The woman had just left when Xu Shiyan walked up to him, blinking with an innocent expression.
"Uncle Bo, could you please do me a favor?"
Bo Jinke’s gaze fell upon her, his expression rather intriguing. "Uncle?"
Xu Shiyan explained with a sly look in her eyes.
"Mr. Bo is Sheng Zhiyu’s uncle, and Sheng Zhiyu and I are peers. Calling you uncle shouldn't be out of line, right?"
Bo Jinke looked at the somewhat crafty woman before him, the corners of his lips curving upward.
The first time, she had treated him like a free gigolo, running off right after they slept together.
The second time, she had seduced him right in front of Sheng Zhiyu, calling him Mr. Bo at every turn.
This was the third time, and she was calling him Uncle Bo while asking him to rescue her.
She truly was a woman of a thousand faces.
Bo Jinke glanced at her slightly disheveled hair and the splashes of alcohol on her clothes.
"You've already called me uncle... what kind of favor?"
He leaned down and brushed a stray lock of hair from her ear, his voice deep and mellow, amusement welling up in the depths of his dark eyes.
This gesture made Xu Shiyan pause, finding it inexplicably familiar.
She quickly came back to her senses, pointed toward the private room, and said with an innocent air, "I was called here to discuss some business, but a few complications came up. I'm afraid someone might seek retaliation, so I'd like to use Uncle Bo's influence to dodge the storm."
To dodge the storm?
No sooner had she finished speaking than the man inside the private room came storming out, cursing at the top of his lungs. "You stinking bitch! You just wait..."
Yet, the moment he saw Bo Jinke clearly, the man's voice cut off abruptly and his face turned ashen.
"Mr. Bo?"
Xu Shiyan suddenly tugged at the corner of his coat, her voice soft and light, carrying a subtle, imperceptible coquettishness. "Uncle Bo, a group of men were bullying me. I called the police, but they haven't arrived yet."
A subtle, understated seduction.
Bo Jinke glanced at the bruises and purple marks on the man, then looked at Xu Shiyan, who was completely unharmed. The smile at the corner of his lips vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
He looked at the man and the others who had followed him out, his tone indifferent. "A junior in my family. I'm not sure how she managed to offend President Wang, but since the police have been called, let's all sit down and talk this through properly."
Upon hearing this, President Wang's face turned dead white on the spot.
When Xu Shiyan called the police, Ning Qun had happened to be looking for Bo Jinke.
After the group finished giving their statements, Ning Qun looked at the woman standing behind his brother, a hint of probing in his eyes.
An officer nearby asked, "Ms. Xu's meaning is that this group of men in the private room were drunk, and not only fought among themselves, but also spiked each other's drinks with drugs with ill intentions, which is how they ended up with these injuries?"
"I'm not clear on the specific details," Xu Shiyan said with a beaming smile. "I was too scared at the time, so I took the opportunity to run out. As for how they got those injuries and what those drugs are about, I have no idea."
Hearing this, Ning Qun felt his brow twitch.
All seven or eight men bore injuries, and both their bodies and the drinks contained restricted substances.
Yet they all stubbornly insisted that Xu Shiyan had deliberately assaulted them.
Furthermore, there were no security cameras in the room.
However, as long as Xu Shiyan refused to admit to it, this case would squarely remain the fault of these seven or eight men.
Gathering for a drunken brawl and carrying restricted drugs—no matter how you looked at it, locking them away for a while wouldn't be unjust at all.
Yet anyone with eyes could see that this matter was inextricably linked to Xu Shiyan.
Ning Qun could tell that this woman was no simple character.
The police officer frowned and asked, "Is what you're saying true?"
Bo Jinke suddenly spoke up from the side, his tone casual. "Handling cases requires evidence. How could a young girl possibly knock down a group of men like that? And drug them, too?"
His words carried a pointed implication.
Xu Shiyan paused.
Did he know she was just putting on an act?
Meeting Bo Jinke's peripheral glance, the police officer ultimately compromised with a helpless sigh.
"We will follow up on the investigation, but for now, it has nothing to do with Ms. Xu. Ms. Xu may go home once her family members come to pick her up."
"My family ties are sparse," Xu Shiyan said leisurely. "Will friends do?"
She had tried calling earlier.
Xu Mingxuan and Mother Xu's lines were busy and wouldn't go through, while Xu Minghua had simply said impatiently that she really knew how to stir up trouble before hanging up on her.
Beside her, however, Bo Jinke suddenly spoke up. "No need," he said flatly. "I'll take her back."
Ning Qun froze for a moment, then, recalling the things his brother had asked him to investigate recently, a deeply meaningful look flashed in his eyes.
Xu Shiyan followed behind Bo Jinke as they walked out of the police station.
The night wind was rather chilly.
Bo Jinke handed her his overcoat, his voice low. "Put this on."
Xu Shiyan was somewhat surprised. She smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. "Mr. Bo, doing things like this will give people the wrong idea."
"Not calling me uncle anymore?" Bo Jinke looked at her with a half-smile, a trace of intrigue in the depths of his eyes.
"I have no interest in Sheng Zhiyu, so continuing to address you by his relation wouldn't be appropriate," Xu Shiyan replied with a faint smile. "As for Mr. Bo, haven't we met before? For instance... on Qiongzhou Island."
Bo Jinke paused for a fraction of a second, then quickly denied it. "No."
His trip to Qiongzhou Island had been confidential; at least for now, he did not want anyone with ulterior motives prying too deeply.
Xu Shiyan, however, was stunned.
Had she overthought it?
That tenant... wasn't him?
Xu Shiyan's thoughts vanished as quickly as they came, and Bo Jinke spoke up, his tone measured. "Last time you said you wanted to offer me a business cooperation, what did you mean by that?"
"Mr. Bo will find out soon enough." Xu Shiyan looked up at him, her red lips curving. "However, compared to the cooperation, I'm much more interested in something else."
For instance, his marriage.
She was just about to speak when Sheng Zhiyu's voice suddenly drifted over from not far away.
"Shiyan."
Xu Shiyan turned her head to see Sheng Zhiyu and Xu Nuo walking toward them.
The moment he saw Bo Jinke, Sheng Zhiyu froze.
"Uncle," he said, looking at Bo Jinke with polite confusion. "What are you doing here?"
"Passing by."
Bo Jinke gave a brief reply.
For some reason, Sheng Zhiyu let out an inexplicable sigh of relief.
Just a moment ago, he had actually thought his uncle had come specifically to pick up Xu Shiyan.
How could that be?
His uncle had a detached and cold personality, famously known as a flower high upon a snowy peak. How could he possibly take an interest in Xu Shiyan, who had just returned from Qiongzhou Island?
"I see..." Sheng Zhiyu turned back to Xu Shiyan. "I'm here to pick you up, Shiyan. Uncle, it's getting late, so we'll be heading back first."
"Mmm."
Bo Jinke gave a casual acknowledgement, though his gaze remained fixed on Xu Shiyan.
Xu Shiyan had no intention of having any more contact with Sheng Zhiyu than necessary. However, it was already very late, and she didn't want to stir up any more trouble, so she simply got straight into the car.
Once inside, Sheng Zhiyu looked at her with a slightly furrowed brow. "How on earth did you end up in the police station? It wasn't until Minghua called that I even found out."
Beside him, Xu Nuo chimed in with a hesitant, unsaid-half-its-meaning tone, "That's right, Sister. I heard it involved both group brawls and group obscenities—a lot of people are already spreading rumors about it. Brother and Mother were both very worried."
With that, a flicker crossed her eyes.
Presumably, Manager Li must have succeeded, which was why things had blown up to this extent.
Once this scandal was exposed, no matter how much Grandpa Sheng liked Xu Shiyan, he would never accept a woman with a ruined reputation.
Xu Shiyan lifted her eyes, looked at the two people before her, and the corners of her lips curved upward.
It seemed they still had no idea why she had really been brought to the police station.