Shangguan Yao didn't want to keep thinking about it. He never talked about these things in front of others. Even when he thought about them in his own mind, he would stop in time. He didn't want to pity himself, let alone play the victim in front of others.
"I haven't figured out exactly what to do yet, but as long as you're willing to cooperate with me, I'll do my best to protect your safety. And you should remember that once you decide to cooperate with me, we're in the same boat." Shangguan Yao smiled and suddenly reached out affectionately to tuck the long hair that had fallen on her face behind her ear.
"I hope you won't show mercy when you see Lu Qianzhou."
Yan Xia scoffed. "Why should I show mercy to the murderer who killed my sister?"
Shangguan Yao nodded. Probably not wanting to expose her, he naturally changed the subject.
"To be honest, if I hadn't gotten a definite answer from you today, I would have gone back. I didn't expect you to suddenly agree."
Truly, the world is full of surprises. When Fang Jiangyi refused to cooperate, he even thought that Cheng Yanxia had met the same fate as the other two members of the Cheng family. But unexpectedly, he found her a few years later, sitting with her by a small path in a foreign country.
Afraid that Lan Mengfan would wake up from her nap and not find her, Yan Xia got up and walked back. Shangguan Yao silently followed her. After much thought, Yan Xia set a condition.
"I can cooperate with you, but we should also set some ground rules in advance."
Shangguan Yao raised his eyebrows. "What conditions?"
Yan Xia said, "First, you must ensure that what you ask me to do won't affect my daily life. Second, you can't force me to do things I don't want to do. Third, I hope... no matter what the final investigation result is, you'll handle the case impartially without any personal feelings involved."
Those who do wrong must bear the consequences. She couldn't be as ruthless and merciless as Lu Qianzhou, who would spare no one. Fortunately, the law would judge him.
Shangguan Yao gave a devilish smile and naturally patted her head. "The first two points are a given. As for the last one, you don't need to say it. I don't have the power to cover up everything."
Yan Xia quietly moved a bit further away from Shangguan Yao. She didn't know what was wrong with this guy lately. He always liked to pat her head for no reason, and his movements were so natural and skillful. She wondered if he had a new girlfriend or if he simply regarded her as a pet.
That night, after Yan Xia coaxed Lan Mengfan to sleep, she put on a coat, took a red - wine glass, and lay on the lounge chair in the backyard.
The sky in New Zealand was always so pure and clean. Stars popped out one by one from the sky. The sky was an oddly deep blue, and there was a silver ribbon on the horizon. She didn't know if it was the Milky Way.
Now that Shangguan Yao had come to her, his reason was indeed valid. Not only was she Lu Qianzhou's greatest enemy now, but just the fact that Lu Qianzhou had been looking for her meant that no matter what his reason was, it would be a good idea to let her surface at the right time as a perfect target.
Since she came to New Zealand, her mental state had been poor. She often had to take sleeping pills to fall asleep at night.
"You're hiding here alone to drink again." Shangguan Yao walked over briskly. He could tell just by smelling that the wine was very expensive. "Hey, are you leaving soon, so you're trying to finish all the stock here?"
Yan Xia sighed softly. "I'm just a bit worried. I don't know what I'll face after I go back, and I'm also a bit reluctant to leave."
"Don't sigh so much at such a young age. You'll get wrinkles." Shangguan Yao wasn't polite at all. He poured himself a glass of red wine, reached out to clink glasses with Yan Xia, and then tilted his head and drank it all in one gulp. "Not bad. Fang Jiangyi is really rich. He not only supports you but also Lan Yuzhou's daughter now."
"Now Mengfan is also my child." Yan Xia turned her head and looked at him sharply, a bit unhappy. "Moreover, I've always remembered every cent Fang Jiangyi spent on me. I have a job here. I'm not supported by him."
She was very sensitive to what Shangguan Yao had just said, perhaps because the neighbors often speculated about their relationship.
She didn't want others to misunderstand her relationship with Fang Jiangyi. In her heart, Fang Jiangyi was just her sister's former boyfriend and now her friend. That was all, nothing more.
Shangguan Yao knew he had said the wrong thing and immediately poured another glass of wine.
"It's my fault. I said the wrong thing. I'll punish myself with a glass."
The cold liquid slid down his throat. Shangguan Yao lay comfortably on the lounge chair. The sky in his view was bright, and the stars were twinkling like eyes.
"You've changed a lot in these three years."
"You've changed a lot too." Yan Xia joked with him. "The Shangguan Yao who used to call me goddess as soon as he saw me, always followed me around and protected me has become much more steady now. I know you've always been very smart and excellent. You just didn't want Wang Keding to think that he could easily get an excellent son for free, so you always acted like a hooligan, right?"
Shangguan Yao's expression froze on his face. He really didn't expect that Yan Xia had seen through his disguise from the very beginning. This person was far more delicate than he had imagined.
When something that had been buried deep in one's heart and didn't want others to know was suddenly pointed out sharply, it would really make one feel very flustered.
Shangguan Yao poured himself another glass of wine and tilted his head to pour it all down his throat.
The fringe on his forehead fluttered in the wind. Now that he was a criminal policeman, there was a sense of righteousness about him. He was handsome in a rugged way and quite charming.
"You're still my goddess now, but I don't dare to have any improper thoughts about you easily. Back then when you said you were with Fang Jiangyi, it made me sad for a long time. Besides, he still hasn't given up pursuing you. A good horse doesn't eat the grass behind."
Once upon a time, he had really been infatuated with her.
That admiration was like a fleeting moment, disappearing in an instant. But occasionally when he thought about it, there was still a fluttering feeling in his heart.
Just when there was nothing left to talk about between them, Shangguan Yao's phone rang.
He took out his phone, glanced at the caller ID, and then got up and went into the house to answer the call.
It was a call from his junior colleague in China, a just - graduated young girl. She was clumsy but cute, very vigilant in everything she did. But she had no idea what to do without someone leading her in any task and would be extremely flustered.
Since he came abroad to find Cheng Yanxia, this junior colleague had called him several times a day, always asking about the progress and urging him to go back quickly.
"Boss, how's it going? Have you reached an agreement?" As expected, she asked the same old question.
Shangguan Yao rubbed his temples tiredly. "We've reached an agreement. We'll leave for home tomorrow."
"Great!" The junior colleague cheered on the other end. "You don't know. After you left, Brother Niu and the others always boss me around. I've said that I only follow your orders."
"Hehe." Shangguan Yao laughed. "You're quite loyal."
"Of course." The junior colleague was very proud.
Shangguan Yao glanced through the glass at Yan Xia, who was still sitting in the backyard, and finally asked.
"Have you been keeping a close eye on Lu Qianzhou?"