Chapter 608 A Shrewd Proposition
Ning Ran had a dream that night. She dreamt that she was looking for something with her mother. She had no idea what they were looking for, only that she was very anxious.
It felt as though they would be in big trouble if they failed to find the unknown item, not that she knew what trouble was in store. Dreams were never known to be logical anyway. Ning Ran soon jolted awake from sheer anxiety.
She immediately saw Nan Chen’s handsome face. He stared intently at her and asked, “Did you have a nightmare during the day? What was the dream about?”
“I felt as though I was looking for something, but I have no idea what,” Ning Ran explained while exhaling slowly. Nan Chen replied, “Well, my body feels itchy, so I’m taking a shower.”
“Guo Si only brought us medicine and towels. There’s no soap or shampoo. How are you going to shower?” she asked. “There’s a bar of soap there for washing clothes.”
“That’s not for bathing. It’ll harm your skin.” Nonetheless, he insisted, “Well, we can’t go days without showering. I’m sure it’ll be fine if we use more water to rinse ourselves off.”
“Don’t use the bar soap, then. Just shower with clean water and scrub a little harder; that should work. There’s a wooden bucket over there with water in it,” suggested Ning Ran.
Nan Chen nodded and replied, “Thanks in advance, then.”
Ning Ran felt a sense of foreboding as she asked, “Why are you thanking me in advance when you’re the one showering?”
“My leg’s injured now. I can’t move around easily. How can I bathe without your help?” retorted Nan Chen.
“But… erm…”
He added, “Might I remind you that we actually have children together? What’s wrong with helping me to take a shower? I can always return the favor.”
Ning Ran practically yelped in reply, “No! I can shower alone, thank you very much!”
Smirking, Nan Chen returned, “It’s settled, then. You’ll help me bathe. Boil some water, will you? I don’t want to freeze.”
The kettle in their room was so small that Ning Ran had to boil several kettlefuls of water before the water temperature in the wooden bucket was tolerable.
Nan Chen promptly took off his shirt, revealing his chiseled muscles. Then, he looked at Nan Chen and said, “Pants.”
“I’m sure you can take it off yourself,” Ning Ran mumbled while blushing.
“I can’t, and I need your help. Why are you blushing? You have two children, woman.”
The blush on her face deepened, and she stammered, “I-I… Why don’t you shower at night instead? This feels a bit weird in the day.”
“No one’s going to come here in the day; it’s safer to shower now. Stop dawdling. Come on.”
Ning Ran turned her head away and tried to take off Nan Chen’s belt. Her blind fumbling was futile.
Nan Chen teased, “How are you supposed to take it off if you’re looking the other way? Why are you always making such silly mistakes?”
“I’m not looking at it!”
“I’ll take it off myself, then.”
“Hey, you don’t have an arm injury. Why didn’t you take off your belt in the first place?” demanded Ning Ran.
He feigned innocence and drawled, “You started working on the belt before I said anything. I only meant to tell you to wipe me down, not take off my belt. I didn’t have the heart to stop you when you voluntarily helped to take off my belt.”
Ning Ran sputtered, “Y-You…”
In the meantime, Nan Chen had taken off his belt and was slowly peeling his pants off his legs.
Ning Ran panicked and shrieked, “You’re not seriously taking everything off, are you?”
“How else am I supposed to bathe?” he deadpanned.
“Ugh, you’re shameless! I’m still standing here! Let me wipe your back first before you take anything else off!”
In truth, Nan Chen had no plans to take off all his clothes. He only wanted to tease Ning Ran a little.
Her nervous reaction amused him to no end.
Soon, Ning Ran returned to his side with a towel and began wiping him down.
Nan Chen reminded her, “Wipe a bit harder. Don’t be so gentle.”
“This is all the strength I can muster. I’m not some kind of professional scrubber. This is the best I can do. Take it or leave it.”
“Fine, fine. Take your time.”
A while later, Ning Ran asked Nan Chen curiously, “Guo Si brought you pen and paper, but I haven’t seen you touch them. I assume you wanted them to write a letter?”
“Yes, I wanted to write a letter, but I eventually decided against it. Guo Si’s disembarking in another couple of days, and they’ll surely pat him down before allowing him to leave. I don’t want to get him in trouble by asking him to smuggle a letter out for me. We can bide our time for a better opportunity to get a letter out of this place,” explained Nan Chen.
Nonetheless, Ning Ran replied anxiously, “Letters take time to arrive. We might not get our message out in time if we wait any longer.”
He replied calmly, “Don’t worry; Nanshi Corporation is far too big. They’ll need at least half a month and a very precise operation to orchestrate a takeover. We have plenty of time.”
“Well, we need to send word to our families that we’re here. They’ll need time to arrange a rescue operation. I still think it’s prudent to send out our letter as soon as possible.”
Nan Chen tried to reason with her, “The Nan family’s every move is being scrutinized as we speak. If they realize the Nan family has uncovered our whereabouts, they might perform some extreme counterblow. In fact, it might be a blessing in disguise that our family is clueless about where we are. Of course, I agree that the situation is urgent. However, Guo Si has been kind to us. We can’t recklessly endanger him or his children, so we must plan our next steps carefully.”
Suddenly, Ning Ran piped up, “I have an idea.”
“What is it?”
“You’re worried that Guo Si will be subjected to a body search when he disembarks. What if he voluntarily offers up the letter? They won’t see a need to inspect his possessions then.”
Nan Chen halted Ning Ran from wiping him down and mulled over her suggestion. He asked, “So what you’re saying is we write two letters and have Guo Si surrender a copy to prove his innocence. As long as he hands over a letter, they won’t suspect him or try to do a body search. Then, he can secretly send the hidden letter out.”
She nodded. “Yes. That’s exactly what I meant.”
Nan Chen voiced another concern in his mind, “That’s a great idea. It could work, but there’s still another risk. People rarely send letters these days, and his best chance at getting the letter out is to go to a courier. What if someone trails Guo Si and finds out about the hidden letter? That would be dangerous to him too.”
Ning Ran countered, “Guo Si has a wife. He can let his wife post the letter while she brings the children to the market or something. I’m sure they won’t bother to trail his wife too.”
“How are you so smart?” Nan Chen stared at her in awe.
“Excuse me; I’ve always been this smart. I just can’t be bothered to use my brain on normal days,” Ning Ran replied haughtily, even tilting her chin for good measure.
“That will surely reduce the risks, but Guo Si may not necessarily agree.”
Ning Ran shared his views. “If I was in his shoes, I wouldn’t risk my wife or kids for this. He probably wouldn’t agree.”
“I think we need to come up with a more full proof plan,” said Nan Chen.
“How about asking Guo Si to find somewhere with a satellite signal and call Nan Xing?”
Nan Chen promptly shot down her suggestion. “That would never work. It’s far too easy to dig out phone records. It’s not too hard to bug a call, either. Calling is too risky. Only a letter would work.”
Ning Ran mused out loud, “Guo Si must be doing these people’s bidding for other reasons besides his family’s safety. I’m sure he’s getting paid for this. If he was only being threatened, how could he be in the mood to wine and dine with others before seeking us out? He must’ve received a reward from them. I bet he’s willing to help us if we can offer him better benefits. As for the safety of his wife and children, they’re quite safe as long as everything is planned carefully. Why don’t we ask him straight up if he’s willing to do it? He can assess the risks himself and decide. If he refuses because he thinks it’s too risky, we can’t force him anyway. What do you think?”
Convinced by her argument, Nan Chen replied, “You have a point. He’s risking himself by locking us up here. If the police find us, he’s going to be in trouble too. He’s not that risk-averse. Let’s ask him when he’s back then.”
