Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was pitch black by the time she left the warehouse.

Zhou Huaiyan handed her an umbrella.

“Don’t go home for the next few days. Shen Ting’an will test you.”

“You know him that well?”

“I’ve been investigating him for three years.”

“And you’ve been investigating me for three years too?”

He didn’t deny it.

Shen Zhaoxue pushed the umbrella back.

“Then you should know that I don’t like being told what to do.”

The rain grew heavier.

She returned to the small building she was renting.

As soon as she stepped inside, she sensed something was wrong.

The vase was an inch out of place.

The curtains had been touched.

The scent of cigarette smoke lingered in the crack of the bedroom door.

Someone had been here.

She closed the door behind her and pulled a gun from the bottom of a drawer.

Just as she chambered a round, a voice came from behind her.

“It’s me.”

Shen Zhaoxue turned around.

The muzzle of her gun pressed against Zhou Huaiyan’s chest.

He stood in the shadows.

His shoulders were soaked.

His expression was colder than the rain.

“Don’t you know how to knock before entering a woman’s room?”

“The lock was picked. I got here before they did.”

“Who are ‘they’?”

Footsteps sounded from downstairs.

Zhou Huaiyan pressed down on her gun.

“Put it away.”

She didn’t move.

“Adjutant Lu has the search warrant. He doesn’t know I’m here. If you want to be taken away along with me, pull the trigger now.”

A knock sounded at the door.

“Reporter Shen, routine search.”

Shen Zhaoxue looked at Zhou Huaiyan.

His breathing was steady.

But his hands were cold.

She shoved the gun into his arms.

“Hide it.”

In the next second, she unbuttoned her coat and pulled out her hairpin. Her long hair cascaded down.

Zhou Huaiyan was stunned.

She had already pushed him behind the folding screen.

The door was burst open.

Adjutant Lu rushed in with his men.

Shen Zhaoxue stood in the living room, draped in a dressing gown.

“Adjutant Lu,” she said coldly. “Searching a woman’s room in the middle of the night-does the Secret Service Department not have any female agents?”

Adjutant Lu smiled. “Official business.”

Several men began to rummage through the room.

Behind the screen, Zhou Huaiyan remained motionless.

Shen Zhaoxue could hear her own heartbeat.

If Adjutant Lu took just two more steps, he would see the soaked military boots.

“Search the bedroom too,” Adjutant Lu ordered.

Shen Zhaoxue blocked him.

“I haven’t changed yet.”

“Then I’ll have to trouble Miss Shen to hurry up.”

He reached out to push the door open.

Shen Zhaoxue raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

Everyone froze.

“My father used to be on equal terms with your Section Chief,” she said, her voice trembling. “Now that the Shen family has fallen, you think you can humiliate me like this?”

Adjutant Lu stared at her.

After a few seconds, he smiled.

“Miss Shen has quite the temper. Withdraw.”

After they left, Shen Zhaoxue leaned against the corner of the table.

Her legs felt a bit weak.

Zhou Huaiyan stepped out from behind the screen.

He was still holding her gun.

“Are you crazy?”

“If I didn’t act crazy, how could I protect you?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, both of them fell silent.

*Protect you.*

She had actually said those words again.

Zhou Huaiyan placed the gun back on the table.

“Don’t do that again.”

“Do what?”

“Don’t take risks for me.”

Shen Zhaoxue looked up.

“And what about you? Who have you been taking risks for these past three years?”

He didn’t answer.

Thunder rolled outside the window.

Shen Zhaoxue stepped closer and reached out to unbutton his uniform.

Zhou Huaiyan caught her wrist.

She looked at him.

“Where is the injury?”

He didn’t speak.

She pulled his collar open herself.

His chest was covered in old scars.

Gunshot wounds. Lash marks. And a fresh gash from a blade.

It was crudely bandaged and still seeping blood.

Shen Zhaoxue’s hand stopped.

The man who used to warm her hand stove for her three years ago had survived like this.

She whispered, “Zhou Huaiyan, you deserve this.”

He gave a faint smile.

“Mm.”

She turned to get the medicine.

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m just afraid you’ll die in my room. It would be bad luck.”

Zhou Huaiyan sat under the lamp.

She re-bandaged his wound.

Her hands were steady.

Only when she tied the final knot did she use a bit too much force.

He winced in pain.

Shen Zhaoxue said, “Endure it.”

Zhou Huaiyan looked at her.

He called out softly.

“Zhaoxue.”

Her hand paused.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Alright.”

But the name had already been spoken.

Like old rain falling back onto old eaves.

They both pretended they hadn’t heard it.