"Chuyi, if I had known you earlier, I would have protected you from being bullied." His words were tinged with deep past regrets and subtle promises for the future.
Xia Chuyi: "...If we had met earlier, I would have still been a child."
In every sense of the word.
Realizing Uncle Liberation Army’s body had tensed, she lifted her face and smiled at him, "If we had met earlier, you would have been a mature adult, and I would have been just a little troublemaker with a criminal background; you wouldn’t have spared me a glance."
Huo Shiqian remained silent.
"Meeting later, you would have been older, and I would have been in my prime—we wouldn’t have seen eye to eye."
The chill around Huo Shiqian intensified.
Seemingly oblivious to the cold demeanor he adopted, Xia Chuyi continued:
"So, Brother Shiqian, our meeting at the best time and place ensures that we are bound to have the best outcome."
With that one sentence, she melted the glacial cold.
But Huo Shiqian’s concern for her didn’t diminish, and after a while, he reached out to gently touch her forehead and said, "Mhm."
Although brief, with just one word, his tone was very serious.
That meant yes, they would have the best outcome—he promised.
Xia Chuyi’s smile grew even broader as she said to him, "Uncle Liberation Army, you’re really great!"
Such a mischievous girl.
But this time, Huo Shiqian did not thump her on the head.
His girl, from now on, not even he could bully her.
Xia Chuyi did not know that in the eyes of her own Uncle Liberation Army, she was already seen as a poor little thing that needed his thorough protection.
"Come on, let’s go see Ding Qianqian; she’s awake!" Xia Chuyi blinked at Huo Shiqian and dragged him straight to the hospital.
Indeed, Ding Qianqian had awoken.
The public security officer who went in earlier had whispered to her this very news.
Yet, she acted utterly calm, pretending that nothing had happened.
She just wanted the Xia Family to think that the situation was very serious.
When the two arrived at the hospital, the public security officer waiting by Ding Qianqian’s side hurried over to lead them to her room.
"Ding Qianqian’s injuries are not life-threatening, she just lost a lot of blood and passed out."
"The surgery is over now, and she has regained consciousness."
"However, she refuses to speak, saying she’ll only talk when you arrive."
The public security officer briefed her again.
"Thank you," said Xia Chuyi.
When they saw Ding Qianqian, as the public security officer said, she was just pale from blood loss.
Upon seeing Xia Chuyi, Ding Qianqian became incredibly agitated and said through clenched teeth, "Mr. Xia, you must stand up for me, Xia Chengzu that beast! He’s too cruel!"
"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Xia Chuyi asked her calmly, while the public security officer standing by also nodded, pulled out a notebook, and started taking notes.
Ding Qianqian insisted on explaining the events only in front of Xia Chuyi, as they had a prior deal, hence she trusted Xia Chuyi more.
The story was straightforward and clear.
It turned out that when Ding Qianqian had sneaked out, she had drugged Xia Chengzu. After meeting Xia Chuyi, she had returned to her rental to retrieve some items—thinking that Xia Chengzu wouldn’t have recovered from the drugs yet.
However, Xia Chengzu had woken up prematurely! Upon seeing her, he furiously interrogated her with eyes red with anger.
Ding Qianqian, knowing the public security officers were nearby keeping watch, spoke arrogantly.
The disagreement escalated quickly, and Xia Chengzu ended up stabbing Ding Qianqian.