67: Pick up people

Hearing Jiang Ye say he wanted to deliver dumplings, Officer An raised an eyebrow in annoyance: "Making jokes, huh? In a couple of days, should I go check out your family's fish stall?"

Jiang Ye quickly waved his hands, looking sincere: "It's a misunderstanding, Officer An. I just feel bad that you're losing sleep over my little issue in the middle of the night. You've worked hard, really."

Officer An glanced at him, too lazy to argue about such trivial matters, and tapped the table:

"Alright, cut the act. Make a call and have a friend come pick you up."

"Huh?"

Jiang Ye was stunned for a moment, a bit dumbfounded: "Officer An, this... I wasn't caught for solicitation, do I need to notify family? I can get back on my own."

Officer An chuckled, leaning back in his chair, reopening the interrogation notebook and picking up a pen: "Oh? From what you're saying, it involves solicitation? Come on, let's have a good chat. Are you the buyer... or the seller??"

"No, no, no!"

Jiang Ye was speechless: "I was just giving an example! I'm a law-abiding citizen, what do I know about that stuff! I mean, my situation... isn't serious, right?"

"Whether it's serious or not is another matter."

Officer An waved his hand, cutting him off: "Mainly, it's too late. It's almost 1 a.m. If you go back alone and something happens on the way, or if you get cornered by that Zhang Wenhai, it'll be trouble. For safety's sake, have a friend pick you up, so we can rest easy. No need for family, a friend is fine."

After saying this, without giving Jiang Ye a chance to bargain, he stood up and left the interrogation room, closing the door behind him.

Leaving Jiang Ye alone sitting on the chair, looking at the phone that had just been returned to him, feeling a bit lost.

In the middle of the night... who should he call to pick him up?

Those buddies from the dorm?

They're all interning in Dajing. There are a few from the same department doing independent internships in Shengtian, but how to explain it?

If they find out he ended up at the police station, they'd probably make up some ridiculous story, and by tomorrow, the whole school would be spreading rumors that he was "detained over a dispute with a prostitute."

Mom? Even worse. If she finds out, she'd be frantic.

He scrolled through his WeChat friend list, his gaze finally settling on an orange avatar—Ye Cheng.

Seems... she's the only one.

Even though she'll probably look down on him for it, but... what's between a couple, right?

Jiang Ye cleared his throat and dialed Ye Cheng's voice call.

The phone rang for a long time. Just as he thought she had it on silent, the call was finally answered, and Ye Cheng's voice, heavy with sleep, came through:

"Hey... Jiang Ye? What's up in the middle of the night?"

"Ahem... well, Cheng Cheng... I've run into a bit of a situation here."

"Situation? Don't tell me you can't hold it in now!"

"What are you talking about... ahem, I'm at the police station right now."

There was a two-second silence on the other end, followed by Ye Cheng's exasperated voice: "Caught soliciting?! I knew it! You were bound to get into trouble sooner or later!"

"Damn! How can you say that?! Would I get caught?... No! Would I solicit?!"

"Then you..."

"I was... acting heroically! Yeah, acting heroically! There was just a little misunderstanding in the process..."

"Acting heroically?"

Ye Cheng's voice was full of doubt: "Who acts heroically and ends up at the police station? You're kidding! What really happened?"

Jiang Ye had no choice but to briefly explain the events of the night: how he ran into Lin Wanxing and Zhang Wenhai arguing at the bar entrance, then, out of a sense of "justice," engaged in "reverse stalking," got reported by a concerned citizen, and ended up at the police station.

The other end of the line fell into an even longer silence.

So long that Jiang Ye thought the signal had dropped and couldn't help but say "hello" a couple of times.

"So, you're saying... you didn't sleep in the middle of the night, went to the bar to watch the commotion, then, to protect a girl being stalked by a Pervert, bravely chose to stalk the Pervert, and ended up getting arrested by the police as an even bigger Pervert?"

"Hmm... 'bravely' is a good word, but I can't agree with 'big Pervert.'"

"..."

"...Send me the address."

"OK, sending it now."

...About an hour later, at the police station reception hall.

Jiang Ye was sitting bored on a bench, picking at his fingers, when he heard movement at the entrance.

Looking up, he saw Ye Cheng, bundled up like a dumpling, being led in by the officer on duty.

She had never experienced this kind of pick-up situation before and was looking around curiously.

Officer An also came out at the sound, saw Ye Cheng, sized her up, nudged Jiang Ye lightly with his elbow, and whispered: "girlfriend?"

Jiang Ye "hmm"ed: "Yeah, girlfriend."

Officer An nodded thoughtfully, his last bit of doubt dispelled.

Actually, for such a minor matter, he could have just registered and let him go, but this guy's "reverse stalking" was a bit too abstract, making him feel he should give a slight warning so Jiang Ye would learn his lesson.

But now, seeing that this guy had such a pretty, seemingly normal girlfriend, he probably wasn't really that kind of Pervert with special preferences... right?

Ye Cheng walked up, bowing repeatedly to Officer An: "Sorry, Officer, for causing you trouble! Working in the middle of the night, you've worked hard!"

Officer An smiled and waved his hand, his attitude much friendlier: "No problem, no problem. Young people, having a sense of justice is good, but you need to pay attention to the methods. Sign here and you can go. Don't 'act heroically' like this again in the future."

"Yes, yes, yes, don't worry, there definitely won't be a next time!"

Ye Cheng assured him while signing her name in the duty log, then turned and glared at Jiang Ye in annoyance.

Jiang Ye rubbed his nose, quickly stood up, and followed her out.

As soon as they stepped out of the police station gate, the cold night wind hit, and Ye Cheng immediately shivered, pulling her down jacket tighter.

She stopped, turned around, and angrily pinched Jiang Ye's arm:

"Not sleeping in the middle of the night, going out to stalk a Pervert? I'm really done with you, how dangerous!"

Jiang Ye rubbed his arm, grimacing as he explained: "I said it was acting heroically! I couldn't just ignore it... Huh? By the way, I forgot when I called earlier. Your dorm building must have been locked long ago, right? What did you tell the Dorm Supervisor? Did she let you out?"

"What else could I say?"

Ye Cheng snorted, took out her phone, and waved it: "Called the Counselor, made up an excuse, said my boyfriend was in a car accident, in the hospital, wanted to see me one last time before cremation."

Jiang Ye: "..."

His mouth twitched: "That excuse... isn't it a bit too harsh?"

"What else?"

Ye Cheng retorted angrily: "In the middle of the night, and it had to be me, what could I say?"

Jiang Ye looked at the girl's charming appearance under the streetlight, cleared his throat, and began to implement the second layer of his plan to turn the situation to his advantage.

"Well... Cheng Cheng, look, it's so late, you definitely can't go back to school. It's freezing, so how about we... find a place to make do?"