The Exclusive Bodyguard of the Top Idol - Chapter 22

Inside the visitation room of a detention center in Bin City.

Ren Jiao sat before the specially designed safety glass, wearing a mask. Ji Qingshi stood by the door of the visitation room, chatting with a guard from the facility.

“Thanks for bringing us here today,” Ji Qingshi expressed his gratitude to the guard.

The guard smiled. “Captain Du from the Provincial Department already gave the heads-up. The visit follows procedure, Deputy Captain Ji, no need to thank me.” He glanced at Ren Jiao’s back and lowered his voice, unable to suppress his curiosity. “Why does your friend keep wearing a mask?”

Ji Qingshi didn’t tell the truth, simply saying, “She’s had an allergic reaction these past couple of days.”

“Oh, I see.” The guard studied Ren Jiao a few more times, feeling there was something unusual about this masked girl.

Before long, the door on the other side of the safety glass opened, and a figure walked in. His hands were cuffed, and under the guard’s direction, he slowly approached the glass.

The man had a shaved head, his chin covered in a stubble of grayish beard, looking noticeably more haggard. When he recognized the person on the other side of the glass, his body stiffened, his expression instantly complicated.

Ren Jiao straightened her back as she watched him walk over and sit down before picking up the phone.

The man hesitated for a moment before also picking up the communication phone after the guard removed his handcuffs.

Ren Jiao opened her mouth but suddenly didn’t know what to say.

The man smiled at her and asked gently, “Are you doing alright out there?”

Her throat tightened, unable to meet his bright, unburdened smile. After a long pause, she nodded.

He asked again, “What brings you here today?”

Suppressing the ache in her heart, she looked up at him. “I just wanted to see you.”

Her voice trembled slightly. The man’s smile remained as his gaze shifted to Ji Qingshi by the door. “Is that the protection the police arranged for you?”

Ren Jiao nodded silently. “Not long after you were detained, officers from the Provincial Department found me and provided protection. I figured they must have traced me through you or maybe you told them. Brother Ruan, I’m sorry…”

Ruan Lixuan was taken aback. “Why apologize?”

Sorrow lingered between her brows. “I should have planned more carefully, or thought of a better way. If I had, you wouldn’t be in prison now.”

Listening to her self-reproach, Ruan Lixuan sighed softly. “Why put so much pressure on yourself? Both of us know there was no better way. The forces behind them are too powerful. Only by creating such a massive public outcry could we achieve our goal.”

Ruan Lixuan was Ren Jiao’s ally. Both of their families had lost their lives due to the backers behind Sheng Dingzhe. They had separately infiltrated Sheng Dingzhe’s inner circle and one of his underground KTVs, gathering evidence of his crimes.

Earlier in the year, a horrific case had erupted online, stirring public outrage. Deng Wei, a male idol under Tian Ding Entertainment, had been murdered. Someone uploaded footage of his corpse to the internet, openly taunting the police.

The uproar caused by Deng Wei’s death gripped the attention of millions, and the mastermind behind it all was Ruan Lixuan.

Under the watchful eyes of millions of netizens, Sheng Dingzhe and his powerful backers couldn’t blatantly manipulate the situation. Deng Wei had died as a result of Sheng’s corrupt dealings involving money and sex, and Ruan Lixuan used this incident to create a massive media storm, successfully directing the police to arrest Sheng.

Most of the evidence Ruan Lixuan had in his hands came from Ren Jiao, who had been operating behind the scenes.

“You’ve truly worked hard these past few years,” Ruan Lixuan said into the phone, his gaze softening as he looked at Ren Jiao. “It’s time for you to shed that pressure and burden. From now on, live well for yourself. I heard from Captain Qi that the provincial department has formed a special task force. This matter will soon be resolved, and you should also look ahead. Don’t feel guilty toward me, either. Miss Ren, working with you was my choice. I didn’t do it for anyone else only for myself, to avenge my parents. Our cooperation was on equal footing.”

Ren Jiao’s fingers tightened around the phone until they turned white. She remained silent for a long time, so long that the guard behind Ruan Lixuan began checking the time.

Finally, she let out a soft sigh and smiled at him. “I’ll hire the best lawyer for you. Once you’re out, we’ll have a proper reunion.”

Ruan Lixuan nodded, accepting her kindness without hesitation. “Captain Qi said my cooperation and contributions will be taken into account during sentencing.”

He seemed to be in good spirits, even playfully winking at her. “I’m safest in here. Those people can’t touch me. But you, you need to be careful.”

Ren Jiao instinctively glanced behind her at Ji Qingshi, who was waiting by the door, and warmth instantly softened her eyes. “With her here, I’ll be fine.”

Ruan Lixuan froze, his eyes widening in surprise as he looked at Ji Qingshi. He didn’t miss the tender affection in Ren Jiao’s gaze, and it stunned him. He had known Ren Jiao for years and had never seen her look at anyone like that. In the past, she had seemed to lock her heart away. Never showing intimacy, never even revealing her true emotions.

They were the same kind of people. As a man with normal aesthetic sensibilities, Ruan Lixuan had easily developed admiration for someone as remarkable as Ren Jiao. But he knew she didn’t feel the same way, so he had never voiced his feelings, only silently watching over her.

In that brief look Ren Jiao had just given Ji Qingshi, he not only saw affection but even a hint of awed admiration as if she felt unworthy. The realization sent a surge of inexplicable anger through him, and he shot Ji Qingshi a fierce glare.

Ji Qingshi was unusually sensitive to hostile gazes. Instinctively, she turned toward the source, only to find Ruan Lixuan already looking away, resuming his conversation with Ren Jiao.

What was that? My imagination?

Baffled, Ji Qingshi scratched her head.

After recovering from his shock, Ruan Lixuan tried to suppress the turmoil in his heart. Before their meeting time ended, he simply said, “Take care of yourself out there. Stay safe.”

As he left, he added one last thing: “From now on, it’s a new life. Put yourself first; whatever you want, fight for it.” He gave her an encouraging, brotherly smile. “You’re amazing. You can have anything you desire!”

“Ruan Lixuan, time’s up!”

At the guard’s reminder, Ruan Lixuan set down the phone. As he stood, he gave Ren Jiao one last playful eyebrow raise before turning and walking away without looking back.

Ren Jiao stared blankly as his figure disappeared through the doorway, then listlessly set down the phone in her hand.

When she walked out of the detention center, Ren Jiao couldn’t quite define her own emotions. She followed Ji Qingshi into the car and rode home in silence.

Ji Qingshi didn’t know what they had talked about, but she was worried that Ren Jiao might be upset. Yet, upon closer observation, it didn’t seem that way. Ren Jiao wasn’t in low spirits rather, it was more like the melancholy that comes after shedding a long-held burden of pressure and responsibility.

Ji Qingshi wanted to cheer her up but didn’t know what to say. Aware of her own clumsiness with words, she simply stayed quietly by Ren Jiao’s side.

Ren Jiao wasn’t actually drowning in negative emotions. She was just thinking about the last words Ruan Lixuan had said to her. During this meeting, he had repeatedly urged her to let go of the heavy past and start embracing the future.

Admittedly, perhaps because they were kindred spirits, Ruan Lixuan understood her well. For ten years, she had been weighed down by the past for far too long. Even though she had told herself countless times to face a new life. Even performing her self-written song Rebirth at her concert, words were easier said than done.

Some burdens, carried for too long and affecting her for too long, weren’t so easily cast aside.

Rebirth, the future, and fighting for what she wanted.

Ren Jiao often wondered: Can I? Am I capable? Do I deserve it?

She glanced at Ji Qingshi, who was sitting beside her cutting fruit. If she had to name something she suddenly found herself wanting recently it might just be this person right in front of her.

Ren Jiao averted her gaze and clenched her fingers tightly.

But I don’t deserve her.

…

This inexplicable mood didn’t last long. The next day, Ren Jiao acted completely normal again, even accompanying Ji Qingshi to the sanatorium to visit her mother.

Ren Xiuxian remained the same as always, lying there day after day. The officers assigned by the provincial bureau to protect her, along with the nurses, took turns watching over her and speaking to her, but there was never any reaction.

Ren Jiao spent the day with her mother. Since the sanatorium’s resting area was limited, she and Ji Qingshi returned home that evening.

With more free time lately, Ren Jiao spent her days at home writing songs and practicing piano. Ji Qingshi stayed with her, listening attentively even though she didn’t understand much.

Having gone days without wire stunts, the bruises on Ren Jiao’s waist healed quickly, and she no longer needed medication. Yet, for reasons unknown, Ji Qingshi didn’t bring up moving back downstairs.

After two days of nervous anticipation, Ren Jiao realized Ji Qingshi wasn’t going to mention it. So of course, she was happy to keep living together. Both of them tacitly avoided the topic, neither knowing what the other was thinking, but by some unspoken agreement, they silently accepted the arrangement.

A week later, S-Group held a company meeting to discuss the production of their new album. Teacher Javen attended, along with an unexpected guest. The renowned cellist, Maestro Guo.