The bathroom was filled with steam. Chen Yang leaned his head back with his eyes closed, letting the water droplets wash over his scar-laden body, a satisfied smile crept across his face as he murmured to himself, "Lovely Dong'an City, I, Chen Yang, have finally returned."
Just as Chen Yang was relaxing, there suddenly came a click, and the bathroom door swung open. A woman's voice floated in from outside, "Hehe, let's see who's taking a shower. Sis can give you a massage, guaranteed to be comfortable."
Chen Yang shivered reflexively and grabbed the basin beside him to cover up as he looked toward the bathroom entrance. A girl wrapped only in a towel, revealing her fair and fragrant shoulders, was standing at the doorway with a cheeky smile.
Their eyes locked, and the smile on Ye Yiqing's face instantly froze. She had not expected to find a man she had never seen before in the bathroom, and he was naked at that.
Are thieves these days so bold that they even take a bath after a theft?
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?"
The same question emerged from Chen Yang and Ye Yiqing, both of them were taken aback, obviously both a little confused.
Chen Yang took this opportunity to appraise the girl's appearance; a perfect oval face, watery big eyes, fair skin, and a curvy figure – this was definitely a goddess-level beauty that every man in the world would fall for.
But why was she in his house? What's more, she kept staring at him intently.
"Female hooligan, what are you looking at?"
At Chen Yang's cry, Ye Yiqing finally snapped out of it and hurriedly withdrew her gaze.
Even though the basin was covering him, she hadn't seen anything, but her face still turned red, her brows filled with anger, and she kicked out at Chen Yang, scolding, "Breaking into someone's house and even daring to take a bath here, have you lost your mind?"
Ye Yiqing's kick was high, aimed straight at Chen Yang's face, but because she was wrapped in a towel, it flapped wide open, threatening to expose her.
Seeing Chen Yang's gaze misbehave, before her leg could hit Chen Yang, she hurriedly retracted it and clamped her legs together, so furious she was almost spitting blood.
Wanting to continue the assault but fearing exposure seemed to merely offer a free show to the thief.
Clenching her teeth and glaring at Chen Yang, she slammed the bathroom door shut and loudly threatened from outside, "Jerk, get dressed and get out quickly, or else I am coming in to deal with you."
"The girl is pretty, but her temper's explosive," Chen Yang muttered, but he wasn't hurried in the least and continued washing leisurely. No matter how unhappy the girl was, this was his house. Surely he didn't have to take a bath according to her mood.
As for the girl who had suddenly appeared, Chen Yang had figured it out. No one would wrap themselves in a towel and break into someone else's bathroom – so there was only one possibility: the girl was a tenant here.
The siheyuan Chen Yang was in had been inherited from his grandfather. He had just arrived today and took a bath, never imagining that there would be a beautiful female tenant in the courtyard.
Thinking about the girl who was not only hot-tempered but also had a hot figure, Chen Yang wondered if she was another inheritance left by his grandfather.
"What am I thinking? Grandpa was such an upright person, he would never do something like that."
Chen Yang's gaze was righteous, but the corner of his mouth curled up with a smile as he lathered his body and started to whistle a tune in the bathroom.
No sooner had the whistle sounded than the bathroom door was pounded upon with a bang, bang, bang. Ye Yiqing's voice came from the outside, "Jerk, you even started whistling. You have one minute to get dressed, or I am going to lock you inside."
"Crap, she's so arrogant. But I am the bigger person and won't bicker with you."
Chen Yang pursed his lips and pretended not to hear the girl's voice, continuing to shower in the bathroom.
A little while later, the bathroom door clicked, and an angry voice came through, "I'm locking the door from the outside now, so don't even think about getting out."
"Hehe, you think a door can trap me? They don't call me 'God' for nothing."
Chen Yang chuckled and resumed whistling.
Ye Yiqing, hearing the whistling, was so angry she felt like her head was about to explode. She had never seen such an arrogant thief who, caught red-handed showering in her home, still had the mood to whistle, shameless to the extreme.
"Once he comes out, I'm going to beat him so hard he'll be picking up his teeth off the floor!"
Ye Yiqing said fiercely, looking down at the bath towel she was wrapped in. She hurried toward her room, afraid the thief would escape. She quickly put on her coat and pants, and then rushed back to the bathroom door.
Hearing that the whistling inside hadn't stopped, Ye Yiqing felt a bit relieved, "Keep being arrogant, after I beat you up, I'll take you back to the police station."
After a while, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped, followed by the rustling sound of someone dressing.
Ye Yiqing initially thought that the thief would beg her to open the door, but no such request came. She frowned, pressing her ear against the bathroom door, trying to listen to what exactly was happening inside.
Just as she pressed her ear to the door, it suddenly swung open, startling her backward as she looked up to see Chen Yang standing in the doorway, smiling at her.
Chen Yang looked at Ye Yiqing dressed in her police uniform and realized that his roommate was actually a policewoman. No wonder she was so irritable; it seemed related to her profession. To be honest, the uniform suited her quite well, though the top was a bit tight. The button gaps were stretched open, revealing... cough cough, not suitable for children.
"How... how did you get out?"
Ye Yiqing stared at Chen Yang with a puzzled look, hardly believing her eyes—the door had been locked, so how had he opened it?
"Didn't you unlock it for me?" Chen Yang looked genuinely perplexed as he wiped the water from his hair with a towel while walking toward his room.
Ye Yiqing was taken aback, watching Chen Yang's back. She lunged forward with quick steps and threw a punch at his back, "You thief, thinking you can just slip away from under my watch, dream on."
From Ye Yiqing's perspective, her punch from behind was certain to be unavoidable.
Unfortunately, she was dealing with Chen Yang.
Upon hearing the whoosh of the punch behind him, Chen Yang reflexively sidestepped, dodging Ye Yiqing's fist, then his left palm naturally grabbed her wrist while his right palm thrust toward her.
At that moment, Ye Yiqing felt engulfed by a chilling menace, as if she wasn't facing a person but a bloodthirsty beast.
At the same time, Chen Yang saw the terror in Ye Yiqing's eyes and remembered he was back in the city, not facing an enemy but his own roommate.
His attacking right hand quickly changed course, wrapping around Ye Yiqing in an embrace and spinning on the spot. Ye Yiqing ended up in his arms.
However, he sensed something odd with his grip, and looking down, he saw the blushing face of Ye Yiqing, who slapped him across the face, "Bastard, dare to take advantage of me!"
******
PS: Future spoilers for this book, plot interactions, character side stories, and author updates will all be released on the WeChat official account. I hope everyone can follow. Thank you!