Chapter 11

「Want me to teach you a few moves? Next time someone bullies you, you can protect yourself.」

Beside eyes as clear as the sea, the corners curved into a smile.

The rain pattered on my face, and I felt a bone-chilling cold.

「That assassin was so cool. He never betrayed his dignity, not even at the very end. Now that’s a real man.」

Shallow teeth marks on the cola straw, she wore an expression of longing.

Blood gushed from my chest. Jiang Ya truly was a terrifying monster; that last knife strike took away all my will to live. If I hadn’t planted the bomb beforehand, delaying things by a crucial thirty seconds, I’d be a corpse by now, wouldn’t I?

「Then send me a bouquet of flowers every day. If you can keep it up for a hundred days, I’ll be your girlfriend.」

Her cool tone couldn’t hide the blush on her face.

My blood must have all drained out by now. This knife, so close to my heart, if I pull it out, I’ll probably see the Grim Reaper.

I gave a self-deprecating laugh. I’d imagined this ending countless times, but I never thought that when it truly arrived, I’d still feel unwilling, truly a little unwilling.

「Don’t be late, okay? I hate men who are late the most.」

Sweet dimples beneath a small white umbrella, she was saying goodbye to me.

「Granny, a bouquet of flowers.」I struggled to lift my arm, handing the money to the old woman.

She looked down at me, then let out a strange shriek, not even bothering to grab her flower basket, stumbling across the road.

「What the hell? Am I really that bad?」

I tossed the money into the flower basket, pulled out a white rose, and with my last ounce of strength, propped myself up and walked alone into the rainy night.

【Epilogue】

The rain finally stopped. The morning sun streamed into the bedroom, Ye Qing stretched, and got up to brush her teeth in the bathroom.

For some reason, she felt an inexplicable unease.

She should be in a super good mood today, though.

Ye Qing patted her face in the mirror and smiled.

In her jurisdiction, there was a strange little shop. It had rare books and CDs piled on the second floor, but didn’t sell them, nor did it sell drinks to make money. She heard it was a ‘Time Shop.’ You could write a letter to your future self, or to someone else in the future, letting time bear witness to your sincerity.

The shop had a rather clueless male attendant, tall with fair skin. Every time she saw him, he was helping the neighbors.

「Xiao Gu, my drain’s clogged again. Could you trouble yourself to take a look for me?」The granny with a head full of silver hair said to him, leaning on her cane.

「Okay, I’ll go in a bit,」he replied with a smile.

Then he spent the entire morning on it, getting himself all stinky, finally clearing the pipes.

「Xiao Gu, my cat food arrived. Could you help me carry it up, please?」The pregnant woman next door smiled at him apologetically.

「No problem.」

The yellow bags left marks on him, but he didn’t mind, carrying all seven or eight bags of cat food upstairs until he was drenched in sweat.

Bullied by punks, he didn’t dare fight back.

When taught fighting techniques, he just couldn’t learn them.

But when things got most dangerous, he gave off a very reliable feeling. Even though he was beaten until his head was covered in blood, he still stubbornly stood in front of her.

That clumsy yet earnest look, she always thought it was a little handsome.

The morning news was on TV. An explosion occurred last night at the Qinlian Center building, resulting in multiple injuries. Police suspect it was an assassination attempt by gang members on the chairman of the Qinlian Conglomerate. After attending the relevant press conference, Qinlian Chairman Zhou Mo stated to the cameras that he would fully cooperate with the police to uncover the mastermind and ensure that criminals would not go unpunished.

「Looks like it’s going to be another busy day.」

Ye Qing neatly put on her uniform, her cap pressing down her short hair.

Today was the hundredth day. That clueless guy should have a surprise for her, right?

She should be less fierce with him in the future, otherwise, she always felt like she was bullying him.

Her phone rang. Her captain’s tone was a little urgent:「Xiao Ye, something else happened at the Qinlian Center building. We need to deploy now, quickly gather with the team.」

「Ten minutes!」

Ye Qing grabbed her gear and rushed out the door.

The white rose hanging on the doorknob—no, it was a red rose, stained crimson with blood.

It was a pity she didn’t see it.

【O V E R】