This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
"Alright." Yan Tinghuan squinted her eyes and smiled. "You say it is about the script, then it is."
After reminding a few more words, Yan Tinghuan left.
Ruan Yesheng's gaze went back to the bathroom door. She silently looked for a moment, then walked over and moved a chair to sit down.
Even though she was very worried in her heart, at this time, it was not convenient for her to knock on the bathroom door, and it was even worse to say anything. She gave Xi Mo enough time and space to calm down. She just sat there and waited quietly.
In the middle, knocking sounds rang out again. Ruan Yesheng thought the police had arrived so quickly and immediately stood up.
She only looked through the peephole and saw that Gu Qisong was standing outside. Ruan Yesheng immediately opened the door.
Gu Qisong's forehead was covered in fine sweat. For someone who’d always been physically excellent and calm, this was a rare sight.
Ruan Yesheng had found it strange earlier. Why did Gu Qisong come so late this time? In the past, the dedicated Gu Qisong was always the first to rush over. Did he run into some trouble?
"Xiao Mo, I’m really sorry. I came late." Gu Qisong stood straight like he was being inspected by an instructor. "After you called me, I acted immediately. But I was worried it was the same kind of threat as before. I was afraid something was wrong, so I purposely ran up the stairs this time."
"This time isn’t the same kind of threat as last time." Ruan Yesheng caught something strange in his words and frowned. "Ran up? Were you downstairs before?"
Ruan Yesheng stays on the 15th floor of the hotel. As a bodyguard, Gu Qisong naturally had to stay as close as possible to protect her in time, so his room was arranged right next to Ruan Yesheng’s.
If he were going to Xi Mo’s place, he should’ve gone downstairs, not upstairs.
Gu Qisong looked serious. "Yes, at that time, I had just come in from outside the hotel and happened to be on the 1st floor."
In Gu Qisong’s view, if that same person making threats had come again, the stairwell had no surveillance. If the person wanted to escape, the most likely way was through the stairs. As long as he also ran up the stairs in time, there was a chance he could spot something.
Earlier when Yan Tinghuan had fainted strangely, Ruan Yesheng didn’t say exactly what had happened during the call, and only told Gu Qisong to hurry over. Considering that, Ruan Yesheng could completely understand why he made this choice.
If it were her, she might have done the same.
But even if he took the stairs, with Gu Qisong’s running speed, he should’ve already reached the 8th floor, where Xi Mo’s room was, from the 1st floor.
Ruan Yesheng keenly sensed something was off. Her eyes darkened as she said, “Did you see something that delayed you?”
Gu Qisong nodded. “When I ran to the 8th-floor stairwell, I heard footsteps. I vaguely saw a figure quickly running upstairs, so I chased after them.”
“A figure?” Ruan Yesheng wondered if it was the woman next door and pressed further. “Did you get a clear look?”
That woman had openly destroyed the police’s surveillance. She would naturally leave immediately, and the stairs would be her first choice.
“When I saw them, they were already about to reach the upper floors. I couldn’t see clearly, but judging from their clothes and hairstyle, it should’ve been a middle-aged woman.”
Ruan Yesheng recalled Yan Tinghuan’s description of the woman next door. The person Gu Qisong saw was very likely the same one.
“So you chased after her?” Her mind worked extremely fast, already picturing the scene in her head.
“Yes,” Gu Qisong replied. “But she was too fast. The distance kept widening. By the time we reached the 16th floor, I couldn’t track her position by her footsteps anymore. After that, I ran up all the remaining stairwells and even checked the rooftop, but I didn’t see anyone. I think she might have entered one of the hallways on the way up, so I searched each floor, but I still found nothing. I had no choice but to come back.”
As Ruan Yesheng listened, her expression grew colder and colder.
She listened while analyzing Ding Qihong’s movements in her mind.
People usually assume that if someone wants to leave, they will head for the main exit. So the police would block key exits first, like the elevator, stairwell, and the front and back doors of the hotel.
When she stood at the door holding Xi Mo, she heard urgent footsteps. The sound came from the elevator direction, stopped at Ding Qihong’s door, and then came the sound of kicking the door. After that, the footsteps left Ding Qihong’s room and ran toward the hallway.
That set of footsteps most likely belonged to a police officer.
The police had already noticed something was wrong and were chasing Ding Qihong. But the officer didn’t know her exact location, so he probably ran downward from the 8th floor.
Yet after Ding Qihong left the 8th floor, she didn’t go downstairs. She went up.
So Ding Qihong never planned to leave immediately. She was probably trying to hide in a room above the 8th floor.
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Going up meant a dead end. She couldn't jump off the rooftop. That meant she had already prepared a way to enter a higher-floor room, like getting a key card.
But that was still risky.
The police weren’t easy to fool. This team, for example, moved fast and decisively. They started checking rooms without hesitation. Even if Ding Qihong had a key card, if she hid in an empty room, she would still be found during the room inspections.
And then there was Gu Qisong.
He was likely the first to chase Ding Qihong. She was forced to go upstairs, and under such urgency, she probably couldn’t choose a floor freely. She had to slip into a hallway before Gu Qisong could pinpoint her exact location.
That hallway was uncertain, but it had to be above the 16th floor.
The hotel had 23 floors. Ding Qihong was now hiding somewhere between the 17th and 23rd floors.
But the police were checking rooms one by one. If Ding Qihong realized that, she wouldn’t dare enter a room. And after being chased by Gu Qisong, she had no way to choose a hiding place freely.
So where did she disappear?
"Xiao Mo?" Gu Qisong noticed that Ruan Yesheng had been silent for a while and called out to her.
Ruan Yesheng snapped out of her thoughts, feeling a chill down her spine. She looked at Gu Qisong and said, "You said she was much faster than you, so fast that you couldn’t even hear her footsteps at the end. But you’re already incredibly fast. How did she do it?"
Gu Qisong was a special forces soldier. Not just any soldier, but an elite who had excelled in the military. He often ranked first in competitions.
If Ding Qihong was just an ordinary person, how could she outrun Gu Qisong?
Especially running nonstop from the 8th floor to above the 16th floor—an entire eight-floor span—at such a high speed. How could she not feel exhausted?
"I don't know either." Gu Qisong rarely showed a confused expression. "Hardly anyone has ever outrun me. If she isn't the one making the threats, then who is she?"
"She's someone even trickier than the previous one. Their ways of doing things are different." Ruan Yesheng pondered for a moment and said, "You should go back to your room first. The police are checking rooms. It's not good for you to stay here, or they might ask questions and drag you into unnecessary trouble. We'll talk tomorrow."
She paused, then added, "I won't go back for now. There's still something I need to do here."
"Understood." Gu Qisong asked, "Are you staying overnight at Miss Ruan's place?"
Ruan Yesheng: "..."
Against the bathroom door, Xi Mo had also heard the entire conversation: "..."
Gu Qisong continued on his own, "Xiao Mo, your relationship with Miss Ruan is so good. After what happened tonight, you're worried about her safety, aren't you?"
Ruan Yesheng thought that although he was a blockhead, sometimes he really said things people liked to hear. She let out a faint smile and said, "You did well today. Next time, I'll talk to Lu Qingming about giving you a raise."
Gu Qisong was flattered. He stood at attention and said, "Thank you, Xiao Mo! I'll keep working hard!"
Xi Mo: "..."
Who gave you the right to randomly give my employees a raise?!
Gu Qisong stood straight. He bowed to Ruan Yesheng, then turned and left.
Ruan Yesheng closed the door and sat back on the chair from before.
Xi Mo listened to Gu Qisong describe the chase on the stairs in the bathroom. She thought about it carefully. She and Ruan Yesheng had the same question. They urgently needed to find someone to discuss it in detail. The Ruan Yesheng outside was the best choice. She took a deep breath, pushed open the bathroom door, and walked out.
Ruan Yesheng saw that she was willing to come out on her own. The heavy stone in her heart finally dropped. She walked to the side, poured a glass of water, and walked toward Xi Mo.
Ruan Yesheng's eyes stared straight at her.
But she did not ask anything about Xi Mo's panic just now. She only handed the water to Xi Mo and said softly, "Drink some water."
Xi Mo stopped in place, her gaze froze.
After a brief stiffness, she held the cup of water Ruan Yesheng gave her and slowly took a sip.
Ruan Yesheng asked again, "It’s very late. Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something to fill your stomach? We still have to wait for the police later."
These were just ordinary questions.
But in this situation, they were more comforting than ever.
Xi Mo was really surprised. She looked at Ruan Yesheng for a long time, not knowing what to say for a moment. After she hid in the bathroom, she’d been worrying about what she’d have to face when she came out. If it were anyone else, after seeing her trembling in the dark, even collapsing in fear, they wouldn’t be able to stop their curiosity, right?
The shadows of the past wouldn’t be washed away by time. Instead, they turned into countless nails, forever pinned in the once-bloody place.
She didn’t dare to recall, but once someone touched those nails, they would immediately carve even deeper wounds in her heart.
But Ruan Yesheng didn’t ask her.
Ruan Yesheng saw her nails. She saw her most panicked, most humiliating moment, yet she didn’t try to rip those nails open.
Instead, she acted like she hadn’t seen them at all and just spoke to her in a soft voice.
Xi Mo felt her respect, even a kind of indescribable gentleness. The nails in her heart suddenly didn’t seem to hurt as much.
"I’m a little hungry." Xi Mo looked deeply at Ruan Yesheng and said, "Tangtang and Yan Mu brought snacks and fruit earlier. There’s still a lot left. What do you want to eat?"
"Will you wash some fruit for me?" Ruan Yesheng asked with a smile.
Xi Mo nodded.
"Then I’ll have dragon fruit," Ruan Yesheng said without hesitation.
Xi Mo went to the sink to wash the dragon fruit. After peeling it, she cut it into small pieces, put them on a plate, and prepared a fruit fork. Then she placed it in front of Ruan Yesheng.
The two ate while talking in low voices. Of course, they were discussing Ding Qihong.
"Do you think the police will find that woman?" Ruan Yesheng tapped her fingers lightly on the table and asked Xi Mo.
"What do you think?" Xi Mo asked back.
"I just feel… really uneasy." Ruan Yesheng lowered her head. "I haven’t felt this kind of unease in a long time. That woman gives me a terrifying feeling. Her boldness in toying with the police, her speed being even faster than Gu Qisong’s, and most importantly, the fact that she could even see through Tinghuan. A person like that… I don’t know what she really is."
Xi Mo sat beside her, watching her slightly lowered eyelashes tremble under the light.
After a long silence, Xi Mo slowly reached out her hand from the table and covered Ruan Yesheng’s fingers.
Ruan Yesheng only felt a sudden warmth on her fingers. She looked up in shock and saw Xi Mo’s hand resting on the back of her hand, gently covering it but not completely holding it.
"You… you’re…" Ruan Yesheng was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say, but her cheeks turned slightly red.
Xi Mo snapped back to her senses and quickly pulled her hand back.
Ruan Yesheng was a little confused. She didn’t know why Xi Mo suddenly reached out but then pulled away just as quickly. She asked in a low voice, "What was that…?"
"You just said you were uneasy." Xi Mo seemed a little embarrassed. She looked to the side, her voice even softer.
"So… were you trying to comfort me?" Ruan Yesheng laughed, her eyes shimmering like rippling water.
Author's Note:
I will keep updating and increasing the cuteness value [.
If you guys keep rating and commenting, that can also increase the cuteness value [.
