*Xin Lei*

It felt as if my heart would come out of my chest. I was bold just a minute ago, but his words suddenly made me shy and ecstatic.

No space for anybody left to enter…He likes me that much...

It felt as if I was already flying in the air high up in the sky. A giddy feeling enveloped my chest.

My glance shifted towards Zhang Ning, and she wasn\'t in her place anymore.

Phew! She finally left. Good thing she listened to Bai Li. Now, she wouldn\'t have any other useless thoughts about Bai Li and give up on him!

I cleared my throat and typed. "That\'s good. Now, I completely forgive you."

Bai Li chuckled. "Thank you, girlfriend."

I typed. "Let\'s go. Si Ming would be waiting for us."

"En."

As we went outside, we found numerous cops barricading the area and carrying out their search for Zhang Xiulan.

Bai Li asked one officer. "Did you find her?"

"No. She escaped through the window, and the only possible direction is the left because it\'s a dead-end at the right. Towards the left is the main market street, and it\'s easy to go unnoticed there."

We nodded.

"Did Zhang Ning say what she was wearing?"

I typed. "I think she was wearing all black again."

"You can cross-check with all the clothes shops nearby where she could change into another set of clothes. She wouldn\'t keep on wearing the same clothes if all black catches attention. Nowadays, all the decent shops have CCTV, so it\'s hardly plausible she might take the risk of exposing her face. But better safe than sorry."

That made sense.

The officer made a note and nodded. "Got it. We will check the shops."

Si Ming asked, "What is this all about?"

I sighed.

"It\'s a long story, but you only need to know that nothing we discuss and what you see must be heard by anybody else."

Si Ming thoughtfully nodded. "I understand."

"Also, let\'s take a detour. Xin Lei. Open the map on your phone."

I typed. "Done."

Bai Li seemed as if he was trying to sense something, and then he said. "Good. We aren\'t in the earshot. Is there any empty or abandoned place around 1 or 1.5 kilometers? Zhang Xiulan would have to change her clothes, but if she cannot do it in a clothes store, then she must have a place somewhere nearby which is not used by anyone and which is free of any security."

I typed. "There is one. Just ten minutes up ahead. But how would she have gone there for those ten minutes too? She could still be caught."

Then it struck me.

I rapidly typed again. "Wait. Her partner, who has been helping her this whole time."

Bai Li nodded. "Perhaps he would be ready with his bike somewhere, and she hopped onto it after she escaped from Zhang Ning\'s ward. Until they reached the place, she must have worn a jacket of some sort to hide at least her upper body. Let\'s quickly go to that place. Maybe we could still find them."

I typed. "But we don\'t have any guns with us."

"We have." Bai Li tapped his finger near his waist. I faintly saw two bulges. "Xin Zhen gave them to me before we left. He thought we might need it, of course not before he instructed me not to let a single scratch befall on his dearest sister."

Awww...my bro is so sweet.

"If you get hurt, then he would kill both of us and personally bury us in the ground."

"..."

"Nice sense of humor, your brother got there."

I sighed.

I typed. "What about Si Ming? She cannot come with us there. It could be dangerous."

"I know. We were supposed to take her back, but I didn\'t know that Zhang Xiulan would make her appearance. That\'s why it\'s better to call your brother and ask Luo Zhiqiang to pick her up. Until then, we would leave her in a safe place."

Si Ming had no issues either. I typed. "Alright. It\'s decided then."

***

---

Dongcheng.

During the day, Ying Yue had classes at University, and at night, she would work in the bar as her part-time job. Today, her studies got over earlier, so she was free for the rest of the day.

"Cousin." Xue Jingjing gently called her out.

Ying Yue expressionlessly looked back at her.

"Cousin. I want you to meet somebody." She pulled a young man\'s arm forward. "Cousin. He is Yang Mo."

Yang Mo smiled. "Hello, Ying Yue. It\'s nice to meet you."

"Hello."

"Cousin." Xue Jingjing shyly said, "Yang Mo and I are dating now. So I wanted you to be the first to meet him."

"Boyfriend?" Ying Yue quizzically tilted her head.

"Yes."

Xue Jingjing quietly observed her reaction. She wanted to see if it affected her, but Ying Yue was always so impassive that it was hard to detect her expression.

"Cousin...I hope you don\'t mind us dating…" she bit her lip and looked guilty.

Yang Mo patted her head. "It\'s alright, Jingjing. I know she wouldn\'t mind us."

Ying Yue asked, "Why would it affect me that you are dating him?"

Xue Jingjing showed a troubled expression. "Cousin, you don\'t need to hide. I know that you...you like Yang Mo. But trust me, I had no intention of snatching him from you. Yang Mo c-confessed to me and I-I liked him for a long time, so I couldn\'t refuse…"

"I don\'t like Yang Mo. Where did you get that idea from?"

Xue Jingjing held her hands. "Cousin, just last month, you lied to his ex-girlfriend how he was cheating on her, and then she broke up with him. You did it because you felt jealous of her."

Ying Yue was unaffected. "No. I saw Yang Mo kissing another girl in the bar where I work. The next day, his girlfriend coincidentally sat beside me in the canteen, and she said how Yang Mo treated her so nicely. I thought it was only fair to tell how wrong she was."

She looked at Yang Mo. "Data suggests that around 20-25%, it is highly probable for a man who cheated before to cheat again. Either be cautious of him or better, find another suitable man."

Yang Mo\'s expression was ugly, but he still smiled. "Ying Yue. I think there is a misunderstanding. I didn\'t cheat."

"If there is a misunderstanding, why didn\'t you clear it with your ex-girlfriend and get back with her rather than finding a new one? And my eyesight has no problems. It wasn\'t your girlfriend that you were kissing that night in the bar. If it\'s not her, then it\'s another woman, and if it\'s another woman, then that means you were cheating."

Yang Mo froze and couldn\'t retort.

Xue Jingjing quickly said, "Seriously, sis, you don\'t need to try so hard to deny that you like Yang Mo. I don\'t want you to resent me because we are together."

Ying Yue furrowed her brows. She felt puzzled. "Like Yang Mo? I think you are suggesting the relationship type of like. But as far as I remember since my childhood and until now, I haven\'t experienced the kind of like you are mentioning-"

\'You are quite interesting.\'

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Rodey\'s face with his lips laced in a devilish smile, and his words popped in her head, and she couldn\'t complete her sentence.

Ying Yue was in a daze, and Xue Jingjing assumed her silence that she liked Yang Mo indeed. A faint smirk curved her lips upward.

Yang Mo faintly sneered too as he thought that Ying Yue liked him. He felt satisfied.

Xue Jingjing pitifully looked at her. "Sis...see? As I thought you…"

Ying Yue snapped out. For the first time, she couldn\'t understand what just happened to her. She was in deep thought.

"I will leave. I have to get ready for my part-time job."

"But sis…"

"Xue Jingjing. I can only say what I think and what the data says about men like Yang Mo. After that, it\'s up to you if you still want to continue with the relationship. I won\'t interfere. As your cousin, it was my duty to warn you at least once. I did my responsibility. The rest is up to you. Now, excuse me."

Ying Yue turned back and quickly walked away, leaving a smug on Xue Jingjing and Yang Mo\'s faces.

Xue Jingjing secretly smirked.

That felt good. Cousin must have run away to hide somewhere and cry her eyes out that she lost Yang Mo to me. Sorry sis, but Yang Mo is mine.

---

Ying Yue walked out of the campus in a daze as she was still thinking about the moment when Rodey crossed her mind.

That was strange. Why did I think about him at that time?

As she was lost in her stupor, a hand came out from a dark alley and grabbed her arm and dragged her inside.

Ying Yue gasped, but that man covered her mouth.

Her heart raced in trepidation.

A murderer? A rapist?

Then she heard the man groaning in pain. He pointed his gun at her temple.

"Ugh.."

Ying Yue slowly turned her head and was shocked to see Rodey sweating and panting. She looked down and saw that his abdomen was bleeding.

He narrowed his eyes and pressed the gun deeper. "Do as I say or I will shoot you dead right here. Take me to your home."