NOVEL NEXT Chapter 32: Yu Lu's Safety
The bickering stopped and everyone turned their attention to Zhi Luan. Zhi Luan didn’t mind the looks and repeated it,
“You all heard me. Why don’t I go instead? I’ll take Yu Lu home.”
“Maybe you haven’t been paying attention…”
“I have. Whether we involve the police or not, Yu Lu is still in danger of being followed… if not today, another day. Plus after my altercation with him today, I doubt he’s going to let me off easy…”
“So, your plan is…?”
“I’ll take Yu Lu home. I have a feeling that doing that will get Bai Shun’s attention to act personally.”
“And that is what you want… to act as a sacrificial lamb?”
“Does that bother you?”
Zhi Luan asked intently.
“It doesn’t. Honestly, you’re a better option than Lu Yu.”
Old man Shen didn’t hide that fact.
“But it doesn’t mean I’m okay with your plan. You all work for me… I’m responsible for your safety as long as you’re in this establishment.”
“Is her house in your establishment too?”
Old man Shen was about to retort, but Zhi Luan didn’t let him.
“You’ve agreed already, that should be enough.”
At this time, Yu Lu couldn’t bear it,
“No one is following me home!”
She yelled with eyes filled with tears.
“I’m already causing so much trouble… I’d be putting you in danger if you crossed paths with Bai Shun...”
While Yu Lu poured her heart out, Zhi Luan walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder with a light smile on his face,
“I don’t remember asking your permission on this. I said I was going to escort you home and that is what I’ll do. It’s fine if you don’t want me to know where you live, but until Bai Shun is put down, you’re not going home alone.”
Zhi Luan’s words and expressions were in deep contrast to each other. His words were that of assurance mixed with authority, but his expression was warm, making it similar to a psychopath’s.
Yu Lu lowered her head as though admitting defeat.
“It is settled then,” said Zhi Luan.
Old man Shen spoke up,
“I have a feeling that I should ask what you mean by ‘put down’, but I’ll save that for later. And Yu Lu, regardless of his lack of tact, Zhi Luan is right… you shouldn’t be going home alone until we’re sure Bai Shun won’t do anything unreasonable.”
At this time, John raised a point,
“Aren’t we forgetting that Zhi Luan lives here? Yu Lu lives farther than any of us, and the last train to Jishan leaves in thirty minutes. How is he going to make it back in time?”
“When do the trains come online again?”
Old man Shen asked.
"4 am.”
Old man Shen fell into deep contemplation. It was a bit tough to decide at this point. But while he contemplated, Zhi Luan spoke up,
“We’ll worry about the trains later. Anything else?”
Everyone had to acknowledge Zhi Luan’s confidence. He was about to do something risky, yet he acted as though it was a walk in the park.
Since no one had any objections, Zhi Luan nodded,
“Remember, we have to act like we haven’t noticed anything.”
Everyone left the restaurant and old man Shen locked up after they left. It was almost midnight at this time, but the hustle and bustle of the city only lessened a bit. After leaving, Zhi Luan called old man Shen to find out if the man they saw outside was still out there, and when the latter looked, the man was gone. Zhi Luan wasn’t surprised but the others were. They were stunned at his accurate read of the situation, and though it was just a hunch, it was an accurate one. Lu Yu and John lived close to each other, so when they got to a certain point, they took another route while Yu Lu and Zhi Luan headed for the subway.
On their way, Zhi Luan occasionally browsed the crowd unsuspectingly and he noticed a few changes to in the crowd every time. It came as no surprise to Zhi Luan when he saw the man who spied on them at the restaurant among the crowd, maintaining a certain distance from them. However, what caught his attention was when he entered a car that pulled up beside him.
He gently whispered to Yu Lu,
“There’s more of them, and they are in a car…”
Yu Lu trembled slightly. She was about to look back when Zhi Luan stopped her.
“We have to get away from the road,”
Zhi Luan spoke sternly while looking around for an alternative route. He sighted a place packed with food stalls and asked,
“What if we go through there?”
“We can get to the subway even through there.”
Zhi Luan nodded and held onto Yu Lu’s hand as they moved through the crowd, their pace was neither too fast nor too quick. Yu Lu slightly trembled again when she felt Zhi Luan’s hand on hers. His big hands completely swallowed hers and still held it firmly. Yu Lu didn’t protest the contact and went along with it.
This area was mainly for roadside food stalls. The aroma from over five different food stalls blended perfectly with each other, as people sat in front of the food stalls laughing and talking. Zhi Luan held Yu Lu’s hands as they blended well with the crowd, and even bought a few bites along the way.
To Yu Lu, Zhi Luan wasn’t taking the situation seriously and was having fun. But whenever she saw his stern expression, she couldn’t help but feel relieved. She had repeatedly asked what Zhi Luan’s plan was, but he refused to tell her, so she could only trust whatever he did.
Zhi Luan’s mind raced with many ideas on how to ditch those tailing them, and his current plan was working!