Chapter 339 - 337: Looking Back, Nothing but Bachelors

Chapter 339: Chapter 337: Looking Back, Nothing but Bachelors

"Could it have been Sister Ying’s people who rescued her?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"If not her, then who else could it be?" Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"Couldn’t Tian Shi and Tian Xuan have found a few people to do it?" Chu Xingrou said.

"It wasn’t them," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "Captain Duan said that besides making the arrest, his team also contacted Tian Shi and Tian Xuan immediately. After holding the funeral for Tian Ming, the two of them returned to Chang City. When Tian Min was broken out, they were at their butcher shop. It’s also been confirmed that they haven’t contacted any suspicious individuals recently. They’re both under close surveillance now."

"But that brings up another point. Sister Ying’s group didn’t rescue people like Lu Jing or Zhu Xuan. They didn’t even save someone as important as Huang Haoxu," Su Miaoyi said. "Huang Haoxu was their person-in-charge in Jinghai. He knew a lot, and he’d rather kill himself than risk spilling too much after being interrogated for a long time. They didn’t rescue someone that important, so why suddenly save Tian Min?"

"Regardless of who saved her or why," Zhuang Yanzheng said, looking at Su Miaoyi, "Captain Duan told me all this right away because he wanted to give you a heads-up. Tian Min tried to kill you before. You need to be careful coming and going lately."

Su Miaoyi nodded. "Okay. Anyway, if it’s not Tian Min, it’ll be someone else. As long as Sister Ying and Xie An aren’t dealt with, I’ll have to stay on alert at all times."

"It never hurts to be extra careful," Lu Zhishen said. "How is it, living at Weiyang Palace?"

"Huh?" Su Miaoyi looked at him. "It’s great. Why?"

"My lease is up. I’m planning to find a new place."

"Didn’t you buy your place?"

"With Jinghai’s property prices? Where would I get the money to buy a place?" Lu Zhishen said.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at him. "Yeah, right. Keep pretending."

Lu Zhishen smiled. "Living in one place for too long gets old."

Su Miaoyi looked at him.

Under her gaze, Lu Zhishen said, "You get tired of living in the same place."

Su Miaoyi raised her hand and smacked him.

Lu Zhishen sucked in a breath, leaned back on the sofa, and went still. "I’m grievously injured."

After discussing Tian Min’s case for a bit, the four of them clocked out and headed out together.

As they walked out of the office area, they happened to run into Yan Cheng and Qi Feng coming down from upstairs.

"You haven’t left yet?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"Helped Director Meng with something," Yan Cheng said.

"You guys go on ahead, I need to go back for my bag," Su Miaoyi said. She returned to her desk to grab her bag, along with Yan Cheng’s notes and some snacks.

When she came back out, she found that Chu Xingrou and the others hadn’t left. Instead, they were all standing by the window, looking down.

"What are you guys doing?" Su Miaoyi asked, walking over to the window as well.

"Sister Miaomiao, quick, come here!" Chu Xingrou pulled her over to stand beside her. "It’s Brother Qi’s girlfriend. She’s here to pick him up from work."

It took Su Miaoyi all of a tenth of a second to unleash her inner gossip queen. She quickly peered out the window. "Where? Where? She’s pretty, she’s pretty. When did they start dating?"

"I heard they were set up by a relative while we were in Yanjing Village. They just made it official a couple of days ago," Chu Xingrou said.

"Why are all of you crowding around the window?" Meng Shuyi asked, looking at them as she came downstairs.

The group immediately stood up straight. "Director Meng."

"What are you looking at?"

"Qi Feng’s girlfriend," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"He’s dating someone?" Meng Shuyi also walked over to the window to have a look.

Just then, Qi Feng and his girlfriend got into a car and left. She only managed to see the back of her.

"That kid... always making big moves on the quiet," Meng Shuyi said, quite pleased. Then she turned her head, looked at the others standing behind her, and the smile vanished from her face in an instant.

Seeing her expression, they all thought, ’We’re doomed.’

"Look at Qi Feng, and then look at the lot of you," Meng Shuyi fretted. "I turn around and—good heavens—it’s nothing but bachelors."

No one spoke.

"If word of this gets out, people will think there’s something wrong with our bureau’s feng shui," Meng Shuyi said.

"That can’t be right. Brother Zheng even has a kid," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"And you know he has a kid," Meng Shuyi said, looking at him. "You’re pushing forty, and you don’t even have a girlfriend. I haven’t seen you date anyone since I started working at this bureau."

"Director Meng, I’m only in my early thirties! How am I pushing forty?" Zhuang Yanzheng protested, getting very worked up.

"Once you’re past thirty, you’re practically forty," Meng Shuyi declared.

Zhuang Yanzheng opened his mouth but couldn’t get a word out.

Lu Zhishen couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

Meng Shuyi immediately rounded on him. "And what are you laughing at?"

Lu Zhishen immediately straightened up and stopped laughing.

"And you," Meng Shuyi said, her gaze shifting to Yan Cheng.

Yan Cheng didn’t dare speak, afraid of inviting an even bigger lecture.

Su Miaoyi and Chu Xingrou stood to the side, not daring to make a sound, hoping their silence would let them escape this ordeal.

But then Meng Shuyi’s gaze suddenly fell on them.

The two of them gripped each other’s hands. ’Here it comes, here it comes. She’s coming for us.’

"And the two of you," Meng Shuyi began, then paused. "You two are still young."

Su Miaoyi and Chu Xingrou breathed a sigh of relief.

"But! If you meet someone suitable, just go for it. Don’t be like these three, getting on in years." As she spoke, Meng Shuyi glanced at the three men again, unable to understand it. "I mean, look at you three. You’ve got the looks, you’ve got the skills, you’ve got the qualifications... how is it that... how is it that... nobody wants you!"

"Right? And I’m so handsome, too," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Meng Shuyi shot him a look and sighed. "Alright, everyone go home. Be safe on the way."

"Okay," the group replied.

"I’m heading home too," Meng Shuyi sighed again. "Time to go help with homework."

As the group followed her downstairs, Zhuang Yanzheng said, "Didn’t you say last time that you were never helping with homework again?"

"I did. And then he came home with a twelve percent on his language arts test," Meng Shuyi said. "He’s so enthusiastic about going to school every day, but his head is just as empty when he comes back. The day he got that twelve, his dad didn’t sleep all night. He took the next day off work, insisting he had to go check on their ancestral graves."

"He’s still young. He just hasn’t mastered how to study yet. It’ll get better when he’s older," Yan Cheng said.

"But shouldn’t he be getting perfect scores on every test in elementary school?" Meng Shuyi couldn’t understand.

"Times have changed. Things are bound to be a little different now," Zhuang Yanzheng said comfortingly.

Meng Shuyi nodded.

They all went their separate ways home.

Zhuang Yanzheng was driving, so he gave Su Miaoyi and Chu Xingrou a ride.

"Captain Zhuang, why don’t you have a girlfriend?" Chu Xingrou asked, sitting up straight in the back seat.

"Why don’t you have a boyfriend?" Zhuang Yanzheng shot back.

"I’m still young! I’m not in a hurry," Chu Xingrou said.

Zhuang Yanzheng: "..."

Su Miaoyi, in the passenger seat, turned her head to look out the window and chuckled.

"What are you laughing at? You’re only a few years younger than me. You’ll be thirty next year too," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi looked at him, smiling as she patted her own arm. "See this? A new body. A brand-new, twenty-six-year-old body. Who’s turning thirty with you? And even if I were thirty, I’d still be young and beautiful. Age is just a number, right, Xingrou?"

"Right," Chu Xingrou said. "Sister Miaomiao is the prettiest."

"So for you, age is just a number, but for me, it’s ’getting on in years,’ is that it?" Zhuang Yanzheng said. "Could you have a bigger double standard?"

"I can," Su Miaoyi said. "Captain Zhuang, I really can."

Zhuang Yanzheng shot her a glare, too exasperated to speak.

...