Chapter 9: Danger in the Dark

 

A moment of silence stretched between them.

As his words sank in, Wen Yifan's mind flashed back to New Year's Eve—how a passerby had bumped into her, sending her stumbling into his arms, how she'd apologized and he'd nodded to indicate it was fine.

The entire interaction had been no different from an encounter between strangers.

Even though Wen Yifan suspected he'd probably recognized her, they'd both seemed to understand this implicitly.

But she hadn't expected him to be so direct about it.

After all, from the very beginning, all of Wen Yifan's responses had been playing along with his various pretenses.

So while she'd assumed this charade could continue indefinitely, he'd apparently decided the situation was unsustainable and preemptively called it out—as if to say, "What's the point of pretending we don't know each other?"

Making himself appear as someone completely sincere in his dealings, never doing anything hypocritical or underhanded.

In essence, it was the classic tale of "Wen the Farmer" and "Sang the Snake."

Wen Yifan was quiet for two seconds, then decided to stop protecting his dignity: "Not really. I thought you hadn't recognized me."

Sang Yan's mouth curved sardonically.

"After all, I was wearing a mask then, my face completely covered." She calmly met his gaze and spoke slowly: "I didn't expect your eyesight to be quite so sharp."

"Sharp eyesight?" Sang Yan raised an eyebrow.

Then he added with cutting sarcasm: "Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding."

"What misunderstanding?" Wen Yifan asked.

"I didn't recognize you myself—it was my sister who spotted you," Sang Yan said matter-of-factly, without a trace of shame. "She told me you kept staring at me."

"..."

"That's absolutely correct," Wen Yifan replied, her expression unchanged.

Sang Yan looked at her expectantly.

"Because when I saw you that night," Wen Yifan decided to give him a taste of his own medicine and began fabricating, "your fly was open."

"..."

Worried this might cause further misunderstanding, Wen Yifan helpfully added: "Quite a few people around me were talking about it."

Sang Yan: "..."

"You don't need to worry too much about it—it's been several days now." Wen Yifan smiled as if comforting him. "Anyway, I should stop chatting. I have work to catch up on, so I'll head back first."

Before she could move, Sang Yan suddenly called out: "Hey."

Wen Yifan: "?"

"Do you remember where Su Hao'an parked just now?" Sang Yan asked.

She nodded instinctively.

"Good." Sang Yan jerked his chin toward the exit. "Lead the way."

—

Wen Yifan was thoroughly confused.

She'd assumed that after leading him to the car, he'd at least reciprocate by offering her a ride. But once they found the vehicle, apart from a curt "goodbye," Sang Yan didn't say another word to her.

He showed no intention of helping her get home.

Originally, she didn't think this was unreasonable.

But Wen Yifan had just noticed that this restaurant was located on an extremely isolated street. Checking her phone's map, she discovered the nearest subway station was several kilometers away.

There were virtually no passing cars, and looking around, everything was shrouded in darkness.

Wen Yifan hesitated, staring at Sang Yan's car that still hadn't started, and reluctantly knocked on the passenger window.

A few seconds later, Sang Yan lowered it, shooting her a cold look.

"Could you give me a ride?" Wen Yifan asked softly. "It's quite remote here."

"Where do you live?" Sang Yan asked flatly.

"Chengshi Jiayuan."

"Oh." Sang Yan looked away dismissively. "Not on my route."

"..."

Wen Yifan had never encountered someone so petty in her entire life. She forced an apologetic smile: "I'm not asking you to take me all the way home—just to the nearest subway station would be perfect. I'd really appreciate it."

Sang Yan stared at her directly for several seconds before reluctantly saying:

"Get in."

Wen Yifan secretly exhaled in relief, slipped into the passenger seat, and lowered her head to fasten the seatbelt.

Sang Yan started the engine.

The car fell into oppressive silence, the space enclosed and intimate.

Sang Yan didn't turn on any music, nor did he show any inclination to make conversation.

Feeling that remaining silent while accepting a free ride made her seem like she was treating him as a chauffeur, Wen Yifan attempted small talk: "Why did you suddenly decide to leave? Wasn't it supposed to be a friend gathering?"

"Noisy," Sang Yan replied dismissively.

"..."

Wen Yifan couldn't tell if he meant the gathering had been noisy or if he was calling her noisy.

Her lips parted, but she didn't speak again.

Wen Yifan turned to gaze out the window, watching scenery blur past, streetlights stretching into luminous streaks that were both dazzling and disorienting. Gradually, she began to drift into thought.

She reflected on the conversation with Su Hao'an during the ride to the restaurant.

It really had been seven or eight years since she'd last seen Su Hao'an.

But not Sang Yan.

Wen Yifan had never told anyone about this.

From Su Hao'an's reaction, it seemed Sang Yan, like her, hadn't shared this information with others either.

It was as if only the two of them knew.

During the second semester of her sophomore year, Wen Yifan had moved to Beiyu City with her uncle's family due to his job transfer. After that, except for her childhood friends Zhong Siqiao and Xiang Lang, she hadn't maintained contact with anyone from her old school.

Except for Sang Yan.

Initially, Wen Yifan had assumed they would naturally lose touch.

But starting from some forgotten day, she began receiving occasional text messages from Sang Yan. He never chatted about anything personal or asked her questions—he simply sent her his scores and rankings from every quiz and major exam.

This pattern continued through the end of their sophomore year.

When final exam results were released, Wen Yifan happened to receive another text from Sang Yan. She'd hesitated for a long time, but finally, looking at her own report card, slowly typed her scores into the message box and hit send.

He probably hadn't expected her to reply.

After a considerable pause, he responded:

[Looks like our scores aren't that different. Why don't we aim for the same university?]

A moment later, he sent two more characters:

[Okay?]

...

Wen Yifan sighed inaudibly.

Noticing they'd passed several subway stations, she startled and reminded him: "I think we've overshot. There's another station up ahead—you could drop me there?"

"Am I a taxi driver?" Sang Yan said coolly.

"..."

Wasn't this exactly what they'd agreed on?

Apparently irritated by her comment, Sang Yan didn't stop and continued driving forward.

"Where are we heading?" Wen Yifan couldn't help asking.

"Your place," Sang Yan replied, his tone perpetually laced with mockery. "Where else would we be going?"

"..."

Wen Yifan felt like they couldn't have a normal conversation at all. Whenever he spoke, subtle barbs were always present—vague yet noticeable, making every exchange feel off-kilter.

She wanted to have a proper discussion with him.

But she also felt there was no point.

Before she knew it, they'd arrived at Chengshi Jiayuan.

This residential complex was about a decade old, with aging buildings and facilities, limited space, and mostly walk-up apartments. The property management was practically nonexistent. At this hour, there wasn't even a security guard at the entrance.

The barrier gate stood permanently raised.

Sang Yan didn't drive into the complex, instead stopping directly at the entrance.

Wen Yifan unfastened her seatbelt and said politely: "Thank you so much for today. I'll treat you to a meal sometime when you're free."

"Hm?" Sang Yan leaned back in the driver's seat, turning to face her, his expression completely lacking seriousness. "Already planning our next meeting?"

"..."

Wen Yifan was genuinely curious.

Exactly how popular had this so-called "bad boy" reputation of his become over the years, that he could interpret any casual remark as someone having ulterior motives?

Or was it because of what she'd said at the bar earlier, causing him to misread her intentions?

Wen Yifan decided to clarify: "About what happened at the bar earlier, I misspoke—"

Before she could finish, Sang Yan interrupted: "Which part?"

"The 'that's quite a pity' comment?"

"..."

Wen Yifan gave up, abandoning the topic entirely, and reached for the door handle.

"Drive safely on your way back."

Wen Yifan walked into the complex.

She lived in the building closest to the main entrance, just a few steps to the right after entering.

Taking out her keys, she opened the building's entrance door and began climbing the stairs slowly. This building housed six units per floor, and she climbed to the third floor before walking to the end of the corridor where her apartment was located.

Wen Yifan was about to approach her door when she suddenly noticed three men standing there, bringing with them a heavy, nauseating reek of alcohol. They were smoking and laughing raucously, telling crude jokes and using foul language.

It wasn't clear whether they'd just returned or had been waiting there for some time.

The hallway light was broken, making everything extremely dark and impossible to make out their faces clearly. But through the dim light filtering in from outside, Wen Yifan could roughly identify one of them by his build as the man who lived next door.

It suddenly dawned on her.

Counting from the day she'd called the police, it had been approximately five days.

Her movement halted.

But the keys in her hand made a slight jingling sound.

The men immediately turned to look.

"Well, well, beautiful neighbor—you're back?" the man with the tiger tattoo said with a laugh.

Not knowing why they were inexplicably loitering there, Wen Yifan felt deeply uneasy.

"Brothers, this is the beauty who claimed I was harassing her," the tattooed man sighed, his voice hoarse and slurred. "I'm so innocent—how is knocking on someone's door considered harassment?"

"Haven't experienced it before, beauty?" another man laughed. "Want to know what real harassment looks like?"

Wen Yifan said nothing and turned to head back downstairs.

"Why's she running?"

"How should I know? Hey, beauty! We're not going to hurt you! Can't we just have a friendly chat?"

"I don't hold grudges, gorgeous! I just want to improve our neighborly relationship. We live next door to each other, right? No need to make things so tense."

As they spoke, they began following Wen Yifan downstairs.

The men had long strides, and they laughed with apparent excitement as if this were all a game, but in the darkness, it felt sinister and threatening.

Wen Yifan didn't even have time to fish her phone from her pocket to call police. She ran to the first floor, pushed through the main door, and sprinted toward the complex entrance. She'd hoped to find help from security, but suddenly remembered the guard booth had been empty when she'd returned.

This complex wasn't in a particularly isolated location—after exiting, there was a bustling food street just a short walk away.

If she could just reach a crowded area, she'd be safe.

The footsteps behind her seemed to be gaining ground.

At that moment, Wen Yifan spotted Sang Yan's car still parked where it had been outside the complex entrance. He was leaning casually against the passenger door, posture relaxed, apparently on a phone call.

Noticing the commotion, Sang Yan looked up and met her eyes.

Wen Yifan slowed slightly, a fleeting thought of asking for his help crossing her mind. But after a quick mental calculation, she still chose to run toward the food street.

She was about to pass by him when Sang Yan had already ended his call and called out:

"Wen Yifan."

She looked up, meeting his gaze again.

Taking in her current expression and the three menacing-looking men pursuing her, Sang Yan's face remained impassive, eerily calm.

"Come here."

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