As he finished speaking, Wen Yifan's gaze lowered. She paused for a few seconds, thinking seriously, then stepped back, slowly hanging the towel in its original place.
She glanced at the bandage on Sang Yan's arm.
At this moment, Wen Yifan felt strange, like maybe she was being too forward. She thought about how to politely say no and decided to joke about herself too.
"I'm not very good at helping, either."
Sang Yan was half-leaning against the sink, looking down. The bathroom was bright, the space small, and they were standing close to each other, which made things feel a bit awkward.
Wen Yifan found an excuse. "It's late, I should go take a shower."
She had just taken two steps.
Sang Yan gently caught her wrist, pulling her back. Surprised, her first thought was to be careful of his injury, her hand instinctively reaching out to steady herself on the counter nearby.
"What are you thinking?" Sang Yan looked at her with a playful smile. "I just wanted to talk for a minute."
"..."
"Just talk for a while," Sang Yan said softly, his tone teasing. "Is that okay?"
Wen Yifan made a small sound as if Sang Yan's words had convinced her. After a few seconds of silence, she squeezed out, "...That's fine."
He raised an eyebrow slightly, staying where he was without moving.
A moment later, Sang Yan took her hand gently. Before she understood what was happening, Wen Yifan had already risen to her tiptoes.
Sang Yan leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Noticing her surprise, Sang Yan put his hand on her shoulder to steady her.
"—Otherwise I can't reach."
...
Back in her room, when she checked her phone again, Wen Yifan noticed that Qian Weihua had called her two hours ago. She immediately opened WeChat, wanting to apologize and explain.
But Qian Weihua seemed to understand, sending her a message: [I'll take Da Zhuang to the scene. You go to the hospital first. We've talked to witnesses, it doesn't seem too serious.]
Fu Zhuang also sent a message: [Sis, take good care of Brother Sang Yan. I'll handle things for you!!!]
Fu Zhuang: [I heard from the police that Brother Sang Yan was still really energetic after getting hurt, looking like he could still run a marathon, so don't worry too much.]
Reading these words, Wen Yifan couldn't help but smile. She replied to each message, apologizing and thanking them, before finally putting down her phone and lying on the bed.
Wen Yifan was slow to recognize her feelings.
Since joining "Convey," she hadn't felt much about this team, only thinking it was better than her previous workplace. Although the workload was still more than before, she always felt more relaxed than when working at Yihe Broadcasting.
But at this moment, Wen Yifan suddenly realized that she liked this team quite a lot.
Lost in her thoughts, Wen Yifan's mind wandered from one thing to another, then back again. After some time, she remembered what had happened in the bathroom earlier.
And Sang Yan's words.
—"Just talk for a while."
That's what he said.
Just talk for a while.
Wen Yifan's ears turned pink, and she got up somewhat embarrassed to take a shower. She looked at herself in the mirror, her mind quickly filling with thoughts of what had happened.
The sweet moment they'd shared.
Time passed.
The nice-smelling bathroom felt peaceful and warm.
"Come here." Seeing she was about to step back, Sang Yan caught her hand gently, his voice soft. "Let me help you wash your hands."
—
Because of his injury, Sang Yan took a week off to rest at home.
Wen Yifan still had to go to work as usual, working on the report about Che Xingde's case. She tried to make time, getting up early every day to make breakfast for Sang Yan, checking on him once at noon, and asking what he wanted for dinner before coming home in the evening.
Like taking care of a family member.
Sang Yan was enjoying it.
But after only three days of being treated like royalty, Sang Yan began to feel that all this back-and-forth was tiring her out. Plus, his injury didn't affect normal life, so he quickly returned to work.
Under the director's urgent requests, Wen Yifan started working late every day again, meeting with police and experts, going between the police station and the scene. The talks with the suspect's family were being handled by another colleague.
After Che Xingde was arrested, the police looked into his past. After many questions, and with evidence found on Guo Ling, he finally admitted to the crime, confessing to everything he had done.
Four years ago, on that night, Che Xingde was called by Che Yanqin to help at the food stall. As he was walking to get there, he ran into Guo Ling in a quiet alley. He recognized this girl, remembering that she was always quiet and shy, seeming weak and helpless.
He did something terrible to her.
After what happened, Che Xingde thought Guo Ling wouldn't tell anyone. But she reached for her phone, crying and trying to call the police.
He threatened her with mean words.
But Guo Ling didn't give in, insisting on calling the police. She seemed to have support, someone she trusted, and even though she was in pain, she still managed to say: "I'm going to tell my dad, he will stop you..."
Finally, in a panic, Che Xingde accidentally hurt Guo Ling very badly.
Afterward, he found Che Yanqin, who was nearby, to help. Che Yanqin had raised Che Xingde since they were little, was very forgiving of her brother, and would do anything he asked.
So even though she was scared and angry, she didn't want to see him go to jail and felt she had to help him. The two used a large black plastic bag from the store to wrap Guo Ling, then wrapped it in several more layers, and put it in a suitcase.
The siblings never told anyone about this.
They thought no one would find out.
...
Typing the last word of the news article, Wen Yifan checked it once and sent it to the editor.
The editing room was quiet and normal. Looking at the screen, Wen Yifan was a bit distracted, strangely remembering herself from years ago, stuck in Chen Xi's house.
Hearing Aunt Chen say that Che Xingde had been released, what was she thinking at that moment?
Wen Yifan couldn't remember clearly.
But right now, Wen Yifan wanted to go back to the past, back to that younger version of herself. She wanted to pat that girl's head, to tell her that everything she did was right.
No matter what happened after, this was not something to be ashamed of.
Don't let bad people make you think you've done something wrong.
It's okay.
The person you care about will also think you're very brave.
He will thank you.
For protecting his friend.
—
This report was shown on the morning program the next day.
Just before leaving work that day, Wen Yifan received a call from Guo Ling's father. Since coming back to Nanwu, she had received several calls from him, all giving information and asking about various things.
Perhaps having seen the news, this time he was calling to thank her.
After hanging up, Wen Yifan sat there thinking for a while before packing up and leaving the company. She went to the parking lot to find Sang Yan's car, got into the driver's seat, and drove toward his company.
During this time, their roles had completely switched.
Worried that it might not be safe for Sang Yan to drive with his injury, Wen Yifan started driving him to and from work every day.
When Wen Yifan arrived at Sang Yan's company, she saw him just coming out, with Zheng Kejia beside him, seemingly talking about something. Soon after, Sang Yan walked over and got into the car.
She turned her head, looking straight at him.
Sang Yan didn't notice her gaze, fastened his seatbelt, and said directly, "Wen Shuangjiang, your stepsister just asked me to tell you to visit her home when you have time."
"..."
Wen Yifan hadn't expected this, just made an "oh" sound, without saying anything more.
Sang Yan glanced at her. "Do you want to go?"
Wen Yifan shook her head. "I don't plan to."
Sang Yan didn't say anything else.
They got off work early today, and she remembered Fu Zhuang mentioning a food festival at a nearby square.
After asking Sang Yan's opinion, Wen Yifan drove the car to that area and found a parking spot. After getting out of the car, she held his hand and calculated the time. "Isn't it time to remove your bandage tomorrow?"
Sang Yan made a light sound of agreement.
"I happen to have a day off tomorrow, I can go with you." Wen Yifan's voice was gentle, her speech slow, as she began to share her day with him. "Sang Yan, I received another call from Guo Ling's father today."
The food festival had just started a few days ago, and the square was crowded with people.
Sang Yan looked at the road, guiding her to avoid pedestrians. "What did he say?"
"He said thank you for reporting truthfully, and for being so caring, something like that." Saying this, Wen Yifan felt a bit embarrassed for some reason. "But isn't this all just my job?"
Sang Yan casually said, "It's your job, but you can still be praised for doing it well."
Wen Yifan paused slightly, was silent for a while, then said, "Actually, I didn't like being a reporter before."
Hearing this, Sang Yan turned his head. "Hm?"
Thinking for a moment, Wen Yifan corrected herself. "It's not about the job itself. At that time, I just felt that except for dancing, doing anything else seemed the same."
Hearing her mention this for the first time, Sang Yan just looked at her without speaking.
"There's one thing I didn't tell you," mentioning this, Wen Yifan blinked, feeling calm compared to how she felt back then. "I switched to cultural studies in my second year of high school, not because I couldn't dance anymore, but because my stepfather thought it was too expensive, so my mom told me to stop dancing."
"..."
Sang Yan was surprised, seeming to have never thought of this reason, not knowing what to say.
"At that time, after giving up, I never thought about it again. Because I'm not very good at standing up for myself." Wen Yifan said, "After that, everything I did felt boring."
Sang Yan stopped walking and asked her, "Do you still want to dance?"
"If it were a few years earlier, I probably would have wanted to." Wen Yifan gave a serious answer, then smiled. "But yesterday I finished writing the news article about Che Xingde's case, and today I received a call from Guo Ling's father—"
"..."
Wen Yifan's eyes curved into a smile. "I suddenly realized that I like being a news reporter too."
It turns out that dreams can change without you noticing.
Before, she thought she was only good at dancing, so after losing her chance to go further with it, she felt she had no other talents. She only lived under that shadow, unwilling to accept anything else.
Feeling that just getting by in life was fine too.
Noticing that she was truly happy, Sang Yan lowered his eyelashes and said softly, "It's good that you like it."
After two seconds, he added, "In the future, you can dance just for fun with friends, that's good too."
"..."
Wen Yifan immediately looked at him, was quiet for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh. "Sang Yan, did you used to like watching me dance?"
"..." Sang Yan blinked, and was honest. "Just realized?"
"But I can't dance now."
"So what," Sang Yan didn't care at all, his tone confident. "I like you for many other reasons too."
...
The two wandered around inside for a while.
Wen Yifan preferred simple foods, not even liking sweet drinks, with water being her most common choice. She wasn't interested in any of the snacks inside and didn't let Sang Yan eat either, worried it might affect his injury.
In the end, Wen Yifan only bought a bag of handmade candy from a small stall.
Wen Yifan opened the bag, took out a piece, and offered it to Sang Yan. "Do you want to try one?"
Sang Yan had no interest in such sweet things, glanced at them, and shook his head. "No."
"Oh." Wen Yifan knew his taste. She put the candy in her mouth, tasted it, and recommended it to him. "It's not that sweet, more milky, do you want to try it?"
As she spoke, she reached into the bag for another piece.
Sang Yan said with a smile, "Alright, I'll try."
"Then—" Wen Yifan looked up, her words not yet finished, when she saw him watching her with a mischievous look. The next second, he leaned forward quickly and gave her a surprise peck on the lips.
"..."
Wen Yifan still held the candy in her hand, a bit stunned.
"Fine, I was being silly." Sang Yan smiled at her surprised face and said, "Isn't this better than candy?"
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