After Breaking Up with the Stoic CEO - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Li Jin?

Telephone threats, tailing and lurking, possession of a controlled weapon, and clear subjective intent to cause harm. According to procedure, the suspect was undoubtedly placed under administrative detention.

Lu Wu entrusted the matter entirely to Ji Youyan. The officer in charge of the hand-off was a female officer named He, who wore medium-length hair. It turned out she was the one who led the team to catch the suspect. Once they met, she proved to be a capable and efficient professional, cooperating fully as Ji Youyan gathered the necessary details.

By the time they finished the procedures and emerged from the police station, it was nearly twelve o’clock. Ji Youyan had driven them there. As they got into the car, Tan Hangxue was still fuming, refusing to acknowledge Lu Wu no matter what she said.

Lu Wu tried, “I heard there’s a newly opened hotpot restaurant on the street ahead that’s supposed to be excellent. Everyone must be hungry by now, how about we go for hotpot?” She added, “My treat.”

Tan Hangxue: …

The person in the driver’s seat kindly tried to help ease the atmosphere. “That sounds good. It’s rare for our great author to be the one treating.”

It was a cold, slightly awkward attempt at humor, typical of Ji Youyan’s style. Unfortunately, after what she had just experienced, hearing the words “great author” only made Lu Wu’s skin crawl.

Ignoring the remark, she continued, “The weather forecast said it would be nice today. Why don’t we go to the park this afternoon, sit on the grass, and soak up some sun?”

Tan Hangxue turned her head, her gaze lingering and dim. She clearly wasn’t satisfied with the suggestion. Lu Wu wisely shut her mouth, not daring to annoy her further.

The air remained heavy for a few seconds before Tan Hangxue finally offered an olive branch. “Enough, you’re the victim here. I won’t hold it against you.”

Lu Wu immediately seized the opportunity to reconcile. “The person has already been caught. Don’t worry, next time there’s even the slightest sign of trouble, I’ll call you the very first second.”

Tan Hangxue rolled her eyes. “You’d call me? I’m starting to suspect that when you told me you were ‘fine’ the other day, you were actually being forced to ‘pay off your debts with your body’.”

The leap in the conversation was too great. Lu Wu was confused. “What debt with my body?”

Tan Hangxue sneered, “What other debt could it be? Naturally, the offense you committed against that Bentley owner after getting drunk.”

The Bentley owner… Lu Wu took a few seconds to react, finally connecting the title to Li Jin. ‘Paying off debts with her body’, ‘offense’. The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was sensitive. Tan Hangxue didn’t know that Lu Wu liked women, nor did she know about the tangled history between her and the Bentley owner.

However, the marks Li Jin had left on her shoulder were still stinging and burning, repeatedly reminding her of the unclear and indistinct things that had happened last night. Lu Wu averted her gaze, feeling somewhat guilty, and tightened her collar. “It wasn’t that dramatic. The other party really didn’t intend to hold it against me.”

“You’d better not be lying to me.” Tan Hangxue retorted, then added, “You said you were going to buy someone a gift to apologize before, but we never got around to it. Since I’m already on leave, I’ll go with you this afternoon.”

Lu Wu stopped the conversation before she could slip up. “Okay.”

Tan Hangxue continued on her own, “You’ll stay with us for these next two days. You can go back once the heat dies down.”

In their university dormitory, Lu Wu was the youngest and Tan Hangxue was the second youngest; everyone had always taken good care of them. Even though Tan Hangxue was only a year older than Lu Wu, she truly treated her like a younger sister, looking out for her behind the scenes for years. Ever since graduation, Tan Hangxue became a teacher while Lu Wu became a full-time writer, and Tan Hangxue often worried about her, fearing her erratic sleep schedule would ruin her health.

Lu Wu couldn’t refuse this kindness and hesitated for a moment. “…Okay. I’ll go back and pack a few clothes in a bit.”

Only when she mentioned clothes did Tan Hangxue notice Lu Wu’s abrupt choice of outfit: loose, baggy denim shorts on the bottom, and a sun-protection jacket pulled all the way to the top, zipped so tightly it didn’t reveal an inch of skin on her neck. Although the car had the air conditioning on, making it comfortable enough, the temperature outside was over thirty degrees Celsius.

“Aren’t you hot?” Tan Hangxue asked.

Lu Wu clutched her clothes tighter. “The UV rays are too strong lately. It’s easy to get tanned.”

Tan Hangxue found it unreasonable. “You’re already so fair. Is there really a need to worry about that?”

Lu Wu nodded. “Yes.”

Tan Hangxue: …

After a while, she caught a whiff of something wrong. The suspect was only caught by the police lurking until dawn, and since Lu Wu hadn’t known about it, it meant—she hadn’t been home last night. Tan Hangxue looked Lu Wu up and down, then narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Speaking of which, where were you last night?”

Lu Wu’s expression was as calm as usual. “A bar.”

Tan Hangxue pressed, “Which bar?”

“LA Point” was a lesbian bar, and Tan Hangxue likely hadn’t heard of it, but Lu Wu was on guard and didn’t tell the truth. “It was in the city center; I can’t remember the name.”

Tan Hangxue’s gaze was suspicious. “Alone? You didn’t come home?”

Lu Wu’s eyes were innocent. “I was in a bad mood, so I had a couple of drinks by myself. I was worried the house wasn’t safe, so when I got tired, I found a hotel to rest.”

Tan Hangxue couldn’t question her any further after that. She patted Lu Wu’s shoulder, wanting to say something but stopping herself. “Don’t take what people say on the internet to heart. I think what you wrote is great; the friendship between the female doctor and the female reporter is especially moving.”

Lu Wu didn’t respond. She couldn’t very well say that the relationship between the female doctor and the female reporter wasn’t actually a “pure friendship,” could she?

In the gap while waiting for a red light, Ji Youyan finally found an opportunity to interject. “Do you often show your face on the internet?”

Lu Wu shook her head. “Counting this book signing, only a few times. And the organizers usually have regulations that forbid the spread of video materials.”

Ji Youyan looked at her through the rearview mirror, offering comfort. “It seems there’s no need to worry too much; things aren’t as bad as they seem.”

Lu Wu smiled. “Yes, I know.”

Ding-dong—

Her phone suddenly rang. At this time of day, most of her friends were busy; whoever had the leisure to call was likely another hater who had dug up her information somewhere. Lu Wu’s expression stiffened visibly. Seeing this, Tan Hangxue reached over and grabbed her phone. “I’ll see which bored person this is.”

Beep—

The call connected. Tan Hangxue found a target for the frustration she had been unable to vent, and she unleashed a verbal torrent at the other end.

“Where do you go to school? Have you finished your homework? Did you listen carefully to your teacher’s advice? Do you know what it means to be kind to others? Have you heard that time is money? Don’t waste other people’s time because of your own temper; is that logic not clear to you?”

After that barrage, the other side’s spirit was indeed extinguished. Only after a long pause did a shy, timid voice come through—

“I… I’m looking for Lu Wu.”

The girl’s voice was sweet, soft, and melodious, and she sounded young. It was clearly a child without much judgment who had been led astray by public opinion.

Tan Hangxue’s tone was stern. “Are your parents there? Get your parents to pick up the phone!”

There was a silence on the other end. Seeing this, Tan Hangxue became even angrier, subconsciously adopting the authority of her profession. “Can you not hear your teacher speaking?”

The project manager had just finished reporting the progress and was standing there waiting for potential criticism when a cute, polite little girl appeared at the door.

“Little Jin…”

Li Jin looked up, speaking calmly to the person in front of her, “Go implement the front-end work first. Du Lin will send you the parts of the plan that need modification later.”

Rumors had long been circulating in the company that President Li had an underage child. It seemed they were true. No one knew who the father was. In the presence of the concerned party, the manager didn’t dare say anything extra, only bowing respectfully. “Understood, President Li.”

Li Jin nodded slightly. “Go ahead.”

“Then I’ll be heading down; please continue with your work.”

The manager thoughtfully closed the door as he left. Li Jin turned her gaze back to Li Xinrui. The little girl had been jubilant when she took the phone to make the call, but now she looked like a frostbitten eggplant.

Li Jin softened her tone. “What’s wrong? Did the call not go through?”

Li Xinrui had only just returned to the country, but she had an instinctive fear of teachers. She shook her head, feeling flustered. “I’m not sure, but anyway… someone else picked up the phone.”

Seeing Li Xinrui stuttering, Li Jin frowned slightly. Could it be that Lu Wu said something she shouldn’t have?

She took the phone. “I am Li Jin.”

The female voice on the other end wasn’t very warm, but it was clearly mature. It must have been the girl’s guardian. Tan Hangxue adjusted her emotions and spoke earnestly, “Ms. Li Jin, I would like to communicate with you regarding the education of your child—”

Lu Wu hadn’t been paying close attention to what Tan Hangxue was saying to the phone, looking out the window in a daze, until a familiar name suddenly reached her ears.

Li Jin…

Li Jin??

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