Chapter 22
Actually, Iris did know other people in the police department; more accurately, Edward had acquaintances in the police force.
Edward and Jennie had only been in Hong Kong briefly before, and hadn't had a chance to meet many old friends. While looking at properties, they made time to contact a few to catch up, while Iris decided to visit others in person. The couple were thinking ahead; their daughter's family planned to settle down in Hong Kong in the future, so it would be better for them to visit some of their elders in person.
Iris naturally understood her parents' intentions, but she didn't want to put too much pressure on Zhuang Zhuoyuan. So, before the Lunar New Year, she took him to visit a group of senior figures in the business and political circles, while she herself visited a group of senior police officers on her own during her boyfriend's work hours. She also paid respects to all the bigwigs her parents had previously contacted, visiting all the addresses on the long list before she could finally focus on preparing for her final exams and celebrating the Lunar New Year.
During her recent trip back to Hong Kong after the Lunar New Year, Iris overheard Zhan Sir recommending Zhuang Zhuoyuan for his promotion exam while chatting at PC Bar. At this stage, Iris had considered asking Zhuang Sir to avoid any appearance of impropriety, lest he be promoted and become the subject of gossip. However, upon meeting Qiu Junxuan that day, she knew she absolutely had to take Zhuang Zhuoyuan to his home soon. While the Qiu family wasn't exactly a family feud, their relationship was quite close—in the more than twenty years Edward had been away from Hong Kong, Qiu Junxuan's father, Da Qiu Sir, was among those who had maintained contact with him. Since his son had joined the Flying Tigers, it would be inappropriate for Zhuang Zhuoyuan, also in the unit, not to visit him.
But it wasn't until the day of departure, once they were in the car, that Iris briefly told Zhuang Zhuoyuan about the Qiu family's relationship with them. This wasn't too surprising; the more Zhuang Zhuoyuan interacted with Iris's family, the more he felt that meeting any celebrity in the future wasn't a dream. Like recently, while on vacation abroad, he even managed to ask Richard Edison to paint a tulip on Zhan Hantao's phone case as a birthday gift for Ding Huihui. Coupled with Iris's usual adaptive "training" and targeted guidance, even knowing that Da Qiu Sir was now in a high position and that his children were all elites, Zhuang Zhuoyuan didn't feel the slightest bit nervous or restrained.
His increasingly confident and poised demeanor, coupled with his signature wink, made Iris want to pounce on him and kiss him one more time. However, at the moment of their next intimate contact, a sly glint flashed in Iris's eyes. She held back some things, keeping a surprise from him, waiting to see how Zhuang Zhuoyuan would react.
At the Qiu family home, Qiu Junxuan, summoned back by a phone call, was momentarily stunned upon learning the visitor's identity. He hadn't expected that the daughter his father had been talking about for days, the daughter of a close friend he wanted to introduce to him, was actually Iris. He had been there the first time she visited, but in his haste to leave, he hadn't greeted her, only glancing at her briefly at the door. No wonder she seemed familiar during the welcoming ceremony. But a friend's wife is not to be trifled with. Remembering his father's enthusiasm, Qiu Junxuan quickly reminded him, "Daddy, Iris actually already has a fiancé, Zhuang Zhuoyuan, the sniper in our team. They're very much in love..."
“That’s why I invited him over as well.” Da Qiu Sir interrupted his son with a smile. Judging from the latter’s expression, he knew what Qiu Junxuan was thinking. “That’s right. If there’s an opportunity, I would indeed like to match you and Iris together. But if I had known that Lao Zhou’s initial purpose in asking me about Zhuang Zhuoyuan was to investigate his future son-in-law, I would never have mentioned it in front of you. Xuanzi, do you understand?”
Qiu Junxuan nodded obediently: "I understand, Daddy."
Daegu Sir continued, "However, Zhuang Zhuoyuan is indeed a talent. His marksmanship is absolutely top-notch in our police force, especially among your generation of young people. I've also asked several of his former superiors, and they all had a very good impression of him. So, Ah Xuan, since you said that Inspector Zhan wants to train you to be a sniper, getting close to Zhuang Zhuoyuan will be beneficial for you."
Qiu Junxuan wasn't the only one transferred to the sniper team. As Iris predicted, Yu Xueli was also eventually assigned by Inspector Zhan to be an observer for Zhuang Zhuoyuan. Upon hearing this news, Iris's first reaction was to laugh out loud, whether out of self-satisfaction with her own prediction or schadenfreude towards Zhuang Zhuoyuan, it was unclear. Actually, Iris also knew this Bob, and was even more familiar with him than with Qiu Junxuan. After witnessing the surprised expressions on Zhuang Zhuoyuan and Qiu Junxuan's faces when they met at the Qiu family home, Iris casually revealed Yu Xueli's identity: "Didn't I show you that magazine about the wealthy Yu Shitang a couple of days ago? Yu Xueli is his son, his only son."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan suddenly realized: "So the news you showed me these past two days had a meaning. No wonder you even changed the music to the morning news broadcast when I was washing up in the morning. You really put a lot of thought into it."
A light tickle ran down Iris's nose as her nose was touched by a finger. She reached out and touched the spot Zhuang Zhuoyuan had touched, intending to tease him for his slow reaction, but she couldn't help but sweetly wrap her arms around his neck and snuggle into his embrace. However, she still said coquettishly, "All that effort I put into making you realize who Xuanzai is when you hear the name 'Qiu Junsheng,' but you didn't react at all."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan deliberately tightened his arms around her, smiling as he said, "I thought you were going to push me to become the youngest chief inspector in history, just like Boss Xuanzai."
Iris, remembering his age, looked up and smiled: "Is it possible?"
Her fingers danced restlessly across his face, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan let her do as she pleased. He feigned hesitation, then swiftly caught her lips just as she approached, giving her a light bite. Only after the exchange of favors did he willingly answer, "No."
Iris squinted and made a face: "Luckily, I don't necessarily want you to get promoted."
Wish? The mere mention of that word made Zhuang Zhuoyuan want to cover his eyes. On her birthday, he'd placed a diamond necklace with three stars as a pendant among the stars atop the giant Christmas tree, promising her she could make three wishes for him to grant. From the end of December until now, at least thirty wishes had been made. The mischievous little girl always ended up wishing for "three more wishes," and now the wall was covered with sticky notes filled with her wishes. "You," Zhuang Zhuoyuan said, lowering his head to kiss her gently, seeing her bright, clear eyes gazing directly at him, his heart filled with happiness, "I must have owed you so much in my past life."
Iris didn't like his way of putting it and corrected him immediately: "You must have done a lot of good deeds in your past life to be able to marry such a wonderful wife like me in this life."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan seized another opportunity to propose: "So, wife, when will you agree to marry me?"
Zhuang Sheng had agreed to propose again, and since then, he'd proposed at least ten more times. However, Iris always refused, making Zhuang Zhuoyuan almost want to carry the second engagement ring with him constantly. But with so many attempts, he developed other methods. On the eleventh proposal, Zhuang Sheng learned to improvise, using a foxtail grass to make a ring before kneeling down when the atmosphere was just right. After that, screws, pull tabs, and other props became readily available, veerging his proposals in bizarre and unconventional ways, leaving everyone both amused and exasperated. Iris, not wanting her future memories of the proposal to be completely devoid of "romance," quickly intervened, adding a touch of coquettishness: "You really don't cherish what you have once you've got it! You're so enthusiastic about preparing for Zhan Sir's proposal, but you're not as good to me as you are to Huihui."
"Oh dear, who's jealous?" Zhuang Zhuoyuan shook the finger she had used to poke his chest, then habitually kissed it. He wanted to touch Iris's face again, but she quickly turned away. Iris puffed out her cheeks, making no attempt to hide her jealousy: "Auntie told me to remind you that too much of anything is bad, be careful not to attract unwanted attention."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan was stunned for a moment, then realized that his girlfriend was joking: "How could that be? Huihui is Atao's girlfriend and your friend. Besides, everyone knows that I'm helping Atao."
“Fine.” Iris hesitated, wondering whether to continue the discussion. She hadn't initially thought much about it either, but Gloria's reminder about defining intimacy had given her pause. From a certain perspective, Zhuang Zhuoyuan did indeed know Ding Huihui far too well. She could interpret it as Zhuang Zhuoyuan's thoughtfulness towards a friend, but too many real-life examples proved that the line between friendship and love could easily be blurred.
"Ah B?" Zhuang Zhuoyuan keenly sensed the change in his girlfriend's emotions. He knew she wasn't a petty person, but if his behavior made her feel uncomfortable, Zhuang Zhuoyuan felt he needed to improve. "What's wrong? Just tell me, okay?"
Iris was silent for a moment before finally speaking: "I only have one question. If I knew another man this well, wouldn't you feel threatened?"
If he hadn't helped Zhan Hantao, that person would probably have noticed something amiss long ago, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan would likely have been accused of "seducing his sister-in-law" and beaten up by everyone. Even if the boundaries of romantic relationships are difficult to define, one shouldn't cross the line into someone's boyfriend's feelings. Iris truly didn't know how to evaluate Zhuang Sheng's fluctuating emotional intelligence. And she was genuinely worried about Zhan Hantao's upcoming marriage proposal. Could Huihui, this elusive woman, truly be willingly captivated by the rather clueless Zhan Sir?
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