As soon as they entered the room, Yao Yan gestured for her to take a seat.
Then, he poured himself some tea and took a sip, all while staring at Yao Tangover the rim of his cup. “You came out of there without any bodyguards?”
Yao Tang’s head jerked up at that.
Her eyes were wide with shock. She didn’t expect him to know about that place.
Yao Tang quickly looked away when their gazes met.
It was not that she was afraid.
Her eyes were merely tired, that was all.
Yao Yan placed his teacup on the table and calmly regarded her. “Were you all by yourself since leaving that place?”
Yao Tang nodded. “I applied for a leave of absence.”
But he didn’t care about why and how she left. “It’s very dangerous for you to be alone, do you know that? Why didn’t you bring your bodyguards with you?”
“City A is quite safe.”
Yao Yan raised an eyebrow. “How many bodyguards did you have with you back then?”
“No,” Yao Tangmuttered, frowning.
“Hmm?”
“I’m not the kind of person you think I am.”
“Indeed you’re not. Do you realize that you’ve led Elder Guanaround in a wild goose chase, worrying him so much that he couldn’t care about anything else?”
Yao Yan refilled his cup with tea, looking rather nonplussed despite his words.
Yao Tang said nothing.
She didn’t know what to say.
“Well?” Yao Yanprodded.
Yao Tang opened her mouth to answer him, but he beat her to it.
“All right, since you don’t seem to have anything to tell me, I’ll take the lead in this conversation instead.”
Yao Tang sighed inwardly. ‘Forget it. I won’t be able to explain it clearly, anyway.’
Yao Yan produced an encrypted phone from his pocket and looked her in the eye. “How about this, then? I’ll assign four bodyguards to accompany you. Just call them whenever you need to go anywhere.”
“I can manage—” Yao Tangstarted, only to stop when he held up his hand.
“What did you just say?”
“I said—”
“Ah, right. I heard you the first time. You said that you don’t feel safe, right? Fine, then we shall make it six bodyguards!”
Yao Tang gaped at him in outrage.
“Brother, what I mean to say is that I have pretty good martial arts skills, too. I can protect myself just fine.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, what good are bodyguards if I can’t even protect myself, right?”
“I see.”
Yao Tang nodded expectantly. “Right, that’s why you should just forget about assigning me some—”
“Eight bodyguards it is!”
Yao Tang took a sharp breath.
She was at an utter loss, and it was quite a novel experience for her.
Yao Yan, on the other hand, was immensely satisfied with the result of their “haggling”. He nodded sagely at her and said, “Let’s do it this way, then. I will do my best to keep this a secret from Elder Guan. If you’re tired, then just leave everything and take a break for a few days. Don’t just go out and play with your friends, that would be reckless and dangerous.”
…
The hospital was eerily quiet in the middle of the night.
A girl wearing exquisite makeup sauntered toward a ward on the second floor. Behind her were three bodyguards clad in all black.
She pushed the door open and looked at the man on the hospital bed.
She walked inside, her brows knotting at the strange smell in the air.
“How are things?” the girl rasped. “Have you been recovering well these last few days?”
Although her words conveyed an impression of concern, her face was filled with disdain.
The man who had been huddling under the blanket instantly poked his head out and sat up. “Miss,” he said in a trembling voice. “What brings you here?”
The girl only nodded in response.
At her signal, one of the bodyguards brought a stool over, and she sat down with much elegance and grace.
The man spoke to her with reverence. “You have my utmost gratitude, Miss. From now on, you are my greatest benefactor. If you hadn’t saved me back then, I’m afraid I would have never survived.”