Huo Jiayuan's small hand was held tightly in his palm the whole way. The summer evening breeze was slightly damp, like a layer of mist covering his heart.
Back home, Meng Yan immediately plunged into the kitchen to busy himself. Huo Jiayuan looked over curiously, only to see his broad back and his busy figure. A complex feeling suddenly welled up in her heart. By now, she had calmed down, and the series of events were strung together in her mind like beads.
Someone wanted to harm her, someone wanted to kill her, and someone even knew her whereabouts in advance and tampered with the ship...
How could this person know so much unless he knew her very well?
Huo Jiayuan's heart skipped a beat, as if a fog had suddenly clouded her vision, making it impossible for her to discern her surroundings.
"Here, have a taste." A moment later, Meng Yan came out of the kitchen with a small bowl of rose jelly.
The jelly was sprinkled with raisins and crushed peanuts, and beautiful rose petals could actually be seen peeking through the translucent jelly. She was a little surprised and looked up to meet his smiling gaze.
"I haven't done this much, so my technique isn't very good," he said softly. "The jelly should be chilled for a little longer, and it would taste even better with condensed milk, but unfortunately we don't have any at home."
Huo Jiayuan sat motionless on the sofa.
Meng Yan thought she was frightened, so he sat down next to her and gently put his arm around her shoulder. His scent always made her feel at ease, but this time, thinking back to her earlier suspicions, she felt an urge to push him away.
"If you don't want to eat, take a nap. I'll put the food in the refrigerator."
“Meng Yan…” She bit her lip, wanting to ask the question that was lingering in her mind, but the words that came out were, “Do you want me to stay?”
Meng Yan was taken aback, wondering where she had come up with these words.
"I just hope you're alright." He gently stroked her hair and slowly uttered these words.
Huo Jiayuan felt a jolt in her heart. She leaned on his shoulder and gently closed her eyes. She had a long dream, sometimes vibrant with color, sometimes a chaotic battlefield. As she frantically searched for someone, he emerged from a mountain of corpses, covered in blood…
Huo Jiayuan woke up with a start, took a few deep breaths, and then realized that it was already dawn. The morning sunlight streamed into the small house, and the chirping of birds could be heard outside the window.
Everything was calm and peaceful, as if the explosion last night had never happened.
She shook her head, got up and walked out of the room. Meng Yan had just brought up breakfast when there was a rapid knocking on the door.
Meng Yan's gentle gaze suddenly turned wary. He walked to the door, looked through the peephole, seemed to hesitate for a moment, but finally opened the door.
"Xiao Rong?" Huo Jiayuan rushed over, almost hugging him. "Were you hurt last night? I thought you were still at the police station, you..."
"I'm fine," Xiao Rong said in a low voice, forcing a smile at her. He never wanted to bring his negative emotions to her, no matter what.
Xiao Rong looked at Meng Yan, "It was Mr. Meng... his friend at the police station who let me go."
Huo Jiayuan was stunned for a moment.
"Yuan Yuan," Xiao Rong said briefly, not caring that Meng Yan was beside him, and whispered in her ear, "I've investigated and found out. The explosion of that ship... was related to our people. There was a mole among us who planted a bomb on the ship. Fortunately, we were able to delay them on shore for a few minutes, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable!"
"What?" Huo Jiayuan was shocked and speechless for a long time.
The mole, in other words, is the bodyguard who was with them!
“So,” she quickly realized, “our initial attack on us by the gang as soon as we arrived in Biandu was also related to this person, right?”
Xiao Rong nodded.
Huo Jiayuan's expression changed. She didn't press for details about who it was; she knew Xiao Rong would handle everything. She was simply puzzled. These people were handpicked by the Huo and Lu families, loyalty being paramount, yet something like this still happened…
Neither the Huo family nor the Lu family had ever mistreated them, yet that traitor actually wanted her dead!
“Yuan Yuan,” Xiao Rong squeezed her arm, “Don’t worry, I will always be there for you.”
"Excuse me, I overheard your conversation." Meng Yan frowned, his face grave as he looked at Xiao Rong. "Who are you referring to as the 'mole'?"
“This is our business,” Xiao Rong didn’t want to tell him too much. “Mr. Meng, please don’t ask. However… Yuan Yuan will probably have to bother you for a while longer.”
"You want to continue living with me?"
"Yes." Xiao Rong looked directly into his eyes.
Now, he no longer felt the same resistance he had when they first met. He could sense that Meng Yan genuinely cared for Huo Jiayuan.
Since it was genuine, he was relieved.
He couldn't be by Huo Jiayuan's side during this time because the mole had been found, and he had to deal with it. This mole had no grudge against the Huo family and was doing everything under someone else's orders.
So he still needs to find out who's behind it all.
Xiao Rong looked at Meng Yan sincerely and said again, "I'm sorry to bother you."
"It's not a disturbance." After a long silence, Meng Yan gave a cold laugh. "But are you still not going to tell me the truth?"
"What?"
Meng Yan's cold gaze fixed on Huo Jiayuan's face as she asked, enunciating each word clearly, "Who exactly are you?"
Huo Jiayuan felt as if she had stepped into thin air, and at that moment she was panicked and confused.
They were both suspicious of each other, testing each other, and labeling each other according to their own suspicions.
But clearly, she could also see a light in his eyes that belonged only to her.
Huo Jiayuan took a deep breath, clenched her small hands into fists and then slowly relaxed them. After a moment of calm, she looked into his eyes and asked, "And what about you?"
Meng Yan was taken aback.
She asked again, "Are you going to tell me the truth? Why are you able to easily enter and leave the police station, and even talk to the police to get them to release me and Xiao Rong?"
Meng Yan was taken aback by her question and was momentarily lost in thought.
Huo Jiayuan gave a bitter smile. See, they had both been hiding things from each other. From the beginning, she hadn't intended to be completely honest with him, and he hadn't planned to be completely open with her either.
In a daze, she remembered her childhood, when she and Xiaoman never kept any secrets from each other. They knew everything about each other.
She looked at Meng Yan, and Meng Yan looked at her. They stared at each other so intently, as if trying to dig some secret out of each other's eyes.
Xiao Rong coughed twice and tugged at Huo Jiayuan's hand. Just then, there was another knock on the door, and Zhao Ashuang walked in carrying breakfast and a few cans of beer.
Upon seeing Xiao Rong, he was taken aback at first, then a glimmer of light, like the morning glow, appeared in his eyes.
"Why... are you all standing here?" He slowly placed the things on the table and saw Huo Jiayuan's ashen face.
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