Jiaren Wu conversed for only twenty seconds before hanging up the call.
After putting down the phone, she turned to look at Wei Shuyi with an apologetic expression.
“Brother Wei…”
Wei Shuyi asked in a low voice, “Is he looking for you?”
Jiaren Wu remained silent.
The silence was confirmation.
Wei Shuyi only asked, “Can you not go?”
The person squatting on the ground was only wearing a bra. Half a minute ago, her body still carried his scent and warmth, but in the blink of an eye, they had all disappeared.
Jiaren Wu looked up at him, her long hair covering half her eyes.
From her apologetic eyes, Wei Shuyi saw rejection and guilt.
He suddenly stood up from the sofa and picked up the clothes on the floor. He just wore his clothes in silence and did not speak.
We’re both adults, he told himself. We need to learn to be patient.
As she saw Wei Shuyi stride out of the room, Jiaren Wu’s heart sank.
“Brother Wei.” She suddenly chased after him and grabbed his hand.
Wei Shuyi stopped but didn’t turn back.
Jiaren Wu looked up at his back and suddenly said, “Give me a few months. Soon, I’ll change jobs.”
Wei Shuyi finally turned around.
Wei Shuyi lowered his eyes and looked at Jiaren Wu with a complicated gaze. In the end, he couldn’t help but ask her, “Why? Since you want to change jobs, why can’t you change earlier?”
Jiaren Wu’s lips quivered for a moment, but she was unable to explain anything.
Wei Shuyi still felt uncomfortable, but he didn’t want to make things difficult for Jiaren Wu.
After a moment of silence, his voice sounded in the room, “How long?”
Jiaren Wu nodded and sounded vague.
Wei Shuyi asked again, “How many months are you talking about?”
Jiaren Wu beamed and said, “About half a year.”
His deep and probing gaze lingered on Jiaren Wu’s face for a long time. In the end, Wei Shuyi sighed and said, “You know that I don’t know what to do with you, I’m just unwilling to let you go…” His voice was filled with helplessness, causing Jiaren Wu’s heart to ache even more.
As she watched Wei Shuyi pull open the door and leave, Jiaren Wu took a step forward before retracting her foot.
When Wei Shuyi returned home, he remembered that he had forgotten to tell Jiaren Wu about his trip to the Cleveland Clinic. He shook his head and laughed. He didn’t know if he was laughing at himself or Jiaren Wu.
***
Jiaren Wu rushed to Mansion Number 7 at Long Harbor, thinking that something big had happened. When she arrived, she realized that it was Dongli Ao who wanted to have supper. Dongli Shenghua intended to bring him out to eat and wanted Jiaren Wu to protect them.
As expected, it’s not easy to earn a twenty thousand yuan salary.
He called her for everything, including trivialities.
The driver drove and Jiaren Wu sat in the passenger seat while Dongli Shenghua and his son sat in the back.
Along the way, Dongli Ao chatted nonstop.
Jiaren Wu heard the irritation in his voice.
If it wasn’t for this little thing, she would have already fallen into bed with Wei Shuyi.
Dongli Shenghua, who had been patiently listening to his son’s mumbling, noticed Jiaren Wu’s expressionless face and asked, “Miss Wu, are you unhappy?”
“No.” The tone was hard, and even a fool could tell she was taking her anger out on him.
Dongli Shenghua said, “You’re just angry. Could it be that I called at the wrong time?”
Jiaren Wu looked back at him and did not explain. She only asked, “If you were suddenly interrupted while making out with your lover, would you be happy?”
Dongli Shenghua was stunned.
He was shocked.
He was surprised by Jiaren Wu’s frankness.
As a woman, shouldn’t she find it hard to talk about such things?
He felt a little awkward.
“Then it’s my fault.”
Jiaren Wu shook her head and said, “It’s not your fault. The contract states that if Party A needs you, Party B must be at your beck and call. You’re the employer, and I’m the employee. You can call me anytime.”
Dongli Shenghua didn’t say anything. Instead, Dongli Ao asked, “You have a boyfriend?”
Jiaren Wu looked in front of the car and answered his question, “Yes, Little Master.”
“I guess you really don’t intend to be my stepmother.”
For some reason, Dongli Ao was very persistent about whether Jiaren Wu wanted to be his stepmother.
Jiaren Wu wanted to roll her eyes.
Dongli Shenghua glanced at his son and said softly, “Xiao Ao, be good.”
Dongli Shenghua’s tone was not harsh, but Dongli Ao was terrified.
For the rest of the journey, Dongli Ao did not continue to be mischievous.
Soon, Dongli Ao wanted spicy crayfish.
The car stopped in front of a tall crayfish supper shop. Jiaren Wu got out and stood behind the father and son as they entered the shop.
Dongli Ao asked for five catties of crayfish.
Dongli Shenghua didn’t eat much, so he was responsible for peeling the crayfish for his son.
Jiaren Wu was a bodyguard, not a nanny. She did not need to help Dongli Ao peel the crayfish. She only needed to be responsible for their safety. Standing at a side, she carefully listened, playing the role of a bodyguard especially well.
It was not until 11: 30 pm that Dong Li Ao was finally satisfied.
“Let’s come here again next time,” he said.
Dongli Shenghua replied, “Don’t eat too much crayfish.”
Beside the crayfish shop was a row of night market stalls.
It was summer, and many people were eating crayfish. Jiaren Wu and the others passed by the stall and happened to glance at the group of men and women sitting at a stall. Her expression froze. Noticing her gaze, Dongli Shenghua looked in the direction she was looking at.
It was a group of policemen in plain clothes.
Dongli Shenghua turned around and asked Jiaren Wu, “Do you know them?”
Jiaren Wu nodded and remained silent for a second before saying, “Ex-colleagues.”
Dongli Shenghua nodded and continued walking.
Jiaren Wu followed them.
“Hey, isn’t that Jiaren Wu from the Anti-Narcotics Office?”
Jiaren Wu wanted to leave quickly, but those people discovered her.
They looked up at the same time and were surprised to see Jiaren Wu in black.
The two new colleagues had only heard of Jiaren Wu’s name before, but they had never seen her in person. Legend had it that Jiaren Wu from the Anti-Narcotics Unit was the most beautiful policewoman in Binjiang City. Her looks were even better than that of those female celebrities on TV.
After seeing the real person, they finally believed the rumors.
“Is she that Jiaren Wu who got expelled for hitting someone?”
“Yeah, it’s her. She beat someone up in the streets in a police uniform and didn’t admit her mistake later on. She was fired.”
“She’s quite good-looking.”
Their discussions were not deliberately concealed.
When Jiaren Wu heard this, she did not show any reaction on her face, but her eyes were filled with unwillingness and anger.
When Dongli Shenghua noticed Jiaren Wu’s gaze, his eyes flashed with a hint of deep thought.
“Jiaren, what a coincidence! You came out for supper too?”
A pretty policewoman stood up from the crowd.
Jiaren Wu recognized her. She was a colleague of the Household Affairs Department, Sun Qian. Before Jiaren Wu came, she was the flower of Binjiang City’s Public Security Bureau. After Jiaren Wu came, she had been reduced to a green stalk.
Jiaren Wu did not believe that this woman would be kind enough to greet her.
She was probably adding insult to injury.
Jiaren Wu didn’t even bother to put on a fake smile. She coldly glanced at Sun Qian and said to Dongli Shenghua, “Let’s go, Mr. Dongli.”
Sun Qian had to change her expression before she noticed Dongli Shenghua.
“Is this your boyfriend?” Her eyes flashed with jealousy. When Jiaren Wu was fired, Sun Qian had been very happy. However, when she saw that Jiaren Wu’s boyfriend was so tall and handsome, Sun Qian felt unhappy again.
She added, “Jiaren, you broke up with Handsome Wei? Is this your new boyfriend? Oh, he even has a son.” Unfortunately, he was someone else’s son.
Jiaren Wu coldly glanced over at her. “Shut up! If you don’t speak, no one will think you’re mute.”
After taking off her police uniform, Jiaren Wu no longer had those taboos.
If Sun Qian dared to insult her, Jiaren Wu would retaliate even more.
After being mercilessly reprimanded by Jiaren Wu, Sun Qian had a somewhat unsightly expression.
At this moment, Dongli Ao finally spoke up to prove his innocence for his father and himself. He looked at Sun Qian, and his small body had a loud voice. He said, “Auntie, you can’t slander others. Sister Wu is the bodyguard my daddy hired, not my stepmother. My and my daddy’s innocence can’t be insulted by you.”
He was only six years old. When he spoke, he sounded like a little adult.
Sun Qian was shocked when the kid called her an auntie.
Why am I the auntie while Jiaren Wu is the elder sister?
Due to her status as a police officer, Sun Qian cared about her face and couldn’t argue with a child like Dongli Ao. She smiled awkwardly and glanced at Jiaren Wu. “I didn’t expect you to be a bodyguard.”
Jiaren Wu replied indifferently, “It’s good to be a bodyguard. You can eat all you want, and your monthly salary is 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. The weather is hot, and the air conditioner is blowing. When you go out, you have a car to take your place. Other than your salary being 10,000 to 20,000 yuan more than that of a police officer, there’s not much of a difference.”
Sun Qian was speechless.
Dongli Shenghua’s eyes, which had always been calm and indifferent, lit up again.
The corners of his lips curled up into a faint smile.
Dongli Ao looked at his daddy in surprise.
“You…” Sun Qian stamped her feet and said angrily, “You’ve really fallen.”
The decadent Jiaren Wu ignored Sun Qian and urged Dongli Shenghua to leave.
After getting back into the car, Dongli Shenghua suddenly said to Jiaren Wu, “I thought that as police officers, all of you are united and loving.”
Jiaren Wu pursed her lips and replied, “Where there are women, there must be jealousy. It’s just a small world. I’m prettier than her. When I was in the police station, everyone loved me. Naturally, she would be jealous of me.” After saying that, Jiaren Wu was silent for a moment before scoffing lightly. She then said, “Don’t think that we are united and loving. Even if we are policemen, there are bad people.”
She thought of something, and her eyes darkened. When she spoke again, her tone became heavy and painful. “Our team once had a traitor, because of whom, our brothers suffered heavy casualties.”
Dongli Shenghua sighed. “The human heart…”
His eyes narrowed as he stared ahead, but he was confused.
She even dares to tell me that there was a traitor in the team. It seems like she really does not know my identity.
That was reasonable. His hands and feet had always been very clean. The police force in Binjiang City was useless. It’s just that Huang Junsheng had killed many drug dealers over the years. Wouldn’t he know my true identity if he saw me?
Perhaps, I was overthinking.
It was 1 am when Jiaren Wu finally returned home.
She lay on the bed and thought about many things.
She thought about Wei Shuyi, Dongli Shenghua, and Sun Qian’s words.
From the moment she took the first step, she had already predicted what would happen.
The contempt of Sun Qian and the others, the suspicion of Dongli Shenghua, and Wei Shuyi’s incomprehension…
This path was more lonely than she had imagined.
Recently, she had been sleeping poorly and suffering from insomnia. When Jiaren Wu woke up the next morning, she looked at the person in the mirror. She was so tired that even smiling made her feel even more lonely.
Every month, Jiaren Wu would have two days of rest. She took two days off at the end of July.
Jiaren Wu used her phone to contact him. She didn’t care how urgent things were with Dongli Shenghua.
That day, after Wei Shuyi got off work, he pressed the password to open the door and opened it casually as usual.
When he opened the door, the room was filled with lights, and they shone on Wei Shuyi.
Wei Shuyi raised his head in surprise and saw Jiaren Wu in front of him.
She had meticulously dressed up and put on a light orange dress. Her hair was draped over her shoulders as she leaned against the wall. When she heard the door open, she turned her head and looked at Wei Shuyi with her peach blossom eyes.
Wei Shuyi stood outside the door, holding onto the doorknob and carefully observing Jiaren Wu.
The orange dress was very short, barely covering her hips, and could be exposed at any time.
The black strappy sandals wrapped around her well-proportioned calves.
Her hair looked messy, but it was actually meticulously arranged.
Although her makeup was light, her eyeliner was very seductive.
Wei Shuyi was elated.
He suppressed the joy in his heart and pretended to be indifferent as he entered the house. Then, he put on his slippers and changed his shoes. Ignoring the woman seductively leaning against the wall, he walked past her with firm steps without shifting his gaze.
When the man’s tall and straight figure walked past her, he did not even look at her.
Frantic, Jiaren Wu stretched out a finger and gently hooked the pinky of the man’s left hand, which was hanging by his trouser leg.
Even though Wei Shuyi’s heart was made of stone, he couldn’t help but smile.
