The flower shop was small and very deserted. There was only one customer, Xie Yang. The florist was a young woman. As she helped Xie Yang tie the roses, the woman looked at him for a few moments, her hands trembling on the ribbon. Even after several attempts, she still couldn’t tie the bow.
“I’m sorry, my hands are slippery.” The woman was embarrassed and explained awkwardly.
Xie Yang gave her a comforting smile. “Don’t worry, take your time.”
The woman was touched by Xie Yang’s smile and stared blankly while blushing. Suddenly, she raised her hand and bit her fingertip. Then she lowered her head and tied the ribbon quickly. She also tied a cute rabbit-shaped rag doll onto it and passed the flowers to Xie Yang.
“Here, your flowers.”
Xie Yang took it and glanced at the exquisite and cute handmade doll on it. “I didn’t seem to want this.”
“I-I’m giving it away as a store event today! Yes, an event!”
Xie Yang took a look at the various handmade materials in the big basket in the corner and then at the woman’s intense excitement. He said, “Thank you, how much is it?”
“No money!”
“Huh?”
The woman returned to her senses and hurriedly replied, “No, I mean… I don’t need money for the doll! There is an event in the store today and there is no charge for the packaging materials. For nine flowers you can give me… 40 yuan!”
40 yuan to buy such a delicate bouquet of flowers plus a beautiful handmade doll was a loss-making business. Xie Yang was amused and took out his mobile phone. “Give me the payment code.”
The woman grabbed the payment code on the counter and handed it to Xie Yang. Xie Yang was about to scan it when a customer entered the door. The florist was probably too nervous. The moment she saw it, she directly stuffed the sign into the hands of Xie Yang and ran to the new customer.
Xie Yang saw the small sign in his hand and smiled. He lowered his head to scan it himself, entered the price and wrote ‘the doll is cute, thank you’ in the note. Then he chose to pay.
“Are you Xie Yang?”
Xie Yang paused and looked sideways. He saw that the customer who just asked the florist for a price was looking at this side with excitement.
“Ah! I’m really your fan. Can I ask for an autograph?” The customer was a man in his late 30s. He excitedly walked toward Xie Yang while reaching into his pocket.
Xie Yang stared into the man’s calm eyes that were completely incompatible with his passionate words and then glanced at the man’s hand in his pocket. He met the man’s eyes again and replied, “Of course, thank you for your support and love.” He turned to the woman behind him. “Sorry, I suddenly want to drink water. Can you pour a glass for me? Thank you.”
The florist woke up and hurriedly turned to the water dispenser behind the counter.
The man had come up to Xie Yang and said, “Thank you, I’m really lucky to meet you today…” The hand in his pocket was finally pulled out and there was a cold light.
The sharp knife came straight at him.
“Um, I have tea bags here. You—” The florist pouring water turned around with a disposable water cup. Her eyes widened when she saw this scene and she abruptly threw the cup away and ran to the counter to reach for the man with the knife while shouting at Xie Yang in a shrill voice, “Yang Yang, run!”
Xie Yang hadn’t expected the woman to run over. He saw she was going to grab the man’s hand so he first turned sideways to avoid the knife. Then he raised his leg to the man and kicked hard. The man probably hadn’t expected Xie Yang to be so agile. He was slow to dodge and was hit. He staggered back two steps and moved away from the counter.
Xie Yang took two steps to block the florist and placed the roses in her hand. “Help me hold this.” Then he dodged another blow from the man, flexibly moved behind him and attacked his neck.
The man should have a good foundation and awareness. He immediately bent over before opening the distance with Xie Yang to attack again.
Xie Yang didn’t hide this time. He just stepped sideways and let the blade rub against his clothes. At the same time, he raised his hand and firmly grasped the man’s arm holding the knife. He pinched the man’s arm and threw him cleanly over the shoulder. The man was unprepared. His arm became numb, the blade in his hand fell to the ground and the man was slammed into the ground.
Xie Yang kicked away the knife on the ground. Before the man could turn over, he pulled the man’s arm and pressed him face down into the ground. He used his other hand to twist the man’s arm behind his back and asked the shocked florist, “Do you have any stronger ribbons?”
“Ah… yes! Yes yes!”
She hurriedly brought a roll of the thickest ribbons from the store. Xie Yang used the ribbon to tie up the man’s hand and feet, making him a fish who could only flutter on the ground. Once this was done, he turned to the man and asked, “Who told you to come?”
The man was confused that he was subdued and he stared at Xie Yang like he was a monster. The man struggled a few times but it was useless. He could only bow his head and gasp. Finally, he became angry and shouted, “You ruined Eddie, you aren’t worthy to sing. Xie Yang, get out of the entertainment circle!”
The woman listening was furious and scolded him. “Bah! Eddie isn’t worthy of singing. Don’t scold Yang Yang!”
Xie Yang raised his eyes to look at the woman. She choked up and hurriedly turned her head to avoid his gaze.
Wu Shui had been staying outside the store to take care of the half-drunk He Jun. He heard the commotion and rushed in. Once he saw the scene in the store, he frowned fiercely and walked over to Xie Yang. “I’m sorry Boss. It is my dereliction of duty.”
“I don’t blame you. I asked you to accompany He Jun after all.” Xie Yang stood up and looked at the man who was still cursing like a black fan. He ordered, “Call the police.”
Wu Shui nodded.
The police arrived not long after. Xie Yang explained the situation and the florist provided the police with surveillance video from the store. Then the group was taken to the police station to make a statement.
On the way to the police station, Xie Yang fiddled with the roses in his arms. He didn’t know how but some of the petals of the roses were broken. Then he took out his mobile phone and sent a WeChat message to Qiu Xing, saying he was caught up in a matter and would go back later.
Qiu Xing didn’t reply to the message. Xie Yang waited a while and didn’t get a response. He guessed that Qiu Xing might’ve been forced to go to bed early by Dr Kirkman and put away his phone while thinking about what just happened.
The man who attacked him couldn’t be a black fan. The enthusiasm at the beginning and the curses later were all a clumsy act. Since it wasn’t an accidental black fan, it could only be a well-prepared bad guy. He only temporarily decided to get out of the car and buy flowers. If the man could pretend to meet Xie Yang by chance then he must’ve been following him secretly.
There were many people who knew he was going to attend the meeting today. The ones who could arrange for someone to follow him and had the motivation to attack him were Qiu Jingwei and Feng Dian. However, whether it was Qiu Jingwei or Feng Dian, they weren’t yet in the desperate situation where they needed to hire someone to kill him. They sought profit and there were many ways to gain profit. With their IQ, killing was only a last resort. They would never choose such an easy and stupid way to get caught.
So who was desperate enough that they needed to do this… Xie Yang stared at the police car in front where the man was sitting and narrowed his eyes.
Not long after, he arrived at the police station. Xie Yang got out of the car with his roses and became a unique sight in the police station. He saw the police officers looking at him and explained, “The flowers will be unsightly if they are pressed down again. Holding it is better.”
The police officers retracted their gazes.
The transcripts were done separately. By the time Xie Yang finished it, the man who attacked him had just given a statement.
He Jun’s drunkenness had long been scared away. He came to the police station and consciously followed up on the incident. He saw Xie Yang coming out and went forward to explain, “I listened in. The man who attacked you is called Wang Weiguo and he used to be a physical education teacher. Later, he was dismissed from school for taking drugs and became a vagrant. He said he is Eddie’s fan and due to the matter between you and Eddie, he became your black fan. He saw you coming out when he was passing by the hotel today and decided to follow you. He just wanted to take a sneak shot. Then he saw you getting out of the car and entering the flower store alone. He had a knife on him and decided to follow you into the store on impulse.”
A drug addict was someone who was easy to buy and use.
Xie Yang ordered, “Go find a police officer who is good at talking and asked him to question Wang Weiguo about the song ‘Yellow’.”
He Jun wondered, “Yellow?”
“It is Eddie’s famous song. Go ahead.”
He Jun understood and turned away.
Xie Yang went to the waiting area to sit down. He lowered his head while holding the flowers in his arms. Then he closed his eyes and leaned back against the chair. It was late. His ability might be able to get rid of the alcohol but it couldn’t relieve the fatigue from socializing.
His eyelids were heavy and his stomach wasn’t very comfortable. Xie Yang’s breathing slowed and his thoughts slowly drifted. If there wasn’t Wang Weiguo then he would’ve been treating Qiu Xing right now. Delaying the treatment meant a lower chance of a successful operation. If he hadn’t gotten out of the car…
The sound of rushing footsteps entered his ears. The strength and rhythm of the steps were familiar. Xie Yang’s thoughts were interrupted. He opened his eyes and looked up. Qiu Xing simply wore a long coat over his hospital gown and quickly moved through the door. He looked around and met Xie Yang’s eyes before walking over with a sullen face.
For a moment, Xie Yang wondered if he was hallucinating due to tiredness. Then he soon recovered his senses. He straightened and stared at Qiu Xing, telling him calmly, “I’m fine. Why are you—”
Qiu Xing walked closer and directly crouched down to check Xie Yang’s body. He felt the roses were in the way and pushed them away. After making sure that Xie Yang wasn’t injured, he reached out and pulled Xie Yang tightly into his arms. Xie Yang was forced to lean over and the roses in his hand hit the chair next to him.
Qiu Xing’s tone was heavy and anxious. “What happened? I saw the news that you were attacked by a black fan and calling you didn’t work. If it wasn’t for Wu Shui contacting me, I wouldn’t have known what was going on. Were you going to hide this from me again?”
News? It was in the news so soon?
Xie Yang frowned and was about to ask when he was released by Qiu Xing. Qiu Xing’s voice was spirited, “Wu Shui said on the phone that you were attacked when getting out of the car halfway to go shopping. Why get out of the car halfway? Why didn’t you take Wu Shui with you? If you want to buy something then let Wu Shui help you—”
Xie Yang raised the roses and held them out to Qiu Xing. “I got out of the car to buy this for you.”
The red color blocked most of his vision. Qiu Xing abruptly fell silent and finally paid attention to this bouquet of roses that was no longer so beautiful after everything it had been through.
“I thought the ward was too monotonous and it would be nice to decorate it with some flowers.” Xie Yang moved the flowers again and leaned forward to embrace Qiu Xing. He buried his face in this person’s shoulders. Perhaps he was too tired but his expression and tone were rarely soft. “Ah Xing, I’m sorry I worried you.”
“……”
Qiu Xing’s Adam’s apple moved and he raised his arms to hold Xie Yang tightly. “You… you are really…” He didn’t finish his words and just hugged Xie Yang more tightly. After a while, he rubbed the back of Xie Yang’s head with great force.
Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten
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