Gao Muchen looked at his little sister. She stood defiant but with tears in her eyes. They wanted them to sleep in separate dorms. It made sense for the shelter to have a dorm for boys and a dorm for girls but this was different. They were siblings.

"I won't. " It was sheer defiance. Gao Yuxi turned to her brother wiping angrily at her eyes. "Can we leave? I don't want to be here."

He picked up his backpack and put an arm around her shoulders.

"There are other places. No problem, little sister." he looked Wen Mao. "Thanks for the meal."

Charlie listened to the calculated gamble. If Zizhen and Xin Di were separated, they were more vulnerable. A brief smile. They might look like defenseless teens but they were experienced officers and damn good ones at that.

"Look, we can set up a pair of cots in a corner of the dining hall. Would that work? Nobody wants you two out on the streets. It's not safe." Wen Mao said. He didn't want the profit these two would bring walking out of his door.

The siblings looked at each other. They whispered together for a few moments before they seemed to strike an agreement.

Muchen nodded at Wen Mao. "For tonight, at least."

It didn't take long for two cots with bedding to be set up in the far corner of the dining hall.

"There are even two plug ins to charge your phones. You can listen to music." he gave a charming smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Softly of course!"

"We'll be quiet." Gao Muchen said. He looked intimidated and tired. Gao Yuxi didn't look intimidated but she looked tired as well.

"Perfect." Again the saccharine smile**. "Good night. Sleep well!"

Gao Yuxi spoke softly to her brother. "He's a big creep. I don't like him, Muchen. His eyes don't smile."

"I know. Come on, let's put the cots side-by-side. Safer that way."

Wen Mao watched from a distance as the two shifted the cots around. He'd wait a few hours and chloroform them while they slept. In no time, they'd be trussed up like chickens.

He rubbed his chin. Gao Yuxi was beautiful and just the right age. He liked breaking in new stock. The only question was would the pleasure be worth more than the profit?

He smiled as he walked away.

------

Jiang Cheng was so fucking done with this god-awful day he was about to explode. What had happened to Wei Ying. What his mother had done. Selling people. Selling his brother. Resisting arrest. Her project. That asshole extorting sex out of Dr. Yu Qing just so he would do his actual job. Now mayors attacking their own sons and letting goons haul them off?

He growled as he pounded after the two body guards.

'Why didn't they split up? At least one of them would probably get away if they did.' he thought. That's when it hit him. 'Fucking decoys.'

He grabbed his radio. "Keep an eye out for Jin Guangshan. Hold on to him any way you can." There was a spat of mixed calls, partial messages and exclamations of surprise.

"Yes! I mean the Mayor!" Jiang Cheng yelled cutting through all the chatter. "Find him!"

He could hear the three officers not far behind him. Two to one were good odds for the officers. He also knew he was exhausted. His reserves were almost gone. How much help he'd be in a fight he didn't know.

A punch came out of no where and tossed his chin to the left. The next punch was blocked then returned. Jiang Cheng boxed. It appeared as though his opponent did as well.

"Go find the other one!" he yelled at his men and then he settled into long practiced rhythms.

They traded body jabs, upper cut punches and hook shots. Both of them were good but Jiang Cheng had an advantage. Within him was a well of anger. Where it came from he didn't know but it had always been there. He had learned many years ago to channel all the anger in him behind a wall except when he could take it out on the punching bag.

Right now he needed that burn. That energy. He let the walls down. All of his anger and hurt rose to the surface and ignited.

The bodyguard never had a chance.

A flurry of punches put the man on his knees. A final hook knocked him flat. Jiang Cheng stood over him triumphant. It didn't matter that his nose was bloody and his face bruised.

During everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours, he had stood his ground and done the right thing the best he could.

Flipping the man over with a grunt, he pulled out his handcuffs and securely fastened the bodyguard's wrists behind his back.

"You are under arrest, fucker." the Inspector said between breaths.

_____

Meng Yao's eyes rolled as he tried to open them. His head was pounding and some ass was now flashing a light in his eye. He batted the hand out of the way before slipping back into darkness.

The next moment of awareness was him being lifted and then set on something. He cracked his eyes trying to look around. Where were his father's men? Where the hell was he?

A man walked into his line of sight. He smiled gently at Meng Yao as he began to examine the bruised temple.

"Wondering where you are?" the man asked.

Meng Yao nodded wide eyed. Then regretted moving his head as a wave of pain swept through it. With a grunt, he partially lifted himself. It triggered severe nausea and suddenly everything was coming up.

The man supported him as he threw up on the floor until he was dry heaving.

By the time he was done, he was gasping and shaking. His face was carefully cleaned and he was offered water to rinse his mouth.

"Where am I?" he asked with a hoarse voice.

"The Gusu-Lan Hospital. Your brother brought you in. Can you tell me about your accident?"

"No accident. Punched." Meng Yao had sagged with relief that he wasn't in some torture chamber. At least, he hoped he could believe what the man said.

"Who are you?"

"Dr. Lan Xichen. Can you tell me your name?"

"M-Meng Yao."

"Excellent! How about the date?"

Meng Yao opened his mouth and then slowly closed it.

"No." His voice was small.

"Don't worry. It's not uncommon. Do you remember your brother's name?"

"Jin Zixuan?" He was hesitant mostly because he didn't want to have to name Jin Zixun.

"Correct. That's very good." He smiled. Meng Yao didn't even think about it. A smile like that had to answered. His dimples flashed briefly before he winced. Split lip. He had forgotten.

"No smiling for a bit." Lan Xichen advised. The man before him was slender with large eyes, a great smile and dimples. Dimples were a weakness of his.

From the memory skip and the mismatched pupils, Lan Xichen didn't doubt Meng Yao had a concussion but they'd have to do a scan to see how bad it was.

"Still feeling nauseous?"

"A little."

"I'm going to take you down and get you a scan. Let's see how extensive this concussion is. Okay?"

"Okay"

-----

Nie Huaisang was gently wiping Yu Bin's face with a cool wash cloth and slowly fanning him.

"Feels so good." he whispered.

The fever had worsened as night fell. To Yu Bin's endless mortification, his sister had given him a shot of antibiotics in his left butt cheek. Everyone else was kind enough to look away but damn, no man wants to bare a butt cheek to his sister.

The antibiotic made him queasy and, with the fever, he was fairly miserable. The only plus was they changed the support for his hand and arm. Since the cradle piece was hanging from the ceiling, he had more mobility and could finally lay on his side. That alone took a lot of tension out of him.

Now he was curled up on his side roasting.

'In twenty minutes I'll probably be freezing again.' he thought.

He gave a wan smile to Nie Huaisang.

"Thank you, A'Sang. I'll feel better tomorrow." He sounded as tired as he felt.

"Shhh... sleep. You're body is fighting the infection. You need as much sleep as you can get." He gently smoothed the damp bangs off his forehead.

"I don't want to feel awful anymore." Yu Bin whispered.

"I know. Soon it'll be over. Your sister caught it in time." A soft kiss on his forehead then Huaisang looked at Yu Bin's hand and arm.

A cool damp cloth was laid across his arm to help with the swelling. From time to time, a nurse showed up to carefully ice his hand and arm. Then back to the cool cloth on just his arm to make sure no extra moisture made the infection worse. The swelling wasn't going down yet but it wasn't getting worse either which, according to Yu Qing, was a good sign.

Yu Bin had a small smile. Reaching up, he gently stroked Nie Huaisang's cheek. "Thank you for taking care of me. We've just begun and you've spent it all taking care of me. Sorry about that."

"Nothing to be sorry for. No place I'd rather be, A'Bin, but I don't think we should make this a habit." Nie Huaisang smiled.

"I hope not. I don't want to be maimed by any more pimps, please." Yu Bin snorted.

"You aren't maimed." He was serious. "The hand will heal. It may not be exactly as it was before but you aren't maimed."

Yu Bin just stared at him.

"Sorry... I... I don't want you to worry." The explanation was fumbling. So unlike the usually smooth Nie Huaisang.

"I think you are worrying enough for both of us." Bin cupped Huaisang's cheek. "It's okay. I'll feel better soon. The hand will heal and then we'll see what we need to do."

Nie Huaisang was rather flabbergasted. How did Yu Bin just get him so easily? People he had worked with for a decade couldn't see past the facade. Period. But here was A'Bin, after no time at all, able to read him like a book? He honestly didn't know what to think of that.

"You surprise me. Usually, no one surprises me. I'm The Spider. I surprise people not the other way around. How can you read me this fast?" It was a whisper.

"It's all over your face, A'Sang. How could I not see it? I like being with you. You feel good, A'Sang." A huge yawn and a sleepy smile. Taking Huaisang's hand, he tucked it under his cheek.

Nie Huaisang smiled and kissed Yu Bin's forehead. When he looked down, Yu Bin was fast asleep.

~♡~♡~♡~

Saccharine is an artificial sweetener so a 'saccharine smile' is a fake smile.

Hugs, smiles and no headaches for everyone!

❤️🍫🫖❤️