Chapter 48: CH 48

Chapter 48 –  The Truth

“I think I can explain this.”  Wen Ruan pretended to be calm.  “Frankly speaking, all these are fakes.”

And at this moment, a few small tags that were in the packaging flew out, slowly circled in the air, and then landed at her feet gently.

Suddenly, it became surprisingly quiet.

This is truly embarrassing……..

“Um, continue……..”

Fu Zhihuan folded his arms, leaned lazily against the door frame, and raised his chin towards Wen Ruan.  He had a smile in his eyes and a look that seemed to say ‘let’s see how you explain this’.

Wen Ruan was embarrassed and annoyed by the way he was looking at her and decided to be honest with him.  She bent down to pick up the price tags and said confidently.

“What’s wrong with a girl buying a few pieces of clothing?  Look at this skirt……”

She lowered her head to look at the price then straightened up to argue with hands placed on her hips.

“It’s only 5000+, isn’t this cheap?!”

“……”

Fu Zhihuan lowered his eyes and swept a glance over the two eye-catching packaging with the brand name ‘Hermes’.

Wen Ruan noticed Fu Zhihuan looking at the packaging and took a step to the left to block his view.

“That’s right!  Look, after coming to your house for such a long time, I only bought two Hermes bags!  Only two!”

While speaking, she was so moved that she choked up.  “I’m too frugal.”

“……”

Such nonsense!

All the packaging and bags on the floor were blocked by Wen Ruan.  Laughing helplessly, Fu Zhihuan looked up and saw the dressing table that was full of cosmetics.

The last time he looked, the cosmetics seemed to occupy only half of the dressing table.

But now…….

Wen Ruan followed his line of sight and glanced in the direction of the dressing table.  Then she pretended to be righteous and suppressed the guilty conscience rising within her.

“What’s wrong with having a lot of cosmetics?  Look, there’re so many shades of lipstick, and if there’s only one, wouldn’t it be very lonely?”

“That’s why lipsticks can’t be sold separately and must be sold in sets!”

“……”

Awesome!

Fu Zhihuan actually had no intention to question her.

But Wen Ruan was so nervous that she spilled everything.

Strong words rob reasons and truths.

Speaking up to this point, Wen Ruan understood that her poor man’s armor could no longer be worn.

Rather than being brutally exposed, it would be better for her to be honest.

So she sighed bitterly and decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with Fu Zhihuan.

Wen Ruan stretched out her hand, closed the bedroom door without a word then picked up Earl and walked to the living room.

She poured herself a glass of orange juice and placed it on the coffee table.

After she had done all the preparations, she folded her hands and rested them on her knees to show a stance similar to a negotiator.

“Mr. Fu Zhihuan, since this is the case, I’ve decided to come clean with you.”

Fu Zhihuan sat down on the sofa beside Wen Ruan.

“Speak.”

Wen Ruan took a deep breath and mustered up her courage.

“Sorry, I lied to you.  Perhaps my words may sound arrogant but in fact, my family is not poor and it can be said that they’re a little rich.”

After speaking those words, her whole body immediately tensed up and she watched Fu Zhihuan’s reaction nervously.

The surrounding became quiet for a few seconds.

Fu Zhihuan nodded.  “Mm…….”

Mm?

That’s all?

Just an ‘Mm’ and nothing else?

Wen Ruan was in disbelief.  “Are you not surprised?”

Fu Zhihuan was silent for a while.

“Wen Ruan, the only thing that surprises me is that you think you can really put on an act of a poor woman.”

“……”

Finally, Wen Ruan had to accept the fact that her acting skills were indeed poor.

She lowered her head dejectedly and hugged herself into a ball.  After thinking for a while, she said.

“Actually, I ran away from home because my father arranged a marriage for me.  I wanted to break off the arranged marriage but they won’t allow it so I ran away from home………  But I’ll definitely break it off!   I know that the other person doesn’t like me and I won’t be imprisoned by an arranged marriage, this kind of backward thinking!”

Fu Zhihuan looked at grief-stricken Wen Ruan who was curled into a ball.  His eyes darkened and he asked slowly.

“Do you blame him?”

“Huh?  Do you mean the fiancé I’m engaged to?”

Wen Ruan lifted her head and thought for a while before she understood his question.  After thinking about it carefully, she laughed.

“Of course, I don’t blame him.”

Then she continued to speak word by word.

“I just want to kill him.”

“……”

Her fiancé, Fu Zhihuan closed his eyes and stretched out his hand to rub his slightly throbbing temples.  After thinking for a moment, he opened his eyes and said very seriously.

“Wen Ruan……..”

Wen Ruan:  “What’s the matter?”

Fu Zhihuan:  “Sorry, but I’m actually……..”

*Buzz*

The phone on the coffee table suddenly started to vibrate and the amiable atmosphere was ruined.

With a frown, Fu Zhihuan picked up the phone and saw it was a call from Zhao Zichen.

“Old Fu, you need to come to the police station now to cooperate with the investigation.  Our police officers have found some evidence to prove that the driver who hit you had been in contact with Peng Mengyin earlier.  But when we were about to detain Peng Mengyin for interrogation, we found that she had disappeared a day ago.”

Peng Mengyin had disappeared…….

This is undoubtedly a time bomb that had slipped out of their control and would explode at any time.

It seems that before settling this time bomb it is not a good time to tell Wen Ruan the truth.

Fu Zhihuan stood up with a frown and picked up the coat beside him.

“Sorry, I have to go out.”

Although she did not know what happened, Wen Ruan could still see from his expression that it was not something minor.

So she nodded and stood up.  “Okay.”

Fu Zhihuan walked to the entrance and opened the door then he seemed to have thought of something and turned around.

“Wen Ruan!……”

“Huh?”

“Wait for me to come back.”

She was slightly stunned and did not respond to his sudden words.

It may seem normal but a numb and tingling feeling was crawling inside her heart.

She pursed her lips slightly and then nodded with a smile.  “Okay.”

***☆☆☆***

“How is the situation?”

“We have checked the driver’s recent transaction records and found that a huge amount was transferred to him from Peng Mengyin’s account.  But during the previous interrogation, the driver had insisted that he didn’t know her.   Perhaps our recent investigation had been very obvious and it made her suspicious, so when we went to her place today, we found she had disappeared.”

After Fu Zhihuan had finished cooperating with the investigation, the sky was already dark.

Zhao Zichen drove him home and on the way back, Zhao Zichen updated him on the current progress of the investigation.

Fu Zhihuan asked.  “Have you checked the nearby transportation stations?”

“We have checked, Peng Mengyin shouldn’t have left the city yet.  The police station in her hometown was also notified to do an investigation and we were informed that she had not contacted her family during this time.”

Zhao Zichen rubbed his brow bone and felt a slight headache.

“Don’t worry, we will arrange for people to protect you during this period.”

Have not left the city yet…….

Fu Zhihuan frowned.

The person who had planned the car accident would surely not give up her plan so easily.

“Okay.”  Fu Zhihuan said with a slight smile and lowered his eyes to button up his cuffs.  “Then I’ve to trouble all of you to protect me.”

""

Zhao Zichen smiled.

“Old Fu, I noticed that you have become more and more different recently.  In the past, if you encounter this kind of problem you would have said ‘it’s not necessary’……..or ‘it’s alright to just carry on with whatever you’re doing’……..or ‘not to worry’.  But now, you’re willing to take the initiative to go with the flow.”

Fu Zhihuan said lightly.  “Recently I cherish my life more.”

“For that little girl in your family?”  Zhao Zichen turned a corner skilfully.  “That’s something good.  In the past, you’ve always treated your life recklessly but now you know how to cherish your life.”

Speaking of this, Zhao Zichen dragged on his tone and sighed.

“That’s correct too.  We’ve never seen you treasure anyone before nor have we seen you interact with your relatives.  It’s the first time you value someone more.”

After he finished speaking, he did not hear Fu Zhihuan’s answer.

He felt happy and looked into the rearview mirror.  “Feeling shy?”

But when he saw Fu Zhihuan’s expression, he was stunned for a moment and quickly put away his condescending look.

“What’s the matter with you?  Why do you look like this all of a sudden?”

Fu Zhihuan had withdrawn the lazy expression just now and it seemed there is a layer of cold air between his brows at present.

Zhao Zichen’s words seemed to have jolted Fu Zhihuan’s thoughts.  Suddenly, his eyes darkened and his expression turned cold and serious.

Fu Zhihuan pursed his lips tightly, took out his phone then searched for Wen Ruan’s contact and called her.

The phone rang several times before it was connected.

Wen Ruan’s voice sounded a little unclear accompanied by sounds of slight panting and footsteps.  It seemed as if she was outside.

“Hello?”

Fu Zhihuan:  “Where are you now?”

“On the way home.”

Wen Ruan rambled on.

“I went to the office this afternoon to get some documents and went out with Qin Sushan for a while.  The place is very close to Mingchen Garden, so I didn’t take a taxi.  I’ll be reaching home in a little while.”

Upon hearing Wen Ruan’s voice, Fu Zhihuan’s tense mood relaxed a little.

“Share your current location with me.”

She let out a crisp laugh on the other end of the line and as she shared her location, she said helplessly.

“Okay, but it’s alright, I’ll be home in a little while and won’t be meeting anyone else.  I’ve never seen you so worried before.”

Zhao Zichen immediately laughed when he heard Fu Zhihuan’s words.

“I thought it was something major.  It turned out you were worried about the little girl’s safety.  Don’t worry, the security in that area is very good……”

“Wen Ruan?”

Zhao Zichen was still spewing words of mockery when he was suddenly interrupted by Fu Zhihuan’s sudden high tone.  He hurriedly pulled the car to the side and turned back to look at Fu Zhihuan.

“What’s the matter, Old Fu?”

With a frown, Fu Zhihuan looked at the phone screen that showed the call had ended and he dialed once again.

The system tone indicated that the phone was turned off.

Even the location sharing ended.

An unprecedented unease spread.

Fu Zhihuan pursed his thin lips tightly and a layer of low air pressure shrouded him.  He clicked on Wen Ruan’s last shared location before she hung up and said.

“Go to Anchu Road near Mingchen Garden!”

Zhao Zichen had already noticed the difference in Fu Zhihuan’s expression.  He nodded and restarted the car.

***☆☆☆***

The phone battery had run out of power.

Today, she had so much fun playing online games with Qin Sushan that she forgot to monitor her phone’s diminishing power.

Wen Ruan glanced at the screen that had blacked out due to the low battery and sighed.  She put the phone into the bag and quickened her pace.

Forget it!  Anyway, after leaving Anchu Road, it will be very near to Mingchen Garden.  She will continue to talk to Fu Zhihuan after she goes back.

Normally, there are not many people on Anchu Road and there are even fewer pedestrians especially now that the sky had turned completely dark.

After walking halfway down the street, she noticed that there were few people around.

At this moment, Wen Ruan suddenly heard footsteps behind her.

Every footstep sounded exceptionally loud as if the person was deliberately trying to attract her attention.

A strange feeling rose in Wen Ruan’s heart, so she stopped to turn her head around and wanted to look at the face of the person behind her.

She frowned.  “Miss Peng?  It’s so late, why are you here?”