On the third day of the National Day holiday, Dong Xuebin was discharged from the hospital.
State Security was unlike other government departments. Aside from National Day itself, they still had to take shifts on October 2nd and 3rd, and from October 4th onward, everyone would return to work as usual. So today was his last day off. He entered the small one-bedroom apartment at the North Entrance of Heping Street with Qu Yunxuan, and seeing the familiar living room again, Dong Xuebin felt a warmth rise in his heart. He dropped onto the sofa and stretched lazily.
Aunt Xuan set down his washbasin, slippers, and everything else. "Hehe, home's still better, right?"
"Of course. Staying in the hospital nearly drove me stupid. There was nothing there."
"Alright, I've safely escorted you home, so it's time for me to go. I've got overtime at work, and there are things waiting for me to handle." Qu Yunxuan gently poured him a cup of tea and placed it in his hand. Then she affectionately pinched Dong Xuebin's cheek and smiled. "Sister Luan said she isn't going back to the Capital City for National Day? Then stay home by yourself. Text Auntie if there's anything you want to eat, and don't run around outside. Wait for Auntie to have dinner tonight. I'm leaving."
"Mm-hmm, take care, Aunt Xuan."
The door opened. Thud. The door closed.
His body completely recovered, Dong Xuebin closed his eyes and rested for a while. Then, refreshed, he got up and went to the kitchen to make tomato and egg soup. Only after it was cooked did he realize there was no vinegar at home. Dong Xuebin made do and finished the soup. At one-thirty in the afternoon, he went to a nearby supermarket to buy a bottle of vinegar. Carrying it as he strolled home, he thought of how kind Aunt Xuan had been to him these past days, and a smile crept onto his face.
Was there anyone in this world more virtuous than Aunt Xuan?
Was there anyone in this world more beautiful than Aunt Xuan?
No.
Definitely not.
Just as he was happily marveling at his own good fortune, an incomparably beautiful face that took his breath away suddenly entered his sight. Dong Xuebin was greatly startled and instantly turned to look at the slender figure by the roadside. The woman stood beneath the shade of a poplar tree with her arms folded, talking on her phone. Her hair was swept up high in a bun, and she wore a women's black suit. Crescent moon eyes, long eyelashes, a flawless little face—she was breathtakingly beautiful.
There really was one?
There really was a woman as beautiful as Aunt Xuan?
Dong Xuebin drew in a breath. He had truly broadened his horizons this time. Everyone loved beauty, after all. Pretending to wait for someone where he stood, he blinked and occasionally glanced in the woman's direction. She did not seem much older than Dong Xuebin, though she looked quite mature. Every gesture carried the bearing of a refined lady, elegant beyond compare.
Quite a few people nearby had also noticed the unbelievably beautiful woman and kept stealing glances at her.
Dong Xuebin noticed that a skinny, monkey-like man actually brazenly walked past the woman. His steps paused behind her for a moment, as if he were examining her exquisite face at close range.
This elegant woman paid no attention to the stares around her. Holding up her phone, she said with a smile, "Lao Zhou, it's not that I don't want to help you... this is beyond what I can do too... Mm, ask Xiao An about it. Doesn't he have access to Minister Zhao? Alright?" After speaking for a while, the woman made a graceful arc through the air with the phone and slipped it into her unzipped handbag, then turned and left in her Black High Heels.
Dong Xuebin reluctantly withdrew his gaze and headed toward home as well.
Sigh, looking was enough. A woman like that was far beyond his reach.
However, just as Dong Xuebin had taken only two steps, he heard the woman's magnetic voice from behind him. "Hm? Where's my wallet?" Turning around, Dong Xuebin saw the woman frowning as she rummaged through her handbag. Finding nothing, her eyes began searching the path she had just walked.
A warmhearted old lady approached her. "Miss, can't find your wallet? Did you drop it somewhere?"
The woman frowned calmly. "Probably not. My wallet was still there when I took out my phone two minutes ago."
"Oh? Then it must've just been stolen?"
Two minutes ago?
Dong Xuebin froze. He suddenly remembered that skinny, monkey-like man had stood extremely close to her while she was on the phone and had paused beside her for two seconds. Thinking about it now... damn, that guy was a thief?
BACK
Time rapidly reversed.
The scene returned to the woman standing beneath the tree and talking on the phone.
"Lao Zhou, it's not that I don't want to help you... this is beyond what I can do too... Mm, ask Xiao An about it. Doesn't he have access to Minister Zhao? Alright?" The woman spoke into her phone with a smile. Two meters away, the skinny man still brushed past her, clutching his stomach as he hurried into the distance.
Eager to save the beauty, Dong Xuebin set the bottle of vinegar down by the street and charged over.
Under the astonished gazes of passersby, Dong Xuebin kept his footsteps as quiet as possible. Catching the man off guard, he lunged at him from behind. "Stop!"
By the time the skinny man reacted, he had already been knocked to the ground. Alarm showed on his face. "What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?"
"You know exactly what I'm doing. Where's the wallet?" Dong Xuebin grappled with him.
The skinny man had been extremely confident in his pickpocketing skills. He had thought no one would notice, but who could have expected him to be exposed at once—and for the other person to have even seen that he had stolen a wallet? It left him both shocked and terrified. The skinny man hurriedly rolled across the ground, tossed away a snakeskin wallet, and took off running.
Having achieved his goal, Dong Xuebin did not pursue him. The thief might have accomplices ahead, and getting stabbed over this would not be worth it.
The stunning woman was looking suspiciously in Dong Xuebin's direction, apparently unable to understand why he and the skinny man had suddenly started fighting. But when her gaze fell on the wallet in Dong Xuebin's hand, she paused. After saying something into the phone, she hung up and opened her handbag to look inside.
Brushing the dirt off himself, Dong Xuebin walked over and handed her the wallet. "That guy just stole your wallet."
"Oh." The woman accepted the wallet and gratefully extended her slender hand to shake Dong Xuebin's. "I was so focused on the call that I didn't notice. Thank you so much. Otherwise, he really would've stolen it. Mm, you aren't hurt, are you? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Dong Xuebin shook her hand, and his heart could not help pounding twice.
From up close, the woman seemed even more beautiful—a beauty that radiated from her very bones.
After exchanging a few polite words, the woman's phone rang again. She gave Dong Xuebin an apologetic smile. "I have something urgent to deal with. Leave me your number, and I'll treat you to a meal another day, alright?" Judging from her tone, the woman was most likely a leader at her workplace. That final "alright?" carried a strong, commanding feel.
Dong Xuebin wanted to say there was no need, but he could not resist the woman's overwhelming charm. Clearing his throat, he gave her his phone number.
The woman took out a notebook and quickly wrote down the number. "Alright, then that's that. I'll contact you another day."
Even after the woman had walked far away, Dong Xuebin still had not come back to his senses.
Sigh, whoever had the good fortune to marry her would have smoke rising from their ancestors' graves.
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