Yang Wei made a wide circle along the school"s main road, but found no sign of He Can. After searching the park, she walked to a bench with her bag in her arms and ma.s.saged her aching legs.

It was late, and there were no longer many people in the park. Where could He Can possibly be?

At that moment, her cell phone rang. It was He Can"s mother. Yang Wei"s heart tightened and she s.n.a.t.c.hed up the phone to take the call. "Any news from He Can?"

"Teacher Yang, Can Can was found!" He Can"s mother spoke at almost the same time as she.

When He Can ran away, she had gotten on a bus. Route 79 ran until 8.30pm, and when the bus driver noticed the little girl who had been on board this whole time and who refused to say a word when he inquired where her house was, he had called for the police. The police had then quickly contacted He Can"s mother and had her collect the child from the station.

Yang Wei was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. "That"s great that she was found! Is she hurt?"

"No. She just refuses to say anything." The voice on the other end of the line was hoa.r.s.e.

"Everyone"s exhausted today. Both you and He Can should go to bed early; don"t agitate her again tonight. Everything that should be said can be said tomorrow."

With a sound of acknowledgement, He Can"s mother hung up the phone. As Yang Wei was about to slip her cell phone back into her purse, a man in black clothes ran up to her. With no warning at all, a knife glinted before her, and he commanded, "Not a sound! ​​Hand over your phone and wallet!"

He wore a hat and a mask covered his face. Only his eyes could be seen, and they were particularly sharp under the dim light of the street lamp.

Yang Wei"s heart pounded in her chest. She hadn"t been robbed in a very long time. As long as this was just a robbery... oh, she was so afraid... she no longer dared think further, and handed over her mobile phone.

The man s.n.a.t.c.hed the phone from her hand. Looking around impatiently, he urged, "And your wallet! Hurry up!"

The whole time, that sharp, glinting knife had been pointed at her. Yang Wei desperately tamped down her terror. As soon as she pulled out her wallet, it was s.n.a.t.c.hed. "Debit card pa.s.sword!"

He spoke very fast, as if being chased by someone. Yang Wei took a breath and blurted, "901617..." This was the combined birthdays of her and Qi Xiao Yan. She found out how shaky her voice was as she said it.

The man said nothing more. With her wallet and phone, he disappeared quickly into the night. Her legs collapsed under her, and she sank to the ground as staved-off fear flooded in like a tidal wave.

She didn"t dare sit there too long. After a few breaths, she forced herself to stand up and flee the park. Not a soul met her along the way, and she felt suddenly like the park had become so large that perhaps she could no longer leave.

When the road finally came into sight, Yang Wei felt a burst of relief from the bottom of her heart. Across the street was a 24-hour convenience store, and without thinking, she rushed in.

Perhaps because she had violently slammed open the door, the clerk standing at the checkout counter looked at her strangely. Yang Wei"s face was pale, and a layer of fine sweat beaded on her forehead. Anxiously, she asked the cashier, "I"m sorry. I was just robbed in the park. I"ve got to call the police. Can you lend me a phone?"

Seeing that she looked genuine and recalling a recent report of a knife robbery, the cashier a.s.sented and generously handed over the mobile phone she was charging.

"Th thank you." Yang Wei took the phone and took in a few deep breaths to calm her chaotic emotions.

Qi Xiao Yan was still having dinner at Song Jin"s home. Ever since he had dropped the bomb about his first love being Yang Wei, dinner had become even more boring. Even Song Jin had not said a word. Once the last piece of steak on the plate had been eaten, he picked up the napkin on the table and wiped his mouth. Then he got up. "Dinner has been eaten. Goodbye."

Song Jin finally could not help letting out a scornful laugh, jolting to her feet. The chair sc.r.a.ped against the ground, making an unpleasant sound. "Is eating with me just a task you have to carry out?"

Qi Xiao Yan turned to look at her, "Strictly speaking, this doesn"t even count as a task."

Song Jin laughed again in anger. Yes, her means of inviting him today hadn"t been too glorious, but this is just being inhuman.

"There won"t be a next time." Saying this, Qi Xiao Yan turned to go. A light flashed in Song Jin"s eyes, and she made a noise to stop him.

"Hold on." She walked over and looked up at him. She knew that this man would hold himself responsible if anything happened. Today, she had already invited him over by any means possible. Now that she had done so, she wasn"t afraid to push it further.

At that very moment, Qi Xiao Yan"s mobile phone rang. He took it out and looked at it - an unknown number. Considering it for a moment, he picked up the call regardless. "h.e.l.lo."

When she heard his voice, Yang Wei froze. She had wanted to call the police, so why had she dialed this man"s phone number? Still waiting for an answer on the other side, Qi Xiao Yan took a few steps to the door, frowning. "h.e.l.lo, who are you?"

Her emotions, which had just calmed down, rippled upon hearing his voice. Fear and injustice swept through her heart once again at that moment, and as she held on to the phone the tears rolled down her cheeks. "Curl-- Curly-bae, I just, I just got robbed..."

Qi Xiao Yan"s hand tightened on his phone and his gaze sank. "Darling? Where are you now? Are you hurt?"

His tone was urgent, and Song Jin frowned.

"I"m in a park near the school, there"s a convenience store..." Yang Wei sobbed out from the other side of phone.

Qi Xiao Yan swept past Song Jin, opened the door, and left quickly. "Examine yourself. Do you have any injuries?"

"No, no..."

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief as he made his way to the garage. "Stay at that convenience store, don"t go anywhere. I"ll come find you right away."

"Alright..."

Hearing her promise, he hung up the phone. Yang Wei returned the phone to the cashier, then went to the door to sit and wait.

Qi Xiao Yan ran three red lights, finally arriving at the park in twenty minutes. He saw Yang Wei sitting alone at the door of the store from a long way away, like an abandoned pet. She looked lonely and in pain.

"Darling!" He rolled down the car window and called to her from far away. He shouldn"t have hung up the phone.

Yang Wei looked up to see saw a black Audi sliding up quickly, as smooth as if the actions were scripted. Qi Xiao Yan sat in the driver"s seat. The night wind had blown his hair about messily.

Her nose a little sour, she stood up immediately. "Curly-bae!"

Braking rapidly, the Audi stopped in front of her. Qi Xiao Yan stepped out of the car and was at her side in a few steps, taking her into his arms.

Yang Wei could clearly feel the slight trembling of the arms around her. She smelt his familiar scent and buried her head in his chest. "Curly-bae, I was scared to death..."

"It"s okay, it"s okay." Qi Xiao Yan held her tight. Was it to comfort her or to comfort himself? He, too, had been scared to death the past twenty minutes. When he thought about Yang Wei being robbed somewhere out of sight, his heart almost stopped.

They held each other for a long time before he released her and kissed her on the forehead.

Thank G.o.d she was alright.

"First get on." Qi Xiao Yan helped Yang Wei fasten her seat belt. After taking in a deep breath, he started the car. "What have you lost?"

"My wallet and cell phone." The robber had been kind enough to not take her handbag. "He had me give him the pa.s.sword for the card."

Qi Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow. "What did you say?"

"I told him the truth, I didn"t dare lie..." Yang Wei felt a little foolish, but she had been so scared at the time. There was an ATM machine nearby, and if she had given him some random pa.s.sword, she had been terrified that he might come back to stab her.

"You did the right thing." As long as she was fine, losing some money was alright. "Let"s go to the police station, then go home."

"Okay."

As she filed her report, the police asked her to estimate the monetary loss. Fortunately she hadn"t been carrying much cash, only 700 yuan. Her salary card had been at home, and the two cards in the bag added up to around 3,000 yuan. But her wallet had been brought back by a friend from abroad, and her mobile phone had been a HoneyPeach 9s...

Yang Wei"s head began to ache. She had lost over ten thousand in one night...

As the police filed her report, they reminded her, "Another girl came to report a robbery two days ago, and from your description it was likely the same person. Try not to wander outside alone after dark, especially since you"re a young and beautiful lady. It"s already lucky to have only lost a fortune. If that man had been perverse or in a frenzy..."

The officer trailed off, leaving one"s infinite imagination to carry on. Qi Xiao Yan stood to one side, a frown on his face, while Yang Wei lowered her head and did not speak.

"You can go now. We"ll do our best to investigate, and keep you updated if there is news."

"Thank you." Qi Xiao Yan escorted her back to the car. When they arrived home, she watched him take out the door key from his pocket and open the door in a practiced manner, then suddenly realized, "You never gave me back the door key!"

A smile could not help but spread over his usually stern-set mouth. "Did you only just find out?"

Yang Wei: "..."

She was going to change all the locks tomorrow!

Entering the bedroom, he pulled out Yang Wei"s pajamas from her closet as if it was the most natural thing in the world, throwing them into her hands. "You go take a shower first."

Yang Wei looked down and took her pajamas into the bathroom. When she came out, Qi Xiao Yan had already prepared a cup of hot milk for her, placing it beside the bed. She gulped it down as he leaned against the closet, watching. Tucking her hair behind an ear nervously, she inquired, "Anything else?"

"Why were you out so late all by yourself?"

Yang Wei felt a little residual anger flare when he mentioned it. "One of the students in my cla.s.s ran away from home. We found her, fortunately, or it would have gone to the princ.i.p.al tomorrow."

"Why didn"t you call me?" he asked, arching a brow.

Yang Wei looked up at him. "Mr. Qi, we seem to be divorced."

He bit a lip and went into the bathroom. She paused outside the door and yelled, "What are you doing?"

"Bathing." Immediately after he answered came the sound of water from the bathroom, as if washing through Yang Wei"s heart.

Her face a little red, she put her gla.s.s down and lay down under the covers.

Qi Xiao Yan"s bath took perhaps ten minutes. The sound of cool water splashing was like magic in her ears, and when it stopped, she peered secretly to the side to watch him walking out the bathroom, topless.

The light from the bathroom backlit him, and the angle painted the silhouette of his profile in a soft and gentle manner. His head was tilted slightly, and his neck stretched out in a perfect curve. From the wet hair on the back of his neck slowly fell a glittering, crystalline drop of water.

Ohhh, this angle and shape, this contrast of light and shadow... how utterly gorgeous! She itched to jump out of bed and get it down on paper.

But she refrained. Pulling the quilt over her face, she asked, "Why aren"t you wearing clothes?"

Qi Xiao Yan squinted at her and smiled very faintly. "You haven"t seen much yet."

Yang Wei: "..."

Help me! That smile went straight to my heart! I don"t want to find it s.e.xy!

No, no! He"s already divorced you, Yang Wei! You can no longer be confused by his beauty!

While in Yang Wei"s heart a great war raged between heaven and earth, Qi Xiao Yan... took off his pants and lay down beside her.

Yang Wei could no longer stay calm. "What are you doing?! This is my bed!!!!"

"Strictly speaking, each of us should get half."

Qi Xiao Yan gazed at her, and she felt his warm breath on her face. She shrank back down into the bed and calmed her breathing. "I"m not scared anymore..."

She knew that he was worried that she was still frightened. That was why he was here.

Qi Xiao Yan kept his eyes on her a while, then suddenly reached out and took her into her arms. "But I still am."

His heartbeat thundered through her ears. She remembered his trembling hands at the convenience store and buried her head in his chest. "Curly-bae."

"Hmm?"

"Were you here the day I was having cramps?"

"Mmhmm."

Yang Wei closed her eyes and said nothing. After a while, she called for him again, "Curly-bae."

"Mmn?"

"Actually, you talking about Goldbach isn"t all that boring. While I was waiting for you at the door of the convenience store, I wished for someone to talk to me about Goldbach."

Qi Xiao Yan tightened his arms unconsciously. He kissed the top of Yang Wei"s head, and his voice shook a little. "Sleep."

"...mn. Good night."

"Good night."

It did not. Instead, when he saw I was watching, he did a little shimmy and patted his b.u.t.t. I felt vaguely cheated.