Chapter 51: World Two【21】 Part 3

Shao Qing hesitated for one second. She was equally clear about where this woman had run from and the risks involved in letting her into the car at the manor entrance.

But Shao Qing was also equally clear about what fate awaited someone who ran out halfway and was caught again. So, after a second of hesitation, she made a decision.

“Unlock the doors. Let her get in the back seat,” Shao Qing said. As if explaining, she quickly added, “It’s very dark today. The surveillance cameras at the manor gate probably can’t capture anything this far away.”

“Okay.” Jing Ke didn’t hesitate. She directly rolled down the driver’s side window. “Get in the back. Don’t make a sound. Move quickly.”

The disheveled woman’s eyes lit up. She immediately covered her mouth, opened the rear door with one hand, and bent over to scramble in.

Hearing the rear door slam shut, Jing Ke immediately locked the doors. Without another word, she released the brake, hit the gas, accelerated to the speed limit, and put distance between them and the manor as fast as possible.

“Thank you, thank you so much…” Realizing she had truly escaped, the woman kept thanking them.

Noticing through the rearview mirror that the woman’s body was trembling slightly, Shao Qing and Jing Ke exchanged a look.

Jing Ke discreetly turned up the car’s heater a little. Shao Qing handed the jacket Jing Ke had put over her earlier to the trembling woman in the back seat.

“Where is your home? Do you need us to take you there?” Shao Qing asked.

“Thank you, my home, my home…” The woman wrapped Jing Ke’s jacket around herself but couldn’t seem to produce a specific address for a moment.

Shao Qing didn’t rush her, patiently waiting for the woman to compose herself.

After about three minutes, the woman stopped trembling and spoke haltingly.

“I… my home isn’t here. It’s very far away. I don’t have anything on me right now. Can I borrow your phone? I, I want to contact my friend.”

“Is your friend reliable?” Jing Ke asked abruptly.

“She, she…” The woman, who hadn’t fully regained her composure, was momentarily speechless, instead questioning herself.

Was her friend reliable? How would her friend react after knowing her experience? She didn’t seem to know the answer herself.

“I was just asking a simple question, nothing more,” Jing Ke added an explanation.

“She should… should be reliable, right? We’ve been sharing an apartment for over half a year, and we usually get along well,” the woman said dryly.

“Just a moment.” Jing Ke observed the traffic conditions, selected a road with temporary parking spots, and stopped the car temporarily.

“Here. Call your friend,” Jing Ke handed over her unlocked phone.

The woman thanked her profusely. After verifying the number several times, she finally made the call.

Perhaps because the number was unfamiliar, her first call went unanswered. The second call rang for over twenty seconds before a “Hello?” came from the other end.

“Xixi, it’s me. Are you at home right now?” The woman clutched the phone tightly.

“I am. What’s wrong with you? Weren’t you going to a friend’s dinner? Did something happen?” The girl on the other end of the phone immediately sensed something off in her friend’s voice.

“Yes, I ran into a little trouble. It’s good that you’re home. In a bit, some kind people will drive me back. Can you meet me at the community gate?”

The woman asked, then paused and added, “If you can, bring… bring me a pair of slippers. My, my shoes are broken.”

“Okay, I got it. Let me know when you’re almost here, and I’ll come out to meet you.” The person on the other end didn’t press for details, simply agreeing to the woman’s request.

After ending the call with her friend, the woman’s state improved slightly. She adjusted the jacket draped over her and handed the phone back with both hands. “Thank you, thank you so much. Without you, I don’t know what would have happened next.”

Jing Ke didn’t take the phone back yet, only monitoring the woman’s state through the rearview mirror. “Type your community address into the map app and start the navigation. I’ll take you home.”

“Okay, okay, thank you, thank you.” The woman hurriedly opened the map on the phone. It took several tries before she entered the correct address.

Jing Ke took the phone back and glanced at the one-hour trip time, immediately shifting gears and following the navigation.

–

Throughout the entire hour-long drive, the three in the car barely exchanged a few words.

The woman in the back was initially somewhat tense, fearing she’d be asked for her name or about her previous experience, so her mental state was very much on edge.

As the soothing music from the car radio filled the vehicle, the woman’s state gradually relaxed.

Realizing that neither the person driving nor the passenger seemed to have any intention of questioning her further, the woman felt an inexplicable urge to cry.

To encounter two reliable strangers at her most wretched moment… was such an experience considered good luck or bad?

When the thirteenth song was playing, the phone navigation announced they were only two kilometers from the destination, immediately making the woman in the back seat nervous.

Jing Ke didn’t say much, just unlocked her phone and handed it back at a red light, letting the woman notify her friend to come pick her up.

Five minutes later, Jing Ke parked the car at the east gate of a certain community.

Rolling down the driver’s side window, Jing Ke scanned the entrance and quickly spotted someone holding an umbrella.

She flashed her headlights as a signal, then rolled up the window, acting as someone who did good deeds without seeking recognition.

“Um, could we exchange contact info? I’ll, I’ll wash the jacket and return it to you,” the woman said quietly.

“Your friend has the number on my phone. Just call it back directly,” Jing Ke said, then paused briefly and added, “Keep the jacket. We don’t need anything in return. You can choose to forget this ever happened.”

The woman nodded dazedly. Opening the car door and seeing her friend holding slippers and a long coat, she couldn’t help but feel a sting in her nose.

Jing Ke glanced at the side mirror. Seeing the two hugging each other somewhat emotionally, she immediately started the car and drove off, giving them no chance to express thanks again.

–

Only after the new navigation showed they had driven several hundred meters did Shao Qing heavily exhale a breath of stale air.

“Jing Ke, do you think I did the right thing?” Shao Qing asked, her tone tinged with uncertainty.

“Saving a girl who stopped herself from going further astray, isn’t that a good thing?” Jing Ke asked. “Are you worried about those people causing trouble?”

“I’m not worried about that.” Shao Qing pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can roughly guess what she went through, but I didn’t suggest she go to the police. I just got her to a safe place.”

“I seem to have already tacitly accepted that that girl couldn’t do anything against those people, and also that those people can ignore certain laws…” Shao Qing said, a hint of confusion in her voice. “For a moment, I felt like an accomplice.”

Jing Ke frowned slightly. “Whether or not to call the police is up to the person involved. The person didn’t ask us to call the police; she just hoped we’d take her to a safe place. You didn’t do anything wrong there.”

“As for tacitly accepting those unspoken rules, that’s not your fault either. The fault lies with an imperfect judicial system and with those colluding together, drawn together by unspeakable dealings.”

Jing Ke analyzed with extreme rationality. “The fault could lie with any one of them, but it definitely isn’t you. You’ve already done very well.”

“I did well?” Shao Qing repeated. Subconsciously, she took out the business card Director Hua had given her earlier, pursing her lips silently.

It seemed she didn’t have much sense of justice after all. She had clearly known for some time that those people were involved in grey enterprises.

But all she could do was avoid getting drawn in herself. There was simply nothing else she could do, let alone save anyone.

“Yes, you did very well. You didn’t let that girl suffer secondary harm.” Jing Ke gave an affirmative answer. “My kindness is limited. If you hadn’t said to let that girl in the car, I might have just driven straight past.”

After smoothly passing a traffic light, Jing Ke added, “Perhaps you weren’t her first person she asked for help, but only you chose to give her a hand.”

Jing Ke’s speculation was reasonable. After all, she and Shao Qing weren’t the first group to leave.

Before them, many artists with higher industry standing had departed. Their fame was greater than Shao Qing’s, and perhaps the girl had sought help from them too.

It was just that those people, being even more aware of the inside story and unwilling to offend others, chose to ignore the girl’s pleas, leaving her alone, desolate, hiding in the bushes, as they drove away without hesitation.

Hearing Jing Ke’s words, the guilt in Shao Qing’s heart lessened somewhat.

Gently exhaling, Shao Qing allowed herself to lean back against the seat. “Thank you for validating my actions.”

“No need to thank me. I’m just telling it like it is. You were never in the wrong,” Jing Ke said. Seeing the road relatively empty, she sped up slightly.

–

The two successfully returned to the small villa, the time already past eleven.

Jing Ke’s sleeve, which had been soaked earlier, had dried out again after over two hours of air conditioning.

Opening the door and entering the villa, Shao Qing saw two thermoses placed on the dining table. This was what she had instructed her little assistant to prepare via message when they had just gotten in the car.

Unscrewing one and finding it still steaming hot, Shao Qing handed the thermos to Jing Ke. “This is ginger tea. Drink some to ward off the cold, so you don’t catch a chill.”

“Thank you.” Jing Ke accepted it, blew on it a couple of times, and gulped down a large mouthful.

The ginger tea, slightly warmer than body temperature, traveled down her throat into her stomach, making Jing Ke let out a long sigh of relief.

“Your jacket went to that girl. Another day, I’ll go with you to buy some new clothes,” Shao Qing said, not knowing what else to talk about and just looking for a topic.

“Okay. We’ll go out when the weather gets better,” Jing Ke said, taking another sip. “This ginger tea tastes pretty good, not too pungent. Try some yourself.”

Shao Qing nodded and took small sips from her thermos, her mind seemingly wandering elsewhere.