Chapter 11
After a week, the back-to-school syndrome finally disappeared. Hong Kong is peaceful and uneventful. Zhuang Zhuoyuan's daily work and training are fixed. He can not only take Iris to school during his morning classes, but also pick her up from school at the gate just in time if she has a class during the last period in the afternoon.
Iris felt that this kind of life couldn't be happier, and having been spoiled by Zhuang Zhuoyuan, she became more and more accustomed to eating home-cooked meals every day. In order to quickly understand Hong Kong, she also wanted to go to more people's homes for meals, such as Pauline's house, and Pandora's house.
Pandora's mother, Sister Fuzhi, is the owner of a pawn shop. She's warm, hospitable, and an excellent cook. Iris followed her to the pawn shop and saw many wonderful things, praising them constantly. In the end, she was so excited that she decided to come here to "pawn" her future child!
"You even know such an old-fashioned thing!" Upon hearing this, Chen Fuzhi's third daughter, Pan Duomei, laughed and gave a thumbs up: "No wonder you're my sister's student."
"Dong wang dong wang, take the baby to the pawn shop to pawn it and then redeem it, and the child will grow up quickly." Sister Fuzhi brought out the last dish, called everyone to the table, and first picked up a piece of Dongpo pork for Iris to try: "Ah Shi, try it, this is made with my secret recipe, it's fatty but not greasy, I guarantee you'll want to eat it again and again."
The eldest son, Pan Deli, chimed in, picking up a piece of meat at the same time: "Iris, you're amazing! This dish takes a lot of time and effort to make, and my mom doesn't usually make it. It's rare that you get to taste such a delicious dish on your first visit. Look how happy my mom is with you."
“A whole set of novels and a bunch of CDs, I’d be happy too!” Pandome chimed in, then fawned over Iris by putting food into her bowl. “Iris, could you sign a few autographs for me later? My friends really love your books!”
She spoke excitedly, but Pandora, seeing Pandora's unreserved manner, cleared her throat and coughed twice, immediately silencing Pandora. All eyes at the table were on the Queen, awaiting her instructions, but Pandora calmly continued eating: "Why are you looking at me? I have friends too."
"Tch!" Everyone burst into laughter.
The meal was naturally enjoyed immensely, with the Dongpo pork disappearing in a flash. Iris, thoroughly satisfied, even managed to snag a copy of Sister Fuzhi's exclusive recipe. Just then, the television broadcast the news, which was suddenly interrupted with a breaking news report—four robbers had stormed a jewelry store, taking several hostages and creating a standoff with the police. The police had dispatched the SDU to the scene for support.
Outside the police cordon, cameras captured the Flying Tigers' vehicles entering. Iris watched as the fully equipped Flying Tigers members stepped out of the vehicles one by one, and her heart involuntarily tightened. She abruptly stopped mid-sentence, even dropping her chopsticks. Seeing this, Sister Fuzhi quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
"My fiancé!" Iris exclaimed worriedly. She replied to Sister Fuzhi and turned back to watch TV. Seeing that the screen had temporarily switched back to the reporters, she apologized to the hosts, "Excuse me, everyone, I think I might have to leave the table for a while. My fiancé is there, I..."
"I know, I know." Sister Fu patted Iris's hand, mistakenly thinking that the fiancé Iris mentioned was a jewelry store employee, and hurriedly comforted her: "Don't worry, good people are always protected by heaven, the police will definitely rescue him."
Iris was already seated in front of the TV. Pandora, seeing Iris's hands clasped tightly together in worry, put down her chopsticks and prepared to join her. But before leaving the table, she explained to her family, "Zhuang Sir isn't a hostage, he's a police officer."
Pan Deli belatedly realized, "So, Iris is so worried, which means her fiancé is Flying Tiger?! That's amazing!"
With her heart pounding in her throat, every second felt like an eternity. Even though she knew Zhuang Zhuoyuan was a sniper and didn't need to directly confront criminals, thus posing relatively less risk, Iris was still constantly worried about what might happen. Lately, life had been too comfortable, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan had consistently downplayed the dangers of the Flying Tigers' work in front of her; Iris had almost forgotten where Lamy's worries about her mother came from. She suddenly felt like crying.
Even though it was announced minutes later that the perpetrators had been apprehended and the hostages successfully rescued, Iris was still unable to calm down. She had no appetite for the rest of her meal, hastily said goodbye to Pandora's family, and took a taxi directly back to her hotel.
It was Thursday, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan returned home full of anticipation, expecting his baby Shishi to be waiting obediently in the living room. However, after searching the entire house, he couldn't find her. He immediately sensed something was wrong and took out his phone to make a call, but Iris wouldn't answer.
Left with no other option, I had to ask Dr. Pun.
Pandora was also a little worried about Iris, but reason told her that matters of the heart could only be resolved by the two parties involved. When Zhuang Zhuoyuan called, she objectively recounted the events of the afternoon to him, and said nothing more, leaving it to Zhuang Zhuoyuan to make his own judgment.
Knowing the reason, he could roughly guess where Iris had gone. Zhuang Zhuoyuan rushed to the hotel, swiped his card to open the door, and gently called out, "BB, I'm back."
Iris did indeed run out of the bedroom, but only glanced at him, as if to confirm that he was safe and sound, before returning to the room barefoot and without a word.
A large section of the bedding had sunk in, clearly indicating that Iris had been lying on it for a long time before he arrived. Zhuang Zhuoyuan remembered his girlfriend saying in an interview that when she was sulking, she would often lock herself in her room and contemplate life's most important matters over and over again. Her brain could deduce the outcomes of various choices, and as long as she could ultimately choose the option most beneficial to herself, she would stop being angry.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan then lay down next to Iris and talked to her face to face. His first words were an apology: "BB, I was wrong."
Iris, who had wanted to turn her head away, stopped in her tracks. Zhuang Zhuoyuan smiled at this, and she pouted unhappily again.
"A kiss?" He moved closer, as if to kiss her. Iris raised her hand to block him, then rolled over, only to be pinned down by Zhuang Zhuoyuan. She instantly understood his true intention, and angrily punched his chest again, shouting, "Zhuang Zhuoyuan!"
"Yes, wife!" Zhuang Zhuoyuan answered loudly, startling Iris, who pulled down her hand that was blocking his way. She was unhappy and didn't want to talk to him: "Who's your wife?"
Zhuang Zhuoyuan smiled and squeezed Iris's fingers: "Whoever agrees will be my wife."
Iris turned her head away: "I didn't agree."
"Then whoever I love the most is my wife!" Zhuang Zhuoyuan held her hand and rubbed his nose against her cheek, only to be pushed away by Iris. The latter sat up as well, muttering, "So lovey-dovey."
They were always this affectionate. Zhuang Zhuoyuan knew his future wife was just saying one thing but meaning another, so he still reached out and hugged her: "Baby, I shouldn't have made you worry, I'm sorry."
Iris said with her head slightly lowered, "This is your job. From the moment I learned that you were a Flying Tiger, I knew that there would be many more situations like today in the future."
She had only intended to say that much, but she couldn't help but say more and more: "I have also written novels about police and gangsters, and I have collected a lot of related materials for this purpose, but the difference between imagination and reality is really huge. Just hearing the news that you fired a lot of shots terrified me. Ah Yuan, I have already lost Ella, I can't lose you too."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan felt sorry for Iris's dejection. He hugged her tighter, but before speaking, he turned her around and cupped her face to comfort her: "BB, you don't have to be afraid. Actually, our Flying Tigers just released an internal report. Just calculating the traffic accident injury rate for one year, it's already higher than the injury rate of all the years since our Flying Tigers were established. So we are very safe."
“Data is just data. If an accident could be predicted, it wouldn’t be an accident.” These words might have worked on Pauline, but they had little effect on Iris. Iris, clutching the sheets, slowly organized her thoughts: “Actually, I don’t mean for you to give up your job. I know being a Flying Tiger has always been your dream. But I also know all too well about your men’s so-called ‘never mention it unless asked, only mention it briefly when asked’ kind of thoughtfulness. I don’t care what the other wives do, but I don’t want you to do that. Can you promise me?”
Zhuang Zhuoyuan hesitated for a moment.
She knew it would be like this. Iris frowned, but this time she restrained herself from throwing a tantrum. Instead, she spoke quite seriously to Zhuang Zhuoyuan, trying to persuade him: "BB, you always only tell me the good news and not the bad, so I naturally know what's going on. But that doesn't mean I can relax when I see you come back safely. I'll only worry more because of what I don't know. I'll be afraid, afraid of the next time when the future is always unknown. Do you know what I was thinking before you came? I was thinking, if I'm going to keep worrying like this for so long, how long can I hold on? Should I cut my losses now...?"
"No, honey!" Zhuang Zhuoyuan interrupted nervously, stopping Iris from continuing. He didn't think Iris would joke about this at all. Once she brought up breaking up, things would be really hard to turn around: "Baby, I didn't mean to hide it from you. I just, like how Atao was worried about Huihui, I was afraid you would be scared, so I wanted to keep things simple."
"But I'm not Huihui..."
“Yes, I know you’re not Huihui,” Zhuang Zhuoyuan said慌张地, wanting to explain and apologize for every word Iris said. “It was my fault. I should have communicated with you beforehand and shouldn’t have acted on my own. BB, can you forgive me this time? I promise I will never do it again.”
Although men's words can be deceiving, Iris decided to trust Zhuang Zhuoyuan this time, seeing how anxious he was. Her mood improved slightly, and her tone softened considerably: "So, Mr. Zhuang Zhuoyuan, do you agree with the statement, 'It's better for me to know the seriousness of the matter than to know nothing'?"
"Agreed!" Zhuang Zhuoyuan replied without hesitation.
"So if you get injured in the future, are you going to hide away and secretly recover while conspiring with a group of people to lie to me, or are you going to notify me immediately so I can take care of you?"
With his little scheme exposed, Zhuang Zhuoyuan, facing Iris's earnest eyes, dared not act rashly again. He held up three fingers as if swearing, "I absolutely guarantee to notify you immediately."
"Words are no proof!" Iris reached for the bedside table, grabbed a pen and paper, and slammed it down in front of Zhuang Zhuoyuan, demanding that he write a guarantee: "Sign your name after you've written it, and I'll go to Inspector Zhan for notarization tomorrow. Don't even think about lying to me again!"
Zhuang Zhuoyuan now truly felt that Iris and Ding Huihui were completely different. If the latter were so shrewd, then with Zhan Hantao's experience as a precedent, he wouldn't have taken this detour today. Now, he has become a cautionary tale, which is truly a headache.
He sighed softly, and Iris immediately became alert: "Zhuang Zhuoyuan, are you plotting something again?"
She was wary of him, just as he usually tried to keep a close eye on her and prevent her from going to dangerous places. Zhuang Zhuoyuan suddenly felt that the two of them were actually similar to each other, and a smile came from his heart. He quickly pecked Iris's lips again: "No, wife, I just think this guarantee is missing a clause."
Iris thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "I also think it's missing something." As she spoke, she added a small note at the bottom of the guarantee: "The above guarantee may be added at any time depending on the circumstances, and if Mr. Zhuang Zhuoyuan violates any of the contents, Ms. Zhou Yishi will immediately apply to the police academy."
“Madam Chow is actually quite a nice song!” Iris tilted her head and smiled, her smile full of threat.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan knew Iris wasn't bluffing; she had the courage to do it and was very likely to pass the test. Therefore, he didn't dare to be careless and immediately added a third clause to the guarantee—
"If I am injured, I will definitely go to Iris for a kiss and a hug, and I will tell the truth or even exaggerate the injury in order to gain my wife's sympathy and comfort."
Iris's question has circled back to the starting point: "Who is your wife?"
"Who else could it be but you?" Zhuang Zhuoyuan quickly signed his name, then hugged Iris. He showed her the entire sheet of paper and asked, "Are you satisfied?"
Iris, who had just put away her notebook and pen, said, "Consider this part of your betrothal gift. You can never go back on it!"
"Yes, wife!" Zhuang Zhuoyuan stepped off the bed, stood up straight, and saluted. Iris finally smiled. She opened her arms, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan hugged her again. Iris put her arm around him and whispered in his ear, "Sorry, baby, you came back from such a dangerous place today, and I didn't greet you or care about you right away. I even got angry with you. It was my fault."
“You came out to see me, I know. I understand you were angry because you were worried about me.” Zhuang Zhuoyuan kissed her, and Iris immediately hugged him even tighter: “BB, you’re so good!”
Zhuang Zhuoyuan was smug for a moment, then quickly decided to take the opportunity to make a new request: "However, I still have a small problem. I've started calling you 'wife,' so shouldn't you also start calling me something?"
"What?" Iris feigned ignorance, her eyes darting left and right, avoiding Zhuang Zhuoyuan's gaze. She pulled away from his embrace and lay back down on the bed, trying to pretend nothing had happened. But Zhuang Zhuoyuan wasn't about to let her go so easily. He returned to his initial state, lying down next to Iris and chatting face-to-face: "BB, don't you think our relationship has taken a big step forward after what just happened? Doesn't that deserve you upgrading your address?"
Iris shook her index finger: "We're neither married nor have we officially registered our marriage, so I won't call you that."
Marriage isn't coming anytime soon, but something else...
Having shared a bed for so long, Zhuang Zhuoyuan believed that with Iris's adaptability, she should be ready: "BB, I wonder if I can stay tonight?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
