Chapter 102 - We got married

...

Xiao Lei smiled as she thought about the past. "I stayed as his sister for a few years. Then as you know, we got married, and Zhihao came along shortly after."

They did not get married for real, but to Xiao Lei, it was the same. Without a formal identity, there was no way they could register their marriage. Still, Xiao Yunjie gave her a wedding ceremony. It was a small one, but Xiao Lei had felt extremely happy that day. 

Han Ye nodded. From her description, he could tell that she was genuinely happy with her husband. However, something bothered him slightly. 

"What exactly was your husband's job back then?" Han Ye asked as he helped her cleaned the dishes. 

Xiao Lei was washing the plates, his question startled her. Her hands stopped moving and she hesitated for a moment. After a moment of thoughts, she sighed and decided to tell him the truth. After all, if he were to do a search on her husband, he would know.

With a small voice, she said, "He was responsible for the transportation of... women to men."

Crack!

Xiao Lei turned and saw that Han Ye had dropped the plate he was drying.

However, he seemed to be in too much of a shock to say anything else. With a pitiful gaze, Han Ye murmured, "Xiao Lei..." 

She pouted. "That's an expensive plate... Don't move." 

She carefully moved around the broken pieces and went to the shoe rack. Once she found two pairs of panda house slippers, she put on one and brought the other one to Han Ye. She then carefully picked up the broken pieces of plate and swept everything away. 

All the time, Han Ye kept staring at her, not knowing what to say. He was afraid that he might offend her if he were to assume anything. 

Once Xiao Lei threw everything out, she glanced at Han Ye and asked, "Are you thinking badly about my husband?"

Her voice was calm, and she was not accusing him or anything. She just wanted to know what he thought. However, there was no reply for him. 

As she continued to wash the remaining plates, Xiao Lei said with a soft voice, "I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that he was a bad man... and that I must be a bad woman as well..."

"I didn't think that... Look, if you ever did those things, it's not-" 

"I didn't," Xiao Lei replied, thus interrupting him. She wiped her wet hands on the dry towel hung on the wall before she turned around to face him.

With a calm voice, she said to Han Ye, "My husband has no choice in that matter. That was his job, and he was a lot nicer to those women than the others. He did not have the money to give them back his freedom, but he used most of his money to buy them food and take them to the doctors when they got sick. Anyone who dared to touch any of the women would have their arms broken off."

She walked to the couch and sat down. With a proud expression, she continued, "Every woman who sold themselves to the gang... All of them wanted to be under him. He was one of the few men in the gang that never touched them."

Looking at Han Ye, she added, "Not everyone in a gang is a bad man." 

Han Ye hesitated for a moment before he nodded. "I trust he treated you well." 

"He did. He protected me when I was at my weakest. I was the apple of his eyes, and he did everything he could to keep others from getting near me."

"I'm glad..." 

She smiled and looked at the wall clock. "It's almost 2 am. Don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"I'm used to sleeping for less than 5 hours, so I'll be fine, but," Han Ye scratched the back of his head and murmured, "I should let you go back to sleep." 

He was about to leave when he suddenly stopped himself. "Oh, wait. I have some things to talk to you about." 

He then took out his phone and showed her the photos of Murong Yu that was taken during his university time. 

"Do you recognize the man in this photo?" 

Xiao Lei took the phone and looked at the photos. She frowned. "This... Yu? Murong Yu?"

"Is that really him?" 

"I... don't know... This looks like Murong Yu, but..." She looked at one of the passport-type photos and frowned harder. "This... I can't tell for sure. Why?" 

"Ok, don't panic... Guangying... I mean, Mr. Guangying told me that there's a Murong Yu, who is also a teacher in Imperial Secondary."

Xiao Lei stood up immediately. "What?!" 

She grabbed his hand and looked at him with a worried gaze. 

He calmly pulled his hand away from her grasp as he said, "Calm down... This is why I'm showing you first. It might just be a coincidence. The photos are quite old, and we can't find any newer photos of him. He joined Imperial Secondary not long ago, and the photo he used for his application was that old passport type photo that you see earlier."

She nodded. 

However, both of them were thinking about the same thing. "Same name, almost identical feature, and out at this period of time... Can there be such a coincidence?" 

"Anyway... President Du has given me a few hours off tomorrow. According to what Guangying's informant said, at sharp 10 am on weekdays, that teacher would go to the sandwich shop to get his breakfast. Wake up earlier tomorrow. I'll bring you there in the morning." 

Xiao Lei nodded. There was nothing she could do now anyway. If that was Murong Yu, why didn't he do anything yet? If that's not Murong Yu... then why the resemblance?

...

When Han Ye closed Xiao Lei's front door behind him, he was met with a curious glance from the Lu Ziyan, who was about to enter into their unit. 

With a brow raised, Lu Ziyan smirked. "Well... I know you're dry as f*ck, but two women? And one of whom are supposed to carry your boss' nephew?" 

"Not what you think... I went in to give her the ointment."

As they went into their unit, Lu Ziyan asked mischievously, "It's almost 2 am. How long is the process of 'giving'?"

"I cooked for her as well, and we chatted for a while." 

"Mmhmm..."

"Don't mmhmm! You're back late! Where have you been?" Han Ye noticed a jacket on Lu Ziyan's lap and asked, "Wait, that looks like... Is that mine?" 

"Yeah. Ms. Kavi was worried that you might need it, so she asked me to bring it back for you. Here," Lu Ziyan explained as he handed the jacket back to Han Ye. "By the way, have you shown the photos to Xiao Lei?" 

Han Ye nodded as he sat on the couch. "She said the man in the photos looked like Murong Yu... But she wasn't sure."

He told Lu Ziyan about the uncanny coincidence and how it made him feel uncomfortable knowing that the man that Xiao Lei was afraid of might be in the same school as her son, the one they told her that they would protect.

Lu Ziyan nodded. "Send me whatever she told you about Murong Yu. I'll try and see what I can find. As for her son, don't worry too much about it. Tian Le already mentioned him to the twins." 

Han Ye nodded. 

"My help is not without payment. Since I help you to free up your time, you should go and do some research on Angela."

"Ziyan..." 

"I'm not going to interfere with your relationship. Do the research yourself and make the decision."