Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Handsome Roadside Killer

Eighty-Eight: The Handsome Road Menace

The next morning, as soon as Guoguo stepped outside the herbal restaurant, she spotted two great trees lying toppled and askew. She cried out in shock, startling Xu Yun, who had scarcely slept all night. He rushed out, and only after confirming that nothing serious had happened did he finally breathe easy.

“Mom, was there a strong wind yesterday?” Guoguo asked, baffled.

Ruan Qingshuang was equally surprised. She shook her head; she had not heard any wind blowing in the night.

“Then it can’t be that Bald Strong came here to cut down trees, can it?” Guoguo still could not believe her eyes. “Mom, could it be that I dreamed it again?”

Ruan Qingshuang had faintly heard some noises the night before, but she had paid them no mind. The restaurant was far too busy by day, so in this period she fell asleep very quickly at night and slept deeply as well.

As for Guoguo, she had gone to bed rather late and was so exhausted that even such a tremendous racket had failed to wake her.

Xu Yun was truly impressed by the child’s imagination. “There was no wind, and no Bald Strong either.”

“Then I’ll report it to the proper department.” Ruan Qingshuang smiled faintly. “Has Qiu Yan not gotten up yet? Guoguo should be going to class.”

Xu Yun paused and glanced toward Qiu Yan’s room.

At nearly the same moment, Qiu Yan came out. Her face was much better than the deathly pallor of last night; it seemed the Thousand Poisons Ointment, together with Xu Yun’s inner energy forcing out the toxin, had worked very effectively.

Clearly, what had happened yesterday left Qiu Yan unsure how to face Xu Yun. She had not expected to open the door and meet his eyes at once, and in an instant she felt so awkward she scarcely knew what to do.

After all, Xu Yun had directly torn her clothes, and even applied the medicine for her with his own hands. Several places on her body scratched by the scorpion-tail needle were especially private parts of a young woman’s anatomy; being looked over and touched so openly by him was naturally embarrassing.

Even if Qiu Yan was the cold and ruthless Fox Sovereign of violence, in the end she was still a woman.

“Aah—ah—” Qin Wan’er appeared behind Qiu Yan, yawning broadly. She had not slept well all night and grumbled, “I’m exhausted. Didn’t sleep well at all.”

Guoguo stared at Qiu Yan with wide eyes, then suddenly covered her mouth and looked at Qin Wan’er in astonishment. “Don’t tell me... you two are into girls?”

Qiu Yan nearly rolled her eyes in exasperation, while Xu Yun burst out laughing.

“You’re the one into girls!” Qin Wan’er strode over and twisted Guoguo’s ear. “You little brat, say one more nonsense word and I’ll teach you a lesson.”

“I won’t, I won’t! I was wrong, Sister Wan’er,” Guoguo hurriedly begged.

Ruan Qingshuang looked at Xu Yun in confusion. “What does that mean, ‘into girls’?”

“Uh...” Xu Yun’s face went dark. “I think it’s basically the same as being good buddies?”

“Explain your sister! You’ve corrupted Sister Qingshuang!” Qin Wan’er whirled around and glared at Xu Yun furiously. Then, catching sight of the clock on the wall, she pinched Guoguo’s soft little cheek. “You little thing, I’ll deal with you when I get off work!”

Qiu Yan had largely recovered, but her body was still somewhat weak. She had already heard from Qin Wan’er about Red Scorpion being rescued, and with a trace of embarrassment she said, “Xu Yun, could you take Guoguo to school for me today?”

Xu Yun agreed readily and without hesitation. He knew Qiu Yan must be well aware of her own condition and might still need time to recuperate. After all, she had been injured yesterday by an expert of Red Scorpion’s caliber. If anything happened on the road, it would be hard to guarantee Guoguo’s safety.

“Hehe, Dad, this is a perfect chance for you to flirt with Teacher Su,” Guoguo said with a meaningful waggle of her eyebrows.

Ruan Qingshuang gave her a stern look. “Be good at school and don’t cause trouble for Teacher Su.”

Guoguo stuck out her tongue. “Mom, why are you jealous? Just marry him already.”

Ruan Qingshuang was completely speechless.

“Let’s go! Time for school.” Xu Yun scooped Guoguo up and carried her downstairs. “Too bad Dad’s car is wrecked, or we wouldn’t have to squeeze onto a bus.”

Guoguo gave a dry laugh to herself. It was fortunate that the Fukang had been ruined; if they went out in that car again, it would surely be humiliating...

The International Bilingual School in Hedong City was the most famous school in Jiangshan Province. Parents dropping off their children at the gates at least drove a Camry; who would show up in a long-outdated Shenlong Fukang?

With everyone set in place, Ruan Qingshuang and Qiu Yan stayed at the restaurant, Qin Wan’er headed straight to the police bureau, and Xu Yun, holding Guoguo in one arm, went directly to the bus and left.

When misfortune struck, even cold water could get stuck in one’s teeth. It was Xu Yun’s first time taking Guoguo to school, and not to mention that the bus was hot and packed to the point of despair, it had also broken down with a bang halfway there.

The driver got off to take a look, then came back and said, “This bus won’t start. Everyone off. I’ll call the company and have the next one come pick us up here. Ten or so minutes, that’s all.”

At once, the whole bus was filled with grumbling.

“Damn it, seriously?” Xu Yun frowned. If they waited here for ten minutes, Guoguo would be late.

Watching the downcast passengers file off, Guoguo blinked her large eyes. “Dad, let’s get off too. Why don’t we take a taxi?”

“Fine, I’ll listen to you.” Xu Yun had no choice but to agree. He couldn’t very well carry Guoguo and race a hundred meters down the street.

During the morning rush, everyone was headed to work or school. With the bus out of service, the taxi crowd was packed tight as well. Any empty cab that pulled over to the curb would be swarmed instantly.

Though Xu Yun could always rely on his excellent physical strength to shove aside those grubby old men, each time a poor little girl would appear at the door and plead, “Handsome, could you help me? Let me take it first, okay? Something urgent came up at my company.”

Xu Yun was not exactly a gentleman, but he still felt too embarrassed to fight those office girls in high heels and hip-length skirts for a cab. In any case, he kept thinking the next one would surely be theirs, so he let them go.

And so he yielded to four or five girls in a row. Not only were those grubby old men, who never once managed to beat him, left speechless, even Guoguo was speechless.

“Dad, if you keep being so tenderhearted, I’m afraid I really will be late,” Guoguo said helplessly from his arms, spreading her small hands.

Xu Yun grinned. “Heh, the next one will definitely be ours.”

The result...

“Handsome, if I’m late, my company will fire me...”

Damn it, why hadn’t such a lovely girl said that to him earlier?!

Fine, might as well see it through to the end. Xu Yun’s principles collapsed again.

Guoguo’s face went black. It seemed she truly could no longer let her father escort her; if Qiu Yan came instead, they would not even need to stop a car. Those grubby old uncles would surely rush up first and say to them, “Beauty, why don’t you go first?”

Just as Guoguo had prepared herself mentally for being late, a red Golf car came to a graceful stop in front of them.

Xu Yun frowned. Could it be Red Scorpion’s people, planning to abduct them?

The window slid down, revealing a beautiful face wearing oversized sunglasses. She smiled faintly, showing a row of white, neat teeth. “You two? What are you doing here?”

“Teacher Su!” Guoguo exclaimed with delight. “The bus broke down just now, and all the taxis my dad stopped went to the other beautiful sisters instead. Uh, Teacher Su, could we possibly...”

“Get in.” Su Xiaoran waved a slender, fair hand.

At last, she would not be late. Guoguo finally let out a breath of relief.

Xu Yun was not polite either. He opened the back door, stuffed Guoguo inside, then climbed in after her. “Teacher Su, I’m really troubling you.”

Su Xiaoran smiled softly. “Don’t be so formal with me. It’s nothing but a small favor.”

In truth, Su Xiaoran had rather a good impression of Xu Yun. From Qin Wan’er she had heard about Ruan Qingshuang and Guoguo. A young man who looked rather handsome and was willing to lend a hand when they were in trouble was not a virtue everyone possessed.

Even though Guoguo later said her dad must have done it because he coveted her mother’s beauty, Su Xiaoran still felt that for a person to stand up for strangers and offend the notoriously vicious Four Wolves Gang at the time was an act of real courage.

A man’s courage was a powerful weapon for attracting women. Of course, this sort of courage had nothing to do with mere hot temper; it was the kind of boldness that struck when needed, without the slightest fear of offending the forces of evil.

Su Xiaoran drove off, and the grubby old men on the roadside who had kept competing with Xu Yun for taxis were filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

In the car, Guoguo giggled to herself. Being personally escorted to school by a teacher was quite a face-saving thing; it would be best if they ran into her classmates when getting out.

But Guoguo did not get to be pleased for long before Su Xiaoran slammed on the brakes, sending her pitching into the front seat.

“Uh... sorry about that. I only got my license not long ago, and the car was plated just yesterday. Today is basically my first time driving on the road,” Su Xiaoran said guiltily. The car in front had braked for a red light, and Su Xiaoran, distracted by thoughts of Xu Yun, had reacted a little slowly, which was why she had hit the brakes so hard.

Cold sweat broke out all over Guoguo’s back. No wonder she had never seen Su Xiaoran drive to school before. “Teacher Su, you’re not a road killer, are you...?”

Su Xiaoran gave an awkward laugh. “Hehe, if I drive slowly, it should be fine, right?”

Guoguo rolled her eyes. It was over. She was definitely going to be late now. “Dad, could you sit in the front passenger seat?”

Xu Yun did not hesitate. He did not want Guoguo to be late on his very first time taking her to school. He opened the door right there on the road, got out quickly, and slid into the front passenger seat before saying to Su Xiaoran, “Drive with confidence.”

For some reason, Su Xiaoran suddenly felt a little awkward and nervous, perhaps because the man she had always been curious about had suddenly ended up sitting so close to her.

Xu Yun tried his best to make his smile more masculine and charming. Su Xiaoran was beautiful, though not as exquisite as Ruan Qingshuang; her figure was not as commanding as Qin Wan’er’s, and her temperament was not as noble as Qiu Yan’s. Yet in overall terms, she was in no way inferior to the three of them, and that approachable warmth of hers was truly hard to resist. No wonder she was an elementary school teacher.

Their eyes met, and astonishingly neither of them looked away first.

Ahem.

Guoguo finally coughed. These two truly had not put her in their eyes at all. “Teacher Su, the light’s green.”

Su Xiaoran only then came back to herself, her cheeks unknowingly flushed red.

Guoguo reminded Xu Yun as well. “Dad, I asked you to sit up front so you could make sure I’m safe. Don’t just stare at Teacher Su...”

Being scolded by a child did make Xu Yun feel a bit awkward, but that was absolutely no reason for him to stop admiring a beautiful woman.