69 - I’m saner

After saying goodbye to everyone, Li Yun headed up to Wu Bin's apartment. Already expecting Li Yun's arrival, Wu Bin swung open and door and walked back inside without a greeting.

"Wow, you really are moody," Li Yun commented as he walked into the apartment.

There were boxes and papers laying in disarray, very atypical of the Wu Bin that he knew of.

"What, aren't you here to talk about your mission?" Wu Bin asked in a snide manner. "Just sit down."

"No, I think I'm saner than you at this point. I probably won't need any consultation for a while."

Li Yun took a seat on the sofa and made himself at home. He meant what he said. Even if there were scientific explanations for Qivi and spirit detection, they were enough to convince himself that he wasn't completely insane.

"Seriously?" Wu Bin looked skeptical, and dragged his feet to his recliner. "Are you staying over?"

"No, I'm going to leave after I talk to you. What happened with Xiao Ling?"

"About Xiao Ling?" Wu Bin suddenly remembered where he lived. "Gee, everyone in this apartment doesn't know the meaning of privacy."

"Well, it's rare to see Xiao Ling upset, so everyone is worried. What happened?"

"She's live streaming with a friend."

"Xiao Ling is streaming? Like live broadcasting?" Li Yun was a bit shocked himself. His cousin wasn't the type to broadcast herself or cause any unnecessary attention to herself.

"Yeah, on one of those app. Doesn't she know that there are a lot of creeps online?"

"How did you find out?"

"Someone from our apartment saw her on a broadcast, and sent me the contact information to her friend who was doing the live streaming. I messaged her friend and asked her to stop streaming with Xiao Ling."

"Lao Bin, you can't be serious. She's a grown woman, you could have asked her to stop instead of doing such a roundabout method."

"You honestly think she'll listen to me?"

"No, but it's her choice. No wonder she's pissed."

"Can you ask her to stop live streaming? She seems to listen to you more than me."

"That's only because I'm paying her. Do you know what app they are using?"

"I don't know, you can have her friend's info. They are using her account."

Li Yun looked at the phone and raised his eyebrow. He recognized the owner of the account.

After talking to his cousin, Li Yun left the apartment in a hurry and drove to a hotel where Rouxi was staying. He had already contacted her yesterday to tell her that he would be in Yide, and she booked a hotel for them.

He walked into an upscale hotel, it was different from the previous hotels they had been to. Arriving at the room, he knocked, and a woman with soft features greeted him with a kiss. Forgetting what he was planning to say, Li Yun kissed her back, closed the door, and completely drowned himself in lust.

"F***!" Li Yun swore to himself, looking at the new light fixture the hotel had installed.

Laying in bed, he didn't know whether to be annoyed at himself or at her. Li Yun couldn't help himself since it was the first time she greeted him without any makeup on. Rouxi cuddled her head on his arm and then looked at him.

"Are you angry?" She asked, seemingly knowing the source of his annoyance.

He would be lying if he said no. As soon as he saw the chibo clip that Wu Bin had shown, he knew she went by another name. "Is your name really Rouxi?"

"It's the name that I gave myself, so it is my real name. You can check my US passport. Song Meilin is the name my birth mother gave me, so I prefer you call me Rouxi."

"Did you know Xiao Ling before we met?"

"Of course, she's the campus goddess, everyone knows her. I didn't know she was your cousin until after seeing you on the news."

Li Yun thought about everything that had happened. If she knew Xiao Ling, it wouldn't make sense for her to hide it. There was no real purpose to hide it, especially since they also know Xuxu. He would eventually find out that she knew his cousin. The reason he couldn't figure out was why didn't she tell him.

"I get to listen to all her stories about you, it was fun," Rouxi said, guessing what Li Yun was thinking about. "If I told you, it wouldn't be as fun and you'll probably make her stay quiet."

Li Yun rolled his eyes. Of course it would be something stupid. Sometimes the simplest reason, no matter how stupid, was the often truth. It was why the truth was harder to believe.

"Xiao Ling is upset with her brother, and why are you streaming?" asked Li Yun.

"The reason for the broadcast is quite funny, I'll tell you later. But the point is, I only got Xiao Ling into streaming because of you."

"Why is it because of me?"

"Because you got some very sketchy people following her for a week. I saw a guy following her at the mall, and I had to pull her into my stream. I tried to capture them on my camera screen, but he evaded it pretty well. Definitely look like someone with reconnaissance training."

Li Yun's body tensed a bit.

"When was this?"

"A little before you appeared on the news. The guy looks dangerous, but I think he was just a scout gathering information. He wore a cap, but probably bald since his eyebrow looked drawn in. I followed her around for a week, but then he stopped showing up. Later, Xiao Ling asked me if she could continue streaming. I didn't want to at first, but she really wanted to earn some money."

"How do you know they were really targeting me?"

"That's not too difficult. I don't think she's the type to involve herself with something that dangerous. And I knew she ran a shop for you with all the Taoist texts. I must admit, it's pretty impressive that everything is hand drawn. They must be searching for a high end forger?"

"That's what I thought, but I'm not sure. They never showed up again. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I thought you would have solved the problem by now. They say when you were in college, you were a bit of a busybody who could solve anyone's problems."

"I was not, people came to me for help."

Rouxi laughed as though she didn't believe him. Li Yun did try to help people because it gained him action points, but then people really started to seek him out for help.

Her eyes smiled, and the knot in his chest loosened.

"I just realized, I'm your senior," Li Yun pulled her up to meet his face and kissed her, sealing her mouth from laughing.