Chapter 38
Zhuang Zhuoyuan proposed several times, which outsiders couldn't keep track of, but everyone clearly saw the changes in the rings on Iris's hand. And the ones who saw it most clearly, besides Pandora, were naturally Zhuang Zhuohua. Iris had already planned that her two best friends would help her with the design of her wedding invitations, candy boxes, wedding dress, and so on.
The Zhou family had been preparing for this for a long time. As soon as the photos of the proposal were uploaded, Iris received several wedding planning proposals the next day. She and Zhuang Zhuoyuan planned to have two weddings, one in Hong Kong and one in England. So even though there were still a few months until summer vacation, time was not plentiful.
That day, at Jason's dessert shop, Iris met with two women to help her choose from a series of dress designs Elaine had sent over. After being "exiled" to England, Elaine, guided by Gloria for a period, had finally developed a strong interest in fashion design. Now, with Iris's wedding approaching, she was going all out, producing over a dozen designs in three days, practically aiming to monopolize all the bride and bridesmaid outfits. Besides the ostensible reason of "trying out the shop's signature cakes," Iris also intended to introduce Jason, this desirable catch, to Pandora and Chong Cheuk-wah. Expanding one's social circle, whether with lovers or friends, is never a bad thing.
However, after sitting for nearly half an hour, Zhuang Zhuohua still hadn't appeared. Iris first called her, but there was no answer, and then she called Zhuang Zhuoyuan, whose phone was also switched off. Having some experience, she roughly guessed what had happened, and shrugged at Pandora, saying helplessly, "They've probably launched some kind of joint operation again."
"So last minute?"
"It happens often."
She answered Pandora with ease, but once she got home alone, the feeling was truly unbearable. The TV was on, waiting for the news, and her phone was in her hand, waiting for Zhuang Zhuoyuan to let her know she was safe. She had no heart to consider the long list of things on her to-do list. Iris suddenly thought of Lamy's daily life and worried that she might end up like her. Marriage and dating are definitely different.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan was unaware of his fiancée's pre-wedding jitters. On the rooftop, he observed the suspect's movements through a scope in the opposite window, particularly worried about the hostages inside. Zhuang Zhuohua had been kidnapped by her former subordinate, Lin Shiyong, a senior police officer who had been guarding the armory but had been embezzling a large quantity of heavy weapons, as well as grenades.
The two sides argued over old grudges. Wooden planks blocked the sniper rifle's aiming range, and the constant shifting of positions as they pushed and shoved made it impossible for Zhuang Zhuoyuan to fire. He felt powerless and his anxiety deepened; everything depended on the attacking team's intervention.
This time, the attack team was led by Qiu Junxuan. Faced with the threat of a large number of heavy weapons, his cautious nature made him a suitable choice as the gunner. Unfortunately, he was overly cautious and failed to see the situation clearly. He only saw Lin Shiyong throw a grenade before hurriedly ordering his team to retreat. It was just a matter of seconds. By the time they re-entered the unit, it was too late to stop Lin Shiyong from shooting himself. Fortunately, Zhuang Zhuohua dove in front of him, and the bullet went astray.
After returning home from the hospital, she was greeted with concern and inquiries. Zhuang Zhuohua looked at Iris and then at Zhuang Zhuoyuan, and just like in the hospital, she patted her brother's arm again. Then she smiled calmly and said, "You two, have you reached the point where you can even speak the same words without any difference? Then I don't need to repeat my answer. You can just communicate telepathically."
Seeing that she could still joke, Iris's last bit of worry vanished. Zhuang Zhuohua was injured and couldn't be held tightly, but it was fine for them to talk together. She bypassed Zhuang Zhuoyuan and went straight to his sister's side, replacing a giant panda in Zhuang Zhuoyuan's arms, and said with emotion, "There's been so much going on lately. It seems I'll have to ask Sister Pauline to go to the temple with me in a couple of days to get a good luck charm for you."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan laughed upon hearing this: "You've never believed in these things."
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” Iris said, propping her head up to look at him. “I heard that Inspector Zhan does it too. And Fu Zhi’s mother also said it’s auspicious.”
Since she was so enthusiastic, Zhuang Zhuohua was happy to let her have her way: "Then let's wait until the weekend. Ah Yuan and I are both on holiday, so we'll go with you. It'll be good to have some fun."
Iris immediately kissed her on the cheek: "My older sister is the best!"
"Alright, my sister will be fine after a while. Let her change her clothes and rest. You come here quickly and stop bothering me." Zhuang Zhuoyuan stretched out his arm to pull Iris back into his embrace. However, Iris was restless and poked his face after wriggling a couple of times: "You're even jealous of my sister! I still have something to ask her!"
“What do you want to ask? I can tell you what happened today. I was there, and I know the whole story.” Zhuang Zhuoyuan exerted his strength, and Iris couldn’t escape. She pouted and continued to argue with him: “Am I stupid? Of course I knew you would tell me, and this isn’t what I wanted to ask my sister. I was thinking, since we’ve all agreed to go out as a family this weekend, could we invite Ben over for dinner on Saturday night? I know Ben put in a lot of effort today. When I couldn’t reach you by phone, Ben explained the situation to me, and he was the one who found my sister’s location first, so I think we should thank him.”
Zhuang Zhuoyuan immediately knew what this little matchmaker was up to. He secretly pinched Iris's waist, and Iris glanced at him sideways before turning her gaze back to Zhuang Zhuohua. Zhuang Zhuohua, however, didn't think too much of it and nodded in agreement: "I'm fine with it. I'll send him a message later."
"Fine!"
Hearing Iris's response, Zhuang Zhuoyuan couldn't help but let his voice rise at the end. Once Zhuang Zhuohua returned to the house, he pinched Iris's cheeks and "interrogated" her: "So you still support Ben? And today you went to the dessert shop with Dr. Pun, so you still want to introduce Jason to her? You little traitor!"
Even though we support different teams in football, Iris sniffed and retorted, "On this matter, I've never been on your side! Humph!"
Zhuang Zhuoyuan naturally had his reasons for threatening: "If you snort again, I won't tell you what happened today."
She could certainly learn the full story from others, but she also remembered Zhuang Zhuoyuan's comment about the difference in the sniper's perspective. So Iris decisively surrendered, her pretense lasting only three seconds before she started whining, "Oh dear~"
The remaining six words, "Hurry, hurry, I want to hear," were enough for people to imagine. Zhuang Zhuoyuan suppressed a laugh, sat up straight, and made a move to get up: "I have to go cook first."
Iris straddled him with her long legs, pinning him back down: "I've already ordered a big meal from ULO!"
"Anything else?" Zhuang Zhuoyuan leaned back on the sofa chair and looked up at her.
Before discovering a treasure, there always needs to be a ritual to open the door. Iris adjusted her posture, tucked her hair behind her ears with both hands, and quickly pecked Zhuang Zhuoyuan's lips, thinking to herself, "This guy is still jealous of Zhuang Zhuohua."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan was immediately delighted and recounted the past grievances between Lin Shiyong and Zhuang Zhuohua. It turned out to stem from the unexpected death of Qian Fubang. After her fiancé's passing, Zhuang Zhuohua threw herself into work, using busyness to numb herself. However, her workaholic attitude forced the entire team to work day and night with her. Just when she hadn't been home for three consecutive days and was on the verge of collapse, Lin Shiyong, responsible for submitting evidence, made a mistake. He inadvertently overlooked a crucial piece of evidence, preventing the defendant from being convicted. Upon learning of this, Zhuang Zhuohua acted impartially, reporting Lin Shiyong's error to her superiors. As a result, Lin Shiyong was transferred to the armory, ruining his career. Afterwards, his personality changed drastically; he became increasingly frustrated and irritable, eventually leading to his divorce.
“He insisted that he handed the evidence to another colleague, but this could not be verified. My sister believed that even if it was true, it was a dereliction of duty for him to delegate a task that he should have been responsible for to someone else, so in the end she reported the matter to her superiors as it was. That is why Lin Shiyong has held a grudge against my sister for so many years, and that's why he took her hostage today when he lost control.”
"Sigh." Iris only sighed, offering no further comment. "I heard from Ben that Lin Shiyong eventually committed suicide. How is he now?"
"He's not in mortal danger, but the bullet pierced his face and damaged nerves. It's unclear to what extent he can recover." Zhuang Zhuohua had specifically inquired about Lin Shiyong's condition at the hospital, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan repeated what he had heard the doctor say.
Iris nodded, seemingly intending to end the topic there, but then added, "If you need any help from me, you can let me know. I can find some more specialists for medical matters. As for work after his release from prison, I can't keep him working in one of our group's businesses, but I can find someone who can help him. If confidentiality is required, that can be maintained. Alternatively, I can simply write him a check."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan hadn't expected her to think so comprehensively, but having spent so much time with Iris's family, he had grown accustomed to their way of doing things and didn't say anything more. After pondering for a while, he nodded and said, "I think we should leave this matter to my elder sister to decide."
Right or wrong, things happen and they need to be resolved. Regardless of the emotions behind the decision, a satisfactory outcome is best. After Zhuang Zhuoyuan went about his business, Iris stood alone by the window, gazing at the scene outside. Looking at the windows of the houses, so similar to their own, she could almost hear the myriad lives unfolding within. She took out her phone and dialed again: "Hey, Hugo, find me a top-notch criminal lawyer and have him go find Lin Shiyong, the man who just committed the crime."
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