49: Chapter 49 Emergency Evacuation

The disturbance subsided faster than expected.

The man met Jiang Chen's gaze, muttered an awkward "Sorry," and walked back to the bar with his glass. From start to finish, it took no more than a few seconds.

Chen Xue let out a sigh of relief. Wang Hao took the opportunity to hold her hand. The two looked at each other and smiled; their youthful, budding feelings could no longer be hidden.

Lin Wan withdrew her gaze and lowered her eyes to look at her mojito.

The mint leaves bobbed up and down in the light green liquid, much like her current state of mind.

Calm on the surface, but something was slowly surging underneath.

"Are you okay?"

Jiang Chen sat down beside her, his tone as casual as if he were talking about the weather.

"I'm fine."

Lin Wan looked up at him. "I didn't really need you to step in."

There was a faint smile on her lips as she spoke. It wasn't a rejection of his kindness, but a frank statement—she was capable of handling it, he had just acted first.

Jiang Chen understood and nodded slightly. "I know. I just happened to be standing in front."

This understated remark made Lin Wan's heart skip a beat.

She couldn't describe what this feeling was.

As a lawyer, she was used to controlling the situation, used to being the one who protected others.

In law school, she was the closer for the debate team, always standing at the very front to block all attacks; during her internship at the law firm, she was the person who could calmly analyze the opponent's strategy during court recesses.

Never before had anyone, in such an understated way, placed her in a position where she needed to be protected.

Even stranger, she didn't feel offended at all.

"Jiang Chen."

She weighed her words carefully. "Are you always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Standing in front of people to protect them."

Jiang Chen thought for a moment and answered seriously, "It depends. Some people are worth it, and some are not."

"And what about me?" Lin Wan asked. "How do you judge whether I'm worth it?"

"No judgment needed," he said, his gaze fixed on her face. "I knew from the first glance."

Lin Wan's fingers paused slightly on the glass.

She lowered her head and gently rubbed her fingertips along the rim of the glass. Water droplets condensed on the surface, and the chill seeped into her fingertips.

She needed this chill to keep herself clear-headed, because her heart rate had accelerated to a frequency that made her feel "out of control."

"You…" she said softly, her voice carrying a hint of softness she hadn't even noticed herself. "You really know how to talk."

"I'm just telling the truth," Jiang Chen said.

Lin Wan looked up at him.

The light fell into his eyes, deep and clean, like a pool of water that was bottomless yet crystal clear.

She suddenly remembered a paper she had written in college titled "On the Assessment of Credibility in Testimonial Evidence."

She had argued a point in that paper.

The most credible words are often not the beautifully crafted ones, but those that seem plain yet align perfectly with objective facts.

At this moment, she felt like she should tear that paper up.

Because Jiang Chen's existence proved that her theory had a huge loophole.

Some words are credible not because they align with facts, but because the person saying them makes you want to believe.

Wang Hao's voice broke the momentary silence.

"Hey, Chenzi, what are you and Lin Wan chatting about? So serious?"

Having just poked his head out of his own little world with Chen Xue, he caught a certain subtle atmosphere between the two and immediately put on an "I get it" expression.

"Talking about law," Jiang Chen said, without changing his expression.

"Law?" Wang Hao clearly didn't believe him. "Talking about law in a lounge bar?"

"Lin Wan is from law school, and I have some questions about the law that I wanted to ask." Jiang Chen's tone was as flat as if he were stating a fact.

"What kind of questions?" Wang Hao pressed on.

"About…"

Jiang Chen paused for a second, his gaze shifting subtly toward Lin Wan, as if asking for help, or perhaps inviting her to play along with this game.

Lin Wan immediately picked up, "About the constitutive elements of necessity."

She spoke with complete seriousness, at a moderate pace, using professional terminology; if one didn't know what she was talking about, one would truly think she was engaged in an academic discussion.

Wang Hao was indeed bluffed. He blinked. "What… what necessity?"

"Necessity."

Lin Wan repeated it, her expression as serious as if she were answering a professor's question in class.

"It refers to an act taken to protect public interests, one's own personal or other rights, or the rights of others from an ongoing danger, which unavoidably causes damage to the lesser legitimate interests of another party."

"Alright, alright, alright." Wang Hao quickly waved his hands. "My mistake, I shouldn't have asked."

Chen Xue covered her mouth and laughed, whispering to Wang Hao, "That's what you get for gossiping."

"How was I supposed to know they were actually talking about law!" Wang Hao looked aggrieved.

"Who talks about this in a lounge bar…"

Lin Wan and Jiang Chen exchanged a glance.

In that second, a faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared in both of their eyes.

A tacit understanding that only the two of them understood.

Wang Hao didn't know, and neither did Chen Xue.

This secret was carefully hidden by the two in the moment their eyes met.

After a few rounds of drinks, Wang Hao's face was slightly flushed, and his voice was a pitch higher than when he first arrived.

"Chenzi, let me tell you."

He draped one arm over Jiang Chen's shoulder and pointed at the night scene outside the window with his other hand. "I've been planning tonight's gathering for two whole weeks!"

"Yeah, I know."

Jiang Chen calmly removed his hand from his shoulder, the movement as natural as if he were adjusting his own collar.

"Do you know why I chose this place?"

Wang Hao didn't notice at all and continued excitedly.

"Because Chen Xue posted a song on her Moments before, and it was sung by the resident singer at this place! I scrolled through three months of her Moments just to find it!"

He wasn't quiet when he said this. Chen Xue heard it clearly, and her cheeks turned bright red instantly. She lowered her head, pretending to study the patterns on her glass.

Lin Wan glanced at Chen Xue, then at Wang Hao, and suddenly understood why her introverted best friend had opened up to Wang Hao in such a short time.

It wasn't because he was outstanding, or because he was romantic, but because he laid all his little intentions out on the table, open and honest.

Such openness is too rare in the adult world.

"Wang Hao, does Chen Xue know that you scrolled through three months of her Moments?"

Lin Wan suddenly spoke up.

Wang Hao froze, then looked at Chen Xue with a guilty conscience. "Uh… she knows now."

Chen Xue finally looked up, blushing, and whispered, "I… I've scrolled through yours too."

The air went quiet for a second.

Then Wang Hao beamed like a child who had just received candy; he looked like he wanted to jump out of his seat immediately.

"Really? You scrolled through my Moments? How far back? Did you scroll for a long time too?"

"Stop asking!"

Chen Xue wished she could bury her face in her glass.

Lin Wan watched the pair of lovebirds, the corners of her mouth curving up involuntarily.

She turned to look at Jiang Chen and found that he was also watching the two, his eyes filled with a gentle understanding.

"You knew all along?" she asked softly.

"Knew what?"

"About Wang Hao scrolling through Chen Xue's Moments."

Jiang Chen nodded slightly. "He told me when he chose this place."

"Then do you think…" Lin Wan hesitated, "are they a good match?"

Jiang Chen thought for a moment and said seriously, "Wang Hao may look unreliable, but in reality, he's more serious than anyone. His pursuit of Chen Xue wasn't just a whim."

"How do you judge that?"

"Before, when he pursued girls, he would give up after three days at most," Jiang Chen said. "But he's been thinking about Chen Xue for three months."

Lin Wan nodded thoughtfully.

"What about you?" she suddenly asked.

"What about me?"

"How long would you think about someone if you were pursuing them?"