She is the most beautiful rose

Chapter 328 I Want to Be Stronger

Shen Manzhi had recently changed her habits; her phone, which had long been off silent mode, vibrated a few times in her pocket.

Just then, Qin Yanfeng wrapped one arm around her slender waist and lifted her chin to deepen the kiss.

So she ignored it.

Deep in the corridor, where club customers usually don't come, Qin Yanfeng only let go of her when her breathing became heavier and the phone rang urgently.

Shen Manzhi looked at the incoming call on his phone, and her body, which had intended to step back, was pulled back.

He didn't answer, letting the phone ring.

But the expression beneath his lowered eyes was like that of a butterfly with broken wings, trembling and weak.

She must have felt bad after saying those words.

It's like a couple just entering the honeymoon phase, one is planning for the future, while the other is thinking about leaving.

How can you expect someone not to be sad?

Shen Manzhi grasped his hand, her tone softening, "I was just chatting with Jingmo..."

"Yes, a gift."

A small gift box was stuffed into his arms, and he couldn't utter a sound to explain.

Qin Yanfeng chose to avoid the topic.

It was as if he hadn't heard anything at the door before, and only turned to leave because he needed to answer the phone.

As Shen Manzhi frowned, he finally answered the phone, "Okay, wait for me downstairs."

After saying that, he touched her face and said softly and gently, "There's something urgent I need to do, I have to go out for a bit."

She didn't move, her hand resting on the wall behind him, raising an eyebrow slightly. "When you come back, will you be less angry?"

“I’m not angry,” he said, lifting his downcast eyes slightly, his tone somewhat nonchalant. “It’s not like this is the first time I’ve heard you say that.”

"..."

Knowing he was in the wrong, Shen Man let go.

Qin Yanfeng lowered his head and kissed her. "Wait for me at home."

After everyone left, she leaned against the wall for a while, and only after her pain subsided did she slowly walk back with the gift box in her hand.

Jingmo leaned against the door with his arms crossed, looking at the things in her hands with a meaningful expression. "So, are you the one coaxing him, or is he coaxing you?"

Shen Manzhi raised an eyebrow.

It seems like she never manages to appease anyone.

Jingmo's teasing expression gradually faded. "Zhizhi."

She raised an eyebrow.

Is he your weakness?

Emotions are the Achilles' heel of people like them; everyone says so.

He even made fun of himself like that.

Shen Manzhi paused for a moment, then smiled and asked in return, "Why can't he be my armor?"

Jing Mo paused slightly, a look of worry creeping onto his brow.

“I used to think that I was all alone and had no ties. I was always fighting and killing, and I didn’t care much about life and death.”

“Now,” she paused for half a second, as if she had thought of something, her eyes softening as she smiled, “he is sincere, so it’s not unreasonable for me to reciprocate with my sincerity.”

Her casual tone shifted, her expression turning slightly serious. "I want to be even stronger."

It can protect the people you care about.

Jingmo's eyes felt a little sore.

The two of them rarely discussed things at this level, since neither of them had ever imagined that, besides surviving, they would one day risk everything to protect others.

She smiled gently, "Can you protect yourself?"

Shen Manzhi slightly raised her chin. "Of course."

That's enough.

When Baihu sent the second message, Shen Manzhi was preparing to return to Blue Bay.

That's when she saw the message that her phone had been vibrating, which she had previously ignored.

An attack and assault occurred at the intersection east of Shiyou Road.

[Police officers from the third district responded to the call, including Joey.]

Her pupils contracted slightly as she dialed the number back.

Where are we now?

Bai Hulian followed the vehicle in front, "heading to the Third District Police Station."

Shen Manzhi left the gift box in the room, not even having time to open it, and immediately grabbed the keys and drove off to her destination.

I connected via Bluetooth and spoke to the white tiger. "What's going on?"

“The local police from the third district responded to the emergency. I followed Joey’s car. When we arrived at the scene, the person had already been taken into custody. The victim was bleeding heavily and had been taken to the hospital. According to the onlookers, he was having a mental breakdown and was biting anyone he could get his hands on.”

"Bite?"

Shen Manzhi's tone was somewhat urgent, "What happened with the massive bleeding?"

The white tiger's voice lowered considerably, "It bit through an artery."

She frowned.

"I heard that some passersby tried to stop him, but seeing that the man was completely like a madman, they didn't dare to get close. Suddenly, he was sprayed with blood in his face, and then several tall men rushed out from the crowd and surrounded him before dragging him away. Fortunately, some of those people knew common sense and applied pressure to the wound in time to ease the pain."

Shen Manzhi accelerated and merged into the left lane. "Where are those people?"

"They came to the police station. There were several cars parked on the side of the road, and they all came over. I think they probably want to take statements. That makes sense. In this kind of sudden incident, it just so happens that a group of capable people appeared and resolved it. It seems suspicious no matter how you look at it."

Baihu didn't hear a response. "Are you thinking about the assault that happened at the mall a few months ago?"

The only difference between the two cases is that in the former, the person who suddenly appeared helped the suspect escape, while in this case, the person arrested the suspect.

Shen Manzhi was silent for a moment, then said, "We still haven't found that person from last year."

"You want to sneak in and take a look?"

She said matter-of-factly and calmly, "Otherwise, what would I be here for?"

In the cold winter of the New Year, lanterns and decorations are everywhere. Driving from the city center to the three districts, only a few small red lanterns are hanging on the roadside trees.

As we approach the border town, many shops have already closed.

Shen Manzhi entered a noodle shop at the street corner, sat down against the wall, and ordered, "Two liang of noodles."

The boss glanced at her and slowly went to the kitchen.

The Third District Police Station is located diagonally across the street.

Just minutes after she arrived at the store, a police car sped to a stop at the entrance, followed closely by several unlicensed taxis.

The "person" was pulled out of the first black car.

Even from that great distance, Shen Manzhi could clearly sense that the person was acting strangely.

He was too thin, frighteningly thin, with exposed skin like dark tree bark, a black cloth bag over his head, and his long limbs were still flailing wildly.

The people who got out of the police car rushed forward. The Third District Police Station was small, and the sidewalks were so crowded with these people that they almost blocked Shen Manzhi's entire view.

The third district is located in the west, with few residential areas, and there are hardly any pedestrians on the streets late at night in the cold winter.

The owner brought over the steaming hot noodles, and she suddenly stood up, startling him. "Aren't you going to eat?"

The suspect was hooded and led inside, followed by several men in black. The crowd finally dispersed, and Shen Manzhi sat down. "Eat."

She kept staring at the opposite side and finally saw that slender figure.

Joey jogged to the second car in a row of black cars parked on the side of the road, bent down and knocked on the window.

Shen Manzhi broke apart the disposable chopsticks and was picking up the noodles when she saw the rear window of the car slowly rolling down.

The high-hanging warm yellow streetlights were already somewhat dim, covered in years of grime. She saw Joey take two steps back, and the car door was pushed open.

I didn't see the person, I only saw long legs getting off the bus.

My gaze was then drawn to several unfamiliar faces.

This time, I was blocked by someone coming in from the noodle shop entrance.

She tightened her grip on the chopsticks, looked down at the noodles which didn't look very appetizing, and tapped the phone screen on the table with her other hand.

With a "whoosh," she quickly grabbed the steaming hot noodles and threw them at the person who came in. The shards scattered everywhere, completely drowned out by the sound of the roller shutter hitting the ground.

The sound of the shop closing its shutters was somewhat jarring on this quiet, sparsely populated street. Baihu, standing in the next alley, glanced over there before focusing on the scene before him.

The person who got out of the car seemed to pause for a moment. He was facing the other side of the street, and his peripheral vision seemed to be drawn to the closed shops across the street for a brief moment.

Baihu was on the other side, and he only saw the person clearly when the man turned to the side. Mr. Qin?!

He glanced down at his phone and sent a message.

Then, Joey stood in front of Qin Yanfeng and said something. The latter took two steps toward the police station entrance, then remembered something and said, "Wait a moment, I'll make a phone call."

The noodle shop on the street corner was small to begin with, and with seven or eight people crammed in, it looked crowded and chaotic.

Shen Manzhi sensed something was wrong when she met their eyes. Looking down, she saw that each of them had a baseball bat in their hand.

The roller shutter slammed shut, spilling a bowl of hot noodles onto the floor. Neither of them spoke.

Those people had such fierce eyes that they wished they could kill her, but they also had some inexplicable reservations.

The only thing Shen Manzhi could think of when they brazenly attacked someone in front of the police station was the fight she had that evening, and now the other party had come looking for her.

People in the underworld never waste words.

It wasn't until the phone rang that the fuse was lit, and things spiraled out of control.

She only caught a glimpse of the incoming call out of the corner of her eye, and before she could even answer it, she grabbed a stool and went to meet the caller. Her injured abdomen put her at a disadvantage, and the other person seemed to know her weakness, using a baseball bat to push her up and down, forcing her against the wall.

Another man swung a stick and brought it down hard on the stool that was blocking her head, but was stopped sternly by the person behind her, "Take her alive, don't cripple her."

The moment the opponent lost their grip, Shen Manzhi's expression darkened slightly. The thin muscles on her arm holding the stool bulged out as she pressed down to block the attack aimed at her abdomen while dodging the blow to her head. She twisted the stool in her hand to "imprison" the opponent's baseball bat.

Leaning against the wall for support, she kicked the iron stool next to her feet with all her might, sending it crashing into the man's knee. She reached for the still-ringing cell phone on the table, but the only person who had spoken had already seen through her intention and snatched the phone away first.

He glanced at the incoming call casually, then, under Shen Manzhi's cold and fierce expression, he gave a gloomy sneer and smashed the phone on the ground.

It shattered into pieces in an instant.

Shen Manzhi's pupils contracted slightly.

I want to be even stronger.

Can you protect yourself?

【certainly. 】

Her heart was pounding, and when she looked up, her eyes were bloodshot. She stared coldly at the person in front of her, and with lightning speed, she removed one hand from the stool that was holding the baseball bat, intercepting the attack from the side.

The baseball bat in her hand was almost as strong as the opponent's. When she realized she couldn't pull it back, the man's face turned purplish-red, and he and the other man exchanged a look of horrified disbelief.

To fight two opponents single-handedly, and to resist so tenaciously and unscathed even while wounded, is like a doll switched to battle mode?
Then, the person behind her, who was controlling everything with his arms crossed, looked at Shen Manzhi's sudden burst of power, paused for half a second, and then suddenly laughed, but the laugh was sinister, "It's her."

No one answered. Qin Yanfeng lowered his eyes and looked back at the WeChat interface before putting his phone away. "Let's go."

Seeing that Shen Manzhi had not yet replied, Baihu looked around and then noticed a car parked at the intersection across the street.

He made a call, but the message said "unable to connect". When he dialed again, the message said "out of service".

what happened?

Once most of the people had left the police station, he quietly walked to the other side, taking a detour to reach the opposite street corner.

Ancestor's car?

He kept dialing the phone and knocking on the car door, but there was no response, and he looked increasingly impatient.

A loud noise came from the shop behind me, like something being overturned and people shouting.

He didn't pay attention and went back to his chat history with his ancestor.

【I have arrived. 】

Find a place to observe the situation first. We don't know the motives of those people who suddenly appeared; let's not alert them.

To avoid any accidents, the phone will be silenced, but not turned off.

His brow twitched, and he looked sharply at the shop at the street corner that had suddenly pulled down its shutter and closed for the day.

"Come to the noodle shop at the street corner, help!"

He dialed another number, his face grim, and as he rushed over, he pulled out the multi-tool from his waist and pried open the door.

In the chaotic noodle shop, four or five people lay sprawled out, with bloodstains everywhere, a veritable crime scene.

When Baihu broke in, he watched helplessly as a dagger was thrust towards Shen Manzhi's back. "Watch out!"

The tool in his hand was thrown like a dart, hitting the man's wrist squarely, and then kicked like a jaguar at the nearest person.

The other person's limp body collapsed to the ground.

White Tiger was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, "I'm not that strong."
Someone gave the order, "Go!"

Shen Manzhi leaned against the wall, slightly bent over, the baseball bat she had snatched. Her disheveled hair and congealed bloodstains could not conceal the violence emanating from her.

Of the seven people, only three were still able to move. Upon seeing this, they all rushed to the kitchen and disappeared.

Baihu panicked and rushed forward. Seeing her bloodless face and the blood-soaked abdomen, his heart sank like a bottomless pit. His voice trembled uncontrollably, "Ancestor! Go back, I'll take you back!"

Shen Manzhi was exhausted, barely able to open her eyes, her blood-stained hands gripping his clothes, "Go...find Shen Ci..."

"Okay, okay, I'll take you to find Shen Ci!"

Baihu picked her up and headed outside, yelling at the people behind him, "Go get the car!"

When Qin Yanfeng came out of the police station, he was followed by several tall men who walked obediently toward the vehicles on the side of the road.

He habitually took out his phone, but there were no messages or calls.

"Boss," Zuo Yi, who was waiting outside, strode over, "there's been a problem with the cooperation in Hong Kong. They called the company headquarters."

"what happened?"

“There’s an investor on the other side who wants to renegotiate the terms.”

Qin Yanfeng's expression didn't change at all as he walked straight into the car. "The papers were already signed, and he's changing them like that? What, is he the sole shareholder?"

“This investment talent came back from abroad,” Zuo Yi said, embarrassed. “From what I heard, it seemed like he had a connection with the old man.”

Oh, it's about giving favors.

Qin Yanfeng said indifferently, "Ignore it."

"Okay," Zuo Yi finally felt relieved, started the car, and was about to ask where to go when the boss's phone rang.

"Grandpa? It's so late and you're still not resting?"

The old man replied casually, then asked, "There's something I need to ask you. Has the company called you yet?"

Qin Yanfeng looked up at Zuo Yi in the front-view mirror and said, "They said the contract with Xiangjiangnan needs to be renegotiated?"

“Yes, he’s an old friend of mine. I only just found out he’s the controlling shareholder of that company,” the old man said earnestly. “We’ve been cooperating with the Qin family for decades, but they’ve been declining in recent years and are probably having some financial difficulties. Negotiating the contract terms is a minor issue; the key is that they have the core technology, so we must secure the project.”

Qin Yanfeng had originally intended to have the project manager revise the contract, but upon hearing that the collaboration had begun decades ago, he changed his mind and simply said, "Okay."

"You're with Manzhi?"

His long eyelashes drooped slightly. "No."

The old man sighed, "Then you'll probably have to make another trip tonight. He's back in China this time to handle the acquisition of his own maritime import and export trading company. The other party is a cross-border enterprise. I remember you've handled a few similar acquisition cases abroad before. Go and lend a hand."

Indeed, favors are not something to be exchanged lightly.

Qin Yanfeng unbuttoned his coat and took a deep breath. "Going over tonight?"

"The acquisition will start at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. If you don't go there in advance to prepare and get a feel for the situation, you'll be going in alone tomorrow."

Seemingly sensing his hesitation, the old man coughed twice. "Is there something else?"

Qin Yanfeng scrolled to Shen Manzhi's chat box, "No."

"Then let's book tickets and go there quickly."

Zuo Yi glanced at his boss in the rearview mirror and asked, "Shall we go to the airport?"

After all, the suitcases from the return trip were still in the car.

He only went to Kyōwei to see Shim Man-chi.

Recalling the way Shen Manzhi nodded in agreement with his words "Wait for me when you get home" before leaving, his heart, which had been hanging in limbo, softened for a moment.

"Let's go back to Blue Bay first."

The cat lay quietly curled up in its cat bed, not making a sound even when the door opened; it was probably fast asleep.

Qin Yanfeng moved quietly towards the master bedroom.

The cotton wadding was neatly arranged; no one was there.

The second bedroom was empty.

Shen Manzhi was nowhere to be found in the entire house.

Qin Yanfeng stood in the living room, his eyes dim, and suddenly realized that she hadn't come back.

【I like you. 】

Who knows what the future holds?

Little liar.