Chapter 4. Chapter 4 is neither night nor starry sky...
A few days later, in the evening, Chen Yaoan closed the shop on time as usual.
She got on her electric scooter, planning to buy some groceries at the nearby market before heading home.
However, before she could drive her car a hundred meters, she was suddenly blocked by a group of people.
Chen Yaoan suddenly slammed on the brakes.
She remembered them; they were the same group of people who had come looking for Xu Jialan when she hid in her shop last time.
Judging from their expressions, it seemed like they had come specifically to see her this time.
Chen Yao felt relieved and asked, "What do you want to do?"
It was the same leader from last time who spoke first, "Beautiful lady, don't be afraid, we just want to ask you something."
The tone was fairly polite.
Chen Yao'an frowned. "What is it?"
Huang Yuan got straight to the point, "Do you know where that man who hid in your shop last time is?"
Since they let him escape last time, they haven't been able to catch him.
Fortunately, a few days later, one of the younger men finally saw Xu Jialan come out of her shop.
Unfortunately, they lost track of him again.
After a moment's thought, Huang Yuan realized that the proprietress must know Xu Jialan, otherwise why would she always be appearing in her shop?
So they turned their attention to Chen Yao'an.
She had come to ask about Xu Jialan's whereabouts, and she told the truth: "I don't know, I'm not familiar with him."
"You don't know him well, and you let him hide in your shop?" Huang Yuan clearly didn't believe her explanation.
“He wasn’t hiding in my shop.” Chen Yao’an tried to play dumb and brush it off. “Didn’t you already search my shop? There was no one there at all.”
Huang Yuan was a burly man with eyes that bulged like copper bells. "Speak properly while I still have patience!"
Clearly, they are not so easily fooled.
Immediately afterwards, someone kicked her car wheel violently, making a loud bang.
Chen Yao felt a chill run down his spine and cold sweat break out on his back.
"I really don't know, I'm telling the truth."
"Nonsense!"
Small-time thugs are small-time thugs. The group quickly lost patience, looking fierce and menacing, as if they were determined to get Xu Jialan's whereabouts out of her.
The leader interrupted, "What are you doing? Be polite."
"I really don't know," Chen Yao'an emphasized again.
Just as Chen Yao'an was struggling to cope, a casual voice suddenly came from behind them: "I heard you were looking for me?"
A group of people, including Chen Yao'an, looked in the direction of the sound.
Xu Jialan was standing not far behind them, a cigarette dangling from her lips, a smile playing on her lips, and a pack of cigarettes clutched in her hand.
Behind him was a small supermarket, indicating that he had just bought cigarettes and was coming out.
Spring in Dai County was still a bit chilly, and he wore a well-tailored black woolen overcoat, which accentuated his tall and slender figure.
He stood at the entrance of the somewhat dilapidated small supermarket, the light from the supermarket's sign shining on him.
He was bathed in warm yellow light, making him appear exceptionally noble, which seemed out of place with the surrounding scenery.
At that time, Chen Yaoan thought that they were indeed people from two different worlds, with a clear dividing line between them.
Xu Jialan walked towards them unhurriedly, finally stopping beside Chen Yaoan.
He scanned them, his gaze finally settling on the hands of the people blocking Chen Yao'an's car. "I'm standing right in front of you, why aren't you letting her go?"
He spoke casually, but his tone carried a hidden warning.
Of course, they refused to release him.
With a single glance from Huang Yuan, someone stepped forward, snatched the electric scooter from Chen Yao'an's hand, and threw it aside, surrounding the two of them.
“She knows people at the police station, so she can’t leave now.”
Chen Yao'an immediately realized that they were afraid she would call the police if they let her go.
"I promise I won't call the police."
Huang Yuan gave her a probing look, but remained firm, "No."
She panicked a little and couldn't help but look at Xu Jialan. Just then, Xu Jialan also looked over, and the two exchanged a glance. He gave her a reassuring look.
Chen Yao'an was on tenterhooks, but since neither of them could leave now, they could only wait and see.
One person stretched out their hand in front of the two men, saying, "You two, hand over your phones."
The two had no choice but to obediently hand over their phones, having no room to resist.
"You two, come with us." Huang Yuan then looked at Chen Yao'an, "Don't worry, we'll let you go once we've finished our business."
Chen Yaoan secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed they wouldn't do anything to her.
Then, a group of people led them through two hidden alleys.
There were surveillance cameras everywhere on that street, so they didn't dare do anything there. But they knew the area like the back of their hand, so they were obviously going to take them somewhere without surveillance cameras.
On the way, Chen Yaoan couldn't help but glance at Xu Jialan beside him again. Xu Jialan looked calm, and Chen Yaoan wondered what they would do to him.
She was still a little uneasy, wondering what she would see next.
Just as they were crossing the third street, three police officers in uniform suddenly emerged from another alley.
It was one of the thugs who first noticed, shouting, "Boss, the police are here!"
Before anyone else could react, Chen Yao'an was the first to react, because she had noticed it before them and quickly shouted in that direction, "Gao Hou!"
It was getting dark, and Chen Yaoan couldn't see the faces of the police officers clearly, so he wasn't sure if Gao Hou was there.
But Dai County is small, and the several police stations are all connected. Even if they are not familiar with Gao Hou, they still know each other. They can tell something is wrong as soon as they look this way.
Sure enough, upon hearing her voice, several police officers looked over.
The group of thugs were caught off guard by Chen Yao'an's move. By the time they realized what was happening, someone quickly covered her mouth and dragged the two of them into a dark alley.
But this very fact confirms their guilty conscience.
Several police officers, sensing something was wrong, quickly gave chase.
"stop!"
Hearing the shouts, the group of thugs abandoned them and scattered, leaving her and Xu Jialan standing there.
Xu Jialan looked at her with a smile, "I didn't expect you to be so smart."
Chen Yao'an remained expressionless; it was all his fault for causing this trouble.
Ignoring him, he turned to look at the police officers.
Several thugs had already run away, but fortunately, the police officers still managed to catch a few of them, including the leader who had been leading them.
Seeing that the person had been caught, Chen Yaoan breathed a sigh of relief.
After handcuffing everyone, Gao Hou walked up to Chen Yao'an and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
Chen Yaoan shook her head, "It's nothing, I just called out randomly, I didn't expect you to actually be here."
Although Chen Yao'an said she was fine, Gao Hou still looked her over carefully to make sure she was really alright before saying, "We just received a call from someone nearby. Luckily, we were just in the right place today."
"It's good that you're alright, but you'll still need to come back with us to give a statement."
Gao Hou deliberately fixed his gaze on Xu Jialan, his eyes filled with inquiry.
Upon arriving at the police station, the two quickly gave their statements, and those thugs would inevitably be detained for a period of time.
Chen Yaoan and Xu Jialan came out of the police station together. She originally intended to leave directly, but Xu Jialan stopped her.
He maintained his nonchalant attitude, saying, "I owe you another favor today, thanks."
It seems he knew he had caused her trouble; if it weren't for him, she would never have gotten involved in these problems.
Chen Yao'an didn't want to say any more to him. "I'm leaving now."
I wonder if Mom and Grandma are getting impatient waiting at home.
Xu Jialan stopped her.
She looked down at the hand holding her wrist and remembered how he had secretly asked her out while avoiding his girlfriend. Alarm bells went off in her head, and she immediately shook off his hand.
"I advise you to take care of yourself."
She had long, narrow eyes with slightly upturned corners. When she spoke, she looked at him with a cool, watery gaze, somewhat serious, as if she were lecturing him.
Despite her young age, she spoke with an air of maturity and old-fashionedness.
Xu Jialan raised an eyebrow and smiled.
Chen Yao'an didn't know what was so funny.
He held out his hand to her. "Give me your phone."
"What are you doing?" she asked warily.
"Give it to me." There was no room for refusal.
Chen Yao'an remained unmoved.
Xu Jialan clicked her tongue. "You want me to do the searching?"
This person is truly despicable!
But Chen Yao'an was certain that he could really do it, so she took out her phone and handed it to him.
Xu Jialan took her phone, fiddled with it for a while, and then handed it back to her. "This is my WeChat. I'll thank you properly when I have time."
"No need..." Chen Yao'an wanted to refuse, thinking it best if she didn't have anything to do with him anymore.
She was interrupted when someone called her from not far away, "Xu Jialan."
They both looked over at the same time.
The person who came was Ma Qi.
What brings you here?
"I heard you were taken to the police station, so I rushed over to check on you. Are you alright?"
He had some connections in Dai County and knew about his relationship with Xu Jialan, so he greeted him.
"fine."
Ma Qi glanced at Chen Yao'an but didn't ask any further questions. "Then shall I take you back?"
"Um."
Before the two had left, Gao Houxian chased after them.
He was concerned about Chen Yao'an, "Were you scared just now?"
"No."
"That's good."
Gao Hou was Chen Yao'an's classmate. The two were the same age and lived not far from each other. They were childhood friends who grew up together.
"We've already taught those people, including Yanshuo, a lesson, and they shouldn't cause you any more trouble in the future."
"Thank you for your help, Officer Gao," Xu Jialan said.
"You're welcome, it's my pleasure." Gao Hou's eyes swept over Xu Jialan and Ma Qi.
"Then we'll be going now."
"good."
Before leaving, Xu Jialan glanced at Chen Yaoan beside her and said, "Let's keep in touch."
Chen Yao'an did not respond.
Xu Jialan didn't seem to intend to listen to her answer and left with Ma Qi.
The two watched them leave.
After they had walked a distance, Gao Hou asked her, "Is Xu Jialan your friend?"
Gao Hou was trying to test her, not understanding why Chen Yao'an was with him and had gotten into such trouble.
Chen Yao'an, however, seemed somewhat indifferent, "Not familiar with each other."
Gao Hou secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then thought of Ma Qi, "What about the other one?"
This time, his expression was somewhat serious.
"I don't know him."
"That's good."
"What's wrong?"
“The guy who walked with Xu Jialan just now is no good. You’d better stay away from them in the future.”
"I understand. I'll head back now; my family is waiting for me."
Gao Hou said urgently, "I'll take you."
He then went to get his car.
Chen Yao'an reached out to stop him, "No need, I've already called a car, you should go back to work."
Gao Hou couldn't very well leave his post without permission, so he had no choice but to say goodbye to her.
At the entrance of the police station, the car Chen Yaoan had called hadn't arrived yet. Remembering that Xu Jialan had taken her phone earlier and must have added her on WeChat, she checked her WeChat.
There was indeed an unfamiliar account at the very top, and she clicked on it to take a look.
Xu Jialan's WeChat name was his name, nothing special, but his WeChat profile picture caught her attention.
His WeChat profile picture is all black, neither night nor starry sky, just black.
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