Chapter Ten: The Boudoir

Yuan Xiaoying entered the room, her cheeks flushed, while Liu Jingye stepped out through the front door. Not far from the entrance, Liu Jingye bent down and picked up a small black object from among some scattered stones. He squinted, examining it closely, and a cold smirk crept across his face.

"This kind of bug is hopelessly outdated," Liu Jingye scoffed. He had seen it clearly just moments before—it had fallen from the heel of that flamboyant woman's shoe, likely without her even realizing it. He had indeed underestimated the Huangchao organization; it was far more than a mere local gang. It also proved that Yuan Xiaoying held something of considerable importance to them.

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the listening device into the neighbor’s pigsty. Let them decipher pig grunts as their secret code if they wished.

He returned to the inn to find Yuan Xiaoying folding her wedding dress, which she must have fished out from somewhere in her suitcase.

Liu Jingye paused, then feigned excitement. "Sister, you’re leaving? I won’t see you off then. Here, take this for the fare!" He eagerly pulled out a handful of change, but Yuan Xiaoying only rewarded him with a grand roll of her eyes.

"That woman ran into me just now. She’ll definitely spread the word that I’m here. I don’t want to be found yet, so I’m moving elsewhere," she declared.

"Exactly, exactly," Liu Jingye said with the reverence of someone sending off a deity. "This is an inn—people come and go. It’s the least safe place. Take care on your way."

Seeing how eager he was to be rid of her, Yuan Xiaoying shot him a sideways glare and sneered, "You’re coming with me!"

Liu Jingye hesitated, quickly replying, "Sister, this may be the outskirts, but the security’s good here and transport’s convenient. Besides, you’re highly skilled. Surely you don’t need me as an escort?"

Yuan Xiaoying snorted. "We’re getting married in three days. Relatives and friends will be turning up. You need to help me deal with them."

She was still fixated on the wedding, it seemed. Just as Liu Jingye was about to protest, Yuan Xiaoying continued, "If you refuse, I’ll go sit at the front steps and cry, make a scene, and threaten to hang myself. I’ll tell the neighbors you seduced and abandoned me, used me and tossed me aside. Let them see your true colors. And I have video proof."

She waved her phone as she spoke, and Liu Jingye felt his scalp tingle. She had him cornered.

All the neighbors here had known his family for decades; if she caused a scene, word would reach his parents, and the old couple would come down on him hard. More importantly, given the tension between Yuan Xiaoying and Huangchao, innocent people could easily get caught up in the mess.

Liu Jingye was utterly resigned. "Looks like I have no choice but to go with her and improvise as we go."

Yuan Xiaoying, wearing his clothes, strode ahead with swagger, while Liu Jingye followed behind, carrying her wedding dress. They truly looked like a couple about to be married.

Yuan Xiaoying led Liu Jingye straight to her home—a temporary apartment with two bedrooms and a living room. As soon as he entered, Liu Jingye exclaimed, "This isn’t a place for people—it’s a pigsty!"

High heels, sneakers, and slippers lay scattered haphazardly across the floor, tangled clothes and socks in disarray. The coffee table was littered with half-eaten, even moldy, instant noodles and takeout boxes, and the air reeked from bottles of soda and beer.

The bedrooms were even worse: unmade beds, curtains wide open, everything shrouded in gloom, with empty snack bags and crumbs of prawn crackers and chips everywhere, leaving barely a spot to step.

To cap it off, Yuan Xiaoying cheerfully said, "Make yourself at home!"

Liu Jingye managed a wry smile. "I’m afraid that apart from the toilet, there’s nowhere fit to sit here."

At first, Liu Jingye worried that the mess was the result of someone else rifling through her things, but from her nonchalance, it was obvious this chaos was her own doing. He had never before encountered a woman—or a boudoir—so thoroughly disheveled.

Yuan Xiaoying looked a little embarrassed but still defended herself stubbornly. "It’s messy, sure, but that’s what makes it feel like home!"

"Whose home smells entirely of mold?" Liu Jingye retorted, bemused. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he asked casually, "With the place in such chaos, it must be hard to find anything—like gold or silver jewelry, jade, or something precious like a Moonlight Box."

Yuan Xiaoying shrugged indifferently. "I rarely wear those things. I don’t have much jewelry, and I keep it all in my wardrobe drawer—mainly so I don’t step on it!"

With that, she headed into the bedroom to open the wardrobe and put away her wedding dress.

Just as she was about to pull the wardrobe door open—barely tugging it ajar—a faint click caught Liu Jingye’s ear.

He lunged forward, dropping his shoulder and sending Yuan Xiaoying flying onto the bed, where she landed with a yelp of pain.

Ignoring her, Liu Jingye opened the wardrobe at lightning speed, and there it was: a black hand grenade dangling from the rail, swaying. The safety pin had been pulled, held in place by a thin string attached to the door—open the wardrobe, and the pin would be yanked free.

Without hesitation, Liu Jingye grabbed the grenade, his fingers clamping down on the spring beneath the safety pin. Without the spring’s force, the firing pin wouldn’t strike, and the grenade wouldn’t detonate.

Clutching the grenade tightly, Liu Jingye heard Yuan Xiaoying leap up behind him, cursing, "Are you out of your mind? You dare make trouble on my turf? Most men, when they enter a woman’s room, want to push her down—you actually knocked me down! What’s your problem?"

He almost had to admire her spirit—even after such a shock. Liu Jingye simply shook the grenade in his hand. "There’s a rat!"

"What?" Yuan Xiaoying’s face went pale. She couldn’t see what he was holding, but given the state of her den, a rat was hardly surprising.

Seeing his ruse had worked, Liu Jingye forced a smile. "No worries, I’m an expert at catching rats. I’ve got it. Open the door for me so I can throw it out."

"Go, hurry up!" Yuan Xiaoying rushed to open the front door, all but ready to boot him out herself.

Maintaining an air of calm, Liu Jingye called out as he left, "You might want to tidy up your pigsty."

"My mom comes and cleans up every now and then," Yuan Xiaoying muttered.

As he descended the stairs, Liu Jingye replied over his shoulder, "That makes sense. Pigs don’t clean their own sty—the pig farmer does!"

Quickly, he made his way downstairs, Yuan Xiaoying’s angry shout echoing in the corridor: "Come back if you dare! I swear I won’t beat you to death!"

She had no idea how close she’d come to being blown to pieces, Liu Jingye thought grimly as he left.

He hurried through the residential complex, looking for a safe spot to dispose of the grenade. The area was far from the outskirts, and he couldn’t be sure he’d make it to a deserted place in time—he had to improvise.

Fortunately, this was a new development, and many owners were still renovating. Not far off, he spotted a truck that had just unloaded a pile of sand and cement on the ground.

"Perfect," Liu Jingye muttered, dashing over. He dug a hole about half a meter deep into the sand with one hand, dropped the grenade in, and sprinted away. After a couple of steps, he dove headlong into a flowerbed.

He hadn’t even hit the ground when a deafening explosion thundered behind him. He pressed his hands over his head, hugging the earth, but soon realized he didn’t hear the whistling of shrapnel.

Raising his head in disbelief, he stared at the scene before him, utterly stunned…