Xie Kui nodded. Since he had been handling the case previously, he suggested, “Xiao Zhang can go back to the hotel to get the phone. Xiao Meng and I will check the surveillance separately. The child is still in the car, and Miss Zhuang is injured. Boss, you can take her to get treated on your way.”

…

Si Hang drove to the nearest hospital.

Zhuang Zi sat in the back seat with Xiao Mi, clutching the blanket. The car was quiet, and none of the three spoke.

The little girl beside her stared at her with wide eyes. When Zhuang Zi looked back at her, she quickly looked away, pretending to be interested in something else.

Zhuang Zi glanced at her own reflection in the car window, indeed looking disheveled, and raised her hand to smooth her messy hair.

Si Hang took a quick look through the rearview mirror and then emotionlessly returned his gaze to the road.

He was really lucky today, having to take care of two victims at once.

Zhuang Zi was a coincidence. She had just narrowly escaped death and looked terribly disheveled. He couldn’t just ignore her.

As for the child.

He usually worked overtime at the police station on weekends but didn’t stay late at night.

Today, Xiao Meng had to go out for work, so Xiao Mi had been sitting in his office. When he turned off the lights and prepared to leave, she had silently followed him all the way to the parking lot.

…

In the treatment room, the doctor was cleaning Zhuang Zi’s wound with iodine, causing her to furrow her brows in pain.

“How did you get a cut on your neck?” The doctor was surprised. “If it had been a bit more to the side, it could have severed an artery!”

Thinking about the sensation of the knife slicing across her neck, Zhuang Zi felt a shudder of fear. In that situation, she hadn’t thought about much else. Death was a possibility anyway; perhaps taking a risk might have given her a chance to survive.

Ironically, she didn’t know whether narrowly escaping death tonight was a stroke of luck or misfortune.

The doctor didn’t handle her gently, and she gritted her teeth against the pain, turning her head to look outside.

Si Hang was standing in the hallway, back towards her, talking on the phone in a gentle tone.

“I’m bringing two people home tonight.”

“One is a child, the other was injured by a criminal and has nowhere else to go for now.”

His detailed explanation and gentle demeanor made it clear to Zhuang Zi, who wasn’t stupid, that he was talking to a woman.

She glanced at the back of his head, then slowly looked away, thinking that some people just aren’t warm towards everyone—they just aren’t warm towards you.

…

It was nine o’clock when they left the hospital.

The night rain had started to drizzle. Streetlights cast a dim and melancholic light through the rain, illuminating the road ahead.

The car drove steadily down the wide road, maintaining silence within the enclosed space.

Zhuang Zi fiddled with the edge of the blanket, feeling uneasy.

She pondered how inconvenient it would be to go to his house, thinking about how she would feel if her own man brought a strange woman home, regardless of the reason—it would always feel awkward.

But tonight, if she didn’t trouble him, she had nowhere else to go.

She didn’t want to be a burden to anyone, nor did she want to cause trouble for herself.

After a few seconds of hesitation, she glanced at the man’s profile and said, “You can take me back to the police station.”

Si Hang raised his eyes at her words, and their gazes met in the rearview mirror.

The next second, he looked away and asked indifferently, “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Zhuang Zi was determined; she had stayed at the police station before and could handle it.

“Suit yourself.” His tone was indifferent, but after a while, he suddenly laughed mockingly and said with a hint of sarcasm, “You’d rather suffer in the car. Do you think I—”

“It’s not that!” Zhuang Zi immediately interrupted him, explaining with frustration, “I just don’t want to make things difficult for you.”

“What would be difficult?”

She opened her mouth but wasn’t sure if the person on the phone was his girlfriend or his wife, so she stayed silent.

Seeing her not speak, Si Hang frowned, looked at her through the rearview mirror again, then turned his gaze back to the road. His mind turned a corner, and he gradually understood her concerns, a knowing look appearing on his face.

“I’m not married and don’t have a girlfriend.” He said mockingly, “If I did, would I be bringing you two home?”

“…” Zhuang Zi turned her head, once again meeting his cold eyes in the rearview mirror.