Chapter 16

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“Shen Kuo, wait a minute, this girl… looks familiar.”

Wu Qiang stood up and walked towards them.

Lu Yan shifted her gaze to the side and noticed that Shen Kuo’s hand on her shoulder tightened slightly, and that he subconsciously hid her behind him.

Wu Qiang and Zhao Shen led their companions over, the former looked at the girl behind Shen Kuo and said with a smile, “She’s indeed very familiar. I’m sure she was at the scene of the fire that day. She seemed to be standing with Lu Zhen, that stinky boy. Is she his girlfriend?”

Seeing that Lu Yan had been recognized, Shen Kuo immediately pulled her to his side, tucked her hair beside her ear with one hand, and held the back of her head with the other, pretending to try to remember when he’d seen her before.

The movements were a bit rough, and Lu Yan felt as if the scalp behind her ears was swelling because of pain.

He held Lu Yan’s face and looked at her for a few seconds, then turned around and said, “Oh, I know this girl.”

Wu Qiang looked at Shen Kuo, with a deep meaning in his eyes, “Xiao Shen, do you know her?”

“She’s Lu Zhen’s sister, a mentally retarded child who has been abducted and trafficked before, and only recently came back.”

Lu Yan understood Shen Kuo’s meaning, and quickly hid behind him, holding his arm to pretend to be afraid, shivering.

“A fool? But she doesn’t look like a fool at all?”

Zhao Shi walked over and looked closely at Lu Yan. Without expecting it, Lu Yan picked up the wine glass next to him and splashed his face with wine.

“Hahaha!” She clapped her hands and laughed, “It’s so fun!”

Even Shen Kuo was taken aback.

The girl’s hot-tempered personality was exactly the same as Lu Zhen, and when she suddenly got into trouble, she obviously looked for revenge first and took advantage of the smallest opportunities. But… the acting was actually quite on point, pretending to be mentally retarded.

“Damn, this idiot…”

Zhao Chen’s face was drenched in alcohol, he was very upset, and stepped forward to grab Lu Yan, “Are you looking for death?”

Lu Yan hid behind Shen Kuo, peeking with her big black eyes and staring at him defensively, just like a child.

Wu Qiang is not as simple as Zhao Chen. He has been observing Lu Yan’s demeanor.

“There are not many fools who come to the dance hall to play.” He sneered and said, “Shen Kuo, are you sure she is a fool? She heard everything we just said.”

Shen Kuo asked him, “What did we just say? “

Wu Qiang grinned.

He knew that Shen Kuo was a smart guy, and that he had to be extremely careful when dealing with him.

“Since this silly little girl has come to our song and dance hall, we have to do our best as landlords to entertain her.”

Wu Qiang finished, winking at the men around him, and wanted to take Lu Yan away.

Lu Yan hugged Shen Kuo’s arm tightly and whispered, “Uncle Shen…”

Shen Kuo felt how scared she really was.

“She calls you Uncle. It really seems like she’s a fool.” Zhao Shen laughed and looked at Shen Kuo, “Shen Kuo, there are so many people here, why is she sticking only to you and not letting go?”

Wu Qiang half-joked, “Don’t be jealous, who made our Xiao Shen look so beautiful? Look at the little flowers next to me, when they see him coming, all of them have their eyes straight and stare at him like hungry wolves eyeing fat meat.”

Shen Kuo smiled lightly, and put his hand on Lu Yan’s face, and pinched her cheek, acting mischievous, “Otherwise, why would I lie about her being a fool? Everyone knows how her brother and I can’t stand each other.”

Wu Qiang challenged him and said, “Take her to the private room. Anyway, she is a fool, and I am not afraid of her going out and talking nonsense.”

“It’s unnecessary, Brother Qiang.”

Shen Kuo said to him, “Her dad, Lu Jian, is not easy to mess with. Let’s do business and make money in peace. There is no need to make enemies for a moment of pleasure.”

Wu Qiang played with an empty porcelain cup in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and judged the intention in his words, “It’s okay to let her go, but just to be on the safe side, we must test and see if she really doesn’t understand anything.”

Worry flashed in Shen Kuo’s eyes, “How does one test that?”

Wu Qiang lit a cigarette, and then put the cigarette butt close to Lu Yan’s face, “Since she’s a fool, naturally she will not be afraid of her face being disfigured.”

Lu Yan could feel the scorching heat of the cigarette butt approaching little by little, her big black eyes blinked, her face was innocent and calm, as if she didn’t know what they were doing.

Only God knew that her heart was about to collapse.

If the cigarette butt burned her face, she would be disfigured for sure… But the current situation was that if she doesn’t hold on and stay still, her short life would end.

These guys are not good people, they can do terrible things like arson; killing people is nothing to them, right?

Lu Yan’s heart was a perfect example of “the wind is cold and the water is colder”. Who let her… fall in the bad guy’s hands today.

As long as these guys can be brought to justice, they will pay for their deeds. The burn… The burn mark will be dealt with later, she’ll have Lu Zhen arrange the best medical surgery for her to erase the scar!

At the moment the cigarette was about to touch her skin, Shen Kuo took the cigarette butt from Wu Qiang’s hand and pressed the cigarette butt on the back of his hand with no hesitation.

With a “sizzling” sound, the flesh was burnt.

Wu Qiang was caught off guard by the high temperature and screamed while holding his hand.

Shen Kuo pulled Lu Yan’s wrist, clutching her and rushing all the way into the chaotic crowd in the ballroom.

Wu Qiang reacted and yelled at the men at the door, “Stop them!”

Several men rushed to Shen Kuo and blocked his way. Someone even took out a knife.

Shen Kuo was very good at protecting Lu Yan, and “greeted” the group in twos or threes.

Lu Yan was panicked and frightened, seeing nothing in the chaos, and staggeringly followed him out.

Passing through the narrow stairway, the two ran out of the chaotic dance hall. The suffocating air mixed with the scent of tobacco and alcohol was instantly replaced by the fresh air after the rain.

Shen Kuo pulled Lu Yan’s wrist hard and ran wildly towards the end of the entertainment street.

Wu Qiang’s men also chased them out, looking at them, they didn’t intend to let them go.

Of course they couldn’t let them get away, they are holding Wu Qiang’s weakness in their hands, so they should be disposed of tonight.

Lu Yan didn’t have enough physical strength. After running for almost one kilometer, she leaned on the wall and panted, “I can’t do it, Uncle Shen, I… I can’t run anymore. Leave me and go.”

Shen Kuo glanced back and pulled her to hide in the dark and shady alley next to them.

The alley was extremely narrow and could only accommodate one person. Shen Kuo pressed Lu Yan firmly against the wall, pressing her hot body, and submerging her entire petite body in his arms.

The gang chased them all the way, looked around, looking for the two of them, but didn’t notice the narrow alley.

Lu Yan’s back was against the uneven wall, and Shen Kuo’s hard chest was in front of her. She felt that she was about to be squeezed into a flatbread.

Shen Kuo’s hand pressed the back of her head, burying her face to his chest, and carefully looked sideways.

The group of brainless men chasing them seemed to have run past them, but Shen Kuo didn’t let Lu Yan go.

She turned her face away with difficulty, looked at the alleyway, and asked in a low voice, “Are they gone?”

Shen Kuo’s face was downcast and he did not answer.

Lu Yan felt the low air pressure hovering around him, and looked up at him in surprise, “Shen…”

Before she finished her words, Shen Kuo suddenly grabbed her collar and pushed her hard further against the wall.

Lu Yan’s back was hit hard and she yelled, “It hurts! What are you doing?”

Shen Kuo’s dark brown eyes were filled with slight anger, his hands clutched her collar tightly, and he said cruelly, “Who the hell asked you to go to such a place?”

“I…I went to find you.”

“Who asked you to find me?”

Lu Yan did not know why Shen Kuo was suddenly so angry, she hurriedly defended, “I want to return the hundred yuan to you, I…”

The words stuck in her throat and she couldn’t speak anymore, because… she felt that Shen Kuo’s body was slightly shivering, all his muscles trembling.

He seemed very scared.

Lu Yan had never seen Shen Kuo look so scared. He was Shen Kuo, a ruthless and vicious man who never believed in fate or heaven, what could he ever be afraid of?

Thinking about it, what happened right now was really dangerous. They could’ve lost their lives, so it would be normal to be afraid.

Lu Yan stretched her hand around his waist and patted him on the back, “Uncle Shen, don’t be afraid, it’s okay.”

Shen Kuo’s body was stiff, but his heart softened.

God knows how scared he was when he saw Wu Qiang treating her like that.

He once dug a hole in the soil of his heart, and buried all his sincerity, love, longing…all of it.

He was able to deal with various kinds of people and situations, smooth and slick in establishing relationships, and thinking that money and power were the only things that were truly important, but just now, all of his disguise was melted away.

No matter what, if Wu Qiang had burned her face with a cigarette, Shen Kuo would’ve certainly taken his life…

At this moment, Lu Yan didn’t know that Shen Kuo was worried about her. She thought he was just scared by what just happened, so she gently patted him on the back and comforted him, “It’s okay, it’s okay, don’t be afraid.”

“Lu Yan, let go of me.”

He said in a low voice.

Lu Yan let go of him obediently, the alley was narrow, and it was a little cramped for two people standing face to face.

Lu Yan’s gaze was on Shen Kuo’s chest. Even if he was wearing clothes, she could see the undulating muscle lines underneath through the thin fabric.

Lu Yan turned her face sideways, burying it in against his neck.

When she breathed, she could smell the moist moss on the stone walls of the alley, the faint smell of tobacco emanating from the man, and the smell of Chinese medicine on his clothes…mixed together, they were slightly nauseating, but not exactly unpleasant.

When the two teenagers stood together at such a close distance, the atmosphere gradually began to become more subtle. Inexplicably, Lu Yan’s cheeks and even earlobes began to burn.

The air suddenly became humid and hot.

Shen Kuo swallowed, his Adam’s apple rolled, and he made a slight swallowing sound, which was especially clear in the quiet alley, with an ambiguous feeling hovering in the air.

The man couldn’t stand the atmosphere and walked away.

Lu Yan caught up with him, “Uncle Shen, where are you going?”

“Going home.”

“No, I have something to ask of you.”

He didn’t stop and walked away alone. Lu Yan had no choice but to chase after him.

“Shen Kuo!”

“Don’t follow me.”

Shen Kuo turned around and walked through several alleys before returning to his door. He grabbed the key from his bag with one hand and opened the door.

Lu Yan followed him all the way to the door of his house.

Shen Kuo closed the door with a “bang” as if he hadn’t seen her.

Lu Yan was startled by the sound of the door being slammed, and shrank back.

It was already very miserable to stand in front of a closed door, but at this time, it began raining again.

The heavy rain was accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Lu Yan hurriedly hid under the eaves, stood on tiptoes, and stood close to the wall as much as possible to prevent the raindrops falling from the eaves from getting her clothes wet.

What a bad luck… the sky was dark and gloomy, the surrounding tube buildings were all lit up, and the fragrance of food wafted over.

Lu Yan swallowed and covered her flat lower abdomen, her stomach was already growling.

In the room, Shen Kuo clutched his arms, took the medicine cabinet from the shelf, and walked to the table.

He looked up and saw the girl outside the window standing awkwardly under the eaves. The eaves were very narrow, and her trousers became wet because of the rain.

Shen Kuo was silent for a moment, but finally couldn’t bear it and opened the door.

The door opened a crack, but after waiting for a few minutes, Lu Yan still did not come in. Shen Kuo couldn’t help but went out to look, and saw that this girl took a broken umbrella from some corner.

The frame of the umbrella was rusty and cracked. After opening, half of the umbrella cloth was still slumped, but she couldn’t do anything about it, so she rushed directly into the heavy rain.

“You… come in.”

Lu Yan turned her head and saw Shen Kuo standing by the door.

Her feet trembling, she walked.

“Come in.”

Shen Kuo’s voice was commanding and powerful, and he turned and returned to the room.

Lu Yan hesitated for a moment, and entered the room carefully. There was only one white light bulb hanging, and because it was rainy and dark, the light was very dim.

The room was small, and the furniture and items were tightly placed, making it very cramped.

There was a faint smell of Chinese medicine in the humid air. No wonder Lu Yan always smelled the bitterness of medicine on Shen Kuo, but thought it was an illusion.

There are also some medicine capsules on the cabinet. It could be seen that there are patients in this family.

At this time, a heavy cough came from the inner room, and a thin man walked out tremblingly, hissing in pain and asking: “Xiao Shuo, who’s here?”

“A classmate.”

“Oh, entertain the classmate and invite them to sit down.”

“Right .” Lu Yan called out politely, “Hello, uncle, I’m sorry for the sudden visit.”

“No trouble…just stay for dinner.”

After Shen Jianxun said this, he suddenly saw the medicine box on the table and was surprised and asked, “Xiao Kuo, what are you doing with the medicine box?”

“I was drenched in the rain, so I’m taking some cold medicine.”

Shen Kuo took the medicine box, pushed Lu Yan back to his room, and closed the door.

“Stay here and don’t move.”

“Oh, okay.”

Lu Yan nodded obediently, and looked at Shen Kuo’s room-

His room is relatively narrow and there were not many things. Beside the sliding window was a black wall covered with moss and mildew, which made the whole room look very depressing.

There was a desk by the window that looked like a hand-made wooden desk: very old and worn-out, but the edges were polished and smooth.

There was no bookshelf, instead the desk was full of books. There are not many of them as they were all textbooks. The only supplementary material was the “Full Analysis of Mathematics for College Entrance Examination” secretly sent to him by Lu Yan.

Unlike other textbooks, the book was well protected by him. They were not curled or folded. They looked brand new, but on the unfolded page, many notes were written densely.

Both eyes fell on the book at the same time, and then they glanced at each other tacitly.

Another cough was heard outside the door, and Lu Yan asked him, “Father Shen is not in good health?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I will leave when the rain stops. I won’t disturb his rest.”

When Shen Kuo saw the girl’s bangs sticking together because of the rain, she stood awkwardly at the table, looking very well-behaved.

The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier, and it seemed that it would not stop soon.

He turned around, ready to pour her a glass of water.

At this moment, Lu Yan suddenly noticed that the sleeve of Shen Kuo’s right arm had darkened a lot. She walked over and touched it in surprise and found that it was wet.

There was blood on her palm.

Lu Yan whispered, “You are bleeding!”

Shen Kuo rolled up his sleeves. Just now in the confusion, his right arm was stabbed and blood had seeped out.

Lu Yan proposed eagerly, “I’ll take you to the hospital!”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to go.”

Since he was a child, the number of times he had been to the hospital could be counted on one hand. Most of the time, he could only bear the pain through gritted teeth as it costs a lot of money to register in the hospital to get medicine.

Shen Kuo turned his back, took off his clothes and threw them aside, preparing to deal with the stab wound on his arm by himself.

Lu Yan couldn’t help much and couldn’t persuade him, so she could only stand by and watch.

He turned around, leaving only his back facing her.

The firm and tight muscles on Shen Kuo’s back were completely different from those reckless men with bulging muscles that Lu Yan had seen in the gym. His muscles had been accumulated through years of labor and were full of strength.

The way he handled the wound was very rough. He directly poured alcohol on the wound. Although the wound was not too deep, at least it was enough to draw blood, but he poured alcohol directly on it. Won’t it hurt enough to die?

Lu Yan didn’t even have time to stop him, his body was trembling slightly from the severe pain, and fine sweat particles oozed from his forehead.

“Are you crazy?”

Lu Yan ran over, wiped the alcohol and blood on his arm with clean gauze, and said eagerly: “It must hurt a lot…” How could it not hurt? Shen Kuo’s lips were pale.

“Disinfect,” he hissed.

“I haven’t seen anyone who pour alcohol directly on the wound to disinfect it! You can go to the hospital if you can’t deal with it!”

“I don’t want to go.” Shen Kuo opened his eyes and said weakly, “It’s all right now.”

While blaming him for being stingy, Lu Yan stooped and wiped the area around his wound. Then, she searched for the white ointment that was used to stop the bleeding in the medicine box, and used her fingertips to smear it on the wound little by little.

Because she was afraid of hurting him, she would get close when she applied the ointment, gently blowing on the wound.

Shen Kuo felt the cool breeze over his arm skin, soft and itchy.

Lu Yan bandaged his arm. Although she was unprofessional, the wound was not deep, so it shouldn’t be a serious problem.

“If you get sick or injured in the future, you still have to go to the hospital.”

Shen Kuo did not respond, he stared at her for a long time.

Although she looked like Lu Zhen, she had a little natural dullness between her eyebrows. Whether she spoke or did things, she was always serious.

It seemed that she was so good to everyone.

Shen Kuo never knew that it would be such a soft feeling to be taken care of by a girl.

Since the only woman in the family left, Shen Kuo’s life had been cold and hard for more than a decade, and he had never felt a trace of softness.

And Lu Yan was taken care of and loved since she was a child, and she would never take care of others. She had a carefree temperament, not at all like the kind of considerate and delicate girl, but inadvertently, she gave him all her gentleness…

Shen Kuo was like a kid who tasted sweets for the first time. He was very greedy and wanted to take her all to himself.

This girl was really innocent, if he used some means, it might not be impossible to take her as his own…

But this crazy idea was only fleeting.

She was as beautiful as the dew on the grass after the rain, and he couldn’t bear to have the slightest stain on her.

After all…he was still not good enough.

Shen Kuo was absorbed in his emotions, but Lu Yan remembered what happened just now, and asked him, “Did you know that it was Wu Qiang and the others who set the fire?”

Shen Kuo was taken aback and nodded. He always had doubts in his heart, but it had just been confirmed.

“Then…why were you still drinking with them?”

Shen Kuo looked at the little girl’s indignant appearance, and smiled lightly, “Finally remembered to criticize me?”

Lu Yan grabbed his sleeve and tried to pull him, “You have to follow me. I am going to the police station to file a report, help me to testify, I heard them say they caused the fire. “

Shen Kuo casually stated,” I don’t want to go. ”

” Why? “

“I only promised Lu Zhen to find the murderers, now that it’s done, how to deal with them is Lu Zhen’s business and has nothing to do with me.”

“But… if you don’t help me and testify, the police won’t believe me.”

Who would believe what a fool says?

Lu Yan thought that Lu Zhen hadn’t lost his mind during this period of time, and finally caught the culprit, and must not let those guys get away with it again.

Feeling aggrieved and disheartened, she sat cross-legged on Shen Kuo’s bed and said shamelessly, “I…I won’t go!”

Shen Kuo fell on the bed and lay down beside her, “If you don’t want to go, you can sleep with me tonight.”

“You!” Lu Yan was really mad at him, “Who wants to sleep with you, you old thing!”

Shen Kuo extended his left arm over, and his rough fingertips clamped her jaw and squeezed so that her mouth pouted.

“You call me Uncle Shen and now I’m an old thing, so what’s the misunderstanding about my age?”

Sometimes he really thinks this girl is a fool, but sometimes she looks clever and unpredictable.

Lu Yan muttered, “It is how I originally knew you.”

After counting, he was almost one generation older than her, okay?!

“If you don’t help, I’ll call the police myself.”

Lu Yan got up and pushed open the bedroom door. Seeing Lu Yan going out, Shen Jianxun repeatedly said, “Classmate, stay for dinner, I just called the restaurant to bring food over.”

“Ah, no need, uncle!”

“No trouble, no trouble, just sit down. It’s going to arrive soon.”

Shen Jianxun’s mental state had not been very good, and he was very happy that there were guests at home, as it rarely happens.

Shen Kuo stepped out and said, “Sit down, and leave after eating.”

Father Shen already called for takeaway, and Lu Yan, unwilling to refuse, decided she could only stay.

…

The rain stopped at eight o’clock.

Lu Yan felt very embarrassed. Father Shen bought expensive food for her, so she should eat as much as possible and don’t disappoint the other party’s enthusiasm.

Dad Shen looked like an honest man, with open-hearted speech and was very easy to get along with, but his face was not good and it could be seen that he had been sick for many years.

“Xiao Kuo doesn’t have many friends, and no female classmate has ever come to our house…cough cough cough…”

He coughed violently before he finished speaking.

Shen Kuo hurriedly walked over, poured his father some water, and patted him on the back to bring him some comfort.

“Dad, go and lie down on the bed.”

“Sure, then I’ll go in and rest for a while, so I won’t disturb your chat.”

Shen Jianxun crouched and went back to the room to lie down. Lu Yan and Shen Kuo stood in the living room, looking at each other.

“What’s wrong with Uncle Shen?” she asked curiously.

“Pneumoconiosis.”

Lu Yan knew of this disease. After years of exposure to polluted environments, the lungs would absorb too much dust, and they would contract this disease.

“Uncle’s previous job was…”

“Cement factory worker.”

“Oh.”

No wonder.

This kind of disease was very difficult to treat, and there was basically no possibility of recovery.

This home exuded a strong smell of Chinese medicine, and even Shen Kuo’s body exuded the smell of Chinese medicine, maybe because of the long years of boiling medicine.

At this time, Lu Yan’s cell phone rang, and the caller was Lu Zhen, asking her why she hadn’t come home yet.

Lu Yan didn’t dare to say that she was at Shen Kuo’s house, but just said perfunctorily that she was eating at a classmate’s house, so he didn’t worry about it, and that was that.

Lu Jian had been away on business for many years, and the cynical Young Master Lu almost assumed all the responsibility of taking care of Lu Yan.

The eldest brother was like a father.

Sometimes Shen Kuo had to admit that Lu Zhen was actually not bad, especially to the object of his affection. To his family, to friends, and to lovers, he was too good to say anything.

But…

The grudge between them is definitely not easy to turn over.

When Lu Yan was leaving, she stood by the door, holding her last hope, raising her head, and asking him, “Really…can’t you help me to testify?”

Shen Kuo’s rough fingers touched her forehead and pressed her. Pushing it out, he said every word: “Never expect me to do anything for Lu Zhen.”

Lu Yan turned around disappointedly, watching Shen Kuo close the door.

She could actually understand that Lu Zhen was at fault first, and because of his wealth and power, he had always bullied Shen Kuo.

It is also natural for people to be unwilling to help.

Beside the screen window, Shen Kuo watched the little girl gradually disappear into the alley covered by street lights.

He was silent for a moment, took out a repeater with a recording function from his schoolbag, and put it on the table slowly…

Silly girl, who the hell would believe you without evidence.

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