Chapter 86
"Let's find a place to eat first, and then I'll take you back to the guesthouse."
After getting off the bus, Lei Tingjun turned around and looked around. Seeing that everyone was on their way home from get off work, he said to Ji Wanmei.
"But you haven't found a place to stay yet," Ji Wanmei said with some concern.
It's already past six o'clock in the evening, and he still hasn't booked a guesthouse. He'll look for a place to stay after dinner, but he doesn't know if the guesthouses will even offer him a room.
Previously, when Officer Li went to open a guesthouse, they all required him to provide a certificate from his work unit.
Lei Tingjun's physique and appearance are very threatening, so people will definitely have to carefully check his identification documents.
Lei Tingjun, however, didn't seem to care at all.
He's a rough, unrefined man; he could easily squeeze into a large dormitory room for one night.
In the past few years, when he was traveling around the country, he sometimes ran out of money and even slept on open streets and benches outside train stations.
A young, strong man won't die even if he doesn't sleep in a bed for one night.
Moreover, Lei Tingjun's childhood and adolescence were filled with hardship.
He had never experienced the happiness of a family or the simple, warm days of life since he was a child.
For him, suffering, hardship, and being guarded against and criticized by others were commonplace.
Therefore, many times, when facing Ji Wanmei, the proud and unruly Lei Tingjun, who had been arrogant and unruly all his life, was actually a little flustered and at a loss.
He didn't know what he should do, what he should give her, or what he should do for her to deserve even a glance from her.
Because he knew that Ji Wanmei had never lacked anything since she was a child; she was the apple of Ji Xingguo's eye, the apple of his eye.
Sometimes he even felt that for a man like him, who had struggled in the mud and at the bottom of society, to like her was like a desecration of her.
Indeed, in Lei Tingjun's heart, Ji Wanmei was someone he looked up to with such reverence.
She was like a pure and beautiful angel, while he was a demon filled with evil.
But this devil tried to pluck this beautiful angel into his own arms.
He didn't just want to hold her in his arms; he wanted to possess everything about her from then on.
Fortunately, Lei Tingjun was able to clearly face his possessiveness and romantic desire for Ji Wanmei. This clear-headedness and strong rationality prevented him from doing anything inappropriate.
"I'll take you back to the vicinity of the guesthouse first. After you finish eating and go back, I'll find a place to stay."
He needed to see her safely back at the guesthouse before he could feel at ease.
Lei Tingjun smirked: "Don't worry, Zhejiang is such a big city, surely it can accommodate one of me."
That's the good thing about big cities—they're very inclusive.
No matter where you come from in the world, as long as you have the ability, money, the will to survive, and the ability to endure hardship, you can live in a big city.
This is different from the close-knit social circles in county towns.
If they were in Pingquan County right now, Lei Tingjun could just find any of his brothers and stay at their place for the night.
However, if you owe someone a favor, you will also need to repay it the next time they ask for your help.
This is the difference between big cities and small towns.
Ji Wanmei pursed her lips: "Alright then."
Luo Chunyan, who was standing next to her, said, "Meimei, let's go back early. Maybe Officer Li is already waiting for us."
“You forgot? When we left this morning, Officer Li said he would come back to pick us up for dinner tonight.”
"It's already past six o'clock."
Ji Wanmei then remembered that Officer Li was also there.
She had completely forgotten about it.
Since Officer Li is here, Lei Tingjun probably won't be able to take them back to the guesthouse.
Otherwise, if Officer Li sees it, he'll start asking all sorts of questions.
If Ji Wanmei's father finds out when we get back, he'll definitely hold Lei Tingjun accountable.
Seeing Ji Wanmei's hesitant expression, Lei Tingjun said, "Then I'll follow you from a distance and watch you reach the guesthouse entrance and meet up with Officer Li before I leave."
Ji Wanmei added, "Then why don't you wait for us at the place where we had lunch today tomorrow morning? We might arrive a little earlier."
"After picking up the last bit of goods this morning, we'll head back to Pingquan County."
"Officer Li has scheduled the train back for 4:30 PM tomorrow."
Lei Tingjun nodded: "Okay, I understand."
Then Ji Wanmei glanced at him and walked forward with Luo Chunyan.
Lei Tingjun slowed down and followed them at a distance of about fifty meters.
Ji Wanmei held Luo Chunyan's hand very tightly.
Luo Chunyan winced slightly and looked up at Ji Wanmei, only to see her with a firm expression, gentle yet bright eyes, walking forward with her head held high and chest out.
Luo Chunyan silently turned around and glanced at Lei Tingjun behind her.
Luo Chunyan saw that Lei Tingjun was also staring intently at Ji Wanmei's back with the same resolute, deep, and profound gaze.
At that moment, Luo Chunyan seemed to be affected by some kind of emotion between the two and felt slightly moved.
A man, for the woman he loves, silently protects her to this extent.
It is indeed very rare to see these days.
Hopefully, Lei Tingjun isn't just putting on a show to fool Meimei.
It takes about five or six minutes to walk back to the guesthouse from where you got off the bus.
When they arrived at the guesthouse, they found that Officer Li was already waiting there.
At this moment, Officer Li was already as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, pacing back and forth in circles.
If Ji Wanmei and the others don't come back soon, he'll probably be so anxious that he'll have to ask the police station for help in finding them.
Just when I was extremely anxious, I finally saw two girls walking out from the dim evening light.
Li, the clerk, was overjoyed and immediately went to greet them, saying repeatedly, "Oh my, my Miss Ji, you've finally returned!"
"Where did you all go this afternoon? I've been waiting for you here for ages," Officer Li couldn't help but say. "If I lost you here, Director Ji will definitely devour me alive when we get back."
Ji Wanmei said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, Officer Li. We had nothing to do this afternoon, so we went for a stroll around the city. We didn't expect it to be so hard to get a ride back, which took us a while."
Ji Wanmei concealed their trip to West Lake from Officer Li, lest he overthink it.
Hearing Ji Wanmei say this, Luo Chunyan naturally didn't expose the matter and smiled as she apologized to Ji Wanmei.
"As long as the person is back, it's all good; it was a false alarm," said Officer Li.
"You haven't had dinner yet, have you? Come on, we'll take you to try some local Zhejiang specialties."
Upon hearing that there was more delicious food, Luo Chunyan, whose stomach had been growling for a long time, smiled and said, "Great! Thank you very much, Officer Li."
Ji Wanmei nodded and agreed. Before leaving, she turned her head slightly and saw the tall figure guarding her in the distance, still standing there silently watching her.
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