As he finished speaking, Wen Yifan’s gaze lowered, fixing on Sang Yan’s lips. She paused for a few seconds, seriously considering, then stepped back, slowly hanging the towel back in its original place.
She glanced at the gauze on Sang Yan’s body.
At this moment, Wen Yifan strangely felt that if she kissed him, she would become the more beastly one. Feeling that her previous words were a bit direct, she thought about how to politely refuse and decided to deprecate herself as well.
“I’m not very capable either.”
Sang Yan was half-leaning against the washbasin, his eyes lowered, dense eyelashes covering them. The bathroom was well-lit, the space narrow, and the distance between them close, gradually bringing an undeniable intimacy.
Wen Yifan swallowed, finding an excuse: “It’s midnight, I’ll go take a shower.”
She had just taken two steps.
Sang Yan grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. Caught off guard, her first thought was to avoid touching his wound, her palm instinctively supporting herself on the nearby counter.
Her head was slightly tilted, the distance between them closing again.
“What are you thinking,” Sang Yan lowered his head, staring at her intently, his words becoming more flirtatious, “What else could I do?”
“…”
“Just kiss for a while,” Sang Yan’s fingertips gently caressed her wrist, his speech slow and deliberate, with a hint of accusation, “Is that not okay?”
Wen Yifan made a sound, as if hypnotized by him, and began to think that if they didn’t do anything else, a kiss wouldn’t affect much. She was silent for a few seconds, then squeezed out: “…That’s fine.”
He raised an eyebrow slightly, maintaining his original posture without moving.
Not long after.
Wen Yifan felt him grabbing her wrist, pressing it to his abdomen, slowly guiding it downward. Then, she heard the man’s breathing, looked up in confusion, and met his deep, implicit gaze. “Lift your head higher.”
Before understanding the intent of his words, Wen Yifan had already obediently risen to her tiptoes.
Sang Yan’s lips followed the hot breath, moving lightly from the corner of her mouth. She almost offered herself up, her head tilted back, her feet half-pressed to the ground, feeling as if she couldn’t touch the ground.
Noticing her state, Sang Yan raised his hand to support her waist, biting her lip forcefully.
“–Otherwise I can’t reach.”
…
Back in the room, when she checked her phone again, Wen Yifan noticed that Qian Weihua had called her two hours ago. She paused, and immediately opened WeChat, wanting to apologize and explain the situation.
But Qian Weihua seemed to understand the situation, sending her a message: [I’ll take Da Zhuang to the scene. You go to the hospital first, we’ve interviewed witnesses, it shouldn’t be too serious.]
Fu Zhuang also sent a message: [Sis, take good care of Brother Sang Yan. I’ll charge to the front lines for you!!!]
Fu Zhuang: [I heard from the police that Brother Sang Yan was still full of energy after being injured, looking like he could still fight eight hundred people, so don’t worry too much.]
Reading these words, Wen Yifan couldn’t help but smile. She replied one by one, apologizing and thanking them, and it was a good while before she put down her phone and lay on the bed.
Wen Yifan’s emotional awareness was particularly slow.
Since joining “Convey,” she hadn’t felt much for this team, only thinking that it was much better than her previous work environment. Although the workload was still increasing compared to before, she always felt more relaxed than when working at Yihe Broadcasting.
But at this moment.
Wen Yifan suddenly realized that she seemed to quite like this team.
Lost in her thoughts for a while, Wen Yifan’s mind wandered from one end to the other, then back again. After some time, she belatedly remembered what had happened in the bathroom earlier.
And Sang Yan’s words.
— “Just kiss for a while.”
That’s what he said.
Just kiss for a while.
Wen Yifan’s ears burned belatedly, and she got up somewhat uncomfortably to take a shower. She stared at herself in the mirror, her mind quickly being invaded inch by inch by the scenes from earlier.
The man’s lips gradually gained more color, his kisses falling like scattered rain. His hair was dampened by sweat, his eyes tinged with affection, accompanied by sexy and undeniably heavy breathing.
Time passed.
The sandalwood-scented bathroom was filled with a romantic atmosphere.
“Come here.” Seeing her about to step back, Sang Yan grabbed her, his voice a bit hoarse, “Let me wash your hands.”
–
Because of this injury, Sang Yan took a week off to rest at home.
Wen Yifan still had to go to work as usual, only working on the report of Che Xingde’s case. She tried to make time, getting up early every day to make breakfast for Sang Yan, coming back once at noon, and asking what he wanted for dinner before coming home in the evening.
Like taking care of a child.
Sang Yan was enjoying it.
But after only three days of living like an emperor, Sang Yan began to feel that this back-and-forth was exhausting her. Plus, his injury didn’t affect normal life, so he quickly returned to work.
Under the director’s frantic urging, Wen Yifan started working overtime every day again, meeting with police and experts, running between the police station and the scene. The interviews with the suspect’s family were being handled by another colleague.
After Che Xingde was arrested, the police investigated his past experiences. After multiple interrogations, and with his hair found on Guo Ling’s body, he finally admitted to the crime, confessing to all his wrongdoings.
Four years ago, on that night.
Che Xingde was called by Che Yanqin to help at the barbecue stall. As he was approaching the destination, he encountered Guo Ling in a secluded alley. He recognized this girl, remembering that she was always silent and introverted, looking weak and incapable, enduring everything silently.
He had lustful thoughts, approached her and chatted for a few sentences, then covered her mouth and dragged her deeper into the alley.
After the incident.
Che Xingde thought Guo Ling would endure it, not daring to tell anyone. But contrary to his expectations, she cried while reaching for her phone, making a gesture to call the police.
He threatened her with various dirty words.
But Guo Ling was unmoved, insisting on calling the police. She seemed to have support, a pillar, and although in extreme pain, she still choked out: “I’m going to tell my dad, he will kill you…”
Finally, in a panic, Che Xingde accidentally strangled her to death.
Afterward, he found Che Yanqin, who was nearby, to help. Che Yanqin had raised Che Xingde since childhood, was extremely tolerant of this brother, and would do anything he asked, a typical “brother-supporting demon.”
So even though she was scared and angry, she didn’t want to see him go to jail and had to help him dispose of the body. The two used a large black plastic bag from the store to wrap Guo Ling, then wrapped it in several more layers, and stuffed it into a suitcase.
The siblings never mentioned this incident to anyone.
They thought they could get away with it.
…
Typing the last word of the news article, Wen Yifan checked it once and sent it to the editor.
The editing room was quiet and ordinary. Staring at the screen, Wen Yifan was a bit absent-minded, strangely recalling herself from years ago, trapped in Chen Xi’s house.
Hearing Aunt Chen say that Che Xingde had been released, what was she thinking at that moment?
Wen Yifan couldn’t remember clearly.
But at this moment, Wen Yifan wanted to go back to the past, back to that version of herself. She wanted to pat that girl’s head, to tell her that everything she did was right.
No matter the outcome, this was not a shameful thing.
Don’t accidentally get stained by the filth of bad people and think you’re dirty too.
It’s okay.
The person you like will also think you’re very brave.
He will thank you.
For protecting his girl.
–
This report was broadcast on the morning program the next day.
Just before leaving work that day, Wen Yifan received a call from Guo Ling’s father. Since her return to Nanwu, she had received several calls from him, all providing information and inquiring about various things.
Perhaps having seen the news, this time he was calling to thank her.
After hanging up, Wen Yifan sat there in a daze for a while before packing up and leaving the company. She went to the parking lot to find Sang Yan’s car, got into the driver’s seat, and drove towards his company.
During this period, their roles had completely reversed.
Afraid that it might be unsafe for Sang Yan to drive in his condition, Wen Yifan started driving him to and from work every day.
When Wen Yifan arrived at Sang Yan’s company, she saw him just coming out, with Zheng Kejia beside him, seemingly talking about something. Soon after, Sang Yan walked over and got into the car.
She turned her head, staring at him directly.
Sang Yan didn’t notice her gaze, fastened his seatbelt and went straight to the point: “Wen Shuangjiang, your stepsister just asked me to tell you to visit her home when you have time.”
“…”
Wen Yifan hadn’t expected this matter, just made an “oh” sound, without saying anything extra.
Sang Yan glanced at her: “Do you want to go?”
Wen Yifan shook her head: “I don’t plan to.”
Sang Yan didn’t say anything more.
They got off work early today, and she remembered Fu Zhuang mentioning a food festival at a nearby square.
After asking Sang Yan’s opinion, Wen Yifan drove the car to that area and found a parking spot. After getting out of the car, she held his hand and calculated the time: “Isn’t it time to remove your stitches tomorrow?”
Sang Yan made a light sound of agreement.
“I happen to have a day off tomorrow, I can go with you.” Wen Yifan’s voice was gentle, her speech slow, as she began to share her day with him, “Sang Yan, I received another call from Guo Ling’s father today.”
The food festival had just started a few days ago, and the square was crowded with people.
Sang Yan looked at the road, pulling her to avoid pedestrians: “What did he say?”
“He said thank you for reporting truthfully, and for being so attentive, something like that.” Saying this, Wen Yifan felt a bit embarrassed for some reason, “But isn’t this all just my job?”
Sang Yan casually said: “It’s your job, but you can still be praised for doing it well.”
Wen Yifan paused slightly, was silent for a while, then said: “Actually, I didn’t like being a reporter before.”
Hearing this, Sang Yan turned his head: “Hm?”
Thinking for a moment, Wen Yifan corrected herself: “It’s not about the industry. At that time, I just felt that except for dancing, doing anything else seemed the same.”
Hearing her voluntarily mention this for the first time, Sang Yan just looked at her without speaking.
“There’s one thing I lied to you about,” mentioning this, Wen Yifan blinked, feeling only calm compared to her feelings back then, “I switched to cultural studies in my second year of high school, not because I couldn’t dance anymore, but because my stepfather thought it was too expensive, so my mom told me to stop dancing.”
“…”
Sang Yan was momentarily stunned, seemingly having never considered this reason, not knowing how to react.
“At that time, after giving up, I never thought about it again. Because I’m not very good at fighting for things for myself.” Wen Yifan said, “After that, everything I did felt tasteless.”
Sang Yan stopped walking and asked her: “Do you still want to dance?”
“If it were a few years earlier, I probably would have wanted to.” Wen Yifan gave a serious answer, then smiled, “But yesterday I finished writing the news article about Che Xingde’s case, and today I received a call from Guo Ling’s father–“
“…”
Wen Yifan’s eyes curved: “I suddenly realized that I like being a news reporter too.”
It turns out that dreams can change imperceptibly.
Before, she thought she was only good at dancing, so after being deprived of her wings to fly higher, she felt she had no other talents. She only lived under the shadow, unwilling to accept anything else.
Feeling that just getting by in life was fine too.
Noticing that she was genuinely happy, Sang Yan lowered his eyelashes and said softly: “It’s good that you like it.”
After two seconds, he added: “In the future, just dance for your partner to see, that’s good too.”
“…”
Wen Yifan immediately looked at him, was quiet for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh: “Sang Yan, did you used to like watching me dance?”
“…” Sang Yan’s eyelids moved, and he was straightforward, “Just realized?”
“But I can’t dance now.”
“So what,” Sang Yan didn’t care at all, his tone arrogant, “I like you in other ways too.”
…
The two wandered around inside for a while.
Wen Yifan had a light palate, not even fond of drinks, with plain water being her most frequent choice. She wasn’t interested in any of the snacks inside and didn’t let Sang Yan eat either, afraid it might affect his wound.
In the end, Wen Yifan only bought a bag of handmade candy from a small stall.
Wen Yifan opened the bag, took out a piece, and brought it to Sang Yan’s mouth: “Do you want to eat?”
Sang Yan had no interest in such sweet things, glanced at them, and showed a resistant attitude: “No.”
“Oh.” Wen Yifan knew his taste. She put the candy in her mouth, tasted it, and recommended it to him, “It’s not that sweet, more milky, do you want to try it?”
As she spoke, she reached into the bag for another piece.
Sang Yan said meaningfully: “Alright, I’ll try.”
“Then–” Wen Yifan looked up, her words not yet finished, when she saw him staring at her. The next second, he held the back of her head, his lips and tongue descending, catching the candy in her mouth, biting it, and taking it into his mouth.
“…”
Wen Yifan still held the candy in her hand, a bit dumbfounded.
“Fine, I was tricked.” Because of this action, Sang Yan’s lips were coated with a layer of moisture. He stared at her caught-off-guard appearance, and curled his lips, “Isn’t this quite sweet?”