57: Chapter 57 Who stole my battery?!

Yunzhou, downstairs at the Xingfuli Residential Area.

Chen Fan stood in front of that battered Yadea electric scooter, his brows furrowed. He held a helmet in his hand, his expression more solemn than if he had lost a project worth hundreds of millions.

He bent down and reached under the seat.

It was empty.

The space where the battery should have been could now fit two large watermelons.

"Tsk." Chen Fan straightened up and glanced at the green belt not far away.

Behind the bushes, a bodyguard in plain clothes was well hidden, but that guilty aura could be felt from ten meters away.

Chen Fan chuckled to himself. These lads are really getting the hang of things.

Just now, when he got off the helicopter, he had casually complained, "How can I legitimately hold my wife while riding in a car?" As it turned out, these bodyguards had such strong execution that they had simply "stolen" his battery.

Their bonuses for this month must be doubled.

Just as he was thinking this, the sound of high heels clicking on the concrete floor came from the stairwell entrance.

Su Wanqing pushed her little pink electric scooter out. She was wearing a simple floral shirt today, with her sleeves rolled up to her elbows and her hair casually tied back. Although she wasn't wearing makeup, that gentle, wifely air of hers was more pleasing to the eye than the famous paintings in Dragon Bay No. 1.

"What are you standing there for?" Su Wanqing saw him standing like a wooden post. "Aren't we leaving? The night market will be crowded tonight; if we go late, we won't be able to get a good spot."

Chen Fan immediately put on a bitter and deeply troubled expression and pointed at his scooter: "Wanqing, something happened. We've been robbed."

"Huh?" Su Wanqing was stunned; she stopped the scooter and leaned in. "What do you mean robbed?"

"The battery." Chen Fan sighed and lifted the seat to show her. "Thieves these days are just too unscrupulous. In broad daylight, they won't even spare an old battery. I just replaced this Chaowei battery; it cost over four hundred yuan!"

Su Wanqing leaned in to look at the empty black hole and rolled her eyes speechlessly. "Serves you right! I told you not to leave the main stand unlocked. This neighborhood is chaotic to begin with; how can you be so careless?"

Although she was scolding him, she subconsciously touched the few small bills in her pocket.

"Then what should we do?" Chen Fan spread his hands. "How about I call a taxi? But it's rush hour right now; I'll probably get stuck in traffic."

As he spoke, he glanced at the back seat of Su Wanqing's scooter out of the corner of his eye.

Su Wanqing felt creeped out by his gaze and shrank back warily. "What are you trying to do?"

"Give me a ride." Chen Fan shamelessly leaned in. "It's on the way anyway, and we can save two yuan on bus fare."

"No!" Su Wanqing flatly refused. "My scooter is small; it can't carry a big man like you. Besides, what would it look like if people saw us?"

"Our kids are already in college; who are you afraid of seeing us?" Chen Fan didn't give her a chance to back out. He swung his long leg over and sat directly on the back seat of the little pink electric scooter.

The scooter sank abruptly, letting out a "creak" of protest.

"Chen Fan! Get off! The tire is going to burst!" Su Wanqing was so angry she tried to push him.

"It won't burst; this bike is sturdy." Chen Fan stuck to the back seat like a piece of taffy and casually put the helmet on his head. "Let's go, let's go. Old Wang next door is going to take our stall spot soon."

Su Wanqing pushed him a few times but couldn't move him. She checked the time; it was indeed getting late.

"You're so annoying!" She scolded, got on the scooter, and turned the key. "Sit tight. If you fall off and die, don't blame me."

"Got it!"

Su Wanqing twisted the throttle, and the electric scooter wobbled as it zoomed out.

Just as they left the residential area entrance, there was a speed bump.

Su Wanqing deliberately didn't slow down, and the scooter jolted violently.

"Ouch!" Chen Fan yelped dramatically, instinctively wrapping his arms forward and hugging Su Wanqing's waist tightly.

Su Wanqing stiffened all over, as if she had been electrocuted, and almost lost her grip on the handlebars.

Through the thin fabric of her shirt, Chen Fan could feel the soft flesh around her waist instantly tense up, and the pleasant scent of her shampoo, mixed with a faint smell of cooking fumes, wafted straight into his nose.

This was the scent of daily life.

It smelled ten thousand times better than the expensive aromatherapy at Dragon Bay No. 1.

"Chen Fan! Where are you putting your hands!" Su Wanqing yelled, her face flushing red. "Let go! Grab the iron rack behind you!"

"Not letting go." Chen Fan pressed his face against her back and started acting like a rogue. "I was almost thrown off just now; this is called emergency avoidance. Besides, I'm a wounded man. You wouldn't want to be without someone to slice potatoes for you for the next few days, would you?"

"You..." Su Wanqing was choked with anger.

But she didn't stop the scooter, nor did she really try to pry his hands off.

The evening breeze blew against their faces, carrying away the summer heat.

The streetlights along the road receded one by one, stretching their shadows long and overlapping them, indistinguishable from one another.

Su Wanqing rode the scooter, feeling the warmth of those large hands on her waist. How many years had it been? It seemed that ever since they broke up after graduating college, she had never been relied upon like this again.

Over the years, she had carried gas cylinders alone, fixed sewers alone, and raised two children alone, living like an iron woman.

But now, the body temperature of the man behind her actually made her hard heart soften completely.

"Chen Fan."

"Hm?"

"Have you... gained weight recently?"

"Nonsense, this is called being sturdy." Chen Fan smiled and tightened his arms. "Doesn't it feel super secure to hold me?"

"Get lost."

When they arrived at the night market, it was at its liveliest.

Chen Fan jumped off the scooter and skillfully helped Su Wanqing set up the stall, arrange the tables and chairs, and chop the ingredients. The two of them worked with such tacit understanding that it was as if they had never been apart.

"Yo, beautiful Su, did you bring your man out today?"

Auntie Zhang, who sold grilled cold noodles next door, was cracking eggs onto the iron plate. Seeing the two of them working in such perfect harmony, she couldn't help but tease, "Looking at this, it won't be long before we're drinking at your wedding, right?"

Su Wanqing was skewering lamb kebabs; upon hearing this, her face flushed red down to the roots of her neck.

"Auntie Zhang, what nonsense are you talking about!" She lowered her head in a panic. "It's just... just living together to get by and earn some living expenses."

"Living together is good; you keep at it and you'll become a family." Auntie Zhang smiled meaningfully. "I think young Chen is a good guy—reliable, hardworking, and he cares about people. Just now, I saw you guys ride over, holding each other so tightly; I was embarrassed for you!"

Several other stall owners nearby joined in, jeering and laughing.

Su Wanqing was so embarrassed she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into; she could barely hold the bamboo skewers in her hand.

Chen Fan was stir-frying rice, his movements with the wok ladle smooth and fluid, the flames reflecting off his grinning face.

He lifted his chin at Auntie Zhang. "Auntie, I'll take your kind words. When we really do hold the wedding, I'll waive your gift money, and I'll even invite you to sit at the main table!"

"Chen Fan! Shut up!" Su Wanqing grabbed a handful of chopped green onions and threw them at him.

Chen Fan didn't dodge, letting the green onions land on his head, laughing like an idiot.

That night, the lights of the night market were exceptionally gentle.

Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away in Jiangcheng, a black steel beast roared into the university town, its headlights tearing through the night, and soon, it would tear apart some people's sweet dreams.

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