Chapter 26: Audacious Lust
Combining the marks on Lin Wan’s body, Huo Xiao couldn’t help but overthink the situation.
There was only one scenario in which a girl would swallow her pain and grievance all by herself, too afraid to utter a single word.
And that was… being assaulted!
The moment this possibility crossed his mind, a wave of monstrous fury swirled and roared within Huo Xiao’s chest.
He leaned forward and grasped Lin Wan’s hand, lowering his eyelashes to conceal the surging, brutal rage in his eyes. “Don’t be afraid! I’m here!”
Having gone through such a terrifying ordeal, the young girl was already on the verge of a breakdown, looking fragile enough to shatter at a single touch.
Huo Xiao intentionally softened his voice.
Lin Wan was completely stunned.
The man’s hand was dry and burning hot, sending a wave of electric, tingling itchiness that instantly spread up her arm. The dense sensation wrapped tightly around her heart.
A fierce throb of emotion came rushing like a tidal wave, and her heart completely lost its rhythm, beating uncontrollably.
Thud… thud… thud…
As if under a spell cast by his single sentence, Lin Wan stared at him blankly.
Oh, this is going to be the death of me!
How can he be so smooth?!
I can’t handle this!
If this was a honey trap, she would surrender unconditionally right this second! Being a second late would be disrespectful to her own lustful heart!
After a long pause, she hiccuped through her tears and asked, “Are you… hic… are you really willing to help me?”
Huo Xiao nodded gently and let go of her hand. “Yes!”
“Don’t be afraid!”
Lin Wan felt a twinge of regret.
Why did he let go?
She used his handkerchief to haphazardly wipe her face and immediately began hurling accusations against Guo Xuyang.
“…Tell me, isn’t he a complete psychopath?”
“That day he was drugged, I was clearly the one who saved him. Yet he returned my kindness with enmity, pronouncing me guilty based solely on Jin Cuicui’s one-sided word!”
“He didn’t listen to my explanation at all, nor did he bother to conduct an investigation to gather evidence. How can someone with a working style like his be a leader? What if he goes to the battlefield and causes the deaths of a bunch of comrades and civilians because of his pigheaded arrogance!”
“A passing comrade tried to help me, but he kicked him flying. When I asked that kind-hearted comrade to help me report it to the police, he went and threatened him with charges of assaulting an active-duty military officer…”
“Just tell me, isn’t keeping someone like this in the ranks like keeping a black sheep in the flock?”
Huo Xiao fell into silence after listening to her righteous, indignant tirade.
“Is that all?” He wanted to confirm whether she had suffered any further harm.
But to Lin Wan’s ears, it sounded completely different.
The emotional flutter in her chest vanished into thin air instantly!
This man truly possessed the ability to completely break his own charm with a single sentence! He also had the knack for driving someone entirely insane with a single word!
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Is this not enough?”
“Or do you want to shield him?”
Huo Xiao: “…”
“I have no intention of shielding him. I wanted to confirm what he did to you… Never mind, what do you want to do now?”
Lin Wan looked pitiful and aggrieved. “I want to report it, but I’m afraid Guo Xuyang’s family is too powerful and will turn around to bite me with false accusations!”
“My family is just an ordinary working-class family.”
“That’s why I wanted to hurry up and marry you. Once I’m married to you, I’ll be a military dependent too. As long as you don’t shield him, I’ll have the backing to sue him!”
Huo Xiao was a deputy regimental commander at a young age. He was far from someone who could be easily fooled.
Therefore, Lin Wan directly laid out her little calculations that Huo Xiao could easily see through anyway, explicitly to prevent him from deducting points from her once he figured it out later!
After saying this, she secretly peeked at Huo Xiao.
Huo Xiao remained silent. Lin Wan’s petty, humble calculations were harmless to him. It was just like her using him as a shield to deal with her family.
Huo Xiao wasn’t entirely innocent himself. He harbored some intentions of using Lin Wan as well. Otherwise, why would he propose a contract marriage to her?
However, the words he spoke to Lin Wan came straight from the heart. They were husband and wife, and he would protect her!
He drove the car straight to the hospital to document Lin Wan’s injuries first. Immediately after that, he had Lin Wan take him to the cotton mill to find Sun Zhi.
At the cotton mill.
A thoroughly dispirited Sun Zhi sat before the desk at the entrance of the warehouse, clutching an enamel mug. His eyes were completely vacant, looking entirely weary of life.
With workers moving in and out to load and unload goods, he had miscalculated the tallies several times already.
“Little Sun, what’s wrong with you?”
“Did someone dump you or what?”
A worker who had just finished unloading cargo yanked the towel around his neck to wipe his sweat, casually teasing Sun Zhi.
Sun Zhi pointed at someone else to handle the counting, completely ignoring the worker. In his heart, however, tears were gushing furiously. It felt a hundred times worse than being dumped!
He was truly useless! He was a coward, a total wimp!
Yet Comrade Lin Wan had been kind enough not to hold it against him and had even shown him understanding.
Sob, sob, sob… He wouldn’t even have the face to show up in front of Comrade Lin Wan in the future!
“Sun Zhi, a female comrade named Lin Wan is at the factory gate looking for you!”
Just then, a worker ran over, panting heavily as he passed the message.
Comrade Lin Wan came to look for him!!!
The massive, unexpected surprise left Sun Zhi feeling dizzy with joy! He instantly perked up as if injected with chicken blood.
He found someone to watch the registry for him, then bolted toward the factory gate as fast as his legs could carry him.
Right as he was about to arrive, he slammed on the brakes, tidied his clothes, spat a bit of saliva into his palms to rub them together, and smoothed his hair down.
“Comrade Lin Wan!”
“What brings you here?”
He walked toward Lin Wan in pure excitement, only to see a tall, handsome military officer standing right beside her once he drew close.
He had to look up to see the man. The man had to look down to see him.
Talk about a dagger to the heart!
Sun Zhi was considered good-looking among the ordinary workers, but the moment he was placed right beside Huo Xiao, he was instantly crushed into absolute dust!
“Comrade Lin Wan, is this your brother?” He knew Lin Wan had two stepbrothers and four cousins. Did she bring her brother over to check him out? Did this imply Comrade Lin Wan was willing to date him?
At the thought of this possibility, Sun Zhi’s heart instantly bloomed with bright sunshine. He did his best to straighten his spine, even secretly tilting his heels up a bit. He tried to make himself look as impressive as possible.
Lin Wan: “Comrade Sun Zhi, let me introduce you. This is my partner.”
Sun Zhi enthusiastically extended both hands to shake Huo Xiao’s hand. “Hello, Partner Big Brother! I am Comrade Lin Wan’s…”
Wait, what? Partner?
Sun Zhi’s hands froze mid-air. He couldn’t muster the strength to shake it at all!
A glint flickered in Huo Xiao’s eyes. This man liked Lin Wan.
He pulled out his military officer credentials and then displayed their marriage certificate for him to see. “Hello, I am Comrade Lin Wan’s husband, Huo Xiao. Thank you today for disregarding the danger to help my wife.”
“Your action counts as righteously coming to the rescue, and I will help you apply for a Courageous Civilian Award.”
“My wife is a military dependent. Guo Xuyang harmed my wife, so he is the party at fault. You did absolutely nothing wrong!”
“I hope that when the investigators from the relevant departments come to seek information from you, you will describe the events truthfully!”
“Thank you!”
He gave Sun Zhi a crisp military salute.
Lin Wan was thoroughly struck by how dashing he looked. Standing by his side, her eyes sparkled as she stared at him.
When this scene fell into Sun Zhi’s eyes, it felt like a bolt from the blue. His heart was blasted into absolute pieces. His secret crush and the romance of his fantasies met a completely premature end!
Sun Zhi’s smile looked more painful than crying.
Leaving the cotton mill, Huo Xiao drove Lin Wan straight to the local police station responsible for the area where the incident occurred.
Lin Wan tilted her head to look at Huo Xiao’s freezing, handsome face, unable to resist asking him, “What if Sun Zhi doesn’t tell the truth?”
This fish… wait, no! This ordinary friend looked as though his heart had been severely broken. Would he turn around and let love turn into hatred?
Keeping his eyes straight on the road ahead, Huo Xiao replied, “He won’t.”
“Telling the truth makes him a courageous civilian.”
“With this award, he can be evaluated for excellence at the end of the year, which will help upgrade his job status.”
Lin Wan gave Huo Xiao a massive thumbs-up in her mind.
This man acted with absolute efficiency, and his sense of organization and logic was remarkably strong. Since she said she wanted to report the crime, he arranged every single step flawlessly, not letting a single detail slip.
With a mouth like that, keeping it shut and using it solely for kissing would definitely be excellent!
Lin Wan thought with audacious lust.
