Chapter 216: Chapter 216

The consultation room fell into a dead silence.

Thanks to Huo Danru’s secretary calling on the internal line, the silence was broken.

Huo Danru was quite surprised after listening to the call: "What did you say? Xiang Yuan and his friend started fighting downstairs?"

Shi Nian grabbed her bag and rushed out.

Downstairs, three men were at a standoff, but it was evident that Mark was at a disadvantage.

Mark was also well-trained, but unfortunately, his Western fencing was too standard and the defensive space was mostly focused on the upper body. He suffered at Xiang Yuan’s hands, receiving two solid punches on his face.

Tang Yanqing crossed his arms, watching lightly from the sidelines.

Xiang Yuan was raised in the Tang Family since childhood, thrown by his grandfather, Old Sir Tang, into the wrestling gym with Xue Ruke. He learned plenty of moves like wrestling, martial arts, and cold weapon fighting. This was a tradition left by the Military Governor ancestor of the Tang family. Although the training for these kids wasn’t as rigorous now, boys are inherently competitive, and they didn’t miss the chance to spar and transform those routines into more practical combat skills.

So he was confident; though Xiang Yuan seemed gentlemanly, he’d never suffer a loss in a fight.

Indeed, Mark was furious, shocked that the lawyer who was supposed to protect him had become an adversary, so he angrily took out his phone.

Tang Yanqing sensibly asked, "Mark, what are you doing? Calling the police?"

Mark gritted his teeth: "Yes, I am calling the police!"

Tang Yanqing smiled understandingly: "There’s no need to go through the hassle. There’s a ready policeman, me, right in front of you."

Mark, just realizing, nodded: "Alright, Mr. Tang, you saw it, he hit me. Arrest him!"

Tang Yanqing glanced at Xiang Yuan. Xiang Yuan had calmed down by then, but there was still a hint of the earlier frenzy in his eyes, a bit awkwardly looking at him... Anyway, if a lawyer is caught by the police for street fighting and falls into a legal record, it would be difficult to continue in his profession; moreover, the one getting hit was his own client. The lawyer’s reputation would be ruined.

Tang Yanqing then raised his gaze to the stars above, immediately exclaimed "Oh dear, oh dear," and rubbed his eyes: "Such strong wind, got in my eyes."

He apologized and turned to Mark: "Sorry, what did you say? I just got something in my eyes, saw nothing."

In such a quiet night, there was no one around. As a police officer, Tang Yanqing knew exactly where in this neighborhood there were police surveillance cameras, and naturally, he had chosen a blind spot. As the sole eyewitness present, he claimed to have seen nothing, rendering Mark’s accusations futile!

"You!" Mark was furious, glaring at Tang Yanqing: "Mr. Tang, you’re favoring him!"

Tang Yanqing smiled and returned the sentiment: "Mark, I should remind you, don’t forget you’re on bail for assault. If you commit an assault while on bail, your bail will terminate immediately, and—your bail money is quite a sum. If you’re not heartbroken, I feel it for you."

Saying this, Tang Yanqing glanced at Xiang Yuan: "And at this point, Mark, your attorney won’t defend you. Lawyer Xiang, am I wrong?"

Xiang Yuan squinted his eyes: "I also think if he commits an assault while on bail, he is challenging the fairness of the law, and I don’t mind giving up the defense."

Mark gritted his teeth harshly: "You both!"

Yet, the two people in front of him, one a police officer, the other a lawyer, were the most skilled at maneuvering the law. Even as he grinded his teeth, he was helpless.

Shi Nian arrived at the scene amidst this chaos, facing the three men.

Compared to Mark’s fierce appearance and Tang Yanqing’s playful expression, what shocked her more was Xiang Yuan.

Since she heard Xiang Yuan was serving as Mark’s defense lawyer, she had lowered her expectations to the minimum—thinking he was ultimately doing it for his career and disregarding her feelings. Even if he didn’t know she was Nana at the time, she hoped he, as a lawyer, stood for justice and not disregarding right and wrong for money.

But in front of her, Xiang Yuan was throwing punches directly at Mark for her sake.

Xiang Yuan was fighting with Mark on the street for her... moreover, Mark was his client, whose bail money alone amounted to 800,000 US dollars.

Claiming not to be moved would be a lie.

Shi Nian hurriedly stepped forward, looked up at Xiang Yuan: "Your hand is bleeding."

Previously, Xiang Yuan exerted too much force, met with Mark’s resistance, and his fist hit Mark’s elbow, causing his skin at the joints to break and bleed.

The serene night surrounded them; distant air brought a faint floral scent. Before him, Shi Nian appeared peacefully elegant, her eyes clear, slowly stepping toward him.

At this moment, Xiang Yuan was stunned.

How long had it been since he’d last seen her ?

He reached out his hand in a daze, extending it in front of her, watching as she magically pulled out a band-aid from her bag, then grabbed his hand and led him into Huo Danru’s office building, looking for a bathroom to help rinse his wound clean.

At this moment, Shi Nian seemed to only have eyes for Xiang Yuan. Tang Yanqing and Mark both squinted simultaneously. This content belongs to noᴠelfire.net

Seeing Shi Nian holding Xiang Yuan’s hand and heading towards the office building’s entrance, Tang Yanqing looked up at Mark in frustration, "What, you’re still not leaving? How long do you plan to watch? What, waiting for me to invite you back to the police station for coffee?"

Tang Yanqing would never forget Mark’s taunting comment to Jia Tianzi about coffee.

Mark glared at Tang Yanqing, then turned to glance at the office building, giving a proud smile, "Professor... oh no, Mr. Tang, why is your temper suddenly so bad?"

Tang Yanqing, abandoning the nonchalance he usually had when lecturing Mark and the others, lowly and somewhat embarrassingly growled, "Still not leaving?!"

Mark raised his hands in a surrender gesture, "Okay, okay. I’m going. Mr. Tang, don’t get too worked up... from what you all say, they’re a couple, isn’t it perfectly reasonable for them to act this way? Mr. Tang, why are you so upset?"

Tang Yanqing gritted his teeth, giving a chilling smile, "Mark, I’m counting to three. If you’re still in front of me, I’ll immediately invite you back to the police station and ask the judge to revoke your bail!"

Mark shrugged, then without further delay, turned and walked towards his car. Yet when he reached the car, he still looked back, with a sympathetic, even mocking gaze.

Tang Yanqing stood by the roadside, gently closing his eyes.

He wasn’t bothered by Mark’s mockery, but what could he do now?

Reluctantly turning his head towards the office building, he watched her small figure nestled by Xiang Yuan’s side, carefully holding his hand as they leaned on each other and walked inside together. The lights from the glass door were so bright, they made his eyes sting, so painfully.

It was already after work hours, and the bathroom in the office building was quiet. The light from the mirror softly reflected back, illuminating Shi Nian and Xiang Yuan.

Xiang Yuan lowered his eyes, not caring at all about the injury on his fist, just staring at Shi Nian. He wanted to see her facial expression clearly, but since she kept her head down busy caring for his hand, he couldn’t see her face, and his gaze could only fall on the top of her head.

Such long-lost gentle treatment made a wild joy surge uncontrollably in his heart.

Even though he still couldn’t be sure that she had forgiven him just like that, at least they had found a good start between them, hadn’t they?

What his father had said was indeed right; as long as he genuinely opened his heart, letting her see his sincerity, she would understand and might forgive him.

Joyful yet nervous, he rubbed his intact hand on his pant leg, not knowing when his palm had become sweaty.

He took a deep breath and said softly, "Shi Nian... I’m sorry. I didn’t know before that the person Mark wanted to hurt was you, that’s why I agreed to be his defense lawyer."

Shi Nian looked up quickly at him, then lowered her head again, helping him dry the moisture on his wound with her breath and then applying the band-aid.

"I know. Although I felt upset, I also knew you weren’t aware. And tonight... you even hit Mark for my sake, which made me understand that I had wrongly blamed you."

Shi Nian raised her eyes, "In this matter, the one who should apologize, actually, is me."

In this world, it seemed there wasn’t a single restroom without walls that carried sound, so the man standing alone leaning against the wall outside didn’t need to make an effort to clearly hear the conversation between the two inside.

He lowered his head, dejectedly looking at the light reflected on the marble floor, standing alone in that light.

It was all his own fault; why did he give Xiang Yuan the chance to throw a punch earlier, instead of striking Mark himself?

If he had moved first at that time, wouldn’t the current situation not have happened?

Or, perhaps, the happy man whose hand she was gently holding, whose wound she had washed and then personally bandaged, should be him, and not Xiang Yuan, right?

Feeling restless, he couldn’t help but take out a cigarette to smoke.

But he didn’t know that smoking was strictly prohibited in this office building, with highly sensitive fire safety equipment installed on the roof. Filled with worry and sadness, the smoke he exhaled rose and triggered the sprinklers, causing a sudden rain-shower to fall from above.

Poor ill-prepared handsome man, with a cigarette still hanging from his lips, was soaked to the skin.

[Second Update of the Morning]