Muchuan and Xiang Wan

“Sis, can you lend me a dress?”

Xiang Wan turned around and away from her laptop screen when Fang Yuanyuan called out to her.

“Hm, take this one.” Xiang Wan did not have a lot of clothes. All her clothes were hang on a simple wardrobe.

“Thank you, babe!”

“…”

Ever since Fang Yuanyuan got into a relationship, she fell in love with dolling herself up.

It was especially evident that Fang Yuanyuan felt she was in need of clothes. She had contributed one month of her salary to Father Ma ¹ , yet none of the clothes she bought was satisfactory.

She opened Xiang Wan’s wardrobe like a general who was inspecting the barracks. She eyeballed at each and every dress inside.

Xiang Wan frowned when she saw her taking out a white chiffon dress.

“This one is not suitable for you.”

“Which part of it is not suitable?”

Fang Yuanyuan compared the dress against the mirror in a pleased manner, then placed the dress on the bed.

“I want this dress, I like it. I think I will look like a fairy when I put it on!”

“You need to squeeze in that dress before you can look like a fairy, okay?” Xiang Wan frowned, “Fang Yuanyuan, you need to be responsible for your 120 pounds of meat!”

Fang Yuanyuan was displeased. “Xiang Wan, please get this clear, it’s 115 pounds.”

“No difference, you’ll still be unable to squeeze into the dress, my dear. I’m 85 pounds, much thinner than you.”

“Hoho, but I’m taller than you by 10 centimeters.”

“…”

While they were arguing, Fang Yuanyuan had removed her pajamas and tried to put on the white chiffon dress.

Tch! Tch! Xiang Wan wanted to cry “Amitabha” at that sight. “Good grief! My poor dress!”

Fang Yuanyuan shot a glare at her. She managed to squeeze into the dress and twirled in front of Xiang Wan.

“How is it? Do I look like a fairy now?”

Xiang Wan squinted her eyes. “I got reminded of Nezha ² instead.”

“?”

“You’re fair and plump and you’ve squeezed yourself so much that your body parts look like lotus roots. You look like the adult version of Nezha, you’ve got the aura of an immortal indeed.”

“Hey!” Fang Yuanyuan was cheesed off, “You’re jealous of my chest size, aren’t you?”

“You do have assets, I can’t deny that,” Xiang Wan nodded her head seriously, “but the buttons are about to burst, you should be more mindful that Huanghuang may get hyperemia when he sees you like this…”

“Xiang Wan! You’re never like this before…”

“One should strive to be honest.”

“I’ll unfriend you for an hour!”

“Deal!”

The two of them were engaged in their usual bickering when Huang He knocked on the door.

“It’s about time, Captain Bai’s waiting for us outside. Yuanyuan, are both of you done?”

“Coming right up!” answered Fang Yuanyuan. With a snort, she looked at Xiang Wan…

The next moment, she changed back to her own clothes, not wanting to be a “fairy” anymore.

She quickly dolled herself up and flicked her long, loose perms with sexy curls. Fang Yuanyuan was pleased after looking at herself in the mirror and turned to Xiang Wan.

“You’re… wearing this?”

Xiang Wan took a look at herself. “Yeah, is there anything wrong?”

Fang Yuanyuan puffed a sigh and shook her head at Xiang Wan’s nonchalant attitude. “It’s too plain! Miss Xiang, you’re going to meet your beloved Detective Bai, can’t you put in more effort?”

Xiang Wan: “…”

She already put on some lipstick, and her clothes were neat and tidy, what else did she want?

Under Fang Yuanyuan’s disgruntled look, Xiang Wan took a pair of glasses from her dressing table and put them on.

“How about this? Do I look even more like an intellectual now?”

“For goodness sake!” sighed Fang Yuanyuan. “Don’t you know that your eyes are the best looking part of you? And you’re covering them with a pair of glasses! Aren’t you silly?”

“…”

Huang He still helped to carry Fang Yuanyuan’s bag when they went out.

Seeing the happy couple walking in front of her, Xiang Wan locked the door and deliberately slowed down to pull a distance from them.

The world of the two lovers could not tolerate a third person.

Even though Fang Yuanyuan was her dearest cousin, she knew that it was not appropriate for a single like her to have too much presence in front of Huang He.

…

It was rather dim along the corridor and the staircase, which was a common problem in the old neighborhoods.

When Xiang Wan was walking, she often thought of all kinds of things.

Be it her plot, her life, or anything under the sun.

At that moment, she was thinking about her novel plot and walked down each step slowly.

Fang Yuanyuan’s cheerful laughter was not far away ahead, yet her world was in total silence.

On the third floor.

There were sounds of footsteps walking up the stairs.

Xiang Wan’s thoughts were interrupted and saw two people, an adult and a child on the stairs.

“Hello Uncle Detective.” The little boy’s voice was crisp and clear.

“Hello, my little friend,” smiled Huang He as he patted the boy on the head. He also smiled politely at the boy’s mother, “Just came back?”

“Yes, does Detective Huang stay here too?” The woman asked.

Huang He chuckled but did not explain too much, “My girlfriend stays here.”

“I see,” said the woman. She lifted her head and happened to meet Xiang Wan’s gaze.

Due to the dim lights, Xiang Wan could not see the woman’s face clearly. However, she knew the woman was her neighbor, and she also knew that she was the one who reported to the police that she got kidnapped.

Xiang Wan gave her a friendly smile. “Thank you for your help yesterday.”

The woman replied softly, “You’re welcome.”

As the stairways were rather narrow, she stood aside with an arm around her child without moving, a polite gesture to let them go down the stairs first.

Huang He and Fang Yuanyuan moved ahead but the woman still did not move, as if she was waiting for Xiang Wan as well…

“Thank you!” Xiang Wan hurried her steps.

The woman did not respond to that. The damp smell of clutter drifted in at the right moment, making the air extremely stuffy.

Xiang Wan walked past the woman.

The woman seemed to hold her breath for an instant…

Of course, Xiang Wan could not feel her breathing.

It was just her subconscious–an unexplainable gut feeling.

Xiang Wan stopped and looked at her.

A second later, the woman asked, “What’s wrong?”

Her height was similar to Xiang Wan, therefore, her gaze had landed on the woman’s forehead.

“Elder sister, are you alright?”

The woman seemed to notice something. She wiped off the perspiration on her forehead and smiled. “I must have been in a hurry to get back and the weather’s really hot.”

The weather was indeed hot.

Xiang Wan’s big eyes were smiling as she could feel that the woman was relieved.

“You’re right, it’s even hotter on the top floor. Even at this hour, it still feels like a steamer, I can’t imagine if there’s no air-conditioning. You better hurry to get back home.”

“Alright, bye.”

“Bye.”

…

A car was parked in the alley.

Bai Muchuan leaned idly by the side of the car, waiting.

By just standing there like that, he had a disposition of an idol although he looked quiet and laid-back.

That was not the usual police car he drove, but a private car—Cadillac Escalade.

Cadillac Escalade was a luxury car that had a worth of more than a million dollars. It was not considered the most outstanding luxury car for local tycoons, neither was it used by the male leading characters of romance fiction to act cool. However, Cadillac’s title of “climber” and the disposition of that car was very similar to Bai Muchuan.

A domineering power hidden in a low profile, the aloofness that stem from the solemnity and steadiness.

Xiang Wan suddenly believed a saying:

An item, no matter how extravagant, is only an item, and serves as a complement.

Some people were unable to complement against the luxury items, they would look ridiculous with them.

Whereas some people possessed such a strong aura that they could make an ordinary item look like a luxury item on them.

Bai Muchuan was the latter.

He was really good-looking, so dazzling that one could not open their eyes.

Even Fang Yuanyuan’s eyes lit up, inhaled a breath and stared at Xiang Wan…

Xiang Wan grasped the strap of her bag, returned her stare and walked to Bai Muchuan. “Sorry for the wait.”

Bai Muchuan drew his hand from his pocket and opened the door to the front passenger seat. “Get on the car.”

The front passenger seat has a nickname in the internet–the wife’s seat.

Huang He and Fang Yuanyuan would definitely sit together which meant that Xiang Wan had no other choice as well.

She took a glance at Bai Muchuan’s emotionless face and hopped onto the seat.

The car left the neighborhood and joined the main traffic flow.

Fang Yuanyuan and Huang He whispered behind at the passenger seats, whereas the two of them at the front remained silent for a long time.

“Teacher Xiang, what do you want to eat?” Bai Muchuan asked suddenly.

Xiang Wan turned her head slightly, “Anything is fine.”

“Just say something then.”

“…”

Xiang Wan gave it a thought and said, “How about hotpot?”

Hotpot was the most suitable food for a gathering, most people were able to accept it and it was her favorite food as well.

Nevertheless, after hearing her suggestion, Bai Muchuan chortled a laugh.

“Okay then, we’re going to have traditional Chinese cuisine.”

“…” What the heck!?

Xiang Wan looked at him indignantly.

If you’ve already decided, she thought , why do you ask me again?

The corners of Bai Muchuan’s lips lifted upwards and he looked towards the front, as if he had not seen her killer gaze.

… The wild little beast appeared inside Xiang Wan’s heart once more, roaring away.

This man must be sent by the heavens to anger me, it must be.

However, because of this dialogue, the awkward atmosphere was alleviated.

“I’m a magnanimous person! I won’t haggle over this with you.” Xiang Wan looked out of the window and not look at him again.

…

In about 40 minutes, the car stopped.

“We’ve arrived,” Bai Muchuan turned to look at Huang He, “you head in there first, I’ll park the car!”

Huang He and Fang Yuanyuan got off the car, but Xiang Wan was stopped by Bai Muchuan when she was removing her seat belt.

He leaned over to stop her, where his nice, clean smell made Xiang Wan inexplicably tense.

“What’s that for?”

“What are you doing?”

Xiang Wan was puzzled. “I’m getting off the car, what’s wrong?”

Bai Muchuan gazed at her for a moment, slowly straightened himself, and stepped on the accelerator.

Xiang Wan gasped and exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

Bai Muchuan did not turn his head. “Why do you want to join the two lovebirds? We’ll go up together after I parked the car!”

His tone was totally domineering without room for negotiation. Xiang Wan could not even breathe smoothly due to anger. On the other hand, Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow and there was a faint smile on his face. It was so charming that could melt the hearts of many…

Huff! Xiang Wan sat properly and regulated her breathing.

“Bai Muchuan, what exactly do you want?”

Bai Muchuan said seriously, “Driving.”

“…”

Driving, what driving?

Xiang Wan daren’t guess if this Old Driver was deliberate or not.

She sat down, fuming, and stopped talking until Bai Muchuan parked the car and led the way to take the lift…

Oh my god! It’s the famous “The Palace”?