Chapter 72

“What else could it be?” Haozi lowered his voice. “Brother Ping wants to ask for your help again. She’s willing to give you this amount.”

Haozi held up two fingers.

“Haozi, thank you for tonight, but I stand by what I said before. If anything goes wrong, it could cost lives. I won’t do it,” Yu Xiangnian replied.

At that moment, Cheng Jingmo walked over, giving Haozi a cold glance before turning to Yu Xiangnian. “Let’s go home.”

“What about that man?” Yu Xiangnian asked.

Cheng Jingmo was silent for a moment before saying, “I don’t think he’s faking it.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiangnian’s freshly calmed emotions flared up again. She stood up and charged towards the interrogation room, shouting, “Why don’t you believe me? He’s faking it! I will make sure he goes to jail!”

Cheng Jingmo reached out and pulled her into his arms. “Yu Xiangnian, calm down.”

Yu Xiangnian, agitated, pushed against him. “How can I calm down? I was almost raped! And he, just because he’s declared mentally ill, gets away with it!”

Cheng Jingmo held her tightly, not letting go. “Being this upset won’t solve anything. Let’s go home first and think of a way.”

Yu Xiangnian, trapped in his embrace, struggled and pounded his chest with her fists. “Let go of me!”

Despite her hits, Cheng Jingmo didn’t loosen his grip.

He knew Yu Xiangnian was scared and wronged, but the police had to follow the law and evidence. It wasn’t as simple as Yu Xiangnian wanting him jailed.

Unable to break free, Yu Xiangnian cried in frustration, “You also think this is shameful and don’t want anyone to know!”

Cheng Jingmo’s nose stung, his voice heavy. “I don’t think that. Let’s go home first.”

His anger was no less than hers. Just the thought of her almost being…

He wanted to kill the man himself.

Bending down, he picked her up and carried her to the car, placing her inside.

Handing her changed military jacket back to Ding Yunfei, he asked, “Captain Ding, how did you get here? Do you want a ride back?”

“No need,” Ding Yunfei replied, waving his hand. “I rode my bike.”

Driving on the bumpy road, Yu Xiangnian had stopped crying, staring out the window, ignoring Cheng Jingmo.

He glanced at her frequently, wanting to talk, but she clearly didn’t want to.

“Yu Xiangnian, where’s Qiu Yang?”

Why was she walking alone at night? Where was Qiu Yang? They had been together all day these past few days, so why was she alone today?

Yu Xiangnian kept staring out the window, not responding.

Cheng Jingmo continued, “Tonight, everyone was too agitated. Let’s calm down and then think of a solution.”

The whole situation was too coincidental.

Just when Qiu Yang wasn’t around, she got into trouble, and then those two happened to save her, and the attacker happened to be mentally ill.

Yu Xiangnian remained silent, refusing to engage.

Back home, Cheng Jingmo prepared a bath for her.

While bathing, Yu Xiangnian noticed several scratches on her face, arms, and other exposed areas, probably from the corn leaves. In her terror, she hadn’t even felt them.

After her bath, she saw a bowl of steaming hot noodle soup on the table.

How did Cheng Jingmo know she hadn’t eaten?

The aroma made her stomach growl. She swallowed discreetly, pretending not to see the soup as she headed to the bedroom.

“Yu Xiangnian,” Cheng Jingmo called. “I made some noodle soup. Have a bowl; we shouldn’t waste food.”

He had heard Yu Xiangnian’s stomach growling in the car, so he made a bowl of noodle soup for her while she was bathing.

With Cheng Jingmo giving her an out, Yu Xiangnian pretended to be reluctant as she sat down at the table.

The noodle soup Cheng Jingmo made was very fragrant, and Yu Xiangnian was very hungry. She devoured the whole bowl, finishing it in minutes, including the broth.

She still wanted more.

“I can cook more if you want,” Cheng Jingmo offered.

Yu Xiangnian rubbed her stomach and firmly replied, “Don’t think you can bribe me with noodle soup! None of you believe me. You all think this is a shameful matter and want to sweep it under the rug. I won’t let this go!”

Cheng Jingmo felt relieved that she was finally talking to him. “I don’t think that way.”

Yu Xiangnian didn’t believe him.

At the police station, he had forcibly carried her to the car, clearly wanting to avoid making a scene and feeling embarrassed!

Most people in this era, faced with such situations, would endure silently, afraid of others finding out.

Cheng Jingmo was no exception!

It was almost 2 AM by then, and Yu Xiangnian didn’t want to argue anymore. She went to the bedroom to sleep.

Having been frightened, Yu Xiangnian slept fitfully.

She had a nightmare of falling off a cliff.

The sudden feeling of weightlessness startled her awake!

She sat up in bed, panting heavily, her heart pounding.

After calming down for a while, she turned on the light and saw it was just after 4 AM.

At that moment, she heard the bedroom door being gently pushed open and saw Cheng Jingmo standing in the doorway.

One sitting on the bed, the other standing at the door, their eyes met, and Cheng Jingmo looked awkward. “I heard you scream, so I came to check on you.”

“I had a nightmare,” Yu Xiangnian said, her voice emotionless.

“Do you want some water?”

“Yes.”

A moment later, Cheng Jingmo returned with her enamel mug. Yu Xiangnian took a few sips of water and handed it back to him.

She then noticed he was still wearing his military uniform from earlier that night.

“You haven’t slept?” she asked.

“No,” Cheng Jingmo replied, placing the mug on the writing desk by the bed. “You sleep; I’ll stay with you.”

Maybe it was the fear of another nightmare or the lingering fright that made her crave company. Yu Xiangnian didn’t say anything, lying down and closing her eyes.

Soon, she fell asleep.

The next day, she was woken up by Zhao Ruozhu.

Seeing Zhao Ruozhu, Yu Xiangnian was dazed, thinking she was still dreaming.

“Nian Nian! Are you alright?” Zhao Ruozhu asked anxiously, shaking her.

Yu Xiangnian took a moment to realize Cheng Jingmo must have told them about last night.

Sitting up, she tried to sound casual. “I’m fine, don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“What exactly happened?”

“Ha? If you don’t know what happened, why did you come?”

“Cheng Jingmo ran to Qiu Yang’s house in the middle of the night and beat him up! Qiu Yang’s father woke up the whole family. None of us slept a wink! We asked Qiu Yang, and he didn’t know what was going on. So we came over first thing in the morning!”

Cheng Jingmo beat up Qiu Yang?!

Yu Xiangnian was instantly wide awake.

“Where is Cheng Jingmo?” she asked.