Chapter 103: Who Are You, Really?

As the three men came on inch by inch, Lu Beiqin kept shielding Shen Chutang while stepping backward with her.
On an ordinary day, Lu Beiqin would have paid no mind to these three, but with Shen there, he was unwilling to take even the smallest risk.

In her hand, Shen Chutang held a silver needle between her fingers and whispered, “I’ll deal with the two on the left; you handle the one on the right.”
The young woman beside him showed not a trace of fear. Lu Beiqin glanced at her. “Are you sure?”
Shen Chutang nodded, as if asking whether two street thugs could really dare to lay hands on her.

At that moment, a line of black sedans rolled up from not far away, swift and imposing like dark dragons.
Before long the cars halted, and a cluster of men in black suits stepped out.
Shen Chutang muttered to herself, “Oh, there are this many of them… this is going to be difficult.”

Lu Beiqin squeezed her hand, signaling her not to worry. “Don’t be afraid. They’re all ours.”
Shen Chutang gave him a puzzled look. He was very tall; when she raised her eyes slightly, she could only make out the sharp line of his jaw.
The three men who had just come holding gasoline staggered for a moment, and in no time the group had taken every one of them down.

Zhang Chuan hurried over. Once he confirmed Lu Beiqin was unharmed, he finally exhaled in relief.
“B… Mr. Lu—driver, are you all right?”
The men around him stayed silent, saying nothing.

Lu Beiqin merely shook his head, grabbed Shen Chutang, and drew her out. “My car is damaged. Take it for repairs.”
Then, with Shen at his side, he stepped into a car and drove away.
Shen asked, puzzled, “We’re leaving like this?”

He nodded. “They’ll take care of it.”
Shen Chutang couldn’t help but scan him up and down. “Lu Beiqin, who exactly are you? And who were those men just now?”

Lu Beiqin looked at her earnest little face, his lips lifting slightly. “Why so serious?”
Shen Chutang persisted. “I mean what really just happened.”
“They’re from my taxi company,” he said. “Those men are my colleagues too. I just sent a message in the group chat, and nearby drivers came over to help.”

Shen Chutang frowned faintly. “A taxi company?”
“Right,” Lu Beiqin said. “Our staff are spread all over Beijing. If someone is in danger, anyone in the group sends out a call and the nearby ones naturally come to help. We’ve dealt with competition from other drivers before—malicious poaching of passengers. This is how it’s handled.”

Shen Chutang believed him only partly, but Lu Beiqin’s expression looked like someone who did not tell lies.

Without missing a beat, Lu Beiqin changed the subject. “Still, those men seemed to be after you.”
Shen Chutang nodded. “Yes. They started following us as soon as we left the club. This time too, it was because I put you in danger. I’m sorry.”
Lu Beiqin ruffled her hair. “I told you, you can try relying on me.”

Shen pressed her lips together. Though she had once doubted Lu Beiqin’s identity, in the danger moments he had protected her as far as he could.
And when she had sought him for that sudden marriage arrangement, it had been pure chance—he should simply have been a taxi driver.

Back home, Shen first went to wash up, while Lu Beiqin took a phone to the balcony.
“How is it now?”
Zhang Chuan answered at once. “Director Lu, they’ve all been called in. A woman named Shen Tingting paid a high price and ordered them to teach the Madam a lesson, even if it meant broken hands and legs or even disfigurement…”

The earlier time when Shen had been endangered after getting into a black car seemed to have been arranged by the Shen family too. She had never expected the Shen clan to be so bold as to strike from the shadows.

At the other end of the line, after a silence, Zhang Chuan ventured, “Director Lu, is there anything I should do?”
Lu Beiqin’s ink-black eyes gave nothing away. Shen had already begun to suspect him moments ago; if he did anything more now, he might reveal himself.

“Not for now.”
“Understood.”

After ending the call, Lu Beiqin leaned on the balcony railing and lit a cigarette.
He seemed to have started worrying about Shen Chutang in earnest.
The men earlier, Lu had at first thought, were probably after him. With his sensitive position, being known drew attention, and many had wanted him gone forever.

Shen Chutang was no fool. She had kept a detached attitude toward Lu Beiqin before, so she had not questioned his identity.
But his actions today had almost exposed him.

After one cigarette, he pinched out the butt. Suddenly, a white, long, graceful arm slipped around his neck and pulled him close into her embrace.
Lu Beiqin, already tall as he was, had to bend his knees and curve his back to match Shen.

The girl had obviously just come from the bathroom, and she carried the pleasant scent of shower lotion on her skin.
He turned his head and glanced at her; the delicate curve of her brows and eyes and the tempting red of her lips were now so close, and Lu Beiqin swallowed hard without thinking.