The driver opened the navigation and directly input "Hot Spring Villa," and the sweet voice of the GPS started playing.
Luo Qian instantly felt a chill down his spine. He tightened his grip on the strap of his backpack and asked casually, "How do you know we’re heading to Hot Spring Villa?"
A few days ago, he took a taxi with Sister An and encountered a dishonest driver. He still had lingering psychological trauma from that; if it weren’t for having no other choice, he really wouldn’t want to take a taxi.
The man was wearing a hat and a face mask, wrapping his face up tightly. He looked suspicious no matter how you viewed him.
One hand was already in his pocket, ready to dial the police line at any moment.
The driver’s muffled voice came through the mask, "A lady with the last name Shen booked in advance, ending in XXXX."
Luo Qian pursed his lips. The phone number’s last digits were indeed his sister’s, but he remained somewhat skeptical. He pulled out his phone and gave Shen You’an a call. After receiving a definitive answer, he finally relaxed.
But soon, a new doubt rose in his mind. How could Sister An time it so perfectly, as if the taxi had been waiting at the neighborhood gate all along?
Wu Yong coughed lightly, made a turn, and merged into the main road.
He thought to himself, "Boss’s cousin is pretty sharp."
~
Twenty minutes after the taxi had left the neighborhood, another taxi stopped at the entrance.
Shen You’an paid the fare and got out of the car.
She tightened her down jacket around herself, braving the biting wind as she walked into the complex.
The neighborhood was especially quiet late at night. Lights glowed from each house, but the small square inside the complex was empty.
It was too cold; no one would be wandering around the neighborhood at a time like this.
As she passed one building, a young man wearing bulky pajamas and slippers dashed out, shivering, holding two overstuffed trash bags in his hands.
He tossed the trash into the bin, then turned and sprinted back inside, as fast as a hundred-meter dash, without looking back.
It was then that her phone started ringing.
Shen You’an pulled out her phone and glanced at it before answering and placing it by her ear.
"Shen?"
It was Xiang Chenyu.
"Officer Xiang."
Shen You’an swiped the card, opened the building’s entrance door, and pressed the elevator’s upward button.
"Where are you now?" The tone on the other end was very serious.
"At home."
"I know everything that happened tonight. Can you come to the station? I need to talk to you. Give me your home address, and I’ll come pick you up."
"That’s not possible right now."
The elevator doors opened, and Shen You’an stepped inside.
"Why?"
Shen You’an guessed that the beautiful officer on the other end must be furrowing her eyebrows right now.
"Because I’m expecting a guest shortly."
"Alright then, I won’t disturb your meeting. Tomorrow morning, make sure you come to the station. I have something very important to discuss with you."
Xiang Chenyu especially emphasized the words "very important."
Shen You’an smiled faintly. "Alright."
Xiang Chenyu stared at her own disconnected phone, her brows knitting tighter and tighter.
Yu Ruohuan had arrived in Qingzhou, and she was notified immediately.
Helian Yu being close to her wasn’t surprising.
Helian Yu himself was someone who schemed relentlessly to climb up the ladder; how could he miss the chance to curry favor with the Yu family?
But tonight, at Lanya High School’s New Year’s Eve party, an accident occurred.
Even though Liu Runxi ended up being the one injured, the real target was unquestionable.
Liu Qingfeng had immediately sealed the news; clearly, he knew his wife had gone too far this time.
Helian Yu had pulled underhanded tricks before, but she’d never had the courage to aim for someone’s life.
This time, however, she was unmistakably after Shen You’an’s life.
If she didn’t have someone’s backing, how could she dare act so recklessly?
Just moments ago, she had learned from her brother about the events in Chunzhou.
Shen You’an had clearly been facing death threats all along.
With such vicious methods, fearless of anything, who else could it be?
From Chunzhou here to Qingzhou.
Just what kind of vendetta could drive someone to pursue another’s death so relentlessly?
As a realization struck, Xiang Chenyu suddenly stood up.
The chair she had been sitting in flew out from her abrupt movement, colliding with the wall and making a dull thud.
Could it be... could her suspicions really be true?
"This is bad."
Xiang Chenyu grabbed her jacket, snatched her car keys and phone, and dashed out of the room.
"Director Xiang...?"
Everyone watched as the newly appointed Director Xiang bolted out of the office as if her seat was on fire.
"What’s happened now?"
The sky grew ominously dark with looming clouds, the wind and snow threatening to arrive.
~
Shen You’an returned home to an empty apartment.
There was half a pot of chicken soup on the stove, still warm.
She ladled some into a bowl and sat at the dining table, sipping it slowly.
The bowl of soup was quickly finished. She went back to the kitchen to wash the dishes and boiled a pot of hot water. Then, she returned to the bedroom, changed out of her little evening dress, and slipped into soft, loose loungewear.
From her backpack, she retrieved a pair of glasses and wore them.
The heating in the house was turned up high; the temperature was comfortable, even slightly sweltering.
Shen You’an picked up the dirty clothes hamper, walked to the balcony in the living room where the washing machine was, crouched down, and tossed the dirty clothes in one by one.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, a few boats floated on the river. The deep blue water seemed to merge with the barely-lit horizon, and the decorative lights on the boats gleamed like bright stars on the curtain of night, bringing faint warmth to this otherwise somber darkness.
A "click" came from the door lock.
It wasn’t the sound of a fingerprint, a password, or an electronic card unlocking the door.
If it were most people faced with this, they’d surely be alarmed.
Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, the girl’s eyes softened with a gentle smile.