Chapter 12: False Alarm

The kitchen is very close to the main room; you can see the main door at a glance.

Cheng Jia, camera in hand, instinctively strode towards the kitchen door when suddenly a sharp force gripped the back of her neck. Peng Ye had grabbed her by the back of her collar, pulling her behind him against the wall, his eyes signaling her to be quiet and not move.

Cheng Jia glanced at him, but didn't move.

She nestled in the shadow of his tall back, gazing up at the back of his head. His hair wasn't short; it must have been a while since he'd cut it, and it probably wouldn't feel prickly to the touch.

She saw him instinctively press his left hip, where there was a faint bulge; Cheng Jia knew it was a gun.

Cheng Jia raised her camera and took a picture of his back. In the corner of the picture, there were Nima and Shitou with serious expressions, waiting for their chance, and a stove with smoke rising from it.

The kitchen was filled with the aroma of rice, but the atmosphere was extremely tense. Outside the post station, the wind howled louder, and hailstones pelted the wooden houses with a crackling sound.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The people outside were very agitated; their banging turned into kicking the door.

The old woman at the inn hobbled down from upstairs. "Coming...coming..."

Sixteen leaned against the other side of the door frame, exchanging glances with Peng Ye.

Peng Ye leaned against the wall, staring at the door; at the same time, his left hand reached behind him, feeling for air.

Cheng Jia lowered her head and stared at his large palm. She carefully reached out her hand, and Peng Ye's fingertips touched hers.

For a fleeting moment, there was a pause.

He reached his hand higher, trying to grasp her wrist. But Cheng Jia nimbly and deftly pulled back, and as a result, he grabbed her hand, his fingertips poking into her palm.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she was instantly pulled and dragged by him, pressing herself against his back.

She felt his body stiffen for a moment.

Her face was pressed against the back of his neck as she slowly exhaled, and he stiffened again.

He truly understood the meaning of the phrase "taking advantage of someone's misfortune."

But at a time like this, he had no interest in scheming against her.

Cheng Jia gripped his hand tightly and leaned against his back. His palms were very warm, and his back was very solid, making her feel sleepy.

Everyone was on high alert, waiting for orders.

Cheng Jia, however, was thinking that there was a natural fragrance on his neck, and she suspected that the soap he used to take a bath was actually for washing clothes, such as soapberry.

"They're here." The old woman removed the bolt and opened the door.

In an instant, the wind, snow, and cold air rolled in, bringing with them two girls who were stamping their feet. One of them, heavily made up and wearing a candy-colored jacket and tight pants, complained, "My God, what kind of weather is this? It's freezing!"

The other one, more understated, was dressed in a green windbreaker and her teeth were chattering. "That's not what the weather forecast said."

It was a false alarm.

Cheng Jia was the first to react. She decisively pulled her hand away from Peng Ye's and turned to leave.

Peng Ye turned around, but only saw her calm back as she went off to choose a location with her camera.

He looked as if he had just taken advantage of her, "pulling" her so close to his back that her chest was pressed against it. Forced by the situation, she could only reluctantly give him a quick embrace. Now that the crisis was over, she quickly let go.

No words can describe Peng Ye's feelings at this moment.

---

"An'an, where's my phone? Have you seen it?" The girl in the candy-colored jacket turned left and right, rummaging through her luggage.

The girl named An'an said, "You've been holding it yourself, haven't you? Look in your pocket... Xiao Ling, don't worry, I'll call you..."

Xiao Ling stopped and waited for the phone to ring, but after more than ten seconds, there was no sound. Her heavily made-up face twisted in shock. "It's lost, it must be lost. I have to go out and look for it. Guo Li has contacted me." With that, she turned to leave.

"You can't go out now..." The old woman stopped Xiao Ling and looked at An An. "Girl, you have to persuade your friend. The snow is so heavy, and it's getting late. She can't go out..."

An'an pulled Xiao Ling back. "Let's look for it tomorrow. The car broke down, and there's not a single house along the way. Aren't you freezing?"

Xiao Ling complained, "What if Guo Li calls me? He doesn't have your number either, so what if he can't reach me? Maybe I've lost my phone nearby. Keep calling me on your cell phone, you'll definitely find it."

The old woman couldn't stop them, so she turned to the people in the kitchen and shouted, "Come and help me talk to them!"

The two girls then noticed someone in the kitchen. Turning around, they saw Nima staring at them curiously. Xiao Ling's face paled instantly, filled with terror. She quickly hid behind An'an, her voice trembling with fear. "Ethnic minorities!"

Xiao Ling grabbed the door, her voice trembling as she whispered, "An'an, there's definitely something wrong with this store, let's run!"

An'an was also made uneasy by her. Nima understood what they meant, smiled awkwardly, and hid to the side.

Nima's figure darted away, and An'an and Xiao Ling saw a woman in a long shirt leaning against the smoky stove, taking pictures with a camera. The lens, dark and gleaming with white light, obscured her face.

She was wearing high heels but no pants; a light blue striped long shirt covered her upper legs, which were white, long, straight, and incredibly beautiful.

She put down her camera, gave them a cold look, and then followed Nima away.

Cheng Jia coldly uttered, "You idiot."

Nima was taken aback when he heard this, then quickly waved his hand and said with a simple smile, "Sister Cheng Jia, it's okay, I'm used to it."

Cheng Jia ignored him, lit a cigarette and took a puff before turning around. Her expression was not good, and her tone was cold. "Come here... I haven't shown you Mai Duo's picture yet."

Nima, looking bewildered, asked, "Sis, didn't you say you wouldn't let people see the original footage?"

"Come here when I tell you to!"

"Yes."

---

Sixteen and the others went out, trying to persuade the two girls to stay.

Stone said, "The wind and snow are too strong. If you run out now, you'll get lost."

Sixteen said, "The temperature is still dropping. If you collapse from exhaustion, you might freeze to death."

Xiao Ling hesitated for a moment, but was still not quite convinced. After thinking for a while, she grabbed Sixteen and said, "Big brother, why don't you come with us? Please help me. My phone is really important."

Sixteen: "……"

An An tugged at Xiao Ling, embarrassed. "I already said the temperature is so low that you'll freeze to death. Don't other people's lives matter?"

At this moment, the old woman sighed. "They can't leave."

"Why?"

"There's a girl living in this house, so the men can't be separated."

This sounded eerie. An'an sensed something was off and asked, "Grandma, just say what you want to say."

"I didn't want to say this, but our reputation is bad enough that people in the village have all run away and never come back."

"What's up?"

The old woman's voice was hoarse as she slowly said, "Girls shouldn't go out at night, it's too dangerous. There are no women in our village..."

A storm raged, it was late at night, at a post station. The old woman spoke slowly, and An'an and Xiao Ling's expressions changed repeatedly.

"There are no women, only men who prey on female tourists."

Xiao Ling trembled. "No one arrested them?"

"You must have seen a lot of missing person notices on your way here."

"Ah."

"If we can't find the person, who are we going to arrest?"

The old woman spoke, while Peng Ye and the others remained silent.

Xiao Ling turned pale with fright and completely gave up the idea of ​​going out.

The old woman said again, "They are staff members of the protection station. They were trapped here by the blizzard. It's safer for you to stay here, otherwise I wouldn't dare to take you in."

Neither Peng Ye nor Shi Liu spoke.

An'an and Xiao Ling looked at the others and quickly decided not to go out.

---

After the two girls settled downstairs, Shi Tou and Nima carried a square wooden table and long benches, and placed plates of steaming food on the table. There was very little meat; there was only one plate of eggplant stir-fried with meat, and the remaining three plates were all vegetarian dishes.

These dishes didn't look appealing, and they wouldn't normally eat them; but they were tired and hungry, and they looked on with longing.

They saw Cheng Jia again. She was sitting on a long bench with her legs crossed, casually smoking. When everyone had arrived, her profile was quiet and indifferent.

Xiao Ling noticed the Cartier bracelet on her slender wrist, a pale gold color studded with a few sparkling diamonds. Xiao Ling glanced down at the same bracelet on her own wrist.

An'an knew that Xiao Ling's words had offended Nima and her, so she came over to apologize. "I was so sorry..."

Without turning her head, Cheng Jia pointed her thumb toward Nima. "Tell him."

Xiao Ling felt aggrieved, but An An pulled her back and said to Nima, embarrassed, "I'm sorry about earlier, we didn't mean it that way."

Nima was already shy and embarrassed to talk to women, so he blushed and waved his hands repeatedly, saying "It's okay, it's okay," before running to the kitchen to get some rice.

An'an felt even more guilty.

Xiao Ling stared at the dishes on the table. She was starving. In this desolate, godforsaken place, there were hardly any restaurants or shops, let alone any people. She discussed with Cheng Jia, "Um... let's share the meal together."

Cheng Jia slowly turned her head to look at her. A bluish-white mist shrouded her face, and her eyes were like a fog, giving her a unique kind of sexiness.

Xiao Ling disliked her calm and indifferent expression, as if she were holding something high and mighty.

Cheng Jia lowered her head, tapped her cigarette ash with her finger, and stretched out her free hand. "Pay first."

"Okay." Xiao Ling rummaged through her wallet, took out twenty yuan, thought for a moment, then added five more, but asked, "How much is it?"

Cheng Jia said, "One hundred."

"One hundred?" Xiao Ling's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "What did you say? These dishes are only worth one hundred?!"

Cheng Jia turned to look at her. "One hundred each."

Xiao Ling was shocked; this woman was a master at extorting money.

An'an whispered, "Isn't this too expensive?"

Cheng Jia slowly exhaled a puff of smoke. "During the snowstorm in southern China in 2008, transportation was paralyzed. Do you know how much a cup of instant noodles cost on the highway back then? It was this price."

An'an was speechless for a moment, and Xiao Ling said, "But this is too expensive. It's practically price gouging."

Cheng Jia said quietly, "I don't force people to buy or sell."

She was not very active and didn't want to talk much. Her tone was more indifferent than usual, as fleeting as smoke.

Xiao Ling was left speechless.

Xiao Ling thought this woman must be the kind who is particularly good at pretending, competitive, malicious, and jealous of young girls.

---

After discussing it, An'an and Xiao Ling placed two hundred-yuan bills in front of Cheng Jia.

Shi Tou came out carrying a large bowl of rice, and Cheng Jia handed him the money. "The two of them are going to share the meal for dinner."

Shi Tou was taken aback, then his face lit up with joy. He quickly wiped the water off his hands, took the money, and frowned when he saw that there were two bills. "This is too much." Shi Tou immediately returned one bill.

An'an hesitated to take it, glancing at Cheng Jia; Xiao Ling stepped forward and took it.

Cheng Jia glanced at Shi Tou but didn't stop him.

But Shi Tou was still rummaging in his pockets, muttering to himself, "Wait, I'll give you your change."

He took out a small roll of money, pulled out nine crumpled and dirty ten-yuan bills, and handed them to them. "Here."

An An was stunned; this time, even Xiao Ling was too embarrassed to accept.

An'an said, "Don't bother looking anymore. We spend this much money on boxed meals on the train, and we still don't get full."

Xiao Ling quickly said, "The snow is so heavy, what if we have to eat with you again tomorrow?"

"Okay, okay," Stone said with a smile, "Then we'll give you the change later."

Cheng Jia smoked her cigarette and didn't say anything more.

Footsteps approached from behind, followed by Peng Ye's low, cold voice. "Who gave you permission to smoke?"

Cheng Jia didn't turn around. She paused for a moment, then obediently took the cigarette out of her mouth and smiled faintly. She had been waiting for these words. She prepared to bend down and stub out the cigarette on the ground.

But Peng Ye stepped forward, bent down and took the cigarette butt from her hand. He said in a tone that was perhaps a little displeased, "Don't bend over."

Cheng Jia didn't bend down, but looked down at him as he stubbed out the cigarette on the floor. The flame flickered and went out.

Peng Ye hunched over, and when he raised his eyelids, he saw her bare legs and the light blue striped shirt at the top of her legs.

He said, "Go upstairs and change your clothes."

Cheng Jia asked, "Why?"

The room was warm, not cold at all. She gently shifted her sitting position, crossing her two fair and tender legs, and casually rubbed them together, so close to Peng Ye's eyes.

Peng Ye remained silent and straightened up. He glanced at her, knowing she had acted up again.

As usual, he offered no explanation and simply said, "Your legs are ugly."

Cheng Jia: "..."

This man is so crude and rude to her. She's really screwed.

Thoughts:

The tension mounts at a remote post station during a blizzard when aggressive pounding at the door suggests danger. Peng Ye instinctively protects Cheng Jia, pulling her behind him—a moment that creates unexpected intimacy as she presses against his back, holding his hand. The "threat" turns out to be two lost tourists, deflating the tension but leaving both characters aware of their physical closeness.

It brilliantly contrasts Cheng Jia's cool, detached exterior (smoking, photographing, negotiating prices with brutal practicality) with her private observations of Peng Ye (noticing his hair length, the scent of his soap, the warmth of his hands). Their dynamic is one of constant verbal sparring and unspoken attraction—he scolds her for smoking then carefully stubs it out for her; she deliberately provokes him by not wearing pants, he retaliates by calling her legs ugly. The arrival of the tourists also highlights the casual discrimination Nima faces as an ethnic minority, which Cheng Jia confronts with characteristic bluntness. The romantic tension is palpable but never stated, existing entirely in gesture, proximity, and what goes unsaid.