Wang Yulan being followed and cornered, Gu Yan arriving in time

Evening.

Inside a convenience store in Jianghai City.

"Oh my, Yulan, did something good happen to you today?"

A middle-aged woman looked curiously at Wang Yulan, who was organizing the shelves.

This girl had come to work for her six months ago.

She really liked the girl's kind and hardworking personality.

Over the past six months, she had also learned about the girl's family situation.

Although Wang Yulan had always tried her best to appear optimistic, the fatigue and sadness in her eyes would still inadvertently show through.

But this afternoon when she came to work, for some reason, all that previous sadness had disappeared.

Instead, she had a look of... renewed hope.

Wang Yulan heard this and replied with a smile while continuing to organize the shelves: "Hehe, Shop Manager, you noticed?"

"You're right, so many good things happened today."

Wang Yulan turned her head, revealing a long-absent smile on her face.

"I see," the Shop Manager said.

She wasn't the type to pry, and she felt relieved that this poor girl finally had something to be happy about.

At least she was finally showing joyful emotions.

"How about this, you can get off work early today,"

The Shop Manager said, sitting in her chair and looking at Wang Yulan with gentle eyes. "Go see your mother earlier while you can."

"My own daughter is actually about your age, but she's been too busy with work to come back. When I see you, it's like I'm seeing my own daughter."

Wang Yulan was stunned, feeling touched. She smiled and said, "Thank you, Shop Manager!"

At that moment.

Outside the convenience store.

In a van, several men were observing the situation in the store through the window.

Ding dong~

"Goodbye, Shop Manager!"

Wang Yulan walked out, bidding farewell to those inside.

Then, she headed towards the hospital with a joyful heart, humming to herself.

Seeing this, the men in the van quickly exchanged glances, then covered the lower halves of their faces with cloth.

Vroom!

The van started up and quietly followed Wang Yulan without her noticing.

Time passed minute by minute.

The sky gradually darkened.

Wang Yulan walked along a small path she had always taken before, completely unaware.

"I can't believe that not only did Mom's student come to visit her today,"

"But a kind person even paid for our medical expenses."

Thinking about this, Wang Yulan's face showed a relaxed and happy expression.

When her mother woke up, Wang Yulan felt she must find that kind person who had cleared their debt and repay them.

"Come to think of it..."

Wang Yulan looked at this familiar path with some confusion.

This was a park path leading to Jianghai Hospital.

There should be many people walking here every evening.

But for some reason, today it was deserted and very quiet...

"I shouldn't overthink it."

Wang Yulan shook her head, tightened her coat, and quickened her pace forward.

However, what she didn't expect was...

Crunch, crunch.

Several figures stepped on branches, emerging from behind large trees.

In the streetlight, Wang Yulan saw that the lower halves of their faces were covered with black cloth.

Masked men?

Why did they suddenly appear from there?

Wang Yulan's expression changed, feeling uneasy.

But she didn't think too much of it.

After all, this was a society governed by law, and Wang Yulan believed she hadn't offended anyone.

She hoped in her heart that these people weren't looking for her.

However, while she thought this...

Wang Yulan's body honestly stopped, and she turned to walk back.

But...

To her surprise, when she turned around...

Several masked men had also appeared behind her, where there had been no one before!

Wang Yulan's face turned pale.

Are they here for me?

She looked around, suppressing her fear, and slowly moved to the side. She asked in a voice feigning calm, "Who... who are you?"

"What do you want?"

Wang Yulan felt that in today's law-abiding society, these people shouldn't be bold enough to do anything to her in broad daylight.

The next second.

The lead masked man said something that made her face turn white.

"Heh! What do we want?!"

"That day, that guy with you hurt my brothers! Their ribs are all broken, they're still lying in the ICU! What do you think we want now?!!"

As he spoke, the masked man pulled out a fruit knife from his waist.

His exposed eyes stared intently at Wang Yulan.

Hearing this, Wang Yulan suddenly realized it was about the incident when she first met Xiao Lin.

She had been harassed by thugs, and Xiao Lin happened to step in to help her.

But unexpectedly...

Just two days later, those thugs had brought people to ambush her!

Especially the shining fruit knife in the leader's hand.

It filled Wang Yulan with terror. She backed away towards the woods nearby, saying shakily, "That day it was your people who were harassing and molesting me."

"Xiao Lin was just being a good Samaritan..."

Before she could finish, the leader shouted, "Shut up! Who cares about that!"

!!

Wang Yulan was startled and didn't dare mention that day's events again.

Instead, she said in a frightened voice, "You! Aren't you afraid of the police?"

"Do you know what kind of legal punishment you'll face for doing this?!"

Wang Yulan never imagined that this park path she always walked would become the perfect spot for them to ambush her.

"Heh heh, the whole park is full of dense trees."

"Even if we kill you and dump your body, no one will find out!"

The leader said this while gesturing for the others to approach Wang Yulan: "Get her!"

Seeing this.

Wang Yulan, with courage from who knows where, gritted her teeth and ran into the depths of the woods without thinking.

No! No, I can't die now!

Wang Yulan ran for her life, her face pale.

She could see that these masked men, choosing to strike at night, were dead set on killing her.

Moreover, she wasn't sure what else they might do to her before killing her.

"Why... why is this happening?"

Wang Yulan tasted blood in her mouth after running for just a short while.

Years of staying up late working multiple jobs and malnutrition had severely weakened her physical condition.

She ran, panting heavily.

Not caring if there was a path ahead, in her mind...

As long as she ran into the woods, those people wouldn't be able to find her immediately.

Then, if she could just find a place to hide and call the police, she would be safe!

Wang Yulan quickly formulated a plan in her mind, and her panic gradually subsided.

That's right, just find a somewhat hidden place! Once she called the police, she'd be safe!

Meanwhile.

At the park entrance and exit.

Some park staff were apologizing for blocking the entrances and exits.

"Sorry, sorry, the park is temporarily closed for equipment maintenance and replacement today. It'll be open again tomorrow, please understand."

"Also, please don't approach the area near the park, as the power needs to be cut off for equipment replacement, so the park and nearby signal towers are temporarily shut down."

Although the sudden notice of road closure for equipment replacement in the evening seemed strange to everyone,

This was a public area after all, so they naturally understood.

However.

Some sharp-eyed people pointed at someone who walked in without any hindrance and asked confusedly: "Hey! Why is that person allowed to go in?"

Hearing this.

The staff member looked and then smiled sheepishly: "That person... is the park's developer."

No joke, that was the young master of the Gu family, who had funded the construction of this park.

In fact, this place was technically the Gu family's private property, though it had been made available for public use.

Moreover, today's road closure was requested by the Gu family's young master, so they didn't dare say anything more.

......

......

Meanwhile, Wang Yulan had run, panting, behind a large tree.

She peeked out, quietly looking back the way she came, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no one.

"Whew... did I lose them?"

"I need to call the police quickly..."

Wang Yulan took a deep breath, then took out her phone to dial the emergency number.

However...

A scene that made her freeze occurred.

She heard her phone say:

[No service in your current area]

Buzz!

Wang Yulan's mind went blank.

It's well known that official emergency numbers can be dialed even without cell service.

If you can't make the call, it can only mean there's not even a signal tower nearby, and you're in a completely uninhabited area.

"How... how is this possible?"

Wang Yulan's face turned pale, her voice clearly filled with fear.

What should she do now?

Just as she thought this...

Bang!

"Found you."

A fruit knife stabbed into the big tree Wang Yulan was leaning against.

"!!!"

Wang Yulan felt a chill run through her body as she heard the voice and looked at the fruit knife next to her face.

The phone doesn't work, and the people trying to kill me have found me?!

In that moment...

"Eeeeaaahhh!!!"

Wang Yulan let out a hysterical scream.

She tried to run away again in fear.

But unfortunately, she was grabbed by the arm by a masked person: "Trying to escape?"

"Let go of me! Let go!"

"Don't kill me!"

Wang Yulan screamed incessantly in fear as she saw the person grabbing her arm.

My mother is still in the hospital, I can't die!

I don't want to die, I can't die now!

Wang Yulan struggled desperately.

But more and more masked people gathered around.

They pinned her shoulders down and subdued her on the ground.

"What good does running so fast do?"

The lead masked person pulled the fruit knife out of the tree, then held the knife tip in front of Wang Yulan's face.

Looking at the fruit knife that could take her life with just a stab to her forehead,

Her expression became desperate: "Don't... don't kill me."

"Hehe, next life keep your eyes open and don't mess with people you shouldn't!"

But the masked person mocked her as if they hadn't seen her plea.

Then, he gripped the fruit knife, his eyes fierce, and stabbed towards Wang Yulan's face.

"Ah!!!"

Wang Yulan closed her eyes in fear.

No way... Could I really die like this?

If I die, what will happen to my mother?

Why is this happening? I've never done anything wrong.

Why are they doing this to me?

Finally... finally life was starting to look up a bit... why...

Just as Wang Yulan closed her eyes and quietly waited for death,

A cold voice full of anger appeared in Wang Yulan's ears.

"Let her go!!"

With the appearance of this voice,

It was immediately followed by the angry cursing and fighting sounds of the masked men.

This continued for less than a few minutes.

"You! Remember this! I'll definitely come back for you!!"

The scared and panicked voice of the masked man rang out.

Then came the sound of a bunch of people fleeing.

[What's going on?]

Wang Yulan, who had been closing her eyes in fear the whole time, thought with confusion and unease.

She didn't feel any pain. Shouldn't she have been stabbed to death just now?

No pain... Was she still alive?

"Sister Yulan, are you okay?"

At this moment,

A familiar voice filled with concern rang out.

This voice is...

Wang Yulan dazedly opened her eyes.

When she saw the man crouching down, looking at her with concerned eyes,

She was stunned.

"Gu... Gu Yan?"

"Why are you here?"

Wang Yulan stared blankly at Gu Yan, her voice filled with disbelief.

Hearing this, Gu Yan nodded with a worried expression: "It's me. I was on my way back after visiting Teacher Wang when I suddenly heard screams coming from the woods."

"So I rushed over immediately."

"Did you chase away all those bad guys?"

"Yes, I've practiced before, so I can barely handle a few thugs."

Upon hearing this,

Wang Yulan's heart relaxed, tears bursting forth as she suddenly threw herself into Gu Yan's arms: "Waaahhh!!! I was so scared!"

"I was so scared!"

"Finally, finally life was starting to get better... I was so scared..."

"Gu Yan, thank goodness you came... Waaahhh..."

Gu Yan comforted Wang Yulan as she lay in his arms: "It's okay now, it's okay."

As he comforted her, his expression gradually became calm, and he asked in a strange tone: "Sister Yulan, who were these people? Why did they come after you?"

Wang Yulan regained her composure a bit and sobbed: "It's from something that happened before..."

After hearing the whole story, Gu Yan said angrily: "That's outrageous! Don't worry, Sister Yulan, I'll go to the police right away!"

"We must catch these people!"

Seeing Gu Yan like this, Wang Yulan felt inexplicably safe. She nodded: "Thank you, Gu Yan."

Half an hour later.

After visiting Wang Yulan's mother,

Gu Yan offered to take Wang Yulan home.

Having just been surrounded by thugs, the frightened Wang Yulan naturally agreed.

Sitting in the back of the luxury car, Wang Yulan seemed a bit uncomfortable.

She had never ridden in such an expensive car in her life.

At the same time, she felt a strange sense of inferiority.

Gu Yan, as if noticing this, comforted her: "Don't be nervous, Sister Yulan. You're Teacher Wang's daughter, so you're like a sister to me."

"You can come to me with any difficulties you have."

"Get some sleep for now, I'll wake you when we arrive."

Hearing Gu Yan's gentle words, the tension in Wang Yulan's heart eased slightly.

She gratefully nodded at Gu Yan driving in front: "Mm."

After saying this, she closed her eyes and fell asleep from exhaustion.

On Gu Yan's side, after seeing Wang Yulan close her eyes,

His previously worried and gentle expression slowly disappeared.

The corners of his mouth curved into a dangerous smile.

Hehe, the plan is going so smoothly.