NMBJ2 - 20

She opened her mouth to refuse: “My assistant will be here soon, you don’t need to trouble yourself.”

The two of them were about to argue again.

At that moment, Assistant A Kuan rushed toward them from the entrance of the terminal, pushing a suitcase. Upon entering, she immediately hugged Huang Xitang: “I didn’t mean to, it was an accident, I’m sorry! When I got off the elevator, I only saw Ji Hongjie…”

“No, it was that trash woman!”

“I had to call Miss Ni, woo woo woo, I’m sorry…”

Xitang had no choice but to pat her shoulder: “It’s fine, get up.”

A Kuan wiped her nose and stood up, then looked up and saw Zhao Pingjin.

The handsome man’s cold, intimidating face shot a glance at her that was almost murderous. A Kuan froze, quickly hugging Xitang again, whispering, “Who is he?”

Fortunately, at this moment, Zhao Pingjin’s phone rang. He stood up, walked a few steps away, and went to the window to take the call.

A Kuan quietly stole a few glances at Zhao Pingjin, noticing that he wasn’t paying attention to them. She secretly placed a hand over her heart and muttered, “That aura, it’s really scary.”

Xitang could only softly explain, “A friend, we’re heading back to Shanghai together tonight.”

A Kuan slowly regained her composure and turned to assess Zhao Pingjin. He was wearing a white shirt, a khaki suit jacket, and had a tall, slender figure. A Kuan suddenly sighed softly, “So, the truly good-looking men aren’t in the entertainment industry.”

After Zhao Pingjin finished his call, he returned and nodded toward Xitang, signaling, “Let’s go.”

She followed him down the VIP passage.

Inside the first-class cabin of the night flight, they were the only two passengers. Zhao Pingjin said, “Tell your assistant to sit in the back. I need to talk to you.”

“I’m not sitting in first class, I bought a business class ticket. Why can’t we talk now?”

“You’re not happy unless you go against me, right?”

His face had turned an extreme shade of dark.

Xitang had no choice but to go talk to A Kuan.

Once they boarded the plane, the flight attendants led them to the two seats in the middle.

After the attendants offered welcome drinks, he said, “Thank you.” Zhao Pingjin said nothing else.

Xitang understood that his mood was bad, but she didn’t understand why he was upset. Zhao Pingjin had always had a bad temper. It was normal for him to be angry after causing a scene in the middle of the night to help out. However, thinking about it more, it didn’t seem right. Pulling someone out of a nightclub—Xitang didn’t believe Zhao Pingjin had never done this before. To men like him, women were nothing. Xitang had seen it firsthand before. Gao Jiyi had once had a girlfriend from the dance academy, a very beautiful girl with a slender waist that moved like spring willow branches, so graceful when she danced, as if a spring stream was rippling. Even Xitang, as a girl, couldn’t help but stare. Later, Gao Jiyi took her out, and the girl caught the eye of a high-ranking official’s son. Gao Jiyi didn’t get angry. Instead, he smiled and sent her to him. This led to a connection, though Xitang didn’t know the benefits that followed. Xitang only knew that in their world, anything that could be solved with benefits and relationships was no big deal. Zhao Pingjin shouldn’t have been this angry.

When the plane took off, there was some turbulence. Zhao Pingjin looked uncomfortable, his brows furrowed tightly as he silently endured. After more than half an hour, the cabin gradually stabilized, and Zhao Pingjin’s face had turned an extreme shade of pale. He sat silently beside her, as if deep in thought, his brow deeply furrowed.

The partition between their seats was lowered, but Xitang didn’t dare raise it. She hugged the small blanket nervously, not daring to sleep.

Suddenly, Zhao Pingjin turned his head and stared at her face, his expression cold. Xitang, feeling uneasy under his gaze, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Zhao Pingjin suddenly spoke: “When the incident happened at Sun Kehui’s place, which hospital did you send me to?”

Xitang was momentarily stunned.

In that moment, she understood what had happened during the ten minutes Zhao Pingjin had spent in the hotel suite.

Zhao Pingjin suppressed his emotions and in a low voice asked again, “Who sent you out of Beijing? I know exactly what power the Sun family has in the police force. You killed someone, who sent you out of Beijing?”

Xitang didn’t dare look at him. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Zhao Pingjin was utterly furious: “Huang Xitang!”

Xitang gritted her teeth and said, “He didn’t die, he’s still alive, continuing to do evil.”

Zhao Pingjin’s heavy breaths sounded as he controlled his anger, his voice becoming even more strained: “Where were you hurt?”

“Didn’t Sun Kehui already tell you?”

“He was stabbed by you, and he still remembers? Those people, where were you hurt? Sun Kehui’s not a fool, how did you make it out alive?”

For a long while, Xitang remained silent.

Zhao Pingjin grew impatient, leaning in to pinch her chin. His eyes were bloodshot, veins of red spreading under his eyes, a terrifying sight: “Where were you hurt?”

“Don’t ask.”

He gritted his teeth, staring at the corner of her eye: “Is it your face?”

Xitang stubbornly pressed her lips together, refusing to speak.

Zhao Pingjin suddenly remembered something. His face drained of color, and he lost his composure completely. His voice changed: “The scar on your stomach—were you lying to me saying it was from filming?”

“Huang Xitang!”

The flight attendants quietly walked up to the first-class cabin door.

Zhao Pingjin’s face kept changing colors, his complexion growing paler.

Xitang sat stiffly, motionless.

Zhao Pingjin finally let go of her, his chest pounding violently, his eyes burning red as if they were on fire. He gritted his teeth, desperately holding back the pain in his chest: “I should have killed you before I went abroad. Letting you be mistreated out there, bringing shame to me.”

After they landed, his car was already waiting at the airport. Zhao Pingjin didn’t need a driver; he drove the car himself.

As the car drove onto the highway, Huang Xitang said to him, “Take me to the hospital. My mom is sick and in the hospital.”

Zhao Pingjin turned the steering wheel.

The car passed the Yan’an Elevated Road, and Zhao Pingjin turned off the headlights. The distant sky showed a faint light gray as the dawn painted the gray buildings red.

The light of day illuminated the two of them inside the car, and their unspoken concerns became all too clear. Neither of them said anything.

They arrived at the hospital around seven o’clock, and doctors and nurses were hurriedly making their rounds.

Zhao Pingjin drove directly into the hospital and parked in front of the inpatient building.

Xitang weakly asked, “What about you?”

Zhao Pingjin had regained his composure, though his pale face had an undertone of gray, like the dim sky before a winter snowstorm, looking especially gloomy and bleak. “I’ll take care of some work here, then head back to Beijing.”

He unlocked the car door. “Let’s go.”

Xitang nodded and began rummaging through her bag.

Zhao Pingjin glanced at her, opened the compartment in front of the car, and handed her a blue face mask.

Xitang thanked him, opened the package, put on the mask, and got out of the car.

“Xiang Huang.”

Xitang hadn’t walked more than a couple of steps when she heard Zhao Pingjin call her name.

Turning around, she saw Zhao Pingjin getting out of the car to follow her, but he didn’t walk away, just standing by the car door. He wasn’t wearing a coat, only a white shirt, his hands tucked into his trousers pockets. Xitang looked at him, and a sour feeling surged in her chest. She suspected her eyes were blurry from lack of sleep, as the man before her seemed thinner than before.

Zhao Pingjin looked at her faintly and said, “You don’t need to worry about Sun Kehui anymore.”

Xitang sincerely said, “I can’t keep bothering you like this.”

Zhao Pingjin ignored her, only saying, “Alright, go inside.”

Xitang nodded, not daring to look back. She slightly lowered her head, and her steps quickened, feeling his gaze on her back.

Xie Zhenbang was waiting in front of the outpatient building. When he saw her approach, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered, “Come with me.”

Xitang suddenly relaxed, her legs going weak, and she took slow, steady steps into the hospital hallway. Turning a corner, her tears finally fell.

Standing in front of her, Xie Zhenbang watched her as Xitang lowered her head, her tears falling onto the floor. Through her tear-filled eyes, she could see the hem of his white coat.

Xitang took the tissue he offered her.

“Thank you.”

Xie Zhenbang shrugged lightly, teasing gently, “I finally realize my rival isn’t just the windmills, but a person.”

About a week after the incident, Xitang, like most famous female stars, began bringing along an additional male assistant.

Huang Xitang wasn’t used to it.

Ni Kailun was preparing to fly to Hong Kong to give birth and still needed to handle these handover tasks. Ni Kailun firmly said, “You’ll have to get used to it, this isn’t just my decision.”

Xitang knew she couldn’t change the situation, so she nodded in agreement.

Ni Kailun’s expression became serious: “The Sun family can’t do much to you. The more popular you get, the more valuable you become. They’re afraid of you, but you have to be careful.”

Ni Kailun could no longer avoid the topic: “Xitang, in this industry, a girl like you, alone, can’t protect herself when something happens.”

Xitang silently lowered her head, knowing full well what Ni Kailun meant.

Now, which popular female star didn’t have connections? When fighting for resources or roles, it was all about background and power. The stronger your background, the less likely anyone would dare to mess with you.

“I can’t always rely on Zhao Pingjin.”

“Without backing, if something happens, no one will protect you.”

Xitang understood what she meant. What Ni Kailun was saying was essentially the same as what Ma Jihong had said.

Xitang had been filming in Beijing for quite a while. No matter how many times female stars changed their phone numbers, someone always managed to get in touch. She had always received various invitations, though she never paid much attention to them. She was just a minor star in the television industry before, with little fame, so the ones who couldn’t reach her eventually gave up. However, in the past half year, the situation had gradually changed. There were now rumors in Beijing’s wealthy circles that a price had been set for a dinner with her, and the amount had been circulating among the circles. Eventually, the rumors got more outrageous, with word that a big shot in Beijing wanted to sleep with Huang Xitang, but when rejected, a betting pool was created to see who could sleep with her, and the price soared.

Ni Kailun didn’t want to pressure her.

She said gently, “Think about it some more.”

The next day, Xitang went to the hospital. The driver had been replaced by her newly hired male assistant. If she hadn’t been informed in advance, Xitang wouldn’t have noticed that this seemingly average middle-aged man, in terms of both appearance and attire, was actually a highly skilled former special forces officer from the People’s Armed Police.

The day before, an expert from Beijing had come for a consultation and taken all of her mother’s medical records. The attending physician told her, “She should be able to be discharged soon.”