Chapter 22: The Furious Li Mingwei

Jiang Ning suddenly realized something.

Even though she had been reborn for over a month, she was still handling most situations from a man’s perspective, just like in her past life.

She had wanted to resolve this matter privately in a man’s way.

And that was precisely why she had backed herself into such a dangerous situation this time.

What caught her off guard the most was how brazenly the other party dared to act, even inside the Patrol Bureau.

Caught in a moment of shock, she found herself forcibly cornered.

With her back against the wall, her chest rising and falling, she fixed her sharp gaze on the man in front of her.

At this point, Jiang Ning had no choice but to forcibly calm herself down. She discreetly glanced around, searching for an escape route, while keeping up her facade.

“Not enough, huh? That can still be negotiated…”

However—

The man seemed determined to block all her possible escape routes.

This realization sent a wave of unease through her.

Under the surge of crisis, she fixed him with a cold stare.

“This is the Patrol Bureau. I hope you think carefully before doing anything—”

Yet, the man completely ignored her words. His eyes, burning with some inexplicable fire, roamed over her curvaceous figure.

“A settlement is possible too,” he said.

“Letting me touch you a little isn’t too much, right?”

With that, he reached out toward her.

In an instant, Jiang Ning’s pupils contracted. She was just about to raise her leg and strike back with full force when—

A furious roar erupted from the doorway.

“You’re courting death!!!”

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Ning saw the man in front of her get hit by a tremendous force.

With a loud “bang!”, he was sent flying and crashed into the staircase, instantly losing consciousness.

As Jiang Ning came back to her senses, a voice filled with anxiety and a hint of fear reached her ears.

“J-Jiang Ning, are you… are you okay?”

Under the dim light streaming in through the window, she saw a very familiar face standing right before her.

“Mingwei? Why are you here?”

Jiang Ning let out a soft chuckle. Then, out of nowhere, a wave of weakness surged through her, making her legs go inexplicably weak.

She instinctively reached out and steadied herself against the wall.

“J-Jiang Ning…”

“I’m fine.”

Jiang Ning waved a hand dismissively to indicate she was alright.

Just then, a female patrol officer rushed in, looking flustered.

“Miss! S-sorry, we were responding to an emergency call just now—”

How convenient.

This emergency call sure came at the perfect time.

If Li Mingwei hadn’t arrived just in time, she might’ve suffered a serious loss today.

Thinking about this, Jiang Ning still felt a lingering weakness in her legs.

But at that moment, Li Mingwei completely lost it.

Like an erupting volcano, his fury took Jiang Ning by surprise.

“What the hell is your Patrol Bureau even doing?!”

“How could you allow a criminal to corner a young girl in a stairwell?!”

“Are you people even capable of doing your jobs?! If you can’t, just quit and go the hell home!!!”

His furious roar echoed all the way from the stairwell to the outside hallway.

Even Jiang Ning felt uneasy—after all, this was the Patrol Bureau.

If he pissed them off, they might just detain him on the spot.

So she quickly stepped in to stop him.

“Alright, alright, Li Mingwei, I’m fine, aren’t I? Just drop it.”

She shouldn’t have said anything.

Because the moment she did, Li Mingwei turned his fury on her too.

“Jiang Ning, seriously?!”

“You’re a 17-year-old girl! And you agreed to step aside with some twenty-something street thug?!”

“Where did you find the guts to follow him into an emergency exit?!”

“What if I hadn’t made it in time? Have you thought about what could’ve happened?!”

“Have you thought about the people who worry about you?!”

Jiang Ning shrank back slightly, her neck tucking in as she swallowed his scolding in silence.

Just then, a deep voice came from outside.

“Young Master Li, why are you throwing such a tantrum in my Bureau?”

Half an Hour Later, Outside the Patrol Bureau

With Li Mingwei stepping in, the Patrol Bureau quickly classified the man’s actions as an attempted assault.

Even so, Jiang Ning still took out 5,000 yuan and, through the Bureau, handed it to the woman related to the perpetrator.

She ignored the woman’s pleas for forgiveness and simply left behind one cold remark:

“One thing has nothing to do with the other.”

“It was wrong of us to hit him, so compensation is fair. But assault is a crime—I can’t forgive that.”

With that, she left the Bureau with Li Mingwei.

As soon as they stepped outside, she saw her aunt, Tian Wenhao, and Xiao Mingxiu still waiting at the entrance.

“Don’t worry, it’s all settled now.”

Jiang Ning smiled gently as if it were just a trivial matter.

Tian Wenhao looked like he wanted to say something else.

But Jiang Ning shot him a look and quickly cut in:

“Cousin, hurry back to school, or how is Mingxiu supposed to get to the dorms?”

Perhaps because of the way Li Mingwei had yelled earlier, Tian Wenhao seemed to see a different side of Jiang Ning.

So when she spoke again, he instinctively complied.

“Alright, Mom, I’ll leave her to you.”

“It’s fine, you guys head back. Just make sure to keep the wound dry,” her aunt gently reminded them.

After Tian Wenhao left, Jiang Ning greeted her aunt and then gestured for Li Mingwei to step aside for a chat.

Seeing this, he lowered his head and silently followed her about ten meters away.

“Oh? Where did Young Master Li’s bravado go?”

“And to think you’re the son of the District Chief of Pinghu.”

Looking at the 1.8-meter-tall young man standing meekly before her, Jiang Ning couldn’t help but tease him.

But Li Mingwei’s next words caught her off guard.

“Sorry.”

For a moment, Jiang Ning was speechless.

“Alright, alright, I wasn’t blaming you.”

“In the end, I should be thanking you. If not for you, this wouldn’t have been resolved so easily today.”

“And you even saved me…”

As she spoke, Jiang Ning suddenly lifted her gaze, her clear eyes locking onto Li Mingwei’s.

“This means I owe you a favor. If you ever need my help, just say the word, and I’ll be there.”

At these words, Li Mingwei suddenly raised his head, his sharp eyes meeting hers with an intensity that made Jiang Ning feel uneasy.

Her heart skipped a beat.

“Alright, alright, two favors! Happy now? Two favors!”

“Any more than that, and you’re pushing it!”

Not giving him a chance to respond, Jiang Ning spun around and walked away like a gust of wind.

Leaving Li Mingwei standing at the entrance of the Patrol Bureau, watching her silhouette disappear into the distance.

Just then, a light cough came from behind him.

“Xiao Wei, still not leaving?”

Hearing this, Li Mingwei immediately turned around and lowered his head.

“Uncle Lu, I’m sorry about today—”

“No worries, no worries. It’s just a man’s righteous fury for a beauty—I get it,” Lu Kai said with a hearty laugh, his previous stern demeanor from the Bureau nowhere to be seen.

But Li Mingwei seemed to have expected this reaction.

After a moment of silence, he spoke in a low voice.

“Uncle Lu, about today’s incident… Can you not tell my parents?”

Lu Kai’s expression shifted as he suddenly seemed to understand something.

Frowning slightly, he said,

“Xiao Wei, from the way you’re acting, I almost thought you two were dating.”

“But judging from what you just said, it sounds like…”

Li Mingwei nodded honestly.

“That’s right. Right now, I’m pursuing her.”

Hearing this, Lu Kai let out a quiet sigh.

“Xiao Wei, as someone who’s been there, let me tell you—your current approach to chasing her will never work.”

“Unless…”

“Unless what?”

Li Mingwei’s eyes instantly filled with anticipation.