The man was standing very still near the buffet table. He kept drinking one glass of champagne after another. His face was extremely pale, and his eyes looked glazed over.

I told Xiaotao about it, and she glanced over at the man.

“I know him,” she said. “He’s the head of Suda Express—Chen Da!”

I was very familiar with the company. Suda Express was a famous logistics company. They were the ones who delivered my parcels whenever I buy anything online.

“He’s acting really weird!” I remarked.

Xiaotao nodded. “His face is almost white like a ghost! He probably didn’t have much rest, or perhaps he could be taking drugs…” Xiaotao then lowered her voice and added, “These rich people lead very messy lives, Song Yang! I’m going to have to stay vigilant tonight, just in case…”

“Did you notice that he never blinked?” I asked.

Xiaotao stopped dancing and looked at the man.

“You’re right!” she said. “He looks almost dead! His eyes don’t move at all!”

I glanced at him with the corner of my eye. He was looking in our direction too. The sight of two people who suddenly stopped dancing probably caught his attention, so I put my arms around Xiaotao’s waist and continued to dance.

“Should we go there and question him?” Xiaotao whispered.

“You’re the guest of honor today,” I said, “so it’s probably not a good idea. But in any case, stay alert.”

At that moment, the song suddenly stopped, and the guests stopped dancing and talking abruptly too. It turned out that the party’s host, Xiaotao’s father Huang Yunhong, had arrived.

Mr. Huang was a man in his fifties. He dressed modestly, but his clothes were obviously high-quality and expensive. He looked very energetic for a man of his age. He held a carved walnut wood cane in his hand as he walked into the hall, stopping to greet and smile at the guests on the way.

He was taken hostage by Li Wenjia some time ago and was put under prolonged hypnosis, but it seemed that he had now completely recovered.

Although Mr. Huang was not young anymore, I could still clearly see his resemblance to Xiaotao in his eyebrows. He took a microphone and announced with confidence, “Thank you all for taking the time to join us! I wish you a great year ahead, and I hope your life will be filled with prosperity and that your family is well and happy!”

Mr. Huang spoke enthusiastically and earnestly. Everyone clapped. I could imagine that this was how Xiaotao learned to be so sociable: attending various fancy parties, entertaining numerous guests, and all that.

“Your father is such a charismatic guy!” I exclaimed.

Xiaotao snorted.

Then, Mr. Huang continued, “I invited everyone here today for two reasons. One is to thank my business partners; and the other is to announce the engagement of my precious daughter, Huang Xiaotao, and Young Master Wang!”

I was shocked. Were they engaged now? I turned to Xiaotao and saw that she was just as shocked as I was, if not more. Her eyes widened, and she shouted, “But I never agreed to this!”

However, her shouts were drowned out by the thunderous applause and cheers.

“Come here, Xiaotao!” Mr. Huang beckoned.

The eyes of the crowd then turned to her. The guests were all smiling, many whispered things like, “She’s so beautiful!” and “What a match she’ll be for Young Master Wang!”

“You told me it was just a blind date, Father!” Xiaotao protested. “How did it end up being an engagement instead? You never asked for my opinion!”

Mr. Huang turned to the guests and said, “My daughter is always like that. Please don’t be surprised!”

“What do you mean I’m always like this?” Xiaotao argued. “I won’t accept this no matter what! You can never force me into a marriage, and I won’t be sold off just so you can cooperate with the Wang Corporation!”

“Stop making a fool of yourself!” urged Mr. Huang. “Young Master Wang is a man of great talent. He has a successful career, and he has studied in the United States. He’s more than good enough for a police officer like you!”

Although he was reprimanding Xiaotao, he still kept the smile on his face because we were still in front of all the guests. I saw how Xiaotao’s ears had turned red. Then, she suddenly grabbed my arm and announced, “No, I’m not good enough for him, because I already have a boyfriend!”

Her father’s eyes widened. Before he could respond, he was interrupted by a sudden scream, which diverted everyone’s attention.

“Oh my god, she’s bleeding!”

The crowd turned to the source of the scream, and there was a rich lady who had collapsed to the floor with a pool of blood slowly spilling out of her body. The crowd panicked immediately. Some even knocked down the tables and chairs while others ran and screamed.

I saw a man trying to escape from the chaos that ensued and shouted, “Stop that man!”

The bodyguards responded immediately and caught the man. He avoided three or four of the bodyguards and slipped through their grasps like a slippery fish. His suit jacket was torn off in the fight. More guards swarmed to him, and he suddenly pulled out a dagger. I noticed that this man was indeed Chen Da.

The guards were experienced fighters, so the dagger did not faze them. They quickly got hold of Chen Da and pinned him to the ground. Still, Chen Da managed to slip out of their grasp again and bounced back up to his feet. He ran in the opposite direction, which was towards the window.

I realized that the man was going to commit suicide. Before I could do anything, I heard a strange noise in the room. I turned to the direction of that noise and saw that it was the sound of Xiaotao tearing of the lower part of her dress to make it easier for her to run. She rushed towards the buffet table and kicked it. The table slipped just in time to block Chen Da’s way.

Chen Da squarely slammed into the table, yet there was no change of expression on his face. It almost seemed like he could feel no pain. Soon, the guests caught up with him again and they subdued him.

The bodyguards had stepped in the pool of blood, leaving trails of bloody footprints. I almost cursed at them for destroying the crime scene.

I rushed over to the victim. She was stabbed through the right shoulder blade with a knife, but I could see that she was still faintly breathing. I shouted for someone near me to call for an ambulance, then turned her over so she lay on her back. This was to prevent her blood from accumulating in the internal organs and clogging the trachea.

I put my ears on the victim’s chest and listened. I found that there was a lot of blood in her lungs. She was almost asphyxiated now, and her nostrils were full of blood. If she wasn’t rescued soon, she might die before the ambulance arrived.

“Does anyone have a syringe?” I shouted.

“Who are you?” a man who looked like he was the victim’s secretary asked me. “Don’t mess around! We have to wait for the doctor!”

I glared at him. “If no one gives her first aid, she’ll die before the doctor arrives! Get downstairs now and buy a syringe! Hurry up!”

The secretary was stunned for a while, but then uttered, “Okay, right away!”

Soon, he returned with a first-aid kit. I took out the syringe and pierced it through the victim’s chest, drawing blood from it. The people around me stared suspiciously and kept muttering, “Who is this kid?”

“Is he a doctor?”

“Who will bear the responsibility if he kills her? She’s the head of Ronghua Pharmaceuticals after all!”

I ignored them and continued pumping out four tubes of blood. Then, the victim was finally able to breathe. She opened her eyes slightly, and the secretary knelt beside her and took her hand, saying, “Director Zhang! You’re awake!”

“What happened to me?” she asked weakly.

“Someone tried to kill you, Director Zhang,” the secretary explained. “This young man just saved your life!”

The lady looked at me and was about to say something, but I stopped her.

“You shouldn’t talk for now,” I said. “Let’s wait for the ambulance! Fortunately, none of your vital organs were hit, so you’ll definitely be fine.”

Then the people around me changed their tune and started praising me for being brave and smart. They truly were hypocrites. Not only did they mock me just minutes ago, but they also did nothing to help and just stood there idly as the event happened. Yet, now they were trying to show their concern for the victim.

I noticed that there was a commotion on the other side of the room. Then I heard Xiaotao’s voice shouting, “Come here, Song Yang! The suspect is dead!”