The man stood at the payment window, his tall figure leaning slightly forward, brow lightly furrowed as he patiently listened to the staff inside, then reached for his wallet and started searching through it.

His refined, gentle face carried a trace of worry, as though something was troubling him.

Su Man quickly jogged over.

She was afraid her own father’s medical bills hadn’t been paid in full, and that the man who had saved his life was covering the difference again.

“Mr. Lu!” Su Man rushed to the window. “Do you need to pay the medical bills? Let me handle it — how much is it? Can I pay by card?”

As she spoke, she pulled her wallet from her crossbody bag.

Lu Yuwen stopped her, saying gently, “No, it’s not that. My ID card has gone missing, so I came to ask whether I might have left it here when I paid earlier.”

Su Man was taken aback. “Did you find it?”

Lu Yuwen shook his head slightly. He thought for a moment and said, “It’s not in my wallet. I took the train today, and I think I put it together with my train ticket in my outer coat pocket — but it’s not there now. I’m worried I dropped it on the road somewhere.”

“Think carefully about where it could have fallen.” Su Man knitted her brows, genuinely worried for him. “Without an ID card, you won’t even be able to check into a hotel. Getting a temporary ID issued takes several days.”

Lu Yuwen felt a headache coming on.

Losing one’s documents while away from home was the most troublesome thing imaginable — it made everything inconvenient.

He thought it over, then said to Su Man, “It may have fallen at the scene of the accident. I’ll hail a cab and go look shortly. Miss Su, you don’t need to worry about this — it’s already quite late. You should head home and rest.”

Su Man immediately replied, “You already know how late it is, which is exactly why it’ll be hard to get a cab. Let me drive you there to look for it.”

Lu Yuwen was mildly startled. He instinctively glanced down at his wristwatch. “But it’s nearly 1 a.m. now…”

“Then let’s be quick about it!” Su Man was impatient by nature. She turned and headed for the exit, speaking rapidly. “My car is parked right outside. Let’s hurry before someone picks it up. Besides the ID card, do you still have everything else — cash, your train ticket, bank cards…?”

Lu Yuwen: “…”

Su Man turned her head and looked back at him, urging, “Why aren’t you moving? What are you waiting for?”

Lu Yuwen hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and followed her.

— He disliked troubling others. Perhaps it had something to do with how he had grown up — not wanting to be the one people resented, he had always tried his best to keep a “cordial” distance from everyone around him.

To sum it up, he was a man with a very strong sense of propriety.

For instance, when he had noticed that Fang Zixin was in fact unable to accept his lame leg, he had deliberately distanced himself and left her a graceful exit — giving her a reason and an opportunity to be the one to propose the breakup, so that they could part without either of them losing face.

*Looking for someone in Pekalongan today*

A cripple — what right did he have to be choosy? Handing the initiative to end things over to the woman was the only tenderness he could offer.

Fang Zixin had probably breathed a sigh of relief as well.

She had always been a sensitive soul.

The girl in front of him now… was entirely different.

Lu Yuwen watched the young woman’s silhouette as she walked ahead. He could tell she came from a comfortable family and had grown up surrounded by affection. Because of that abundance of love, she had no need to conceal her moods — she was the type where, the moment she was unhappy, even the tips of her hair would seem to bristle with irritation.

Su Man yanked her car door open with a sharp clap and dropped into the driver’s seat. While starting the engine, she called out to Lu Yuwen:

“Get in — hurry!”

She was driving a brownish-green SUV.

It was a large, rugged-looking vehicle, and among the row of ordinary cars, Su Man’s SUV exuded a fiercely imposing presence.

Not at all what you’d expect from a young woman.

But having witnessed her physical strength firsthand, Lu Yuwen thought that a car like this actually suited her quite well.

Lu Yuwen got in and fastened his seatbelt.

As he raised his eyes, he noticed a work badge sitting beside the GPS unit, its emblem immediately eye-catching.

“You’re a traffic officer?” He was mildly surprised.

Su Man froze — then shot her hand out, grabbed the badge, yanked open the compartment, and threw it inside.

Lu Yuwen: “…”

Su Man: “…”

She pressed her lips together, only belatedly realizing her reaction had been somewhat excessive, and her expression turned sheepish.

Lu Yuwen studied her face and slowly spoke. “I’m sorry… just now, I was presumptuous.”

—