he looked a little aggrieved.

An irresistible feeling arose in my heart—

I want to cover his eyes with a veil.

Just use the white lace scarf used to cover stone statues in the studio, and he will be the most perfect work in the darkness.

Sacred, fragile, like the Little Prince who walked out of a classical oil painting of the Florentine school.

Then lift the veil, stroke his eyelashes, place cherries, carnations, lilies around him... and drench him with red wine.

I want to draw him.

Zhang Cheng's breathing became a little rapid.

Will it scare him?

He looked at Xia Lanzheng for a while, then suddenly put his left hand between the two of them and leaned closer.

"I'll tell you a secret."

Pure and good children all like secrets, which are tokens exchanged between friends.

Half of Xia Lanzheng's body was embraced in his arms, and she met Zhang Cheng's eyes. He saw that her almond-shaped eyes slowly curved.

Zhang Cheng seems to have foreign ancestry, so it seems he is not a top three attacker.

But, ah...

Is this distance between straight men too close?

Zhang Cheng said, "Your sheep will grow very big."

Xia Lanzheng pushed him away and retorted without thinking, "No, Bao Bao is a pet sheep."

Yu Yang had given the lamb as a gift, saying it was smart and clingy, providing emotional value. He then dropped the lamb off at the Chu family manor and drove off.

Zhang Cheng repeated: "Baby?"

The word "subwoofer" sounded so weird together that Xia Lanzheng's face felt hot. She knew Zhang Cheng had pronounced it wrong, but she didn't correct him.

Very weird.

Zhang Cheng spoke seriously, his eyelashes twitching: "It will really be very big. When it grows up, it will use its head to butt people."

"..." Xia Lanzheng asked, "No more?"

"Well," Zhang Cheng looked at him intently, as if he had been of great help, "You're welcome."

Xia Lanzheng jumped up, covered Bao Bao's ears, and her expression changed: "Impossible, Bao Bao, don't listen!"

"real."

"Fake"

"real."

"Fake!"

Suddenly a phone call came in. Xia Lanzheng didn't even look at it. She picked up the phone angrily and heard Yu Jiawei ask in a strange tone.

"What is your relationship with Cheng Lan?"

Xia Lanzheng: "Huh?"