“It must be because I stayed up too late!”
Ruan Tinghe shook her head and quickly erased the face that resembled Dabaо. She stared at the black-and-white photo for a long time, only to realize she had no idea where to begin anymore.
She couldn’t reconstruct Shen Yan’s childhood appearance at all.
All she could think about was Dabaо’s face.
“Forget it.” Ruan Tinghe pressed a hand to her forehead. “Anyway, he only asked me to draw his sister’s portrait, not reconstruct the whole photo.”
Just as dawn broke, she instructed the children to stay at home before heading straight to the police station.
She didn’t have Shen Yan’s contact information, so she had to ask Old Chen for help.
Soon, Old Chen brought over a young man leaning on a cane.
“Xiao Ruan, this is Comrade Li Bao. He was injured in the leg during the mission and can’t move around easily, so he’s temporarily staying here to recover. You can tell him anything you need.”
“Comrade Ruan, hello! This mission really couldn’t have gone smoothly without you. My teammates heard you have an exceptional memory and all want to meet you. Didn’t expect I’d get to meet you first!”
Li Bao had a shaved head and dark skin. When he smiled, he looked like a split open braised egg.
“It’s my honor to serve the country and the people.”
Ruan Tinghe rubbed her nose awkwardly. What exceptional memory? That was a bit exaggerated—she only remembered through images.
“Oh right, I heard you’re looking for someone?”
“Yes. Is there a Shen Yan in your team?” she asked, unsure if the undercover Shen Yan belonged to the same unit.
“You’re looking for Brother Shen?” Li Bao was surprised. “What’s the matter? If it’s something small, I can help you pass it on.”
“He asked me to draw a portrait for him. I’ve finished it, but I don’t know how to contact him.”
Li Bao looked troubled. “That’s difficult… Brother Shen left yesterday. I heard his son was hospitalized, so he rushed back home.”
Son?
He has a son?
For some reason, her heart tightened faintly at the news.
But she quickly let it go. It was just a casual acquaintance anyway.
“Yeah, Brother Shen’s son is already three years old. His wife is very beautiful too. No wonder he rushed back. If I had a wife and child waiting for me, I’d crawl back if I had to,” Li Bao said enviously.
Ruan Tinghe suddenly lost all interest in hearing about someone else’s happy family.
She handed over the drawing. “Please help me pass this to Comrade Shen.”
“What is it?” Li Bao opened it.
It was a portrait of a young girl, along with a badly damaged photograph.
“It’s Comrade Shen’s sister,” she explained.
“His sister?” Li Bao froze. “Brother Shen doesn’t have a sister. I’ve never heard of it. He only has two brothers—no daughters in his family at all!”
Ruan Tinghe went blank for a moment.
Then, as if something clicked, anger instantly flared up inside her.
So he was playing her?
Had she offended him somehow? Why was he messing with her?
Was it because of pride? Did he dislike being “led” by a woman and was taking revenge for that?
She had been forced into that situation too—it wasn’t like she wanted to dominate him. He was the one lying there like a wooden log, not reacting at all!
Aside from that, she couldn’t think of any reason she had offended him.
Unless… he was deliberately testing her drawing skills?
And here she was, even bandaging his wounds—and this was how he “repayed” her?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She snatched back the drawing and the photo.
“I’ll deliver it to him myself!”
She gritted her teeth.
Best not let her run into him again!
Fuming, she left.
She had too many things to do anyway.
She quickly went to the black market and sold items from her space, then sold everything valuable at home. With Old Chen’s help, all procedures for going to Shanghai were completed smoothly.
Two days later, she boarded a metal train with her children.
It was her first long journey since transmigrating. She couldn’t help feeling uneasy—unsure whether what awaited her was danger or opportunity.
The children, however, were simply excited, their faces full of curiosity.
“Oh, little girl, taking your younger siblings to visit relatives?”
Across from them, a woman wrapped in a blue floral headscarf handed over an apple.
“Ever eaten one? It’s an apple—very sweet. Take it.”
The scent was tempting, but the three children only glanced at it and shook their heads. They had been taught never to accept food from strangers.
Ruan Tinghe held them tightly. “Thank you, but no need.”
“I’m not a bad person,” the woman insisted. “I just thought of my grandchildren…”
Still, Ruan Tinghe didn’t believe her. Her grip tightened.
“No, thank you. The children are allergic to apples.”
The three children nodded in unison. “Yes, allergic!”
The woman didn’t give up. “Then oranges? I’ve got milk candy too.”
She rummaged in her bag, pulling out wrinkled oranges and candies.
Ruan Tinghe’s instincts screamed that something was wrong. Quietly, she reached into her space and grabbed a stun baton behind her back.
When she ignored her again, the woman suddenly changed expression.
With a sharp clang, she smashed her jade bracelet against the seat. It broke instantly.
“Ahhh! My family heirloom!”
She collapsed into the aisle, wailing loudly.
“This young woman is evil! I kindly gave her food, and she refused it—then she hit me and broke my jade bracelet! This was a family heirloom passed down for ten generations!”
“I didn’t break it!” Ruan Tinghe snapped coldly.
The three children also protested loudly.
“It wasn’t Mom!”
“She broke it herself!”
“You’re a bad person!”
The youngest babbled angrily, while the second child sighed and translated, “Sister says you’re very bad!”
The woman cried even harder.
“Everyone, look! She broke it and won’t admit it! Bullying an old woman!”
“If you don’t pay me, I’ll die right here!”
Soon, passengers gathered, pointing and whispering.
“She looks decent, how can she be so cruel?”
“That jade bracelet must be expensive…”
“Three kids and still acting like this? Could she be from a rich family?”
…
The old woman straightened slightly, seeing the crowd on her side. A smug look appeared on her face as she glared at Ruan Tinghe.
“Little girl, I won’t make things hard for you. Just pay for the bracelet.”
Ruan Tinghe calmly replied, “I don’t have any money. Why don’t you call the police?”