The layout inside the publishing house was not very complicated. Xie Bingxia tiptoed past the front desk behind the door and saw at a glance that the security guard in the monitoring room was dozing off in his chair. She walked forward slowly, trying to avoid the cameras, and found the editorial office of "Spring Literature" on the third floor. After confirming that there was no one in the room, she swiped her card to open the door.
Xie Bingxia took out the small flashlight she had prepared in advance and looked at the simple map Zhang Wen had drawn for her. His seat was by the window. She walked over. The lingering smell of cigarette ash in the ashtray clearly indicated that its owner was Zhang Wen. She shone the flashlight on the area of the computer host and examined it carefully up and down. Her heart sank - there was no USB flash drive!
Could it have been unplugged by someone else? If so, it would be a disaster!
Xie Bingxia looked up and scanned the four corners of the wall. Sure enough, she saw several red dots flashing. She had to check the surveillance footage. She hoped the security guard would be easy to persuade and let her take a look.
Just as she turned around to leave, the incandescent lights in the corridor suddenly came on. Several shadows were printed on the blinds and were walking quickly towards the editorial office. She quickly turned off the flashlight and leaned against the wall, hiding beside the door.
"Boss, this way," said the security guard from the monitoring room, judging from the figure of the leading person.
"Are you sure someone went in?" A cold and deep voice struck Xie Bingxia's heart like a thunderbolt. She cursed silently: Gu Bei, this guy is like a shadow that never leaves!
"Sure. No matter who swipes the card to enter, my machine will give a prompt. And I checked the surveillance. It shouldn't be an employee of the editorial office."
"Could you tell if it was a man or a woman?"
"Well... that person was wearing a hat. It was hard to tell."
In a blink of an eye, the group had reached the door. Xie Bingxia composed herself and with extremely fast hand speed, she locked the door just as the security guard was turning the doorknob.
"Strange. The door is locked from the inside..." The security guard was puzzled. Gu Bei ordered, "Go get the key." The security guard said embarrassedly, "I left it in the monitoring room. I'll go get it right away!"
This was the chance. It was best to leave quickly. Xie Bingxia's eyes fell on the fire hydrant on the wall. She immediately had an idea. She picked up the ashtray on the table and smashed it into the glass of the fire hydrant.
Gu Bei, standing outside the door, was extremely anxious. After waiting patiently, he finally caught a glimmer of a chance. He thought that the person in the room might be Xie Bingxia. He couldn't wait for the security guard to come back and open the door quickly to find out. Suddenly, he heard a crashing sound from inside. He immediately felt something was wrong.
"Get out of the way!" He pushed aside two bodyguards and kicked the door hard. The doorknob was clearly bent to one side. After the bodyguards followed him and kicked the door several times, the door creaked and fell straight backward, raising a cloud of ash.
The person by the window had their back to the moonlight, so it was hard to see their expression. But Gu Bei recognized her at a glance.
"Xie Bingxia! Are you trying to jump off the building again?" Gu Bei walked straight towards her, stepping on the broken glass with a crunching sound.
Without hesitation, Xie Bingxia wrapped the fire hose around her right wrist a few times and said to Gu Bei with a smile, "Yes. This trick is enough to escape from your grasp."
Her lithe body flew out of the window. With the help of the fire hose, she slid down the outer wall towards the first floor. When she was only one floor away from the ground and victory seemed within reach, the fire hose suddenly tightened and stopped moving down.
Xie Bingxia looked up and met Gu Bei's angry eyes. He had actually caught the hose with his bare hands and was slowly pulling it up.
Gu Bei, you're not human. You must have been Popeye in your previous life! Xie Bingxia was stuck in the middle. She couldn't go up or down. If she went up, Gu Bei was waiting for her. If she went down, she couldn't be sure she would land safely.
Rows of sweat ran down Gu Bei's forehead. He gritted his teeth and didn't dare to relax his hands for a moment. He said to Xie Bingxia word by word, "If I let you escape again, I won't be called Gu!"
Xie Bingxia was anxiously thinking of a countermeasure. Hearing his words, she got angry and retorted, "Then change your surname to Wang. Name yourself Wang Bad Egg!" After saying that, she let go of the fire hose with her right hand and fell vertically.
The sudden loosening in his hand caused Gu Bei to take several steps backward due to the recoil before he could stabilize himself. Even though Xie Bingxia adjusted her posture in a short time, she still hurt her foot when she fell to the ground.
She didn't care if it was sprained or broken. She endured the sharp pain and ran towards the door. Gu Bei saw Xie Bingxia limping away desperately from the window. His chest was filled with anger. He also grabbed the fire hose and wrapped it around his wrist, then jumped out of the window.
Xie Bingxia heard a whistling sound behind her. She looked back and saw Gu Bei falling from the third floor like a fallen angel, no, a fallen devil, and landing steadily on the first floor.
For the first time, she felt regretful. She shouldn't have provoked a ruthless person like Gu Bei.
How could a limping Xie Bingxia outrun a healthy Gu Bei? A strong sense of oppression came from behind. Xie Bingxia suddenly turned around and tried to launch a surprise attack. But before her fist could reach Gu Bei's abdomen, he caught her firmly and asked, "Who are you calling Wang Bad Egg?!"
Gu Bei's movement was too large. Xie Bingxia felt a sharp pain in her foot like a lightning strike. Her body went limp like an electric shock. Gu Bei caught her back with his right hand and saw that her face was already pale, with beads of sweat rolling down in strings, and her clothes were soaked.
This girl would rather endure the pain to death than stay by his side? Gu Bei was both angry and heart - ache. Then he picked her up horizontally. Xie Bingxia was breathing rapidly and still struggling. She almost whispered inaudibly to Gu Bei, "Please, let me go. I don't want... I don't want to be by your side."
Gu Bei ignored her plea and instead lectured her, "If you just listen to me, you won't have to suffer like this."
Xie Bingxia bit her lower lip tightly. The emotion in her eyes was more of hatred, hatred for her own incompetence. Gu Bei carried her into the back seat of the car and sat in beside her, closing the door. "Let me take a look at your foot first," he said.
The area near Xie Bingxia's right ankle was swollen with congestion. Gu Bei gently touched it and heard her gasp. His brows knitted together.
It might be a fracture. Gu Bei gently put down her foot, then raised his hand and wanted to touch Xie Bingxia's cheek. Xie Bingxia was very sensitive and deliberately dodged his fingertips. She lowered her eyes and looked at a corner of the car.
"What? Don't want me to touch you?" A hint of playfulness appeared in Gu Bei's eyes. He whispered in Xie Bingxia's ear, "Who seduced me that night?"
Xie Bingxia trembled involuntarily. Her pupils suddenly shrank.
"Jingwei..."
"Jingwei..."
Xia Jingwei!
He was calling her name. Why was he calling her name? This name was a taboo and a curse! Xie Bingxia covered her ears. Gu Bei pulled her hands down, forced her to face him, and leaned down.
Their lips touched, searching for the temperature of the longing in the past few days. It was both bitter and sweet, as if they had found the fluttering feeling when they first kissed, and also like making the best of a painful reality.
Neither Gu Bei nor Xie Bingxia noticed that just because of Xia Jingwei's name, a tiny sprout in their hearts began to break through the soil.
"I'll drive you to the hospital," Gu Bei said as he let go of Xie Bingxia. He fastened her seat - belt and then moved to the driver's seat.
On the late - night road, there were few cars. Gu Bei saw in the rear - view mirror that Xie Bingxia had leaned her head against the seat. Her usually delicate lips had lost their last trace of color. He couldn't help but speed up. He didn't notice that a car in the oncoming lane suddenly changed lanes and was heading towards him.
The headlights of the other car flashed rapidly in front of Gu Bei's eyes. His vision blurred for a moment. When he could see clearly again, the front of the other car was only a few meters away from his.
In a hurry, Gu Bei turned the steering wheel sharply to the left. The car rushed towards the green belt with a whoosh.