As Song Xinya hurried forward with her suitcase, head down, whoosh—a rotten egg flew over her head.
Hey! Wrong target!
A shout suddenly came from behind her. “Song Xinya is Qin Yuhe’s wife! Get her! Don’t let her leave! As long as we take her, we can force President Qin to show himself.”
Oh, crap. They hadn’t thrown it at the wrong person. They were coming after her.
Song Xinya ran even faster.
The suitcase wheels screeched against the concrete, spinning wildly and spitting sparks.
It looked just like that saying: “A man with a cleaver chopping through power lines—sparks flying, lightning flashing all the way.”
The taxi Song Xinya had ordered arrived, stopping less than ten meters away.
She sprinted toward it as the three men behind her gave chase.
She could hear their footsteps getting closer and closer.
Song Xinya summoned the spirit she’d had during the high-school 800-meter fitness test and put every last ounce of strength into her legs.
“Ahhh! Charge!”
Eight meters from the taxi!
Six meters!
Three meters!
One meter!
Zero!
She reached out and pulled open the door.
Relief washed over her as she climbed inside.
Bang!
A pair of male hands shot over and pressed against the door, slamming it shut.
Two men arrived moments later and restrained Song Xinya.
The driver took one look at the scene. A grown man, he was even more frightened than Song Xinya. He stomped on the gas and sped away.
Song Xinya was now facing three fully grown men alone.
“If you have a grudge against someone, go after them! Why are you grabbing me?”
The men replied, “It’s more useful to grab you than Yuan Jingcheng. The moment President Qin hears that something’s happened to his wife, he’ll show up immediately.”
Qin Yuhe was in the United States receiving treatment for his hand. He was at a crucial stage of complete recovery, and his treatment couldn’t be interrupted.
Song Xinya said, “I’ve treated you to several meals before, and I’ve helped you out at work plenty of times. Is this how you repay me?”
“That’s why we didn’t throw the rotten eggs at you.”
Song Xinya looked over at Yuan Jingcheng. His head and body were covered in egg yolk and egg white.
A perfectly good man had been transformed into a foul-smelling egg.
Since she was going to see Qin Yuhe, Song Xinya had put on a beautiful makeup look that day.
She was naturally an optimistic person. Even now, she thought, At least my makeup hasn’t been ruined.
Since this group had shifted most of their attention to Song Xinya, only two men were blocking Yuan Jingcheng.
Yuan Jingcheng was a strong, muscular man. With a punch from his left hand and another from his right, he easily knocked the two men to the ground and broke through the encirclement.
He glanced at Song Xinya, who was surrounded, then turned around and ran in the opposite direction.
Song Xinya thought of an old saying: “Men are reliable? Sure—when pigs fly.”
The men didn’t chase Yuan Jingcheng. They all turned their attention to Song Xinya and surrounded her tightly.
Song Xinya glanced at the time, her heart filling with anxiety.
Her flight was about to take off, and she still hadn’t reached the airport. If this continued, she would miss the plane and be unable to arrive on Qin Yuhe’s birthday!
She tried to negotiate with them. “What do you want? Compensation, right? If you let me leave first, I can tell President Qin about your demands.”
“Do you think we’re three-year-olds? Do you think we’re stupid? You’re just buying time and trying to trick us into letting you go. Once you leave, you definitely won’t compensate us.”
The group surrounded Song Xinya, with no intention of letting her go.
One of the men snatched the suitcase from her hand and hurled it heavily onto the ground in the distance.
Inside was the gift Song Xinya had made herself for Qin Yuhe: a pressed red maple leaf specimen, sealed inside a square piece of glass.
After such a hard impact, she didn’t know whether it had shattered.
Song Xinya’s heart clenched painfully.
She ran toward the suitcase, wanting to see whether the maple leaf specimen had broken.
Thinking she was trying to escape, one of the men reached out and grabbed her hair.
“Damn it, let go of me!”
Qin Yuhe’s assistant arrived with a group of highly trained bodyguards.
He struck the man who had grabbed Song Xinya’s hair across the wrist with the edge of his hand. The man let out a scream.
“I really can’t believe how stupid you people are! You actually dared to lay a hand on her? Forget about getting money this time—you won’t even get to keep your lives!”
Luckily, he had arrived in time and stopped them from pulling President Qin’s wife’s hair.
If anyone had managed to yank Mrs. Qin’s hair, he wouldn’t have been able to keep his own hair either.
He would have had to shave it all off as an apology to Mrs. Qin.
The assistant hurried over, picked up the suitcase, brushed the dirt off it, then wiped it down with disinfectant wipes before handing it back to Song Xinya.
“Mrs. Qin, I’m terribly sorry. Before President Qin left the country, he specifically instructed me to keep you safe. I arrived too late and frightened you.”
Song Xinya grabbed the suitcase and started walking. “I need to get to the airport.”
Worried that something else might go wrong, the assistant quickly followed. “I’ll drive you there.”
When they reached the airport, Song Xinya pulled her suitcase and ran inside.
The wind rushed past her ears, lifting her smooth, glossy hair and sending its lustrous strands streaming behind her. Each strand was clearly defined, spreading like dark ink smoke dissolving into the air.
Even while running, she maintained her elegant bearing. Her shoulders and back remained straight, and the hem of her dress fluttered in a graceful, beautiful arc.
She drew the attention of many people around her.
Just before boarding was closed, Song Xinya successfully made it onto the flight to New York.
………
Outside the airport, after seeing Song Xinya off, the assistant called Qin Yuhe.
“President Qin, Mrs. Qin has gone to the airport.”
Qin Yuhe had been in daily contact with Song Xinya recently. She had never mentioned that she was going on a business trip.
Nor had she told him whom she was going to see.
“Where is she going?”
The assistant replied, “I asked her when I drove her to the airport, but she wouldn’t tell me.”
Qin Yuhe’s heart sank.
If she wouldn’t tell his assistant, then she had no intention of telling him either.
She knew the assistant would report everything to him.
What was she going to do that she had to keep secret from him?
Was she going to see Han Jingyi?
But Han Jingyi was supposed to be in Jingbei.
Qin Yuhe said, “Find out where Han Jingyi is.”
After investigating, the assistant reported back, “Han Jingyi is away on a business trip. He isn’t in Jingbei.”
So that was the reason for her sudden trip?
Qin Yuhe leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.
He reached up and tugged at his tie, murmuring, “Where did she go?”
The assistant answered, “She’s on a plane.”
Qin Yuhe said, “She’s already at the airport. Do you think I don’t know she’s on a plane?”
The assistant fell silent.
“Yes, sir.”
I should’ve known better than to answer.
Just before hanging up, the assistant hesitated, then decided to tell Qin Yuhe about how Song Xinya had nearly had her hair pulled by one of the men.
Qin Yuhe said, “Go shave your head.”
The assistant asked, “How short?”
“As short as Tang Monk’s.”
The assistant hurriedly tried to plead his case. “The man didn’t actually pull Mrs. Qin’s hair. I stopped him in time.”
Qin Yuhe replied, “If he had pulled it, I wouldn’t make you shave your head as an apology. I’d have you cut off your entire head and present it to her as an apology.”
After hearing that, the assistant suddenly felt that shaving his head completely bald wasn’t so unacceptable after all.
………
Fifteen hours later, the plane landed at New York International Airport.
The cabin door opened, and Song Xinya stepped out of the plane.
It was nine o’clock in the morning in New York.
Today was Qin Yuhe’s birthday.
Song Xinya strode out of the airport, hailed a taxi, and headed for Qin Yuhe’s residence.
Qin Yuhe was scheduled to attend an international financial forum today. Wall Street financial tycoons, influential U.S. senators, CEOs of European and American investment institutions, and the chairman of China’s Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission were all in attendance, along with many other prominent figures.
Qin Yuhe was the first guest speaker to take the stage, which showed just how important the forum was.
And yet, Qin Yuhe was distracted.
His black suit deepened the air of coldness around him. Sitting in his chair with his tall, lean frame, he would occasionally lower his lashes to glance at his phone. His pale, strikingly handsome face was colder than New York in autumn.
He had sent his wife several messages, but she hadn’t replied to a single one.
What dog had she gone off to see?
