Chapter 278 — The Arrow-Brand Guy Is Mighty Fierce

But when Qiu Lingshan saw the sandcastle on the beach, the words reached her lips and slid back down her throat. Playing so happily—surely no comforting was needed... Yet Shen Yushu's next words left Qiu Lingshan rather speechless.

"Sister Lingshan, you got here so fast! My castle isn't even finished yet..." Shen Yushu gazed at her handiwork with reluctance, dragging her feet as she came over.

Qiu Lingshan wanted to curse, but held it in. Watching Shen Yushu's little eyes darting about, she knew the girl was doing it on purpose. This little minx had never liked her, ever since Qiu Lingshan turned down her brother's pursuit—was that any reason?

Did not liking someone mean she had no right to refuse? Qiu Lingshan's head ached. A young girl's mind was impossible to fathom. When she looked for a boyfriend, did she have to pick this girl's brother and no one else?

Besides, it was a fact that he could not beat her. Why on earth should she choose a man weaker than herself? If trouble came later, would she be protecting him, or he protecting her?

"Give me your phone." Qiu Lingshan was still fuming when she heard Wei Zhao ask for her phone.

"Huh? What for?" Qiu Lingshan blinked, but still handed it over. Earlier she had called Wei Zhao's phone and found it switched off, so she assumed it had run out of battery—naturally, she thought he wanted to borrow hers to make a call.

But after taking the phone, Wei Zhao did not call anyone. He brought up the camera and started shooting the sandcastle Shen Yushu had built—left, right, every angle, not one omitted.

"Wow, Arrow-Brand Guy, you're so good! Now I can keep it as a souvenir!" Shen Yushu was thrilled and ran to stand beside her castle. "Arrow-Brand Guy, take a picture of us together!"

"You—what are you taking pictures of that for?" Qiu Lingshan had not expected Wei Zhao to use her phone for this, and her temper flared at once. "Wei Zhao, do you have nothing better to do?"

"When you get back, send me the photos by MMS, or just send them to my phone's mailbox." Wei Zhao did not answer her question and handed the phone back.

"No time." Qiu Lingshan was about to explode. Using her phone to photograph Shen Yushu was bad enough, but a whole pile of sandcastle shots? If she actually cooperated and sent them over, what would that make her? Qiu Lingshan had always cut a forceful figure in the compound—before anyone, she was like a proud princess. She and Shen Yushu had long been at odds over Chen Yuxuan. How could Qiu Lingshan possibly send her the photos? If she did, where would her dignity be?

"No time, is it? Fine. Next time you come looking for me, you'd better consider whether I have time." Wei Zhao shrugged indifferently and made to turn away.

Qiu Lingshan clenched her silver teeth, stamped hard on the sand, and squeezed out two words through them: "I'll send them."

"Heh..." Wei Zhao smiled. He knew this tigress would give in.

Shen Yushu, however, stared wide-eyed at Wei Zhao and Qiu Lingshan in disbelief. Earlier, asking Wei Zhao to photograph her with the sandcastle had been only to needle Qiu Lingshan. In her view, with Qiu Lingshan's temper, she would never send the photos—even if Shen Yushu pressed her about it later, Qiu Lingshan, too proud to admit otherwise, would only say she had deleted them by accident.

So when Wei Zhao told Qiu Lingshan to send the photos and she said "No time," that was exactly what Shen Yushu expected, and she found nothing odd about it. Wei Zhao being able to take her phone and photograph Shen Yushu with the sandcastle was already impressive enough—it had given Shen Yushu plenty of face. After all, which of the men around Qiu Lingshan would dare use her phone for something so silly?

Even Chen Yuxuan, her own brother, once a leading figure in the compound and indeed in all of Songshan City, would not have dared do such a thing. So in a sense, Arrow-Brand Guy was mighty fierce: he had taken Qiu Lingshan's phone to shoot something pointless, and instead of exploding and hitting him, she had merely said "No time"—which was already giving Wei Zhao a great deal of face.

Just as Shen Yushu was about to say how mighty Arrow-Brand Guy was, the unexpected happened again. Qiu Lingshan actually agreed to send them—all because of one sentence from Arrow-Brand Guy.

"Arrow-Brand Guy, you're amazing!" Shen Yushu wanted to throw her arms around Wei Zhao and kiss him. Years of pent-up grievance had finally found release. She had thought no man could ever get the better of Qiu Lingshan, yet Arrow-Brand Guy had handled her with ease.

The rumor that had been flying around—that Qiu Lingshan had done *that* for Wei Zhao in the hospital—could it be true? Mm-hmm, the way things looked now, very likely. Otherwise, why would Qiu Lingshan be so obedient?

Ah, brother, it seems you'll just have to give up. And from the look of things, you couldn't handle her anyway—better to yield to Arrow-Brand Guy. Mm-hmm, if Uncle Chu really is looking for a son-in-law, then in the future Sister Yaoyao will be Arrow-Brand Guy's first wife, I'll be his little wife, and Qiu Lingshan can only be a chamber maid...

Qiu Lingshan's belly was puffed with anger—she was nearly turning into a great big frog. Of course she knew what Shen Yushu was gloating about, but there was nothing she could do. Qiu Lingshan dared not offend Wei Zhao too deeply; who could say whether she might need his help with some problem next time? On reflection, she could only swallow it.

"Hey, Tigress, come help move the shark," Wei Zhao ordered Qiu Lingshan offhandedly.

"Ti—Tigress?" Qiu Lingshan thought her ears were playing tricks on her. Someone actually dared call her Tigress?

"Huh?" Shen Yushu was taken aback as well — the nickname "Bro Arrowhead" was a bit much, even by his standards...

Liu Wangli stood off to one side, wanting to laugh but not daring to; inwardly, however, he gave Wei Zhao a thumbs-up. He had no idea what sort of relationship existed between Wei Zhao and Captain Song — the man had not only used her phone to snap a whole pile of baffling photos of sandcastles, he even had the nerve to call her "Tigress."

"Wei Zhao, what did you just call me?" Song Lingshan lunged at Wei Zhao, her fury finally boiling over, wanting nothing more than to teach him a lesson. This guy was going too far! Just because he had a few petty tricks up his sleeve, did he really think she couldn't crack a single case without him?

She was, after all, the fighting champion of the whole police station — how could she let Wei Zhao bully her like this?

"Captain Song, Captain Song, you mustn't do anything rash..." Seeing Song Lingshan about to lay into Wei Zhao, Liu Wangli jumped in alarm. He knew her skills inside and out. Forget ordinary people — even the rigorously trained officers of Songshan Police Station rarely had a match for her.

That, precisely, was why the men under her truly admired Song Lingshan: a woman who yielded to no man. As a captain, if you lacked the means to command your people's respect, how could they ever submit to you?