Chapter 405: Confiding
Leng Yue sat up, grabbed her wine glass, and downed another heavy gulp before slamming it back onto the table.
"After that!" Rage flared in Leng Yue's eyes. "I don't remember how I got off the stage. At that moment, my mind was a complete blank. All I knew was that I went to the riverbank, sat there, and cried until I had no tears left. Before long, Chen Jun actually followed me there.
"He tenderly held my hand and told me that his earlier words were just a joke. He said he didn't dare to admit it because having a girlfriend would look bad and might hinder his campaign for student council president."
"Hah, how ridiculous!" Zhao Dong clenched his fists in anger.
What a textbook scumbag! He was clearly disgusted with her but wasn't willing to let her go, was he?
"You didn't actually forgive him, did you?" Zhao Dong asked anxiously, completely drawn into her story.
"How could I!" Leng Yue retorted angrily. "I immediately confronted him. Wasn't he getting close to a girl from a powerful family? When it came down to it, his 'fear of looking bad' was really just a fear that the other girl would see and get jealous, right?
"My words made Chen Jun flush with embarrassment. He was speechless, and his noncommittal silence said it all. After that, I never contacted Chen Jun again, and he tacitly accepted our breakup. I completely despaired of love and vowed to become someone truly successful on my own.
"My hard work paid off. Over the years, I steadily improved my education, climbed the career ladder, and built up my power, ultimately becoming the Inspector General of Provincial City. The ridiculous thing is, when I became the Inspector General, a dazzling public figure, this man who once scorned me actually began pursuing me again…"
At this point, Leng Yue said no more, simply picking up her glass and drinking relentlessly. She fought back her tears, but they slipped down her cheeks of their own accord.
Zhao Dong sighed inwardly. After hearing so much, how could he not understand?
Even though Chen Jun had hurt Leng Yue so terribly, she still couldn't let him go. She was still in love with him! But what happened back then had become an insurmountable obstacle in her heart. That was why, when faced with Chen Jun's renewed pursuit, the Leng Yue who thought she would never forgive him was losing her composure like this. It's true. If love was something people could control, how could there be so many romantic tragedies in the world? If they weren't right for each other, couldn't she just choose not to love him? A pity… Love… it was uncontrollable…
「In the following hour, silence once again fell over the table.」
Leng Yue kept drinking, with Zhao Dong keeping her company. Seeing she barely had the strength left to lift her arm, Zhao Dong knew he couldn't let her continue.
He helped her up and said, "It's getting late. Let's drink again some other day."
"No! I want to drink! I haven't had my fill… Let me drink… let me drink!"
Leng Yue struggled to break free from Zhao Dong's grasp, but the potent alcohol made her stagger and fall right back into his arms.
"Alright, alright," Zhao Dong soothed her. "I'll let you drink, but it's past midnight, and the bar is closing. How about we go home and drink?"
"Really?" Leng Yue swayed and pushed him away. Her face flushed, she pointed a wobbly finger at his nose. "You're not lying to me?"
"Of course not. I have no reason to lie to you, right?"
"Great!" Leng Yue threw her arms around Zhao Dong's neck and patted his chest. "Not a single one of you men is any good. Saying we should drink at my place… are you planning something nefarious?"
A misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding! Zhao Dong was speechless.
Just as he was about to explain, Leng Yue shook her head, patted his chest again, and said with a careless air, "It's fine! You've already touched me and seen everything anyway. What's the harm in letting you take a little more advantage of me? Let's go! Drink!"
With that, she actively slung her arm around Zhao Dong's neck and started walking toward the exit.
This girl is completely wasted, Zhao Dong thought helplessly.
But since Leng Yue was determined to leave, he wasn't about to argue and cause a scene. He quickly settled the bill and led her out of the bar.
The cold wind that hit their faces only made the already dazed Leng Yue even more disoriented. A drunk person was indeed hard to manage. Although Leng Yue wasn't heavy, her dazedly slumping against Zhao Dong's shoulder made walking a bit difficult, especially with her soft chest pressed firmly against his arm. It sent his mind reeling.
At that moment, a group of young men, who were also clearly intoxicated, approached from a distance, arms slung over each other's shoulders, laughing and shouting boisterously. They seemed to be in high spirits, like a gathering of close friends. Zhao Dong paid them no mind; youths like them were all too common on the bar street.
But just as the group brushed past them, Zhao Dong's eyes widened in shock.
Why don't they smell of alcohol?!
Startled, Zhao Dong had no time to think. He yanked Leng Yue backward. At the same time, the young men who had just passed them brandished several sharp knives, lunging at the very spot where the two had been standing.
"Danger!"
Zhao Dong's pupils contracted. He reacted with incredible speed, but he was still a step too late. An assassin's knife swung down, and though it missed Leng Yue's vital points, it slashed her thigh. The sharp pain instantly sobered her up.
"They're after you!" Zhao Dong shoved Leng Yue away and kicked out, sending the nearest attacker flying.
"Gun!" Leng Yue cried out frantically.
Zhao Dong looked up to see another young man pull out a dark handgun and point it directly at her.
BANG!
The gunshot echoed instantly. Terrified, Leng Yue squeezed her eyes shut. But the severe pain she anticipated never came. Instead, a warm liquid dripped onto her face.
Leng Yue looked up to see Zhao Dong's body standing before her like a towering tree. There was a bleeding bullet hole in his arm, and the dripping blood was what had landed on her face.
"Wh-why did you take that bullet for me?" Leng Yue's eyes reddened, overwhelmed with emotion.
"This isn't the time to talk! Go!"
All of this happened in a flash. Zhao Dong forcefully pulled Leng Yue to her feet just as more bullets struck the ground where they had been. He rushed to the car less than three meters away, yanked open the door, threw Leng Yue into the back seat, then dove into the driver's seat and sped toward the street.
RAT-TAT-TAT…
Bullets peppered the car, making a series of metallic pings. Luckily, Zhao Dong had his Divine Sense to guide him, allowing him to drive even with his head down. In just a few seconds, the car shot onto the main road and vanished into the night.
"How's your leg?" Zhao Dong asked, his face pale.
"I'm fine, it's just a scratch," Leng Yue quickly shook her head. Looking at his profusely bleeding arm, she said with heartache and worry, "Your wound is still bleeding. Let's hurry to the hospital!"
"No!" Zhao Dong shook his head. "If the assassins follow us to the hospital, civilians could get hurt. I'll find a deserted place to take care of it."
As he spoke, Zhao Dong tore a strip of cloth from his T-shirt. Using his teeth to help his other hand, he wrapped the makeshift bandage around his arm to stanch the bleeding.
"That should hold for now." He gave Leng Yue a reassuring smile, but the pallor on his face from the pain and blood loss was impossible to hide.
Seeing him like this, Leng Yue's heart ached unbearably. She leaned forward from the back seat and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Why… why are you so foolish?" she said, her voice filled with pain. "They came to kill me. Why did you have to shield me like that…"
Leng Yue cried bitterly. She held on to him from across the driver's seat, gripping his waist tightly as if afraid something precious might slip away.
"Just helping someone in need. It's nothing," Zhao Dong replied casually.
But his words only made her tears flow more freely. Including this time, Zhao Dong had saved her twice now. Remembering her previous coldness toward him, and how she had even given him a hard time at the Inspector General's office, Leng Yue felt a stabbing pain in her heart.
"You know… besides my parents, you're the first person to ever be this good to me… the very first…" Leng Yue's voice trembled.
Zhao Dong smiled. "I may be the first, but I'm definitely not the last."
"No! You are the last!" Leng Yue suddenly declared with a firm voice.
What did she mean by that?
Zhao Dong was puzzled, but Leng Yue didn't elaborate. So, he changed the subject. "Who are these assassins? Why are they so desperate to kill you? Have you offended someone?"
"I don't know. We didn't get a chance to make the last assassins talk, so I can't be sure if they're from the same group," Leng Yue said bitterly. "In my position, I offend countless people. If we went looking for enemies that way, half of Provincial City's powerful families would end up in jail."
Hearing this, Zhao Dong gave a wry smile.
She had a point. Which powerful family didn't have skeletons in their closet? And with Leng Yue's frosty, no-nonsense demeanor, it was certain she wouldn't let any of their children off the hook if they fell into her hands. Every case was bound to create a new group of enemies…
"Even if we don't know who the culprit is, these two assassination attempts should be a warning for you to be more careful," Zhao Dong said gravely.
"Are you afraid I'll die?" Leng Yue asked out of the blue.
Zhao Dong fell silent.
Was he afraid? He didn't know.
He shook his head and gave a wry smile. "I don't know if I'm afraid or not, but I definitely don't want you to die."
Hearing this, Leng Yue covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. They didn't speak again.
「A dozen or so minutes later, the car pulled into Leng Yue's villa.」
The area was relatively quiet, so even if the assassins found them, no one else would get hurt. Zhao Dong first carefully checked the perimeter of the house for any lurking assassins. Only then did he help Leng Yue inside.