Chapter 41: Encounter in a Foreign Land [11]

Jing Nuo frowned as he looked at Wen Xiaorou in his arms, took off his own coat to drape over her shoulders, and then gently picked her up, carrying her through the crowded and chaotic bar. Lin Fan immediately followed their pace. At the very last moment, Jing Nuo did not disappoint him, finally bringing him a sense of relief.

Inside the hotel room, Lin Fan tucked Wen Xiaorou into bed, pulled the blanket over her, and expressed his gratitude to Jing Nuo without actually saying thank you, "Fine! I admit you're not a bad person."

"I just didn't want you to be the good guy." Ever since they were very young, Jing Nuo had always loved to bicker with Lin Fan.

Hearing Jing Nuo's words, Lin Fan hurriedly jumped off the bed, grabbed a pen and a notepad from the nightstand, and scribbled away. He shoved the paper into Jing Nuo's hands as soon as he finished writing, "This money! I will pay you back."

"An I.O.U.?" Jing Nuo forced a smile, looking at the note before crumpling it into a ball and tossing it into the trash can.

"Even without an I.O.U., I'd still pay you back," Lin Fan promised seriously. In other matters, he could be casual and muddle through, but when it came to Wen Xiaorou, every single penny had to be accounted for clearly without a single fraction left unpaid, because he was going to make Wen Xiaorou his.

Jing Nuo watched Lin Fan with an ambiguous half-smile, retrieved his coat from the bed, glanced one last time at the sleeping Wen Xiaorou, and said, "Don't mention me to her."

Lin Fan widened his eyes in surprise, staring at Jing Nuo with a hint of confusion. Didn't this man just say he didn't want him to be the good guy? What did these words mean now? Lin Fan asked uncertainly, "I can tell Xiaorou that I saved her, right?"

Jing Nuo gave Lin Fan a disdainful sidelong glance, ignored him further, and turned to leave.

With a muffled "bang," the door closed. Lin Fan could tell from the sound that Jing Nuo had consciously held back his strength so as not to slam it too hard.

Thus, the hotel room was left with only the sleeping Wen Xiaorou and Lin Fan. Staying by her side, he waited like that until the next day.

In the early morning, Wen Xiaorou groggily regained consciousness from her stupor. Extremely reluctant to open her eyes, she struggled to recall what had happened to her. As soon as she opened her eyes, the intense sunlight felt dazzlingly bright, causing her to shut them again immediately.

Where was she? Had the landlady sold her off? And who on earth was the person next to her? A string of questions followed one after another.

Wen Xiaorou reached out to feel the space beside her—it was completely empty, with no sign of anyone else having lain in the bed. Apart from still feeling sleepy, her body seemed to have no abnormalities at all.

Could she be dead? Tortured to death, without even being able to remember the process of the torture? Thinking of this, Wen Xiaorou panicked. Could she really have died a nameless death in a foreign place like this?

To die in such a manner felt truly unacceptable. Wen Xiaorou opened her eyes once more, determined to thoroughly examine her surroundings, but vaguely spotted a figure slumped by the bedside. Her sleepiness vanished instantly, and her eyes widened in a flash.

When she recognized the man resting by the bed, she was stunned, and involuntarily blurted out, "Lin Fan."

A light sleeper, Lin Fan heard the soft, breathy cry of shock and woke up immediately, beaming with a bright smile. "Yourourou, did you sleep well?"

Wen Xiaorou blinked, finding the scene before her hard to believe. Wasn't she just having a dispute with the landlady? How did it suddenly transition to Lin Fan? This abrupt shift in characters left her feeling disoriented, so she could only ask, "Lin Fan, what on earth happened?"