In the car.
Chi Shuyan leaned her head against the glass and kept shifting to the left, trying to get as far away as possible from the man next to her. Unfortunately, there was only so much space in the car, so no matter how she squeezed to the side, there wasn’t much distance between them.
Qi Zhenbai, who was sitting upright, gave Chi Shuyan, who was sitting like a boneless snake, a sidelong glance, then took a few more looks at her to see that she wasn’t paying attention. His thick eyebrows knitted together. Wasn’t she uncomfortable sitting like that? Was she sleepy? He reached out and wanted to pull her head over.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Chi Shuyan instinctively ducked, avoiding Qi Zhenbai’s arm as she asked the question warily.
Qi Zhenbai looked at his raised arm and withdrew it without the slightest bit of embarrassment, as if nothing happened. His handsome face was expressionless and his phoenix eyes looked at her flatly. “I thought you were sleepy.”
When Chi Shuyan heard this, she was a little embarrassed. Although Qi Zhenbai didn’t reveal anything on his face, she inexplicably felt that he was slightly concerned about her. She was making a fuss over nothing. But who told him to have a history of taking advantage of her? She shook her head and said, “I’m not sleepy.”
“No matter how urgent the rescue was, you must also remember to handle the aftermath.” Qi Zhenbai stared straight ahead, not looking at Chi Shuyan.
Chi Shuyan was slightly stunned and she immediately reacted. They had disappeared on the highway, which had surveillance cameras. If anyone with ulterior motives were to investigate randomly, everything would be clear, especially to the relevant departments. She wasn’t afraid of being found out, but she was afraid of trouble knocking on her door.
Chi Shuyan frowned, remembering how those departments had tried to overtly and covertly recruit her in her previous life, and felt somewhat irritated.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already gotten someone to deal with the video of your car disappearing into thin air. Don’t be rash again in the future.” Qi Zhenbai comforted her.
Chi Shuyan looked at Qi Zhenbai in surprise, somewhat surprised that he would take care of the aftermath for her, and so flawlessly. She looked at him blankly. It just so happened that Qi Zhenbai had his head down. From this angle, his thick eyelashes covered his eyes, his nose bridge was high, and his side profile was ridiculously exquisite. Furthermore, since his eyes weren’t visible, he lacked his usual air of aggression and sharp coldness.
While she was lost in thought, she suddenly felt a warm touch on the back of her hand and almost pulled back. But when she saw Qi Zhenbai’s inexplicably gentle side profile, she somehow didn’t shake his hand off as usual.
It wasn’t until Qi Zhenbai’s calloused fingers gently caressed the back of her hand and tickled her that Chi Shuyan felt uncomfortable and wanted to withdraw her hand again. As if knowing her thoughts, Qi Zhenbai’s lean and powerful fingers suddenly took advantage of the situation and slipped between her own. Their fingers intertwined as he clasped her hand.
Chi Shuyan felt her palm burn and wanted to pull away. Inexplicably, however, she felt a warm comfort. After some hesitation, she lowered her eyes and hummed softly. “Thank you.” A thought even inexplicably crossed her mind: If he wasn’t so aggressive, making the best of things and being with him wouldn’t be so bad.
Wait a minute, what did she mean by being with him wouldn’t be so bad? Chi Shuyan reacted and was slightly shocked. She was a staunch lone wolf. Besides, Qi Zhenbai was so aggressive and she didn’t like being controlled, so she couldn’t quite picture the two of them together.
Chi Shuyan hurriedly cleared the messy thoughts from her mind. She glanced out the window at a familiar street, and suddenly shouted, “Wait — stop the car!”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to buy something from this street.” Seeing that the driver wasn’t stopping, Chi Shuyan hurriedly pointed at the street. She shouldn’t let her thoughts run wild. With her little bit of skill, earning money was more important. It had been a long time since she had put anything new in her Taobao shop.
“What are you buying?” Qi Zhenbai continued to ask.
“Talisman, cinnabar, and the like.” Seeing that they were about to pass the street, Chi Shuyan replied somewhat helplessly, feeling that if she didn’t make herself clear, Qi Zhenbai wouldn’t let her get out.
“Stop the car!” There was a screech of wheels.
Chi Shu looked somewhat resentfully at the driver. Fine, fine, it only worked if the real master spoke.
She got out of the car and Qi Zhenbai also looked like he wanted to follow.
Chi Shuyan looked at Qi Zhenbai with ill intent but didn’t stop him. When they came out of the shop, Qi Zhenbai’s hands were full of stuff. Chi Shuyan looked at him in his prim and pressed suit; at a glance, he looked like a noble young master, but that was at odds with the large and small bags of New Year goods in his hands. She just wanted to laugh.
“Don’t you look like a bodyguard?” Chi Shuyan tilted her head and jeered.
Qi Zhenbai’s heart inexplicably softened at the way Chi Shuyan tilted her head, knowing that she was deliberately teasing him. He was about to speak, when he caught a glimpse of a hunched figure out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that Chi Shuyan was about to run into him, he threw away the things in his right hand without hesitation, yanked on Chi Shuyan’s arm, and warned, “Be careful!”
Chi Shuyan was startled and quickly stepped back. Qi Zhenbai yanked her back so that she didn’t bump into the old man. Looking at the old man in front of her, she quickly apologized. “Sorry, I almost knocked into you.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” The old man was also startled, not expecting to see someone in front of him, but he immediately reacted with a benevolent smile. “Fortunately, your boyfriend’s hands are quick! My eyes are old and don’t work well.”
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Chi Shuyan felt inexplicably complicated when she heard the word “boyfriend.”
“I live near here and I’m in a hurry to cook for my grandson.” The old man looked at the things strewn over the ground and crouched down to help pick them up.
Chi Shuyan supported him with one hand on his arm. She was about to speak, but a series of images quickly flashed through her mind.
She saw the old man in front of her enter a unit. He seemed to smell something bad as he covered his nose and fanned the air in front of him casually, but he didn’t think much of it.
He entered a room and covered a five- or six-year-old child who was sleeping soundly with a blanket before he went back out. He grabbed a tobacco pipe from the table and lit it as he walked toward the kitchen. Who would have thought that just as he opened the glass door to the kitchen —
The lit pipe in the old man’s hand flickered, and with a bang, it suddenly burst into flames. The old man was instantly hit in the face by a wave of heat that covered and burned everything. His face looked hideous and his figure twisted as he struggled in the sea of fire and completely turned into a burning man. The entire house then violently exploded, and there was a sea of fire everywhere.
The firefighters then carried out blackened bones of varying sizes, which was an utterly shocking and ghastly sight.
Chi Shuyan immediately let go of the old man’s arm in fright, breaking out in a cold sweat at the terrifying image of the sea of fire.
“Young lady, are you unwell?” the old man noticed Chi Shuyan’s discomfort and asked in concern.
Qi Zhenbai, who was picking something up, looked up when he heard this, and walked to her side and asked in concern, “What’s wrong?”
Ever since the last time when this man had almost seen through her, Chi Shuyan had been utterly vigilant against him. She normally wouldn’t dare reveal too much, but she had to say something now; how could she watch this old man leave and see his family buried in a sea of fire? She lowered her eyes. At that moment, Chi Shuyan couldn’t care less about exposing herself or not. She opened her mouth and said to the old man, “Uncle, you are in conflict with fire today. Remember to stay away from anything related to fire, or else you’ll be seriously injured or your whole family will die! Remember! Remember!”