Attention Sir, I Have Your Heart Handcuffed!-Chapter 380 - 260: Never Give Up (2nd update 1)

Shi Nian smiled lightly.

"Alright. But I don’t just teach anyone lightly," she lifted her small chin proudly in the glow of the night lights, her eyes lively: "If you really want to be my apprentice, you’ll have to sincerely listen to me. Not just for a moment, but in all times and matters."

This was a subtle switch in concept.

Huangfu Huazhang laughed, "Do you really want me to become your apprentice?"

Shi Nian shrugged, "Given your status, you’d need a formal apprenticeship ceremony to be worthy."

Huangfu Huazhang laughed, turning his head to gaze at the enchanting night outside the window.

The ambiguity in his previous words had been completely dispelled by her earnestness. However, from a logical standpoint, he couldn’t argue with her.

He had long known her cleverness. Now, she had finally shown him her sharp edge.

He laughed, turning back to gaze at her intensely, "Nian, you’re very clever."

Shi Nian lowered her head and sighed gently, "How could someone not clever catch your eye?"

"But I’m a little hurt... You’ve actually used this method to reject me." Huangfu Huazhang still bore a smile at the corner of his lips, but his eyes hinted at a faint sadness.

Shi Nian tilted her head, raising her brows to look over: "You’re wise; naturally, you understand that gains and losses come together. If you want to achieve that thing, how could you be unwilling to pay such a small price? In other words, since you’re not willing to pay that price, why should I agree to your request?"

This was made quite clear. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Huangfu Huazhang slightly raised an eyebrow, facing her directly for the first time, somewhat at a loss for words.

She was very honest, no longer as defensive or evasive as before; it was precisely because of her honesty and willingness to approach him that he felt powerless to resist.

To confront such a person, he too could only be honest. Yet, accustomed as he was to living in darkness, completely opening himself up was truly difficult.

He merely smiled, placing his hand over her small one, seriously nodding: "Okay, give me some time to think."

"It’s not that I don’t want to make you happy, it’s just— you understand, over the years I’ve grown used to being the one controlling the situation, used to giving the orders. Now the situation has suddenly shifted, you are the one controlling the situation, you are the one giving the orders, and I feel a little uncomfortable."

Shi Nian just smiled, cutely nodding: "Alright."

She raised her head, seriously meeting his eyes: "No matter how long it takes, I hope you remember, I will wait for you."

.

The Yanwu Square case has been closed.

George surprisingly cooperated with the police, answering whatever they asked, and confessed to Nisha’s murder.

The reason was simple: Nisha had secretly been involved with the journalist Shi Nian, bringing a reporter to Yanwu Square and revealing its secrets. Even though the media did not blatantly expose Yanwu Square’s name, the report itself made many important clients of Yanwu Square withdraw in alarm, never to return, causing significant losses to Yanwu Square. To set an example, Nisha had to die.

With George’s cooperation, the police finally found Nisha’s buried remains in the wasteland outside the barbed wire of the alley that night. DNA comparison confirmed it was indeed Nisha.

On the day Nisha’s remains were unearthed, the police chief personally authorized a special permit for Shi Nian to be present.

Nisha’s remains were unearthed, though her skin had decomposed, her hair and nails and other related tissues were still intact. Shi Nian, holding back her nausea, went to identify them and then collapsed in tears.

Turning back to see George still standing arrogantly pale in the same spot, Shi Nian frantically got up and rushed at him, slapping him hard across the face twice!

Old Qiao and his men quickly came forward to pull Shi Nian away, and she glaringly fixed her gaze on George: "I will use all the time of the rest of my life to curse you to hell!"

Shi Nian had used all her strength, George’s lip was cracked, with a streak of blood trickling down. The fresh blood formed a stark contrast against his pale complexion, making it an alarming sight.

The winter sun on the wasteland was still glaring, but his face seemed forever unable to change that hell-like paleness. His cold eyes fixed on Shi Nian, still smiling arrogantly and proudly: "You say curse me to hell? Little girl, you are wrong. It was not I who killed Nisha, it was you. If you, this damn journalist, didn’t dig for stories, she would still be that quiet and docile girl, and our Yanwu Square would still be quietly conducting its business undisturbed. It’s all because of you, for satisfying your professional desires, you encouraged her and ended up killing her!"

In her sorrow, Shi Nian looked up at him with tears choked in her voice.

George then smiled arrogantly, raising his chin: "The business at Yanwu Square is a profession, what Nisha did was also her profession, and your desire to conduct interviews and write articles is also the profession of a journalist... Between professions, what’s with the judgment of high and low, good and evil, what right do you have to use your profession to ruin Nisha and everyone else’s profession at Yanwu Square?!"

Even Old Qiao couldn’t stand it anymore, stepping forward with his body as a barrier, punching George in the stomach. George immediately doubled over in pain.

Old Qiao grabbed his collar, coldly saying: "Punishing criminals is also our profession as police!"

George was escorted back by the police, and Old Qiao’s men stepped forward to ask Shi Nian if she was okay and whether she needed a ride home. Shi Nian thanked them, saying she was fine and could manage on her own.

Watching the police leave, Shi Nian, who was overcome with grief a moment ago, slowly stood up straight and wiped away all the tears on her face with the back of her hand.

She turned to look at the empty plot where a large pit had been dug.

Just across from the barbed wire, in the alley where she and Tang Yanqing "first met" that night.

If time and space were overlapped, excluding the few hours between her being handcuffed to the barbed wire by Tang Yanqing and Nisha’s death, the scene might have been like this: she was leaning against the barbed wire, facing the wasteland. And there, in that wasteland, Nisha was buried silently... Nisha, whom she wanted to protect, yet she watched helplessly as she was buried in the grave.

She understood that the murderer chose this burial site, and the image in their mind must have been similar! From a psychological perspective, the person chose this site for Nisha’s burial partly to punish her!

Shi Nian took a deep breath.

Just because of this burial site, she will not let the true murderer go unpunished!

.

Shi Nian invited An Cheng for lunch.

An Cheng sat down but did not drop her arrogant bearing, still hugging her arms and holding her shoulders, eyeing the dishes brought out by the waiters one by one.

They were all her favorites.

An Cheng smiled. She was slender, with prominent, delicate shoulder bones, and this smile made her look all the more untouchable.

"Shi Nian, you’ve done your homework. Don’t tell me, you asked Tang Yanxi. If it really came from him, I tell you, I won’t take one bite!"

Luckily, she’d spent some time with An Cheng; otherwise, if they had just met, she’d be intimidated by An Cheng’s inherent coldness.

Shi Nian laughed, "I know the few buttons in An Cheng’s heart. Lawyer Tang is absolutely untouchable, so how could I dare to touch it? Rest assured, I actually asked Doctor Du for these dishes."

An Cheng raised her eyebrows: "You asked him? Do you know him too?"

Then she understood, hugged her arms, and snorted, "Well, you have Yan Qi by your side. Whoever you want to know, he eagerly introduces you, doesn’t he?"

Shi Nian lowered her head and smiled, "I really did have a chance encounter with Doctor Du."

Once she was scared badly by Xiang Yuan; it was then she went to Du Songlin’s clinic for treatment. At that time, Du Songlin said some deep words that she still remembered.

An Cheng finally relaxed and looked down at the dishes.

Shi Nian had indeed put in effort; she chose An Cheng’s favorite restaurant, and the dishes were her absolute favorites, making her a bit eager to dine.

However, she still put down her chopsticks, staring at Shi Nian.

"... You’re not trying to persuade me to eat someone’s cooking again today, are you?"

The matter was an old case, from Mark’s trial where Tang Yanqing and Tang Yanxi made a bet. If the defense lost, Tang Yanxi had to persuade his mother to invite An Cheng and Shi Nian for a meal. Shi Nian wanted to help Tang Yanxi and made multiple attempts to contact An Cheng on the matter, but An Cheng never budged and rejected them all.

Shi Nian laughed, "Rest assured, no. An Cheng almost cursed me out over the phone; I wouldn’t dare let An Cheng scold me again in person."

An Cheng shrugged, "That’s better."

Only then did she finally pick up the chopsticks.

Once the chopsticks moved, she was no longer the initially aloof person; it was as if the wind had swept away remnants as she used both chopsticks in her right hand and grabbed food with her left hand. This "focus on eating" looked very spectacular to Shi Nian.

An Cheng grabbed a chicken leg with her left hand and still held a piece of bamboo shoot with chopsticks in her right hand, glaring at Shi Nian, "What are you staring at? Eat!"

Shi Nian supported her eyes, "The sight is delectable enough to enjoy by looking more than eating."

An Cheng rolled her eyes and continued to eat without responding to Shi Nian’s teasing.

It was only after she ate to the point of burping that she finally sat upright, wiped her fingers clean with a wet napkin, returning to her previous cool, proud appearance.

Hugging her arms and raising her shoulder bones: "So, what’s the matter? You went to such lengths, and it isn’t to speak for Tang Yanxi and Huo Danru, then what is it for?"