Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - 9 008 Forest Thrills Chapter 9: 008: Forest Thrills Chapter 9: 008: Forest Thrills “I’ve had my share,” Xie Shang explained, “Lileitu isn’t that safe. One of us needs to stay sober.”

Wen Changling looked at the glass of wine, “Before I came out to have fun, my landlady reminded me not to trust people too much abroad and to be vigilant at all times.”

Xie Shang heard the implications in her words, “You’re only becoming cautious of me now, Miss Wen. Isn’t it a bit late?”

Miss Wen nodded in agreement, “It is a bit late.” She thought for a moment and decided to remedy the situation, “Then, may I see your ID card?”

She looked at Xie Shang, seldom staring so intently at someone.

There was a strange sense of storytelling about her, she seemed like the person in the movies who appears with a secret, suddenly shows up and just as suddenly vanishes, inspiring irresistible curiosity.

Xie Shang took his coat, pulled out his ID card, and showed it to Wen Changling, “Want to take a photo? To send to your friends back home or something.”

She said she did and immediately took out her phone, snapped a photo of Xie Shang’s ID, and sent it to her landlady back in her home country.

Xie Shang’s ID photo was so much better looking than the usual standard for domestic ones that Wen Changling even wondered if the photographer had photoshopped it due to being smitten with Xie Shang’s good looks.

That would be going too far.

Wen Changling thought about her own ID photo, which had been edited to the brink of altering her hairline.

Xie Shang pushed the wine glass towards her, “Have a taste, I won’t kidnap you.”

Wen Changling picked up the glass curiously, even gave it a swirl, and then cautiously took a tiny sip.

“How is it?”

She curved the corners of her mouth ever so slightly, the expression identical to the satisfaction she felt when she had delicious food in Sleepless City, “Very sweet.”

Not harsh on the throat at all.

She couldn’t resist and took another sip.

“This is honey red wine, suitable for girls, it doesn’t get you drunk easily.”

“Then can I drink a little more?”

“Of course.”

As Xie Shang said, one of them had to remain sober, so he didn’t touch a drop, just sat by her side.

Perhaps it was the wine that made Wen Changling talkative. She started talking about her landlady, saying she was a tough-

talking but soft-hearted old lady; she talked about the landlady’s cat, a tabby named Huahua, incredibly good at catching mice.

She also mentioned that there was a particularly aggressive dog on Lotus Pond Street that liked to bite at people’s trouser legs.

She talked a lot, but all about others, never about herself. Xie Shang simply listened, occasionally responding when she called out his name, to show he was still paying attention.

She drank quite a bit but didn’t get drunk; indeed, the wine wasn’t very intoxicating, and she had a high tolerance for alcohol. Her mind was clear, though she felt a slight dizziness. The wind in Lileitu was strong, making her sleepy. The lights were dazzling;

she squinted her eyes, her vision began to double, and she saw a cluster of Xie Shangs, one overlaying the other, a crowd of beauties.

She laid her head on the table, wanting to rest, and as she drifted in and out of sleep, she heard Xie Shang speaking in fluent foreign language to someone else.

It was the owner of the Red Wine Estate.

“Who is that beautiful lady?”

Xie Shang’s tone was lazy, as though he was slightly tipsy despite not having drunk any wine, “Picked up from the Kubudian Desert.”

They spoke with a familiarity that suggested they were friends, no wonder he dared to steal wine in the middle of the night.

“Wen Changling.”

Xie Shang bent down to talk to her.

She turned her face to the other side.

“Heading back to the hotel?”

She hummed a response but didn’t move.

“Can you walk?”

If she couldn’t, would Xie Shang use the wine cellar’s cart, the one used to haul wine, to transport her?

He might, Xie Shang is a gentleman, and wouldn’t casually touch someone of the opposite sex.

Wen Changling was fighting off drowsiness, struggling to stand up, “Can walk.”

Her steps were a bit unsteady.

Xie Shang didn’t rashly support her; he only followed behind, watching her back, acting as her shadow. Over these few days, aside from holding her hand when they danced, they had no physical contact because, after all, they were strangers, merely temporary companions; they hadn’t even exchanged phone numbers.

Xie Shang wasn’t the type to have a romantic encounter in the City of Romantic Encounters; one could tell at a glance.

Lying in the hotel bed, Wen Changling was completely sober, her mind full of Xie Shang—Young Master Xie the Fourth, who was very crazy, very rebellious, and very elegant. It seemed like he had two souls residing in his body, one angel, one devil.

In these four days, Xie Shang had shown her a different world, one she had never seen before, filled with novelty, adventure, mystery, and heart-pounding terror, from underwater to the skies, from the bloody underground boxing rings to the romantic and sweet Red Wine Estate.

The next morning.

Wen Changling packed her luggage before heading to the hotel’s restaurant for food; Xie Shang was already there, and she sat down opposite him.

“What time is the flight?”

“Three in the afternoon.”

Wen Changling’s flight today was heading back to the Empire.

Xie Shang said, “I’m not going back to the country for the time being; I’ll take you to the airport in the afternoon.”

He had eaten little that morning, had finished his meal, and pushed the untouched bottle of fresh milk towards Wen Changling.

Wen Changling really liked the fresh milk specially provided by the restaurant of this hotel, but it was limited in quantity. If she arrived late, it would be gone, and she hadn’t had any the previous morning.

“Thank you,” Wen Changling said very sincerely, almost bowing, “Thank you for being my guide these past few days, I had a great time.”

“If you had fun, then don’t go playing by the river next time.”

Wen Changling felt she still had to explain, “I was picking up a hat.”

It wasn’t suicide.

Xie Shang was silent for at least five seconds before responding, “Oh.”

Wen Changling lowered her head and drank her milk.

This outing had gone smoothly; it could be rated a perfect hundred-point journey, but on the way back, an unexpected incident occurred. Because Wen Changling’s phone wasn’t charged and the alarm didn’t go off, she overslept during her nap. Taking the national road would be too late, so Xie Shang borrowed a friend’s SUV from the estate to take a shortcut to the airport.

The road bordered a forest and was sparsely populated.

Halfway there, a gunshot shattered the wilderness’s quiet; a bullet flew through the SUV’s front window and lodged in the back seat.

As Xie Shang had said, Lileitu wasn’t very safe.

And there it was, an unexpected disaster.

The bandit, bare-chested and muscles bulging, held a gun in both hands, “Hands up, get out of the car.”

In the wilds of Lileitu, encountering bandits blocking the road to rob was quite common. Xie Shang wasn’t panicked and instructed Wen Changling, “Stay in the car.”

Then Xie Shang exited the vehicle, talking with the other party in the local language.

The other party was probably after money.

Xie Shang didn’t hesitate, taking all the cash from his wallet and placing it on the ground. He looked back at Wen Changling, and she understood his intention, immediately taking out all her cash and tossing it out of the car window.

The bandit said something that Wen Changling couldn’t understand.

“I can’t give you the car; I still need to take her to the airport,” Xie Shang refused the bandit’s unreasonable demand.

The bandit didn’t speak, seemingly pondering.

Xie Shang glanced at the time on his watch; Wen Changling’s flight was almost upon them; he wasn’t going to delay any longer and pulled open the car door to get in.

Wen Changling thought they were safe and was about to re-fasten her seat belt when Xie Shang suddenly yanked her, and then she heard a bang—the bullet nearly whizzed past her ear. If Xie Shang had reacted a second later, she would likely be dead.