Chapter 20: Zhang Wan’s Cry for Help

Lin Jing had just gotten into the taxi when she received a barrage of messages from Tang Xiaohe.

Several unread messages popped up from “Fried Egg Egg”:

“Jing, Jing’er, Jingjing, my baby!”
“I have to share my joy with you!”

“This is too surreal!”

Lin Jing quickly typed back:
“Speak human.”

Fried Egg Egg: “I’m no longer single.”

Lin Jing couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ah!”
The taxi driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror.

Deep Sea Whale: “Damn girl, you locked it in already?!”

Tang Xiaohe (pretending to be smug): “Pretty much on schedule, just as expected.”

Lin Jing (laughing): “Yeah right.”

“I’m on my way to the airport now, will arrive in Nancheng around noon.”

Tang Xiaohe: “That’s amazing! I missed you so much!”

Lin Jing: “Love you too, baby.”

Tang Xiaohe: “Let’s have dinner together tonight?”

Lin Jing: “Wait for me!”

With their evening plans settled, Tang Xiaohe lay on her bed, staring off into space.

The fact that she was now officially Ji Yanli’s girlfriend hadn’t fully sunk in.
Her heart was still floating in a daze.

She picked up her phone and tapped on Ji Yanli’s profile picture.
Ever since he confessed to her, they hadn’t said a single word to each other.

She typed a long string of messages rapidly…
Then deleted them just as fast.

What should I say?

This identity shift felt new and awkward. She still wasn’t used to it and felt a little shy.

Meanwhile, Ji Yanli had been watching his phone screen for a while.
It kept showing “The other person is typing…”, but no message ever came through.

Eventually, the screen went silent again.

Ji Yanli smiled to himself.

This shy little girl…

He got up and walked into the kitchen.
Opening the fridge, he saw it was fully stocked—something he’d had Xu Yang take care of.

His gaze paused slightly.
A plan formed in his mind.

A message came in: “Come downstairs.”

Short and direct—very much Ji Yanli’s style.

Tang Xiaohe stared at the two concise characters.
She didn’t even have time to wonder what he wanted—her legs were already carrying her toward the wardrobe.

🎵 “You know I wanna be your destiny…” 🎵

Just as she finished changing clothes, her phone rang suddenly.

She thought Ji Yanli was getting impatient and quickly picked up.

But it was Zhang Wan.

From the other end, Zhang Wan’s voice came through with choked sobs:

“Nini, don’t look—go hide in your room—AH! Stop hitting me—please stop!”

Tang Xiaohe’s heart clenched.
She had no idea what was happening—what kind of situation this was.

“Hello? Wan-jie? Wan-jie!”

Then came a child’s terrified crying:

“Waaaah… Mommy, don’t hit Mommy… don’t hit Mommy…”

“Tian Yanjun, you’re not even human! Nini is your own daughter! Hit me if you want, just don’t hurt Nini—AH!”

Tang Xiaohe pieced together what was happening bit by bit.
Her mind was ringing like a bell.

Tian Yanjun.
Wasn’t that Wan-jie’s husband?

Was she being abused?

Her hand trembled as she held the phone, but she forced her voice to stay steady.

“Wan-jie, where are you right now?!”

“You bitch! You’re making a call? Who are you calling? I’ll kill you today!”

The call cut off with a “beep.”

Tang Xiaohe didn’t know what was happening to Zhang Wan, or where she was, and her heart was pounding.

“Oh, that’s right!” she thought. “There’s a staff information sheet in the DingTalk group chat. It should have her home address!”

Tang Xiaohe quickly opened DingTalk, her fingers trembling.

“Building 2, Unit 1, 302, Lijing Garden!”

Tang Xiaohe grabbed her bag and ran out the door.

The elevator wasn’t there yet, so she turned and dashed toward the stairs. A few seconds later, a frantic knocking echoed on Ji Yanli’s door.

He wiped his hands and opened the door to see a disheveled and panicked Tang Xiaohe.

“My friend, my friend, she’s being abused, I think. What should we do? We have to save her! What should we do?”

Tang Xiaohe was so flustered she was almost incoherent.

Ji Yanli’s expression was calm as he took hold of Tang Xiaohe’s arms to steady her. “Don’t panic. Do you know where your friend lives?”

“Lijing Garden,” Tang Xiaohe said, giving the exact location.

Ji Yanli grabbed his car keys from the entryway, and they got into the elevator together.

“I’ll contact my colleagues, and we’ll call the police.”
Tang Xiaohe hesitated. Zhang Wan had called her. Why had she sought help from her instead of calling the police directly?

She remembered the bruises around Zhang Wan’s eyes on multiple occasions and her evasive behavior about her injuries. Tang Xiaohe wasn’t sure what Zhang Wan was thinking.

“Maybe she doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” she thought. “Maybe she doesn’t want everyone to know?”

Although she didn’t agree with Zhang Wan’s approach, she had to consider her feelings.

“Yanli, I’m worried Zhang Wan called me because she didn’t want to call the police…”

Ji Yanli nodded. He’d seen many similar cases, and if that were true, he could understand her choice.

They drove at a breakneck speed. The location wasn’t far, and they arrived at Lijing Garden quickly.

The violence inside was still ongoing. Zhang Wan was numb, lying on the floor, instinctively covering her head and silently crying while Tian Yanjun kicked her over and over.

“Open the door, police!”

Ji Yanli knocked loudly, and a glimmer of hope flashed in Zhang Wan’s eyes.

“You bitch! You called the police!” Tian Yanjun yelled, slapping Zhang Wan twice more. “When they get here, you better know what to say and what not to say. Otherwise, once they’re gone, I’ll kill you and your daughter.”

Her daughter, Nini, was clever. With tears still on her face, she seized the opportunity while Tian Yanjun was distracted and ran to open the door.

Ji Yanli and Tang Xiaohe rushed in.

“Wan-jie! Wan-jie!”

Ji Yanli moved forward, swiftly grabbing Tian Yanjun’s arm and subduing him.

Seeing that Ji Yanli wasn’t in uniform and was wearing ordinary clothes, Tian Yanjun figured he was just some fake cop Zhang Wan had found to scare him.

“Hmph,” he thought. “That woman still cares about her reputation and her daughter’s future, so she didn’t dare call the real police.”

With this realization, he felt much more confident and struggled with all his might. However, Ji Yanli’s grip was like iron, and Tian Yanjun couldn’t move his arms at all.

Tang Xiaohe had already called an ambulance. Seeing Zhang Wan’s terrible condition and Nini’s fearful tears, she felt a surge of anger and confronted Tian Yanjun. “Are you even a human being? If you have the guts, go fight a man! What kind of man hits a woman?”

As she spoke, the furious Tian Yanjun kicked out at Nini, who was standing frozen nearby.

In the nick of time, Tang Xiaohe rushed forward, scooped Nini up, and turned her back, shielding the girl from the kick. Tang Xiaohe took the full force of the blow to her own back.

“Xiaohe!”

Ji Yanli cried out in alarm as Tang Xiaohe crumpled to the ground in pain.