Those words took her aback.
When Tian Danyue looked at his displeased eyes, she found herself at a loss of words.
“I… Did I go too far?”
Huang He slipped his mobile phone into his pocket. “You didn’t! I’m now depending on you to make a living. You have the right to question me.”
“No, I don’t mean that.” Tian Danyue felt as though his cold glance had pierced right through her. Helplessness now replaced her usual clear-headedness while she watched how Huang He walked away with a brooding expression.
She quickly followed and was eager to explain herself. “Huang He, you’re both me and my daughter’s lifesaver. I’ve said it before, myself, my life—they’re all yours… I’m not questioning you, I’m just worried!”
Huang He suddenly halted his steps and turned to look at her.
“Help me contact An Ying again!”
His request baffled Tian Danyue. “… Why do you want to take this risk?”
Huang He took her wrist and looked at it. There was a wound on it; it had healed, but it had also left a scar.
“There are some things that we need to settle!”
“He’s not the same now,” gasped Tian Danyue, “we’re not on his level…”
“It’s not a brawl between two idiots. What does it matter even if we’re not his match?” Huang He pursed his lips into a smirk. “Just tell him we needed money to escape and wanted to earn some money by helping him smuggle some goods…”
“He won’t agree to this.” Tian Danyue laughed bitterly. “The Dark Clan is very different now. An Ying has his own channels to get his goods, and his profits are not from consumers. He wouldn’t want us to get involved…”
“He will be willing soon,” sneered Huang He, “don’t look down on the police! They will definitely take action. The moment they do, it will certainly affect An Ying’s drug trafficking route and in turn lose a lot of men. He will need us…”
…
The weather forecast said that there would be a week of extreme cold weather.
While the cold weather was raging, the snow continued to fall for two days. Bai Muchuan had worked in the office continuously for two days as well—he did not go home. Xiang Wan didn’t go to work at Serious Crime Division One for the past two days either. Fang Yuanyuan was busy meeting authors in the Capital; she went out early in the morning and came home late.
Because of that, Xiang Wan was all alone in the big house, and the lonesome feeling got stronger.
Of course, she also had work to do.
Writing her story…
Unfortunately, for the past two days, she did not have the mood to write.
She looked at her laptop and had the urge to send a message to Bai Muchuan.
She picked up her mobile phone and she felt like sending a message to him as well.
There seemed to be a cat’s paw scratching her heart so much that she felt irritated.
There were also times that she wanted to call him up and give him a tongue-lashing!
Well, Xiang Wan stopped herself from having about this crazy thought.
Mainly because Bai Muchuan’s work had really caught up with him. The news every day talked about the nationwide campaign against drug dealing. Since Serious Crime Division One was one of the collaborative units, it was normal that he would work overtime since his job was no easy feat. He was not the only one who needed to work overtime. Quan Shaoteng, Tang Yuanchu, Ding Yifan, Salimu, Cheng Zheng, Mei Xin, and many more at Serious Crime Division One were working overtime.
Maybe the rest had sensed Bai Muchuan’s abnormal behavior for the past two days, so the Gossip group chat had been rather active lately.
Both Tang Yuanchu and Quan Shaoteng wished they could report Bai Muchuan’s whereabouts 24 hours a day, live.
Xiang Wan knew that all these ‘brothers’ were trying to tell her indirectly that their Boss had no time to do anything else besides work. They were trying to reassure her.
Xiang Wan felt warm and amused at the same time while she read through the chat.
No one else was clearer about their feelings other than themselves.
The problem between her and Bai Muchuan was not that both did not love each other, but something had happened. She did not know what was that… He was not willing to share it with her either.
However, although she was anxious and frustrated, Xiang Wan was still confident about their relationship.
Bai Muchuan did not plan to break up with her. It was clear that he did not want this thing he was dealing with to affect their relationship. Otherwise, he would not resort to such a clumsy and extreme form of avoidance that he need not face her… Even though he didn’t want to face her, he would still call her every morning and night where they would exchange a few words. That simply showed that he missed her dearly.
He must be feeling uncomfortable.
However, Xiang Wan did not know what made him uncomfortable.
That was the real source of her problem.
Xiang Wan was propping her chin with both hands and started to think. After that, she carried her laptop to the living room to write her story.
She tried writing for a while and realized that she couldn’t write anything.
Then she carried the laptop to the balcony and sat on the canopy swing.
She still felt the same there too; she simply couldn’t write anything.
Why was that so?
Just why?
Xiang Wan looked at the white, snowy scenery outside the full-length window. With a sigh, she closed her laptop.
The most limiting factor of being in the creative industry was that one’s emotions could easily affect them.
Xiang Wan scratched her head and took her mobile phone. She then started to surf the internet.
In Weibo, she gained some new followers and some private messages.
When news that Xie Wanwan became the major shareholder of Meng Entertainment Group got leaked out, many fans of Xie Wanwan came to Xiang Wan’s Weibo page and left abusive comments that she was a scheming b*tch.
Xiang Wan looked and saw that they were mainly Xie Wanwan’s fans.
Some of her fans were young and were extremely aggressive in their words like they couldn’t wait to kill her whole family.
When Xiang Wan got annoyed, she really felt like replying to them by saying:
“Hello friend, do you know that I will meet your idol for dinner in a few days’ time?”
Well, that was only a thought.
If she did that, they would accuse her of trying to gain attention and ride on the popularity of Xie Wanwan. That might spark off more trouble for Xie Wanwan as well.
…
Xiang Wan pouted for a moment and laughed.
Actually, the world was still fun.
The people behind the internet couldn’t differentiate between animals and humans.
…
After moving from one spot to another, in no time, she realized that it was already noon.
Since Xiang Wan was home alone, she didn’t want to cook and ordered a takeaway via online.
She spent her afternoon similarly to the morning, but after half a day of trying to “repair” her mood, she could finally managed to write at least two chapters.
After updating her chapter, she heaved a relief and was about to take a nap when Fang Yuanyuan messaged her.
“Sis, you better make a trip here! Hurry!”
“Mm? What’s up?” Xiang Wan was listless.
“I have a friend who works for a movie company, and I’m having dinner with her today. She’s very interested in your novel ‘Murder The Dream Guy’. Come meet her to talk about your novel…”
Blah, blah, blah…
Fang Yuanyuan told her about the many benefits and perks.
She was the content editor, not the editor in charge of the IP (Intellectual Property). She was really helping Xiang Wan out in her career whenever she could.
With such a good editor taking care of her, how could Xiang Wan bear to reject her and not go?
She washed up and changed clothes right away. After that, she applied lipstick and drew her eyebrows before carrying her bag and left the house.
When the cab arrived at her destination, Xiang Wan recalled the promise she had with Bai Muchuan and took her mobile phone out from her bag. She wanted to call him to inform him about her whereabouts…
The line was busy.
She could not reach him.
She was holding her phone when she entered the shopping mall and was staring at the dial screen…
Dduu—Dduu—
The phone was still dialing when a person suddenly appeared, walking very swiftly toward Xiang Wan, grabbed her phone and ran out of the shopping mall.
Xiang Wan was stunned for one second before regaining her senses.
“Snatch thief!
“Help! Someone snatched my mobile phone!
“Help! Call the police!”
That was a downtown area.
Someone quickly called the police because of her shouts.
However, the thief was fast. Since it was night time and she was at the crowded downtown area, the snatch thief could disappear into the crowd. Xiang Wan chased for a few steps and suddenly found herself unable to tell where the thief had gone to.
…
At a restaurant upstairs in the shopping mall.
Fang Yuanyuan looked at the time.
When she called Xiang Wan, no one picked up the phone.
“Xiang Gongzi should be here soon! Let’s eat while waiting for her.”
Besides Fang Yuanyuan, there were two other authors with her and an agent from a film and television agency.
They were talking about the online literature industry; the atmosphere was good.
This was an ‘online celebrity’ restaurant that specializes in home-cooked dishes. They called it an ‘online celebrity’ restaurant since online celebrities widely promoted it. At that time, it was the peak hour.
Fang Yuanyuan was a little worrywart and a rather impatient girl. She couldn’t help but steal frequent glances at the entrance of the restaurant.
“Welcome, sir. Table for?” the waiter at the entrance asked with a friendly smile.
“Two.” The patron looked toward the inside of the restaurant while Fang Yuanyuan looking over.
When their line of sight met each other in mid-air, they were thunderstruck for a moment.
A glint of excitement flashed past Fang Yuanyuan’s eyes.
Those words took her aback.
When Tian Danyue looked at his displeased eyes, she found herself at a loss of words.
“I… Did I go too far?”
Huang He slipped his mobile phone into his pocket. “You didn’t! I’m now depending on you to make a living. You have the right to question me.”
“No, I don’t mean that.” Tian Danyue felt as though his cold glance had pierced right through her. Helplessness now replaced her usual clear-headedness while she watched how Huang He walked away with a brooding expression.
She quickly followed and was eager to explain herself. “Huang He, you’re both me and my daughter’s lifesaver. I’ve said it before, myself, my life—they’re all yours… I’m not questioning you, I’m just worried!”
Huang He suddenly halted his steps and turned to look at her.
“Help me contact An Ying again!”
His request baffled Tian Danyue. “… Why do you want to take this risk?”
Huang He took her wrist and looked at it. There was a wound on it; it had healed, but it had also left a scar.
“There are some things that we need to settle!”
“He’s not the same now,” gasped Tian Danyue, “we’re not on his level…”
“It’s not a brawl between two idiots. What does it matter even if we’re not his match?” Huang He pursed his lips into a smirk. “Just tell him we needed money to escape and wanted to earn some money by helping him smuggle some goods…”
“He won’t agree to this.” Tian Danyue laughed bitterly. “The Dark Clan is very different now. An Ying has his own channels to get his goods, and his profits are not from consumers. He wouldn’t want us to get involved…”
“He will be willing soon,” sneered Huang He, “don’t look down on the police! They will definitely take action. The moment they do, it will certainly affect An Ying’s drug trafficking route and in turn lose a lot of men. He will need us…”
…
The weather forecast said that there would be a week of extreme cold weather.
While the cold weather was raging, the snow continued to fall for two days. Bai Muchuan had worked in the office continuously for two days as well—he did not go home. Xiang Wan didn’t go to work at Serious Crime Division One for the past two days either. Fang Yuanyuan was busy meeting authors in the Capital; she went out early in the morning and came home late.
Because of that, Xiang Wan was all alone in the big house, and the lonesome feeling got stronger.
Of course, she also had work to do.
Writing her story…
Unfortunately, for the past two days, she did not have the mood to write.
She looked at her laptop and had the urge to send a message to Bai Muchuan.
She picked up her mobile phone and she felt like sending a message to him as well.
There seemed to be a cat’s paw scratching her heart so much that she felt irritated.
There were also times that she wanted to call him up and give him a tongue-lashing!
Well, Xiang Wan stopped herself from having about this crazy thought.
Mainly because Bai Muchuan’s work had really caught up with him. The news every day talked about the nationwide campaign against drug dealing. Since Serious Crime Division One was one of the collaborative units, it was normal that he would work overtime since his job was no easy feat. He was not the only one who needed to work overtime. Quan Shaoteng, Tang Yuanchu, Ding Yifan, Salimu, Cheng Zheng, Mei Xin, and many more at Serious Crime Division One were working overtime.
Maybe the rest had sensed Bai Muchuan’s abnormal behavior for the past two days, so the Gossip group chat had been rather active lately.
Both Tang Yuanchu and Quan Shaoteng wished they could report Bai Muchuan’s whereabouts 24 hours a day, live.
Xiang Wan knew that all these ‘brothers’ were trying to tell her indirectly that their Boss had no time to do anything else besides work. They were trying to reassure her.
Xiang Wan felt warm and amused at the same time while she read through the chat.
No one else was clearer about their feelings other than themselves.
The problem between her and Bai Muchuan was not that both did not love each other, but something had happened. She did not know what was that… He was not willing to share it with her either.
However, although she was anxious and frustrated, Xiang Wan was still confident about their relationship.
Bai Muchuan did not plan to break up with her. It was clear that he did not want this thing he was dealing with to affect their relationship. Otherwise, he would not resort to such a clumsy and extreme form of avoidance that he need not face her… Even though he didn’t want to face her, he would still call her every morning and night where they would exchange a few words. That simply showed that he missed her dearly.
He must be feeling uncomfortable.
However, Xiang Wan did not know what made him uncomfortable.
That was the real source of her problem.
Xiang Wan was propping her chin with both hands and started to think. After that, she carried her laptop to the living room to write her story.
She tried writing for a while and realized that she couldn’t write anything.
Then she carried the laptop to the balcony and sat on the canopy swing.
She still felt the same there too; she simply couldn’t write anything.
Why was that so?
Just why?
Xiang Wan looked at the white, snowy scenery outside the full-length window. With a sigh, she closed her laptop.
The most limiting factor of being in the creative industry was that one’s emotions could easily affect them.
Xiang Wan scratched her head and took her mobile phone. She then started to surf the internet.
In Weibo, she gained some new followers and some private messages.
When news that Xie Wanwan became the major shareholder of Meng Entertainment Group got leaked out, many fans of Xie Wanwan came to Xiang Wan’s Weibo page and left abusive comments that she was a scheming b*tch.
Xiang Wan looked and saw that they were mainly Xie Wanwan’s fans.
Some of her fans were young and were extremely aggressive in their words like they couldn’t wait to kill her whole family.
When Xiang Wan got annoyed, she really felt like replying to them by saying:
“Hello friend, do you know that I will meet your idol for dinner in a few days’ time?”
Well, that was only a thought.
If she did that, they would accuse her of trying to gain attention and ride on the popularity of Xie Wanwan. That might spark off more trouble for Xie Wanwan as well.
…
Xiang Wan pouted for a moment and laughed.
Actually, the world was still fun.
The people behind the internet couldn’t differentiate between animals and humans.
…
After moving from one spot to another, in no time, she realized that it was already noon.
Since Xiang Wan was home alone, she didn’t want to cook and ordered a takeaway via online.
She spent her afternoon similarly to the morning, but after half a day of trying to “repair” her mood, she could finally managed to write at least two chapters.
After updating her chapter, she heaved a relief and was about to take a nap when Fang Yuanyuan messaged her.
“Sis, you better make a trip here! Hurry!”
“Mm? What’s up?” Xiang Wan was listless.
“I have a friend who works for a movie company, and I’m having dinner with her today. She’s very interested in your novel ‘Murder The Dream Guy’. Come meet her to talk about your novel…”
Blah, blah, blah…
Fang Yuanyuan told her about the many benefits and perks.
She was the content editor, not the editor in charge of the IP (Intellectual Property). She was really helping Xiang Wan out in her career whenever she could.
With such a good editor taking care of her, how could Xiang Wan bear to reject her and not go?
She washed up and changed clothes right away. After that, she applied lipstick and drew her eyebrows before carrying her bag and left the house.
When the cab arrived at her destination, Xiang Wan recalled the promise she had with Bai Muchuan and took her mobile phone out from her bag. She wanted to call him to inform him about her whereabouts…
The line was busy.
She could not reach him.
She was holding her phone when she entered the shopping mall and was staring at the dial screen…
Dduu—Dduu—
The phone was still dialing when a person suddenly appeared, walking very swiftly toward Xiang Wan, grabbed her phone and ran out of the shopping mall.
Xiang Wan was stunned for one second before regaining her senses.
“Snatch thief!
“Help! Someone snatched my mobile phone!
“Help! Call the police!”
That was a downtown area.
Someone quickly called the police because of her shouts.
However, the thief was fast. Since it was night time and she was at the crowded downtown area, the snatch thief could disappear into the crowd. Xiang Wan chased for a few steps and suddenly found herself unable to tell where the thief had gone to.
…
At a restaurant upstairs in the shopping mall.
Fang Yuanyuan looked at the time.
When she called Xiang Wan, no one picked up the phone.
“Xiang Gongzi should be here soon! Let’s eat while waiting for her.”
Besides Fang Yuanyuan, there were two other authors with her and an agent from a film and television agency.
They were talking about the online literature industry; the atmosphere was good.
This was an ‘online celebrity’ restaurant that specializes in home-cooked dishes. They called it an ‘online celebrity’ restaurant since online celebrities widely promoted it. At that time, it was the peak hour.
Fang Yuanyuan was a little worrywart and a rather impatient girl. She couldn’t help but steal frequent glances at the entrance of the restaurant.
“Welcome, sir. Table for?” the waiter at the entrance asked with a friendly smile.
“Two.” The patron looked toward the inside of the restaurant while Fang Yuanyuan looking over.
When their line of sight met each other in mid-air, they were thunderstruck for a moment.
A glint of excitement flashed past Fang Yuanyuan’s eyes.
