Chapter 7: Warmth With You p2
Ruan Lin was speechless for a moment, but her suspicion only grew.
Yesterday, the station had received a report from the Municipal Security Department about the fire at the research institute. They had already decided not to investigate further and were about to close the case as an “accidental fire,” without even questioning Fang Qiang.
But now, the man who was supposed to be severely burned was standing before them, alive and kicking. It was too bizarre not to arouse suspicion.
At that moment, Zhou Cong slammed his hand on the table. “What’s with the attitude? We now suspect you of colluding with the arsonist. Your burns the other night weren’t serious at all; it was just a ploy to make us feel sorry for you! That’s why you recovered so quickly.”
“Absurd!” Fang Qiang’s face turned livid. What kind of an excuse was that? It was completely ridiculous.
But Ruan Lin thought Zhou Cong’s theory made perfect sense. “Confess!” she shouted. “You’re not leaving until you explain this!”
As she spoke, she rushed forward and gave Fang Qiang a shove.
It was just a light push, meant to intimidate him, but it sent Fang Qiang into a rage. A violent impulse surged through him, a desire to destroy everything in sight.
“What are you doing? Get away from me!” Fang Qiang snapped. He gave her a shove back. As luck would have it, his hand landed right on her unusually perky chest.
He felt a full, soft sensation. The force of his push was surprisingly strong. The muffled thump of his palm hitting her flesh could be heard throughout the station.
Ruan Lin shrieked, her face flushing with shame and anger. She kicked out at his groin.
Fang Qiang quickly sidestepped.
“Assaulting an officer! He’s assaulting an officer again! Arrest him!” Zhou Cong yelled, signaling for other officers to rush over.
While Fang Qiang’s rapid recovery was strange, the police had no grounds to detain him. But now they had the perfect excuse.
Five or six officers swarmed him, some with handcuffs, some with guns drawn. Fang Qiang hesitated.
He could handle robbers with knives, but a group of trained police officers with guns? He wasn’t so sure.
And even if he could, he couldn’t just fight his way out of a police station. That would truly make him guilty of assaulting an officer.
In that moment of hesitation, two officers tackled him to the ground, twisted his arms behind his back, and slapped on the handcuffs.
“What are you doing? Let me go! Let go…” Fang Qiang shouted angrily, but the officers only tightened their grip.
“You bastard! How dare you touch me!” Ruan Lin gritted her teeth, raised her hand, and slapped him hard across the face. Then she started kicking and punching him.
It wasn’t the first time Fang Qiang had been beaten, but strangely, this time he felt no pain. It was as if the young officer were giving him a massage with her fists and feet. It actually felt pretty good.
Still, being beaten up by a girl was a blow to his pride.
“Hit him! All of you!” Seeing that Fang Qiang wasn’t screaming or even wincing, Ruan Lin assumed he was just toughing it out. Her anger flared, and she ordered the other officers to join in. Fortunately, just then, an older officer hurried over and told them to stop. He whispered something to Zhou Cong and Ruan Lin.
Zhou Cong’s expression changed slightly, as if he had run into a difficult problem. Ruan Lin was still fuming, but after a few pointed looks from Zhou Cong, she managed to restrain herself, though her chest heaved even more dramatically under her uniform.
Zhou Cong had the officers remove Fang Qiang’s handcuffs. “Considering you helped capture the robbers, we’ll be lenient this time and won’t press charges for assaulting an officer,” he said grimly. “You can go now. And keep your mouth shut when you leave, or I’ll have you back in here sooner or later.”
One moment they were about to beat him senseless, the next they were letting him go. Fang Qiang was completely baffled. He could hear the threat in the officer’s words, but also a hint of weakness.
He didn’t want to think about it too much. He straightened his clothes and walked out with his head held high.
As he stepped out of the station, he saw a news van parked at the entrance, with “Dragon City Television” painted on the side.
It all clicked.
The TV station reporters are here. No wonder those bastards stopped.
“Mr. Fang, hello. We’re from the city TV station,” two young reporters said, coming up to him and shaking his hand warmly.
“You’re just in time. I was just about to look for you,” Fang Qiang said, launching into an angry tirade. “Those police officers just detained me for no reason and beat me up…”
“Really?” one of the reporters said, surprised. “You don’t… look like you’ve been beaten up.”
Fang Qiang froze. He looked down at himself. There wasn’t a single mark on him. He was speechless for a moment before shouting, “They beat me, I tell you! When you report this, you have to tell the viewers the truth…”
“Mr. Fang, let’s talk about that later,” the other reporter interrupted. “First, we’d like to take you to meet someone.”
“Who?” Fang Qiang asked, surprised.
“You’ll see when we get there.” The two reporters opened the van door and gestured for him to get in.
Fang Qiang figured he was probably going to meet the head of the TV station, which was even better. He climbed into the van.
The two reporters got in, started the engine, and sped off.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the Dragon City Television station.
The reporters led him into the impressive news building, up to the seventh floor in an elevator, and into a quiet, spacious reception room.
A beautiful woman with an extraordinary air of elegance was sitting on the sofa, waiting for him.
When she saw him, she stood up with an incredibly graceful movement and smiled. “Mr. Fang, a pleasure to meet you.”
She might not have been a nation-toppling beauty, but that simple smile was like a spring breeze, making him feel comfortable from head to toe.
Fang Qiang thought she looked very familiar, but he couldn’t place her. He stared at her for a few seconds before crying out, “You… you’re Wen Qing!”
The woman was none other than his one and only idol, the famous television host Wen Qing.
“Yes, I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, her voice gentle as she extended a fair hand.
Fang Qiang hastily shook it. “I… I’m very happy… to see you too,” he stammered. “My god, you’re even more beautiful in person…”
He had never dreamed that the person who wanted to see him would be his idol, let alone that he would get to shake her hand.
Up close, Wen Qing was even more elegant and captivating than on screen. She wore very light makeup, just a touch of powder, without any of the heavy, artificial look that most female celebrities had. It made her seem all the more natural and refined.
No one could guess her real age. She could have been anywhere from twenty-five to forty. The innocence of a young girl and the worldly wisdom of a mature woman were perfectly and naturally blended in her.
“You’re too kind, Mr. Fang. You’re more handsome than I imagined, too,” Wen Qing said with a playful smile.
Fang Qiang’s soul nearly left his body. His face turned bright red, and his heart pounded with joy.
“R-really? I… I’m not really… I…” He was so excited he could barely speak.
“Please, have a seat, Mr. Fang.” With a graceful gesture, Wen Qing politely and discreetly withdrew her hand from his mesmerized grasp. But the warm, smooth sensation lingered in his palm, a feeling he would savor for a long time.
Two cups of hot tea were placed on the coffee table, and the door to the room was closed.
Only then did Fang Qiang realize that he was alone in the room with his idol.
His heart beat even faster, his face grew even redder.
He stole a glance at her. The nation’s most popular female host, who usually wore designer clothes on television, was dressed quite simply today, like an ordinary white-collar professional. She wore a standard office uniform: a white blouse that clearly showed the full curve of her chest, and a sky-blue skirt that fell to her knees, revealing a pair of slender calves wrapped in translucent stockings. On her feet were black high heels.
“If you’re not going to sit down, Mr. Fang, then I’ll have to stand with you,” Wen Qing said with a smile, not minding his staring.
Fang Qiang snapped out of his daze and quickly sat down on the sofa. At her invitation, he clumsily picked up his teacup and took a sip, burning his tongue and making the beautiful host giggle.
After she had finished laughing, her expression turned serious. “Mr. Fang, to be honest, I came to Dragon City specifically to find you.”
“Me?” Fang Qiang was stunned.
“Yes. That’s why I came to the Dragon City Television station and asked for their help in finding you,” Wen Qing said. “I heard you acted heroically this morning and were taken to the police station to be commended.”
“Commended? Those police officers can’t tell right from wrong! They’re bullies!” The topic made Fang Qiang angry, but he didn’t want to seem too emotional in front of his idol. He changed the subject. “Miss… Miss Wen, I…”
“You can call me Wen Qing,” she said softly. “Let’s drop the ‘Mr.’ and ‘Miss.’ I’ll call you Fang Qiang, okay?”
“Okay, okay…” Fang Qiang was almost overwhelmed. The beautiful host’s grace, refinement, and friendly attitude deeply captivated him, and his admiration for her grew even stronger. “I was just going to ask, you don’t know me, so why would you come all this way to find me?”
“Who says I don’t know you? I heard your name two weeks ago,” Wen Qing said meaningfully.
It dawned on Fang Qiang.
Two weeks ago was when he had drunkenly stumbled into the women’s restroom and offended the supermodel Yu Xin, becoming a public pariah. Later, Yu Xin had appeared on Wen Qing’s show, “Warmth With You,” and hypocritically claimed to forgive him in front of the entire nation, while secretly plotting against him.
“I really didn’t mean to… I was drunk and went into the wrong restroom… I really had no ill intentions…” Fang Qiang’s neck turned red as he once again tried to defend himself, but in his agitation, his words came out jumbled and incoherent.
Wen Qing simply smiled.
Fang Qiang’s heart sank. It’s over, he thought, utterly dejected. My reputation is completely ruined.
“Forget it. I know you won’t believe me…” He had dreamed of meeting Wen Qing in person countless times. Now that his dream had come true, he wished it had never happened. Being looked down upon by his idol was the most painful thing he could imagine.
“That’s strange. Did I say I didn’t believe you?” Wen Qing asked with a smile.
Fang Qiang looked up, surprised and delighted. “You believe me?”
“Why else would I have made a special trip to Dragon City?” Wen Qing paused, then said, “I came here because I want to do a special episode of ‘Warmth With You’ with you, to talk about this very topic.”
“Do a show? No, no!” Fang Qiang was startled and instinctively refused. “Please forgive me, but this incident has been a huge blow to me. I don’t want to think about it again, and I don’t want to go on television and make a fool of myself.”
“Fang Qiang, listen to me. I know you’ve been wronged,” Wen Qing said sincerely. “To be honest, I didn’t believe Yu Xin’s side of the story from the start. That’s why I came to find you. I want to help you as much as I can and get you justice. The purpose of my show is to uncover the truth, not to reopen old wounds. Don’t you trust me?”
“That’s not what I mean, it’s just… it’s just…” Fang Qiang was deeply conflicted, not knowing what to say.
“Fang Qiang, my intuition tells me you’re a warrior, someone who has the courage to face pain. I hope I’m not wrong.”
A rush of blood went to Fang Qiang’s head. He puffed out his chest and declared, “Okay, I’ll do it! I will face it!”
Wen Qing’s eyes lit up. She smiled radiantly. “Excellent. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you. Then please come to the makeup room to prepare. I’ve brought my entire production team to the Dragon City Television station. We’ll start recording right away.”
She stood up and called over a staff member, who led away Fang Qiang, who was still reluctant to leave her side.
Watching him go, a mysterious smile played on the beautiful host’s lips. She murmured to herself, “Who said he would never agree to an interview? When I’m on the case, no one can resist my charm.”
