Chapter 7: Guardian of Beauty
Ran Jing ordered a few signature homemade-style dishes, and she started asking Xu Cheng all kinds of questions as the two dug in to eat.
While the two ate, the eyes of all the men around them were, in fact, locked onto Xu Cheng. Ran Jing’s goal was simple, she just wanted to show Xu Cheng how popular and rare a beautiful woman like her was in this society. She was the belle of their Criminal Investigation Department, the one that every male colleague would beg to be given a chance to talk to.
Xu Cheng said beauties like her weren’t effective on him, so she brought him here to show how attractive she was to everyone else. She thought that this would also teach Xu Cheng to mellow down a bit towards her in the next few months they would be rooming together. It was natural for women to lack the sense of security, plus the encounter this morning taught Ran Jing that she couldn’t beat Xu Cheng by force either. If she didn’t show off the kind of followers she had, it would be too late if Xu Cheng were to do something outrageous towards her.
“Jing, don’t tell me that this guy is your boyfriend!” At this moment, a guy with a buzzcut and a green leather vest came over, surrounding the table with three other colleagues.
Ran Jing replied, “Of course not, Li Dazhuang, don’t give me this nonsense.”
Li Dazhuang immediately said, “If he’s not your boyfriend why was he sitting in your car and now dining with you?”
Then, he sat down and took a look at Xu Cheng. “Bro, what’s your name?”
Ran Jing answered instead, “Xu Cheng.”
Li Dazhuang became even more pissed and questioned impatiently. “I’m asking him, why are you answering instead? Who is this guy to you?”
Xu Cheng replied, “I’m Xu Cheng, not related to her in any intimate way.”
Li Dazhuang decided to probe around first, “What do you do?”
He was indeed pissed, but he was not the one that would blindly take on some guy without having much information.
Xu Cheng slightly frowned, but when he saw the crafty light in Ran Jing’s eyes, he thought that he would save himself some trouble. He immediately put down his chopsticks. “I’m sorry, I’m not a criminal, maybe you are asking too much. I’m done eating and have something to attend to, so I will leave first.”
Ran Jing, “Then I will drive you.”
“Drive him? DRIVE HIM?” Li Dazhuang immediately shouted and waved impatiently at Xu Cheng, “Get the f*ck out.”
“What are you doing, Li Dazhuang!” Ran Jing immediately yelled, “He’s my roommate, I’m just treating him to a meal. Why are you making a big deal out of it?”
What a sly little girl… Not to mention anything else, just the word “roommate” alone was enough to blow Li Dazhuang’s cap off.
“Roommate?”
Not just Li Dazhuang, everyone else was also dumbfounded.
What should he do now?
Li Dazhuang was anxious, how could his goddess be rooming with some male stranger?
How could he allow this?!
“No!” Li Dazhuang loudly opposed, “How can it be that you can’t find a single room in Shangcheng anymore, so you have to live with this stranger?”
“None of your business!” Ran Jing frowned. “Besides, do you know where the unit is? It’s a high-class condo. The rent alone is already close to 10k per month! If you won’t let me live there for free, then are you going to help me pay for another condo?”
Uh…
Li Dazhuang was speechless. When it came to money, no one was having an easy time. It’s not like he couldn’t afford to pay for a unit for Ran Jing to live in, it was just that he would have to starve if he were to do so. After all, the prices in Shangcheng were way too high.
“Ran Jing, in short, for your reputation, after I finish the case on my hands, I will go condo-hunting with you.” He then looked towards Xu Cheng from the corner of his eyes and said, “Who knows what kind of stuff this kind of people will do to you. You are not safe living there.”
Ran Jing laughed, “I’m fine. We did go for a few rounds today, and he got some moves. Even I couldn’t defeat him.”
Xu Cheng would be dumb if he couldn’t hear that Ran Jing was trying to direct anger at him.
Sure enough, Li Dazhuang turned to look at Xu Cheng. “Oh, you got a thing or two?”
Xu Cheng didn’t want the hassle, so he turned around and prepared to leave.
Ran Jing then continued, “Yeah, originally it was the property management that wanted to kick me out. I got angry, so I tried to teach him a lesson but didn’t expect him to lock me down on the ground within a few moves.”
Ran Jing’s words sounded very natural and harmless, but every word of hers made Li Dazhuang and the other guardians of this beauty angry.
This guy dared to lay hands on our goddess?
This guy sure has balls!
“Bro, you think you can just walk out like this? You sure your business is done?” Li Dazhuang looked at Xu Cheng’s back and said.
At the same time, two other colleagues blocked Xu Cheng’s path.
“Come on, we are all colleagues, why give each other a hard time?” Xu Cheng bitterly smiled.
Li Dazhuang directly walked towards him, so Ran Jing immediately pulled onto the corner of his clothes, “What are you guys planning to do?”
“Don’t worry, we aren’t thugs. There are always ways to solve this like men.” Li Dazhuang came to Xu Cheng and said in disdain, “Who said we are colleagues?”
Xu Cheng directly took out his ID and said, “I’m a police officer as well, that’s why I gave Ran Jing the chance to stay at my place. Otherwise, I would be too lazy to look after her.”
Li Dazhuang’s eyes became wide open, and he took a close look, “Oh what, just a regional officer?”
Regional police were officers that patrolled the local communities, but in comparison to the specialized and busy criminal investigation officers, their job was a lot more chill and easy.
Ran Jing was also a bit shocked that Xu Cheng was a police officer as well. If she knew that Xu Cheng was a police officer, she wouldn’t have given him a hard time… But when she was going to go over and stop the conflict, Li Dazhuang stopped her from intervening.
He raised his chin and looked at Xu Cheng with his nostrils flaring. “Who is your colleague?”
The two officers beside him burst into laughter too, “Dazhuang’s on the SWAT Team. Just look at his height and muscles, you think you are on the same level as us? Do you know what SWAT is?”
“I know.” Xu Cheng replied, “But what’s the difference? We all serve the people.”
“I think you really don’t get the difference.” Li Dazhuang flexed his chest muscles and biceps. “Don’t you have a move or two?”
Ran Jing frowned. “Li Dazhuang, control yourself. Go eat your food.”
“He bullied you, so how can we let him off this easily? It would be a different story if he bullied another man, but you are the department belle! How could he have the heart to?” Li Dazhuang said in dissatisfaction.
Xu Cheng looked at Ran Jing and asked, “Do you want my apology?”
Ran Jing answered, “What apology?! Don’t listen to Li Dazhuang!”
Li Dazhuang became a bit angry, “She doesn’t want it, but I need you to apologize to her.”
Very domineering!
Xu Cheng grinned and directly pushed away the two colleagues of Li Dazhuang that were blocking his way. He then looked at Li Dazhuang and said, “And what if I don’t?”
Li Dazhuang rubbed his fists and shrugged his shoulders. “What do you think will happen?”