Collision

The peace did not break quietly, but with a scream. It was around eleven. The girls had just finished the second shift, and An Jing was getting ready for hers. None of the students used the laundry room at this hour, but Chen Yi, slightly sleepy after a particularly tasty dinner, had accidentally wandered into the laundry room while trying to find the bathroom.

When she turned on the laundry room lights, she found a man wearing black trousers, a black shirt, and a black mask squatting in front of one of the machines like a goblin, his hands full of female underwear of various colors and styles. A moment of silence passed between the two as if time itself was stuck.

Then Chen Yi screamed.

The thief screamed louder.

Chen Yi, still yelling, ran away from the laundry room in terror. Seeing his opportunity, the thief bolted out as well.

Mei Lin, who had come out to investigate the noise, bumped into a scared and shaking Chen Yi.

"What happened, Lao-Yi?" Mei Lin asked, holding her friend steady.

"Linlin... he... he was there."

"Which way did he go?"

Chen Yi pointed in the direction the thief had escaped.

Mei Lin quickly spoke into her earpiece, "XiaoXiao, the thief is here. He went out the back door. Quick, get visuals, and contact Jingjing."

The reply came immediately, "Acknowledged, Linlin." XiaoXiao's voice buzzed from the other side.

Mei Lin then comforted Chen Yi and took her to get some hot chocolate.

XiaoXiao and her team had the drone make a beeline to the back of the dorm, where they found the thief running out of the building. An ordinary camera might have failed in that darkness, but there was no escaping the Dragonfly's infrared camera and motion detectors.

"Jingjing," XiaoXiao said, "Jingjing, come in."

"I am here. Just tying my shoes. What's up?"

"We have visual on the perp."

"Finally!"

"He is heading towards the Chemistry building. He is cutting across the lawns."

"I am on him," An Jing said, her voice unnaturally calm. "Keep me posted. And make sure all the girls are safely inside the dorm."

While the girls were engaged in a high-stakes chase, Li Wei and An Mei had just finished their shift at the dorm and were walking home hand in hand.

"And that is Betelgeuse," Li Wei was saying, pointing at the reddish star in the sky. "One day, it's going to die in a magnificent supernova explosion."

"Really?" An Mei said, her fearful tone almost convincing. She clutched Li Wei's arms even more tightly and asked, "Will we be safe, Weiwei?"

"Of course, darling," Li Wei reassured his wife, while enjoying her playful little game. "It will be at least a hundred thousand years before that happens, and it's too far from us anyway."

He released her hand and wrapped his arms around An Mei's shoulder, pulling her closer. Li Wei continued, "And, even if it does go off sooner, I will be here to protect you."

An Mei looked up at him and chuckled. "My hero!" she whispered before giving him a kiss.

Li Wei grinned upon receiving what he knew was a totally unearned reward, but he was not going to argue about it.

"Weiwei," An Mei said, the slight worry in her voice now genuine. "Where are we? This isn't the usual road we take."

Li Wei's gaze moved from the heavens to the familiar scenery in front of him

"We are at the Chemistry building, look," he said, pointing at the large concrete structure. "If we just turn right here and take another left, we reach the main road. There is a bus stop there."

Suddenly, the couple's loving bubble was shattered by the patter of swift footsteps.

Li Wei turned around to look and saw a man clad in black, with a black mask over his face, running towards them.

It did not take a genius to guess who this was.

An Mei gasped when she saw the thief barreling towards them.

To Li Wei the world seemed to come to a standstill. He looked at the thief and then at his wife. "Protect An Mei." That was the only thought in his mind.

Li Wei was no fighter, but he knew physics. All he had to do was cancel out the momentum of the approaching body. And that meant...

Li Wei stood in the thief's path, bodily blocking his route.

The thief, unable to pivot at the last second, crashed into the professor, and the two men went down in an ungainly heap.

"Wei!!!" An Mei cried out in sheer terror.

The thief was the first to get himself together. He tried to get up and run away, but Li Wei had his leg in a vice-like grip.

"Let go of me!!!" the thief screamed.

But Li Wei would not let go. He had to protect An Mei.

An Mei, tears running down her cheeks, ran towards her husband and started wailing on the thief with her handbag.

The thief pushed her away easily, sending her sprawling.

Denied the chance to run away, the thief took the only option left. He lifted up his hand, now balled into a fist, ready to strike Li Wei.

Li Wei still did not let go, not even to protect himself. Because An Mei was still not safe.

An Mei saw the hand go up, and her heart lurched to her throat. She tried to scramble up to her feet so that she could take the blow and shield her husband from it.

Suddenly, a swift shadow passed her by.

Before the thief even realized what was happening, intense pain exploded from the side of his face, and he felt himself being thrown sideways by the same irresistible force that had almost pulverized his jaw.

He was no longer on top of the man who was gripping his leg. He was now on the asphalt. And he was crying from unbearable agony.

He looked up and saw a little girl standing over him, her eyes blazing with cold rage.

He tried to get up, but he was denied that chance by the roundhouse kick that left him an unconscious lump on the road.

While the action went on behind them, Li Wei and An Mei were sitting on the road hugging each other and crying while simultaneously trying to console each other.

An Jing looked at her sister and brother-in-law and asked, her voice almost cracking with emotion, "Are you two okay? Are you hurt anywhere, Jie? Jie-fu?"

"No, Xiao-Jing. We are alright," Li Wei answered, still not letting go of his wife.

"We are fine, Jingjing. Are you all right?" An Mei asked, still clinging to her husband.

"I am good. Don't worry about me," An Jing said, relieved. She took out the pink, fluffy handcuffs that had been sent to her by Li Wei's fourth sister. "But, you two might want to get off the road."