A Blush-inducing Misunderstanding
Xia Lei drove Liu Ying’s car safely, more or less, back to Gold Coast thanks to the fact that there were not many cars on the roads at night. However, a drive which only needed half an hour took him over an hour.
Liu Ying was asleep and breathing deeply. She had no outward symptoms of being affected by the drug and this was why Xia Lei did not drive her to the hospital but to her home. Based on Liu Ying’s condition, he assumed that that middle-aged man had probably used sleeping pills, ground to a powder or hallucinatory drugs which did not pose a danger to her life.
Xia Lei carried Liu Ying to her bedroom, then removed her shoes and carried her to her bed.
At that moment, Liu Ying seemed to be suddenly revived, mumbling, “Hubby… Give me cuddles…”
A woman in her thirties could still act spoilt, her voice soft and candyfloss-sweet, like an 18-year-old girl. Add her rosy, pale beautiful face, her supple skin and seductive bodyline and Xia Lei could almost not hold himself from cuddling her.
However, Xia Lei managed to control himself. After he put her on the bed, he got her mobile phone from her handbag. The message was still there. He called the number from the message.
“Sorry, the number which you have just dialled is not valid…” A recorded system message came from the phone.
Xia Lei was not surprised. The enemy would not send a message from a phone number which could be traced back to him and reveal his identity.
Xia Lei sat by the bed, wavering between choices, ‘Should I make a police report or wait for the person to get in contact again?’
The person must have considered the possibility of Liu Ying making a police report before sending that threatening message but he had still sent it. This meant that he was not afraid of Liu Ying going to the police. However, it would be too passive to just wait for the person to get in contact without making a police report.
After much hesitation, Xia Lei still took out his phone and readied himself to give Jiang Ru-Yi a call. She was not in charge of this case but she was still a Chief and the situation would be better if they had her help.
Just as Xia Lei opened up his contacts page on his phone, someone leaned on his back. Soft things pressed close on his back, and a pair of arms circled his neck, holding him in a tight hug. A peach-lipped mouth appeared by his ear, expelling warm breath as it said, “Hubby… Why aren’t you coming to bed yet? How long are you going to make me wait?”
In that instant, Xia Lei’s mental fortitude was at its limit. The material of his trousers also seemed to draw tight against him.
“Hubby…” Liu Ying’s peachy lips almost touched Xia Lei’s earlobe.
Xia Lei could not take it anymore. He moved back-first and dropped Liu Ying to the bed, then used his hands to push himself upwards and escape from the tangle of Liu Ying’s hands and feet.
Liu Ying wriggled on the bed like a boneless fish. She was mumbling something but whatever she said was so unclear that she herself probably wouldn’t know what she said. As she wriggled, her skirt flipped open and she exposed herself. She was indescribably maturely sultry.
Xia Lei smiled wryly and shook his head. He held his phone in his hand and exited her room; he could not stay in there any longer. She was seeing him as her husband and insisting on sleeping with him. If he did not hold on to his senses, he’d really become her husband and that would be trouble.
Xia Lei called Jiang Ru-Yi and got through to her in the corridor, “It’s me, Ru-Yi.”
“What is it? Why call me so late at night? I was already asleep… Yawn… You woke me up.” Jiang Ru-Yi yawned while she spoke and sounded rather grumpy.
“Making a report,” said Xia Lei.
“Heh heh. Turning yourself in?”
“I’m not joking around. I’m serious. It’s like this…”
He outlined the situation simply, from the time the transvestite turned up to the time Liu Ying received the threat and was drugged.
“Isn’t the perpetrator going overboard? Even drugging her!” Jiang Ru-Yi sputtered angrily.
“Yeah. Hurry and crack this case, police officers. If this goes on I’m afraid that person may do something to harm Big Sister Liu and her child,” said Xia Lei.
“I’ll make a call and inquire with the colleague in charge of this case,” said Jiang Ru-Yi.
“Thanks. That’s it then. I’ll wait for your news,” said Xia Lei.
“Hold on… “ Jiang Ru-Yi suddenly said, “Are you at Liu Ying’s place now?”
“Yes, I sent her home.”
“You didn’t…”
Xia Lei was a little at a loss for words as he replied, “What rubbish are you thinking of? Am I that sort of person in your eyes?”
Jiang Ru-Yi giggled, “Why so anxious? I didn’t even finish my sentence and your thoughts went that way. I was going to say… You didn’t drive her home, did you?”
“Of course I did. That’s right, return my car tomorrow. I can drive on the roads now.”
“Hello? Why can’t I hear you clearly? Hello? What terrible reception! I’ll complain to the telecom tomorrow!” Jiang Ru-Yi suddenly hung up.
Xia Lei stood blankly in the corridor for quite some time.
Back in Liu Ying’s bedroom, Xia Lei was shocked by the sight before his eyes.
The floor next to Liu Ying’s bed was scattered with her things – her evening gown, her lace, her… She was rolling about on the bed, calling for her husband. The sight of her was so stimulating that Xia Lei almost had a nosebleed. It seemed her hallucinations had become more vivid instead of going away over time.
Xia Lei hurriedly covered her with a blanket, then pressed her down by her shoulders to keep her from thrashing.
Liu Ying struggled for a bit but was unable to push him off. She slowly lost strength and finally quieted down.
Xia Lei then went to the bathroom and dampened a hand towel to make it into a cold compress. He went to the kitchen next and made her a glass of orange juice which he fed to her. After the bout of disturbance, Liu Ying finally fell asleep. Xia Lei, on the other hand, was bone-tired. He succumbed to sleep while he rested by her bedside.
He dreamt and dreamt of Shentu Tian-Yin. She pulled him by the hand to a piece of fluffy white cloud and that cloud floated, floated, over mountains, over oceans, finally landing on a green grass field. She held him tightly as they rolled, rolled, rolled… He was on top pressing her down, then she was on top pressing against him in an intimate way. Her little mouth moved close and whispered in his ear, her cheek rubbing lightly on his, tickling him…
“Lei?” said a woman’s voice.
“Heehee, don’t do that, it tickles, hee hee…” Xia Lei mumbled.
“Did you take my clothes off?”
“Aren’t you wearing clothes?”
“You… You see me wearing clothes?”
This was a strange conversation between Dreamland and the real world.
Xia Lei suddenly woke up and opened his eyes to see Liu Ying on the bed. She was covering her chest with the blanket and a white thigh showed from under a corner of the blanket. Looking up, he could see a section of slim, bare waist. There was not one stitch of clothing on her!
Liu Ying was looking at him strangely. She stared straight at him without blinking, as if she was boring a hole into him to find the truth behind her lack of clothing.
Their eyes met and there was a long silence. The atmosphere in the room was at maximum awkwardness.
“Lei, you…” Liu Ying broke the silence, “What did you do to me?”
Xia Lei grew nervous and quickly tried to explain himself, “Don’t misunderstand, Big Sister Liu! I didn’t do anything, honest!”
“Then why am I on the bed? And my clothes… Did they fly away on their own?” It was strange. Liu Ying suspected that she had been taken advantage of but she still seemed calm and was neither making a huge fuss nor crying her eyes out.
Xia Lei’s attention was not on those details. He did his best to explain himself, “Do you remember Lin Bo-Wen taking you to see someone? That middle-aged man spiked your wine and wanted to take you somewhere but I stopped him. I sent you home but you were still under the effects of the drug. Um… You took off your clothing yourself. I didn’t dare put them on you again.”
Liu Ying frowned. She seemed to be trying very hard to recall everything that happened last night.
Xia Lei continued, “I used a hand towel to make you a cold compress, then fed you a glass of orange juice. I got sleepy so I lay next to the bed and fell asleep. If you don’t believe me, you… you can check.”
As a person who had never touched a woman’s inner sanctuary, Xia Lei’s face turned red when he said the word ‘check’.
Liu Ying suddenly smiled and asked, “Tell me, what place should I check?”
“Check…” Xia Lei could not continue.
“I’m just teasing.” Liu Ying sighed, “Thank you for last night. I would have fallen into their hands if it were not for you. Those people are vile, trying to snatch what they cannot steal. Do they have any regard for the law?”
Xia Lei let out a breath, “I’ve helped you to make a police report. The police will look into it.”
“What can the police do without evidence?” Liu Ying did not think the police would help her solve her problem.
“It’ll be good if we caught that tranny. He would definitely be able to point out who hired him. This is too difficult,” said Xia Lei.
“I’d never have thought that Lin Bo-Wen would work with others to harm me! I must fire him!” Liu Ying was so full of anger she seemed to have lost control of her emotions and she punched the mattress. In the instant she raised her fist to punch, the blanket covering her chest fell…
Xia Lei quickly averted his eyes.
Liu Ying turned red immediately and she hurriedly pulled the blanket back up to her chest.
The two of them descended into awkward silence once more.
The nanny’s voice suddenly came from beyond the door. “Boss, the police are here. They want to ask some questions about the situation.”
Liu Ying came to her senses then, “Tell them to wait. I’ll be right down.”
Xia Lei hurriedly got up to run away, saying as he walked, “I’ll wait for you outside.”
“Wait…” Liu Ying suddenly called him to stop.
Xia Lei was nervous for no particular reason, “Is there something else?”
Liu Ying blushed as she pointed at a lace side-tie panty on the carpet and said awkwardly, “H, Hand me that.”
Xia Lei was speechless.
The policemen who came were the same as the previous time, and were not from Jiang Ru-Yi’s station. However, their appearance was related to Jiang Ru-Yi. After receiving Xia Lei’s call, she had called the colleague in charge of the case and he had sent his people early in the morning to get more information about the situation.
The two policemen took down Liu Ying’s and Xia Lei’s statements, then bid them goodbye and left.
“Investigate, investigate.” After sending the police officers out, Liu Ying spoke in dissatisfaction, “They only know how to say this word but they do nothing concrete.”
“Big Sister Liu, you have to hurry and get the patent application approved. You also have to fire Lin Bo-Wen. I’ll speed up production for your parts on my end and once you get your patent, you can put your product out on shelves right away. Once your patent application is approved and your product out there in the market, it’ll be useless for them to do anything.”
Liu Ying frowned, “I want to complete the application process soon too but it needs time.”
At that moment, Liu Ying’s mobile phone rang.
After the call, Liu Ying suddenly collapsed into a sitting position on the floor.
