Chapter 11 A Battlefield: One hand clutches his abdomen, blood seeping through his white shirt...
Hasn't she noticed yet? She had just grabbed the umbrella handle haphazardly, and her little hand was pressed tightly against the back of his hand.
He didn't want her to notice; the warmth from his palms made their skin feel extra hot against each other.
Youzhen looked at the mud splattered on her white leather shoes with a wronged expression. Qin Lingchuan tilted the umbrella towards her, while his own shoulder got wet.
Why do I always have to walk so awkwardly next to him, as if I'm doing it on purpose, deliberately trying to bump into him?
She deliberately said some things to stall for time, so as to show that it was not her design.
Youzhen finally raised her head, and the two smiled at each other.
"Ah, Mr. Qin, don't get wet." She noticed the dark water stains on his left shoulder. This suit must be very expensive, with its stripes gleaming in the dark.
She pushed the umbrella handle in that direction and only then did she realize that her hand was holding someone else's hand.
Youzhen hurriedly pulled her hand away, realizing she must be red-hot.
Fortunately, Qin Lingchuan turned around in time, escorted her to the passenger seat, opened the door for her, and once again held the umbrella forward to shield her.
He then folded his umbrella, walked around the front of the car, and got into the driver's seat.
Youzhen really wanted to look down at the small mirror on the car roof to see how red her face was, but she was afraid that even the slightest movement would draw the attention of the man next to her.
Youzhen turned her head toward the car window, hoping that the cool breeze seeping in would dissipate the heat from her face.
She moved even closer, using the reflection to check if her cheeks and ears were still red.
Qin Lingchuan suddenly started the car, and Youzhen swerved and crashed into the glass with a "thud".
It was a soft, quiet sound, yet it was quite abrupt in the enclosed and quiet carriage.
Qin Lingchuan looked over as expected: "Sorry."
Her tone held a hint of amusement. Why did she always embarrass herself in front of him? It had been like this since their first meeting. She wasn't supposed to be a funny girl. Help...
This is truly an attempt to cover up the truth.
No wonder Qin Lingchuan often looks at her and smiles; he must be laughing at her...
Perhaps because of the rain, there were fewer cars on the road. It took about twenty minutes to reach the hotel.
Qin Lingchuan shared an umbrella with her, and when they were still a few steps away from the hall, Youzhen suddenly stopped.
Qin Lingchuan looked in surprise in the direction she was looking, and saw another man holding an umbrella and waiting there.
He looked a little angry, and seeing Youzhen's expression as if she had been caught doing something wrong, Qin Lingchuan could easily guess that this was the senior brother she admired.
This man possessed the detachment of a craftsman from the deep mountains; he had short hair and bright, alert eyes.
Zhou Yuanli was also looking at him, and he felt a strange hostility. It was like a lion on the savanna having its territory invaded.
When the two of them came over just now, Youzhen was smiling so happily. He hadn't seen Youzhen smile like that in a long time, after being busy and overwhelmed every day for more than a year.
Zhou Yuanli walked over and handed the umbrella to Youzhen. Youzhen couldn't stay under Qin Lingchuan's umbrella any longer, so she went over to him, and the two stood side by side.
Zhou Yuanli's umbrella was very small, and both of them were soaked to the waist.
Just as Youzhen was about to say goodbye to Qin Lingchuan, Qin Lingchuan said first, "Wait for me."
He went back to the car and took another umbrella from the trunk.
"I suddenly remembered that I still have an umbrella."
He said this while looking at Zhou Yuanli, and without saying another word, he shoved the umbrella into Youzhen's hand.
When she returns the umbrella, they will be able to meet again.
Both men were looking at her at the same time. Youzhen tossed the umbrella between her hands a few times, then opened it again, took a step to the side, and stepped out from under Zhou Yuanli's umbrella.
Qin Lingchuan said softly, "Have fun, goodbye."
"Thank you for bringing me here, bye-bye."
She waved, the car lights came on again, and it drove away.
She was saying this to Zhou Yuanli, who was just being a gentleman and bringing her over.
Zhou Yuanli didn't wait for her to explain further, turned around and left alone with her umbrella.
Youzhen followed him into the hall. As soon as Jinyu saw her, he ran up to her and asked in a low voice, "My dear sister, where have you been? Your senior brother has been waiting for you for a long time. He was worried that you didn't have an umbrella because of the rain, so he went downstairs to pick you up. Why couldn't I get through to him on the phone?"
"Huh?" Youzhen took out her phone and realized that it had run out of battery and shut down automatically sometime during the day.
Once they arrived at the private room, thankfully no one was actually waiting for her, and everyone enjoyed their drinks.
Youzhen said loudly, "The guest staying at our guesthouse is very interested in ceramics and snuff bottles. I was with him this afternoon, so I arrived a little late. I'll punish myself with a drink first."
The foreman jeered, "The second young lady is really capable!"
Amidst the commotion, Zhou Yuanli finally said to her, "Alright, sit down and have some food."
Jin Yu placed the ribs in front of her: "I saved some meat for you."
On the way back, their colleagues made a point of letting the two of them ride alone.
Youzhen remained silent. After passing three traffic lights, Zhou Yuanli finally spoke: "You don't remember him?"
"who?"
"In London, you almost got seen naked, didn't you?"
Youzhen leaned her head back, and a flash of light appeared before her eyes: "It's him?"
"You were having a very pleasant conversation with him, didn't you notice?"
Indeed, three months ago, she was sweating profusely at the gym when several men with Indian accents suddenly walked in, rummaging through the gym members one by one, and looking down as if searching for something.
They weren't wearing police uniforms, and Youzhen was disgusted by this inexplicable search, especially when one of them scanned her body up and down. She glared at him fiercely, but her composure prevented her from swearing.
Several tall girls went to complain to the front desk, but when the front desk staff approached to negotiate, they were rudely pushed aside.
They searched haphazardly for a while and then left. Youzhen got off the equipment and was about to take a cold shower when someone suddenly burst into the room.
She was terrified. A man had barged in, one hand clutching his abdomen, blood seeping through his white shirt.
His lips were pale, his temples were damp with sweat, and he leaned against the damp wall as soon as he entered, completely exhausted.
Youzhen quickly threw on a towel, intending to kick him out, when the man said in a low voice in Chinese, "Don't make a sound."
The man said this while looking at the hook above her head, then looked away and never looked at her again.
Youzhen frowned and looked him over, the smell of blood making her feel a little dizzy.
Another man's voice soon rang out from outside the door: "Where have you been? You think you can get away with this tonight?"
It was that English with a hint of curry flavor from earlier.
The sound drew closer, and the man's blood dripped onto the floor, where it was diluted by water.
Firstly, she was genuinely terrified by the sudden offense; secondly, she had never met anyone with black hair, black eyes, and yellow skin like herself in this gym.
Youzhen flung open the door, poked her head out, and yelled in a perfect London accent, "What are you doing? This is the girls' bathroom, get out!"
The man was startled by the shout, his cloudy eyes turned towards her, and he looked down.
Youzhen's mind went blank. Why had she impulsively helped the man inside? What if the tall, burly man in front of her attacked her first? Could the front desk clerk hear her cries for help?
Hearing the commotion outside, several of the other girls in the cubicles shouted, "What are you doing? I'm going to complain about you!"
The man was ultimately in the wrong and turned to leave.
Youzhen breathed a sigh of relief and said in Chinese to the person inside, "He's gone."
But no one answered; the roof windows were wide open.
However, Youzhen simply couldn't connect Mr. Qin Lingchuan, who was now a male model, with the pitiful man from back then.
Zhou Yuanli's words interrupted her thoughts: "Have we ever experienced being hunted down in our lives? How could he have a grudge against someone of Indian descent? Is he an ordinary person? Is he someone we can afford to get involved with?"
What Youzhen had even less of an impression of was that a few days later, in a small alley, she was being followed. Zhou Yuanli received her message and immediately rushed to the location, only to find that a man wearing sunglasses and a hat pulled low had already quietly resolved the incident.
Those who had been following her learned their lesson and dared not provoke Youzhen again.
Several violent movements aggravated the wound on his abdomen. The man wearing sunglasses covered it with one hand, his face still very pale.
That day, Youzhen told Zhou Yuanli about her strange encounter after leaving the gym. Taking advantage of his work, he accessed the surveillance footage from that day and deliberately memorized the man's face, posture, and gait. Now he recognized him at a glance, and it was he who had come to her rescue.
"He wields considerable influence; you'd better keep your distance from him."
Youzhen was a little indignant. It was just a meal, but they were making it sound like something serious. She said stubbornly, "Fine!"
The two remained silent the entire way.
The next morning, the same-city courier arrived and, in front of a group of colleagues, brought in a 1.8-meter-tall white plush teddy bear.
Jin Yu's eyes sparkled: "Wow, this is so cute and pampering! Who gave it to you?"
As she spoke, she picked up the card that Xiongxiong was holding: "A belated birthday present, happy birthday to you."
Everyone stared at Zhou Yuanli. "Wow—" Jin Yu exclaimed, but her voice trailed off when she saw the signature at the end.
The flamboyant italic characters suggest Qin Lingchuan's determination and persistence when signing his name.
She only glanced at the teddy bear in the shop window across the street a few times during dinner yesterday, but he bought it for her today.
Seeing Jin Yu's performance, everyone turned their attention back to the sky, the ground, and even their own noses.
Zhou Yuanli said, "Watching the show during work hours? Your salary is going to be docked, isn't it?"
The workers dispersed, but Jinyu followed Youzhen upstairs out of curiosity.
There was no room in the house to put such a big bear, so Youzhen wrestled and pounced on the bear onto the bed, burying half of her body in it.
Jin Yu clicked her tongue and said, "I thought you didn't like bears. I've been wondering where you got all those bizarre doll designs from, like the lizards, toads, and eggplants displayed outside your window."
Youzhen climbed off the bear's belly and sneezed twice in a row: "How could I not like it?"
He immediately remembered who gave it to him, and fearing that Jinyu would misunderstand, he added, "I don't really like it that much. I like things that aren't popular."
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