Chapter 12: A Delightful Misunderstanding

The couple leading the scheme had come to Shanghai from another province for work. Their daughter had leukemia, and a suitable bone marrow match had been found, but the transplant required a great deal of money. Even after borrowing wherever they could, they’d raised only somewhere between one and two hundred thousand yuan, and the match couldn’t wait.

Desperate, they had chosen to take a risk. The men who had come with them were cousins and other relatives, all poor themselves.

Bai Xueyan’s heart grew heavy as she listened.

“Please, miss. If my daughter misses this match, she won’t survive!” The woman’s voice was hoarse from crying. “I know what we did was wrong, but please don’t call the police. We have to keep raising money now, or there won’t be time.”

Her husband knelt too. “It’s all our fault. We admit it, and we’ll pay for the damage. Please don’t call the police. I swear on my life we’ll repay you!”

Their relatives also dropped to their knees.

Bai Xueyan looked at Chen Ye. “What do you think?”

He sighed. “A life is at stake. They did wrong, but the child is innocent. If calling the police delays them, the child might not survive.”

Bai Xueyan was taken aback. She hadn’t expected such generosity and kindness from him at a moment like this.

She tested him. “They attacked you just now. Are you sure you don’t want to call the police?”

He nodded. “They were wrong, but who goes through life without making mistakes?”

He was speaking to himself as much as to her. He had made mistakes too, and was trying to redeem himself.

“Most of all, their child needs them now,” he said.

Bai Xueyan was deeply moved. She saw a simple, sincere kindness in him, and a breadth of character she thought rare.

“All right. We’ll do as you suggest.” Her eyes sharpened. “Go to the hospital with them and confirm the child’s condition. If it’s true, I can advance whatever they’re short for the deposit. They can sign an IOU and pay me back over time.”

“Bai-jie…” Chen Ye stared at her. He hadn’t expected her to be so generous. As a businesswoman he believed was worth a hundred billion yuan, she truly had the bearing of an entrepreneur.

“You’re our benefactors!”

“We’ve wronged you!”

The couple burst into tears and knocked their heads against the floor in gratitude to them both. “Even if it takes our lives, we’ll pay you back,” the man said.

“Get up.” Chen Ye helped them to their feet. “But I have to say this: whatever happens, don’t turn to crime. Understand?”

He felt awkward saying it. Here he was, an ex-convict, lecturing someone else.

“Yes, yes!” the couple said quickly.

“Come on. I’ll go to the hospital with you.”

Smiling through their tears, they bowed to Bai Xueyan again and left with him.

…

An hour later, Chen Ye returned with the couple. He had confirmed their story: their daughter really was waiting for a bone marrow transplant. True to her word, Bai Xueyan transferred them the money. They wrote an IOU themselves, including the eighty-seven thousand yuan for the damage, and knelt to thank her again before leaving.

After seeing them off, Bai Xueyan beckoned Chen Ye. “Come to my office.”

“All right.”

Once he was inside and the door was shut, she said, “Thank goodness for you today. Otherwise we couldn’t have resolved this so well.”

“It was nothing.” He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed by the praise.

“Sit on the sofa. Let me disinfect your arm.”

He had been busy until now and hadn’t had time to treat the scratches. Bai Xueyan found a bottle of povidone-iodine antiseptic in a corner beneath her desk, left over from when she had scraped her knee and asked someone to buy it.

Chen Ye sat as instructed. She settled beside him with the antiseptic, and a pleasant fragrance reached him.

“Hold out your arm.”

“Oh.” He extended it, but accidentally brushed her body with his fingers. Sensitive to the touch, she shivered and drew back.

“I’m sorry, Bai-jie, I…”

“It’s all right.” Her face flushed, though she pretended it didn’t matter. In truth, the touch had sent a jolt through her.

She rolled up his sleeve, took his arm, and gently dabbed the antiseptic on the scratches with a cotton swab. The cool sensation seemed to spread through him, but his gaze drifted to her chest. She wore a suit over a fitted white top, and as she leaned forward to tend him, he found himself staring. His mouth went dry, and he licked his lips.

“Does it hurt?” She sensed something and looked up, a few loose strands of hair falling attractively across her face.

“No, not at all,” he said quickly.

“Oh.” She bent her head and continued carefully. She wasn’t used to applying antiseptic to someone else, though, and used too much. It ran down his arm and dripped onto his trousers.

“Oh, sorry!” She grabbed a tissue and crouched to wipe the fabric on his inner thigh.

“It’s all right, Bai-jie. I can do it.” The position embarrassed him.

“I made the mess. I’ll clean it,” she insisted.

From above, Chen Ye could see her dark hair and the graceful line of her back and figure. His thoughts were wandering when the door suddenly opened.

Xie Dong stormed in. He was still angry after waiting in vain for Chen Ye the night before and had come to the center to confront him. Reception had told him Chen Ye was in Bai Xueyan’s office, so he had headed straight there.

He opened the door to find Chen Ye leaning back on the sofa and his mother crouched between his legs, a tissue in her hand. The sight was so shocking that his eyes nearly bulged out.

“What are you doing?” he roared, almost jumping.

Bai Xueyan looked up from between Chen Ye’s knees and frowned at the doorway. “Xiaodong? Why didn’t you knock?”