Zheng Yan rushed straight to the first-floor restroom from the parking garage, but his heart sank the moment he opened the stall—his clothes were gone. Before he could process this, Zheng Min’s voice came through his earpiece: “Luo Wen is in the underground parking lot! Where are you?”
Zheng Yan pressed a hand to his rapidly beating chest, his left arm throbbing from the bullet graze. Where had the clothes gone? Who could have taken them?
As if in response to his confusion, voices echoed from outside the restroom: “No idea whose clothes got left in the bathroom, but lucky for them we picked it up.”
“Yeah, we’ll just leave it in the office and ask around tomorrow.”
Zheng Yan ducked into a stall and held his breath as the two men entered, their footsteps drawing closer—one step, two steps—stopping right at his stall door.
Zheng Yan took a deep breath, but the footsteps didn’t stop. They moved to the next stall. As soon as they took two more steps, he sprang from his stall, incapacitating both men with swift blows—a chop to one, an elbow strike to the other. They were unconscious before they could react.
The men had mentioned the office, which had to be the duty office. Zheng Yan quickly located the only lit room and found his clothes sitting on the desk.
There was no time to waste. He changed right there in the office. While he was trying to find a bag to stash his black outfit, the faint ding of the elevator pierced the silence of the hospital.
Luo Wen was here!
Zheng Min must have seen it on the security cameras, but what could she do to stall him? As Zheng Yan darted toward the stairwell, he half-jokingly thought: Maybe I should just kill Luo Wen—he deserves it anyway!
Immediately, he scolded himself for even thinking such a thing. Luo Wen couldn’t die—not by his hands, at least. If Luo Wen were to die, it had to be by legal judgment in court.
By the time Zheng Yan reached the upper floor, he had steadied his breath and was carrying the black outfit under his arm, hidden under his white coat. He walked down the hall like he was doing rounds, though he knew better. The hospital didn’t allow unauthorized visitors at night, meaning whoever had been tailing him must have been cleared out by now.
I shouldn’t have wasted time looking for those clothes! Zheng Yan berated himself, now sprinting toward Zheng Min’s room.
The doctor waiting outside her room quickly pulled Zheng Yan in as soon as he saw him. The doctor yanked off his white coat, and there wasn’t even time to change out of his other clothes.
Zheng Min lay back down, swiftly shutting her laptop and tucking it under the covers. “I tampered with the elevator as soon as Luo Wen arrived at the parking lot, but it won’t hold him for long. Get down by the side of my bed.”
Zheng Yan handed his medical file to the doctor and winced as he moved his left arm. He ripped off part of the bandage on his arm, leaving a small strip, then shoved the remaining cloth and the tight black outfit into Zheng Min’s hands. “Hide it.”
Zheng Min’s eyes widened when she saw the bloodstain on the fabric, her heart leaping in her chest. She wanted to ask what had happened, but the sound of approaching footsteps cut her short.
Zheng Yan quickly grabbed a fruit knife and made a small cut on his finger. He wiped the blood off the knife and, with the remaining bandage, wrapped it around his finger.
By the time the footsteps stopped outside the door, Zheng Yan was hunched by the bed.
The doctor nudged Zheng Yan just as the door opened. Zheng Yan slowly lifted his head, his eyes bleary with exhaustion, just as Luo Wen stepped inside. His footsteps halted. The doctor swallowed nervously and snapped, “Who are you?”
Ignoring the doctor’s question, Luo Wen strode forward and grabbed Zheng Yan’s left arm. “Has Zheng Yan been here all night?”
Zheng Yan looked up, his expression dazed. When he recognized Luo Wen, his face twisted in anger. “How do you know my sister’s here?”
“Answer my question first.” Luo Wen tightened his grip, causing Zheng Yan to wince. He tried to pull away but couldn’t break free from Luo Wen’s iron grip. Luo Wen sniffed the air, his eyes narrowing as he detected a faint smell of blood. “You’re injured, aren’t you? Is it your left—”
He stopped short when he noticed Zheng Yan’s bandaged left hand.
“You really are all-knowing.” Zheng Yan forced a bitter laugh. “Even down to the fact that I cut my hand slicing fruit. Impressive.”
Luo Wen released him, his gaze never leaving Zheng Yan’s face. “You’ve been here all night, keeping your sister company?”
“What else?” Zheng Yan replied helplessly. “I already told Qin Xuan I wouldn’t breathe a word about what happened. Can’t you people leave me alone?”
Luo Wen turned to the doctor, his gaze sharp. “Has he been here the whole night?”
“Y-yes…” The doctor stammered, his legs nearly buckling under Luo Wen’s intense stare. “Who are you, anyway? This is a hospital…”
Luo Wen took a deep breath, his eyes lingering on Zheng Yan for a long moment before he finally turned and left the room without a word.
The doctor sagged with relief, wiping the sweat from his brow. “I thought he was going to pull out a gun and shoot me right then. His presence is terrifying.”
“Thanks for your help today.” Zheng Yan tried to console the doctor. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” The doctor waved his hand dismissively. “Can we change back into our clothes now?”
After they changed, the doctor left. Zheng Min shut the door and immediately asked, “Are you hurt? How bad is it? Should we have kept the doctor here?”
“Calm down,” Zheng Yan reassured her, guiding her to sit by the bed. “It’s just a graze—barely a scratch from the bullet.”
“Just a graze?” Zheng Min retrieved the black outfit and examined the bandage. Seeing there wasn’t much blood, she relaxed slightly.
“Really.” Zheng Yan sat down, rolling up his sleeve. The wound had already stopped bleeding, but Luo Wen’s grip had reopened it. Zheng Min quickly grabbed alcohol and fresh bandages.
The sting of the alcohol against his raw wound was intense, but Zheng Yan remained silent as Zheng Min disinfected and rewrapped the injury.
“There’s still no word from Chen Kai.” Zheng Min tied the bandage tightly. “Was Qin Xuan at the eastern suburbs tonight to catch you?”
“I’m not sure.” Zheng Yan pulled down his sleeve and put his jacket back on. “But he did see my back.”
“It was dark. Hopefully, he didn’t get a good look.” Zheng Min tried to convince herself as she recalled Luo Wen’s suspicious behavior.
“He definitely didn’t see me clearly,” Zheng Yan replied softly. “Get some rest. Stop worrying about it.”
Zheng Min lay back in bed, her mind still buzzing. She had been so tense earlier, working tirelessly to help Zheng Yan pull off the operation. Now, the exhaustion caught up to her, and she drifted off to sleep within minutes.
Zheng Yan lay down on the empty bed beside hers, staring at the ceiling as he replayed the events of the night in his mind. A nagging thought kept circling in his head, refusing to go away.
If the guards had been armed, he wouldn’t have made it out alive tonight.
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