Chapter 51.1

The military guard didn’t even have time to catch their breath as they quickly explained, “We received a call from the state-run embroidery shop, saying Deputy Commander Lu’s sister-in-law is in trouble and asking you to come over immediately!”

“Song Bai, go to the military district and get a car!”

Lu Yu rushed into the military guard office at top speed. Song Bai also ran to the military district, while Commander Song and Captain Lu, standing in place, frowned nervously. Commander Song asked the military guard, “What happened to Deputy Commander Lu’s sister-in-law?”

The military guard shook his head. “I don’t know either. The people from the state-run embroidery shop were crying hysterically on the phone, so it must be serious.”

The face of the Commander Song changed slightly. He said to Captain Lu, “Let’s go, we’re going over too!”

Meanwhile, Lu Yu burst into the military guard office, picked up the phone, and heard Lu Xiaoqing’s crying voice. He asked in a deep voice, “Where’s Jiang Nian?!”

Hearing Lu Yu’s voice, Lu Xiaoqing seemed to find her backbone. “She was taken away by Hu Zhongming’s dad, Zhang Xiao’s head was broken and she’s in the hospital now. The police and others are searching for Hu Zhongming’s dad and Jiang Nian, but they haven’t found them yet.”

Lu Yu hung up the phone, opened the door, and rushed out into the pitch-black night.

His face was grim, a coldness rarely seen on his usually gentle and serious face. Commander Song and Captain Lu chased after Lu Yu for a long time but couldn’t catch up. Song Bai drove over and picked them up. When they finally found Lu Yu, he had already run out of the county.

Commander Song really admires him. The young man’s stamina is truly impressive.

Song Bai drove fast, covering a journey that should have taken four hours in just two hours. As they approached the state-run embroidery shop, before the car even came to a stop, Lu Yu jumped out and dashed straight towards the shop. Opening the door, he saw Ge Mei and Lu Xiaoqing looking anxious and fatigued. “Any news about Jiang Nian?”

Seeing Lu Yu arrive so quickly, Ge Mei was momentarily stunned before regaining her composure. Leaning on the table, she shook her head, “Not yet. The police are still searching.”

Lu Yu asked coldly, “Tell me the physical features and build of Hu Zhongming’s father.”

Song Bai saw Lu Yu’s grim expression as he walked out, furrowing his brow. “What’s the situation?”

Commander Song and Captain Lu were also anxious, asking about the situation.

Lu Yu spoke in a low voice, “The man who took away my sister-in-law is a middle-aged man, slightly chubby, with a full beard. Let’s split up and search!”

In the pitch-black night, everyone searched all night until Father Hu and Jiang Nian reached the tall gate opposite the machinery factory. The gate was built with brick walls, narrowing from wide to narrow, with a limited space on top, enough for a dozen people to stand.

Jiang Nian’s hair was disheveled, her clothes covered in dirt, and her face scratched. She was petite and frail, looking vulnerable and helpless in the dark night. Her bright eyes were now red from crying. She worried about Zhang Xiao, unsure if she had been discovered and if she was safe.

Father Hu exposed himself, gathering all the police in the city to the gate opposite the machinery factory. There was only one staircase leading up to the gate, right under Father Hu’s nose. He held a discarded steel bar against Jiang Nian’s neck, one arm around her neck, and shouted down to the police below, “I want to see my son, Hu Zhongming!”

When a police officer tried to come up the stairs, Father Hu glared fiercely, pressing the steel bar against Jiang Nian’s neck,”Whoever dares to come up, I will kill her!”

Jiang Nian winced in pain, her vision blurred.

Underneath the gate, there were police, others from the mechanical factory, and Lu Yu rushing into the side of the gate. He looked up at Jiang Nian, almost teetering on the edge of the gate. His dark eyes suddenly flashed with a cold light, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, the protruding knuckles looking menacing.

Song Bai also saw Jiang Nian, especially when he saw Father Hu press the steel bar against Jiang Nian’s neck, causing a small indentation. He frowned deeply.

Lu Yu called the police to deal with Hu Zhongming’s father and went around from behind with Song Bai.

The police nodded immediately upon seeing their military uniforms. “Got it!”

Commander Song said to Captain Lu, “You follow them. I’ll go ahead and coordinate with the police. Damn it, they dare to bully our family members!”

“I want to see my son!”

Father Hu roared from above, almost pushing Jiang Nian off the high gate. Jiang Nian was so scared that she closed her eyes tightly, biting her lip to keep from crying out.

The police officer said, “Even if you’re anxious, you have to wait. It’s an hour’s journey from here to the prison. You can’t act recklessly. Our people are already contacting the prison to bring Hu Zhongming here as quickly as possible.”

The police officer cooperated, and Commander Song glanced at Lu Yu and Song Bai, who were coming around from behind.

Father Hu had lost his reason by now, his eyes red, with a murderous look in his eyes, “I don’t care. I want to see my son within half an hour, or else I’ll die with her!”

After saying that, he took a step forward, almost pushing Jiang Nian, who was originally on the edge, into a dangling position. Only her heels were barely touching the edge of the brick, and she held tightly to Father Hu’s arm. She was afraid that Hu Zhongming’s father would lose his mind and let go of her hand.

“Ah!”

The crowd below burst into terrified screams.

The police officer’s face changed, and he reached out to pacify Hu Zhongming’s father, “Alright, alright. We’ll bring Hu Zhongming here within half an hour.”

The tall gate was about eight meters high, wide at the bottom and narrowing upwards. Captain Lu leaned against the wall of the tall gate, knees slightly bent, hands on his head, and said to Lu Yu and Song Bai in a low voice, “Go!”

Both of them were trained in the army, so an eight-meter-high wall was not a problem.

Lu Yu used his strength to rush up, agile in his movements, trying to keep as quiet as possible. He went up from the left, while Song Bai went up from the right. After they got up, while the police officers distracted Father Hu, the two of them were like lone wolves lurking in the dark night.

Song Bai grabbed Father Hu’s neck, pinning his wrist tightly. Taking advantage of this gap, Lu Yu slipped his arm through the gap between Father Hu and Jiang Nian, grabbing Jiang Nian’s waist and pulling her into his arms. He pushed against the bricks of the tall gate, protecting Jiang Nian as he fell back.

Song Bai tightened his grip on Father Hu’s neck and twisted his body, “Don’t move!”

Upon seeing this, the police officers quickly rushed up the tall gate.

Jiang Nian lay on top of Lu Yu, her fingers tightly grasping Lu Yu’s clothes. The man held her sideways, inserted his five fingers into Jiang Nian’s black hair, supported the back of her head, looked at Jiang Nian’s red eyes and pale face, and whispered, “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

He gently pressed Jiang Nian’s head with his fingers to relieve the trembling of her body.

Jiang Nian gradually came back to her senses from her fright, her pupils began to focus, and she looked at Lu Yu who was so close to her. Her tense emotions suddenly collapsed, and she buried herself in Lu Yu’s solid chest, sobbing.

“I didn’t know he would take revenge on me.”

“I don’t want to hurt Zhang Xiao.”

“Lu Yu, I’m scared…”

Lu Yu tightened his arms around Jiang Nian, and before Commander Song and Captain Lu came over, he stood up with Jiang Nian in his arms. Jiang Nian was crying and her head was dazed, and her body was still shaking. Lu Yu held her sideways and said to Commander Song, “I’ll take her to the hospital.”

Commande Song hurriedly said, “Song Bai, drive quickly.”

Lu Yu held Jiang Nian in his arms and sat in the military jeep. After escaping from the danger just now, Jiang Nian’s collapsed emotions gradually calmed down. She loosened her fingers clasping Lu Yu’s clothes and placed them weakly on her legs, adjusting herself from Lu Yu’s arms.

Lu Yu lowered his gaze, looking at the drooping head of Jiang Nian. He suppressed the urge to embrace her again. Captain Lu sat beside him, glancing at the veins bulging on Lu Yu’s hand, knowing he was genuinely anxious this time. If they hadn’t acted swiftly, his sister-in-law might have been in serious trouble.

Commandeer Song turned to Jiang Nian and asked, “”How do you feel? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

Jiang Nian shook her head and said with a nasal tone, “I’m okay.”

Through the rearview mirror of the car, Song Bai glanced at Jiang Nian, who sat by the door, her head lowered, her black hair covering her face, making her expression unreadable.

Lu Yu said, “I’ll take you to see Zhang Xiao at the hospital later.”

“How is Zhang Xiao?” Jiang Nian asked.

She looked at Lu Yu with teary eyes and red-rimmed eyes, looking pitiful. Considering the presence of others in the car and their current relationship as relatives, Lu Yu refrained from making any overly intimate gestures towards Jiang Nian and replied, “We’ll find out when we get there.”

Since arriving in the city, he had been searching for Jiang Nian without paying attention to anything else.

Jiang Nian lowered her head, biting her lip tightly. She remembered Zhang Xiao lying alone in the alley with blood on her head when she was taken away by Hu Zhongming’s father. There was so much blood. Could something bad happen to her?

If something happened to Zhang Xiao, she would never forgive herself.

At the hospital, Jiang Nian hurried to see Zhang Xiao. Only after seeing her would she be willing to attend to her own injuries. Lu Yu took her to ask the nurse, and following the ward number indicated by the nurse, they found Zhang Xiao in the ward. Zhai Peipei was guarding Zhang Xiao nearby. When she saw Jiang Nian and Lu Yu come in, she ran over and hugged Jiang Nian.

“You scared me to death. Are you okay? Did Hu Zhongming’s father hurt you?”

Jiang Nian shook her head, pushed Zhai Peipei away gently, and looked at the unconscious Zhang Xiao, asking, “Sister Zhai, how is Zhang Xiao?”

Zhai Peipei sighed in relief and said, “She lost a lot of blood and has a mild concussion. She just woke up. The doctor came and said as long as she wakes up, there shouldn’t be any major issues. But she still needs to be observed in the hospital in case of any complications.”

Upon hearing Zhai Peipei’s words, Jiang Nian’s tense heart finally relaxed completely. The nerves that had supported her all the way finally collapsed at this moment. Just as she closed her eyes and collapsed to the ground, Lu Yu quickly reached out and caught her.

“Doctor! Someone fainted!”

The incident at the building opposite the machinery factory last night spread almost overnight.

Ge Mei and Lu Xiaoqing went to the hospital early in the morning to see Zhang Xiao and Jiang Nian. Zhang Xiao woke up around noon the next day, still somewhat dazed. The doctor advised her to rest well and undergo further examination once her condition improved.

Jiang Nian woke up in the afternoon and saw Lu Yu sitting by her bedside.

There was a faint stubble on his face, and he was still wearing his military green uniform. When Jiang Nian woke up, he approached her and asked, “Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

Looking at Lu Yu so close, Jiang Nian gently shook her head, “I’m fine.”

As soon as she spoke, she felt a sharp pain in her throat, as if it had been sliced by a blade. She reached up to touch her neck, where gauze was wrapped. Lu Yu held her wrist, preventing her from touching the wound on her neck. “The steel bar scraped your skin. Don’t touch it for now.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Nian felt pain in her throat, forehead, and neck, a result of Hu Zhongming’s father pressing hard against her neck last night. Reflecting on the perilous events of last night, she felt fortunate to be alive, thanks to Lu Yu and Song Bai.

“How is Zhang Xiao?” she asked.

“She’s in the next ward. She can eat and drink now.”

Jiang Nian breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”

“Sister-in-law.”

Lu Yu had been leaning over, looking at her, his cold face showing a serious expression.

Jiang Nian’s eyelashes trembled as she looked into Lu Yu’s dark eyes. “What’s wrong?”

His breathing almost merged with hers as he spoke, “From now on, let me accompany you whenever you come to the city okay?”

He didn’t want to experience a third dangerous situation like the two Jiang Nian had faced.

Jiang Nian’s voice was hoarse as she replied, “Okay.”

A middle-aged woman and a young woman were lying on the beds beside each other, both looking at Lu Yu and Jiang Nian. Outside the ward, it was noisy, and their conversation was low, making it impossible to hear what they were saying. However, the man’s face clearly showed his love and concern for the woman.

The middle-aged woman in the middle bed smiled and said, “You two have such a good relationship.”

They were so close that it seemed they were about to kiss, and even though they were a couple, they had to be careful outside. However, she didn’t say these words, and the young woman inside envied Jiang Nian, thinking that it would be great if her man could be half as good as hers.

Lu Yu heard this and didn’t explain further.

Jiang Nian felt somewhat uneasy and avoided Lu Yu’s gaze, looking elsewhere. “Where are Commander Song and the others?”

Lu Yu stood up straight. “They rushed back last night.”

“Oh.”

Jiang Nian didn’t say anything more.

She had slept quite a while and wasn’t sleepy now, but Lu Yu hadn’t slept all night. “Why don’t you go to the guesthouse and sleep for a night? It’s not good to keep going like this.”

“It’s okay.”

Lu Yu asked, “What do you want to eat? I’ll go buy it for you.”

“No need to buy, we brought dinner.”

Lu Xiaoqing and Ge Mei came over, each carrying an aluminum lunch box. Ge Mei handed one of the boxes to Lu Yu. “Eat up quickly. You’ve been working hard all day and night without rest. I’ll go to the guesthouse and get a room ready for you to rest for the night.”

Lu Yu took the aluminum lunch box and sat on the stool beside the hospital bed. “No need, I’ll just rest here for a bit.”

Ge Mei knew he was worried about Jiang Nian and felt reassured only when he was with her. She didn’t say much more, exchanged a few words with Jiang Nian, and left. Lu Xiaoqing stayed a bit longer and offered to feed Jiang Nian, making her embarrassed. “I can eat on my own. I have hands and feet.”

Lu Xiaoqing said, “I just want to feed you a bite.”

To be honest, she was scared to death when she saw Jiang Nian being held up on the high gate by Hu Zhongming’s father yesterday.

When she and Sister Ge rushed to the hospital, Jiang Nian fainted and only woke up now. She wanted to feed Jiang Nian a bite to make her feel that the person in front of her was still a living person.

Jiang Nian: …

Helplessly, she opened her mouth and ate a piece of chicken. Between chewing, she reached out to Lu Xiaoqing, “Give it to me.”

Only then did Lu Xiaoqing give it to her. Lu Yu ate quickly, finishing a full bowl in no time. Lu Xiaoqing felt a sense of relief after surviving a disaster. Seeing Jiang Nian sipping chicken soup gently, she felt fortunate, “You don’t know, Sister Ge was so scared that she went weak. It was my first time seeing Sister Ge unable to walk properly.”

Jiang Nian paused while drinking her soup, “How is Sister Ge?”

Lu Xiaoqing smiled, “As long as you and Zhang Xiao are fine, she’s fine too. If it weren’t for her asking me to call Deputy Commander Lu, I wouldn’t have even thought of it.”

Lu Yu got up to wash his face, and Lu Xiaoqing continued, “Jiang Nian, you don’t know how worried Deputy Commander Lu was about you yesterday. If I didn’t know you two are relatives, I would have thought you were a couple.”

As soon as she said this, an eerie silence fell over the ward.

The two women on the hospital bed looked at Jiang Nian in surprise. They exchanged glances, finding it hard to imagine they were actually relatives. Just now, they had been so intimate that they had mistaken them for a couple, and the man did not explain.

Jiang Nian sensed their strange gazes and sighed inwardly. She said to Lu Xiaoqing, “Sister Lu, let’s not talk for now. Let me rest for a while.”

Lu Xiaoqing agreed, “Yes, you need to rest well.”

When Lu Yu returned, Lu Xiaoqing had already left. He sat on a stool by the bed and leaned against the bed, saying, “I’ll rest for a while.”

Enduring the two women’s odd stares, Jiang Nian nodded gently, “Okay.”