The man had a sharply defined Western face, with short chestnut hair styled in a side-part 3:7 ratio, deep-set eyes, and brown irises like transparent glass beads.
His brown eyes gazed deeply at the girl before him, and he spoke in standard Chinese: "Thanks for your help earlier. Otherwise, I don’t know how many more blocks I’d have to chase to catch him."
An Ruo pursed her lips. She glanced quickly at the man, then looked away. "You’re welcome. I was just lending a hand."
It was the thief’s bad luck to run into her, anyway.
His expression was sincere, and he spoke in a consultative tone: "Regardless, I indirectly caused your injury. Let me take you to get it bandaged?"
"I..."
"Don’t refuse." The man smiled, elegant and easygoing. "Otherwise, I’d really feel guilty."
After all, without her grabbing him, he didn’t know how much longer he’d have to chase to catch the thief.
He’d been running all the way, shouting for someone to stop the thief, but everyone was indifferent. Only she was willing to help.
An Ruo lightly clenched her hand resting on her knee. She really did need to tend to the wound promptly; otherwise, if she went back like this, Shen Xiaoxing would definitely worry.
So, she stole a glance at the man. Seeing his sincere face, which didn’t seem to carry any foreign prejudice, she nodded cautiously.
"Can you walk?"
"Barely..."
The man furrowed his thick brows slightly, hesitated as he looked at her, then pulled out his phone to call the driver.
"Wait a moment."
He stood there, and an awkward silence fell between them. Just as An Ruo was wondering what topic to bring up to break the tension, the man suddenly strode away.
She curled her lips slightly. She’d thought she’d actually met a kind-hearted foreign friend.
Was the offer to take her to the hospital fake?
Just as her impression of him was taking a nosedive, the man walked back with long strides, holding a bottle of mineral water.
He handed it to her. "Have a drink."
An Ruo stared at his hand, then slowly looked up. The man smiled with a graceful charm, his chiseled features sharp and deep—a handsome foreigner.
She took the water woodenly and murmured, "Thanks."
She’d misunderstood him. She thought he’d just left her here.
Soon, a sports car pulled up at the police station entrance. The man extended his arm, smiling politely: "If it’s hard to move, lean on me."
Initially, An Ruo had been very wary of him. After all, she was abroad for the first time, and subconsciously she felt these foreigners weren’t friendly.
But he seemed to notice her unease, only offering his arm for support without getting too close or touching her, which earned him points.
"Thanks."
"You’re welcome."
The blond, blue-eyed driver got out of the car, white-gloved hands clasped in front of him as he bowed slightly: "Young master, please get in."
He wasn’t speaking English—it sounded like... German?
The man nodded slightly, then walked over to open the car door for her, smiling. "Please."
An Ruo pursed her lips. She’d just agreed to go to the hospital with him to treat the wound, and now suddenly being asked to get in the car made her wary and resistant.
But at this point, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.
Taking a deep breath, the girl bent down and got into the car.
The man seemed very respectful of her, knowing what she was uncomfortable with. He opened the door and sat in the passenger seat, gently reminding her to fasten her seatbelt.
The driver started the engine. After just two traffic lights, the car quickly pulled into a local hospital.
She suddenly regretted coming to the hospital. It was just a minor injury—she could have bought some medicine at a street corner and handled it herself.
Being here with a stranger, every extra second felt awkward.
The driver ran errands for the man, who stayed by her side on the waiting bench. Eventually, they got the medicine and went to the rest room, where a nurse helped treat the wound.
She was wearing a long skirt. When the fabric was lifted, the scraped knee was exposed, with small gravel embedded in the flesh. The nurse used tweezers to pick them out.
An Ruo bit her lower lip. The pain wasn’t much to her, but when the disinfectant touched the wound, it stung a bit.
Seeing her pained expression, the man unconsciously furrowed his brows. "Does it hurt?"
She shook her head stubbornly.
"Bear with it." The nurse comforted her softly in English, not stopping her movements but making them gentler.
Hearing their concern, An Ruo’s wariness gradually eased.
The nurse applied gauze, gently gave her aftercare instructions, and handed her some bruise ointment.
Since the wound had just been bandaged, the nurse specifically advised her to rest a while before moving. An Ruo had no choice but to stay in the rest room.
The man walked over lightly and sat beside her, leaving a bit of space between them.
"Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Kane Bryce. You can call me Kane, or Yunli."
An Ruo’s light brown eyes slowly turned to him. "I’m An Ruo."
"Sorry, I’m still a bit rusty with Chinese..." He scratched his head sheepishly. "I can’t quite figure out those two characters."
He was a foreigner; being able to speak fluent Chinese was already impressive. To expect him to understand it thoroughly would take more time.
An Ruo took out her phone, typed her name on the keyboard, and showed it to him.
"An..." He frowned. The last character was a polyphone—he’d heard of it before but didn’t know the other pronunciation.
He silently noted it, though reading it still felt awkward.
The man smiled elegantly. "How about I call you An’an? Peaceful An."
An Ruo was taken aback. Her surname An did mean peace, but... no one had ever called her that before.
It was just a nickname, so she nodded indifferently. "Whatever works."
"You... here in New Zealand on vacation?"
"Yeah."
"Alone?"
"No." An Ruo pursed her pink lips, then suddenly remembered his Chinese name and asked curiously, "Are you a local?"
The people here were all blond and blue-eyed, but his eyes were deep brown, close to Chinese black pupils, and his skin tone was slightly more Chinese yellow.
Could it be...
"I grew up in Germany. I’m mixed-race." He smiled casually. "My father is Chinese, my mother is German, and my grandmother is also mixed-race."
Just as she’d guessed.
She nodded lightly.
The man continued, "I grew up in Ninghai, China. My father is the only son of the Yun family, so I took a few years of Chinese lessons."
An Ruo nodded again. Hearing that he was mixed-race, with half his bloodline from China, her guard instantly dropped.
She wasn’t as cold as when they first met, and she responded with a light smile to whatever he said.
"I came to New Zealand mainly to visit my grandfather. He’s set up a small company here, and my father asked me to help out." He sighed slightly. "I didn’t expect to run into a thief right after arriving. That elderly woman had worked so hard to earn some money from her stall—if it got stolen, how sad would she be? So... I couldn’t help but chase after him."
So the thief hadn’t stolen from him at all—he was just being heroic!
An Ruo’s admiration for him grew instantly.
He raised an eyebrow. "What about you?"
"I live in Shencheng."
"I heard Shencheng is called the Magic City, not far from Ninghai."
An Ruo nodded lightly. "Yeah." She paused, then smiled slightly. "When you go back to China, you can come visit Shencheng. Maybe I can be your tour guide."
"Really? That’s great! Then I’ll definitely have to have a good time in Shencheng."