"Awake?" A familiar magnetic voice sounded by her ear.
An Nuan's warm eyes glanced to the side at the man next to her, one arm in a cast while the other arm supported her head. He seemed to be looking her over as if he had been watching her sleep for some time.
Ye Jinghuai's lips curled into a faint smile. "You look good."
Damn charming.
An Nuan told herself not to fall for it.
She turned her eyes and sat up.
"I'm hungry," An Nuan said.
"Me too," Ye Jinghuai replied.
"If you were hungry why didn't you order food?" An Nuan was a little angry.
"I was waiting for you," Ye Jinghuai said matter-of-factly.
"Who told you to wait for me? You should have eaten first when you woke up hungry, I would have ordered when I woke up." Although she felt a little touched, she still thought Ye Jinghuai was asking to be scolded!
"I was waiting to eat you," Ye Jinghuai added suddenly.
An Nuan's heart stirred and a moment later she felt a little frustrated. Ye Jinghuai was always teasing her.
Seeing An Nuan's face turning red then white, Ye Jinghuai couldn't help but chuckle lightly.
He moved his body and stroked An Nuan's soft hair with his hand, the picture of doting indulgence. "I don't have anything to eat."
An Nuan didn't want to humor Ye Jinghuai anymore.
She never got any benefit from it anyway.
She looked around, bored.
By instinct she felt around for her phone before remembering it had been confiscated last night.
"Ye Jinghuai, our phones were taken away," she said.
"I know," Ye Jinghuai replied. "I also know that the reason they were able to find you was because of my phone."
An Nuan had guessed as much.
It was impossible they just happened to find her like that.
It was because she had turned on Ye Jinghuai's phone and gone online with it that they were able to track her location.
"What should we do about the phones then? Can we get them back?" An Nuan asked.
"I told Hu Feng to go buy new phones and get new numbers," Ye Jinghuai said.
An Nuan didn't dwell on it further.
Although there was a lot of data stored on her phone, she had a habit of regularly clearing it out and backing things up, so she probably didn't lose too much.
In the hospital room, a caregiver brought in the meal Ye Jinghuai had ordered.
An Nuan was starving.
After wolfing down two large bowls, she finally felt a little better.
Ye Jinghuai also ate quite a bit.
For the first time, the two of them finished everything on their plates.
"Full?" Ye Jinghuai asked.
An Nuan nodded. Her whole body sank into the sofa, more satisfied than she had ever felt.
Ye Jinghuai stroked her soft hair, the picture of utter pampering.
Qin Jiang walked into this lovey-dovey scene as soon as he entered the hospital room.
What had he done wrong to deserve this punishment from the couple?
"Ahem," Qin Jiang deliberately cleared his throat.
Ye Jinghuai glanced coldly at him.
"I don't want to disturb you either, but I have business," Qin Jiang said.
Ye Jinghuai nodded slightly.
"Should I leave?" An Nuan asked.
Before Qin Jiang could reply, Ye Jinghuai directly said, "No need."
Qin Jiang didn't say any more.
He sat down on the sofa next to them and bluntly told Ye Jinghuai, "All the relevant personnel from Laitan Town have been taken into custody by the Qing City police. With ample evidence, they will be brought to trial soon. It was a complete crackdown this time, basically leaving them no room to maneuver."
"Mm," Ye Jinghuai murmured in acknowledgment.
"This matter has also been fully exposed by the media. Your crackdown on local mob forces in Laitan Town while eliminating the drug cartel has been sensationally reported, and if nothing unexpected happens, your polling numbers should see a groundbreaking peak! There's still one week until the election, and at the current rate, catching up to and even surpassing your opponent is not out of the question."
Ye Jinghuai nodded again.
"What I mean is, when will you be discharged from the hospital? There are media crews waiting outside the hospital for you right now. This is a good opportunity for some extra exposure that would be beneficial," Qin Jiang suggested.
Ye Jinghuai seemed to consider it for a few seconds. "Tomorrow. Being discharged too early might raise suspicions."
"That works too," Qin Jiang nodded.
There was no hurry for the time being anyway.
"If there's nothing else, I'll get going. Oh right," Qin Jiang took out two phones. "Hu Feng is napping in the car. He asked me to bring you your phones."
Ye Jinghuai accepted them and told Qin Jiang, "You should head back and rest early too. Tell Hu Feng to go home and sleep as well, then come back when he's refreshed. Qing City is still safe for now."
"Got it."
Qin Jiang left.
Only An Nuan and Ye Jinghuai remained in the patient room.
The two turned on their phones with their numbers and started diligently re-downloading the apps they needed.
An Nuan suddenly asked, "Ye Jinghuai, how did you find me last night?"
She was just curious.
Why was he able to locate her?
"Didn't Qin Jiang tell you? The method that the local mob forces use to get rid of people there is to throw them into Blue River, right? All I had to do was wait by Blue River. If I was able to find you, then it meant you had been captured and I could rescue you. If I wasn't able to find you, then it meant you were safe and I didn't need to worry," he explained matter-of-factly.
"How did you know that?" An Nuan asked again.
"I investigated beforehand," he simply said.
"So before going to Laitan Town, you already knew about the local forces and drug cartel there?"
"More or less," Ye Jinghuai answered evasively.
"Which means everything was a plan you orchestrated?" An Nuan felt she already knew the answer. "In order to establish your merit and give the public a more direct view of your positive image, you chose this method to ensure your election campaign would be successful?"
"This was the only way I could think of to defeat Gu Yan Sheng who comes from a prestigious family and is doted on by the powerful. Otherwise, I would undoubtedly lose."
An Nuan bit her lip, a little speechless.
She hadn't really thought Ye Jinghuai stood a chance in this election, since in terms of timing, geographical advantage, connections or resources, he was at a disadvantage to Gu Yan Sheng in every aspect. Gu Yan Sheng had seized all the initiative from the very start and went all out, so for Ye Jinghuai wanting to turn the tables in this situation was just wishful thinking.
Yet he could immediately come up with this method to reverse his circumstances.
An Nuan already knew in her previous life that Ye Jinghuai was no simple character, but in this life she felt even more strongly that he was becoming less and less simple.
It was as if everything was under his control.
There was nothing he couldn't accomplish.
"Are you angry?" Ye Jinghuai asked, seeing An Nuan's unusually solemn expression.
An Nuan shook her head. "No, I just suddenly had a feeling that maybe I don't really understand you that well."
"No problem, we have plenty of time for you to get to know me slowly," he said lightly.
An Nuan gave a faint smile.
That was all she could do for now.
She turned her attention back to her phone.
As soon as she opened up a news app out of habit, An Nuan froze.
Today's headlines were all about the drug cartel organization and local mob forces in Laitan Town, including Ye Jinghuai's heroic deeds!
What shocked her was the report that drug lord Jiang Datong had committed suicide out of fear of punishment!
