Ao Jing continued to wait next to the car until Shangguan Yu vanished around the corner. In case their pursuers already entered the alley while Shangguan Yu was still in sight, he wanted to make sure that he was the easier target so Shangguan Yu would have some more time to run away.

As soon as his boyfriend had vanished from sight though, he ducked behind his car, just in time to hear the engine of another car turn off and a door fall shut. Their pursuers had arrived. Ao Jing clenched his hands, ready to leap into action at any moment.

On the other side, Yu Lan had tightly furrowed his brows. The car he had followed had suddenly disappeared from the road in front and instead parked in a close-by alley. Now, nobody was sitting inside anymore and neither his brother-in-law nor that Ao Jing guy could be seen anywhere. It made his heart jump into his throat.

Still frowning, Yu Lan walked into the alley while taking out his phone, wanting to call Shangguan Yu. Before this, he hadn’t been too worried and just wanted to keep an eye on the situation to make sure and report to his wife. But now, his brother-in-law had first called him, sounding worried as if things hadn’t been going too well and then he had even vanished.

Yu Lan couldn’t help but feel that something serious might have happened. Shit, it couldn’t be that that guy had actually gone for the long game and gotten him out here to actually kidnap him, could it?! No, he didn’t even want to think about that! Nothing could happen to this brother-in-law!

Ao Jing watched him from where he was crouching on the other side of the car. He was slightly surprised that the guy that had appeared was wearing a suit but then again, there probably wasn’t a dress code for kidnappers. Maybe he was just the head of the bunch and the others were already on their way, trying to ambush them from another direction. He had to act fast!

He waited for Yu Lan to rush past the car and then leaped to his feet and jumped him from the back with a yelp.

Yu Lan let go of his phone in his surprise, making it fly several meters before it landed on the ground but he didn’t even notice. With Ao Jing suddenly ramming into him, he lost his balance, and then fell to the ground himself, landing face-first in the dirt. He groaned and wanted to get up but Ao Jing was already sitting on his back, holding him down.

"Who are you? What do you think you doing?!" Before Yu Lan had time to answer, he already looked up and called out toward the other alley. "Xiao Yu, I got him! Better call the police now!"

Shangguan Yu hadn’t gone far so he heard his boyfriend call out to him. He looked around the corner of the alley he was in and saw that Ao Jing had managed to wrestle the guy down. He went over and accidentally stepped on the phone. He picked it up on instinct, not thinking about it any further while he came closer. "Let me help you!" He already wanted to come over to sit on that guy’s back too when the person in question lifted his head with some difficulty.

"Xiao Yu! What the hell is going on here?!" Yu Lan’s face didn’t look good. He had chafed his cheek when landing on the ground and there was sand on one half of his face, not to mention a bump on his forehead and the blood running down his nose. Obviously, his fall had been pretty rough.

Shangguan Yu’s eyes widened and he stared at the person on the ground dumbfounded. "Brother… Brother-in-law?!"

Ao Jing raised his head at that and stared at Shangguan Yu before looking at the person below him again, finally still turning back to his boyfriend. "What did you just say?" He hadn’t heard wrong, had he?

Shangguan Yu’s lips twitched and he rubbed his neck. "That … uh, you’d better get up now, Ao Jing. That’s my sister’s husband."

Ao Jing took another moment to understand what was going on before he awkwardly got up. "I … I’m sorry. I thought …" He shook his head, feeling like explaining wouldn’t help either. Instead, he reached down and helped Yu Lan back to his feet.

Yu Lan gave him an unhappy look but didn’t say anything. Anyway, from what Ao Jing had yelled at him before, he had a pretty good idea of just what had happened: While he had thought that this guy was trying to kidnap his brother-in-law, both Xiao Yu and this Ao Jing had thought that he was a kidnapper following them. If not for the fact that his head hurt, he might have found it hilarious.

Ao Jing awkwardly looked at him and rubbed his neck before finally rubbing his neck. "Again, I’m very sorry. Should we drive you to the hospital?"

Yu Lan looked at him in confusion. "Hospital?"

Shangguan Yu grimaced and pointed at Yu Lan’s nose. "Your face … it looks like a doctor should take a look at that."

Yu Lan reached up only to wince a moment later. His hand came back covered in blood. Well … that had gone great. Not only had he been spotted by his brother-in-law and his date, now he even had to go home hurt. Xiao Xin would probably scold him. He sighed and then shook his head. "Thanks for the offer but, honestly, it’s not that bad. I don’t think it’s broken. Just a bit bloody. Let me wipe that off and it should be alright."

"Are you sure?" Shangguan Yu couldn’t help but walk over and take a closer look. He couldn’t help but feel guilty but there wasn’t anything he could do.

Ao Jing felt pretty much the same. "Well, I guess it would be better to go home though and rest a bit." He turned to Shangguan Yu and gave a wry smile. "I guess … you’ll return with your brother-in-law then?"