novelraw Chapter 248 Understanding
Chapter 248 Understanding
Gu Yanshen didn't finish his sentence, but Lu Xiran understood the chill behind it—the captured man was just the tip of the iceberg. Gu Yanbo wouldn't send just one person.
"I want her to be my personal bodyguard," Lu Xiran said.
Gu Yanshen looked at her and nodded. "Okay."
Just then, Jin Qiqi rushed over from the other end of the corridor. Her face was full of fear and anger, and several strands of her hair were disheveled, clearly indicating that she had run all the way here.
"What happened?!" Her voice shrill and distorted as she grabbed Lu Xiran's arm, looking her up and down, left and right. "Ranran, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? I just heard someone say—"
"It's alright." Lu Xiran pressed Jin Qiqi's hand. "I'm not injured. The bodyguards stopped me."
Jin Qiqi's lips were still trembling, and her eyes were already red. She turned around and glared fiercely at Gu Yanshen, a look filled with reproach and lingering fear.
Gu Yanshen didn't argue, nor did he avoid her gaze. He simply stood there, his expression colder than ever before.
"Did anything happen over there just now?" Lu Xiran quickly changed the subject and asked worriedly.
"No." Lin Chen stopped and lowered his voice. "Someone tried to take advantage of the chaos to deliberately shove people. We had sent lookouts in the crowd beforehand, and the person was subdued as soon as they reached out. They've been taken to the security room and are being interrogated."
Gu Yanshen narrowed his eyes slightly, a barely perceptible hint of coldness flashing across his lips: "It seems someone is afraid that the ceremony will go smoothly today."
"Yes." Lin Chen nodded. "And there's more than one. We're still investigating."
"Qiqi, you go back with Ranran." His voice returned to its usual emotionless flatness, but Lu Xiran could hear something beneath that calm—it was as if someone had cut a gash in his heart, but he was gritting his teeth to stop the bleeding. "I have to wait until all the follow-up work is finished before I can leave."
"Okay." Jin Qiqi hugged Lu Xiran's arm, as if afraid that she would disappear in the next second.
Lu Xiran glanced back at Gu Yanshen. He stood in the middle of the corridor, surrounded by security personnel, hurried staff, and chaos. But his eyes remained fixed on her, like a lonely lighthouse, firmly locking onto her direction in the storm.
She suddenly felt a stinging sensation in her nose.
The bodyguards quickly surrounded her. Gu Yanshen had dispatched four vehicles to escort Lu Xiran back: an SUV in front and a SUV behind, with her car in the middle. Each vehicle carried four professionally trained security personnel. Lin Chen personally led the way, and the convoy's walkie-talkies broadcast a "safe" report every thirty seconds.
Lu Xiran sat in the back seat, looking out the car window at the convoy that was on high alert, and suddenly felt like she was filming some kind of spy movie.
"Ranran, you have no idea," Jin Qiqi said, sitting next to her, still holding Lu Xiran's hand tightly, "when your boss Gu saw the surveillance footage just now, that expression on his face—he crushed the water glass in his hand, and didn't even feel the glass piercing his hand."
Lu Xiran's heart skipped a beat.
"And then?" Her voice was a little hoarse.
"Lin Chen treated his wounds," Jin Qiqi paused, "but he didn't say a word. Not a single word the whole time. He just stared at the screen, watching it over and over again, several times."
Lu Xiran lowered her head, looking at her hands clasped on her knees. Her fingers had stopped trembling, but the lingering fear in her heart—not towards herself, but towards Gu Yanshen—was like a thorn stuck in her most vulnerable spot.
"Actually," she began, her voice very soft, "I'm starting to understand why the older man pushed me away."
Jin Qiqi didn't say anything, but just held her hand tighter.
"I'm angry," Lu Xiran said, looking at the streetlights rushing past the car window, their light flickering on her face, "but I understand."
"The Gu family has no bottom line," Jin Qiqi continued, her tone heavy with the weight of someone who's been through it all. "And they're rich, able to use money to make reckless people do all sorts of shameless things. What he experienced growing up forced him to choose what he thought was the best way for you."
Lu Xiran nodded. She remembered the words Gu Yanshen had said three years ago, those cruel words that tore her heart apart—pushing her away, making her hate him, making her believe that he no longer loved her. She had hated, suffered, and cried countless nights, but only tonight did she truly understand: how much courage it takes for a person to push away the person they love most, and how deeply they will hurt themselves.
"I'm just afraid..." Lu Xiran's voice suddenly went hoarse.
Jin Qiqi looked at her, her gaze gentle yet understanding: "Are you afraid he'll push you away again because he loves you?"
Lu Xiran did not answer. Her silence itself was the answer.
"No, he won't." Jin Qiqi placed her hand over hers, her thumb tracing circles on the back of her hand. "Tonight he announced to the whole world that he only loves you. All those tricks he used before, nobody believes them now. Think about it, someone who knelt in front of hundreds of people saying 'You've only ever been there for me,' and you expect him to act out 'I don't love you anymore' again? Who would believe that?"
Lu Xiran's lips finally curved into a smile.
"Yes," she said softly, "he won't push me away anymore."
Outside the car window, streetlights flashed by one after another, like a silver river stretching to the horizon. Lu Xiran leaned back in her seat, slowly relaxing. Jin Qiqi rested her head on her shoulder, and the two sat quietly like that, neither of them speaking.
After a while, Lu Xiran suddenly spoke up: "But... will I have to have such a big entourage every time I go out in the future?" She turned her head and glanced at the black SUV following closely behind, her tone tinged with a little sadness, "This is too exaggerated."
Jin Qiqi smiled, lifted Lu Xiran's hand, and touched the diamond ring on her ring finger with her fingertip.
"This is the bondage of love," she said, her voice as gentle as if coaxing a child. "He's afraid of losing you, so he wants to wrap you up tightly. Just think of him as your seatbelt; it's uncomfortable to wear, but it saves your life."
Lu Xiran thought for a moment, turned the diamond ring around, and finally smiled.
"Alright then," she said, her tone carrying a hint of sweetness, a hint of helplessness, and a great deal of compromise. "Then let's keep it tied up."
The car drove into the depths of the night. Behind them, the lights of Ruijing still shone brightly like a city that never sleeps. And the man who had broken the water glass for her was still in that city, cleaning up all the mess for her.
She closed her eyes and placed her hands on her chest.
My heart is beating very steadily.
Because she knew someone was shielding her from all the wind.