bodyguard against fate

Chapter 31 Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road

Everyone was startled, but He Xiuli finally understood.

"Dad, is he the... old friend you were talking about?" He Xiuli meant to say "enemy," but quickly changed her words.

He Yong did not answer, which was an implicit admission.

Old Zheng turned his head and saw He Xiuli. His excitement gradually subsided. "Your daughter is so grown up! What a blessing!" He suddenly sighed. "If I hadn't gone in, Xiao Liang would probably be this tall by now, right, Old He?"

He Yong knew that Lao Zheng hated him deep down because he had ruined twenty years of his life and destroyed the rest of Lao Zheng's life. But he had no choice at the time. Otherwise, Lao Zheng would have dragged him down with him, and his daughter would not be living the life she has now.

"That's all in the past, let's go!"

He Yong gestured for He Xiuli to leave quickly. He had just walked towards the door when he was stopped by Lao Zheng.

"Hey, old friend of twenty years," Old Zheng said, "we're back home again, let's catch up properly!"

Old Zheng grabbed He Yong's injured arm; if he dared to resist, he would simply twist off the other arm as well.

"This is...your house?" He Yong then remembered that Lao Zheng was from Qiaotou Village. How did Wu Renxing end up here so inexplicably? Wasn't this "walking into a trap"? But Lao Zheng had been in the mental hospital. The last time he visited him, Dean Gao said that he wouldn't be able to get out for a while. How come he suddenly came back?

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Old Zheng seemed to have guessed what He Yong was thinking. "I didn't expect it either. Don't worry, I didn't sneak out."

"So how did you get out?" Feng Weida finally had a chance to speak.

"If you hang out with mentally ill people, you'll become mentally ill; if you hang out with the director, you'll become—"

"Dean!" Feng Weida slapped his forehead, exchanging the secret signal with Lao Zheng.

"Wait, what's going on?" He Xiuli was getting more and more confused.

"Son, your dad and I have a long story to tell," Old Zheng said, patting his stomach. "I'm hungry. I'll cook some noodles, and we can chat while we eat!"

"No need, we've already eaten," He Xiuli said.

He Yong wanted to leave again, but the torrential rain outside wouldn't stop him. Everyone faced a bowl of noodles with a pale greenish tinge, but no one dared to touch it. Who knew if their mentally unstable enemy might poison the noodles? They might all be wiped out. Only Feng Weida trusted Lao Zheng. Most importantly, he hadn't eaten anything since he left in the morning. He Xiuli and her family of three found it hard to swallow the noodles, while Feng Weida and Lao Zheng ate heartily.

Old Zheng still felt guilty: "I just got back, there's not much to eat, everyone please make do with this."

Old Zheng even personally served He Yong a bowl.

While cooking, Lao Zheng assigned tasks to everyone: He Xiuli started the fire, Wu Renxing carried firewood, Feng Weida washed and shredded the vegetables Lao Zheng had just bought, and Lao Zheng rolled out the dough and made the sauce. Only He Yong was spared from doing any work because of his injury.

"Is he Dad's enemy?" Wu Renxing asked He Xiuli quietly when he found a moment, but He Xiuli seemed not to hear him.

"Xiuli, what's wrong? Are you upset that I left first?" Wu Renxing knew that his actions were not very manly, so he took the initiative to apologize to He Xiuli.

"Blame you? What can I blame you for?" He Xiuli said coldly. "Husbands and wives are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly away separately. You did nothing wrong."

"I knew you were angry. I was thinking of settling Dad in first before coming to rescue you, but I didn't expect you to come by yourself," Wu Renxing explained.

"Yes, it's my fault for arriving too early," He Xiuli said. "I should have waited for you to come and save me."

Wu Renxing looked embarrassed.

If this were a young girl in her early twenties, buying her some gifts and saying a few sweet words might have been enough to smooth things over. But a woman in her thirties knows better than to be sincere. If it weren't for Feng Weida, she would still be stuck at the farmhouse while Wu Renxing was eating noodles with soybean paste.

"Did Xiao Feng rescue you?" Wu Renxing also noticed the problem.

"Otherwise what?" He Xiuli looked at Wu Renxing, hoping that he would have a genuine attitude of repentance. After all, they were husband and wife, and this matter could not be left unresolved forever. If Wu Renxing was honest enough, he might be able to forgive him.

"It's that little Feng again!"

Wu Renxing accidentally blurted out what was on his mind.

"What do you mean?" He Xiuli sensed something was off. "You're saying he shouldn't have saved me?"

"Didn't I tell you? He's the one who's incompatible with you. Earth controls water, so you're definitely being controlled by him this time too—" Wu Renxing tried to manipulate He Xiuli.

With a "smack", He Xiuli threw down the firewood.

"Wu Renxing, where were you when I was captured? Where were you when I was choked and almost strangled to death? You call the person who saved me time and time again a jinx, so what about you? What did you do?"

The house wasn't big to begin with, and He Xiuli's questioning startled everyone, including Lao Zheng. All eyes turned to Wu Renxing, the center of the storm.

"Housework, housework—"

Wu Renxing knew that He Xiuli wouldn't get over this anytime soon, so he simply gave up. Anyway, the father and daughter wouldn't live past tonight. Old Zheng, it's up to you now. Don't let me down!

It turned out that after Lao Zheng completed his mental evaluation, he had to be observed in the hospital for a period of time. Wu Renxing pretended to donate money to the hospital and took the opportunity to inquire with Dean Gao about what He Yong had been doing at the mental hospital that day. That's how he learned about Lao Zheng's situation.

Wu Renxing had a sudden inspiration. He vouched for Lao Zheng and got him released early. Dean Gao was already on edge because Lao Zheng kept spying on his phone. He couldn't wait to get rid of this plague. Only Lao Zheng himself didn't know what was going on and thought that, as Feng Weida said, he could get out by hanging around with the dean.

The mental hospital records state that Lao Zheng is from Qiaotou Village. He has been there for twenty years, and if he wants to go back, he has nowhere else to go but Qiaotou Village. Therefore, Wu Renxing deliberately persuaded He Xiuli to go to Lingfeng Temple and arranged for the hitman Zhang Hao found to come to the vicinity of Qiaotou Village. This time, he wanted to give himself double insurance. First, he would fake a car accident and frame the already dead Feng Weida. It would be best if the police determined that the car accident was caused by a mentally ill driver.

Secondly, in case the police discover something fishy and suspect murder, they can use Lao Zheng to mislead the public. Lao Zheng dreamed of killing He Yong, so killing him and his daughter would be perfectly normal. As for evidence, they could simply throw some murder weapon and blood-stained clothes into his house after the murders, and the police would most likely not be able to trace it back to Qiang Ge, thus avoiding exposing themselves.

He just didn't expect to run into a shady shop. After leaving the shop, he arrived at Lao Zheng's house. Qiang Ge had run away, so he couldn't rely on him to kill anyone. Now he could only hope that Lao Zheng would become the Butcher of the Rainy Night, provided that he didn't get himself involved. So, facing the green noodles, Wu Renxing didn't eat a single bite.