When Bo Jingzhou covered her eyes, Shen Wanci's gaze had already fallen on Shen Zhenan.

He shielded his head with his hand, his body curled up, blood and urine mixing together on the floor.

It's pretty dirty.

Every time Shen Wanci saw Shen Zhenan recently, he looked haggard and down on his luck. She couldn't even remember what he used to be like as the head of the family, full of vigor and prestige.

Shen Wanci pulled the hand Bo Jingzhou had placed over her eyes down. "Let's go,"

Bo Jingzhou took her hand, interlocking their fingers. As he tightened his grip, his fingers brushed against a sticky, wet sensation, and he realized that his hands might still be covered in Shen Zhenan's blood.

He held the joined hands of the two people in front of his eyes, and sure enough, he saw a red mark on Shen Wanci's fair hand, and some were even smeared on her face.

The man frowned.

Someone immediately handed Mr. Bo a wet tissue: "Mr. Bo, please wipe your hands first."

Bao Jingzhou took it over, first wiping the bloodstains on Shen Wanci's face and hands clean, then casually wiping his own hand. His knuckles were injured, he didn't know where they had been scraped, the skin was rolled up, and blood dripped down his fingertips, unable to tell if it was his or Shen Zhengan's.

He wiped with a rough, almost forceful motion, like he was erasing something from a notebook as a child. The damp cloth's texture left a faint redness where it rubbed, but even so, everyone present felt an unspoken sense of tenderness and protectiveness in the air.

Shen Wanci wanted to refuse. Firstly, she was uncomfortable, and secondly, there were so many onlookers around. Zhou Jingzhou was such a prominent figure who could attract attention even if he did nothing. With so many eyes on them, and her father – nominally at least – lying unconscious on the ground, she simply couldn't be as nonchalant as him.

He had just thrown away the wet towel when she lowered her voice and said, "Let's go."

Bo Jingzhou: "Hmm."

He reached out to take her hand, but Shen Wanci moved away quickly. His fingertips brushed against her clothes, and when he looked up again, she was already at the door mediating outside.

The man's face turned cold, his lips pressed into a thin line, clearly not in a good mood, but he still lifted his foot and followed. He hadn't taken two steps when someone stopped him.

Bo Jingzhou frowned, turned his head to look at the police officer standing in front of him, and asked in a harsh voice, "What's going on?"

"Mr. Bao, you can't leave for now," he gestured to the surveillance cameras above his head. "With so many eyes watching and someone being beaten like this, we have to follow procedure. Otherwise, it would be difficult for us to report."

What's the process?

"Five days of detention, and a fine of over five hundred," Seeing Bo Jingzhou's gloomy face, he added, "This is the minimum. If Shen Zhengan wants to pursue further action later, then..."

Before he could finish his words, Huo Tingdong strode into the mediation room carrying his briefcase. Dressed in a sharp suit, he was tall and imposing, casting the corridor lights above him into shadow: "Mr. Bo, your bail has been processed, you're free to go."

What about her?

Although Huo Tingdong arrived late and didn't see anyone, he knew who Bo Jingzhou was asking about. "I didn't see Miss Shen when I came."

Thin Jingzhou pursed his lips and sneered, "What a heartless person."

If it were another woman, she wouldn't say she was moved to tears, at least she would ask about the wounds on his hands. But Shen Wanci was different; she didn't ask anything and even slipped away faster than a rabbit.

He's such a... warm face, cold bottom.

If you dare to meddle in her affairs again, you're dead.

Bo Jingzhou was holding a grudge, walking to the police station door, when he saw the woman who had just left, carrying a bag of medicine and walking towards him.

He stood on the steps, looking down at her. Their height difference was too obvious, and coupled with his current arrogant attitude, even his voice sounded condescending: "Aren't you afraid I'll leave after you buy it?"

"Didn't you just leave?" Shen Wanci handed him the medicine and glanced at Huo Tingdong beside him, "You have an injury on your hand and it's inconvenient, so let Lawyer Huo..."

"I'll go first."

After finishing his words, he didn't wait for Bo Jingzhou's reply. He nodded to Shen Wanci as a farewell and turned directly towards the parking lot, not stopping for a single step.

Bo Jingzhou extended his hand, fully exposing the wound in front of Shen Wanci: “Don’t you have anything you want to ask?”

Shen Wanci looked at the ferocious wounds on his knuckles. Although she had roughly wiped the blood from his hands with a damp cloth just now, her wiping was perfunctory. At this moment, it was still a bloody mess.

She was silent for a few seconds, then asked: "Do you want to get the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) injection?"

He had wounds on his hands, and they were covered in Shen Zhen'an's blood. With so many lovers, who knew what diseases Shen Zhen'an might have?

Bo Jingzhou: "..."

He didn't even acknowledge her, and walked straight toward where the car was parked, his temples throbbing with anger.

He had never met a woman like Shen Wanci who was so insensitive and heartless.

But thinking about it, he hadn't really met that many women.

After a few seconds of silence, Shen Wanci's footsteps followed. She didn't walk fast, but at least she was keeping up. Bo Jingzhou unconsciously slowed his pace, the tightly pursed line of his lips relaxed slightly, and the fierce outline of his face seemed a little more gentle.

Bo Jingzhou's car was parked not far away. When Shen Wanci walked over, he had already gotten into the driver's seat. The hum of the engine starting broke the quiet of the night.

Two people looked at each other through the windshield.

The car was on, but it wasn't moving. It seemed like she wasn't getting in and was prepared to wait there forever.

A tense silence hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity.

Shen Wanci lost the game and got into the passenger seat.

Bo Jingzhou had already very consciously stretched his hand out in front of her, "The police in City A got back to us. The two people who kidnapped you are just street thugs, desperate for money, they saw that you were a woman and quite wealthy, so they had bad intentions."

"Did they believe it?"

The reason was utterly absurd. Everywhere you looked on the street, influencers were decked out in designer bags and spending money like water. Shen Wanci's entire wardrobe didn't even add up to a fraction of what one of them might spend, and she hadn't bought anything expensive, yet they claimed it was because she was tied down by money.

Bao Jingzhou: “It's not a matter of belief, but necessity. A city is far from the emperor's grasp, and its waters run deeper than those of Kyoto.”

He showed Shen Wanci the photos of the suspects sent by his subordinates: "Are these two people who kidnapped you?"

Shen Wanci was lowering her eyes, wiping the dried blood on his fingers with a wet cloth. She looked up at his words and glanced at his hand, "No."

Although her features and figure were somewhat similar, she was certain that the people in the photograph were not the ones who had kidnapped her.

She asked, "What about the two people who saved me?"

“Nobody,” Bao Jingzhou narrowed his eyes, a hint of ferocity swirling in the depths shadowed by his eyelids: “According to the two men’s confessions, they fought halfway through because they couldn’t agree on how to split the spoils from the previous case. In the end, they were both injured and afraid that their commotion would attract too much attention from the police, so they abandoned their car and fled.”

(Editor in charge:dune novel)