Side Story 1: Caught Following Someone
Gu Yingshen and Lu Zhian each held a cup of milk tea they had just bought, and strolled slowly along the street lined with sycamore trees.
The afternoon sun filtered through the leaves, casting dappled light, creating a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere. The two didn't talk much, occasionally exchanging brief comments on the designs in the shop windows or a detail of a building, more like like-minded people enjoying a quiet moment together.
However, this tranquility was soon shattered.
Gu Yingshen was the first to notice something amiss. Using the reflection in the shop window next to him, he accurately spotted three tall, furtive figures dozens of meters behind him, trying to conceal themselves with pedestrians and vehicles.
He withdrew his gaze expressionlessly, turned his head and whispered to Lu Zhian beside him, "Tail."
Lu Zhian was sipping his drink when he heard this, and paused, then understood. He didn't even turn around immediately, but instead, while tucking a strand of wind-blown hair behind his ear, he quickly glanced back out of the corner of his eye.
Sure enough, I saw those three figures that were so familiar, yet now looked particularly comical.
Xiao Yuan tried to remain calm, pretending to look at the billboards on the roadside; Xiao Jin, on the other hand, was clearly inexperienced, peeking around and then quickly retreating behind a telephone pole the moment his eyes met Xiao Yuan's; while Yin Qin, caught in the middle, had a look on his face that was a mixture of embarrassment, helplessness, and a hint of forced bewilderment.
Lu Zhian's lips twitched almost imperceptibly, and he nearly burst out laughing. He took a big gulp of milk tea, forcibly suppressing his laughter, and then said to Gu Yingshen in the same low voice, "Ignore them."
Gu Yingshen raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly, readily agreeing. He even very naturally handed the cup of milk tea in his hand to Lu Zhian, saying in a flat tone, "Try this."
Lu Zhian naturally took a sip from his hand and nodded: "It's a little sweet."
The natural and intimate interaction between the two was nothing short of adding fuel to the fire in the eyes of the three "stalkers" behind them.
Xiao Jin suddenly leaned halfway out from behind the telephone pole, grabbed Xiao Yuan's arm, and said in a low voice, "Look! They're drinking the same cup of milk tea!"
Xiao Yuan's expression darkened further, and he clenched his fists tighter.
Looking at the seemingly "intimate" sharing behavior, and combined with the "love suicide" and "perfect match" theories she had heard before, Yin Qin's unease, like an inflated balloon, grew even larger.
Gu Yingshen seemed completely oblivious to the suddenly intense and tense gazes behind him. He put away the milk tea and continued walking side by side with Lu Zhian, only slowing his pace subtly, as if leisurely enjoying this rare stroll.
Xiao Yuan, Xiao Jin, and Yin Qin, using the parked cars and a few scattered pedestrians as cover, thought they were following the two leisurely figures ahead discreetly.
Seeing their target turn right at a street corner filled with greenery, the three exchanged glances, quickened their pace, and carefully crept along the wall.
Xiao Jin was the first to pop his head out, ready to continue locking onto the target—which was empty.
The street after the corner was sparsely populated and the view was wide open. Where were Lu Zhian and Gu Yingshen?
"Where is he?!" Xiao Jin exclaimed in a low voice.
Xiao Yuan frowned, quickly walked to the street corner, and looked around, but there was no trace of the two people. Had they gone far away? Or had they gone into the shop next door? A bad feeling of unease, that his plans had been disrupted, welled up in his heart.
Yin Qin followed, and looking at the empty space ahead, the guilt he felt for following them was inexplicably overshadowed by a sense of loss. Had they really just left like that?
As the three of them huddled in the corner, staring at each other at the empty alley, an eerie stillness descended upon them.
A calm, detached voice, tinged with a chilling quality, rang out from behind them without warning, like a ghost:
"What are you looking for?"
The three of them froze simultaneously, their blood seemingly freezing instantly.
They turned around very slowly, with incredible stiffness.
Less than five steps behind them, Gu Yingshen and Lu Zhian stood side by side, watching them with leisure.
Gu Yingshen was still holding the cup of milk tea in his hand, his expression as indifferent as ever, his gray eyes revealing no emotion, but those words just now clearly came from his mouth.
Lu Zhian, with his head slightly tilted, still biting the straw in his mouth, glanced around at the three of them before finally settling on Yin Qin, who looked embarrassed and tried to shrink away. He raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with a playful doubt:
"President Yin, you... you're joining them in their nonsense too?"
"I..." Yin Qin opened his mouth, his face turning red and white in turns. Under Lu Zhian's knowing gaze and Gu Yingshen's cold stare, all the excuses he had prepared beforehand got stuck in his throat.
He was filled with regret at that moment, wondering how he could have been so bewitched and "tricked" out by these two brothers!
Having weathered many storms, Xiao Yuan reacted quickly. He coughed lightly, trying to salvage some of his precarious pride, and calmly said, "We just... happened to be strolling around here."
"Yes, yes, yes! Coincidence! Pure coincidence!" Xiao Jin nodded hurriedly, but his shifty eyes and the lingering panic on his face completely betrayed him.
Gu Yingshen didn't speak, but calmly watched them with his all-seeing eyes, as if he were watching a performance full of flaws.
Looking at the three men in front of him, whose average height was over 1.85 meters, but who looked like elementary school students caught doing something wrong by the teacher, Lu Zhian finally couldn't help but chuckle.
"Alright, stop scaring them." His tone carried a hint of indulgence, then he turned to the three "tails," "Since we've 'coincidentally' run into each other, let's go for a walk together."
These words were like a pardon. Xiao Jin immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and Xiao Yuan's tense shoulders also relaxed slightly. Only Yin Qin was still deeply annoyed by his "foolish" behavior just now.
Thus, what was originally a duo turned into a bizarre five-person team.
Gu Yingshen and Lu Zhian continued to walk in front, but three "bodyguards" with different expressions followed closely behind them, making the scene quite eye-catching.
This tracking operation, which was triggered by cool and outrageous imagination, ended with the stalker being caught on the spot and "recruited".
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