A Minor Interlude

"Elope?" For an instant, people everywhere were shocked. Jiaming's mouth fell open into an O.

"Come on, at a time like this, what else can we do but elope? I was planning to leave anyway." As Yahan spoke, she ran to the cabinet at the side to look for clothes. Jiaming curled his lips and sighed. "Then don't call it eloping. Eloping is what adulterers do. You're running away, and it's not because of me. Hurry up and change..."

"You're not allowed to peek." Yahan took her clothes into the bathroom, then poked her head back out and whispered, "And don't peek at my Stepmother either."

"Come on..." Jiaming felt utterly powerless, almost wanting to go over and smack her. Yahan smiled, and a moment later, she emerged after changing.

"A swimsuit!?"

"Yeah. There's a small pond under my windowsill. How else am I supposed to get out if not in a swimsuit?"

"Obviously, I'll take you climbing out!"

"Climb over the wall? But I'm afraid of heights..."

Jiaming looked at her helplessly. She looked back at him innocently. After a moment, Yahan went, "Oh," and lowered her head as she returned to the bathroom. After a while, she came back out in a healthy-looking black tracksuit. It had white stripes on it, though, which would stand out even more in the dark.

"Mm, my ID, passport, and bank cards have all been confiscated, so there isn't much to bring... I need to take these diaries, and I've got some money tucked inside these two books. Hey, what are you doing? Those are my favorite clothes..."

Seeing Jiaming using a writing brush to paint over her clothes like it was a paintbrush, Yahan jumped in fright. Before she could even dodge, a large patch of black had already stained the white stripes on her tracksuit. "Who cares whether you like them? All the white parts need to be blackened. Are you stupid? Just take the money. Why bring the diaries? Do you need to bring the pillow from your bed too?"

"I thought about it... but I'm not an idiot." Yahan glanced at Jiaming. "Back when I got my acceptance letter from Cambridge, my family wouldn't let me go. I secretly got my visa and went to England with just a little money. Life was really hard. These diaries were written during those years. They're my Diary of Seeking Survival in a Foreign Land—every page was written in blood, sweat, and tears. They mean a lot to me, so I have to keep them with me."

Watching Jiaming continually defile her clothes, Yahan's expression now also looked like it was full of blood, sweat, and tears. When he brushed up to her chest, she hurriedly snatched the brush away and painted it herself. Jiaming sat down beside her and flipped through her diary, casually asking, "Is the one in bed your dad's mistress?"

"Mm, my stepmother." Yahan nodded. "But she's been pretty good to me. She used to be a minor celebrity. After marrying into the family, she's behaved herself and never caused trouble."

After chatting for a while, Yahan finally turned all of herself black. She pushed open the window and looked down for a moment. Then, like a furtive little mouse, she waved Jiaming over.

"Two bodyguards just went by, but... can we really climb out?"

Below the windowsill of her room was an ornamental pond. Swimming across it would naturally be no problem, but looking to either side and above, there was nowhere an ordinary person could climb. She had always been afraid of heights, and now that fear welled up again. She softly suggested, "I think... we should swim..."

"You idiot, get on the railing first."

"Get on the... the railing..." Yahan pointed at the railing outside the windowsill in disbelief. Just imagining it made her dizzy. "I'll definitely fall."

"If I tell you to get up there, get up there! Of course I have a way. Ah, wait." Jiaming found a towel in the room. "Stuff this in your mouth. It'll keep you from screaming... Don't worry, I guarantee you'll be fine. We're short on time, hurry up. Are you going to wait until the bodyguards come before getting up there?"

Yahan took two deep breaths and looked at Jiaming resentfully before stuffing the towel into her mouth. Jiaming looked at her twice and smiled. "You really look like that girl from those videotapes right now... Hmm, maybe I should tie you up too, so you don't struggle."

Yahan's eyes widened as she kicked at Jiaming. That brief burst of anger lessened her fear somewhat. Supporting herself on Jiaming's shoulder, she tremblingly climbed onto the railing. Before she had even found her footing, Jiaming flicked his hand, and a rope shot past her ear. Then Jiaming directly hoisted her body over his shoulder and leaped down.

To Yahan, it was a terrifying scene that lasted only an instant. Her body suddenly went airborne, and she was about to scream, but thankfully the towel had her mouth tightly plugged. Then the glimmering water flashed before her eyes, the wind howled past, and before she could even close her eyes, she had landed with weak, trembling legs.

"Mm, we... we really got down?" Pulling the towel from her mouth, she slumped onto the ground and stared at the pond, then looked back up at the windowsill. Jiaming had hooked the rope onto the windowsill railing, then swung over like Spider-Man.

"Hurry up." Jiaming gathered the rope and gave her a hard smack on the head. Fortunately, she understood that they could not linger, and hurriedly followed him.

As they passed through the ornamental shrubs, Yahan thought back to what had just happened and chattered away. "Jiaming, how can you be so strong..."

"Was there a hook on that rope? Was it like on TV?"

"You're not some agent who's been trained since childhood, are you?"

"That camping trip..."

"Shut up—" Jiaming finally lost patience. He turned around and gave her a hard smack on the forehead. Seeing Yahan rub her chest with one hand, he asked curiously, "What's wrong with you?"

"And you ask." Yahan kicked him in the butt. "Your shoulder rammed into me just now!"

"Hehe, who told you not to stand steady? When I jumped, your body dipped down a little. No wonder it felt so springy. Hahaha, shh..."

Yahan was about to explode when his "Shh—" caught her off guard. Her raised hand was still in midair when Jiaming grabbed her and pulled her into the low shrubs beside a small flower bed. Then they saw two burly men in suits patrolling toward them.

They were naturally bodyguards from Yahan's family. It seemed to be only a routine patrol, but when they came closer, they sat down on the stone railing around the flower bed. The two talked for a while. Suddenly, the man on the left took the hand of the man on the right, and the burly man on the right gently leaned against the other's shoulder.

The two hiding in the flower bed froze on the spot!

Neither crying nor laughing, Jiaming and Yahan exchanged a glance. Both their faces had turned green.

One minute, five minutes, ten minutes. The two big men were practically about to embrace. Listening to their sweet, trivial murmurs, Yahan felt like she was about to collapse. Seeing Jiaming's faintly amused expression, she could not help pinching him hard several times, signaling with her eyes for him to think of a way to leave. As Jiaming shrugged helplessly, the situation in front of them seemed to change as well.

"Here?"

"Don't worry, no one will come..."

"But we're working. Don't..."

"Don't be afraid."

"What if someone comes? They'll see us..."

"Then let's go inside."

Hearing a burly man speak in soft, coquettish tones, Yahan nearly threw up on the spot. Then one man tugged forcefully while the other half-resisted, half-willingly, and the two of them began moving toward the flower bed. Pain suddenly shot through Yahan's ear. Jiaming had sharply grabbed her left ear and whispered a few words to her.

"I think I heard something."

"Don't talk nonsense. Where?"

"But I really did hear it..."

At that point, Yahan could no longer endure it. She abruptly rose from the low shrubs. Though these two bodyguards were homosexual, they were also professionally trained. Just as they were about to take defensive stances, they heard Yahan say in a low voice, "I never expected you two to be gay!"

This was undoubtedly their greatest secret. Hearing it suddenly, both men froze. Then a black shadow dashed out with lightning speed and violently slammed their heads together.

Grabbing their collars, he let the two men gently collapse to the ground. Yahan took a look. "You smashed their foreheads until they bled. They won't die, will they?"

Jiaming dragged the two of them deep into the low bushes, shot Yahan a glare, and said, "Stop talking in that yee-yee-yee voice in my ear. It makes me sick!"

"Drop dead." Yahan could not help laughing. Looking at the two of them, she too felt goosebumps constantly rising all over her body. She heard Jiaming continue, "I once heard a super-perverted bastard say that homosexuality isn't shameful; what's shameful is homosexuals who aren't good-looking. Now I finally understand what that means."

As he said this, Jiaming thought of Lingjing and Shasha. Sure enough, that pair was far more pleasing to the eye...

After dealing with that little incident, the two of them climbed over the wall at the side of the Zhang Family residence shortly afterward. By the time the Zhang Family discovered the unconscious woman in Yahan's room, called the police, and sent people out to search, the two had already gone far away, vanishing into the vast night.

I've got a mild cold, and writing this chapter was agonizing... In the name of my suffering, please vote!