She refused: “My assistant will be here soon, no need to trouble yourself.”

The two were about to start arguing again.

At that moment, assistant A Kuan pushed a suitcase through the lobby entrance and rushed toward them. As soon as she arrived, she hugged Huang Xi Tang: “I didn’t mean to, it was an accident, I’m sorry. When I got off the elevator, I only saw Sister Ji Hong alone…”

“No, it was that terrible woman!”

“I had no choice but to call Miss Ni, I’m so sorry…” she sobbed.

Xi Tang could only pat her shoulder: “It’s fine, get up.”

A Kuan wiped her nose and stood up, then noticed Zhao Ping Jin.

The handsome man’s face was cold and grim. His glance swept over her with a look that could kill. A Kuan was frightened and quickly hugged Xi Tang again, whispering: “Who is he?”

Fortunately, Zhao Ping Jin’s phone rang at that moment. He got up and walked a few steps away to the window to answer it.

A Kuan stole several glances at Zhao Ping Jin and, finding he wasn’t paying attention to them, secretly clutched her chest: “That presence, truly terrifying.”

Xi Tang had to quietly explain: “A friend. We’re returning to Shanghai together tonight.”

A Kuan had gradually recovered and turned to examine Zhao Ping Jin by the window. He wore a white shirt and khaki suit jacket, with a slender, tall figure. A Kuan suddenly sighed softly: “So truly handsome men aren’t in the entertainment industry.”

Zhao Ping Jin finished his call and returned, nodding at her, “Let’s go.”

She followed Zhao Ping Jin through the VIP passage.

In the first-class cabin of the night flight, there were only the two of them. Zhao Ping Jin said: “Have your assistant sit in the back. I have something to discuss with you.”

“I’m not sitting in first class. I bought a business class ticket. Can’t you tell me now?”

“You’re just not happy unless you’re opposing me, is that it?”

His expression had deteriorated to the extreme.

Xi Tang had no choice but to go speak with A Kuan.

Once on the plane, the flight attendant led them to two adjoining seats in the middle.

Apart from saying “thank you” when the flight attendant brought welcome drinks, Zhao Ping Jin didn’t say a word.

Xi Tang understood he was in a bad mood, but she didn’t understand why he was so angry. Zhao Ping Jin had always had a temper, and it was normal for him to be upset about being disturbed in the middle of the night to come to her rescue. But thinking more carefully, it seemed a bit strange. Xi Tang couldn’t believe Zhao Ping Jin had never rescued someone from a social gathering before. Women meant nothing to men of their status. Xi Tang had seen it herself before: Gao Ji Yi once had a girlfriend, a student from the Dance Academy, extremely beautiful, especially with her slender waist, as graceful as willow branches in spring. When she danced, she was like rippling spring water—even Xi Tang as a woman would stare. Later, Gao Ji Yi took her out, and the girl caught the eye of a Standing Committee member’s son. Not only was Gao Ji Yi not angry, he smilingly handed her over. This back-and-forth even established a connection between them. Of course, Xi Tang didn’t know the details of the benefits that followed. Xi Tang only knew that in their world, anything that could be resolved with interests and relationships wasn’t a big deal. Zhao Ping Jin shouldn’t be so furious.

When the plane took off, it was bumpy for a while. He was uncomfortable, frowning deeply and silently enduring. After more than half an hour, the cabin gradually stabilized. Zhao Ping Jin’s face had turned extremely pale. He sat beside her without a word, seemingly pondering something, his brows deeply furrowed.

The divider between their seats was lowered, and Xi Tang didn’t dare raise it. She nervously clutched a small blanket, not daring to sleep.

Zhao Ping Jin suddenly turned his head and stared at her face, his expression dark and silent. Xi Tang felt uneasy under his gaze: “What is it?”

Zhao Ping Jin suddenly asked: “Back then, when the incident happened at Sun Ke Hu’s place, which hospital did you go to?”

Xi Tang was instantly stunned.

At that moment, she understood what had happened during those ten minutes he spent in the hotel’s top-floor suite.

Zhao Ping Jin suppressed his emotions and asked again in a low voice: “Who got you out of Beijing? How could I not know about the Sun family’s influence on public security? You killed someone—who got you out of Beijing?”

Xi Tang didn’t dare look at him: “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Zhao Ping Jin was completely furious: “Huang Xi Tang!”

Huang Xi Tang gritted her teeth and said: “He didn’t die. He’s still alive and causing harm.”

Zhao Ping Jin breathed heavily, one breath after another, but still controlled his voice: “Where were you injured?”

“Didn’t Sun Ke Hu tell you everything?”

“You stabbed him once. He was barely conscious. What the hell would he know? Those people—where did they hurt you? What kind of person is Sun Ke Hu? How could you get out alive?”

For a long while, Xi Tang remained silent.

Zhao Ping Jin grew anxious. He turned sideways and gripped her chin. His eyes were a fiery red, bloodshot with terrifying crimson veins covering the whites: “Where were you hurt?”

“Don’t ask anymore.”

He gritted his teeth and glared at the corner of her eye: “Was it your face?”

Xi Tang stubbornly pressed her lips together, refusing to speak.

Zhao Ping Jin suddenly thought of something. His face turned white in an instant. He could no longer remain calm; his voice completely changed: “The scar on your stomach—you fucking lied to me saying it was from a filming injury?”

“Huang Xi Tang!”

The flight attendant quietly walked to the first-class cabin door.

His face remained dark, turning ghastly pale in waves.

Xi Tang sat rigidly, not moving.

Zhao Ping Jin finally released her. His heart pounded violently in waves, his eye sockets burning red like raging flames. He gritted his teeth, struggling against the pain in his chest: “I should have killed you before I went abroad. Going out and getting bullied, completely humiliating me.”

His car was already waiting at the airport when they landed. Zhao Ping Jin didn’t use a driver; he drove himself.

When the car got on the highway, Huang Xi Tang said to him: “Go to the hospital. My mother is sick and hospitalized.”

Zhao Ping Jin turned the steering wheel.

The car passed along the Yan’an Elevated Road. Zhao Ping Jin turned off the headlights. A faint light appeared on the distant horizon, dawn reddening the gray high-rise buildings.

Daylight illuminated the two people in the car, their worries no longer concealed. Neither spoke anymore.

They arrived at the hospital after seven o’clock. Doctors and nurses on the morning shift hurried about.

Zhao Ping Jin’s car drove directly into the hospital, stopping in front of the inpatient building.

Xi Tang asked softly: “What about you?”

Zhao Ping Jin had already recovered his composure, though his face remained pale with a hint of green, like the gloomy sky before winter snow, looking particularly somber and bleak: “I’ll handle some work here today, then return to Beijing.”

Zhao Ping Jin unlocked the car doors: “Go in.”

Xi Tang nodded and rummaged through her bag.

Zhao Ping Jin glanced at her, reached into the car’s storage compartment, and handed her a blue mask.

Xi Tang thanked him, tore open the packaging, put on the mask, and got out of the car.

“Huang Xi Tang.”

After walking a few steps, Xi Tang heard Zhao Ping Jin call her name.

Turning back, she saw Zhao Ping Jin had also gotten out of the car but hadn’t moved away. He stood by the car door without his jacket, wearing only a white shirt, hands in his trouser pockets. When Xi Tang looked at him, she felt a bitterness in her heart, suspecting her lack of sleep was causing her to see things—the person before her seemed much thinner than before.

She heard Zhao Ping Jin looking at her saying quietly: “Regarding Sun Ke Hu’s matter, you don’t need to worry anymore.”

Xi Tang said earnestly: “I can’t keep troubling you like this.”

Zhao Ping Jin ignored her comment and simply said: “Alright, go in.”

Xi Tang nodded at him. She didn’t dare look back, only slightly bowed her head as her footsteps gradually quickened. That gaze continued to burn into her back.

Xie Zhen Bang waited at the entrance of the outpatient building. Seeing her approach, he slightly put his arm around her shoulder and said softly: “Come with me.”

Xi Tang suddenly relaxed, her legs feeling weak beneath her. She shuffled step by step into the hospital corridor. After turning a corner, her tears finally fell.

Xie Zhen Bang stood in front of her. Xi Tang lowered her head, tears dropping onto the floor. Through her tear-blurred vision, she saw the edge of his white coat.

Xi Tang accepted the tissue he handed her.

“Thank you.”

Xie Zhen Bang shrugged his shoulders and gently teased, “I finally know my rival isn’t a windmill, but a real person.”

About a week after the incident, Xi Tang, like most famous actresses, began bringing a male assistant.

Huang Xi Tang wasn’t very comfortable with this.

Ni Kai Lun was preparing to fly to Hong Kong to give birth and still had to handle these handover procedures for her. Ni Kai Lun said firmly: “Whether you’re comfortable or not, you have to get used to it. This isn’t just my decision.”

Xi Tang knew things couldn’t be changed, so she just nodded.

Ni Kai Lun looked solemn: “The Sun family can’t do anything to you. The more famous you become, the more valuable you are. Even the Suns are wary of that. But you must be careful in everything.”

Ni Kai Lun finally couldn’t avoid the topic: “Xi Tang, being in the entertainment industry like this, a girl all alone, you can’t protect yourself when something happens.”

Xi Tang silently lowered her head. She knew this all too well.

Which of today’s popular actresses didn’t have backing? Whenever there was competition for resources or roles, it came down to background and power. The stronger your background, the fewer people dared to mess with you.

“I can’t keep asking Zhao Ping Jin for help.”

“Without a backer, no one will protect you when something happens.”

Xi Tang understood what she meant. Her meaning was the same as Ma Ji Hong’s.

Xi Tang had been filming in Beijing for so long. Like all actresses, no matter how many times she changed her phone number, somehow people always got hold of it. Naturally, she had received all kinds of invitations for dates. She usually ignored them. Before, she was just a small TV actress without much fame, so those who couldn’t reach her eventually gave up. But in the last six months or so, things had gradually changed. It was said that in Beijing’s wealthy business circles, someone had put the word out wanting her to accompany a dinner party, and the offered price had spread throughout the circle. Later, things became more and more outrageous. Rumors spread that a certain Beijing tycoon wanted to sleep with Huang Xi Tang, and after being rejected, someone in Beijing’s social circles opened a betting pool to see who could sleep with her, with the amount skyrocketing.

Ni Kai Lun just didn’t want to pressure her.

Ni Kai Lun said tactfully: “Think about it some more.”

The next day when Xi Tang went to the hospital, her driver had been changed to her newly added male assistant. If she hadn’t known in advance, Xi Tang wouldn’t have been able to tell that this ordinary-looking middle-aged man was an expert from the Armed Police Special Forces.

Yesterday, specialists from Beijing had come for a consultation and taken all her mother’s medical records. The attending physician told her: “She can be discharged soon.”