Chapter 125: Life-Saving Grace
Xie Huaizheng knew that if something had truly happened to Su Zhaozhao, searching for her now would be like finding a needle in a haystack. He had to drive into the city first and contact his comrades in the network for help.
’Was she taken away, or is she hidden somewhere and unable to return?’
At this moment, the man’s expression was frighteningly grim. His thin lips were pressed into a tight line, and he was consumed by regret.
’If only he had insisted on Su Zhaozhao staying with him last night. If he had kept her by his side, would she still have gotten into trouble?’
But it had already happened. Xie Huaizheng knew there was no use dwelling on such thoughts; he had to find Su Zhaozhao, and fast.
After returning to the base, he gathered Xiao Yuanming and a few others. Then, Xie Huaizheng went to the communications room and contacted people in the city, asking them to check if Su Zhaozhao had been seen around the bus station or train station.
Afterward, Xie Huaizheng took Xiao Yuanming and the others and drove to the city. However, he also left one person behind to watch the station, just in case Su Zhaozhao had simply been delayed by something and was just coming back very late.
Xiao Yuanming was also getting anxious, knowing that Su Zhaozhao hadn’t returned.
"What are we going to do? Where on earth could Zhaozhao have gone?" Xiao Yuanming became extremely anxious upon learning Su Zhaozhao was missing.
’She’s so young and beautiful, and public safety is so poor around here. There was even that murderer before. It would be terrible if she ran into danger.’
Xie Huaizheng remained expressionless, his fists clenched.
He suddenly recalled that day they went to the city, when he had seen her talking to another man.
That man...
Xie Huaizheng immediately had someone investigate the man’s whereabouts. Then, he took Xiao Yuanming and the others into the city.
Su Zhaozhao was having a dream.
In the dream, she had returned to her original world. Her parents were there, her friends, and her job.
’Have I actually come back?’
She looked at this familiar world, feeling that the world she had transmigrated into was distant and blurry.
But to her surprise, her friends and family had no idea that she had been gone for so long.
It was as if time had frozen at the moment she left.
No one noticed anything unusual about her.
Even her WeChat chat history was stuck at the exact moment she had transmigrated.
"Su Zhaozhao, you’re on the clock. Are you daydreaming?"
Her supervisor walked over and shot Su Zhaozhao a glance.
Su Zhaozhao immediately sat up straight at her desk and got back to her work.
She was back at her old job, which involved the dense criminal records of suspects.
Her task was to analyze their criminal psychology and compile her findings to provide clues for the police or aid in crime prevention.
But the next moment, a sharp pain suddenly shot through Su Zhaozhao’s head.
The pain made her vision blur.
She clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, she found herself lying in a hospital bed.
The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant.
"You’re awake?" a voice said from beside her.
Su Zhaozhao turned her head and saw Xu Jiaming’s pale, gentle face.
The man’s eyes were bloodshot, and he looked exhausted.
’So it was a dream.’
Su Zhaozhao thought about the dream where she had returned to the modern world.
Her feelings were suddenly very complicated.
On one hand, she wanted to go back, but on the other, she was a little reluctant to leave this place.
She had probably invested too much of herself.
If, from the very beginning, she had just found a place to lie low and wait to go back, perhaps she wouldn’t have any attachments to this place now.
But now, she felt there were many people she couldn’t bear to leave.
Xu Jiaming stared at Su Zhaozhao. He had watched over her all night, but it was as if he still couldn’t get enough of looking at her.
Now that Su Zhaozhao was awake, she still seemed half-asleep, her gaze vacant as she stared at him.
He couldn’t tell who she was looking at, her gaze passing right through him.
He really didn’t like it when she was like this. She was here, so her gaze should be on him.
At this thought, Xu Jiaming took Su Zhaozhao’s hand and gave it a little squeeze. "What are you thinking about?"
Su Zhaozhao snapped back to reality and tried to pull her hand away, only to find that Xu Jiaming was gripping it so tightly she couldn’t break free.
"Let go of me!" Su Zhaozhao glared at him.
She noticed that a good deal of her spiritual power had returned, and she could speak normally again.
Xu Jiaming seemed to notice this too, a smile playing on his lips. "Looks like you’re recovering quite well."
With that, he leaned in, gazing into Su Zhaozhao’s eyes.
Su Zhaozhao froze, not expecting him to get so close all of a sudden.
Their gazes met for a moment before Xu Jiaming buried his head in the crook of her neck.
"I watched over you all night. I’m dead tired. Don’t move, just let me lean on you for a bit."
Su Zhaozhao started to struggle, but Xu Jiaming spoke again. "Can you not treat your savior like this?"
Toward the end, Xu Jiaming’s voice grew soft.
His breathing became deep and steady.
’Did he really just fall asleep like that?!’
Su Zhaozhao was utterly shocked.
But she really didn’t dare to move.
’Xu Jiaming saved me and watched over me all night?’
Her consciousness seemed to have faded after Xu Jiaming placed her on his soft sleeper bunk.
She had no idea what happened after that.
’So, was it Xu Jiaming who took care of me this whole time?’
Su Zhaozhao suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.
Still, she couldn’t just let him sleep leaning on her like this.
With this in mind, Su Zhaozhao carefully shifted away, giving half of her pillow to Xu Jiaming.
’There’s no difference if he leans on the pillow to sleep.’
Perhaps because he was truly exhausted, her careful movements didn’t wake him.
Su Zhaozhao looked at Xu Jiaming sleeping on his front. His black hair, usually kept so neat and tidy, was now a bit messy.
It made him look more boyish.
’He’s not really a bad person.’
Su Zhaozhao thought that, thankfully, he had found her. Otherwise, if she had really been dragged all the way to Shencheng City by Su Dashan and Zhang Fengxia, she was afraid she wouldn’t have made it.
Xu Jiaming was startled awake when the doctor came in to check on Su Zhaozhao.
Waking up to find himself hugging Su Zhaozhao’s pillow, he looked up at her with a hint of resigned exasperation.
"Zhaozhao, you really hurt my feelings."
Su Zhaozhao just smiled at him. "Sorry."
Although she apologized, there wasn’t a trace of apology on her face.
’But she was just so beautiful, her smile so sweet.’
Still, seeing that she was no longer nervous and afraid around him, Xu Jiaming was quite pleased.
’If only they could take things a step further.’
The doctor examined Su Zhaozhao and said to her, "Your vitals are back to normal. There are no problems. You can be discharged today."
"Shouldn’t she be observed for another two days?" Xu Jiaming asked, still worried.
"It’s not necessary. Her indicators are normal. It’s better for her to be discharged and focus on recuperating at her own pace."
After the doctor left, the two of them were alone in the room again.
Xu Jiaming stroked Su Zhaozhao’s hair, his hand then moving to the side of her cheek.
He leaned down, drew close, and whispered, "Zhaozhao, when someone saves your life, isn’t it proper to repay them by pledging yourself to them?"