“Eh?”
“Uh.”
Both girls froze in surprise.
“S-s-s-s-sorry!!!”
Xia Rui’s face instantly flushed red as she awkwardly pulled her hand back.
“I-I just wanted to stretch a bit, but I accidentally grabbed your leg!”
This was the only excuse she could use to brush things off.
What else could she say?
Should she say, “Wow, Senior, your thighs look so white in those shorts that I really wanted to touch them and just couldn’t help myself,” or, “Senior, don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not trying to mess with you, I just wanted to switch the candy in your pocket”? Either way, it sounded all wrong.
Liang Rou was stunned for a moment, surprised, but after hearing the apology… she believed her.
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
She waved her hand dismissively, “Look how scared you are! I can’t exactly accuse you of harassment. I know it was just an accident~”
Hearing this, Xia Rui finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Everything went smoothly after that. Xia Rui successfully hooked out the Candy from Liang Rou’s pocket with her finger and tossed in the Candy she had just prepared.
“Whew~”
After finishing all this, Xia Rui finally relaxed and felt completely at ease.
When the Client finally finished making things difficult for everyone and left, Liang Rou slumped tiredly into her chair, feeling completely drained.
But it was alright. She wasn’t too drunk—after two trips to the restroom, she felt her energy returning, and she was especially grateful to that male colleague and to Xia Rui in the latter part of the evening.
As for why she said “the latter part of Xia Rui”…
Honestly, she found it strange, too. Xia Rui seemed like a different person later on, always shielding her, not letting the Client force her to drink too much.
The Client even seemed to respect her, and really didn’t give her a hard time after that.
Liang Rou didn’t know the reason, but Xia Rui did! At that point, she had finally pulled off the Sugar-Switch Incident, so of course she couldn’t let Liang Rou keep being forced to drink.
What if drinking too much made her sick? Xia Rui would feel terrible…
“Alright, I should head home, wash up early, and get some sleep. Got to be at work early tomorrow.”
Liang Rou picked up her bag and waved at Xia Rui.
“I’m off, Xia Rui. See you tomorrow~”
As soon as she heard this, Xia Rui immediately caught up to her.
“Senior, let me drive you home. It’s late, and it’s not safe for a girl to go alone, especially since you drank tonight. Don’t worry, I didn’t drink at all, so I can drive you.”
But Liang Rou shook her head.
“I have to ride my Electric Scooter home. If I leave it here, I’m afraid someone might steal it… Don’t get me started—someone even stole my Electric Scooter’s pedal before… Some people are just so rotten!”
After drinking, Liang Rou couldn’t control her mouth and started cursing without restraint.
“If I dare leave this e-bike on the street, even if it doesn’t get stolen, the seat or something might be gone by tomorrow…”
“…”
“Senior, why don’t you park your Electric Scooter in the Hotel’s underground garage?” Xia Rui asked.
Liang Rou scratched her head awkwardly.
“Come on, how could I? This kind of Hotel has only luxury cars in the underground garage. If I parked my little Electric Scooter there, wouldn’t people roll their eyes at me all the way to the heavens? So I just leave it by the roadside~”
Xia Rui opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but Liang Rou interrupted her again.
“Alright, Xia Rui, hurry and go home. If you keep fussing, I’ll really get mad!”
Seeing how determined Liang Rou was, Xia Rui had no choice but to give in.
“Alright then, Senior, when you get home, remember to Report for Safety. If I haven’t heard from you in an hour, I’ll come looking for you.”
Ah, what a warmhearted kid. Liang Rou sighed to herself.
“Okay, then I’m off. See you tomorrow.”
Liang Rou walked off with long strides.
Xia Rui sighed, took her car keys, and headed to the underground garage.
“But it’s fine. Even if Senior runs into trouble, I’ll know right away—after all, she’s carrying the same bag as last time.”
Inside that bag was the Surveillance Bug she had planted.
If Liang Rou got into any danger, Xia Rui would hear it, and could call the police immediately.
This was exactly why she could let Liang Rou go home alone with peace of mind—otherwise, she would have insisted further.
Back in her car, Xia Rui couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
“How did Senior realize? She didn’t seem to notice anything when I put the Candy in her hand… Did she suddenly figure it out after going to the restroom? Eating candy in the restroom? Ugh, that’s a bit much…” Xia Rui muttered to herself.
“Did someone tell her?”
The idea flashed across her mind, but she quickly dismissed it.
“Who would pay attention to something like that?”
She smiled wryly and shook her head. “Sigh, maybe it was just because Senior had eaten that kind of Candy before. This method was risky today. I really shouldn’t rush things in the future… Or it could turn into a disaster.”
She started her car.
What Xia Rui didn’t notice was that behind her, Wen Xiaoliang also slipped into her own car, eyes fixed on Xia Rui’s back, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the steering wheel.
“Interesting.”
She murmured to herself and drove off, ahead of Xia Rui.
The next day.
After work.
Once Liang Rou finished her tasks, she immediately dragged Xia Rui to the Police Station to file a report.
She hadn’t slept well the night before, plagued by a Nightmare—she dreamed that someone drugged her, and then… well, maybe it was just pent-up stress.
Otherwise, why would she dream something like that? She was a pure, innocent girl (right?).
She didn’t dare tell An Luxi about this, afraid the girl would worry.
On the way, Liang Rou kept grumbling about the wretched person who handed out the Candy.
Xia Rui stood beside her, forcing an awkward smile and echoing her complaints—cursing herself like this was a first for her.
At the Police Station, after they finished filing the report, they were told they’d have to wait at least one business day, and should head home and wait.
But only a few hours later, just as Liang Rou was lying at home, she got a call.
“What? It was just a normal piece of Candy?!”
She couldn’t believe it. “That’s it? Just like that?”
“Yes, just like that…”
Liang Rou scratched her hair in frustration. “Ugh, there really are such boring people—changing a Candy’s Sugar Wrapper and doing nothing else…”
As for Xia Rui, when she got the call and learned the result, her expression didn’t change at all. After hanging up, she muttered to herself:
“Looks like I’ll have to wait until we eat together next week before I make my move.”