If you dare to last forever, I will last forever.

Introduction:
This is not actually a gangster novel, but it does take place in a rather unique setting.

 

They were childhood sweethearts, each other’s first love, but parted ways due to his ambition. Three years later, he is standing at the pinnacle of power and is about to marry her best friend, while she is still struggling in the abyss. When they meet again, he unconsciously wants to use strong measures to get her back, but unexpectedly, his fiancée, who he has never cared about, becomes a new obstacle between them…

When the strong-willed silly woman reunites with the wealthy boss who has a complex about his first love, will they reunite or end up as strangers?

 

Prologue

Digression

In fictional fairy tales, there is always one or two evil characters who are used to develop the plot, and they invariably become the stepping stones for the prince to rescue the beauty. However, in one story, the villain suddenly becomes the protagonist, while the protagonist leads a miserable life as cannon fodder. Even the prince is reduced to a frog because he failed to rescue the beauty. All this is because the villain is too powerful, and a black heart is wrapped in a pretty appearance, which has more or less confused everyone’s eyes. Therefore, in an adult’s fairy tale, the hero may not necessarily win, and the kind prince and innocent princess may not necessarily be happy. It could be the villain who does evil deeds.

***

This is the most chaotic slum in San Francisco.
In a dark alley, the piercing cold wind whips through, rustling the ragged newspapers and plastic bags on the ground. Every now and then, one or two mice looking for food pop out, their thin tails tucked between their legs as they scurry unconcernedly through the rubbish. From a distance, the sound of muffled metal music, chaotic percussion and the frantic shouts of the crowd announce that this place, forgotten by the rich, is still having their Christmas rave.
A rave? How apt.
Sean leans against the wall, slowly opening his lighter and lighting a cigarette. He looked up and saw four thugs with clubs approaching. His narrow, dark eyes gleamed with a sinister, excited light as the cigarette’s wick flickered…
To others, it may have seemed that only someone with a warped mind or a dark soul could have such terrifying explosive power, so every move was meant to kill. A powerful blow sent the last man to the ground. He smiled as he walked over and added a few more punches until his opponent was lying on the ground unable to move before he staggered to his feet.
At this moment, a faint sound came from the corner of the alley. He suddenly turned around and his eyes met those of the person who had been unable to avoid them. The owner of those eyes took a quick step back as if he had seen a ghost when he saw his face.
Sean raised the corner of his mouth, the game had just begun. …

This time, I’m in big trouble.
Ning Wushu cried out in her heart.
She shouldn’t have run away from the hotel just ten days after being sent to the United States by her uncle, nor should she have pointed to an unfamiliar map and asked the taxi driver to take her to this hellhole without understanding English.
What did she see as a result? The dark-haired, black-clad teenager with an Oriental face was scarier than anyone she had ever met. Fortunately, she was very confident in the 100-metre race.
‘Hey!’ He pointed at her and just spat out an English word from his mouth, and then switched to broken Chinese and said, ‘Don’t run…’
But she had already run like the wind.
Sean cursed, and started running after her. She threw rubbish bags behind her all the way, which annoyed him. In order not to let the rabbit slip away, he had to step on the rubbish bags and leap over them, directly crushing her against the wall.
Wushu was stunned for a moment after being knocked over, and when she came to and struggled, her arms were already firmly wrapped around her waist like iron.
The young man had a unique pheromone, mixed with a faint smell of tobacco and blood, which made her dizzy uncontrollably.
He laughed mischievously in her ear, ‘Judging by all those designer clothes, your family must be rich, right?’
Yes, her father was a nouveau riche who used to rule the vegetable market with his fists. He couldn’t wait to put a big gold plate around her neck with the words ‘My father is the richest’ engraved on it. I heard that some people in some places hate the rich, so if they just want to kidnap and extort, that’s fine, but I’m afraid they’ll rob them of their wealth as well…
No! She screamed. She was only 12 years old, like a bud, how could she encounter such a tragic thing… After leaving several scratches on his face, she finally learned from his poor spoken Chinese that there was no kidnapper or extortionist here, just a rascal trying to sell his best ability to the child of a wealthy family. He could be a bodyguard, a thug, a stuntman, a punching bag, do whatever she wanted. As long as he could get out of this hellhole.
Wushu let out a sigh of relief, and suddenly felt like the saviour of the world, charged with a great mission, and overjoyed at being able to save a fallen soul.
However, those thoughts ultimately stopped the moment he slammed his ten bloody fingers into her chest. He wanted to comfort himself by thinking that he must have put them in the wrong place, but when he asked her with surprise and pity in his voice why even rich people could be stunted, the forgotten little universe finally exploded. She suddenly picked up the lid of the rubbish bin next to her, slammed it back with all her strength onto his head as an answer, and then wiped her tears while walking towards the end of the alley.
From a young age, she had been exposed to all kinds of jerks, but she had never seen one like this before.
The crippled man, who still looked like a rascal, followed her closely, like her shadow, and she couldn’t shake him off. He said he was Chinese and his name was Sean.
When Wushu heard this, she couldn’t help but turn around and scold him, cursing him as a fake foreign devil, a despicable scumbag, a villain, a motherfucker! Her flushed face became crystal clear in the moonlight, as if it were about to drip with shame. Sean looked at her, and a smile that gradually pulled at the corners of his mouth appeared, which, against his black and red attire, had an indescribable sense of sensibility.
Many years later, when he stood at the top of power under the name Shen Shijiu and began his glorious life, he still clearly remembered this scene. Perhaps, as some people say, a man will remember his first love, whether he is passionate or cold, and call it a complex.

 

 

Chapter 1

On Christmas Eve, the skyscraper was brightly lit, like a giant tower with stars proudly perched in the city’s most prosperous prime location.
Celebrities from all walks of life, the media and the skyscraper’s executives gathered in the magnificent domed ballroom. When the light fell on the aisle leading to the door with the arched columns and the crimson carpet, there was a stir in the crowd.
In the midst of everyone’s anticipation, the skyscraper’s CEO, dressed in a black uniform and accompanied by four men and one woman, arrived late, immediately becoming the focus of the entire crowd.
The man’s deeply-carved features reflected a cool radiance in the flashbulbs, and his tall, slender frame stood tall in front of the podium as he delivered a composed speech: ‘Today I want to show you the particle screen that will soon be put into use in the centres of the four major districts.’
The particle screen displays a three-dimensional world of images suspended in midair through ever-changing combinations of particles, and it can display synchronously on any mobile phone on the market. This technology is the new achievement of Moreton Electronics, which took two years to develop.
At exactly 7:00 p.m., a stunning scene appeared in the sky above Pegasus Plaza in the east district, Huiyuan Centre in the south district, Xinjiekou in the north district, and Music Square in the west district: sparkling crystal points converging from all directions, combining like a puzzle to form a huge three-dimensional particle screen. The entire ballroom clearly appeared in the picture, and through the speaker technology with ring-point reflection positioning, the man’s calm and magnetic voice could be heard in the square…

A strange woman is sitting on a street bench. She is wearing a leather stand-up collar jacket, with her hair tied in a ponytail. Her forehead is covered by a pair of wide purple sunglasses, leaving the outline of her thin jaw visible.
For an entire hour, she keeps her head down, reading a text on her palm computer:
Shen Shijiu, 28 years old. Three years ago, as the president of the Nanxing Club, the largest club in Nanting, he, as the first heir of the Shen family, took over 38% of the shares of the Morita Group, defeating the heir of another family, Bei Tanghao, who was the president of Morita Bank at the time. He officially became the largest shareholder of this dual-family conglomerate and took over the position of president of the conglomerate.
Naturally, there were dissenting voices, claiming that he had used his influence to coerce some shareholders into selling their shares unwillingly. Although this claim has not been confirmed, it has made him the most controversial figure.
However, his achievements at Moretti over the years are obvious to all, especially as the real estate and electronics businesses, which he oversees, have always been at the forefront of the industry. He has now firmly established himself as the number one in the consortium.

Two girls, both of them university students, walked quickly over and sat down in the empty seats next to her, then crowded together and talked excitedly.
‘Oh my god, did you see how he looked into her eyes? It was like he was giving off electricity!’
‘Yeah, he’s so handsome, and when he smiles, he’s definitely going to kill it.’
‘It’s a pity that he’s getting married, so depressing.’
‘Who is that woman called Huo Siqing? I’ve never heard of her.’
“I think she’s a teacher, and her family is quite wealthy.’
‘No matter how rich she is, she’s not as rich as 19. I don’t know what she sees in her.‘
’Don’t be so jealous. She’s a beauty. You and I can never compare to her.‘
’Ahhh! Why is her life so good!”
The woman in sunglasses finally made a move. She tilted her head and her sharp gaze, through the lenses, fixed on the two girls next to her who were chattering away.
Eventually, she closed her palmtop, slipped it into her bag, and walked away…

The man’s face was like a spell wrapped around her neck. Wusu’s body jerked on the bed, and she woke up with her eyes fixed motionlessly on the pale ceiling above her head, until the images in her dream slowly faded.

She turned her head to check the time, and it was already past 6am.
She got up, brushed her teeth and washed her face, changed her clothes while the kitchen was cooking congee, and cleaned the room briefly. At this time, the morning light also brightened up, so she filled a bowl of rice porridge for herself and ate it up with a small dish of pickles.
When I was a young lady in the Southern Jing Club, I had a bad habit of always eating half of whatever I had in the morning. Because I liked to sleep in, I was woken up at 7am to go to school at 8am. Every time, I had to struggle with myself in bed for half an hour before I managed to get up. Naturally, eating breakfast became a big problem. I couldn’t not eat it, so I had to pour whatever I couldn’t finish into the bowl of anyone eating at the same table when my father wasn’t looking. Later, when Shen Shijiu followed her back to China, she just poured it into his bowl.
Don’t look at him now, he’s so high up, everyone obeys him. Back then, if he was told to walk, he would never take a bus; if he was told to help with homework, he would never get a score of 90. But he was so smart, he got everything right the first time, and never made any mistakes. Her father always valued talent, and soon brought him into the Nan Jing Club. Once he became a big shot in the club, he was no longer the punk she could bully.
Christmas was a lonely time for Wushu, not because there was nowhere to go, in fact, the girls had been trying to drag her out to party, but she stubbornly chose to be alone and quiet.
All morning, she sat on the deck chair on the balcony reading Paradise Lost by John Milton, until her eyes ached, then she put the book down and looked out at the scenery in the distance.
During her years abroad, she had always lived in the countryside and had long since become accustomed to living away from the hustle and bustle. After returning to Nanting, she wanted to find a quiet place, preferably with mountains and water. Unexpectedly, Xiao Shu poured cold water on her: ‘Big sister, where are there any real places with mountains and water here? Even if there were, they would have been flattened to build houses and buildings. But Shen Shijiu’s mountain-top mansion, which is worth a whopping 320 million US dollars, is still pretty good.’
Wushu smiled, of course. The Upper King Villa had once topped the list of the world’s most famous mansions, and it was extraordinary. She had seen the photos, with the white main building surrounded by greenery, and the whole mansion perfectly blending modern design concepts into nature – it was her favourite style, and it was also the work that British architectural design master David was most satisfied with so far.
Someone once said that in our country, your wealth has to be visible to others, otherwise no one will believe you are really rich.
It is said that Shen Shijiu has developed a collecting habit in recent years. Sometimes, for a few treasures that suddenly catch his eye, he will drop everything and take a private jet to auctions around the world. Some people collect because they really like it, while others simply want to get it. He is the latter type of person, and such people usually don’t spend much effort on the things they have obtained.
A stark contrast. Wu Shu has never owned a home since leaving home. Now she lives in a rented house in the eastern suburbs. Not far away is a natural lake of medium size. The scenery is quite good, and there are also mountains nearby. Although it looks like a big dirt hill, you can still see a few cliffs.
After spending half the day at home, she went hiking in the afternoon and made it to the top of the cliff in one go. It was only then that she realised that this place had already been conquered before. A large protruding rock looked human-like at first glance, with four words spray-painted in red on it: ‘Freezing at the top’.
Wushu looked at the spray paint in her hand a little helplessly and had to spray the words ‘read’ in the lower right corner.
She just thought it was a bit of a bad taste.
Not to mention winter, even in spring and autumn, standing in this windswept location is still very cold. She has been afraid of the cold since the accident, and after not being at the top for long, she found a gentler slope to go down. However, the weather was not on her side, and it happened to rain at this time. The raindrops hit the mountain trees, making a cracking sound.
She cursed under her breath, trying to hurry down the mountain before the path got completely wet. She finally reached the foot of the mountain, but tripped over a hole, sprained her ankle, and lost her balance. She almost rolled all the way down the slope and into the wheels of a Lexus that was driving down the road.
The car stopped, and a woman got out, followed closely by a man holding an umbrella over her.
‘Miss, are you okay?‘ a pleasant voice asked.
Wu Shu suddenly looked up, their eyes met, and the two faces with two expressions were a bit comical.
’Why are you in such a rural place?‘
’…I went to Ling’an Temple.’ After not seeing each other for a few years, Huo Siqing seemed a bit constrained.
Wu Shu nodded knowingly: ’You’re getting married, so it’s good to go to the temple and ask for a lucky charm.’
Although Huo Siting could hear the sarcasm in her words, she could not and would not argue with Wushu, as she had only herself to blame after all. Seeing that she seemed to have sprained her ankle, she said, ‘Where are you going? I’ll give you a lift.’
“No need. I live nearby. Besides, you can’t drive an expensive car like this through the mud. After a few puddles, it won’t be a Lexus, but a Lexus of death.’
Huo Siqing lost her bearings for a moment, and the tall man behind her, who seemed to be her bodyguard, spoke up: ‘Miss Huo, it’s almost five o’clock. If you don’t leave now, you’ll be late for Mr. Shen’s side.’
Wu Shu moved two steps to the side to make way for her, saying, ‘There’s plenty of time in the future, and there’s always a chance to see each other again.’
“Then take care,’
She got into the car and looked out the window at the back. Ning Wushu, who was still standing in the same place, was shrouded in a haze of rain, like a lonely reed swaying in the river, and it was hard not to look at him.
She felt a pang of sadness in her heart, but the past could not be changed, and she could not give up on her future happiness. What she owed Wushu in this life was destined to remain unpaid.
Back at her place, Wushu took a shower in the bathroom, dealt with her swollen ankle, made herself something to eat to fill her stomach, and then sat in a chair and closed her eyes to rest.
Two people who had once occupied important positions in her life were now about to tie the knot.
It sounds like the most clichéd storyline in a third-rate novel: she wakes up one day to find that her first love is actually a wolf, who not only devours her but also takes over everything she has; her former best friend betrays her despite their friendship; she loses every battle against them and is finally out of the game…
If this is the ending, it is not satisfactory. She has suppressed her emotions and remained silent for three years, waiting for the day when she will have enough strength to get back from that person everything she has lost. And this is about to be a new story.
The phone on the table, set to vibrate mode, responded, the screen lit up, and a text message with just an ellipsis popped up. Wushu looked at it, grabbed the phone and dialed back. As soon as it connected, a loud voice came over the line.
“The phone was disconnected, no one answered the door, I thought you were kidnapped by Martians!’
‘Don’t be silly, Mars and Earth are friendly,’ she sighed. This guy is called Wen Qi, and he is as enthusiastic as the sun in July. When he is hovering around her, he always says, “Hey, if you are a planet, I am the star. It is not right for a planet not to revolve around a star! If you ignore him again, he will justifiably say, ”Then I, the star, will have to revolve around you, the planet.
‘You know how to joke,‘ Wen Qini said with a sigh. “Forget it, I’m relieved that you’re fine.”
’What could possibly happen to me? I’ve already experienced everything I should have, and I should have long ago developed an invulnerable body.‘ Really, there’s nothing to be surprised about.
’Xia and I are at the bar, do you want to come over?‘
’You guys have fun, I still have some things to do.‘
’Busy again…’ Wen Qini didn’t hide his disappointment, but there was nothing he could do: ’I’ll hang up then.’
 

Chapter 2

She got up, went into the bedroom, turned on the computer, logged onto MSN, and found K online.
He had been introduced to her by her Japanese teacher, but she had never really known his true identity. She only knew that he could crack the US Department of Defense’s network system within half an hour, and that he had excellent breeding, liked Chinese history and ancient poetry, and rarely talked about programming with others.
‘Hi, K. Any good news?’ she asked.
‘The Middle East is on the brink of war, and international speculators are preparing to take advantage of the situation. Oil prices are sure to rise sharply, so I suggest you go long on energy stocks while they’re cheap. In previous years, when oil prices rose, housing prices generally fell, but this time it’s hard to say. We’ll just have to wait and see who’s right.‘
’I don’t know what Shen Shijiu plans to do. Skyscraper has recently invested heavily in real estate.‘
’I have a new Trojan horse program here. Do you want to try it?’

The next day, she woke up and found that she had slept on the table the whole night. Looking at the unsent email on the computer screen in front of her, she let out a sigh, lifted her hand to move the mouse and press the send button, then silently recited the time in her heart.
Hacking into a computer in a short period of time is not a difficult task for K, but planting a Trojan horse in a computer and safely evading the anti-virus system within the computer when it is activated requires the ‘cooperation’ of the owner. K therefore suggested that she activate the virus through an email. The back door he left in Shen Shijiu’s personal computer.
Wushu wasn’t completely sure whether Shen Shijiu would read his emails. If the other person didn’t care, then any more words would just be a bunch of characters, so she just said, ‘I’m back.’
Unexpectedly, there was an echo from the other side in less than a minute. Looking at the prompt for a new email, she was a little surprised, so she sat up slightly and clicked to open the content.
“Wushu, where are you? It’s Luo Ze.’
She then subconsciously looked at the email address she had just sent to, and indeed it was Shen Shijiu’s personal email address.
A message was quickly sent over explaining, ‘Sorry, I’m doing routine maintenance on the chairman’s computer.’

As shrewd as Shen Shijiu always knew what was important, Nan Jing would have loyalists like Gu Yuanqi in place, so there was no need to worry about any chaos, and he could just work behind the scenes. However, the Moreton Consortium is much more complicated. The family shareholders who have been ‘suppressed’ all want to turn over a new leaf and regain their positions. He is used to being cautious and refuses to use Moreton’s original people. It is completely reasonable for Luo Ze, who has a master’s degree in finance, to be transferred from the Nan Jing Club and remain by his side as a senior assistant.
This is a good thing for her. Like the Ning family, Luo Ze has betrayed the Ning family, but he is far more humane than Shen Shijiu. At least he knows how to feel guilty, and feelings of guilt often make people lose their guard.
‘He’s getting married, did you know?’
Luo Ze always speaks to the point.
After a short silence, she sent a smiley face over: ‘I’m afraid everyone in Nanting knows.’

Someone had warned Wushu’s father that Shen Shijiu was an ambitious man who would never be content to be second fiddle to anyone. But he only had Wushu as a daughter, and after learning that he had a terminal illness, he had a plan. If Shen Shijiu could become his son-in-law, then the chairman would let him take over, and his daughter would not suffer. Unexpectedly, Shen Shijiu refused. He said that Wushu was not his type.
She was also there at the time, and although she had never thought about such things, her female pride was hurt after all. In her father’s eyes, she was a weak person, and in his eyes, she had been living together for ten years and was an ungrateful woman.
Her father passed away suddenly, and she was very depressed. She no longer had the courage and fearlessness of the past, and even had the idea of quitting the Nan Jing Club. However, during this period of time, Shen Shijiu also seemed to have changed, no longer arguing with her, but instead giving her ambiguous feelings.
She was really very simple at that time, thinking that he was like her, with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Even if he liked her, he would not admit it. So, he could indulge her unreasonable outbursts, and she could allow him to hug and kiss her, even going beyond the rules to have physical intimacy with her…
Later, she had a dream.
She was standing in front of her familiar home, but it was surrounded by black ivy. The slippery, glistening stone pavement was streaked with red liquid, and the pale moon hung in the sky, dark and silent, driving her mad. Shen Shijiu walked towards her, and when he got closer, she saw a pool of black blood on his chest. He said he was looking for something, and then she saw him holding a knife and swinging it mercilessly at her.
She didn’t have a chance to see if she was alive or dead. When she and Shen Shijiu were at the same table for dinner, they were both a bit quiet. She mentioned the dream casually, and he put down the knife and fork in his hands. It was as if he had heard something funny and kept laughing, until his eyes were red from smiling. Then he lit a cigarette in front of her and said with an unprecedented cold tone, ‘Maybe it was your father who sent you a dream to tell you to be careful of the demons around you…’
The last few words were exhaled along with the smoke, as if he were talking to himself, and she didn’t hear him clearly.
Within three days of Shen Shijiu’s words, there were earth-shattering changes within the Nan Jing Association. One by one, the subordinates who had originally been loyal to her father proposed to retire and go home to spend their old age. She thought back carefully and realised that many of the doubts she had previously overthrown had now become possible. Realising the gravity of the situation, she ignored the objections of Shen Shijiu’s trusted subordinates and pushed open the door to the meeting room at the Nan Jing headquarters.
No one had to say a word, and she felt like she had fallen into a cold pool. In this place, at a time she was not aware of, Shen Shijiu and representatives from all the Nanqing branches, including Luo Ze, had gathered here. Gu Yuanzhi, Xu Lu, Wu Xiangyang and Xi Tianyu had all been promoted by Shen Shijiu, so she was not surprised to see them, but she just did not expect that even Luo Ze and Third Uncle, who had treated her like family, had betrayed the Nings.
The change in the situation was so unexpected. In the fifth week after her father’s death, everyone unanimously elected Shen Shijiu to become the new president of the Nan Jing Club. She, the original heir, was stripped of all her rights by them on the pretext that she was not suitable to preside over the overall situation.
He said to her, ‘I have my reasons for doing this, and you will understand one day.’
Yes, one day she finally understood what he had done for all this. In the blink of an eye, you will find that everything has changed. Trust turned to suspicion, warmth to coldness, and happiness to sarcasm. She stood at the window, scratching at the glass with her fingernails over and over again. The harsh, shrill sound tore at her heart, leaving a trail of wounds on it. She couldn’t cry because her eyes, which had never blinked, were like a dry well that had been drained of every drop of water. She didn’t know if that was considered a breakdown, so she just rushed out of the room to find a way to die.
But there is a kind of person who will make you want to die when you don’t want to, and when you do want to die, he will force you to live.
Wushu grabbed her trembling fingers and left the computer.
She got on the black modified Triumph motorcycle and rode down the deserted street. Her thoughts, which had been racing around her head, grew fainter as the wind howled. Only at times like these can she keep going without thinking. When she exceeds the speed limit, she feels like she is surpassing herself, rather than stagnating.

The car reached the intersection of Bei’an Road, and the red light ahead paused Wushu’s speed. She wore a helmet, and only her black and white eyes were visible in the mirror.
The number on the red light timer jumped to 30, and the low sound of the car’s engine came from her ears. From experience, she could deduce that the car was worth at least five million yuan. To confirm her guess, Wushu turned her head to take a look – the latest limited edition of the Bugatti Veyron. The ultra-modern silver-grey body was domineering and easily became the highlight of the traffic. Apart from its unrivaled speed, its resistance and explosion-proof capabilities were also outstanding.
Wushu’s fingers on the handlebar suddenly tightened, and her deep, unfathomable eyes looked at the two people sitting in the car like strangers.
The warm winter morning light shines through the car window and rests on the cold, stern face of Shen Shijiu. He casually rests one hand on the steering wheel, then takes the phone that Huo Siding has handed him and listens for less than ten seconds before hanging up. There is a brief tensing of the lips, but his gaze remains unwavering as he looks at the red light timer on the dashboard ahead. Huo Siding, sitting next to him, leans towards him and says something, and he leans over and strokes her head, the intimacy of their relationship obvious to all.
The digital display on the dash jumped to 5. Shen Shijiu returned to his original sitting position, and his eyes naturally followed his movements and swept across the right-hand window. Perhaps he noticed the dark figure by the car, but he never paused for a second.
Wushu’s fingers tightened slightly, and a drop of cold sweat fell from his forehead onto his eyelid.
The red digital number jumped to 0, and the sound of a different engine starting was like two low-roaring beasts facing each other. In the blink of an eye, they rushed out of the fence blocking them.

Song Xi, like the previous Ning Wuzhu, slept earlier than the rooster and got up later than the pig. So, when the sun was roasting her bottom, she was still struggling desperately in bed for the last few minutes. The familiar sound of brakes made the downstairs chickens fly and dogs jump. She rolled out of bed and pulled back the curtains to look down.
The cool woman standing in front of the motorcycle took off her helmet and looked thoughtfully into the distance at a Ferris wheel.
The Ferris wheel in question had quite a history. It had been built by a rich playboy to commemorate his acquaintance with a certain girl. The playboy was called Bei Tang Hao, and the girl was called Ning Wu Shu. Unfortunately, a romantic story did not result in a happy marriage. The girl went away to a foreign land, the playboy was exiled to the other side of the world, and the culprit Shen Mo Tou was left alone in Nanting.
‘How long are you going to keep spying on me?’ Wushu asked from below.
Song Xi, who goes by the online nickname of Little Mistress, was once the main contributor of fluff to the OL forum. Coupled with her natural inquisitiveness about other people’s stories, she has tried no less than fifty times to get Ning Wushu to spill the beans about her love life with the Big Evil. But obviously, this time she had struck the wrong nerve. Because the Big Sister said, ’Xi Xi, come have a drink with me.’
A few minutes later, they were already at the entrance to the Blues Bar. As soon as the car had come to a stop, Song Xi slid down from the back seat, almost throwing up.
Song Xi is not a frog in a well. She has seen cars that go as fast as Formula 1 cars on two wheels, but only on smooth roads without many twists and turns, not wallowing through the earthworm-like small streets and alleys. Although taking the small roads did save a lot of time, and although she was flattered by the whistles and stares, it was terrifying when she really did float.
Pushing open the heavy wooden door of the bar, the blast of loud DJ music, the noise of people and the fervor mixed with the smell of spirits hit you in the face. Stepping on the resilient black wooden floor covered with gravel, the mood also jumped.
Wu Shu took Song Xi and found a seat in the corner. When Wen Qi received a phone call, she knew where they were just by the sounds around them, so she said, ‘Wait until I hang up.’
Song Xi took a straw and poked at the bottom of the drink cup. Seeing that Wu Shu kept looking at the magazine without flipping the pages, she curiously poked her head over. It turned out to be about Shen Shijiu’s announcement of his engagement. Song Xi whispered, ‘Big sister, he’s getting married, and you’re really not sad at all?’
That’s what it says in the novels: the first boyfriend is getting married, but I’m not the bride, so I got drunk and cried my eyes out.
Wu Shu looked up at her and said, ‘Xi Xi, do you think I should run at him with a submachine gun and ask him if he wants to live or get married?’
No, no! She thought the ideal approach would be to put on the sexiest lingerie, tie the devil in bed, whip him, and then ask him with a flirtatious look in her eyes if he wants her or the wedding.
Song Xi was so lost in her thoughts that she almost sneezed blood. She immediately forgot her previous lesson and leaned forward to say to Wushu in a conspiratorial tone, ‘Big sister, don’t be angry when I tell you this.’
‘Go ahead,’ Wushu said, taking a sip of wine.
“Xiaoshi said that Shen Shijiu is actually quite strange, and she suspects that he doesn’t like women.’
A little choked by the wine, Wushu quickly pulled out a napkin and wiped his mouth. ‘What else did Xiaoshi say?’
Songxi pointed at her fingers. ‘Xiaoshi said that a white-eyed wolf like him, who is rich and powerful and full of energy, would have at least seven or eight lovers if he had normal physiological needs. But there are rarely any women around him, and even his fiancee seems to have suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Instead, he is particularly close to a few of his subordinates.’
‘Don’t be silly,‘ Wushu said, tapping her on the head. “I can tell you that he is normal.”
’Where is he normal?’ Song Xi pretended to be innocent.
Once the words had been spoken, if she was not given a satisfactory answer, Song Xi was afraid that she would be bothered by it and keep thinking about it. Wushu turned away and spoke in a low voice: ’Physically, he is normal.’
Of course adults know what this sentence means. Songxi secretly gave herself two thumbs up, and indeed it was much easier to elicit a confession than to ask directly. She let out a long ‘hmm’ and said, ‘Then it’s possible that it became abnormal afterwards.’
Ushu unexpectedly froze in response.
Songxi thought she was angry, so she tried to change the subject in a furtive manner. However, Ushu tilted her head, gulped down a glass of wine, put the glass down heavily, and said, ‘I slapped him.’
Songxi was completely dumbfounded.
Wushu ran a hand through his hair and said with a self-deprecating smile, ‘I was quite childish at the time. I felt that some things were unfair, so I wanted to find some kind of balance.’

One thing the two of them have in common is that they are proud to the core and are not inferior to anyone. They also like to be in control of the situation, which makes them feel safer.
But that day, both sides lost control.
Wushu stood in Shen Shijiu’s room and said, ‘Can I use your bathroom? Mine is broken.’
He said yes.
When she came out of the shower, he was waiting for her at the door like a hunter waiting for his prey, and he took her in his arms.
She was startled, and just as she was about to struggle, she gave up the idea after meeting his expectant gaze. At that moment, her mind was in a complete mess, and she remembered the overbearing kiss in the garden that day, and the unique smell on his body.
He kissed her again, a delicate kiss, like flakes of goose down falling on her lips and spinning gently. She was like the simple little Red Riding Hood, lured into the thick woods by a wolf. The difference was that she knew what awaited her would be an unprecedented experience. Hopefully it would give her the warmth she craved, and it would not be in vain for her to abandon her dignity and indulge in this once, she thought dazedly.
When she came to her senses, she realised that the two of them had fallen onto the bed. In the ambiguous lighting, looking down at her from top to bottom revealed a heart-pounding, full and plump expression, which she felt was the true meaning of sexy, and what was written in books was just an illusion. The shirt on his body was in a messy state, and the last button had been pulled open by him, as he narcissistically showed her his proud body – who said that only women have good skin? A full musculature can also bring a touch as smooth as chocolate – only after touching did she realise that her actions were actually a bit lustful, although she just wanted to see if there were any scars, unfortunately there weren’t any.
He saw her disappointment and took her hand and placed it on his back, her eyes lit up: ‘How did you get this?’
He smiled and said, ‘When I was a child, I fell off a wall while climbing over it. I landed on my back and got some broken glass stuck in my back. I couldn’t afford to go to the hospital, so I just let it fester and it became infected, leaving a scar.’
She was about to say that you really deserve it, but he inserted one hand into her hair, causing her head to tilt back, and he took the opportunity to suck her neck, leaving a hickey on her skin. With the other hand, he deftly undid her shirt buttons. As the silky tip of his tongue traced its way down to her breasts, she suddenly remembered what he had said when they first met, that she was underdeveloped. She lifted her hand awkwardly to cover her eyes. Her senses became more acute in the darkness, and a wave of numbness spread rapidly from the place where he had kissed and nibbled. She couldn’t help but moan after a while. Feeling ashamed, she twisted her body and rolled over, changing into a prone position. She thought to herself, ‘This should do it, right?’
Shen Sijiu laughed softly at the top of her head, put his arms around her waist and picked her up, then bent down to kiss her nape, shoulders, and the skin along her spine. Every one of his movements was full of desire, but it didn’t give her a sense of being violated. Instead, it was like the waves of a beautiful emotional tide blossoming between body and mind.
He said that he liked her waist best, not too thin or too plump, and that embracing it was like embracing her whole.
The strange and domineering exploration made Wushu feel a little uneasy, but under his reassurance, this unease quickly disappeared. Although the first night was inevitably a little painful, he was very considerate of her feelings, distracting her from the pain with kisses and caresses, and with a warm smile on the corner of his mouth, he pressed her into the bedding.
Her unfocused eyes were entangled in a little bit of broken light, a charm unlike any other woman’s. It was like the light in his life, attracting him to explore, embrace, and possess. Forgetting himself, he tightly embraced her, and Shen Shijiu embedded the most honest desire he had in over twenty years into her body and even her soul with a deep and powerful gesture.
The waves of passion flooded the dry land. Sensing the oncoming torrent, she suddenly curled her legs and shook her head vigorously, ‘No…no…’
He was panting heavily, and couldn’t hear her silly words. He simply covered her mouth with his hand. Wushu whimpered a little unwillingly, and water droplets overflowed from the corners of her eyes. At the last moment, it seemed as if she were going to explode, and she suddenly raised her hand and slapped him hard on the side of the face.
Wushu thought later that if they had not taken that step, many things in the future might not have become uncontrollable. It was like dominoes: just push over the first one lightly, and the rest will never be able to stand steadily.

 

Chapter 4

Song Xi’s nose felt a little sore. She always felt that the eldest sister actually loved Shen Shijiu, but he abandoned her because of power. Sometimes she would cry when watching fictional tragic stories, not to mention real things that happened around her.
Wushu laughed at her, ‘You haven’t changed your crybaby ways.’ He handed her a tissue.
Song Xi recalled that when she first met her eldest sister a few years ago, she was sitting on the floor of the bathroom, crying her heart out because she felt so aggrieved. Then she heard her eldest sister say, ‘I never knew that one person could have so many tears, like sprinkling water.’
She felt a little embarrassed, so she used the tissue to hold her nose and blow her nose a few times, then she threw the tissue into a ball and threw it away habitually.
Someone reflexively picked up the tissue and asked, ‘What’s going on?’
Song Xi said without looking up, ‘I just woke up with a runny nose.’
Wen Qi threw the paper ball far away in one go, turned around and gave Song Xi a strong slap on the head, ‘Dare to tease your brother.’
‘It hurts!’ Song Xi touched his head, ‘I’m the same age as you.’
Xiao Shi followed behind and came over together. Seeing that Wen Qi was sitting next to Wushu as a matter of course, she felt a breath of anger in her heart, told Song Xi to sit on the outside, and squeezed herself into the inside. She reached out and tugged at the collar of her leather jacket, exclaiming, ‘The air conditioning is so high, it’s hot as hell.’
The collar of the leather jacket was originally low, and when she tugged it, a large area of skin on her chest was revealed. Wushu was sitting across from her, and when she looked up, she saw some dark red marks that were very conspicuous.
She tapped the table and said, ‘Wenqi, come with me for a moment, I have something to ask you.’
In front of the bathroom door, she asked straightaway, ‘What happened between you and Xiao?’
Wen Qi pursed his lips and his eyes fell silent.
Wushu asked again, ‘Are you in love?’
‘No,’ Wen Qi denied.
‘Wen Qi, I’m very disappointed in you.’
Seeing that she was about to leave, a look of panic flashed across Wen Qi’s handsome young face, and he hurriedly said, ‘Wushu, it’s not what you think. We’re just…’
Wushu didn’t move, and after a long while she said, ‘When Shen Shijiu made a hostile takeover of the shares of Moreton, I went to see Huo Siqing and hoped that she wouldn’t give up the 6% of the shares she had. She agreed at once. Although others have repeatedly reminded me not to trust one person too much, I still made this choice. Not only because she and I have had a friendship of four years without any impurities, but also because of her kindness and understanding. What I never expected was that Huo Siqing had always liked Shen Shijiu, and I never expected that she would abandon everything for love. Wen Qi, one wrong step and everything is lost. What I don’t want to see most is for the same mistake to be repeated.”
Ning Wushu and Huo Siqing were good friends in college. It was a surprise to many that these two people with such different personalities could get along. Wushu especially cherishes this friendship, so much so that she is hesitant to tell her complicated family background. Later, Huo Siqing found out anyway. It was because of an accident that she met Shen Shijiu, who immediately won her heart. Just as Wushu secretly rejoiced at the ‘unbreakable’ friendship between the two, she didn’t notice that the reason Huo Siqing often came to the Ning family mansion to find her was actually because of Shen Shijiu. In the end, the two finally completely fell apart because of this man.
From then on, she understood one thing: a woman’s friendship can’t stand the test of love.
The headquarters of the skyscraper is located on Huasheng Road, which intersects with Changhong Road. The 99-storey skyscraper is unique in the bustling commercial area. Standing on the square in front, looking up, the geometric building towers above the clouds, its power and majesty overwhelming.
Since Shen Shijiu moved into the skyscraper with such momentum, in addition to personnel changes, the office environment has also been significantly adjusted. For example, the president’s office has been moved from the 85th floor, which has a sky garden, to the 96th floor, and all the secretaries of the president’s office have been transferred to the 95th floor, with a separate elevator added between the two floors.
Shen Shijiu is the first person in history to use the entire floor of the Yuanda Building as his private office. As his right-hand man, Luo Ze has a busy schedule every day. He basically receives and passes on all the major decisions from Shen Shijiu to the various departments. Even the work of the secretary’s office revolves around him, and he then summarizes and submits it. Therefore, many employees rarely have the opportunity to meet Shen Shijiu in person. Before Christmas Eve, some new secretaries still didn’t even know what their boss looked like, let alone where he went every day. However, today is the annual general meeting of shareholders of Moret, and as the chairman of the board, Beidang Jiang, is indisposed, Shen Shijiu will act as chairman and preside over the meeting. At that time, they will definitely be able to take a good look at him all at once.
Just after lunchtime, the CEO’s private elevator rises at a speed of 12 metres per second, directly to the 96th floor. The bespectacled man Gu Yuanqi, the cold-faced woman Xu Lu, the smiling but treacherous Wu Xiangyang, and the irreverent Xi Tianyu enter the CEO’s office like a tourist group.
At the entrance, in a triangular layout, a rare bonsai of Datang Fengyu orchid is covered by a glass frame. It is said that every day a professional orchid-breeding technician comes to take care of it.
‘Wow!’ Xi Tianyu opened his arms and embraced the glass wall. “Since when did the boss like this?” He looked left and right, and then turned to the others and asked, ’If I trade my Polaris SUV for this pot of nonsense, do you think the boss would agree?’
Don’t think he’s just being pretentious. He actually wants to prove that he’s someone who knows good things, even though what he really means is that this stuff probably tastes better when fried.
Gu Yuanqi said, ‘Be careful, the boss might throw you off the balcony. That was a birthday present from his wife.’
Upon hearing this, Xi Tianyu quickly wiped the glass that was next to his face with his sleeve, and only left when he could no longer see any traces.
To the left is the lounge area, with a T-shaped bar counter acting as a foyer. Beyond that is a set of king-size black sofas, like a huge monster sitting on one side, with a hand-woven Persian wool carpet underneath, looking spotless. Xi Tianyu sat on the sofa, arms and legs splayed out, extremely comfortable, narrowing his eyes with extreme contentment, and said, ‘The boss really knows how to enjoy himself, everything is linked to high technology, unlike us, who are so vulgar that we only have money and women left.’
Three metres away are two thin crystal plates, the latest electronic products from Sky: a Crystal Blue-ray TV and an electronic simulation golf game that can be played with a headset and glasses. Wu Xiangyang puts on the headset and glasses, makes a swing-for-the-hole motion, and says, ‘Don’t count me in, I’m not interested in women.’
A recently divorced man naturally has a lot of complaints about women.
Xi Tianyu laughed twice, ‘You’re hurting Tiger Xu’s feelings by saying that.’
Xu Lu’s cold face looked as if it had been hit by frost, and she shouted, ‘Do you think I’m dead?’
Xi Tianyu held up a finger and said, ‘Tiger Xu, I consider you a buddy. If you were half as gentle as my sister-in-law, you wouldn’t still be single.’
Without another word, Xu Lu kicked him in the face. Xi Tianyu rolled away and landed behind the sofa. Seeing that the woman’s foot was about to make intimate contact with the sofa, he was ready to gloat, but unexpectedly she reacted extremely quickly and changed direction, an upward kick grazing Xi Tianyu’s chin. With a clatter, Xi Tianyu almost bit his tongue.
Xu Lu neatly retracted her leg, ‘Xi, you’d better put a zipper in your mouth, otherwise I’ll pull out your tongue and cut it off.’
Following the principle that a good man does not fight with a woman, Xi Tianyu felt that if he couldn’t provoke me, could he at least avoid me?
The bright red light on the side of the slim laptop on the dark desk flickered slightly, indicating that it was in standby mode. Gu Yuanqi took off the glasses on his nose bridge and said to the others while wiping the lenses, ‘Stop it, the boss is here.’
The elevator door slowly opened, and the slender and handsome figure of the man was reflected on the glass cover in front of the door. The exquisitely tailored jet-black suit complemented his cool, composed and steady appearance, and one could see the commanding presence of a person in a high position. Luo, who was of similar height, stood to the side, wearing a light brown cashmere long coat, looking bright and gentle, which made the contrast even more striking.
Shen Shijiu put one hand in his trouser pocket and walked all the way to the office area, where he saw a few people already waiting and gave a gesture. Xi Tianyu and the others followed behind, each one calling Shen Shijiu ‘boss’, seemingly casual but not lacking in respect.
They didn’t all follow Shen Shijiu from the beginning. They were all top-notch figures in their own right, but in their competition with Shen Shijiu, they had more keenly recognised a fact than others: if you want to succeed, there are some people you can only be allies with, not enemies.
Shen Shijiu has written a legendary history in just 13 years since he joined the Nanqing Society at the age of 15. He has achieved his success today with three parts luck and seven parts hard work. After the death of the former president Ning Tiancheng, according to tradition, the position of president should have been succeeded by Ning Wushu. Even if it was just a formality, Xi Tianyu and others still felt that only Shen Shijiu was the most suitable candidate. After all, no one wants their boss to be dominated by a woman. Most of the people supporting Ning Wushu were from the older generation, half of them because of their gratitude towards the former chairman, and the other half because they were dissatisfied with Shen Shijiu’s sharp tongue. However, the tide was turning, and no one could turn back the clock.
After confirming the final candidate for chairman, Ning Wushu did something stupid, bribing a new kid in the gang to tamper with the boss’s car, in a vain attempt to take his life. This was a big turn-on for the boss, who dragged Ning Wushu into a room by force. No one knows what the two of them said to each other, but an hour later Ning Wushu came out looking lost and disoriented. The others were waiting outside, and when they saw the boss standing in the doorway, smoking and looking all gloomy and complicated, they didn’t even wait for the cigarette ash to fall before he ran off to the roof.
They thought to themselves that something was about to happen, so they followed him all the way up to the roof, where they saw Ning Wushu standing at the edge of the building. Then they heard the boss say, ‘Even a dog that’s so cheap it’ll die fighting won’t give up, so what about you?’ Ning Wushu’s face twisted slightly, but she smiled and said, ‘A dog that’s lost its master really has no right to talk about death.’ After saying this, she silently walked down the ledge and silently left the Nan Jing Club.
Just two months apart, they actually saw in the newspaper a photo of Ning Wushu and the heir to the skyscraper consortium, Bei Tang Hao, the partner of Nan Jing Club, strolling hand in hand in an amusement park. So someone scrapped a car that day, wrapped in bandages, lying in bed watching the news. The expression was terrifying, and no one dared to go in and say a word. Then people from the Moreton Group came over every other day, saying at one time that the plan was going to be scrapped, and at another time that they were dissatisfied with the recent performance of the Nan Jing Club, and in the end they directly indicated that they would withdraw their investment from the Nan Jing Club. Everyone could guess the shenanigans going on here, but no one expected Ning Wushu to actually approach Bei Tang.
It seems that Luo Ze was right when he said that when someone voluntarily gives up their dignity, it means that their hatred has reached the bone marrow. Xi Tianyu added that if it were further modified, it would definitely be an unkillable cockroach. However, at that time, the most incredible thing was the exposure of the boss’s shocking background. A gangster born in the slums of San Francisco, USA, was actually the direct heir of the Shen family, one of the two families of the Moreton consortium. Life is really fucked up. There are so many surnames Shen in the world, how did they just run into each other.
Whether it’s a fight or a war, only the ruthless can win completely. Whether it’s Ning Wushu or Beitang Hao, in the end, they can’t beat the boss. No one can estimate how much darkness is behind the 38% of the shares, and how many people have become destitute because of it.
Even so, they still saw one thing: the boss was ruthless with everyone else, but he always reserved his last line of defence for Ning Wushu. It was like a long dream, and when you are about to wake up, you always want to hold on for a little while longer, because you know that once you face reality, you can never go back.
The last time they saw Ning Wushu was in the parking lot of the skyscraper. She appeared out of nowhere and desperately stopped the boss’s car. She told the boss in a firm tone not to make things difficult for Bei Tang Hao.
‘It’s actually very simple to help him.’ The boss got out of the car and handed her a gun, pointing to his heart and saying, “Shoot here.”
If not for Huo Siqing next to him, who blocked Ning Wushu’s bullet, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Even though his body was still alive, he had completely woken up from the dream.

Shen Shijiu walked over to the luxurious desk, which was nearly three metres long, and his gaze fell on Wu Xiangyang: ‘Xiao Hena’s mood seems to be unstable recently. You’d better find a way to keep an eye on her.’
His gaze was downcast, and it was hard to tell if he was angry or scornful. ‘There are some things that I don’t want her to relay to the board of directors for me.’
“I’ll take care of it right away.’
Wu Xiangyang’s expression did not change, but he was inwardly cursing: this woman Xiao Hena still refused to give up, and actually wanted to blackmail him in this way.
As soon as Wu Xiangyang left, Luo Zhe sighed, and even the thick-headed Xi Tianyu could tell that something was wrong with him: ‘Old Luo, what are you doing? You look like your mind is somewhere else.’
Shen Shijiu suddenly looked up, ‘Xi Tianyu.’
‘Yes!‘ The person whose name was called stood up exaggeratedly.
’Well, did you just say that your mind was not on the birds?”
Xi Tianyu was pleased inside but pretended not to care, ’Recently, Lao Gu has set his sights on a student girl who works in the library and insists on dragging me along to show off his erudition and versatility. I wasn’t idle either, flipping through a few books and learning a few idioms. Hehe.’
Shen Shijiu picked up a newspaper on the table and smashed it over, with a loud PIA sound that hit Xi Tianyu right on the forehead. ‘Go get a pen and write the words “absent-minded” on every blank page, stroke by stroke. Remember to fill it in, and if there’s a space left, you’ll have to eat it.’
What was this situation? Xi Tianyu’s eyes nearly popped out. What a misfortune! Indeed, one should not show off one’s knowledge in front of the boss. Despite his grievances, disobeying the boss’s orders would definitely lead to a hundred times worse consequences than this, so Xi Tianyu walked away with three steps and one look back, feeling puzzled.
Gu Yuanqi felt that this was not a solution, so he said to Shen Shijiu, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to tell him the correct way of reading first? He looks like he’s been wronged.’
Seeing the boss’s expression of ‘What, do you want to write it together too?’ Gu Yuanqi immediately said without changing his expression, ‘Forget it.’
The conversation turned to business: ‘We just got news that He Qiao from Shijiyuan really has the intention of colluding with Tianxin. They will meet at Tianya Hai Ge at 8 o’clock tonight.’
Shen Shijiu’s expression did not change when he heard this, and a confident curve formed at the corner of his lips. ‘Tianxin seems a bit stingy. At least they should invite someone to dinner. Yuanqi, you go and entertain Heqiao first. If he has other ideas, just arrange some “entertainment” for him.’
Gu Yuanqi understood and immediately went to take care of it.
Xu Lu was silent for a long time before she spoke, ‘Boss, about the matter I told you on the phone yesterday…’ She didn’t rush to continue, as if she was hesitant.
Shen Shijiu’s gaze sank, and he slowly untied the tie around his chest. Leaning back in his chair, he signalled for her to continue.
‘It was indeed Third Uncle himself who arranged for Ning Wushu to go to Japan back then.’
“What did he say?’
‘He said, after all, she is the daughter of the eldest brother, and as her uncle, he didn’t want to see her become homeless. He had contacts in Japan who could take care of her, and it wouldn’t interfere with you… I went to Japan and found a university lecturer named Kurosawa Ichimei. He was the man who had lived with Ning Wushu for the past three years. He was disabled, with both legs broken and could only use a wheelchair. I checked his background and found nothing unusual. Ning Wushu called him teacher, and apart from working part-time, took care of his daily life. There’s also that guy Wen Qi. He’s from Jingli, and his family has a bit of background. He went to Japan to study a few years ago, and Kurosawa Yiming was his mentor. This kid seems to have chased Ning Wushu, but he got his ass handed to him and ran away to Nanting by himself. After that, he was dragged by his friend who opened an agency to guest model and sing, and because of his good image, he is considered to be a bit famous. Ning Wushu left Japan six months ago, and her whereabouts after that could not be found. Perhaps that was when she returned to Nanting. In order to avoid us, she did temporary work. In addition to Wen Qi, she also became close friends with two girls she had helped. ‘
After Xu Lu finished speaking, she looked at Shen Shijiu.
He took a cigarette out of the box and slowly twirled it between his fingers. The gold filter had a series of delicate silver numbers 925413, which looked very special. These are special cigarettes that are not sold on the market. The first number represents the quality rating, the second is the strength of the taste, and the last four digits are a unique code for each cigarette. His gaze fell on the string of numbers, as if he had discovered something coincidental. His mouth curved up slightly, but it carried a hint of mockery: ‘She used to only have Si Qing as a relatively close friend, but the changes now are quite significant.’
The silver lighter cover snapped open with a ‘ding’ sound. With the red and blue flame, he looked down and lit the cigarette he held in the corner of his mouth, and asked, ‘What do you think she’ll do next?’
‘Does she still want to make a comeback?’ Xu Lu was a little puzzled. Judging from her investigation, even if Ning Wushu wanted to stir up trouble, he didn’t have any capital. Besides, she should have learned her lesson after all these years. He couldn’t understand why she wanted to come back.
His thin, angular lips tightened for a moment, before he said lightly, ‘I saw her yesterday, just as you were calling me.’
Xu Lu and Luo Ze, who was standing nearby, were both taken aback.
‘She came to see you yesterday?’
‘I ran into her while I was waiting at a red light in my car…’ He wasn’t sure at first, but a person’s eyes can betray their owner very easily. Who else would be able to look at him like that?
After a long silence, he stubbed out the cigarette in his hand, then turned to the table and carried his briefcase. His expression returned to its usual indifferent one, as if the conversation had never happened. He touched his finger to the sensor, and the system resumed working. He instructed, ‘Luo Ze, at 2 pm, you arrange for the shareholder representatives to tour the production departments, and then show them the sales plan for the new product. I’ll be there later.’
‘Okay,’ Luo Ze nodded.
‘In addition, the US dollar exchange rate seems to be trending upwards recently. I’ve decided to announce an increase in the B share dividend at the general meeting to stimulate foreign exchange trading. What do you think?‘
’Isn’t this a bit risky? Several major foreign consortia are preparing to jointly speculate on the Thai baht, and the US dollar exchange rate will definitely be affected. It’s hard to predict its direction.”
Shen Shijiu didn’t say anything, pulled up a piece of information, and then turned the computer screen towards Luo Ze. ’If the Frang consortium withdraws from the joint plan, that would be a different matter.’
That document was a top-secret document from the Frang Consortium, which stated that due to factional disputes, the issue of transferring funds could not be coordinated. What surprised Luo Ze was not these contents, but when Shen Shijiu had actually made these investigations, and he actually knew nothing about it.
After some things had been explained, Xu Lu also left, and the large space was left with only Shen Shijiu and Luo Ze.
After some hesitation, Luo Ze said, ‘You should meet her. She must have suffered a lot over the years.’
Shen Shijiu looked at him with indifferent eyes and said, ‘I have my own plans. You go and do your work.’
Luo Ze knew that there was no point in saying more. Out of selfishness, he really hoped that the two of them could resolve their grievances, but they were both covered in thorns like hedgehogs, and it was not easy to get close to them.

Chapter 6

Ning Wushu carried some flower pots to the balcony, loosened the soil a little and gave them the right amount of water. The afternoon weather was very nice, and the sunlight reflecting on her face made her naturally radiant appearance even more vivid. She stood quietly for a while, suddenly thinking of something. She took out her phone, held it far away, pointed the camera at herself, then grinned, showing her white teeth, snapped a photo, and set it as her screensaver.
The self in the phone was smiling so brightly, except that her face was a little pale, probably because she hadn’t slept well in the past few days.
She went into the bathroom and took out the cosmetics she had ‘hidden away’. Following the method Xiao Shi had taught her, she slowly took care of her skin, eyes, nose and mouth. The makeup was very light, but it gave the illusion of a fresh new look.
Outside, her phone rang. She went back to the balcony, picked up the phone that was resting on the chair, and answered it with a press of a button.
‘Hello, Wushu, it’s He Na.‘
’Where are you?‘
’On my way to Moreton, but I’m in a bit of trouble. Wu Xiangyang is acting strange today, he’s actually following me, and I only realised it when I drove to Changhong Road… Could it be that they know something?‘
’I don’t think so,’ Wushu said after a moment’s thought. ’In that case, go shopping for a while, it’s not every day he’s willing to spend time with you.’
Xiao Hena was silent for a moment: ‘What about that matter?’
Wushu looked at the time: 1:08, 52 minutes until the shareholders‘ meeting. She said, “In that case, I’ll take care of it.”
’But you’re not a staff member of Moret, and it’s a problem just getting upstairs, let alone entering Shen Shijiu’s office.’
Wushu gazed intently at the flowers and plants on the balcony and said, ‘I heard that last year, on Shen Shijiu’s birthday, Huo Siqing gave him a pot of orchid.’
‘You mean…’ The other side immediately understood and couldn’t help but gasp in admiration at her boldness.
Wushu walked over to the computer, looked up some information, then put on her headset and made a call through the program.
‘Hello, this is the Ya’an Orchid Cultivation Center,’ said the sweet and polite voice of an operator.
‘Hello! This is Secretary He from the Mo-Tian headquarters,’ Wu Shu said calmly. ’The boss has an important meeting this afternoon, so I hope your cultivator can come an hour early. Is that possible?’
Since the number displayed on the phone there was the number of Moreton, the operator did not doubt for a moment.
‘No problem, we will send someone over.’

On the main outer ring road leading into the city centre, a car with the words ‘Ya’an Orchid Breeding Centre’ written on it was speeding along. Just after passing an intersection, the car suddenly shook, followed by the sound of a tyre bursting. The breeder immediately applied the brakes and got out to check.
He didn’t know which evil person had left some cones on the road, all of which had stuck into the car’s tyres. The cultivator complained while changing the spare tyre. As soon as he had finished, he saw a shadow approaching him on the ground. Before he could turn around, he felt a blow to the neck and immediately lost consciousness.
Wushu helped the person into the passenger seat, closed the door, shoved an anaesthetic into her mouth, and then took off her overalls and put them on himself. The car started and headed towards its predetermined destination.
At 1:40, Wushu arrived at the parking lot of the Skyscraper headquarters, got out of the car carrying a toolbox, stood for a moment, straightened her cap, and a strand of long hair fell just in front of her name tag, covering most of her face in the photo.
Her appearance did not arouse the suspicion of anyone in the lobby. She walked towards the reception desk in the most ordinary manner like every staff member going in and out, and handed in her ID.
‘Hello, I’m Lan Cao, the cultivator of No. 13, Yanan. Mr. Shen has a meeting today and asked us to come an hour early.‘
’Okay, please register here.‘ The receptionist didn’t suspect a thing and handed her a reception form. Wushu imitated someone else’s handwriting, politely said thank you, and then took the access card and walked towards the public elevator.
’Wait a minute,’ the receptionist suddenly called out to her.
Wu Shu froze in her tracks, narrowed her eyes slightly, and turned around with a puzzled expression.
‘Those are elevators 1 to 6. You should take elevator 8 on this side,’ the receptionist said, pointing in a direction, and then suddenly asked curiously, ‘Is this your first time here?’
If the receptionist had typed her name into the computer to check, she would have discovered that the signature she had signed had been recorded before. In other words, there was absolutely no way she could have gone the wrong way.
Wushu was a little nervous, and it was this nervousness that made her blush. Like a shy girl who has been caught in the act, she reluctantly walked back to the reception desk and said, ‘The elevator over there doesn’t go to the 95th floor.’
The receptionist asked suspiciously, ‘The president’s office is on the 96th floor. What are you going to the 95th floor for?’
Wushu leaned closer to her and whispered, ‘I just want to meet Assistant President Luo.’
The receptionist laughed to herself, thinking that this was just another person trying to get close to the company’s top management. ‘I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do about this. Please take elevator 8.’
Wushu hung her head, obediently walked to the other side, and let out a long sigh of relief—due to the rush, she hadn’t thought of some details, but fortunately, it was a close call.
Elevator 8 takes you to the lobby on the 96th floor. To get to the CEO’s office, you need to pass through a metal and glass door, surrounded by infrared sensors that detect metal objects on the body of the person passing through. There is a special access card for the security staff, which allows them unrestricted access by simply swiping it over the card reader. Of course, if someone were to carry a dangerous object such as a gun, the infrared sensors would still sound an alarm.
Wu Shu looked at the time again: 2:10. By now, the general meeting of shareholders of Moreton had already started in the large auditorium on the 23rd floor.
These days, she tries to adapt and understand the current situation in Nanting as quickly as possible, keeping a close eye on the latest developments among the business giants, especially those with a stake in Moreton.
At present, the only group that can keep pace with Moreton is Sky Faith. Sky Faith has its roots in the Middle East, is very powerful and has a complicated background. In recent years, it has set its sights on the booming development prospects of the mainland and has turned to enter the Nanting market, with the ambition of sharing the world with Moreton. For example, in the recent bidding for the construction and development project of Century Park in the western district, they are the biggest competitors.
If you want to deal with Shen Shijiu, you have to find the best partner, and Sky Faith is naturally the best choice.
To ensure that nothing goes wrong, Tianxin has planned a variety of solutions, and getting the tender documents that Moreton has already prepared is an important part of the plan. It is crucial to allow the expert panel to analyse Moreton’s recent investment budget and how much it expects from this project.
The western district was originally the weakest area of Nanting, with relatively slow development. It was far less prosperous than the eastern and southern districts. Therefore, when the government embarked on the development plan for Century Park, the leading companies in related fields all adopted a wait-and-see attitude. No one wanted to take the risk of investing rashly. It was not until Skyscraper formally submitted its intention to bid that they followed suit and rushed in. The reason is that in the field of urban development in the past, Moretti has always been able to predict development trends with its discerning eye, bringing huge profits to itself and influencing the standards by which citizens and other companies measure their merits.
Without hesitation, she stood in front of the door, tied up her hair, and gently pressed the OPEN button on the side door of the CEO’s office with her gloved hand. After entering the door, there was a curved corridor. There were no movable decorations on the walls, except for a 15-centimeter-wide light slot at the waist of the wall, with a light in turquoise blue extending to the orchid plant.
Shen Shijiu has ordered a glass frame maintenance cover with both ornamental and protective functions for the orchid. The interior is equipped with computer-controlled temperature and light simulation and convection ventilation to ensure that the orchid has the best living environment indoors. In fact, just from the fact that he allows the orchid breeder to come and go from the office, you can tell that he attaches great importance to this orchid. This is true for the orchid, but even more so for people.
The rare and expensive Datang Fengyu orchid is a double-bract, twin-stemmed orchid with a shape that is as lifelike as a phoenix spreading its wings. Its only drawback is that it is extremely delicate. The original mother plant was the object that guarded Ling’an Temple. A few years ago, a Buddhist-believing businessman donated a sum of money to the temple, and the abbot gave him a daughter plant as a gift. I heard that Huo Siqing went through a lot of trouble, and his sincerity finally moved the businessman, who agreed to transfer the Datang Fengyu orchid.
I have to admit that Shen Shijiu and Huo Siqing are really a match made in heaven. What’s the saying? Men are naturally protective of weak women, and a woman’s gentleness can warm a man’s cold heart. So, Shen Shijiu would bluntly tell her father that she was not his type, but when her father passed away, he did some strange things. I guess her negativity was a bit pitiful in his eyes.
Walking past the lounge area, she ran her fingers lightly along the centre of the sofa and noticed that it still retained a faint warmth. The indescribable sensation made Wushu subconsciously withdraw her hand.
Suppressing the fluttering in her heart, she resolutely walked towards the office area.
Standing in front of the white filing cabinet, she rolled up her sleeves, took the electronic chip from her electronic watch and attached it to the recess of the electronic lock on the filing cabinet. After nine faint beeps, she gently twisted the metal handle and it became.
The file information stored inside was very detailed and clear, so it wasn’t difficult to find. She was not greedy, she just took out the required documents, unzipped her clothes, put them in and closed the door and locked it.
Having done so, she did not let her guard down, but instead tensed up.
The faint sound of the carpet rubbing was like a sharp thin wire quickly piercing her eardrums. She slowly got up, pretending not to have noticed someone behind her.
‘What are you doing?’ the voice that had sunk to its lowest point sounded coldly.
Why was the person who should be standing on the podium of the skyscraper shareholders’ meeting still here? Without any time to consider this question, Wushu suddenly turned around, while pressing a hand against her electronic wristwatch. However, the other person had already taken a step forward when she made her move, missing the anaesthetic needle shot from it and grabbing her arm with one hand.
Wushu looked up at him, and even though she was prepared, the blood drained from her face in an instant.
Every night, as long as she could sleep, the nightmares would relentlessly creep into her mind. And now, the culprit was standing in front of her, just like another dream.
She licked her dry lips that were about to burst into flames.
“Can you let go?’
‘Is that what you want?’ Shen Shijiu ignored her request, his gaze falling on the loose-fitting overalls she was wearing, his mouth curling into a sneer. ’May I ask where you learned this skill?’
Oh, she had only stolen the keys from his computer. However, there were nearly 30 keys, each with a code that differentiated its function, and no one knew where each code corresponded except Shen Shijiu and Luo Ze. K had written all the keys, verification procedures, and anti-password error locking procedures onto an electronic chip. In principle, it would take at most a minute to find the correct one.
“Mr. Shen, you can consider reporting to the police. There is no need to waste your precious time here for a thief.’
She knew he would never do that, because then everyone would know about their tangled relationship, and the board of directors would not be naive enough to think that their vice-chairman had left the shareholders’ meeting because he had “foresight” and knew someone would come and steal business documents. She knew very well that Shen Shijiu, arrogant as he was, still had to worry about those people of talent on the board of directors, and it was not uncommon for people to fall into the gutter and have their shipwrecked.
Sure enough, his eyes darkened and his tone became even more somber: ‘I can now treat this as a matter between the two of us, so you’d better rein it in a bit.’
Wushu let out a light laugh, ‘I can match you if you want to get rough, but I’m afraid it won’t sound good if it gets out.’ Just as she was about to break free from his grip, Shen Shijiu yanked her arm and slammed her against the back safe. Wushu felt a tingling sensation at the back of his head, and the expression on his face could no longer be maintained. His shadow loomed over her head, and his backlit eyes were hard to see clearly. The only thing that could not be concealed was his breathing, which was disordered and heavy.
However, the tense stand-off did not last long. The phone rang inopportunely, and the music, which was very different, sounded one after the other, which was quite lively.
After adjusting his emotions, Shen Shijiu finally let go of her hand when he saw that she was still honest. He turned around, took out his mobile phone from his trouser pocket, and walked to the rest area to answer it.
Luo then said on the phone, ‘Chairman, everyone is waiting for you.’
Shen Shijiu thoughtfully said, ‘I have something to take care of, so you can handle things over there for now.’

 

Extra: Old Story (1)

Wen Qi and the others never understood why Wushu always chose the Blues Bar whenever he wanted a drink. It wasn’t because he liked it there, but simply because he wanted to see… how things had changed.
It was as if she had returned to that time and was looking at the old stories through present eyes.
As usual, Huo Siqi couldn’t stop talking about Beitang Hao after three glasses of wine, and even Huo Siqing looked glum.
Huo Siqi in turn comforted her: ‘He’s just a kid! What’s the big deal? Have you heard of Master Wan’s famous quote? You’re a toad at the bottom of a well, and then you meet another toad. One day, when you climb out of the well, you’ll find that the ground is full of toads. Why get stuck with just one?’
‘Sister!‘ Huo Siqing cried out in exasperation, “Who’s the toad?”
’It’s me, okay? Come on, if you have time to feel sad, you might as well drink.’ With that, he poured a glass for each of them and gulped it down.
Huo Siqing’s drinking capacity was not good, and after a while, he collapsed on the table, while Huo Siqing continued to bemoan her sorrows. Only Wushu noticed the change in the atmosphere in the bar.
When Shen Shijiu walked in the door with his men, at least a dozen pairs of eyes were staring at him, and even though he was wearing sunglasses, a little girl was still shouting excitedly next to him, ‘Look at the handsome guy!’ Wushu saw him walk past her from behind, calmly, in the crystal clear glass of a wine glass. She saw the metal ring around his ear shine with a cold, sharp luster in the light, and it inexplicably made her feel irritated.
She stood up and said to the person who was lying on the table, not knowing which way was north or south, ‘I’m going to the bathroom.’
Through the door, like a few men, Wushu walked into the women’s bathroom and used cool water on the sink to cool down her hot face. After five minutes of dawdling, someone finally grew impatient.
Hearing a noise at the door, Wushu looked up at the mirror. Shen Shijiu’s face, without his sunglasses, looked unreal in her drunken haze—her personality aside, a man with such a complexion was naturally made to conquer women.
Shen Shijiu placed a suitcase on the counter and then handed her a clean square of cloth, saying, ‘It seems that you have a good relationship with your new friends.’
Without waiting for her to say anything, he asked, ‘If they knew what kind of person you are, I wonder how they would react?’ His tone was completely unbearable, as if he could not bear to see her have any friends. The hazy beauty in Wushu’s eyes shattered into pieces with a loud crash, and her face hung down like a rotten stinky egg.
‘Mute?’ Shen Shijiu suddenly reached out and grabbed her neck, shaking her. ‘Don’t always frown at me.’
‘Shen Shijiu, are you looking for death?’ Wushu hates his bad habit of getting physical with her the most, just like when he touched her breasts when she was little. She wanted to pull out his hair, pulling out a few strands at a time, but he said, ’Make me happy, and I’ll get the job done as quickly as possible, and the credit will still be yours. This is a pretty good deal.’
The thing is, Nan Jing will, in the spirit of harmony, decide to give up the traditional profiteering business and switch to a formal industry. This means that the income of the social democrats will decrease sharply. If it cannot be coordinated soon, it is feared that it will suffer from internal and external troubles. The investment in the new industry cannot recover the benefits in the short term, and the source of funds has become the biggest problem. Therefore, the Nan Jing Club decided to cooperate with the Motian Consortium, the leader in the financial sector in Nantong. However, the president of Motian Bank, Bei Tang Hao, is a person with mental cleanliness, and he never deals personally with ‘unscrupulous’ people like the Nan Jing Club. Therefore, Shen Shijiu proposed to start with Bei Tang Hao’s special assistant. And that is the purpose of today’s visit.
Wushu finally managed to squeeze out a stiff smile.
‘That’s ugly,’ Shen Shijiu said honestly, and then smiled. Looking in the mirror, she saw that the two smiles were worlds apart. She felt a little dazed.
The two of them in the bathroom leaned close together, so close that she could see the pupils in each other’s eyes. But in an instant, he pulled away and said without a trace, ’Go change.’
It felt like Tom the cat being played by Jerry the mouse, chasing after the fish in his hand for a long way, only to discover when he looked down that there was no road beneath him and then he fell with a splash.

Only when she had returned to her identity as the young lady of the Nan Jing Club did she tie her hair up in a bun, change her sweater for a custom-made high-class silk blouse, her jacket for a crocodile-skin short trench coat, and put on a pair of light purple sunglasses, so that even if she met a classmate it would be hard to recognise her.
In the VIP Rose Box, Xiao Hena is embracing and kissing a man. Even though she is mentally prepared, Wushu’s face cannot help but twitch uncontrollably.
Someone has barged in, and inevitably someone will yell, ‘Who are you people?’
She snaps her fingers behind her back.
Shen Shijiu sensibly walks up and says with great grace, ‘We would like to talk to Miss Xiao.’
Xiao Hena is a person who has seen the world. She can still sit upright calmly even though she has been caught in the act. Her undisguised gaze moves from Shen Shijiu’s slightly open chest to his long legs. It seems that she is quite satisfied with his figure. So she slowly got up, extended her hand and said, ‘Shen Handsome from the Nan Jing Club, I really feel that we have met too late…’
Shen Shijiu then put on a bewitching smile and took her hand from his pocket and held it lightly.
“It is my honour.’
Even Wushu, who was standing nearby, was taken aback, not to mention Xiao He’na.
Xiao He’na did not ignore her, however, and after looking at her sideways for a moment, she said quickly, ‘This must be Miss Ning, right? Nice to meet you.’

After the greetings were exchanged and the bystanders dismissed, it was time to get down to business.
‘We need Assistant Manager Xiao’s help with something…’ Wushu, who was new to the job, could not hold her tongue and blurted out the request.
‘Would it be tiring for Miss Ning to stand and talk to me?‘ In contrast, Xiao Hena spoke with a confident and poised manner, like a true businesswoman, “I like to drink and chat at the same time.” She obviously didn’t take anyone seriously.
’I’d better keep Miss Xiao company,’ Shen Shijiu walked over and sat down next to Xiao Hena, ’I heard that Miss Xiao is famous in the industry as the Queen of Games, and the more exciting the game, the more you like it. How about we play a game?’
‘Oh? What kind of game do you want to play?‘
Shen Shijiu did something unexpected. He picked up the glass that Xiao Hena had drunk from and slowly finished the rest of the wine. At this point, Shen Shijiu’s body language and facial expressions completely resembled those of a womanizer. To put it nicely, he was charming; to put it bluntly, he was sleazy. That was why he went on to say the following words: “I believe I can make you scream with pleasure with just one finger.”
’Er…’
Wushu was originally sitting on the sofa on the other side, and when she heard this, she really wanted to rush over and slap him for Xiao and Na. In fact, Xiao and Na were very excited, and their charming expressions could squeeze out moisture. ‘Are you that confident?’
‘Of course.’
‘So what’s the prize?’
‘If I win, naturally I hope that Miss Xiao can do me a favour.’
‘And if you lose?’
‘I’ll be at your disposal.’ He said without hesitation.
‘Interesting,‘ Xiao Hena glanced at the silent girl to the side and said slyly, “If you lose, you will French kiss Miss Ning in front of me, and maybe I will be happy and agree to what you want, how about that?”
’Don’t joke around!’ Unexpectedly, she was able to remain calm and didn’t explode and overturn the table.
Xiao and Na laughed loudly, ‘I originally thought that the future owner of Nan Jing would definitely have extraordinary abilities, but I never imagined that she would be such an ordinary girl who gives up at the first difficulty. What a pity.’
Wushu slammed her fist on the coffee table, and several cracks appeared in the thick layer of glass. She pointed a finger at Shen Shijiu, ‘No matter what method you use, you can only win, otherwise I will kill you!’ If he had a family, she would probably add the word ‘family’ to it.
Xiao, who was stunned by the punch, took a long time to come back to his senses and look at Shen Shijiu. The expression on his face was very complicated, with a mixture of pity and a sense of enjoying the show.
Shen Shijiu was used to it and was not at all surprised.
‘Let’s get started then.”
He had a calculating, confident smile on the corner of his mouth, leaning over, a posture that naturally caused him to rest one hand on the edge of the sofa, while the other landed on Xiao and Na’s sexy thighs, his fingers slowly and gently tracing the other person’s skin. I don’t know what Xiao and Na were thinking. She was like a cat lounging in the sun, her eyes closed, stretching out comfortably.
For some inexplicable reason, she felt dry and thirsty, just like when she accidentally flipped over the pornographic pictures that her brother had hidden under the bed. At the same time, she was also very confused. Even a woman with the assertiveness and courage of Xiao Huna could easily fall under his control.
Time passed slowly, each minute seemed like an hour. Xiaohua unconsciously let out a gasp, and Shen Shijiu laughed again, gently lifting her foot and taking off her shoes that were in the way…
Wushu was planning to avoid them for a moment and come back when they were done, but she heard an ‘ah’ and Xiaohua popped up like a corpse, and then she collapsed on the sofa as if her muscles had been pulled out.
Did she just scream? Wushu didn’t know whether to lift his butt up or down.
Shen Shijiu put down Xiao Hena’s leg, but his expression was the same as usual. He said, ‘There is an acupoint on the bottom of the human foot that controls the most sensitive nerves in the body. As long as you apply the right amount of pressure to this acupoint, a person will scream uncontrollably, especially when they are at their most relaxed.’
Xiao Huna said in a low voice, ‘That’s too cunning…’ She couldn’t hide her disappointment.
Wushu was even more embarrassed than she was. There was nothing they could do, everyone had gone off on the wrong foot.
Regardless, the outcome was set. Xiao Huna was quite happy about it and agreed to give Bei Tang Hao a copy of the cooperation plan drafted by the Nan Jing Club.
When the two of them were leaving, Shen Shijiu asked her sideways, ‘What are you thinking about?’
Wushu snapped, ‘Bei Tang Hao!’
‘I was working so hard just now, and you were thinking about another man?’ He was smiling, but gradually stopped.
‘You call that hard work?’ Wushu scoffed at him in front of his subordinates, ‘It’s more like flirting, isn’t it?’
Shen Shijiu looked at her condescendingly for a long time, and then said coldly, ‘I’ve never met a woman as ungrateful as you.’

 

Chapter 7

Here, Wushu received unexpected news that Beitang Hao, who had not returned to the country for three years, had attended the shareholders’ meeting of the skyscraper. She was in a daze and couldn’t help but walk towards the door.
Shen Shijiu turned his head once, hung up the phone with a loud click, and said, “Ning Wushu, stop where you are!” His voice was not loud, but it was mixed with some kind of suppressed emotion that could not be exploded, and finally made her remember his existence.
Wushu stopped.
In fact, there were only two ways to get down from here: either jump out the window, or get his permission. Otherwise, even if he didn’t stop her personally, just one phone call would make it impossible for her to get away in this building.
Just this pause made Shen Shijiu see the disgust on her emaciated face. This was Ning Wushu today. After three years of ups and downs, she was full of itches and frustrations. She could no longer be as simple-minded and wilful as she once was, but instead had a heavy purpose. If it wasn’t like this, how would she be willing to see him?
He should have known it was like this a long time ago, but he still hoped for the impossible.
Wushu’s voice was a little hoarse, ‘Let me see Beidang Hao once, and I will return the things to you.’
Shen Shijiu lowered his head and lit a cigarette. His narrow black eyes were immersed in the rising smoke, and he said lightly, ‘Who do you want to see anyway?’
There is no such thing as a second chance in this world, because opportunities only come once. At this time, would you choose the fish or the bear’s paw?
Wushu thought with some annoyance that one day she would crush his smug attitude of playing people off against each other, so that he would know that not everything could go his way.
But this time was really a surprise for her.
Beidang Hao bought two plane tickets before going to Germany and told her that he would wait for her at the airport until the last minute. However, her heart had already been broken countless times, and if she didn’t heal it herself, she was afraid that she would have to live in the shadow of Shen Shijiu for the rest of her life. So, she ran away. But she also knew very well that the blow to Beidang Hao that time was profound, so no matter what happened in the past three years, he had never returned to the country, as if he had completely given up on her.
Does she want to disappoint him again?
She asked, ‘If there are two people standing next to you, one pushing you into the mud, and the other trying to save you, who will you reach out to?’
He looked at her and said, ‘If you want to persevere, don’t give yourself the chance to hesitate, just decide.’
‘Okay! I’ve decided to see him.’ Wushu took out the document very decisively. This time, she would just consider the trip a waste of time, but it was worth it to pour a bucket of cold water over her opponent’s head.
She walked straight up to him and handed him the document.
‘So do you want to know my decision?’ Shen Shijiu ignored the document in her hand, as if from the beginning he hadn’t cared about it.
She moved her lips, but didn’t speak.
His fingers, which were holding a cigarette, slowly moved up to her chin. His breath became more and more entangled, twisting her insides inch by inch: ‘Ning Wushu, I want your pride and your only hope. If you want to fly, I will personally cut off your wings; if you want to run, I will remove the road in front of you; if you want Bei Tang Hao, then I will let him-’ He leaned in her ear and whispered four words: “One, nothing, everything.”
Wushu tilted her head up and suddenly burst out laughing after seeing his serious expression: “Shen Shijiu, Shen Shijiu, I know what you need most.”
He was slightly stunned.
She said, ‘You need a top-notch psychiatrist to correct your incorrigible personality.’
Shen Shijiu, I will never forget the story you told me for the rest of my life.
There was a rich young man who fell in love with a married woman. The woman’s husband took advantage of the rich young man’s complex about his wife and became his sworn brother, becoming his nominal older brother and relying on his status and wealth to develop his own business. Although the eldest brother got what he wanted, he began to worry that his wife would really fall in love with the second brother, so he bribed a pretty escort girl to seduce the second brother. Although this fool saw through the eldest brother’s mind, he chose to have sex with the escort girl because he wanted to dispel the eldest brother’s concerns and maintain his beloved woman’s fidelity to her husband. However, he did not know that the escort girl was also the mistress of the boss of a certain gang. So one day, people found him dead on the street due to an ‘accident’.
The dramatic scene is that the escort girl is pregnant with his child, and this matter was learned by Lao San, who was close to him among his sworn brothers. Lao San secretly sent the escort girl to the United States to ‘take refuge’, but unfortunately she was an irresponsible mother. As soon as the child was born, she threw him into a welfare institution in San Francisco. The only thing she left him was a silver lighter engraved with the words ‘Forever and Ever’. That was the relic that his father held tightly in his hand before he died.
From birth, the child was branded a bastard – a mongrel. Without a pair of fists, he could not get a full meal. In that dirty, dark environment, he fell and got up countless times, over and over again, until he finally turned himself into a ruthless beast. This life continued until he was fifteen, when he was found by the third brother. Naturally, he learned about his background, and they set a trap, using a ruse to gain an accidental encounter with the eldest brother’s daughter, which changed his life and the fate of many people.
This story tells her that in an adult’s fairy tale, the king’s death may be retribution, the princess’s kindness may be due to mental retardation, the appearance of the devil is for a reason, and even the righteous prince may not necessarily win.
Her upright father never did anything immoral for the sake of morality, and would never go along with outlaws. Although he was in the underworld, he was more upright and honest than those hypocrites with their sanctimonious airs. But one day, someone told her that all of this was an illusion. Human nature was as vulnerable as a house of cards in the face of interests, just like her revered father. She even suspected that it was because of this that her mother had died young.
However, what was even more ironic was that the person who had lived under the same roof for ten years had actually been scheming against her from the very beginning, and had slept with her before revealing such a cruel secret. Such a thrill was not something that ordinary people could enjoy. She thought, if he had come for revenge, she would have nothing to say, because it was only natural for a son to repay his father’s debt. But that wasn’t the case. To him, his parents, whom he had never met, were nothing more than the tools that gave birth to him. He was a born demon, preying on others when he wanted to and destroying them at will when he didn’t.
She almost laughed out loud. ‘If Huo Siqing hadn’t taken the bullet for you, we really could have met in hell. Don’t you think that’s a pity?’
That was the first time she had ever learned to shoot a gun, and her steady hands surprised even her. His face of disbelief was so funny, and he must have felt like going crazy. But no matter how crazy he was, he was crazier to hand the gun over to someone who hated him.
‘Stop laughing, it’s even uglier than crying,’ he patted her face.
‘By the way, don’t forget to send me an invitation when you get married, I’ll definitely wrap a big present and have someone deliver it…’ She pushed his hand away, her face was so quiet it was almost eerie, ‘I’m just afraid you won’t dare to accept it.’
Shen Shijiu suddenly raised his hand and pinched her neck, preventing her from making a sound. But she glared at him fiercely, her dry lips pursed stubbornly. So he lowered his head and bit her, nipping and grinding his teeth together, which made her gums bleed. The smell of tobacco mixed with the smell of blood, filling the mouths of the two of them.
The pent-up fury in Wushu’s chest suddenly exploded, and his clenched fist then hit his jaw hard.
The teacher said, ‘You Chinese have an old saying: “To treat someone in his own way”. She then grabbed his neck, her eyes almost bleeding with rage. ’Why do you think I’m here? Every day I peel back my scars and look at them closely, to see their ugly, disgusting side as they fester and suppurate, so that I have the courage to face an even more unbearable life ahead! Why do you think you have the right to insult me, you son of a bitch? !’
She was never weak, and this chokehold was almost her full strength.
Tomorrow’s headline might be that Shen Shijiu was strangled to death by his ex-lover in his office, he thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, as he gently placed a hand over her face, covering the cold dampness on her face.
He could never forget their first encounter: the funny way she’d run away, her face turning red as she struggled, her warm body making him want to lean in a little closer, her pouting expression when she got angry, all etched in his memory. Over the next ten years, 3,652 days, he knew that their personalities would never easily come together, and that there was a gulf between them, but still, he unknowingly let his feelings grow.
At the beginning, he thought, ‘No rush, take it slow, one day she’ll realise that I’m the one for her.’ He didn’t believe there was anyone else in the world who could be as patient as him. But as it turned out, even the most patient person could not stand being provoked by someone who was so stubborn. He had always been able to deal with his opponents, but she was the only one who could make him so angry that he often had nowhere to vent his anger. She could list a whole bunch of good things about a friend she had known for just a few days, but after knowing each other for so many years, she still didn’t know what he wanted most.
In fact, he wasn’t really interested in the position of president of the Nanqing Club, because he was perfectly capable of starting something new. Without the interference of those conservatives, it would be easy to surpass the Nanqing Club at that time. Yuan Qi and the others had mentioned this to him many times, but he had always rejected it without hesitation. They quickly guessed the reason for his persistence and knew that he would never change his mind once he had made a decision.
He guessed his intention when Ning Tiancheng called them into the ward. Undeniably, he really loved Ning Wushu after having a daughter in his middle age, but he was also unable to watch the foundation he had worked hard for decline because of an unsuitable leader, so he had to use the person he loved the most as a bargaining chip again. Using his daughter to tie down the person who had the greatest influence on the Nan Jing Club and could also become its greatest enemy was the only method he could think of. If he agrees, it is the same as tacitly agreeing to such a deal, and she, being as proud as she is, will not accept such an arrangement. Perhaps she will think that he married her simply because he wanted to take the position of leader.
After Ning Tiancheng’s death, he thought that the black hole in his heart would heal with this result and Wushu’s acceptance of him, but the slap in the face tore his wounds open even further. He began to doubt what he really was in her eyes: a scoundrel that she kindly picked up, or a guard dog that she used to watch over the house? Perhaps she and her father shared the same thoughts because they shared the same blood.
His heart wavered for the first time.
Moreover, those years, Ning Tiancheng had protected Wushu too well, giving her no opportunity to be tested. But if she wanted to secure her position as the president of the Nanqing Club, she must first see the cruel reality and become a truly ruthless person, just like him. So, he decided to take the position of the dragon head and also wanted to take this opportunity to find out how well she really knew him.
When someone told him that Ning Wushu had someone tamper with his car, the first person he suspected was his subordinate. Some people who considered themselves loyal felt that keeping Ning Tiancheng’s daughter in the gang was always a hidden danger, and it was possible that she would do something stupid.
In fact, if she just said a word or gave him a look that asked him to trust her, he would do his best to find out who the real mastermind was, even if it was Yuanqi and the others who did it.
But she didn’t say anything, just confronting him with a defiant look.
Men are not invincible. In front of the woman who had taken a place in his heart, he occasionally wanted her affirmation like a child.
He suddenly felt that he and she had been a mistake from the beginning.
He decided to tell her the truth, even though it would rot away and never be heard. Since there was no turning back, he might as well go all the way. However, as he watched her storm out of the room, he had a bad feeling. Her strength was only based on her beliefs, and he had destroyed her beliefs, which meant he had taken away her reason to live. His mind was in a complete mess. He felt panic for the first time in his life, and he wondered how he could feel panic in such a situation. Later, he thought, if hatred could become her reason to live, then let it be hatred.
It wasn’t until he saw her walk with Bei Tang Hao that he understood why people feel jealous. What you can’t have, someone else gets easily, and that’s the only thing you want…
His fingers brushed past her wet eyes, and his low, hoarse voice seemed to linger in his chest for a long time: ‘Have you ever thought that maybe only my love for you is real?’
Without warning, Wushu felt like she had stepped on a landmine. Her blurred vision then met his strange eyes. They contained too many emotions that she was unfamiliar with: bleak, helpless, disappointed, lonely, and suppressed. These things were tangled together and had become a deep whirlpool. For a moment, it seemed like an unfathomable mystery, and then it seemed like a dangerous signal.
Wushu was a little confused. The two of them had been facing each other in a hideous state, but suddenly they had changed direction.
Could it be that he was playing the game of ‘playing hard to get’?
She hated this kind of scene, because her heart was beating uneasily, as if it were a poor person who had been abused for a long time, and suddenly being treated kindly, she had forgotten the cruelty that had hurt him.
The air around her suddenly became suffocating and she had a headache. She had to get out of here!
Nervous headaches are caused by physical and mental stress, and when deliberately provoked, they become even more fierce.
She knew that the trick of inflicting pain on oneself would never go out of style. Didn’t he love her? Even if it was just a false love, he still had to put on a show for her.
When she poured a bunch of pills from the bottle and tried to shove them into her mouth, Shen Shijiu knocked them out of her hands.
He saw the label and knew it was a special tranquilizer that was used to hypnotize the nerves and relieve sudden pain, but if taken in too large quantities, it was no different from a drug.
Wushu bent over in pain.
He suddenly picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the sofa, carefully laying her down on her back. Seeing her eyes closed and her eyebrows knitted together, he frowned. He placed his cool palm on her forehead and massaged the pressure points on the side of her head. Wushu’s eyelids twitched, the blue veins on her forehead slightly protruding, and she suddenly turned her head away. The phone fell out of her pocket, and Shen Shijiu’s arm froze in the air for a moment before he picked it up, his eyes falling on the unclosed screen.
Her consciousness was sometimes blurred and sometimes clear. She began to call out someone’s name unconsciously, a name that had brought her much misfortune. Then she remembered the question she had asked her mother when she was young: Why is it that princesses always meet princes who can defeat evil? Her mother had patted her head and said, because they are both kind people. Haha, after all, fairy tales are just fairy tales. How can there be so many pure people and things in the world? If the princess is no longer a princess and has become a vicious witch, how will the prince like her again?
Shen Shijiu looked intently at her face, wondering how long it had been since they had been so close.
For some reason, he held his breath and lowered his head. His thin lips traced the contours of her face, and if he lowered his head just a little more, he would kiss her forehead, her nose, her lips… But when he saw the frown on her brow, like a small, inverted ‘川’ character, his five fingers clenched into a fist. He stood up and said, ‘When you feel better, I’ll let you go.’
He wanted to pour her a glass of water, but then remembered that he never drinks hot drinks. So he went into the rarely used kitchen, rummaged through the cupboards for a while, found a teapot, and put it on the stove to boil.
In the vast space, there was nothing but the sizzling sound of boiling water.
Wu Shu, who was lying on the sofa, opened her eyes quietly, raised her hand and touched her forehead. She was stunned for a moment before she turned her digital watch, which revealed a pinhole-sized mirror…

A few minutes later, Shen Shijiu carried the teapot out of the kitchen and saw Wu Shu on the sofa, her body tilted to one side and one arm hanging down to the ground. In the past, when she took naps, she would always adopt this restless posture. She would obviously take up a small side when there was a large space next to her to sleep, as if she could roll off the bed at any time. He suddenly felt his chest become stuffy, so he pulled open the two buttons on his shirt and walked over to the bar to get a cup with a handle and pour some water. He heard a muffled sound, and when he looked back, his expression was surprised.
Wushu was getting up from the wool rug and sitting down on the sofa with a serious expression, as if nothing had happened.
Shen Shijiu asked, ‘Did you fall?’
Wushu turned his back to him and nodded after a while.
Shen Shijiu coughed with his hand over his mouth and walked over unobtrusively.
‘Feeling better?’
Wushu nodded again, didn’t refuse the plain water he handed over, but held it in her hand without drinking.
Shen Shijiu sat down next to her. On the large leather sofa, the two were only a few inches apart, but a silent barrier separated them. You couldn’t hear her voice, and the air was lonely. He took her phone and dialed a number, then looked at her.
Wu Shu’s gaze was always fixed on a point in front of her, as if in a daze. Her chin was slightly tilted upwards, creating a stubborn arc, which showed that she was actually impatient.
‘Let’s go,’ he said, putting the phone back in her hand in a heavy tone.
She reacted only then, setting the cup on the table, standing up, and walking past him without hesitation.
Shen Shijiu tilted his head back and rested it on the back of the sofa, closing his eyes. His heart was in a mess, unable to calm down for a long time with the sound of her footsteps gradually fading away, just as when he first watched her walk out of his world and never see her again.

Chapter 9

The skyscraper shareholders’ meeting ended at 4 pm. The major shareholder representatives did not react much to the fact that Vice Chairman Shen Shijiu did not attend the meeting. Even if they had objections in their hearts, they did not dare to show them in public. Who could blame this person for having the backing of the Nan Jing Club and impeccable abilities? Not to mention being absent, even if they were immoral, they could only turn a blind eye.
After the meeting, some shareholder representatives returned to the hotel to rest, while others, full of energy, discussed where to go for entertainment.
Nan Ting is known for its beautiful women. To put it more colloquially, Nan Ting is full of stunning beauties, and judging whether a man is cool or not through the eyes of a beautiful woman is as simple as seeing whether he can burn through money quickly or not.
For these wealthy playboys, Nan Ting is comparable to paradise.
In the elevator, which was descending rapidly, several well-dressed young men chatted and laughed familiar.
Someone said, ‘Beidang, you know your way around here, so you’ll have to be the host tonight.’
The man who was named was very different from the other playboys. He wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, had an elegant temperament, and was handsome but unassuming.
‘No problem,’ he said with a smile, ‘but I haven’t been back in three years, so I don’t know what kind of fun places there are in Nantong now.’
One of the men on the left happened to think, ‘Doesn’t Shen Shijiu run the Billionaire Club? Why don’t we go check it out?’
This proposal immediately attracted the disapproving glances of several of his friends, who thought he had picked the wrong topic to bring up.
Bei Tang Hao’s reaction was unexpected. He didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with it, and simply said, ‘The admission process for that club is complicated, and they may not necessarily give us this backdoor.’ Several of his friends looked at each other, giggling as they avoided the topic.
The elevator arrived at the ground floor, and the doors opened with a bang. The group of friends were about to step out when they saw a figure in the doorway. It looked like the person had been waiting for a long time and suddenly dashed in, throwing themselves into the middle of Bei Tang Hao.
Everyone looked at this sudden beautiful person throwing themselves into their arms and didn’t want to leave the elevator – even though the beautiful person was casually dressed, their movements were a bit rude, and their state was a bit scary, it was still a pretty scene.
Bei Tang Hao was also startled at first, but when he looked down, he saw that the look in his eyes under the lenses was full of unbelievable joy and surprise: ‘Xiao Gui?’
Bei Tang Hao, who was always stable and mature, ignored the presence of his friends and opened his arms to firmly embrace the little guy who had been on his mind for three years. All his regrets were transformed in that instant into endless tenderness that overflowed his chest.
He said, ‘Wushu, if you ever feel tired, just come to me. No matter what happens in the end, I will always have a place for you to lean on.
’I knew you would come down here…’ There were a million things he wanted to say, but in the end, all he could say was this. But he knew that no matter what she said or did, he would understand.
Seeing this scene, others guessed that the two had an unusual relationship. They also thought that Beitang had had a good girlfriend before, could it be her? Curious as they were, they couldn’t just stand there like a third wheel. They patted Beitang Hao on the shoulder, got out of the elevator, leaving the space for them, and didn’t forget to close the door behind them.
The small elevator car contained the purest breath in the world, banishing the darkness and making her heart become incredibly peaceful.
After a while, Bei Tang Hao said, ‘Let me see you.’
Wushu lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, ‘It’s all snot and tears, it’s scary to look at.’
He laughed, ‘You can see that my clothes are scarier than your snot and tears, so we’re even.’
She was originally tearless, but when she met his gaze, her eyes became blurry, and she grinned and said, ‘That’s great, the little brat has become a crybaby, I’ve let you down, haven’t I?’

She had once read a book with a passage that had left a lasting impression on her – we all live in a vast sea of people, spending our whole lives searching for a beacon of light that is ours alone. Of course it is gratifying to find it, but if you don’t, all you can do is sigh. Some go with the flow, not knowing where they are going, some fluctuate but never give up, some fail to persevere and end up at the bottom of the ocean, and some live in a fantasy world, unable to tell which beacon of light is their own. The worst thing is to be helpless, dragged into the whirlpool by the wild waves.
On that stormy night, she dragged her luggage and wandered aimlessly through the streets, which were filled with lights. The cars that passed by brushed past her like swordfish. Occasionally, someone would roll down their window and, from a distance, ask uncertainly, ‘Miss, do you need any help?’ When they saw that she didn’t answer, they drove off again.
The rain beating in her eyes made it hard for her to see the road ahead, and she couldn’t tell which way was north. She sat on the bridge, watching the world go by, and wondering how many dirty souls it sheltered. The passers-by were huddled under their raincoats, some looking numb, others hurrying along, but none looked as miserable and strange as her, like a lunatic on the loose, rooted to the spot, her hair streaming in the wind and rain. Fortunately, in the past, her father rarely let her go out in public for her safety, so not many people recognised her, not to mention that she now looked like a miserable ghost, who would want to look at her twice? Even if she died a violent death on the street, she might not be able to occupy a corner of the newspaper.
A car in front of her suddenly stopped, and someone got out and walked over, holding an umbrella over her head. He bent down and asked himself with concern, ‘Kid, what’s wrong with you?’
She recognised him at a glance. Bei Tang Hao, a celebrity who always appeared on magazine covers and newspaper headlines. It was hard not to know him, not to mention the fact that Nan Jinghui and Mo Tian were still in a partnership.
She sat motionless, not answering or avoiding. After all that had happened, she had learned one thing: in this world, you can only rely on yourself, and no one else. Faced with her silence, he did not leave as tactfully as the others before him, but simply said, ‘Let me take you home. You won’t be able to keep sitting like this without getting cold.’
She was really cold, so cold that she became unresponsive and gradually lost consciousness. When she woke up, she found herself in clean pyjamas, sleeping in Bei Tang Hao’s guest room. It was a house he had bought in Shangfeng Garden in the eastern district, not the mansion she had expected. It was a cozy three-bedroom apartment with a strong sense of life. She knew she liked this place. It wasn’t big, but it was safe.
He kept calling her a kid, even though she told him she was only 22. In fact, he was only 27 himself, just at the age when a rooster spreads its wings, yet he was able to take care of an unrelated person in an orderly manner. He said that there are two kinds of people in the world who must be helped: the sick and the kind.
She asked how he had thought of bringing her home, not even knowing who she was. Maybe it was another trick to lure a wolf into the house.
He said, ‘You don’t look like a man-eating tiger.’
It turned out that a person’s smile and voice could soothe tense nerves and have a hypnotic effect. Although that night was still plagued by nightmares, she screamed the man’s name countless times in her dreams, struggling painfully until dawn.
So he guessed her identity—it had long been rumoured outside that Nan Jinghui’s unknown Miss Ning had been driven out of the house by Shen Shijiu.

Beidang Haokuo returned to Nanting after three years to attend the shareholders’ meeting, which was a good gossip opportunity for the media, who liked to catch wind and catch shadows. Reporters had already guarded the entrances to the headquarters before the meeting ended, just waiting for him to show up.
Wushu and Beidang Haokuo naturally expected this, and to avoid unnecessary trouble, the two had to go out separately.
Wushu was about to press the elevator open button when Beidang Haokuo stopped her: “Wait. Have you forgotten something?”
She then remembered that she hadn’t exchanged her current phone number. She told him a series of numbers to enter into his phone’s address book, and asked, ‘What about you?’
Bei Tang Hao’s face always wore a patient and tolerant smile, ‘I told you, I’ll keep that number no matter where I am.’
Wu Shu looked at him, but her fingers froze on the phone screen. Bei Tang Hao subconsciously looked at her phone. Among the few phone numbers, there was a small heart symbol in front of his name, and above him was a red name: Shen Shijiu.
Bei Tang Hao seemed to have guessed something, but he didn’t ask anything. He took a small step forward, and his tall body was like a haven, drawing Wushu into his reach. He whispered, ‘Go out.’ His finger landed on the button behind her, and with a ding, a thin warm current brushed past her neck through the ladder door that was gradually opening. Wushu said, ‘See you later.’ Turning around, she hurriedly left.

 

 

Chapter 10

A Land Rover pulled up from the left-hand ramp in front of the skyscraper and slowly moved past Wushu. Wen Qi stuck his head out of the car window and casually played with his silver-white hair, which stood out in the sunlight. He asked coolly, ‘Where are you going, young lady?’
Wushu glanced at him askance as she walked, ‘Why have you dyed your hair?’
He laughed, ‘Boredom.’
Wushu stopped, and so did the Land Rover. She turned to the other side, opened the door and got into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut.
‘I got the documents,’ she said.
‘You look so happy, you must have seen Beitang Hao, right?’ Wen Qi said sourly.
‘Mm,’ Wushu took out a bottle of mineral water from the frame of the car, unscrewed the cap and took a sip, but then remembered the awful kiss earlier, so she spat it out as if it were mouthwash.
Wen Qi kept his position and watched her motionlessly, and suddenly asked, ‘What if I grow my hair long?’
Wushu hit him on the head with a ‘pop’: ‘You’ve gone crazy.’
Wen Qi was quite happy about it, ‘Do I have a masochistic tendency? Why do I like hearing you scold me?’
Wushu suddenly turned her head and looked out the window. Wen Qi followed suit and looked back.
Beidang Hao had just appeared at the gate, and the reporters immediately swarmed around him. The dedicated security guards, as if facing a major crisis, rushed forward to keep the crowd at bay, so that Beidang Hao could get to the car in front. Some reporters stood on tiptoe and held their microphones out as far as they could, asking, ‘Mr. Beidang, you haven’t been back to China for three years. What are your plans for this trip?’
He replied, ‘My grandfather’s health hasn’t been very good lately, so I want to spend more time with him.’
The reporter did not hear the answer he wanted and was not disheartened. ‘Then have you thought about going to find your first girlfriend? Is she still in Nanting?’
All they knew was that the former Bei Tang Hao was a standard workaholic, and he did not have a girlfriend until he was 27 years old. Although a reporter once took a photo of the two on a date, the woman was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and exaggerated sunglasses, as if she didn’t want anyone to know who she was. So there were many different theories about who his girlfriend was. Some people guessed that she was the daughter of the director of the Moreton Consortium, while others said that she was an ordinary civilian, a real-life Cinderella who didn’t necessarily have any background, but must have something extraordinary about her to be able to win the favour of President Beitang.
Beidang Hao walked straight to the car parked in front of the steps. The driver had already opened the door for him. The reporters’ questions relentlessly followed him, “Or do you mean you’ve let go?”
He finally smiled, “Letting go is a heavy word, so I never say it lightly.”
After saying that, he left the intrigued reporters, got into the car, and drove off.
Behind him were the towering skyscrapers, towering above the city, and he wondered how many years of glory they would be able to enjoy.
In the square in front of the building, a new bronze sculpture over 30 metres high had been erected, densely decorated with gluttony patterns. The feng shui master said that this was heaven and earth gathering wealth, and it was not just placed anywhere, it had to be placed in such a precious location, otherwise the pressure would be too much and the wealth would be scattered.
Shen Shijiu didn’t agree with this, however. He had never taken the feng shui theory seriously, and felt that the hideous patterns were like naked human nature exposed in this prosperous and extravagant city, as if to tell people that only in the face of wealth and status does greed have nowhere to hide. He stood in front of the glass curtain wall on the 96th floor, overlooking the multitude of people below through the pale golden light, like ants struggling to survive in the world, but with a happiness and pride that he did not have now. No wonder they say that the higher you stand, the more difficult it is to find something that can satisfy you. Even the joy that he can cherish fades away in his memory, leaving only a vague shadow.
Luo Ze walked up behind him and said, ‘I guessed it was her.’
Shen Shijiu looked cold, but did not reply.
‘There’s something I’ve never understood. The year after Wushu left Nanting, you clearly already knew that Siqing had set her up, but why…’ Luo Ze didn’t know how to ask.
‘You want to ask why I still married Siqing?’ Shen Shijiu said in a seemingly indifferent voice. ‘Even without Siqing’s provocation, she and I would not have made it to this day.’
Luo Ze shook his head with some regret: ‘I always feel that there is a lack of good communication between you.’
Shen Shijiu, however, asked an unrelated question: ‘Luo Ze, have you ever ridden the Oriental Water Wheel?’
‘Didn’t Bei Tang Hao invest in building it before?’ Luo Ze didn’t understand why he suddenly mentioned this.
‘Go help me prepare…’ Shen Shijiu was about to give Luo Ze an order when a quiet and gentle voice came from afar: ‘Shijiu, what are you preparing? Aren’t we going to try on wedding dresses today?‘
Huo Siqing smiled at Luo Ze, walked over to Shen Shijiu, took his arm affectionately, and said half-jokingly, “You said you would come to the school to pick me up after four o’clock. I waited for half a day and didn’t see you, so I had to come here by myself… Hey,” she suddenly pointed at a bruise on the contour of his chin and asked, “What happened?”
’What?’ Shen Shijiu looked at her with a smile that didn’t seem to be a smile, as if he didn’t understand what she said.
Huo Siqing was first taken aback, and her eyes darkened slightly. This expression was like a declaration that she, Huo Siqing, did not have the right to care about him. She remembered Wushu, and the encounter that day, when she had also smiled like this, but her heart had rejected everyone else.
Shen Shijiu didn’t care about her reaction, and ran his fingers through her hair, looking at her as if she were a piece of porcelain: ‘You’re very pretty today.’
Her small, delicate face had a pair of beautiful, dark eyes, complemented by naturally thick, curled eyelashes. After some careful grooming, she looked even more radiant and charming.
Unlike Ning Wushu, she is always like a tomboy, never knowing how to dress herself. Her hair is messy and she casually brushes it back. When she looks at people, she either ignores them or keeps them at a distance. As a result, her originally delicate eyes have become sharp. The only thing that is impeccable about her is the shape of her lips: naturally full, moist and round. Her stubborn contours carry a wild and untamable flavour, as if she is always wantonly provoking men’s patience, but she is completely unaware of it…

The ever-changing expressions in men’s eyes are unfamiliar and distant to Huo Siqin. Even though she doesn’t want to admit it, she has to admit that only that person can make her lose control and lose her mind, while the person he leaves her with is a perfect surface controlled by reason.
She originally thought that if she got his promise, she could spend her whole life making this person fall in love with her, but now she knows that no matter how hard she tries, even if she gambles her life, she can’t beat a name that she considers taboo.
Shen Shijiu did not know that Wushu’s bullet would only graze him, but she was so infatuated that she threw herself at him and pushed him away. She knew very well that if she didn’t, he would go back to Wushu one day. The moment the bullet pierced her body, she finally saw herself in his eyes. She was so relieved at that moment, but she also noticed that his embrace was so cold, and it could never give her the warmth she wanted.
The doctor said that the bullet had pierced her left ventricle, and it took several attempts to resuscitate her before she was pulled back from the hands of death. She was so happy to see him as the first person she opened her eyes to that she almost fainted again, but he had cut off her long hair that she liked, and his hands were still as cold as they were back then. He said sorry to her – he said sorry, but she had tears streaming down her face. She would rather he had said, ‘You’ve finally woken up.’ Because at that moment, the person he thought of in his head was still Wushu.
The news of her being shot was kept under wraps, and even her family only found out about it later. At that time, Wushu had already left Nanting and no one knew where he had gone. She could only deceive herself into thinking that he had done it just to avoid making the whole thing public knowledge.
Her sister Siqi could never understand why she would be so lowly as to trade her life for a relationship that might not be reciprocated. She had also deeply loved someone, so she knew why. It was just that she was not as foolish as she was.
In the 25 years of her life, she has met many people, most of whom she has forgotten as soon as she turned her back. Only once has she had a life-long unforgettable memory.
That day, they had drunk a lot, and without exception, they had run away halfway through. She and Siqi waited until the alcohol wore off before they stopped a car on the roadside to go home. At that time, her steps were still a bit unsteady, and she swayed to the side and almost fell into the road. Unexpectedly, a car sped past, and the lampshade caught the silk scarf around her neck. She naturally fell to the ground, and Siqi cursed the car owner for being blind, but the car quickly backed up and stopped in front of them.
The window rolled down, and he, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, tilted his head and looked over, his narrow black eyes with slanted glances, like black feathers skimming across the water, finally landing on her. She was dumbfounded, and felt as if she had seen this scene in a dream.
It wasn’t until later that she learned about Wushu’s relationship with him, and then she understood that this familiarity was so. They had been together for ten years, and ten years had allowed the words and actions of these two people to penetrate each other.
But how was she going to get ten years like that?
She always thinks this way, and so she betrays her friends, disappoints her parents, loses herself, but never gets what she wants. But shouldn’t she be satisfied? At least these past few years, she has been the one standing by his side. As for the rest, it’s better to keep it buried deep in her heart and not dig it up, that way she can live a little happier.
Huo Siqing slowly squeezed out a smile, still looking relaxed and happy. ‘After a while, after trying on the dresses, let’s go to Wu’ai Road and drink Sang’s bone soup.’
He asked casually, ‘Why did you think of eating that?’
She stuck out her tongue and said, ‘Actually, it’s a restaurant owned by one of my students. He always teases me in front of me, saying that the soup is made with secret spices and good wild boar bones, and that once you’ve eaten it, you’ll never forget it.’
Shen Shijiu laughed: ‘You’re a teacher, and you’re so easily fooled by your students that you don’t know which way is up.’
Huo Siqing shook his arm, ‘Go~ I want to see you eat.’ Then he turned back and said to Luo Ze, ‘Luo Ze, go too, and call Xu Lu and the others. The more the merrier.’
Luo Ze said, ‘Okay, but Lao Gu can’t go, he has a dinner meeting today.’
‘Some other time.‘ Suddenly, Huo Siqing heard Shen Shijiu say this, and a smile slowly formed at the corner of his mouth, “…and the tuxedo? We’ve already made a reservation with JOY.”
’Then call and ask him to change the appointment. I need to finish some documents today.’ Without a word, he pulled away from her arm, walked over to his desk, picked up a document and looked through it, then said without looking back, ’Luozhe, you take Siqing home for me.’
Huo Siqing stood there like a wooden man, with red marks on the palms of his hands from the neatly manicured fingernails: ‘I’ll be going back then. Don’t work too late.’
Shen Shijiu nodded, his eyes still on the documents, without saying anything else.
Huo Siqing looked at Luo Ze, gave a bitter smile, and turned around to quickly walk out.

Chapter 11

Seeing that it was still early, Wushu and Wenqi went to Changhong Road nearby.
Kunming Building is an old building from the past. Its appearance is not as shiny as other buildings, and it looks full of the vicissitudes of the old days. But even in such a location, it is still a landmark building in the eastern district of Nanting.
She rented an office on the east side of the 12th floor and was going to set up a contact point in the name of a comprehensive business consulting firm. There was also a company selling health products on the same floor. The receptionist was leaning back in her swivel chair, talking on the phone, and she smiled slightly when she saw them passing by.
‘You know her?’ Wushu asked.
“We met in the elevator when I was looking at the apartment, and we exchanged a few words.’
‘Just one sentence? That’s rare.’ Wushu put on a serious expression of surprise, as if he, a man who is often accosted by girls on the street and can become familiar with them within ten minutes, had actually changed?
Wen Qi suddenly leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Your pants are unzipped.”
Wushu turned around and walked into an empty hallway. But Wen Qi was laughing behind him, ’I only said that one sentence.’ She then realised that she had fallen for his trick and glared at him angrily. ‘Do you believe I will fix you?’
Wen Qi, however, suppressed his smile and looked away. ‘I heard a man’s voice on the phone. It was the surname Shen, right? Did he bully you?’
Wushu couldn’t help but frown. After all, the teacher had brought up the person, and no thoughts escaped his eyes.
‘Fuck!‘ Seeing her silence, Wen Qi kicked the handrail of the stairs with all his strength. Listening to the buzzing vibration, he still felt the silence in the corridor suffocating. “I really want to chop him up right now!”
’Go ahead!’ Wushu deliberately tried to get rid of him, handed him a small magnetic card and said, ’The contents of the bid documents for the skyscraper are in here. You can now send them to Tianxin by express delivery.’
Wen Qi took the item and felt a lump in his throat when he thought about how it had come to be. He asked sullenly, ‘Do you want me to retrieve a copy first?’
‘No,’ said Wushu, ‘I’ve planted a Trojan horse in there, and I’ll see if I can find any clues to Chen Yiming laundering money in Nanting.’
‘Using Tiansin like this, what if they get suspicious over there…’ Wen Qi looked at her worriedly, ‘Chen Yiming is a vicious criminal.’
‘Then he will suspect that the person behind it is Shen Shijiu.‘
’But you are the person in charge, so he will look for you first.‘
Hearing footsteps on the corridor outside the building, the two of them stopped talking.
’Big sister, you are here.’ It turned out to be Song Xi and Xiao Shi, each carrying a mop, passing by, apparently cleaning the office.
Wushu asked, “Have all the things been delivered?”
Song Xi said, ’Yes, they are being moved.’

The men carrying the office supplies had an accent from outside the city and were clumsy. They knocked the door frame several times when carrying the large table cabinets in because their centre of gravity was unstable. Xiao Shi threw the mop aside and said, ‘Do you know how to work? I told you to be careful when carrying things, and now you’ve broken everything.’
The men were very unhappy with Xiao Shi’s rebuke: ‘Which one is broken?’
‘Look at this.’ Xiaoshi knocked on the indentation on the corner of the table and said, “If you keep doing this, you’ll have to pay for it!”
The man grabbed the edge of the table like he was being a bully and shook it hard, until the table legs creaked. He said, “It’s not broken, is it? It’s still working, isn’t it? If it’s still working, how can you say it’s broken?”
The other two laughed at the side, as if they looked down on these little yellow-haired girls.
Song Xi ran over to help Xiao Shi, ‘Hey, what kind of attitude is that?’
‘That’s our attitude, so what!’
‘Forget it.’ Another person came over to be the peacemaker, but instead of walking through any of the many other places, he deliberately rubbed against Xiao Shi’s breasts as he squeezed past between Song Xi and Xiao Shi. This completely infuriated Xiao Shi, who pushed him away, ‘Son of a bitch!’
‘Who are you calling a son of a bitch?’ The man immediately turned around, revealing a villainous look on his face, and while saying this, he leaned in towards Xiaoshi. This scene made Wushu feel sick to her stomach, and she slammed the door shut. About ten minutes later, three men with bruises all over their faces ran out, grinning from ear to ear, and cursed as they ran, ’Bitch! You wait!’
Wushu took a rag and carefully wiped every surface that had been touched by those men, scrubbing harder where there was blood. Songxi and Xiao looked at each other. They both knew that the calmer the eldest sister, the worse it was. The two of them quickly went to find a cleaner cloth to wipe with as well.
‘Eldest sister, I heard their accents and it sounded like they were from Min’nan Province. There have been a lot of people from Min’nan coming to the West District recently, all of them ruthless thugs who want money more than they want their lives,’ Songxi said.
‘What are you afraid of?‘ Xiao Xi snorted.
’We are in the open, they are in the dark, it’s always going to be troublesome.”
Xiao Xi didn’t say anything.
Wushu remained calm: “What’s meant to be will happen, just be careful.”
After tidying everything up, Xiao Xi and Song Xi went home first. Wushu sat on the sofa for a while, looking at the clock. It was already past five, so she got up and left. She had just locked the door when someone called. The ringtone was a specially set Jikan yo Tomare feat. SEAMO, so she quickly fished out her phone.
‘It’s me.’
The familiar gentle voice made her mood relax all of a sudden. A thought was spinning around in her head: it seemed that every time he appeared, he would choose the most appropriate moment, neither too early nor too late.
There was the sound of him bustling about in the kitchen. She laughed, ‘I can smell the aroma.’
He said after a while, ‘It’s been a long time since I cooked for myself. I don’t know how it tastes. Do you want to come and try?’
She looked out the window at the end of the corridor. The city had already lit up with vague lights under the evening sky. It was rare to feel a sense of warmth. She answered, ‘Yes.’

Bei Tang Hao’s apartment in Shangfeng Garden was not far from Changhong Road, just a 15-minute taxi ride away. However, traffic was particularly heavy today, and it took 20 minutes to travel the two or three kilometres to Ju’an Road.
After waiting for another three minutes, he really couldn’t bear it anymore, so he told the driver, ‘I’ll get off here.’
In the similarly stuck red sports car, Xi Tianyu was lazily leaning back in his seat, sending mushy text messages to his new crush to pass the time.
‘My dear little baby, are you thinking about your brother Yu?”
He was about to choose a number to strike when he caught a glimpse of a woman running across the adjacent non-motorised lane. At first glance, he didn’t think anything of it, but when he looked a second time, his eyes nearly fell out of his head. He stood up, leaned over the windscreen and looked again and again, finally making sure that it was Ning Wushu. He immediately returned to his seat and prepared to report the news to his boss. But he was dumbfounded – he had actually sent the cheesy text message in his excitement.
‘Wow! I’m dead!’ It’s not a problem for the others, but the boss’s number is in there. Xi Tianyu weighed the phone in his hand, which could bite, and was about to throw it out of the car to destroy the body, when a series of text messages came back.
The first one was from Gu Yuanqi: ’Tianyu, are you distracted that you can’t write properly? You can’t even speak properly.’
‘Brute!‘ These two words are enough to show that only Tiger Xu could say them.
’Kid, messing around is bad for your health, take it easy.‘ That guy Wu Xiangyang…
’Brother Yu, I have some great porn here, do you want to watch it together?‘
’Wrong number? It’s not a group message, is it?’ Look, Luo Ze is still clever. ’Just a heads up, boss is in a bad mood today.’
Xi Tianyu looked at it and his body felt weak, and he slid straight under the seat. After all, he couldn’t escape his doom. In no time at all, he received a text message from his boss, just three words: ‘Come here.’
Xi Tianyu wiped his forehead and thought to himself, if I really go over there, I’ll just be used as a punching bag by the boss. That guy is violent.
He might as well go all the way and just keep calling. Before the boss’s terrifying voice came over the line, he pre-empted it: ‘Boss, I saw Ning Wushu on the way! She’s so fast, she was in front of my car in no time!’ Most people wouldn’t understand what he meant. How can a human foot compare to the speed of a wheel?
‘Where?’
The target had been successfully diverted. Oh yeah!
“Near the intersection of Ju’an Road and South Road.’
There was no sound from that direction for a while, and then after a while he said, ‘I know.’ Then he hung up on Xi Tianyu with a click.

In the modern kitchen, the steam was thick and the aroma was overpowering. The man, with an apron tied around his waist and his sleeves rolled up, was busy as a bee.
Wushu tiptoed to the door, winked at his back and said in a very small voice, ‘Hardworking Comrade Beitang Hao, do you need any help?’
Bei Tang Hao turned around with a happy face and called out, ‘Little brat.’ Seeing that she wanted to come in, he walked over to block her, touched the back of his hand to her cheek, and laughed, ‘Look at you, you’re sweating all over, go wash your face.’
Wushu let out a sound of embarrassment, ‘Then I’ll just have to eat dinner with you.’
When she walked into the bathroom, she saw two gold-rimmed porcelain cups on the vanity, and two toothbrushes, one blue and one pink, facing each other. One of them was the one she had used before – she hadn’t expected him to keep it.
Wu Shu walked over in a daze, slowly turned on the faucet, and watched the water flow through her fingers and down the grooves of her palms. The sound of the water was hypnotic, and it fixed her at the edge of the counter for a long time.
‘Kiddo,‘ Bei Tang Hao knocked on the door.
Wu Shu was slightly startled and turned around to open the door after closing the tap.
’What’s wrong with you?’ He leaned against the door and looked at her.
Wu Shu gathered her courage and confessed, “Today I went to see Shen Shijiu… I didn’t expect to see you again.”
Bei Tang Hao sighed lightly and said, ’Three years ago I should have taken you away, even if I had to force you.’ He reached out and took her in his arms. Unlike before, his gentle embrace was now a little more overbearing. ‘Kiddo, how about I tie you down? I’ll tie you down with our home for the rest of your life.’
Upon hearing his words, Wushu’s heart strangely swelled. All her doubts and unease disappeared, and all that was left was her tired dependence on someone. The future is uncertain, but the present is real. This difference made her no longer stubbornly reject the weakness of being close to someone, as she had in the past.
The music flowed quietly in the living room. Beidong Haoteng reached out and turned off the bathroom light. In the dim light, feather-like kisses fell on her lips.
He was used to being a gentleman and never thought about taking advantage of the situation when her relationship with that person was at its weakest. But now was different. He clearly saw longing in her face. This was his little girl. At least for the moment, her heart was his own.
Wu Shu tilted her head up, her breathing growing warmer as she let him kiss her forehead, eyes, nose, earlobes, neck, and finally return to her lightly parted lips. The soft kiss rolled into her, capturing her shy tongue and gently pressing against it. After a long while, the two slowly parted.
‘Let’s go eat,’ Bei Tang Hao smiled contentedly, taking her hand and walking to the dining room.
Two sets of chopsticks were placed neatly next to each other on the table. Wushu’s heart warmed again, and she couldn’t help but smile foolishly.
He pulled out a stool for her and whispered, ’If you keep smiling like that, we won’t be able to eat.’
She quickly sat down with a straight face, but in the corner of her eye she saw his smiling eyes, and she couldn’t help but curve the corners of her mouth. Little did she know that he would do exactly what he said, and caught her lips and swept them again until she bit him playfully before he sat back down next to her.
Looking at the table full of dishes, she suddenly didn’t know where to start, so she pointed her chopsticks at the four Vancouver crabs on two plates with different preparations and asked, ‘Is it buy one get one free at the seafood market today?’
Bei Tang Hao said, ‘The seafood lady heard that I wanted to cook to win the heart of a certain kid today, so she generously gave me two more. You see, if you don’t like steamed, you can also choose spicy boiled. You can’t escape anyway.’
Wushu shook his head, ‘I don’t believe it’s that simple.’
Bei Tang Hao coughed lightly, ‘Okay, I admit it, I played a trick.’
She stretched her neck to take a closer look at the two plates of crab, but she couldn’t see anything after a while.
He lightly held her hand resting on the table, their fingers intertwined, and said, ‘I placed a pair of rings in the shells of one of the plates of crab. If you eat it, it means that heaven has destined you to marry me and be my wife, Bei Tang Hao.’
Wu Shu’s chopsticks fell on the table, and she looked at him in surprise, before asking after a while, ‘Are you serious?’
He laughed: ‘Not just steamed, but also boiled.’
She took a deep breath, feeling a little at a loss.
All along, she had blamed her unbearable fate on Shen Shijiu’s betrayal. She knew that if she wanted to free herself from her nightmare, she had to bring down the source of her pain. But now, someone was offering her a last port of call. If she missed this opportunity, she would never have a chance to turn back. How could she still have the confidence to say no?
“Kid, even if I’m forcing you,’ Bei Tang Hao’s handsome face had a hazy radiance, and he said, ‘Don’t hesitate. Can you? I’m afraid if you think too much about it, you’ll run away from me again.’
His persistence towards her made Wushu’s eyes well up with tears, and she couldn’t help but nod, softly exhaling a single word: ‘Yes!’ For the two of them, the meaning behind this was heavy as Mount Tai.
Bei Tang Hao finally let out a long sigh of relief, patting the back of her hand, urging her on like a child who couldn’t wait to get candy: ‘Then hurry up and choose.’
She picked up her chopsticks blankly, about to start, when she suddenly asked, ‘What if I don’t get it?’
He would spit blood.

 

Chapter 13

On one side was the steamed garlic crab, and on the other was the chili crab.
As she hesitated to put the steamed one in her bowl, he just kept smiling and gazing at her face.
She broke open the shell of the crab, but there was nothing inside except the meat. A little disheartened, she simply folded the whole crab in half. She heard a clang, and something fell into the plate. In the light, an exquisite diamond ring reflected a dazzling radiance before her eyes. Although she was prepared for it, she was still dumbfounded.
Beidang Hao held it up to her face, slowly curling the corners of his lips, and said, ‘Honey, you chose this yourself.’
She paused, as if she sensed something was wrong, and got up and grabbed a fragrant chili crab, and with a click—unexpectedly, a ring fell out as well.
Seeing that his scheme had been revealed, he quickly picked food up from her bowl and said, ‘The food is getting cold, eat up, eat up.’

Wu Shu is actually a fool when it comes to relationships. When pushed, he can only blurt out a few incoherent words. Since he doesn’t know how to coo, he simply eats his food happily. Halfway through the meal, he can’t help but look up at him and say, ‘Why aren’t you eating? I’ve eaten it all.’
‘Then eat more, it’s best to keep your body plump and healthy.’
“You like it when I’m plump?’
‘As the ancients said, eat it after you’ve fattened it up.‘
’The ancients also said, those who associate with scum will become scum.”
Bei Tang Hao pretended to be confused: “Where did the ink come from?”
Wushu snorted: “Those young masters you hang around with, you were corrupted by them after going to Germany, weren’t you?”
He couldn’t hold back his laughter, “Okay, I’ll tell them to associate with reds and they’ll turn red.” With that, he served her a small bowl of rich veal bone soup, ’Try this.’
Wushu inhaled the aroma of the thick soup, took a sip with her head bowed, and found that the taste was incredibly delicious. She knew that the ingredients were extraordinary, so she used the spoon to fish around the bottom of the bowl, and found that it was full of nourishing ingredients.
‘Actually, I’m not thin either,’ she said, holding out her hands for him to see. ‘Look, they’ve always been plump.’
Wushu was born with plump hands, and even though her body looked like it was having a meeting with the ribs, she would never neglect her hands and feet. Other people put on a brave face, but she just held out her hands.
Beidang Hao held her hand and looked left and right, and suddenly said, ‘What a cute pair of pig’s feet.’
She choked and rolled her eyes, but he took the opportunity to put the ring on her finger. It was just the right size. Who said she was fat? ‘Now I can eat in peace,’ he nodded with satisfaction.
Looking at the ring on her middle finger, Wushu thought to herself, where does he look like a 30-year-old man? He’s clearly a big fool.

After dinner, Wushu urged Beitang Hao to watch TV, and she wanted to wash the dishes herself, but he refused to let her.
‘You can just throw them in the dishwasher later.’
‘No, the machine can’t wash them as cleanly as hand washing.’
Beitang Hao couldn’t argue with her, so he obediently sat on the sofa and watched TV, not noticing at all that he was watching the children’s channel.
Wushu put on rubber gloves and carefully washed the dishes, and she couldn’t help but think of her old home.
She grew up in a big house, and every meal was a big gathering. Her father would let her mother decide the menu for the day, but leave the rest to the cook. After dinner, someone else would clean up, and her father and brothers would sit in the living room, light up a cigar, and listen to them discuss the day’s catch. Her mother would take her to the courtyard to swing on the swing, and then read her an after-dinner story.
When she was young, she didn’t understand. After she went to school and read a lot, she realised that her home lacked a lot of things that could be called warm. She couldn’t help but wonder if her father didn’t love them, which is why he valued his club more than his family. When she grew up a little, she understood one thing: a man like her father would always put his career first. It wasn’t until her mother passed away and she saw her father suddenly grow pale and haggard that she realised that her father actually loved her mother very much, but he was too male chauvinist to think that giving her the best material life, no matter what form it took, was a display of love for her, and he overlooked the fact that what a woman longs for most in her heart is actually ordinary happiness.
When sorting through her mother’s belongings, her father hid in his room and cried secretly. My mother wrote in her diary that we were very poor back then, and Tiancheng would sneak out in the middle of the night to climb other people’s jujube trees, picking the biggest ones and filling an entire bag, which he would then quietly leave at our doorstep… After my father became successful, he gave my mother many expensive gifts, but none of them were written about in her diary like this one. So he cried, and understood why he had resented his second brother in the past. Because the things his second brother wanted to do but wasn’t qualified to do, he was qualified to do but never did.
Wu Shu let out a deep breath, shook off his melancholy thoughts, and quickly finished washing the dishes, putting them in the disinfecting cabinet. Then he walked over to the window, about to close the curtains, when he caught a glimpse of someone downstairs.
The Bugatti Veyron, perched in the night, was impossible to ignore because of its flashy model. Only that person would dare to show off so blatantly.
She quickly pulled the blinds shut.
Her heart ached again.
In the empty living room, the TV was still broadcasting a children’s programme. Wushu called nervously, ‘Bei Tang Hao.’
A voice came from the small balcony, ‘I’m here.’
Bei Tang Hao leaned against the carved railing and reached out to pull her into his arms as she approached. He said discontentedly, ‘You always call me by my full name.’
“What should I call you? Big Rat?’
He laughed: ‘Then our child would have to be called Little Rat?’
Wushu blushed: ‘I haven’t even married you yet, and you’re already thinking that far ahead?’
He grabbed her finger and said, ‘The ring is already on, so don’t try to back out. If you think I’m thinking too far ahead, we’ll go see the old man tomorrow.’
She rested her head against his neck for a long time.
‘A-Hao.’
‘Hm?’
‘I suddenly feel very sleepy.’ She closed her eyes and stopped thinking about the reason for her racing heartbeat.
Bei Tang Hao rubbed her hair and said, ‘Tired? Go take a hot bath.’
 

Chapter 14

Lying in the comfortable bathtub, she couldn’t relax anywhere on her body.
Being in a confined space, it was inevitable that many thoughts would pop up in her head, such as why Shen Shijiu was here, whether he had left by now, and if not, what was he planning to do?
Just as she was about to get up, her phone’s text message alert sounded. She stretched her arm to hook her jacket over and took her phone out of her pocket to check the message.
‘You have ten minutes to get to room 403. Shen Shijiu.”
She nearly dropped the phone and cursed, “What a psycho!” because 403 was right next door.

At that moment, the footsteps of Beidang Hao could be heard at the door. He said apologetically from outside, “Kid, I have to go out for a bit. Can you wait for me at home?”
Wushu didn’t think much of it and said, ’Okay.’
When she heard the sound of the door closing outside, Wushu became more and more suspicious. She quickly got up and dressed.

Downstairs, Shen Shijiu’s car had driven off at some point. She didn’t have time to dry her hair, so she went to the counter, got the spare key to the house, and walked out.
The security door to Room 403 opened as soon as she pushed it, and Wushu walked in. She slammed the door shut and asked directly, ‘Shen Shijiu, what do you want?’
There was no heating in the room, and the air was chilly. No lights were on, and the only light came from the pale moonlight outside the window. Shen Shijiu sat on the armchair in front of the screen window, her deep silhouette looking a little eerie.
She heard him hum as he said, ‘Why don’t you ask me what I’m going to do next? Will it be to make that person never come back, or to get you into my bed by hook or by crook, so that he will regret leaving at such a critical time?’
‘How could you become so shameless?‘ she thought, wondering if there was anyone else who could be so unpredictable.
’I’m shameless, and what about you?’ He lowered his crossed legs and slowly got up. His upright body blocked most of the moonlight, and the dangerous aura around him grew as he took heavy steps closer and closer. ’I was very surprised by your acting today.’
Wushu’s heart skipped a beat.
She was sure the problem wasn’t with her, but if he had already planted an eye in Chen Yiming’s side, then what she had done would naturally not have been able to hide from him. She should have thought of this earlier. Shen Shijiu was not such an inconsiderate person. He didn’t care if the document fell into someone else’s hands. Perhaps it was a trap waiting for Tianxin to fall into, so she had become a bonus for him to amuse himself with?

Shen Shijiu seemed to have mind-reading powers, and the derision in his eyes grew stronger.
‘Why not just play it out?’
The real document was still in his office, so he guessed that she had recorded the contents of the document while he was in the kitchen. Her headache was to relax his vigilance, and then he gambled that he still had a little affection for her. Even her seemingly unintentional roll off the sofa was just to push the document back to its original position.
Even though he knew she was acting in front of him, he still cooperated, simply because he didn’t want her to torture him like that again. But… his gaze fell on her wet hair and the clothes she had just changed after taking a bath. ‘The old lover has just appeared and can’t wait to “enter the room” and throw himself at you. Ning Wushu, where did the arrogance go that you slapped me?’
‘Who are you to accuse me?’ she sneered. She had thought that he, like her, would never bring up the past no matter what. A moment later, she came to a simple realisation. It was like she had worn out a pair of shoes, and even if she threw them away, she didn’t want to see them on someone else’s feet. She touched the ring, which held her warmth and the tolerance that Bei Tang Hao had given her, and it made her heart clear. Since she had decided to give the rest of her life to someone, she would cut the past and the future off at the present.
‘Shen Shijiu is different from you, both in the past and the present.‘ She lifted her eyes and looked him straight in the aggressive, cold eyes.
’I once liked you, which is why I hated you after you hurt me. But hating someone is a very boring thing to do, and it’s like wasting your life on someone who doesn’t deserve it, especially when you have nothing and owe a lot to many people.
You think I came back to get revenge on you? You’re wrong. I just can’t bear the thought of my life being so twisted that I can’t get it back on track. So I’m betting with you, and with God, to see if I can really turn over a new leaf.
But now, I want to live a good life for myself, and for the people who give me hope. So I’m willing to let go of our past. From now on, I’d rather not be related to you at all. Shen Shijiu and I are complete strangers. Whatever I do now represents only who I am now, and it has nothing to do with the past.
I might as well be honest with you. In the entire underworld of Nanting, you may be able to control everything, but there will also be accidents and things that you cannot find out about that you cannot prevent. If you give me a headache, I don’t mind making the worst plans. Believe me, these words are not a threat, but a calm discussion before things get worse.’
These words came from her in a calm and gentle manner, like a clear spring of water flowing around his fingers, but he could not grasp it. Shen Shijiu thought, it turned out to be because of her determination, and it had nothing to do with him.
He thought he would be angry, but he found more fatigue. If relationships were a chemistry experiment, and only the right ingredients would produce the desired result, then they had made the wrong choice from the start.
He habitually pulled out his cigarette case and lighter, gathered his hands together and struck a small blue flame. The glow illuminated his dark black pupils, as if they were covered in crushed ice. He exhaled a thin stream of smoke and looked up, gazing out of the window. ‘Since you believe so strongly, I might as well reveal a piece of news to you. In a few minutes, the person you trust the most will be sitting at Tianya Haijiao having tea and chatting with Chen Yiming of Tianxin and He Qiao, one of the people in charge of Shiji Garden. Guess what they’ll be talking about?‘
Wushu’s reaction was only a little shocked, and more of a doubt about him.
’It seems like he didn’t tell you anything.‘
’A-Hao just returned from Germany, there’s no way he wouldn’t have any reason to be in contact with Chen Yiming.’ Although her tone was calm, she felt uneasy in her heart.
A-Hao?
Shen Shijiu’s fingertips, which were holding a cigarette, trembled slightly. He looked at her deeply and said, ‘Don’t jump to conclusions. Why did Bei Tang Hao return to Nanting? He hasn’t attended the shareholders’ meetings of Moreton for the past few years, but this time he made an exception and came just for you?‘
’Maybe it’s because of his grandfather…‘
’How much do you know about Moreton?’ His gaze rested on her face.
Although the Moreton conglomerate was founded by the Bei Tang and Shen families, the Bei Tang family has always been in a dominant position.
The Shens were northern aristocrats with connections all over the world. In the 1930s, some of the Shens migrated south and started a salt business, which naturally went well and prospered. The Shens’ ancestral teaching was to value harmony, but it was unexpected that the emphasis on harmony had produced a group of weak and incompetent people.
On the contrary, the Beitang family developed later and did not have a solid foundation. They relied entirely on luck, and once they lost, they would lose everything. But it can also be said that their greatest advantage is their willingness to fight and take risks.
It is this complementary relationship that has made Morita bigger and bigger.
However, there are always people who are greedy.

‘Before I bought the shares of Morita, Kitamura had already had the same plan, because he wanted the Shens to be the Kitamuras’ puppets forever.
At that time, the international stock market was in turmoil, causing the B shares, in which the Shens had the largest stake, to plummet, and inevitably affecting the A shares as well. This storm was ostensibly influenced by the US subprime mortgage crisis, but in reality, Kitamura was manipulating the share price of the consortium through unscrupulous means. Once people become aware of these tricks, the consequences can be imagined. So, I was able to successfully acquire the shares of Moreton, and I have to thank him for leaving this door open.”
Shen Shijiu’s mouth curled up in mockery: ’For the Beitang family, I am undoubtedly a robber who came out of nowhere, because I can rob openly, while they can only steal secretly. As for the Shens, the reason they are willing to admit an illegitimate bastard from an unknown background is that they want to use me to turn the situation around, which is not in their favour.’
Wushu recalled that war without smoke and gunpowder, the process is still vivid in his mind. ‘Unexpectedly, you had an ambitious heart and didn’t care about them at all. Under the guise of joining forces, you swallowed them up completely.’
He was silent for a moment, and the bright red cigarette butt drew an elegant arc between his fingers and fell to the side of his leg.
‘I have not treated them badly. If Bei Tang Jiang had done it, they would have received even less. Besides, they have no other way out.”
In this world, blood ties have become so weak that they are no stronger than a piece of paper. In the face of interests, loyalty is even more insignificant.
Wushu raised her hand to her forehead. Why did she still feel sad for him…
The weak refraction between her fingers fell into Shen Shijiu’s eyes without surprise. He slowly extinguished the cigarette in his hand and placed an electronic pen with a built-in microphone and recording function on the table: ‘I want to know, if you heard this, would you still wear it on your hand?’
She watched him walk past her, as if pausing, and then the sound of the door closing.
Mechanically, she walked out onto the balcony, looked up at the crescent moon, and thought about how the ancients always said that the moonlight was seductive, but it was nothing more than a pale and feeble illusion.
She closed her eyes and slowly hugged her arms.
The development of technology has distorted the distance in space, as if throwing her into another scene, witnessing with her own ears the strangest side of the people she knows.

In front of the water feature in the luxury box of the Tianya Hai Ge, the young man sitting in the green wicker chair waved his hand towards the door to Bei Tang Hao.
Bei Tang Hao held his suit jacket and sat down opposite the man, asking, ‘What’s going on?’
Chen Yiming’s crooked eyes were unusually pouty, and he shook the Albero cigar in his hand, ‘He Qiao insists on seeing you, otherwise there’s no deal.’ He snorted between his nose, looking very unhappy.
Seeing that he had his usual braided hair and flamboyant grass-green flowered shirt on, Bei Tang Hao lightly raised the corners of his lips: ‘People from government agencies are inevitably conservative.’
Chen Yiming couldn’t help snorting, ‘Or they can bluff people with their smart attire, no wonder everyone looks at me like a rabbit seeing a wolf.’
Bei Tang Hao laughed and asked the waiter for a glass of water, ‘How’s it going over there?’
‘Sure thing!’ Chen Yiming shrugged, “Ning Wushu is quite capable.”
Bei Tang Hao lowered his eyes and warned, ’She will soon be my fiancee.’
‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to hit on her anyway.‘ The more capable a woman is, the more difficult she is to deal with, because she’ll be a big problem to dump. Chen Yiming understands this very well. “But,” he said with a half smile, dusted off his cigarette ash, and said, “daring to compete with Shen Shijiu for a woman, you are no simple man, Bei Tang.”
’I’m just doing the right thing at the right time, it’s not that simple,’ Bei Tang Hao replied indifferently.
‘In that case, let’s give him some more of a shock.‘ Chen Yiming grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. “You get his old love, and I’ll steal his new one. Not a bad idea, is it?”
’What, do you want the power of the Huo family?‘
’No no! I don’t even care about the little Huo family. I hear that Shen Shijiu’s fiancée is very beautiful. You know, I’ve always had a desire to conquer beautiful things.’
A middle-aged man in his fifties with a briefcase looked around the box before entering and calling out, ‘Boss Chen.’
Chen Yiming leaned back on the armrest and said nonchalantly, ‘Director He, this is my territory, there’s no need to be so nervous.’
He Qiao forced a smile and took out a handkerchief to wipe his forehead.
Bei Tang Hao got up and shook hands with him, and He Qiao calmed down a little. The steady Bei Tang Hao gave people the impression of being reliable and honest, unlike Chen Yiming, whose character was also questionable, even though what they were doing was not exactly above board.
Chen Yiming threw a similar-looking briefcase on the table.
“There are 50,000 US dollars inside, and another 20,000 after the job is done.’
He Qiao quickly took out a copy of the tender from the bag and handed it over, muttering, ‘If I weren’t in a hurry for the money, I wouldn’t have taken such a risk to do this kind of thing.’
‘Yes, yes, Director He is a man of high integrity. Occasionally speculating is also forced by the situation. We understand.’ Chen Yiming said in a strange voice, roughly looking through the documents. He Qiao’s old face had long since been unsure where to put it, and he could only stand there with a dry smile.
‘Northern cousin, you should have a look too,‘ Chen Yiming said, pushing the file towards Bei Tang Hao. Bei Tang Hao looked it over carefully, closed it, and said in a calm voice, “No problem.”
’Good!’ Chen Yiming spread his arms with a smile on his face, “Why don’t we open a bottle of champagne to celebrate?”
Bei Tang Hao looked at the time, it had been nearly 25 minutes since they had come out, and he was still thinking about his kids at home, so he got up and said, ’Sorry, I have to go.’
‘Okay, let’s do it another time.’ Chen Yiming followed suit and got up from his seat.
Bei Tang Hao nodded to He Qiao and pushed open the door to leave.
Chen Yiming twisted his arm, walked over to He Qiao, put his arm over the thin shoulders of the young man, and said in a familiar tone, ‘Director He, do me a favour and go to the hot spring bath with me before you go.’
‘This…’
‘What do you mean “this”? I’ve made the decision.’
He said this and stuffed his bag into his arms, then put the person in his charge in motion and walked towards the warm bath room reserved for VIPs.

When Bei Tang Hao returned to his apartment, he found it brightly lit, but Wushu had disappeared. At that moment, she was sitting on the steps in front of the only quiet library in the city centre, with some beer cans lying around her. She was drinking while throwing the empty cans into the rubbish bin three metres away. The phone rang, and the can missed its target. With a crisp sound, it bounced to the ground and rolled into the green belt beside it.
Bei Tang Hao asked, ‘Why did you go?’
Wushu let out a breath, wiped the screen of his phone, then leaned over and said into the phone, ‘I’m outside looking at the stars.’
He raised his voice slightly, ‘Tell me where you are, I’ll come find you.’
Wushu looked up at the sky. She was wrong, it was a clear night with a bright moon and few stars. She was too tired to even think of a decent excuse.
She heard the sound of the door closing and his clear footsteps, so it seemed that he had gone out again.
‘Er, you don’t need to come looking for me,’ she said softly, belching.
He stopped in his tracks. ‘Have you been drinking?’
She pretended not to hear him. ‘I’ve been thinking about it over and over again, and I feel that I haven’t considered many things carefully. I wasn’t even mentally prepared for your proposal. It was entirely because I couldn’t resist that kind of environment that I need some time to make up my mind. This is better for you and me, isn’t it?’
‘Tell me what happened!‘ he asked anxiously.
’There’s no way to explain a lot of things, because they’re secrets to each of us. I can’t say, or it’ll get messy.‘ What was actually messy was her mind, which started saying whatever came to mind in a daze.
’I just want to know the reason.‘
’The reason…’ She scratched her hair, slowly tightening her grip, trying to make herself a little more alert, but her mouth was even more out of control than her mind. ’Does it count as a reason if I slept with Shen Shijiu?’
‘Wushu, listen. I love you, so I don’t mind your past.‘
’But I do.’ Her voice was cold: “I’m afraid that one day, when I fall asleep next to you, I’ll call out someone else’s name.”
The breathing on the other side of the line grew heavier and heavier, as if it could crush the phone into pieces at any moment.
‘I don’t think any man would put up with that, would they?’ Wushu whispered, “You think about it too. I’m hanging up now.”
Bei Tang Hao stood in the aisle, listening to the busy signal beeping in his ear. His gaze fell to the ground, where a string of water stains, pale enough to be difficult to notice, extended all the way to the door.
He remembered that the owners of that apartment were a young couple who had gone abroad to work.

Wushu put her phone away and then took it out again to remove the battery. This was not the time to hear any annoying sounds. When she walked down the steps, she almost tripped several times because her legs felt weak. Finally, she reached the bottom, turned around and climbed back up to pick up the bottles and cans left behind and throw them in the trash.
There were few people on the road, and the silence was so eerie that it made her heart race. She sang along to the tune, which was way off-key and sounded a bit like a cassette recorder.
“I had a little donkey, I never rode it, one day I rode it to the market on a whim. I was holding a little whip in my hand, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself, when suddenly, with a crash, I fell in the mud~ugh~hey~’
After singing just a few lines, she threw herself against a tree, leaning her head against the trunk and making retching motions. The result was that the energy just rolled in her throat and wouldn’t come out. She frowned, straightened up, patted her chest, and let the sour energy go down.
A couple sitting on a stone bench by the roadside, who were making out, heard the sound and saw her like this. Their noses and eyebrows were pressed together.
Wushu looked at them in return, then waved her hand: ‘No public displays of affection!’
‘What… nuts!’ the couple huffed, and walked away, arms around each other.
She took the chair that had just been occupied by them, rested for a while, changed positions countless times, then continued walking. She came across a beggar and, very generously, took out a ten-dollar bill from her pocket.
She walked less than three metres and came back: ‘It’s better to find me 9 yuan, I’m short of change for the bus.’
The beggar looked at her, his eyes struggling. Seeing that she was very insistent, he reluctantly picked up nine coins from the steel cup and gave them to her.
She counted them and frowned, ‘There’s only 7 yuan.’
The beggar counted them again for her, ‘9 yuan.’
She counted them again, and the result was still 7 yuan.
The beggar felt that he had run into someone pretending to be drunk to cheat him, and he was not afraid of being struck by lightning for cheating a beggar.
She weighed the money in her hand and said, ‘You owe me two dollars. You can’t be so dishonest—hey, how dare you run?’ She grabbed someone’s clothes…
Wen Qi found Ning Wushu when she was ‘robbing’ a beggar on the roadside. He secretly exclaimed, ‘My auntie,’ and slammed on the brakes to stop the car on the roadside. After getting out of the car, he jumped over the railing directly and, when he got close to her, he knew that she had drunk a lot and was going crazy, so he dragged her away from behind without saying a word. Wushu stamped her legs a few times, stretched out her hand and shouted, ‘I’m still two dollars short.’ Her movements were so violent that she even kicked off one of her shoes. Wen Qi turned her around, picked her up, and then went to pick up her shoes. She kept insisting in her mouth, ‘Two dollars.’
Wen Qi didn’t know the story behind the two yuan, and seeing that the beggar had already taken the opportunity to run far away, he had to dig left and right in his pockets and find the two yuan coin and stuff it into her hand. She then calmed down, put the money in her pocket, leaned her head against Wen Qi’s nape, and sang softly, ‘I have a little donkey I never ride…’
Wen Qi tried hard to turn his head away.
“Who am I?’
‘One day I got the idea to ride to the market…’ With her eyes closed, her head lolled to one side, and a few strands of hair falling in front of her nose, she blew them aside in one go, and also into Wen Qi’s nape. He shivered a little, then walked on. Looking at the shadows of the two of them overlapping under the streetlamp, he couldn’t help but hatefully think, ’Ning Wushu, I’ve been hanging around in front of you for so many years, but why is there no me in your eyes? To be honest, being a donkey is better than being a human.

 

Chapter 16

Wushu was sent back to her place by Wen Qi. She fell asleep as soon as she touched the bed, and didn’t even know when he closed the door and left. That night, miraculously, she didn’t have any nightmares, and slept for twelve whole hours, as if she had drowned in bed.
The next morning, when she got up, her eyes were swollen. She was trying to reduce the swelling with ice. Song Xi and Xiao Shi came over with breakfast in their hands, and the three of them sat around a square table, drinking soy milk and eating buns, mantou and fried dumplings.
Halfway through her meal, Wushu ran to the kitchen, took out the usual plate of pickles and put it on the table. She said to the two men, ‘Sweet ginger pickles, very tasty.’ She put a few slices of pickle in the steamed bun and bit down together, eating it with relish. Songxi and Xiaoshi also imitated her, but they couldn’t get their appetite up.
‘Where’s Wenqi?’ Wushu asked with her head down.
’…He said he had a performance.’
Wushu put down her chopsticks softly and said, ‘Tell the truth.’
Songxi and Xiaoshi looked at each other before slowly saying, ‘He got into a fight in a bar last night and broke the nose of the owner who tried to stop them. The police station said they would hold him for 24 hours, but he ended up beating up the police officers inside and was placed under criminal detention…’
The incident happened after Wen Qi had sent Wu Shu home. He found the recorder and ring in her jacket pocket and then realised what had happened. Wen Qi is actually very hot-tempered, but he has never dared to lose his temper with Wu Shu. On the one hand, he is already two years younger than her, and on the other, he is well aware of the suffering Wu Shu has endured over the years. However, he still cannot understand why she could easily give up the foundation they have worked so hard to build over the years, including their relationship, for a man.
Song Xi saw that Wushu’s face was unsettled, so he immediately said again, ‘Brother Qi didn’t want you to know about this, but he also knew that he couldn’t hide it. He said that you should just think of it as him taking a break in a different environment.’
Wushu wiped his face and asked Xiao Shi, ‘Do you have a cigarette?’
Xiao Shi took out a pack of saloons from his waist pocket. Wushu lit one and took a drag, but he choked. She shook her head and said, ‘Why did you smoke such an irritating one?’
‘Big sister,’ Xiao Shi looked up at Wushu, her eyes flashing with an inquisitiveness and doubt that belied her age. “Are you planning to leave us behind?”
Even Song Xi looked aggrieved, but she still chose to defend Ning Wushu: ’Big sister is not like that. Besides, if it weren’t for big sister helping us, we wouldn’t be here today.’
Wushu looked at her, wondering why she had dragged such an innocent child into this dangerous world with no protection.
To make a mistake is to be passive, but to make the same mistake again is to be active. Just as she was now. Even if she didn’t harbour hatred in her heart, the bone-chilling coldness forced her to find motivation and keep going like a machine. She knew the consequences of stopping. It would be all too easy to sink into the depths, for a woman who had suffered so much and had nothing.
In Japan, she had seen young people who had gone down the path of drug addiction for various reasons. They looked emaciated, their eyes dull, living like zombies. She suddenly realised that she was just like them. Except that her drug came from her heart.
The teacher said that the one who started the bell must untie it. But she never dared to ask herself whether that poison came from the betrayal of Shen Shijiu, the collapse of her beliefs, or… She was very lonely, so she wanted to find someone like her. So there was Wen Qi, Song Xi and Xiao Shi.

Song Xi, born into an ordinary working-class family in an ancient town in the south of the Yangtze River, was cheerful and well-behaved from a young age and studied hard. However, after entering junior high school, her teachers noticed that she was heavily biased towards certain subjects. Her interest in chemistry could be described as insatiable; the knowledge in her school textbooks was no longer enough for her, and she spent most of her pocket money on specialist chemistry books. Her research went deeper than that of some chemistry teachers. By the time she reached the first year of high school, Song Xi was already able to independently mix some chemical agents.
Because her usual performance was no different from that of an ordinary girl, no one knew that there was such a chemistry genius around them.
In the second half of the second year of high school, after her parents divorced, Song Xi followed her father, who was working, to Nanting.
One time, the father and daughter were at home watching a film about drug rehabilitation. Song Xi casually said, ‘Naltrexone has many restrictions and serious side effects. It’s not as good as the second generation.’
Her father scolded her, ‘What does a little girl like you know?’
Song Xi said smugly, ‘What’s that? If you give me the ingredients, I can make a new type of amphetamine (a derivative of methamphetamine) with a very high purity.’
Later, her father became addicted to gambling, not only losing all the hard-earned money he had made, but also gradually falling into debt with loan sharks of nearly 50,000 yuan. He was almost beaten half-dead by the debt collectors from the underworld. Desperate, he suddenly remembered what Song Xi had said about mixing drugs, and forced her to think of a way.
Like Song Xi, Song’s father, who was cornered by the loan sharks, had no other choice but to mix a small amount of ketamine, which is commonly known as ‘K powder’ in entertainment venues. Then, he wrapped himself up tightly and went to the nightclub to sell it secretly. However, because it was the first time he had done this, he kept wandering around the crowd, unable to find a buyer.
It so happened that Xiao was playing at the nightclub at the time and, seeing her sneaky appearance, leaned over and felt something wrapped in paper on her.
Xiao walked to an unoccupied area and opened it up. Sure enough, as she had expected, it was ketamine. She went back and pestered Songxi, dragging her into the bathroom. Songxi saw that her secret had been revealed and, leaning against the wall, shivered for a long time before asking what Xiao wanted.
Xiao punched the wall next to her neck, nearly scaring her shitless.
“You’ve got the guts to sell drugs? If it weren’t for the fact that you’re about my age and a girl, I’d have beaten you up already!’
In fact, in Xiaoshi’s words, she was not a good person herself. She had learned to steal at the age of ten, dared to break into the safe of a wealthy family at the age of fifteen, and used a piece of wire and a Swiss army knife to open the trunks of various luxury cars at the age of eighteen. However, she had a principle: she would steal from the rich but not the poor, and she would steal from the dirty but not the clean. In ancient times, she was quite the meaning of a chivalrous thief, so she looked down on those who sold drugs and sex without any skills or humanity.
As for this nightclub, it was originally under the jurisdiction of the Nan Jing Club. At that time, Ning Tiancheng was on his last legs, and Ning Wushu had to familiarise herself with all the venues in order to take over the reins. Having switched from being a university student to the young lady of the Nan Jing Club, she was dressed head to toe in black leather, big sunglasses and a ponytail, looking incredibly heroic. That day, she happened to have a sudden urge to urinate, and after rushing into the bathroom, she saw Xiao Shi and Song Xi.
Xiao Shi was holding Song Xi by the collar, threatening to pour the powder into her mouth. Song Xi looked like a victim of a crime, so Ning Wushu couldn’t help but meddle. The person whose arm was being twisted screamed in pain, and she was suffocating herself, so she had to stop hurriedly and went into the cubicle to solve the big problem.
Xiao Shi kicked the door a few times, and then turned back and vented her anger on the poor Song Xi. Songxi sat on the ground with his head in his hands, crying like a three-year-old, letting out all his grievances. It made Ning Wushu, who was squatting inside, want to cry too.
She was a strong-willed person who had always felt that crying in front of others was the weakest possible display. But at that moment, she was actually moved by Songxi’s crying, and realised that she was actually a sentimental person too.
After she came out of the cubicle, she asked the two people next to her while washing her hands, ‘What on earth is going on?’
They had both seen the cufflinks on the exposed shirt sleeve, which had the logo of the Nanqing Club. For Song Xi, who had been victimised by loan sharks, they were undoubtedly the light at the end of the tunnel, a saviour from heaven! So she very honestly told them what had happened. Xiao was a cold observer. She thought that Song Xi was really naive. Could it be that she thought a stranger would pay off her father’s debt?
Of course, Ning Wushu would never give the money to a gambler’s bottomless pit. She just had the loan sharks who had lured the gambler into debt to close down, then arrested Song Xi’s irresponsible father, beat him up, and threatened to cut off his body parts if he ever gambled again. It wasn’t long before he was sent to prison for his bad behaviour and sentenced to five years. Of course, that was later. In any case, it was from that time on that Song Xi regarded Ning Wushu as the person she admired most.
Later, when Songxi went to Nan Jing to look for her, she didn’t know her name, so she had to describe her appearance to someone, who impatiently told her that the person was no longer there. Songxi, who was single-minded, thought that if the person was no longer there, then the person was gone (she felt that the lives of people in the underworld were very unstable), so she cried her heart out, and then went to buy incense and paper money to burn for this unknown, handsome sister.
It wasn’t until three years later that Songxi ran into her near the Oriental Water Wheel Ferris Wheel. She was sitting on a chair by the lake, leaning her head on her hand and asleep. Songxi, who was jogging past, thought it was strange and turned back. She stood still for a long time, wondering why the face and profile looked so familiar. The first thing Wushu said when she opened her eyes was: ‘How long are you going to keep looking at me?’
That tone of voice Songxi will never forget.

Compared to Song Xi’s obedience, Xiao is untamable. She has her own underground band, an irregular circle of friends, and lives a completely ‘idealist’ life, never minding the opinions of others.
In the past, she and the lead singer of her band had always been on the outs, often hanging out together at all hours. She was good to the guy, and even bought him an instrument worth over 10,000 yuan. Slowly, the guy started asking her for money whenever he had a problem. As the saying goes, first loves are the silliest. As a result, in less than half a year, the two of them had spent all of her savings.
The guy never knew what Xiaoshi had done before, and Xiaoshi didn’t say, and he didn’t bother to ask. For a while, Xiao Shi was so poor that she ate instant noodles every day. When people saw that there was no more profit to be made, they went out and found a rich girl, and they even walked around showing off in front of their friends. When a group of people were playing in a private room, Xiao Shi also went over there, pretending to be unconcerned. She just took a credit card from the girl’s bag on the way, and then slipped it into the man’s trouser pocket without making a sound. As a result, he was dumped without getting any benefits.
The man suspected that Xiaoshi was behind it all, and followed her into the powder room while she was inside. He was taller than her and pounded her to the floor, beating her so hard that her eye became bloodshot and she still has some vision problems today. That was the day she stabbed the man with the folding knife she had brought with her.
Even if it was self-defence, Xiaoshi still ran out the back door. She would not take this dog man to the hospital, nor would she go to the police. If she went to the police station, the unscrupulous things she had done in the past might be implicated. She did not run far. Shrinking, she sat in the corner of the wall behind the bar, trembling her fingers as she lit a cigarette and put it in her mouth, then smoked it fiercely, mouthful after mouthful.
She laughed at herself, calling herself the biggest idiot in the world, a defective product of society, a moldy fungus that could not be seen in the light!
She had always been used to embellishing her empty existence with trendy and alternative attire. Her money was not given to her by her business-savvy father, as she claimed, but stolen from a pair of hands scalded by boiling water. No one knew that she actually came from the countryside – a poor backwater that she had almost forgotten about. It had her parents, her sister and her brother. She had not returned for many years because no one wanted to recognise her. Even if she had piled wads of money in front of them, they would have just told her to get lost.
Just like some people like stinky tofu and durian, Xiaoshi has liked stealing since she was little. It should be said that she likes any process that is exciting and the satisfaction of success.
After being kicked out of the house by her father, she was like a runaway horse, running further and further away, and the further she went, the more she couldn’t find her way back. Although she suffered a lot in the meantime, she was happy to be like this. Later, she mastered three skills: climbing, picking locks, and listening to sounds to determine locations. She once had a run-in with a thief, and she won because she could climb walls.
Xiao liked to play the bass because she liked the cathartic way it made her feel. Once she got the hang of it, she made a bunch of like-minded friends, which gave her a subtle sense of belonging. In this circle, there were all kinds of people: depraved, decadent, arrogant, and lofty. But the one who got on the best was definitely the one who could mingle with others and also be on his own.
This person is none other than Wen Qi.
At that time, she and he were just acquaintances, and she knew that this person was very cool, very arrogant, and very popular with everyone, especially the girls. Unexpectedly, the first person she saw after stabbing someone was him. He looked lazy, leaning against the Land Rover, occasionally lifting his hand to check the time. Xiao Si guessed that he was waiting for his girlfriend, because he would occasionally daydream, and when he did, he would laugh, and he laughed especially like the former Japanese star Akanishi Jin.
Xiao Si had a sudden thought when she finished smoking a cigarette: it should be quite happy to be his girlfriend. If there is a man who can think of her when she is not looking, it is worth telling her to go to hell.
She was about to light her second cigarette when she heard him ask from afar, ‘Hey, do you have any more cigarettes?’
Xiao Si froze for a moment, shook the cigarette case, and said, ‘This is the last one.’
She threw the cigarette in her hand at him, and he caught it firmly, despite the distance of several metres. Wen Qi’s way of smoking gave a strange impression: he held the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger, but it wasn’t unattractive. He took only a few puffs, then pressed it against a pillar and said, ‘Nice folding knife.’
She stood up abruptly when she heard this, because her swollen eye could not open, so she could only keep a watchful eye on him with her other eye.
He took out his mobile phone, slid open the cover and displayed a video in her direction.
It was a little far away, and the picture wasn’t very clear, but the voice inside was very familiar. At that time, she was being beaten up by the dog man on the ground, and then… She asked, ‘What do you mean?’
Wen Qi said, ‘When I showed it to that guy, he ran even faster than you, not at all like someone who had been stabbed with a knife.’
Xiao really wanted to curse someone with the dirtiest swear words, but this guy had underestimated him. He saw her getting beaten up and still had the leisure to take pictures.
Wen Qi laughed at her reaction, ‘People always have to pay a price for their stupidity to learn a lesson, that’s what she said.’
‘Who is she?’
A woman walked out of the darkness. She had a ponytail and was wearing a light grey trench coat over her shirt even though it was a hot day.
Xiao Si and Song Xi had one thing in common, and that was that they could remember many things after just one glance. Although at that time Ning Wushu was wearing purple sunglasses by Versace and her facial features were a bit hard to distinguish, she gave off a really special vibe and was hard to be mistaken for an ordinary person.
Ning Wushu said, ‘I’m here for you.’

Very often, what is called fate can also be a deliberate act. Just as she would meet Shen Shijiu because of calculation, Huo Siqing would become friends with her out of curiosity about someone so different from herself, and Beitang Hao would stand on the same side as her because they shared the same goal… Therefore, fate is just a beginning, and it is only a beginning. Everyone’s goal is simply the result that each of them has anticipated in their hearts.
Ning Wushu never wanted fame or fortune, but rather a peaceful life with someone to rely on. So when Shen Shijiu asked her to choose between continuing to entangle with him or reaching out to Beitang Hao for salvation, she chose the latter. However, the result was not what she had wished for.
Thinking about this, her gaze had become determined again, and she said to the two of them, ‘If you still want to stick to your original decision now, then forget about last night.’
Song Xi took the hands of Wushu and Xiaoshi and said, ‘I only have one wish, which is that we can be together forever. No matter how difficult the road ahead is, as long as we work together, we will definitely be able to get through it. When that day comes, let’s not be sad like this, okay?’

Morning light shone through the windows, casting a dappled, pale gold light inside the house. The three women seemed to have become one of the eternal sights.
However, it was just a matter of time before Xiaoshi and Songxi started arguing over the trivial issue of ‘who ate all the pan-fried dumplings’. It seemed that as long as they were around, it would be difficult to find peace in the world.

 

Chapter 18

A few days later, someone used their connections to get Wen Qi released from custody early on bail. When Ning Wushu got the news, Wen Qi was already at Nanting International Airport. Without thinking too much, she hurried over there. As she saw Wen Qi in the departure lounge, she also saw the woman next to him.
‘This is my mother,’ Wen Qi said as he introduced her. Wushu secretly clenched her fists with worry, not because she was afraid of the other party’s reprimand, but because she didn’t expect the woman who looked so young and beautiful to be Wen Qi’s mother. She hid her surprise and said politely with a smile:
‘Hello, auntie. I’m Ning Wushu, Wen Qi’s friend.’
Wen’s mother’s eyes looked warm and kind at first glance, but when she spoke, she revealed a sense of solemnity that made people feel that they could not handle it carelessly.
“Miss Ning, my son Wen Qi must have caused you a lot of trouble.’
‘No, no, the truth is…‘ Wushu is at a loss for words as to how to explain Wen Qi’s impulsive behaviour when Wen Qi turns his head and gives a rather impatient expression, “I said, Ms Jing, you’ve seen the person, so you should be satisfied.”
Wen Qi’s mother coughs, “I’ll just say a few words.”
’Save it!’ Wen Qi wraps one arm around his mother’s shoulders and turns to the side, ’You’ll be lecturing her like she’s your subordinate in no more than five sentences.’
‘Rotten kid! Don’t slander your mother in front of other people!‘
Wushu interjected with a dry laugh, “Auntie, just say what’s on your mind, it’s fine.”
’We’re both young people, and Miss Ning is much more sensible than you.’ Wen’s mother slapped Wen Qi’s hand away, turned back to Wushu and smiled, her eyes full of curiosity.
‘Miss Ning, you may not know that Wen Qi has been spoiled by me since he was young, and he has developed a bad temper. He can’t stick with things for long and is a lot of trouble. I never thought that a few years in Japan would have cultivated his patience. Of course, I don’t believe that the environment can change this brat, so I’ve been wondering if he has met someone he likes?”
Wen Qi typed an error next to her: ’Do you still want to go? !’
Wen’s mother turned a deaf ear to her: ‘Miss Ning, you’ve known Wen Qi for three years, you must know.’
It seems that she came prepared. If she said she didn’t know, Wen’s mother would definitely think the girl was dishonest. Wen Qi had indeed pursued her, and had not given up yet, but she had always rejected his feelings without saying a word. After all, she felt that the two of them still had a long time to get along.
Wushu looked at Wen Qi and saw that he was walking around uneasily, so she admitted somewhat helplessly: ‘It’s me.’
Wen’s mother was not surprised by her generous admission and smiled faintly. Wen Qi, on the other hand, reacted strongly when he heard it. He grabbed Wushu’s shoulders and said, ‘Will you stop provoking me?’
Wushu could not think of what to say and could only spit out three words: ‘I’m sorry.’
Wen Qi’s hopes, which had just been kindled, suddenly dimmed: ‘Forget it, I’m not forcing you.’
Wen’s mother stepped forward, patted Wen Qi on the back, and said earnestly, ‘Silly boy, work hard.’
Wen Qi took a box out of his pocket and put it in Wushu’s hands, saying, ‘Hold on to it. It’s your birthday in a few days, so I’m giving you your present early. Remember to open it on that day.’
Wushu was taken aback. ‘You’re going back to Beijing too?’
Wen Qi’s father had been diagnosed with leukemia during a recent medical examination, which was why his mother wanted him to go back. She expressed her sadness, but Wen Qi’s optimistic attitude made her feel that what she lacked was precisely this kind of equanimity in the face of joys and sorrows.
As she watched them walk into the security check-in area, Wushu was struck by the silver hair that was so conspicuous. Wenqi didn’t turn around at the checkpoint, but just waved his arm stylishly.

Xiao didn’t show up for three days in a row, presumably because of Wenqi’s sudden departure. Wushu heard Songxi say that she had been partying hard at nightclubs lately and often didn’t come home until midnight, so she was worried. But although she is the leader of the group, she rarely interferes in their private lives. And with Xiaoshi’s rebellious nature, if she tries to control him, the sun will probably come up in the west.
But now there is something else that worries her even more.
On Friday’s financial newspaper there was a piece of gossip: Xiao Hena, the former assistant to the president of the Skyscraper Bank, was in a car accident last night, but fortunately she was able to avoid it in time and her injuries were not serious.
Xu Shu hailed a taxi on the street. Sitting in the car, she watched the tall buildings lining the street quickly recede into the distance. She felt a sense of impending doom, and it pressed heavily against her back.
After 3:00 p.m., it was visiting hours at Liren Hospital, and some disguised reporters had been squatting outside the gate for a long time.
Xiao Hena, a member of the Beitang family, had been Beitang Hao’s special assistant. At the beginning of the financial crisis three years ago, she married Wu Xiangyang, a close associate of Shen Shijiu, in a flash marriage, but the marriage only lasted two years before they parted on bad terms. Although the car accident was classified as an accidental traffic accident, there were many suspicious points, and some astute reporters of course hoped to uncover some explosive inside information.
The high-class ward on the fifth floor of Building C was full of VIP suites. To prevent reporters from causing trouble, ordinary people were not allowed to linger in the corridors, so the whole floor was unusually quiet.
Xiao Hena leaned back on the hospital bed, bored, and flipped through a magazine. When she saw Wushu come in, she asked, not without surprise, ‘Aren’t you afraid of being seen if you just come over like this?’
‘It doesn’t matter anymore.’
Wushu pulled a stool over and sat down, asking, ‘What happened in this car accident?’
‘Maybe Wu Xiangyang wanted to warn me not to meddle,‘ Xiao Hena smiled sarcastically.
’I’m sorry,‘ Wushu sighed.
’Hey, no need to apologise. I was the one who decided to cooperate in the first place, so even if there are problems, it has nothing to do with you. But as you can see, Shen Shijiu has been holding back on me for a long time. Since I can’t provide you with any useful help, our cooperative relationship can be over.’
‘No, the greatest help you can give me is to choose to stand by my side.‘
’Because we have similar experiences, we sympathise with each other?‘ Xiao Hena smiles.
’It should be that we share the same hatred,‘ Wushu corrects her.
’In fact, there is no difference. No matter how tough a woman looks on the outside, she is still very vulnerable at heart.’ Xiao Hena slightly narrows her upturned eyes. On her slightly haggard face, there is still a charm that can be described as charming.
Wushu couldn’t help but think: a woman who can combine shrewdness and sensitivity should be able to charm the vast majority of men, but she happened to be the exception.
Nan Jing and Mo Tian’s long-term plan to develop the entertainment industry was only successful because she acted as the go-between. She originally just wanted to do Shen Shijiu a favour, but she never expected that favour to lead her to Wu Xiangyang. Love came suddenly, and it made an astute woman dizzy. Even though she discovered that he was using her feelings, she still helped them set up a game without hesitation—she deliberately let the reporters discover her contact with Wu Xiangyang, and suddenly sold all her shares of Morita. The goal was to lure the snake into the pot, so that the Shen shareholders thought that Shen Shijiu had already won the bet on the acquisition of shares. Otherwise, they might not dare to bet all their chips on him alone.
As the saying goes, when the bird is gone, the bow is put away; when the hare is dead, the dog is cooked.
After getting married, Wu Xiangyang never laid a finger on her again. After two years of suffering, he finally threw her a divorce agreement and threatened that whether she signed it or not was up to him.
Men, if they set their mind on it, can do anything, so don’t blame women for harbouring resentment.
Xiao Hena pointed at an apple and said, ‘Peel me one, Wushu.’
Wushu picked an apple that was neither too big nor too small, took the knife and slowly started to peel it along the stem. She seemed to be concentrating on her movements, the peel under her fingers was almost the same thickness, long and unbroken.
Xiao Hena sighed, ‘I always thought peeling an apple was a very troublesome thing.’
‘You’re used to being a strong woman, fighting against every second, so naturally you don’t spend time on these trivial matters.‘
’Yes, I’ve always been like this since I was a child. I strive for perfection in everything and have rarely suffered setbacks.’ She winked, ’To be honest, before I met Wu Xiangyang, I had feelings for Shen Shijiu. Unfortunately, he was already taken, and I didn’t like to interfere.’
Wushu was holding an apple in her hands when the peel, which had been cut into a long string, suddenly broke into two at the last moment. She handed the apple to Xiao, then slowly wiped the knife with a paper towel and suddenly asked curiously, ‘Why did you fall for him?’
‘Of course it’s a woman’s desire to conquer,’ Xiao and Na said, taking an elegant bite of the apple and chewing slowly. They said, ‘The more confident a person is, the higher the goal they want to conquer. Even if they know it’s an unattainable height, they will try stupidly. Because she will think, miracles may happen to me.‘
’You are just bewitched by his appearance,‘ Wushu shook his head.
’You?‘ Xiao Haina narrowed her eyes and said, “You mean Huo Siqing? Haha, when it comes to this woman, her patience is so good that it makes me feel terrified. She is a typical Scorpio.”
’After all that has happened, she still insists on her original choice and believes that Shen Shijiu is right, which shows that she really has a lot of…courage.’
‘So what kind of person is Shen Shijiu in your eyes?’ Xiao Hena asked curiously.
Wushu pondered for a moment before saying, ’In the past, although we lived under the same roof, we didn’t really spend a lot of time together. He skipped grades and finished high school, and his father wanted him to spend more time helping with club affairs, so he didn’t go to college. However, he has high expectations of himself and never misses a thing he should learn, so he is always very busy.
The only time we can communicate normally is in the morning, because the family rule is that we must eat breakfast together. I only learned that he was already the head of the Nanqing East District Branch when I heard someone say how amazing he was and that he had managed to put the East District in order at a young age. There is always a reason for someone to climb so quickly, and it is nothing more than a ruthless character. Occasionally, I would see him in action myself, and he would show no mercy to anyone who got in his way, no matter how old, weak, sick or disabled they were. That was when our differences began, and they grew more and more intense. It wasn’t until my father died that things changed.
It can be said that Shen Shijiu is not much kinder than those murderous villains at heart, except that he doesn’t like to get blood on his hands. He often silently pushes people to the brink, and then watches them destroy themselves.’
‘Killing without leaving a trace… that is indeed the style of someone like him.‘ Xiao Hena shrugged: “I heard that in the past, there were several powerful bosses in Nanting, but in the end, they were all sent to prison by Shen Shijiu?”
’That’s just a rumour. If he really wanted to take revenge, no one outside would know, and at least he wouldn’t let anyone catch him in the act. And to be honest, the ones who usually come forward are not really the bosses, it’s the ones behind the scenes.’
‘It seems that there are quite a few people who want to deal with Shen Shijiu.”
Wushu sneered, “That’s natural. With what he’s done, it’s impossible not to make enemies.”
Xiao He’na looked at her thoughtfully: ’Some people, if they can’t hit him head-on, will look for his weak points. Wushu, you have to be careful not to become someone else’s pawn, otherwise even if you can bring down Shen Shijiu, you may not be able to get away with it.’
Wushu could not agree: ‘Don’t forget, I am on the opposite side to him.’
‘But others will not think the same way,’ Xiao Hena said after a moment’s thought. ‘There is one thing you probably don’t know. Shen Shijiu once made a condition of 40% of the dividends, hoping that the old master would intervene in my cousin’s relationship with you. On the surface, it seems to be directed at you, but it might just be an excuse.’
Wushu’s eyes flickered slightly, and a trace of bitterness quietly passed through.
Xiao Hena suddenly laughed, ‘If I go on, you’ll probably think I’m helping Shen Shijiu. In fact, I hope he’ll have bad luck.’
‘Thank you for telling me all this.‘ Perhaps it was because they truly felt the same, but Xiao Hena’s heartfelt words made her no longer hide her inner pain: “There are things that I am not indifferent to, but what if I knew? He really pushed me to the brink. If we had never had that kind of relationship, or if… if this person was not the first and only person I ever fell for, I probably wouldn’t be in so much pain.”
’Wushu,’ Xiao Hena said, a little surprised, ’you’re not still in love with him, are you?’

The corridors of the high-class ward area were all carpeted with thick carpet, and the door locks in each room were designed by the Austrian brand Blum, which used silent locks and buffer strips for the door stiles. Although this was done to not disturb the patients’ rest, it also created opportunities for accidents. When Wushu saw that Xiaohua was staring straight at the door, she also turned her head and then got up from the chair.
Outside the door, Luo was surprised and called Wushu’s name.
Unable to avoid him, she just managed to say, ‘I heard on the news that Miss Xiao had an accident, so I came to see how she was doing.’
The man she had deliberately ignored was looking at her with a complex and deep gaze. Wushu finally settled her gaze on him. She had seen him on the particle screen wearing this black uniform, but only now did she see clearly that the silver cufflinks bore the unchanged N-shaped logo of the Nanqing Club from decades ago. This shows his position, so it’s no wonder that outsiders would speculate that he wants to make Moretti the most luxurious subsidiary of the Nanqing Club. It’s no surprise, the world is no longer what it used to be. There are so many rich people, and if you want to be able to call the shots in high society, nothing is more important than having the power to control things yourself, apart from your own strength.
Two more people walked down the corridor, they were Gu Yuanyi and Xi Tianyu, the ones responsible for distracting the reporters’ attention from Shen Shijiu. They froze as soon as they reached the door.
Gu Yuanqi leaned against the door frame, poking her head inside to take a look, then at Shen Shijiu, ‘Why is she here?’
‘Wow, what a day! I don’t know what kind of wind is blowing outside, but it’s blown Boss Shen here.’ Xiao Hena laughed exaggeratedly, clearly enjoying the show.
Xi Tianyu shouted at Wushu, ‘My idol!’ Then he pulled out his phone like he was drawing a gun, walked in, and snapped photos of her face frontally and laterally.
Ever since he learned that Ning Wushu had severely screwed the boss over the other day, his admiration for her has been like a surging river, rolling and surging, all the way to the stock market. There was no way around it. The women he knew were either cute and adorable girls or muscular tomboys like Xu Laohu. A type like Ning Wushu was as rare as an alien. And in his eyes, any woman who dared to repeatedly make a fool out of the boss was worthy of admiration.
Wushu didn’t know what was going on in his mind, but she was annoyed that he was even more of a nuisance than Wen Qi. She avoided him while frowning unhappily, ‘Stop filming.’
Xi Tianyu is as agile as a monkey, and no matter which way she turns her face, he can quickly find the right position. ‘To be honest, you should be thanking me. If I hadn’t seen you running towards Ju’an Road that day, and then notified the boss, you would have become Bei Tang Hao’s little fat lamb in the morning.’
Upon hearing this, Wushu’s entire face turned a little pale.
‘Xi Tianyu,’ at this time, the hypotensive devil king finally spoke in a deep voice at the door.
‘Pop!’ Xi Tianyu raised his hand and lightly slapped his own mouth: “I have a loose tongue, I deserve it.” Well, there is no one here who understands the essence of his Xi-style humour.
Wushu just wanted to speak, but Xiao Hena on the bed reached out and pulled her back into her seat, giving her a look to indicate that she should calm down.
‘With all these important people in the room, I’m embarrassed to lie down while you’re standing,‘ she said, feigning to get up.
Shen Shijiu nodded to the group, and they left, Xi Tianyu walking last. He just turned his head back, and Xiao Hena called out to him, “Xi! Stop right there!”
’Oh!‘
’Come here and help me to the toilet.‘
’What’s wrong with you? Can’t you just call a nurse?’
Xiao Hena turned to Shen Shijiu and said, ‘You guys are really good at kicking someone when they’re down. What, are you here to show me up today?’
Without waiting for the boss to speak, Xi Tianyu raised his hands in surrender: ‘I’m convinced!’
Xiao Hena gently patted Wushu’s shoulder and whispered in her ear, ‘What’s more exciting than playing with a man’s emotions?’
Xi Tianyu couldn’t help but exclaim when he saw her get out of bed on her own: ‘Auntie Xiao, aren’t you feeling great?’
‘Go! Just hope I’m completely paralyzed!’ She squeezed Xi Tianyu’s arm tightly and said angrily, ‘Xizi, tell Wu Xiangyang for me later that I, Xiao Hena, curse him to be impotent for the rest of his life!’
‘Damn it!’ Xi Tianyu exclaimed, ‘I thought he already was.’
‘Hahaha!’ Xiao Hena laughed heartily, “I love hearing that.”

 

Chapter 19

Shen Shijiu closed the door, took off his uniform jacket, and hung it on the hanger.
The orange sunset outside the French windows entered the room, casting a deep shadow of peace behind his tall and handsome figure. Unexpectedly, he walked up to her and circled her stiff body from behind: ’Was what you said just now true?’
Wushu gritted her teeth and raised her hand to pull his arm away, but he wrapped his fingers possessively in his palm and placed them together on her chest, at the location of her heart.
It was only later that they understood: an encounter binds two lonely souls together until they are unable to escape from each other. And to fall in love is to know that there is no future for the two of them, yet still long for each other.
When he noticed that the ring on her hand had disappeared, Shen Shijiu let out a sigh of relief, then tightened his arms around her. His low voice caressed her taut nerves with a gentle force: ‘Come back, come back to me.’
‘Come back?’ She suddenly smiled strangely, ‘Where do you plan to put Si Qing?’
‘Listen to me…‘ He kissed her hair gently in a soothing manner. “My marriage to her was just a show for others. I did it because I didn’t want anyone to hurt you. There are too many things involved, and I will tell you about it slowly in the future.”
This answer was like a bomb that exploded in her head with a loud bang, so she didn’t hear the rest of what he said.
’You used her as a pretext so that no one would find your weakness?’ She suddenly remembered what Xiao He’na had said.
He couldn’t deny this: ‘You could say that.’
She blinked her dry eyes: ‘If you can do this to someone who loves you, what are you going to do to me? Keep playing with my feelings and repeat what you’ve done before? Or will you find a new way to use me?’
‘What are you thinking?’ Seeing that she had misunderstood what he meant, Shen Shijiu frowned: ‘I’m not obliged to treat her kindly. To you, I’ve already said that no matter what happens, only feelings are real.’
‘Feelings?’ she muttered, “Why does everyone like to say that?”
Whether it was Shen Shijiu or Beidang Hao, their feelings seemed to be real, but they just couldn’t compete with reason.
The indifference on her face finally made him let go of her arm, and her pupils began to cloud over. “In fact, even if you know my true intentions, you will still stubbornly think that I want to harm you. Why do you always choose the latter between trust and doubt?”
Wushu finally had enough of his self-righteousness!
‘First, I’m not a mind reader, and I can’t read your twisted mind. Second, I’m not crazy, and I won’t think that if someone hurts me, it’s actually for my own good. If I slap you and tell you that I’m doing it to make you feel that I care about you, what would you do? Bow down and thank me?’
There was another silence between the two of them, this time even more oppressive.
Shen Shijiu sat down dejectedly opposite her, the black shirt from the VALENTINO haute couture brand unbuttoned at the collar, revealing the silver pendant hanging around his neck. He put his hand in his trouser pocket, took out his cigarette case, and when he realised it was empty, he crushed it up and threw it to the side. He looked up and caught her gaze staring at him, which eased his original irritability.
She turned her head away and said coldly, ‘Your heart, lungs and liver are already black enough, and if you keep smoking, there’s no hope for you.’ Although he didn’t smell strongly of smoke, it didn’t mean that he smoked less. On the contrary, the amount of tar he ingested was enough to cause his liver and lungs to fail after the age of fifty.
‘You…are you concerned about me?’ He looked as if he had discovered something extraordinary, his eyes shining like black diamonds.
Wushu was taken aback, immediately realising that she shouldn’t engage in a verbal battle with him. She asked, ’The other day, did you deliberately tell Wu Xiangyang to keep an eye on Xiao Hena? Because you knew that if she couldn’t go to Morpheus, I would do it myself to steal the file?’
His silence was the same as a yes. In fact, she didn’t understand. If he could, he would rather she didn’t appear at the skyscraper. The struggles of fame and fortune were always cruel, and that was why he preferred to let her go. And the risk of a temporary connection between him and her would have to be compensated for at a greater cost.
‘Do you know why I asked Wu Xiangyang to cause the car accident?’ he suddenly asked.
She looked at him suspiciously, suddenly realising that the car accident was not simply to warn Xiao Hena.
‘The tender document you took from me was not the original, but a temporary one I asked Luo Ze to make.‘
Seeing that she was listening attentively, he leaned over, crossed his fingers and rested his chin on them, then mysteriously stopped talking. “If you want to know more, come sit next to me.”
’Shen Shijiu, you!‘
’What about me?‘ he asked knowingly.
’You’re so boring!’ she exclaimed angrily.
‘Yes,‘ Shen Shijiu nodded, looking at her amusedly, “so are you going to sit down or not?”
’No, I prefer to stand.’ Not only did she like to stand, she also liked to hold her back straight like a javelin, which gave her a somewhat domineering and awe-inspiring air. Shen Shijiu let out an “oh,” and then stopped talking, looking down at his fingers as they wound around in circles.
On the subject of patience: usually, when two people are in a room and neither of them says a word, a little bug will be desperately scratching at her heart, and then she will explode in silence.
A minute later, Shen Shijiu started idly taking out his phone, browsing the news, occasionally letting out a soft exclamation, but with no intention of continuing the conversation. Two minutes later, Wushu moved stiffly to the edge of the bed, sitting down as if in a martial arts stance, putting all her strength into her legs.
It was only then that Shen Shijiu glanced at her sideways. The two armies were facing each other, and the general sitting on the command platform was her. How can someone be so awkward? In the end, it’s still oneself who suffers.
Wushu’s cool posture did not last long. After enduring it for half a day, her back ached and her legs were numb. She let out a breath and her bottom sank down. Shen Shijiu really wanted to pinch her face and tell her, ‘If you can hold out a little longer, I won’t be able to hold back anymore.’
She frowned with a pretence of being prim and proper to hide her frustration, which in turn seemed very real.
‘Wushu,’ he said, unable to resist any longer, and leaned in towards her.
She turned her face sharply, and her forehead happened to hit his nose, making a loud noise.
Damn it! You don’t get the chicken but you lose the rice instead.
The classic romantic scene in the movies would be a big embarrassment in reality, because the script often ignores the height of the man and woman. Practice has proved that the chance of the two people’s mouths accidentally touching together is almost zero. Shen Shijiu thought with annoyance.
Instead, Wushu’s forehead turned red, and she rubbed it with her hand, ‘Is your nose fake? It’s so hard.’
So he leaned in again, almost rakishly, and said, ‘Do you want to touch it then?’
His facial features were relatively deep among Easterners, with a high nose bridge and slightly lowered eyebrows, which made his dark eyes even more profound. But when his gaze became fierce, the whole face seemed a bit evil.
It was reasonable to say that appearance comes from the heart.
Wushu came back to her senses and punched him in the nose.
He was caught off guard and fell onto the bed. But the posture of his shirt half open and messy hair was really suggestive.
Ignoring his ‘temptation’, Wushu retracted his fist and said, ‘If you’re done joking, please get to the point.’
What a prickly caterpillar.
Every time he tried to make physical contact with her, she would find excuses to avoid it. The only time they got intimate, there was still a big problem at the last minute.
It’s better to stop short than go too far.
Shen Shijiu thought to himself, bent his arm and rested his neck on it, maintaining the fallen position, and continued the unfinished topic from before.
 

Chapter 20

“I told you, the Beitang family has long wanted to swallow up the Shen family. Beitang Hao’s collaboration with Nan Jing was not only because he saw the huge profits in the entertainment industry, but also because he hoped to use outside forces to create chaos in the Shen family’s decision-making group. Unfortunately, they miscalculated.’
In fact, even without his reminder, she knew that she needed to re-examine Bei Tang Hao, whom she had once trusted unconditionally. When she compared Bei Tang Hao to him in front of Shen Shijiu, she forgot one thing: precisely because Bei Tang Hao is a gentleman, he is not only himself, but also the grandson of Bei Tang Jiang and the future head of the Bei Tang family. For the sake of the family’s prospects, his sense of responsibility will override his emotions. In that case, it is not difficult to imagine why he is hiding things from her.
‘This time, Bei Tang Hao and Chen Yiming reached an agreement to help Tianxin win the development project of Century Park and provide credit facilities and profit sharing. According to the regulations of the skyscraper board of directors, the consortium president can be removed from office by the board of directors if he loses repeatedly during his term of office. Bei Tang Hao instructed Chen Yiming to steal the tender documents I had prepared, and Chen Yiming then approached you.‘
’Shen Shijiu, did you plant someone close to Chen Yiming?’ She asked out loud her doubts.
‘No.‘ In fact, as long as she was willing to speak, he would always answer any question.
’I paid a lot of money to bribe Chen Yiming’s senior assistant.”
Upon hearing this, she couldn’t help but sneer: ’It’s not that simple, is it? If you can bribe a senior assistant with money, then Chen Yiming is really insignificant.’
‘It is not simple.’ Shen Shijiu pulled up the corners of his lips: “Some time ago, this senior assistant lost three million in a high-stakes gamble in Macau, half of which was public money from Tianxin. If Chen Yiming finds out about this, he will lose at least one finger.”
Very good, Nan Jing has business at the Macau casino, and he only needs to give a little push to get this assistant into the trap easily.
‘He Qiao knew that I had a recording of his phone call with Chen Yiming, so he agreed to use a fake tender document to do business with Chen Yiming.‘
’He’s going to die anyway. What if he doesn’t agree?”
Shen Shijiu laughed: ’I have a hundred ways to make him agree.’
Wushu couldn’t help rolling his eyes. He had never seen anyone who could talk about despicable tactics in such a dignified and righteous way in front of others, as if not doing so would be a disservice to his status and high IQ.
He jumped up from the bed, put his hands in his pockets, and walked over to her, standing in front of her in silence. However, there was no joy in his gaze looking down at her, but rather a certain gravity: ‘I didn’t think Chen Yiming would realise that neither document was the original.’
This was something she had never expected.
‘So what does this have to do with Xiaohua?’
He slowly lowered his eyes, but it was hard to hide the murderous intent in them: ‘You will be prosecuted for illegally stealing trade secrets. I have to find someone to take the blame for this, and Xiaohua is the perfect candidate because she has every motive.’
Wushu was stunned for a long time, and suddenly punched the bed frame.

Luo knocked on the door outside, then came in with his mobile phone, saying, ‘It’s Chen Yiming.’
A loud, frivolous laugh came from the other end of the line: ‘I’m saying, Boss Shen, you really look down on me, Chen Yiming, thinking that you can save your old lover by finding someone to take the blame? Let me give you a reminder: Ning sent me the fake tender document you made, along with a nice Trojan horse. Do you know where I found the source code?’
Shen Shijiu’s sharp lips gradually curled into a sneer. After a moment, he looked at Wushu and said, ‘Chen Yiming went to your place and took your laptop.’
Wushu reached out her hand and took the phone from him directly.
‘Mr. Chen,’ she said in an unexpectedly calm tone, ‘please allow me to extend my regards to your family.’
Chen Yiming not only didn’t argue with her, but also said appreciatively, ‘What character! Even when scolding people, you are so refined! You really are the woman Boss Shen and Bei Tang Hao admire.‘
’Listen carefully. Shen Shijiu and I have had no relationship for three years. If you want to use me as a threat to achieve your goals, then I can only advise you not to waste your time and effort.”
Shen Shijiu and she locked eyes, the light in his eyes surging like a torrent. He really wanted to ask if those were her true thoughts at the moment. Wushu then turned her face away, no longer facing each other.
Chen Yiming said confidently, ‘Little Ning, you know too little about men. Don’t look at Boss Shen as being so capable, but for all these years, he has never had any other woman but you. Such a devoted man is rare in the world! I like to ponder strange things, so I’ll create an opportunity for you to see just how great he can be to you. What do you think?’
Unexpectedly, a cunning merchant like Chen Yiming also had the potential to be a matchmaker.
Wushu suppressed the anger that was surging up within him: ‘Mr Chen, I really don’t understand men. So where do you see that Shen Shijiu is monogamous towards me?’
“Men can’t go wrong when they look at other men. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this, but if a man’s ring finger is much longer than his index finger, it means that his virility and sexual ability are relatively strong. Look over there, is that the case with him?’
Shen Shijiu has large hands with long, slender fingers, the proportions of which are perfectly in line with popular aesthetics. But if you look closely, you’ll see that his ring finger is much longer than his index finger.
Wushu’s gaze moved from his fingers to his face, and when she saw him narrow his eyes in puzzlement, she couldn’t help but snort in her heart. No wonder he grabbed her breasts when they first met as children, and he was even more self-taught when it came to doing that sort of thing.
‘Am I right?‘ Chen Yiming seemed to have clairvoyance, and the timing was just right.
’What does that prove?‘
’Of course it proves something. His fiancée is a beautiful woman, with a great figure, a pretty face, and a good temperament. How can Shen Shijiu not be interested in her? As far as I know, he never spends the night at his fiancée’s place…”
How would he know about that?
Wu Shu was too lazy to waste time on him, ‘I’m not interested in hearing this!’
‘OK! Then I’ll tell you something you might be interested in.’ There was a click from the lighter on the other end of the line. Chen Yiming was naked, leaning back in the warm water, a thick cigar in his mouth, speaking slowly, ‘Little Ning, do you know how many years you can get for stealing secrets? With any luck, you should get five years. I didn’t want to touch you, but you were naughty and tried to pull a fast one on me.”
For security reasons, she only accepted Chen Yiming’s deposit and did not put it in writing. She just didn’t expect him to discover the Trojan horse created by K and even go to her place to take her computer, which gave him the opportunity to blame her for everything.
As she listened to Chen Yiming’s triumphant voice on the other end of the phone, Wushu stood by the window and saw a tall Chinese honey locust tree by the wall. Its bare branches almost touched the window frame, and some sparrows that were not afraid of the cold were jumping back and forth on the branches. She just slightly reached out her hand, and the sparrows flapped their wings and flew in all directions.
She remembered what her teacher had said: ‘Prudence means being affected by the enemy’s movements at any time.’
She tilted her head and asked, as if they were having a casual chat: ‘Mr Chen, I wonder if you’ve heard of Noah’s Ark and someone called Tianyi?’
This Noah’s Ark is not a biblical story, but a secret organisation established eighteen years ago by Chinese people living in the Middle East with the aim of assassinating anti-Chinese terrorist forces. Tianyi was the commander of Noah’s Ark. He trained many outstanding members for the organisation, and in one mission after another, he solved many problems that even the local government could not handle. He and his Noah’s Ark had a great influence on some Chinese businessmen in the Middle East, and as a result, they got to know some big shots in the political and business worlds. However, later, Tianyi was taken hostage by terrorists in his own home and left the area. He mysteriously disappeared soon after, and the Noah’s Ark he led was also disbanded within half a year, becoming a little-known piece of history.
Tianyi’s name was of course no stranger to Chen Yiming, a Chinese businessman from the Middle East. He asked back with a relaxed tone, ‘Do you know him?’
‘Ah, not only do I know him, we are also very close friends.‘
’You were only a few years old when he died,‘ the other person calmly stated the obvious.
’As a successful businessman, Mr Chen should have a rigorous logical mind. Missing for a certain period of time, according to legal procedures, he is only declared dead, which does not mean it is absolute. In fact, he has always lived in the countryside of Japan and has kept in touch with his political and business friends in the Middle East.’
‘Do you really expect me to believe that?‘
’You have my computer, so you can look in the documents. There are photos of Tianyi and I in Japan. I’m sure it won’t be hard for you to find photos of Tianyi when he was young and compare them.’
Chen Yiming’s expression was unknown, but she did not miss the inquisitive gaze that Shen Shijiu shot her. It was no wonder, considering that this was the third time he had seen this strange side of her, counting the time he stole something from his office and what happened at Bei Tang Hao’s residence. Now he should know that these three parallel years have become an unbridgeable gap that cannot be obliterated in a few words.

Chapter 21

Wushu waited patiently. She guessed that Chen Yiming was opening her computer right now and then opening a set of photos in ‘My Documents’. There was a middle-aged man in a wheelchair and herself standing next to him, smiling sideways. That was the only successful smile she had after she went to Japan, because her teacher told her a story: Once upon a time there was a mountain, and on the mountain lived a fool. Every day the fool would shout down to the bottom of the mountain: Is there anyone here? The echo from the mountain always brought back his words: Is there anyone? So the fool believed that there was someone living at the foot of the mountain, so he didn’t feel lonely at all. Being a fool is actually much more difficult than being a smart person. Because the only person who can deceive himself is the most successful person.
‘Little girl, you really have me stumped this time. I’m not really sure if this person is Tian Yi. Even if he is, and he can affect my business in the Middle East, do you think I’d let that stop me?‘ After a while, Chen Yiming’s voice finally came back on the line, and his tone had changed a little.
’I think you’ll consider it,’ Wushu said.
There was a chuckle on the other end of the line, ‘But then again, I’m the kind of person who will say anything if I’m in a good mood. Tianyi is someone I admire, and since you mentioned him, I’ll do you a favour…’ The voice suddenly stopped, and after a moment, Chen Yiming cursed FUCK on the phone and said in a near-growl, ‘You actually installed a formatting virus on your own computer!
The photo that he had just been tricked into opening was actually a disguised virus program, and Chen Yiming naturally went into a rage after destroying the important data inside.
‘Mr. Chen,’ she replied cheerfully. ‘There’s a saying that I’m the boss in my own territory.’
‘You win!’
Chen Yiming hung up the phone, and the matter came to a temporary end. However, Wushu knew that there would be more trouble waiting for herself in the future, and next time, she might not be as lucky as this time.
Shen Shijiu asked her from behind, ‘What was that Tianyi guy’s deal?’
Wushu turned around and smiled, ‘A little deception. You’re not going to take it seriously like he did, are you?’
He had just used the private network on his phone to look up information about Noah’s Ark and Tianyi and got a general idea of what was going on. He knew that Wushu wouldn’t do something without a reason, so there had to be something going on. He knew he wouldn’t get any results out of asking, so he stopped pursuing it.

Wushu was about to leave, and Shen Shijiu took his jacket off the hanger and put it on, saying, ‘This whole thing started because of me, and I’ll give you an explanation.’
She paused at the door, ‘Shen Shijiu, don’t make things difficult for Xiao and Na again, you’ve used her enough.’
He looked down and straightened the cuffs of his shirt, his gaze slanting, ‘These aren’t the kind of things you need to worry about.’
She frowned, and indeed she could not reason with him: ‘We are now enemies, not friends. You don’t need to do this at all.’
‘Then just consider me self-absorbed.’
He gazed deeply at her and opened the door for her.
The two walked past the floor’s reception area and, through the screen, faintly heard a few people playing cards inside.
Xi Tianyu must have lost badly, as he flung the cards onto the table and said, ‘Damn it! No more! Every time it’s me who gets the turtle.’
‘Xi Zi, do you know why the dinosaurs became extinct?‘ Gu Yuanqi asked.
’I didn’t see it, so how would I know.”
Xiao Hena said, “It’s like you’re stupid and dying.”
She was right. At twenty-two years old, Xi Tianyu was ranked first in the nine high schools in Nanting as the king of fistfights, and also ranked last as the king of low scores. He remembered that three years ago he was still in his second year of high school, and he had not yet graduated from his third year.
Shen Shijiu is an absolute perfectionist, so Wushu couldn’t help but see his depressed expression. He tapped his fingers on the glass door, and Luo Ze and the others walked out together.
‘We’ll go back first.’
Xiao Hena held up one hand in front of his chest, ‘Handsome Shen, is this going to be the end? It seems like you and I still have some business to discuss, right?’
Shen Shijiu’s gaze lowered, looking somewhat cold and sinister: ‘I’ll come find you again if I get the chance.’
Xiao Hena looked at Shen Shijiu and Wushu, and cleverly guessed what was going on. She then said with a sigh of regret, ‘I thought I could ask for a lot and rip you off, but I didn’t expect someone to get in my way. In that case—’ She leaned in close to Shen Shijiu and raised her chin, breathing on the tips of his dark, glossy hair: ‘So what are you going to do to compensate me? Hmm?’ The sound of a woman making such a noise is likely to make even the bones of an ordinary man crumble. Shen Shijiu gave her a deep look, and after a moment, he snapped his fingers to one side.
‘Tianyu, you stay here and keep Xiao company until she is discharged from the hospital.”
Xi Tianyu first said, “Oh,” and then suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!” He touched his nose and said, “Boss, I’m actually very busy…” Before Xi Tianyu could finish speaking, Xiao Hena pushed him aside, her eyebrows nearly jumping up. ’Since I have no hard work but also have my share of credit, let’s change to Yuanqi. I don’t want to communicate with a man whose brain nerve endings have died.’
The innocent Gu Yuanqi, who was implicated, looked up when he heard this, and the luster on his glasses flashed for a moment: ‘Boss, why don’t you call Lao Wu?’
Xiao Hena immediately grabbed Xi Tianyu’s arm, her face smiling very falsely: ‘In fact, Xi Zi is quite amusing, so I’d better explore his remaining value.’
Xi Tianyu was frantically trying to think of someone to punch while bitterly calling out to Shen Shijiu’s departing back: ‘Boss, I have not only hard work but also credit. You can’t do this to me! Idol, please say something for me too…’
This time, Wushu and Shen Shijiu became very taciturn and ignored each other. The two of them entered the empty elevator, one after the other.
She stood on his right side, watching the elevator doors close in front of them, the red numbers lit up by him, jumping down one by one. In a trance, she remembered the scene she saw on the road that day when he and Huo Siqing were together.
‘Here we are,’
he said beside her as the elevator doors slowly opened.
She came back to her senses a little sluggishly and found that he was close at hand. She even called out, ‘Sean.’
Shen Shijiu suddenly put his hand on the edge of the already wide-open elevator door, preventing it from closing. He looked at her, confused, and asked, ‘What did you just call me?’
She shook her head and walked out. The elevator stopped at the parking lot on the first basement floor. She looked at the direction and was about to walk to one side when Shen Shijiu called out to her, ‘Wait.’
He had switched to a more understated black BMW today. The driver pulled up next to them and got out of the car to open the two rear doors.
‘I’ll give you a lift home,’ he said, making a gesture inviting her to get in.
She stood still. ‘It’s better if we keep our distance.’
He slipped his hand into his trouser pocket, preparing to take out his mobile phone. ‘Maybe I should talk to Xiao Huna for a while longer.’
She was infuriated, and without waiting for him to say anything else, she got into the car on her own.
He raised the corner of his mouth slightly, took his hand out, and got into the car from the other side.
Unexpectedly, although the exterior of this car was mediocre, the interior was extraordinary. The highlight of the luxury car was especially the car theater and audio equipment worth millions of dollars. Coupled with the exquisite hand-made interior, it was enough to see Shen Shijiu’s discerning and demanding taste. Therefore, even the driver’s attire was meticulous from beginning to end.
Without thinking, she subconsciously looked at herself in the rearview mirror. From head to toe, she looked shabby, and she couldn’t help but laugh at herself: sitting next to Shen Shijiu, who was impeccably dressed, she felt like the lucky Cinderella who had married the handsome prince. A few years earlier, it had been the other way around: she had been the spoiled daughter who thought that nothing bad would ever happen to her, while he was just a lackey who would carry her up and down the stairs on rainy days.
The car started up quickly, but the person sitting inside remained as steady as a rock. This showed not only the driver’s consummate driving skills, but also the first-class performance of the car, worthy of the top-level life enjoyed by the wealthy. To be honest, Shen Shijiu really didn’t look like a nouveau riche, because no nouveau riche would consider such details. Just like her father, he would always hire a reckless driver, so as to show off his nouveau riche arrogance.
In the short few minutes she was sitting in the car, she had gone from one thing to another. Usually she wouldn’t do this, but as long as she was in a relatively confined space with Shen Shijiu, she would force herself to daydream about anything but what was on his mind, so that he wouldn’t notice her unusual behaviour, which would make her even more awkward.
The car’s in-car theatre was playing the news, all the current affairs, interspersed with reports on the progress of the development of the Century Park. In another month, the bidding meeting would be officially held, and the business world would surely be thrown into waves of turmoil. With Tianxin’s competition, no one could be sure who would come out on top, and other developers with less strength were looking on with baited breath, while secretly plotting their own strategies, joining forces in the hope of standing out and causing a major upset.
Shen Shijiu obviously had no mind for such things at the moment, and told the driver, ‘Turn it off.’
The news screen cut out abruptly, and the driver then asked, ‘Boss, do you want to turn on the music?’
Shen Shijiu lightly touched his forehead and nodded.
Just as Wushu had found a comfortable position to lean his head on the headrest and listen to the soft, sentimental voice of the female singer J-min, he suddenly began to feel unwell again.
J-min repeatedly sang, ‘I hope these shackles can last forever for you, and find the only love in them.’
The bond between the two of them has long since turned into a heavy yoke through repeated injuries. Just as now, even though he is sitting calmly aside, even though he has gone to great lengths for her, there is still an inescapable shadow in her subconscious. As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, for ten years you fear the well rope, so you can’t blame her for being so cautious and looking around every step of the way.
Just when will she be able to free herself from it? The road is so long, and she can’t see where it ends.
She looked to the side and, as expected, saw her own reflection in Shen Shijiu’s deep eyes. A mocking smile still hung at the corner of her mouth. She felt that she had to get something off her chest, so she said, ‘Shen Shijiu, no matter what you think or do, there is no way we can turn back.’
Before Bei Tang Hao proposed to her, she had thought about getting even and letting him experience the feeling of being played with. But then she realised that she couldn’t play that game at all, not because she was weak, but because she had come to understand many things. There are many things in this world that can be controlled, but emotions are unpredictable. Whether it’s doubt or trust, it can become the fuse. This is a dangerous game, with an unknown winner, and the best result is just mutual destruction.
Shen Shijiu would still be like this, not to mention her.
She even wondered if Siqing could really remain indifferent after being by his side for three years. Maybe he just didn’t want to admit it…
Just like herself.

The temperature in Shen Shijiu’s eyes slowly cooled like the ebbing tide. He sat up a little stiffly and his voice returned to its usual indifference, ‘Really?’
Wushu didn’t say anything else, and turned her head to look out the window, silently calculating how much time was left until they reached their destination. Suddenly, she felt a heat on the back of her hand, and she looked back in surprise. She saw Shen Shijiu, expressionless, with his long legs crossed, not looking at her but clutching her right hand, which was resting on the seat, tightly. She bit her lip and made a small effort to free herself, but unexpectedly he held on even tighter. She lowered her head and said in a low voice, ‘Didn’t you hear what I said?’
‘I heard you very clearly,’ he replied stiffly.
“Then why are you holding on to me?’
Wushu flushed a little, unable to laugh angrily. Who would believe it if she told someone? The president of the prestigious Nan Jing Club and vice-president of the prestigious Moreton Club could actually be such a scoundrel, just like a child who won’t let go of a toy.
He seemed to be playing a word game with her in a profound manner: ‘You only said that you couldn’t look back, you didn’t say that you couldn’t look forward.’
At the moment, there was only one word to describe her: speechless.
‘The man sitting next to you has personal assets of over 10 billion yuan,‘ he said seriously, not at all like he was joking: “You should buy this blue chip right away.”
Wushu blinked desperately.
’What’s that expression?‘
’…Your eyelashes are in your eyes.‘
’Huh? Let me see.’ He brushed aside the stray hairs on her forehead, carefully parted her lower eyelid, and after observing it for a moment, he looked puzzled: ’It doesn’t seem to be there.’
Wu Shu put his hands in his pockets and the corner of his lips turned up slightly. Shen Shijiu paused for a moment and then realised that he had been tricked. But he kept his composure and saw that she was happy, and the joy in his heart was self-evident. Ning Wu Shu, stubborn as she was, was still that simple, so simple that a small success could make her feel better. Thinking about this, he couldn’t help but deeply regret the harm he had unintentionally caused her in the past.

Wushu didn’t say she was going back to her home in the eastern suburbs, but told Shen Shijiu that she was temporarily staying with a friend. In fact, she was familiar with her bed, and if she slept somewhere else, she would be unable to get used to the change and would be unable to sleep at night. The reason she told this lie was that she was afraid Shen Shijiu would try every means to stop her from going back, after all, that was a place that had been visited by Chen Yiming.
Apart from the missing laptop, everything else in the house was safe and sound, and the door lock was certainly intact. This is the difference between a master thief and a common thief: a master thief wants to get into your house and take your things, and usually manages to leave the scene exactly as they found it. For example, Xiao Si.
That night, she still had trouble sleeping even though she hadn’t changed the bed. Somehow, whenever her mind became empty, the way Shen Shijiu looked today and the things he had said would come to mind. Although she didn’t feel as much of a headache as before, there was always a heavy weight on her chest, as if it was suffocating her. She knew that she was unable to accept such a change because it had come so suddenly, as if it wanted to erase everything she had endured overnight. She felt resentful, as if it were some kind of illness, and felt that the recurring pain was more unbearable than persevering with one kind of pain to the end.
As she thought about this, it seemed to have led her into a circle, spinning round and round, and gradually it became blurry.

The next morning, she went to a laptop store and bought a new laptop, Apple’s best configuration, spending nearly 30,000 yuan. It was a bit expensive, but she didn’t feel bad about it because she used the deposit that Chen Yiming had paid her in advance. After an hour of busy work, all the data was finally back—thankfully, she usually had a backup chip, usually wrapped in plastic and planted in the soil of the bonsai, just in case of such emergencies.
It was discovered in the afternoon that Xiao Shi was missing, and neither Wushu nor Songxi could get through to her on the phone. Wushu had a hunch that this might have something to do with Chen Yiming, and with the humiliation he had suffered, he would not let it go. Sure enough, in the evening, Chen Yiming called and went straight to the point.
‘Ning Xiaoniu, a friend of yours named Xiao Shi is visiting my brothers. Are you interested in meeting him?‘
Wushu was furious. “What do you want?”
’I already said last time that if you bring Shen Shijiu to my place, I guarantee that your friend will go home safely from my brothers.’ Chen Yiming’s tone was on the surface amiable, but the meaning of his words left no room for negotiation.
Wushu still didn’t dare to gamble with Xiaoshi’s safety by trusting his conscience. Since he dared to openly challenge Shen Shijiu in Nanting, he must have triad forces backing him up, and these people were all evil scoundrels with no conscience, whom she also hated.
After much deliberation, she finally dialed the man’s phone number.
 

Chapter 22

Shen Shijiu went directly to the place Chen Yiming had mentioned – the mechanical experimentation building at Tianxin, which had been newly built and not yet put into use. Then he saw Wushu.
She was riding a Triumph, a powerful bike that was agile beneath her like a leopard. The two of them arrived at the square in front of the building at the same time, from the east and the west.
‘You stay here,‘ Shen Shijiu stopped Wushu’s progress at the door, “I’ll negotiate the terms.”
’No way!’ Wushu was not impressed. Even if Chen Yiming had only asked for one person, she would not let him go in alone.
Shen Shijiu knew he could not argue with her, so he settled for the next best thing and said, ’I won’t feel at ease unless you agree to one request.’
‘Tell me.‘
’Listen to me as much as possible and don’t argue with me. We’ll talk about everything after we rescue your friend.”
An assistant surnamed Zhu had been waiting in the lobby for a long time. Seeing a man and a woman enter through the revolving door, she smiled and said, “Mr. Chen is waiting for you. Please follow me.” She led the two people through the empty glass-block corridor with steel frames to the side hall. This place was so empty and desolate due to a lack of people.
‘Mr. Shen, I have a few girlfriends who really like you,’ Miss Zhu suddenly blurted out in front, startling Wushu, who was deep in thought. Shen Shijiu’s response was rather indifferent. He was used to this kind of thing.
Seeing an opportunity, Wushu said, “Why not trade the news for a signed photo of President Shen?”
Miss Zhu laughed, “What kind of news do you want?”
Wushu asked, ’What is your boss Chen up to?’
Shen Shijiu coughed for a while, reminding her not to sell his blue chip stock cheaply.
Miss Zhu laughed secretly and said, ‘President Chen just wants to conduct an experiment. No matter what the result is, I guarantee that everyone will leave safely.’
It sounds like there is no danger, but I don’t know what kind of ‘surprise’ Chen Yiming will give them.
When they arrived in front of the special elevator, Miss Zhu opened the door for them and sincerely said, ‘I wish you both good luck.’
This elevator was different from the ones she had been in before. It was bigger than the average elevator and smaller than the ones in hospitals. It was made of some kind of material with small dimples on the metal walls.
The elevator doors closed and the elevator slowly started to rise. The slow motion made her doubt whether it was even working.
Wushu felt a chill running up her sleeve and couldn’t help but ask, ‘Are you cold?’
‘I’m fine.’ Seeing that Wushu was shivering from time to time and her cold pores on her cheeks were bulging, he took off his uniform and put it on her shoulders without further ado. Because she remembered what she had promised before, she had to accept it awkwardly.
The two of them faced the elevator door. Although the atmosphere between them was still harmonious, their expressions were getting worse and worse.
With a “click” sound, the entire elevator seemed to be mechanically fixed and stopped, and the door in front of them showed no signs of opening.
The overhead lights dimmed, and the metal glass surface in the middle flashed a few rays of light, and they realised that it was a very well-concealed video screen.
The screen gradually brightened, and a black leather chair with its back turned to them appeared on it, with a crooked brown leather shoe dangling comfortably underneath. A moment later, the leather chair turned, and the suave figure of Chen Yiming appeared in the camera, his face wearing a wily smile, and he greeted them cheerfully with open arms, ‘Welcome! my friends!’
Shen Shijiu looked at him with a sinister gaze that sent a chill down his spine: ‘Is this how you plan to receive us?’
Ordinary people naturally wouldn’t dare to neglect him, but who was Chen Yiming? He was also a big shot living on the cusp of power, and likewise not a nice person. He calmly waved his finger and said, ‘Boss Shen, don’t worry. I promise that after this game is over, you will definitely come and thank me, Chen Yiming.’
Wushu remembered that before reaching a verbal agreement with Chen Yiming, he had been sceptical. In order to gain his trust, she had no choice but to tell him the truth. Because Nan Jing Society was founded by her father, the original purpose of the society was to convince people with righteousness and balance the relationship between the black and white worlds. However, this belief began to deteriorate when it reached Shen Shijiu. Although he developed Nan Jing Society into the largest society in Nanting, he also turned it into a violent group that was not much different from the underworld. The two men were destined to turn against each other because of their different positions.
Chen Yiming tried every means to bring them together, which was like planting a time bomb next to Shen Shijiu, so that he could then cross his legs and watch the infighting. Using others to achieve one’s own ends is worthy of the actions of one of the Middle East’s leading unscrupulous businessmen.

Miss Zhu, who had just led them in, appeared next to Chen Yiming and whispered something in his ear. Chen Yiming’s eyebrows and eyes widened, and he laughed, ‘Then let’s start with some appetisers for our two guests.’
After he finished speaking, the image on the screen disappeared with a ‘beep’, and the numbers that appeared next represented the current temperature in the space: 5 degrees Celsius.
Shen Shijiu’s face fell, and he slammed his palm against the elevator wall, but it didn’t budge. He took out his phone and noticed that the signal had been cut off. There was no warmth in his eyes.
Watching the numbers drop at a rate of one degree per minute, Wushu’s heart also kept falling.
Some police officers would use air conditioning to wear down the willpower of criminals in order to force them to confess to a crime. It was because people were most likely to feel fear in a closed, low-temperature space.
The temperature quickly dropped to minus five degrees, and the two men’s breath turned into mist in the air.
Shen Shijiu suddenly looked up and coldly said, ‘Chen Yiming! I can give you the Century Park bid!’
Giving up the initiative to someone else means admitting defeat. But a person as arrogant as him would not lose his pride even if he did, as if it was just a kind of charity and mercy to his opponent. This person really has the makings of someone to make you grind your teeth.
But Chen Yiming seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
The temperature dropped to minus 8 degrees Celsius, and the two of them gradually became covered in white frost.
Wushu shivered, and squatted down along the corner of the wall. Just as her bottom was about to touch the ground, her shoulders were caught by a pair of hands. Before she could react, her body sank downward, and she fell onto two warm thighs.
‘Don’t move, just sit there.”
He took her arm, which she wanted to raise, and held it in his arms. Shen Shijiu patted her straight back soothingly.
She was already a little numb from the cold, and in the face of such an intimate posture, she no longer had the energy to be strong. She let him hold her, feeling his body heat seep into her little by little, miraculously soothing the pain in her senses.
‘How low do you think he’s prepared to go before he gives up?‘ she asked, her teeth chattering.
’You’ll be fine,’ he said, pressing his neck against her face and holding her hands in his, warming them in his belly. In fact, the temperature was quickly draining from his body as well. Even if he had an extraordinary physique, he might not be able to hold out for long at this temperature. But he was a man, and even if he was about to die, he couldn’t let her see it. Because he was the only one who could support her.
Wushu’s eyes fell on the silver necklace around Shen Shijiu’s neck. The delicate cross pendant was engraved with tiny letters on the side: SS.
She asked blankly, ‘SS, what is that?’
He lowered his head, lips parted, and said softly, ‘S stands for start, for Wushu, and for Shen Shijiu.’
Really? But S also seems to stand for stop and end.
Her nerves were gradually numbing from the cold, and she was too lazy to pour cold water on him.
A moment later, Shen Shijiu gently patted her cheek and said, ‘Don’t fall asleep. Watch me carefully. Don’t you hate me? If you fall asleep, I’ll do something to you that you don’t like.’

 

Chapter 23

‘What?’ She opened her eyes and looked at him.
He lowered his head, and his cold lips pressed against her forehead. He said, “Like this.”
Moving downwards, he kissed her nose, and said, “Like this.”
Her eyelids twitched, and her thoughts became surprisingly clear. She wanted to scold him for taking advantage of her, but he bit her mouth instead. A hoarse, sexy voice trembled lightly between her teeth: ’And like this…’
It was really strange. The two of them were cold, but the kiss felt like fire. He repeatedly rolled his tongue around, shattering her mental defences at that moment, greedily absorbing each other’s warmth, like two fish that had come together to share the same water.
However, as the body temperature gradually returned and the strength of the heartbeat increased, there was a feeling of depression that began to slowly seep into Wushu’s bloodstream like the venom of a poisonous snake.
There was still a little anger left.
When his lips began to linger at the base of her ear and slide down her neck, Wushu gritted her teeth and said, ‘Shen Shijiu, have you licked enough?’
He tried to ignore her, but she gave him a hard nose-butt as if she had practiced iron-head kung fu, so he turned his face away and gasped deeply. Unfortunately, the little bit of romantic atmosphere just vanished with her ‘awakening’.
Wushu calmed down a little and said, ‘The temperature has risen again.’
Shen Shijiu nodded and said, ‘I think Chen Yiming has seen enough on the sidelines.’
Wushu was outraged and climbed out of his lap. She kicked the door hard with her foot and shouted, ‘The game is over!’
Shen Shijiu kindly corrected her, ‘Your pronunciation is not very standard. It should be…’
‘Shh!’ She narrowed her flaming eyes and touched her index finger to her lips. If he continued to make her look bad, she wouldn’t mind showing Chen Yiming the meaning of “infighting” right now!
He raised his eyebrows and wisely shut up.
The number above his head was jumping merrily, having jumped from 8 to 20 degrees in just a short while.
She stared up in disbelief, ’He’s not thinking of continuing, is he?’
‘It seems so…’ He nodded gravely, “Yes.”
Wushu then felt around in his clothes and pulled out a Swiss army knife.
Shen Shijiu stood up with one hand on the ground, ’Since he thought of trapping us here, there must be no other usable exits. And the structure of the elevator is one piece, so it’s hard to destroy it unless you use a chainsaw.’
‘I know,’ she said, pointing to the curved micropores above the northeast corner. ’Hot and cold air comes in from that place. Just now, it was difficult to deal with the cooling, but there is a way to stop the heating. Get some hair and plug it in through those micropores. With a little luck, you can block the capillary tubes of the four-way reversing valve inside and the air release holes on the piston, making it difficult to heat the room.’
‘Oh? Where are you going to get all that stuff?’ Shen Shijiu’s expression changed subtly, and he had a bad feeling.
Wushu drew out the scissors on his Swiss Army knife and turned to him and asked, “Whose hair is better, mine or yours?”
Sure enough, they were going to “use what’s available.”
Shen Shijiu saw that she was staring at him with a determined look, and couldn’t help but smile. As if under a spell, he whispered, ’Then use mine.’
‘Don’t worry, my haircutting skills are absolutely up to scratch.‘ She doesn’t know any etiquette at all.

’Really?‘
’At least I won’t make you bald.‘ She thought for a moment and said, “The worst that could happen is that I shave my head, and that way I’ll look more like a triad boss.”
I really want to go and block her mouth again… He pressed his temples and said, somewhat disheartened, “Maybe there’s another way?”
’What way?’ Wushu looked at him up and down: ‘Do you want to strip naked and go to the sauna while being watched?’ She had just taken off her sweater again, and now she was only wearing a tight-fitting white tank top.
Shen Shijiu accidentally glanced at her small tank top, and Wushu shouted, holding up a pair of small scissors: ‘Bow your head!’
Without giving him a chance to change his mind, she raised her hand and brought down the scissors—her fingers caught his not-so-short hair and she cut it down, as fast as she could, like she was shearing wool.
In fact, Shen Shijiu also has his moments, just like when he doesn’t like someone cutting his hair, it feels like being slaughtered, which makes him very uncomfortable.
Some habits changed after Wushu left Nanting. These included cutting off his long hair that he had worn for many years; smoking only special cigarettes; preferring to stay in an empty house listening to music; and travelling around the world when the mood took him to add valuable collectibles to his collection. However, the most precious collectible was never within his reach.
I remember last autumn and winter, when he went to Paris alone. On the streets of this fashion capital, he saw a back similar to no other. After that fleeting glimpse, he pushed through the bustling crowd and chased after her all the way to a remote alley, but when she turned around, she hid on the other side of the wall. In the end, he never found out if that person was really her, because all he could do for her at that time was to let go of his own hands.
It wasn’t until she said it was over that he came back to his senses and saw that she was clutching a handful of freshly cut hair in the palm of her hand. He subconsciously raised his hand to touch the tips of his hair and his head, noticing a change in his hairstyle, but not the bald spot she had mentioned, and he let out a sigh of relief.
She gave a derisive snort and said, ‘Dream on.’
He patted the few stray hairs that had fallen around his neck and raised the corner of his mouth, saying, ‘The technique is really good.’
‘Okay, I’m going to step on your shoulders to get up there, so be careful.’
However, this time, Shen Shijiu decided to turn passivity into initiative. Standing behind her, he leaned in her ear and said, ‘I’ll carry you up.’
Before she could react, he put his hands around her waist and easily lifted her over his head. The sudden rise made her let out a scream, and she grabbed his hair with one hand and yanked twice, then screamed, ‘Put me down!’
Shen Shijiu’s scalp was numb from her tugging, and he gasped and reminded her, ‘I don’t have much hair left.’
In fact, she couldn’t grab him tightly even if she wanted to. Her palms were covered in sweat, and when he tilted his head, the few tufts of hair that weren’t long escaped.
Wu Shu said crossly, ‘Higher!’
As soon as she got closer to the air outlet, she broke out in a heavy sweat, her vest was soaked through, and her whole face felt as if it had been cooked. Next came the delicate task, and she focused all her attention on the small holes. Holding her breath to prevent the hot air from being sucked directly into her lungs, she pushed her hair bit by bit into the holes.
The air vent lost its response for a moment.
She tried the temperature with the back of her hand, a little dazed. The heating had indeed stopped, but it wasn’t her method that had an immediate effect, it was someone else who had turned off the heating.
Then the elevator lurched, and the two people on it nearly toppled over due to their unstable centre of gravity. Fortunately, Shen Shijiu immediately pulled his hand back to hold onto the wall. But she didn’t expect that this action triggered a switch, and the concave points around the elevator suddenly retracted, revealing one dark round hole after another. In an instant, dozens of water jets sprayed in, and in a short while, the cold water extinguished the fire on both of their bodies.
Wushu wiped the water that had splashed onto her face and said, choking on her words, ‘This is the big meal Chen Yiming has prepared for us!’
Seeing that Shen Shijiu was still hugging her and not letting go, she said in a dejected voice, ‘What are you still hugging me for?’
‘Some time ago, I watched a disaster movie with Siqin.’
He said this without any context, and it made Wushu feel like the fire that had gone down was showing signs of rising again.
The water filled quickly, and in a short while it reached Shen Shijiu’s knees, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry at all, calmly telling her the plot.
“The man and his pregnant wife took a wrong turn while fleeing the flood and fell into the underground sewer. They didn’t expect that the only exit was blocked halfway by an overturned car. The man was slender, so it wasn’t impossible for him to climb out through the gap, but his wife couldn’t, so he decided to stay behind. The flood outside began to seep into the place where they were hiding. When the water reached their chests, the man picked up his wife and told her, ‘Darling, close your eyes and don’t think about anything.’ In the end, his wife discovered that the height at which she was being held was exactly the same as the location of the exit.
Hearing this, Wushu suddenly tilted her head back, and the water that sprayed out fell on her face and quickly slid down again.
She had seen this movie before, and although she didn’t feel much at the time, now that she thought about it, a sour and painful feeling spread across her chest. Could it be because she had experienced it herself? No, she denied it vehemently. What happened in this deliberately arranged environment meant nothing. Once they got out of the elevator, everything would become a distant memory that no one would remember, not even to think about whether it was real or not.
But then he said, ‘Let me hug you for a while longer. I don’t know if I’ll have another chance.’
She couldn’t help but ask, ‘Shen Shijiu! Are you doing this on purpose?!’
He raised the corners of his mouth with ease and said, ‘I’m doing this on purpose. Are you even the slightest bit moved?’
‘Can you stop lying to me?’
‘Okay,’ he said without arguing. ‘I won’t lie to you anymore.’
‘Don’t pretend to be acting in my best interest.’
‘Pretend to be acting against your best interest?’
“Just leave me alone.’
He put his head against her waist, and his voice became low and emotional: ‘Well, no.’
Unfortunately, Shen Shijiu did not have the opportunity to experience the entire poignant process, and naturally was unable to let her witness the greatness and selflessness of love as he wished. The water outlets around the elevator suddenly closed again, and the water that had accumulated in the elevator quickly seeped from the floor, leading to an unknown destination.
It was only when there was movement at the elevator door that the two of them let out a sigh of relief as if they had seen the light again.
When they looked back, they were both stunned.
A pair of sad eyes stared straight at them, and tears of sadness flowed silently down the woman’s beautiful but pale face, one drop after another, hitting the mirror floor in front of the elevator.
Huo Siqing…why was she here?
In addition to being surprised, she felt embarrassed that she had been caught in the act. At this point, the two of them were already in a semi-transparent state of wet clothing, and hugging together was the same as skin-to-skin contact… She secretly twisted Shen Shijiu’s arm, and only then was she able to get out of his arms. He, on the other hand, seemed to be expecting it, and his face was calm.
‘Interesting,’ said Chen Yiming, the only one in the room who was most satisfied with the result. He applauded while smiling and walking up behind Huo Siqing, ‘It was worth the trouble I went to to invite everyone here. Unfortunately, Miss Huo couldn’t hold her nerve and missed the best part.”
He instructed his assistant, “Zhu, take the two guests to the dressing room to change.”
Miss Zhu was about to respond, but Huo Siqing stepped into the elevator with one foot, so fast that it was a far cry from her usual delicate style. Without saying a word, she saw what happened and walked past her.
Without looking at her, Huo Siting walked up to Shen Shijiu and took his hand, saying, ‘Shijiu, let’s go back. I want to talk to you.’
Shen Shijiu shook his head, speaking in a soft tone as if he were a patient parent educating an ignorant child, ‘You’ve made a mistake again.’
‘Can we talk about it when we get back?‘ Huo Siqing became a little anxious.
’Tell me, did you tell him about the document switch?‘ He asked with narrowed eyes.
Huo Siqing stared blankly, suddenly biting her lower lip and shaking her head in exasperation: “I didn’t.”
’Oh? Then why are you here?”
Huo Siqing wanted to speak but couldn’t, and although things weren’t as he had imagined, it was still hard to say.
She had wanted to hide the fact that she had met Wushu in the countryside that day, but in the end she was still a little uneasy and finally told him about it. She had originally thought that his indifference was because he had completely let her go, but since more than a week ago, he had delayed the order for her wedding dress, she had inexplicably felt panicked. Her intuition told her that Wushu’s return was not simple. Although she felt guilty towards her, she still didn’t want to see her hurt Shijiu or even the hard-won peace between him and her.
She didn’t know the purpose of Chen Yiming’s visit to the school to find her. He just asked her, ‘Miss Huo, do you want to know who will win in the end, you or Ning Wushu?’
She didn’t want to pay any attention, but Chen Yiming kept pestering her.
Sometimes he invited her to dinner at the top floor of the Mingyue Hotel, and sometimes he booked the best five rows of seats at a concert and invited her to watch her idol perform together. She was afraid that she couldn’t handle it, so she moved out. When Chen Yiming found out, he said dismissively, ‘Silly girl, your fiancé is now entangled with his old lover, how can he still have the energy to spend time with you?’ Whenever he spoke her mind, she would feel as embarrassed as she does now. Although she is not as arrogant as Wushu, she is also a normal woman. Faced with Shijiu’s indifference, she also wants to throw a little tantrum, which is why Chen Yiming has an opportunity to take advantage of her.
Then today, he suddenly called to tell her that Shijiu was with Wushu, and asked if she wanted to know what would happen between the two of them. Once it came to Shijiu, she lost her initiative and hurriedly came over, but what she didn’t expect to see was this scene.
Is her lover finally going to get the girl as he wished?
But how can she be happy about it?
When her students come running up to her and say, ‘Teacher, you’re amazing, you even have such a great boyfriend,’ she will be happy about it for the whole day. It’s not vanity, but the happiness of having someone else confirm its existence and tell her that it’s not just her imagination. But what happened today is telling her that her happiness is actually a castle built on sand. Someone gives it a gentle push, and it risks collapsing. All she can do is do her best to protect it, even if it’s just for a moment.
Huo Siqin endured the waves of sorrow surging upwards, grabbed Shen Shijiu’s sleeve tightly, and said in a very low voice, ‘Can we go back? Please.’ As soon as the word ‘please’ came out, tears once again slipped out of her eyes unconsciously.
However, Shen Shijiu still coldly pursed his sharp, thin lips, as if deliberately embarrassing her.
This oppression also made Wushu unable to find peace. She didn’t want to stay here, but her feet felt like they were weighted down with lead and she couldn’t take a single step forward.
She hadn’t been without resentment at her former best friend for bringing them to this awkward situation, but now, instead of feeling any sense of relief at Huo Siqing’s suffering, it felt like a huge stone had been placed on her heart. The dignity that a woman should have had was repeatedly and relentlessly trampled underfoot by her man, simply because her love was more humble than his?
She hated her for being so inflexible, and resented him for being a natural disaster, ruining one person after another.
Chen Yiming, who was enjoying the show, couldn’t resist chiming in with a snide comment: ‘Miss Huo, this Boss Shen is here for Ning Xiaoniu, so you might as well let them be together and show that you’re a generous person.’
Feng Siqing took a step back as if she had been electrocuted, mumbling, ‘Yes, I’m the only one who’s superfluous.’
She cast aside the false impression that she wanted to hold on to, which was about to shatter. Why couldn’t she wake up! Why? She cried bitterly in her heart, but she didn’t want to shed another tear for them to see. Turning with a sad smile, she stumbled forward and took a step, but Shen Shijiu reached out and grabbed her arm. She looked back at him in surprise, only to see a face of harsh criticism and coldness.
Was he suspecting her of colluding with Chen Yiming to plot against Wushu? Even if she denied it, he would still insist that it was the truth. That was the biggest difference between her and Wushu. She had always been the one chasing after him, so why would he care about her thoughts and feelings?
With a faint wry smile on the corner of his lips, Huo Siqing said, ‘In the past, I did make a lot of mistakes. If I hadn’t been so obsessed with getting back at Wushu that I had someone plant evidence in your car, none of us would be here today… Thank you for never exposing me and for tolerating my existence, giving me the opportunity to stay by your side for three years—even though we only met a handful of times during those three years, it’s worth remembering for the rest of my life.’ She took a breath, ‘This time, it is I who should go. Don’t worry, I won’t cause you any more trouble. I only have one small request, please keep the orchid plant by your side, as my blessing to you.’
A slight, fleeting emotion passed through Shen Shijiu’s eyes. Although he did not say anything, he simply let go of her hand.
Huo Siqing clenched her lips together, telling herself that she absolutely could not lose face in front of everyone again. She resolutely turned around, left the elevator, paused for a moment, and then walked towards Wushu. Her hands were clasped in front of her legs, as if she were a pious believer, and she said to her, ‘I’m sorry.’
Wushu just looked at her.
If nothing like what happened today had happened, would she have told herself the truth? People are always willing to admit that they are wrong when they have no choice, so what is the difference between that and not admitting it? She believed that even if time could be turned back and everything could be repeated, Huo Siqing would still make the same choice. In the face of love, some people can just do whatever it takes.
Huo Siqing got no response from her, so she knew she would not forgive her.
She no longer insisted, and said to Chen Yiming beside her, ‘Mr. Chen, can you please not make things difficult for them?’
Chen Yiming raised his eyebrows in a surly manner, ‘Since it’s Miss Huo speaking, of course there’s no problem.’
He raised his hand and called over a black-clad bodyguard: ‘Call Redhead and tell him to let the girl called Xiao Shi go back.’
The development of events became more and more strange. Wushu couldn’t let out a sigh of relief in time and frowned again. Turning her head, she caught a glimpse of Shen Shijiu’s expression, which she was familiar with, of hidden endurance.
Perhaps Chen Yiming had also noticed, so in front of him, he made no secret of his admiration for Huo Siqing.
“Miss Huo, do me the honour and let me escort you?’
Huo Siqing glanced at Shen Shijiu and, in the end, hopelessly followed Chen Yiming away.

Chapter 24

And then Chen Yiming created this rare opportunity, so how would he let Huo Siqing go easily?
He took the heartbroken her directly back to his villa, but all his sweet words could never melt the frozen heart of the beauty. She just sat on the sofa in the living room, her eyes unfocused as she stared at the tips of her fingers.
The fortress she had built with her own hands had collapsed in an instant, and no matter how strong a woman was, she could not bear such a change. To her, losing for a long time was like losing a world. So, nothing mattered anymore.
Chen Yiming believed that there was no woman in the world that he could not conquer. He snapped his fingers, and Miss Zhu walked over from the second floor holding a large velvet box. The edges of the lid were inlaid with a circle of red gemstones, and it was obvious at a glance that the contents were of great value.
‘Siqing, I will give you all the wealth and glory you deserve,’ he said, placing the jewellery box in front of Huo Siqing. “Go ahead and open it.”
Huo Siqing looked at it listlessly, her voice pale and weak: ’I don’t need it.’
Chen Yiming shrugged: ‘It’s not that you don’t need it, but Shen Shijiu has never given you any of this.’
Yes, he has never given her any of this, but Chen Yiming also cannot give her the love she wants.
Shijiu, he should be with her by now, right? The thought of them caused Huo Siding’s crystal-coloured pupils to fill with a light mist.
Chen Yiming, who was standing next to her, saw this in his eyes and his heart stirred. He placed one palm on the back of her clenched hand and said in a rather flirty tone, ‘A beautiful woman like you is too good to be just a vase for Shen Shijiu. If it were me, I would hold you in my mouth, in my hands, and in my heart.’ With each sentence he spoke, his actions became more intimate, almost as if he were about to kiss her face.
No matter how slow and insensitive she was, Huo Siqing could not stand such excessive behaviour. Moreover, when she heard him compare her to a vase, her sadness instantly turned into anger. At the same time, she realised why she had followed him here.
She stood up from the sofa and said with some trepidation, ‘I want to go back!’
Chen Yiming’s expression froze for a moment, and then he laughed, ‘What? You still want to go back to Shen Shijiu?’
“Goodbye.’ Huo Siqing didn’t want to say much, and was about to take a step, when Chen Yiming grabbed her waist and in an instant, pressed her into the sofa.
‘You make me very angry, baby.’
She exclaimed in shock, and her terrified struggle only earned her a rough treatment from the man. With one hand, he held her dead-still against the cushion, while his slick tongue traced the contours of her face, and with the other hand, he reached into her silk blouse.
‘No!’ the woman screamed hysterically.
Miss Zhu walked in from the outer hall and reported to the two people entwined on the sofa without changing her expression: “Mr. Chen, there is a guest visiting.”
Chen Yiming propped himself up, his pair of phoenix eyes slanting over, making Miss Zhu break out in a cold sweat.
Due to extreme humiliation and fear, Huo Siqing’s whole body was shaking, like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind. Hearing Miss Zhu’s words, she was so nervous that she could hardly breathe. She knew it was impossible, but she couldn’t help but think, ‘Is it that time already?’ But even if it was, what could he do? She covered her face and huddled on the sofa, as if that would hide her.
Chen Yiming straightened his clothes and ordered, ‘Take her upstairs to rest.’
Miss Zhu quickly went around to the side of the sofa and helped Huo Siqing up, saying gently, ‘Please follow me.’
Huo Siqing wanted to resist, but seeing no malice in Zhu’s eyes, she gave up the futile struggle. Her weak body struggled to walk with Zhu’s help. She didn’t dare to look back at Chen Yiming, let alone at the door, until they reached the second floor.
However, it was Beitang Hao who came in. Dressed in a light grey suit, he still looked elegant and refined, but his eyes no longer had the warmth they once had, and there was an uncontrollable anger in them.
“Our plan does not include sending Wushu to prison! Shouldn’t you explain to me what’s going on?’ He threw a document on the table.
Chen Yiming intended to pass on the evidence of Ning Wushu stealing confidential files from Moretti to the old man as a new plan to contain Shen Shijiu. The old man would definitely agree to this, given his temper. Fortunately, he intercepted the document halfway.
Chen Yiming sat on the sofa, crossing his legs nonchalantly, ’Brother Beitang, so you can’t hold your temper?’
Bei Tang Hao said in a low voice, ‘I have already warned you, Wushu is my fiancee!’
‘Haha,’ Chen Yiming grinned, ‘people who achieve great things should not be bound by trivial rules. You, Bei Tang Hao, are well-read in the classics and should understand this better than I.’
‘Chen Yiming, don’t push my bottom line,’ Bei Tang Hao’s glasses on his nose slightly reflected a cold light, ‘today we can be friends, tomorrow we can also be enemies.’
‘I didn’t realise that you were so infatuated, Brother Beitang.’ Chen Yiming reached out and lit a cigarette, saying, ’I’m afraid that your sister Ning is unable to reciprocate your feelings right now. You are right to be suspicious. Shen Shijiu has long since revealed our collaboration to Ning Xiaoniu. I can see that they are now very much in love, so it seems a bit premature to say that Ning Xiaoniu is your fiancée.’
Seeing that his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, Chen Yiming pointed his cigarette-holding finger in his direction and said confidently, ‘I bet that even if they get back together, they will definitely cause a big fuss in the future. By then, I’m afraid Ning Xiaoniu won’t give up and will follow you.’ He straightened up and pulled out a CD from his bag on the table, smiling wryly, ‘Take this home and enjoy it slowly. I’m sure you’ll have a different opinion by then.’

Wushu sat in the car and sneezed heavily.
Leaving the electronic and mechanical experimental building at Tiansin, she did not take Shen Shijiu’s car, but found an excuse to stop a taxi on the road. Shen Shijiu repeatedly reminded her when he saw her off to the car: ‘When you get back, make some tea with lemons and drink a couple of cups to prevent catching a cold.’ She agreed vaguely and left in a hurry.
In fact, the silence between the two was not only due to Chen Yiming’s calculations, but also because of Huo Siqing.
Although Shen Shijiu had always emphasised that he didn’t have the slightest feeling for her, after all, it was a habit to wait by her side for three years, and she would never believe that it didn’t have the slightest impact on him.
From selling 6% of her shares to help him gain control of the skyscraper, to working hard to get ‘Datang Fengyu’ as a birthday gift for him, and finally, she owed Chen Yiming a debt of gratitude that was difficult to repay. Siqing, just like her name, was willing to give everything for Shen Shijiu.
In contrast, she is just a passive and headstrong woman. From the time she met Shen Shijiu until now, he has always been the one to clean up after her impulsive actions, while she has done very little for him. Perhaps subconsciously, she has always felt superior, believing that she is the one who has done him a favour, and that he should therefore repay her with gratitude and unconditional trust.
Thinking about it, Wushu feels that Chen Yiming’s move was indeed a masterstroke. On the surface, he was ‘matching’ her up with Shen Shijiu, but in fact, he was deepening the conflict between the three of them, so that Shen Shijiu would have more concerns.
Everyone understands the truth that you must first pacify the inside before you can repel the outside. And emotional control is the most unpredictable.
In the end, she became someone else’s pawn, and she was already in a difficult situation… Wushu felt a little dizzy, and couldn’t help but rub her temples.

Before long, Shen Shijiu sent her a text message: ‘Give me a call when you’ve finished.’
She didn’t reply because the car had just arrived at Xiao Shi’s place. She took out a wrinkled fifty-dollar bill that had been soaked in water and waited patiently for the driver to give her change. The young man took the money and hesitated for a long time before turning back to her sheepishly and saying, ‘Miss, I’m sorry, can I have another bill?’
‘What? You suspect I gave you a counterfeit?‘ She was in a bad mood and therefore looked very unfriendly.
’No, no,’ the young driver was taken aback and quickly gave her a handful of change to settle the matter.
Wushu got off the taxi and, looking at the taxi that had sped off, couldn’t help but touch her face, thinking to herself, ‘It’s true that evil people have evil appearances.’ What was so good about her? Even she couldn’t say. So she suspected that Shen Shijiu’s attraction to her was probably just a feeling. Freud once said: ‘When a chick breaks out of its shell, it has an unusual attachment to the first thing it sees. Psychologically, this is called non-objective self-suggestion.’
Xiaoshi has only been to Wushu’s place twice, but the most impressive thing she remembers is the walkway, which is only two feet wide and full of miscellaneous objects, connecting four households with identical cheap security doors. Xiaoshi once said proudly that she could open such a door four times a minute and still be able to ‘borrow’ a spring onion before leaving.
The high-pitched DJ music could be heard all the way outside through the poorly soundproofed door. Just as Wushu was about to raise her hand to ring the doorbell, the door of her neighbour opened. A middle-aged woman with cucumber slices all over her face poked her head out, shouting, ‘Damn it!’ and, seeing her standing in front of Xiaoshi’s door, she yelled at whoever it was, ‘Please tell that damned girl to turn the volume down! It’s so noisy all the time!’
Wushu gave the security door a heavy slap. Ten seconds later, the music inside was still blaring. She had to switch to her mobile phone. After ringing for nearly half a minute, there was finally some movement at the door.
In the living room and bedroom combined, a stereo system was emitting deafening ‘noise’ from the bedside. Xiao Shi, wrapped in a quilt, opened the door and then skipped over to unplug the stereo before turning back to say, ‘Big sister, why are you here? I was just about to take a nap.’
Wu Shu looked at her silently, then said to the bathroom door, ‘Don’t hide, come out.’
Song Xi’s eyes blinked twice through the crack in the door. Hearing Wu Shu say that, she had no choice but to come out and stammered, ‘Big sister.’
Xiao Shi sat on the bed wrapped in a quilt, silent and sullen.
‘Do you already know what’s going on?’ Wu Shu asked Song Xi.
Song Xi muttered, ‘Xiaoshi told me not to say anything.’
‘I told you to say it!’
’…She ran into a group of thugs in a bar, and a few of them were those Min Nan people we taught a lesson to last time. They recognised Xiaoshi and dragged her into a van and took her to the outskirts. They also told her to call us and get us all out there, but Xiaoshi refused, so the thugs said they would rape her…’
Xiaoshi gave Songxi a fierce glare, and Songxi shivered and spoke even more quietly: ‘Then their boss received a phone call and let Xiaoshi go.’
Wushu was still shaken, and she knew she had an unshirkable responsibility in this matter. However, she saw that Xiaoshi was extremely reluctant to talk about it, so she couldn’t help but rebuke her and ask, ‘After something like this happened, you still plan to hide it from me?’
‘I have my own ideas,‘ Xiaoshi retorted.
Concerned makes one confused. Wushu was provoked by her indifferent attitude and growled at her, “Your idea is to act recklessly?”
’Yes, I am acting recklessly,’ Xiaoshi said with a shrug, ’I followed you not because you are so awesome, but because you used to be the big boss of the Nan Jing Club! You have opportunities I don’t have, and I have skills you don’t have, so we can become a team. Although I call you Big Sister now, it doesn’t mean I need you to look after me! In some ways, we’re the same,‘ she gritted her teeth and squeezed out four words: “Like backbone!”
’Xiaoshi!’ Wushu simply cut to the chase, ’Do you have any grievances against me? You might as well make them clear today… It’s because of Wenqi, isn’t it?’
It’s no secret that Xiao Shi likes Wen Qi, and Wen Qi likes Wushu. Everyone knows it, but no one dares to mention it because they know that no matter how clever someone is, they can’t solve a triangle relationship like this. But they see each other all the time, and leaving things like this unsaid is like having a pimple on your face. If you pick it, it hurts, but if you don’t, it will just keep growing and growing, and eventually you’ll get a nasty lump in your heart.
‘Yes! I’ve had enough!’ Xiao Shi’s voice was distorted by her sudden change of mood, “It’s because you’re special in his eyes, different from people like me, that everything you do seems good. If you’re not there, he takes it out on me; if you are, his eyes are glued to you, not even looking at me, so why should I be treated like this?” Her dark eyes looked at Wushu with a certain vagueness, and her obvious expression of jealousy made Wushu feel a flutter in her heart.
‘Big sister,’ she said, grinning, slowly, as if speaking in sign language, “he even called your name while he was holding me. Do you think he’s despicable?”
The thick irony in her hostile gaze accurately reached Wushu’s heart. She was shocked and angry! A chill ran through every cell of her body, and the feeling was like being forced to stand in front of an acquaintance while stripped naked, with nowhere to put her face.
If she had known this would happen, she would never have let Wenqi’s feelings go unchecked. Just as ignoring the first weed will only lead to a whole field of weeds, the result is that ‘the weeds will grow back no matter how much you try to kill them’.
Songxi tugged Xiaoshi’s arm: ‘If you want to sleep, hurry up and do it, and stop talking nonsense!’
Xiaoshi shook off Songxi’s hand, as if she were afraid that the world was about to fall apart: ‘Why don’t we call Wenqi now and confront him? Let’s see if what I said is true!’
When she saw this, Wushu steadied her emotions instead. She bent down and gathered the quilt around Xiaoshi a little tighter, and said in her usual tone, ‘I know you’re not in a stable mood right now, so I don’t blame you. I didn’t hear what you just said, and from now on, don’t even mention it in front of me! Do you understand?’ There was an air of authority in her expression that could not be ignored: ‘To me, each of you is very important, so unless you have all decided to part ways, don’t ever have childish thoughts like that again!’
After saying this, she walked straight to the door. Her hand stopped moving when it reached the handle, and she added a few words: ‘My teacher, Tian Yi, once told me to learn to appreciate my opponents, not to be hostile towards them. Because the former can make you understand your opponents, while the latter will only blind you.’
‘I will definitely make Wen Qi like me!’ Xiaoshi shouted after her back.
Wushu opened the door and walked out.
Trying to convince a girl not to like someone is like a fantasy, and it seems to others that desperately trying to force feelings that aren’t there is also a fantasy.
When they went downstairs, Song Xi chased after them, trying his best to speak for Xiaoshi: ‘Big sister, don’t be mad at Xiaoshi, she didn’t mean to say that. After something like that happened, she was quite shocked, so she was talking nonsense…’
‘I understand.‘ Wushu stroked her short, playful hair. The only thing that made her feel better was that she could still rely on one of them. Songxi was a treasure, and because she was so perceptive, she was also very obedient and sensible.
’Oh, yes.’ She had been so overwhelmed by one problem after another that she had forgotten that she had posted a job advertisement online the day before. ’Someone will come to the company on Monday to apply for the front desk and logistics positions. Go there and handle it, and if you see someone suitable, keep them. I have to go to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, and I may not be able to get there until the afternoon.‘
’Okay.‘ Song Xi nodded, but immediately looked concerned again: “But you don’t look well. Do you want to take a couple of days off before you deal with all this?”
’Don’t worry about me. Go keep her company.”
Wushu smiled at her, but when she turned to go downstairs, her face tightened again, and she looked preoccupied.

 

Chapter 25

Chen Yiming’s so-called brother, the bald guy, was actually someone she knew – they had been classmates in primary school, to be precise. His real name was Wei Kun, but his classmates had nicknamed him Baldy because he had been bald since childhood and liked to bully other students. In fifth grade, Wushu had fought with him once, but the battle had not gone well, and she had suffered a bit, knocking out a tooth and bleeding all over the place. In the end, Wei Kun had been dragged by the ear by his father and expelled from school. She knew that it was because her father had put pressure on the school.
On Sunday, Wushu went to the bar where the incident had happened to find out a little more about Chitou. Shen Shijiu, who had not been able to get in touch with her, called her in the evening.
‘You’re out?’ The usually arrogant and cold voice now had a few more emotional lows, which sounded exceptionally pleasant.
‘Yes,’ she said as she walked, her tone still indifferent.
“Tell me where you are, I’ll come and pick you up.’
‘Pick me up?‘ She sounded a little puzzled, realising that he was calling from a car.
’I’m at your place now.‘
She stopped in her tracks. “What are you doing at my place?”
’Moving you.‘
’What?”
She suddenly raised her voice, startling the pedestrians who passed her. After apologising with a gesture, she quickly turned into a side alley and asked, ’Are you kidding?’
He said his reason: ‘Since Chen Yiming’s people can freely enter and exit your house, it means that the security measures here are very poor.’
She snapped back, ‘Don’t compare it to your luxury mansion.’
In fact, the door lock there is more than enough to deal with ordinary thieves, after all, it has been modified. But Chen Yiming is not considered a thief. The pillar industries of the Tiansin Group include real estate and machinery research and development, and naturally there is no shortage of master lockpickers.
No wonder. Perhaps that was the reason why Shen Shijiu had installed an artificial intelligence security system in his house. It was said that eight top international construction machinery and numerical control experts had spent two years completing this top-of-the-range facility, which had cost tens of millions of yuan to build.
‘It really can’t be compared,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘So, I’m going to ask you to move in with me.’
She gave him a look of disbelief. ‘You’ve made this decision without even asking me?’
‘At this point, there’s no other choice. You’ll be better off staying with me.”
Did he mean that he already regarded her as his possession, and therefore had the right and responsibility to plan for her safety? But what gave him the right to think that she would agree?
Wushu felt that she had known him for too long, and that she should get to know him all over again.
‘Shen Shijiu, you should go back to where you came from. That kind of countryside place is not for you.’ Without giving him a chance to speak again, she quickly hung up and turned off her phone. You can’t be indecisive, or it will never end. This is a recent conclusion she has drawn from experience.
She guessed that he would probably wait there for a while, so without thinking, she walked into the nearby KFC with a heavy head, ordered a set meal and prepared to eat for two or three hours. She thought that for someone like him, for whom every second counted, waiting even an hour was out of the question.
In winter, the city lights are always lit early. Looking through the glass, you can see a world surrounded by elves, but the constant flow of people on the streets is the most vibrant scenery in the city.
If one day there are no pedestrians on the city streets and no laughter in the buildings, then no matter how magnificent the buildings are and how dazzling the lights, they cannot hide the emptiness. So when Wushu was alone watching the scenery, she felt that the world was right under her nose, but she was standing outside it. A feeling of loneliness crept up on her.
After finishing eating, she sat dazed for a long time, and when she looked at the time, she realised it was already eight o’clock. Not to mention Shen Shijiu, her own patience was almost gone. She desperately needed a bed where she could sleep peacefully until dawn.
Of course, if she knew that waiting for her would be two men she didn’t expect to meet and who she least wanted to see at the same time, she would rather sleep on the street.

She saw Shen Shijiu’s car blocking the road under the streetlamp. She felt like a diver waiting on a three-metre high diving board. The man’s patience was like a spider’s web, and it made her feel creepy.
She walked straight over and looked in the window of the BMW. Shen Shijiu wasn’t there, and neither was his driver. Looking around, her eyes caught sight of a Benz parked nearby. She had never seen this car before, and thought that it might be driven by one of Shen Shijiu’s men. She was almost certain that Shen Shijiu must be at her house right now.
Sure enough, his suit-clad driver was standing in the narrow path in front of the downstairs door. When he saw her, his facial expression did not change much, but his tone was very polite and humble.
“Miss, you’re back?’
Wu Shu felt her back straighten. She really couldn’t get used to this kind of ‘wind-oriented’ respect.
Looking up at the window of her room, she saw that the light was on and that a shadow could vaguely be seen there. She asked absent-mindedly, ‘What’s your name?’
‘Rong Zhi,’ the driver said. ‘You can call me Xiao Rong.’
‘Okay, Xiao Rong,’ she said, pointing up. ‘Can you go up and ask your boss to come down?’
‘Miss, Mr. Beitang is here too,’ the driver replied.
What would two men with a history together do in a small room?
The room was strangely quiet, so quiet that Shen Shijiu, who was standing at the window fussing with a potted plant, and Beitang Hao, who was standing by the bookshelf leafing through a book, looked like illusory shadows, an illusion created by her tired eyes.
The two men turned their heads at the same time when they saw her.
Shen Shijiu twisted the mud on his fingertips and gave her a charming but definitely not a pleasant smile: ‘Seeing you dawdling down there for so long, I thought you weren’t going to come through the door.’
She said nothing, changed her slippers at the door, went to the kitchen and made a cup of tea, then returned to the living room, put it on the coffee table and sat down on the bamboo and rattan bench.
‘I didn’t think you were coming.’ She looked at Bei Tang Hao and asked calmly, “When are you going back to Germany?”
Bei Tang Hao took off his glasses and rubbed his nose. He did not avoid the presence of Shen Shijiu and said, ’I was going to go back tomorrow, but the old man wants me to stay here to deal with some things, so it will probably be delayed for a month.’
‘Oh.’ She tilted her head slightly, her gaze falling on his hands. The man’s pair of wedding rings was still on his middle finger, while the woman’s pair was already lying in the drawer of her bedroom.
Shen Shijiu’s smirking eyes revealed an unkind gleam. Like the man of the house, he walked over to the spot next to Wushu and sat down, crossing his legs. Just as he was about to reach for the teacup, Wushu hit the back of his hand with a PIA sound.
‘If you want a drink, pour it yourself.”
Looking at the slightly reddened back of his hand, a pleasant curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. Did this “unofficial” way of getting along together indicate that they were not master and guest?
Beidang Hao watched it in his eyes, still maintaining his due poise, and said to Wushu, “Can we talk alone?”
Wushu walked into the bedroom and said, “Come in.”
The door closed, leaving someone in the living room.
Depressed.
Knowing that there would be nothing, Shen Shijiu still felt bad about it. He took out a cigarette and tapped on the lighter over and over again. His sharp black eyes were fixed on the closed door, his face changing from sunny to cloudy as time passed and gradually turning overcast.
Wushu leaned against the window, hugging her chest as she looked out at the dark sky.
‘What a coincidence,’ she said.
‘I wanted to ask you to meet up, but I couldn’t get through to you on the phone.‘ Bei Tang Hao stood next to her, also looking out the window.
Wu Shu smiled with her eyes lowered, which is why she said it was a coincidence. “My address, did Chen Yiming tell you?”
He turned his head: “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kept this from you.”
’Everyone has their own reasons, and I didn’t tell you that I was working for Chen Yiming either.’ Despite saying this, the expression of detachment on her face did not change at all.
‘Kid, I was going to tell you in a while,‘ Bei Tang Hao’s voice was full of remorse, “I didn’t think Chen Yiming would go back on his word…”
’You only proposed to me because of Shen Shijiu, didn’t you?’ she interrupted and asked.
He shook his head with a bitter smile, ’If I said I was just worried that you would go back to Shen Shijiu and get hurt again, would you believe me?’
Wushu closed her eyes with difficulty.
If this were a fairy tale, Shen Shijiu would play the role of the devil, she would play the princess, and Beitang Hao would be the prince. When the prince, armed with a long sword and riding a white horse, rescues the suffering princess from the clutches of the devil, the princess should fall in love with the prince at first sight. But in the adult world, the story becomes: the princess falls in love with the devil at first sight. Although she is grateful to the prince for his rescue, she cannot regard it as love.
‘Little brat,’ he said, laying a hand on her shoulder. ’Before I met you, I always thought that marriage was just a union of interests between two parties, so I never took relationships seriously and never deliberately pursued anything. It wasn’t until you appeared that I slowly realised the special feeling of wanting two people to be happy. My decision to be with you wasn’t a sudden thought, nor was it because of family interests, but because I want to be able to take care of you properly and completely take you away from the person who hurt you. So no matter what happens, I will never change this original intention.‘
She looked up, with a glistening reflection in her eyes, like a white feather, so light it was hard to catch.
’I remember when the Oriental Waterwheel Ferris Wheel was completed, you told me that each of us is like that cycle of rebirth, and there will always be a moment when you stand at the highest point and fall to the lowest. But no matter what, our purpose is just to see the scenery outside. So, don’t be too attached to the present, and just go with the flow.’
Bei Tang Hao was silent. Such an opening often boded ill.
‘A-hao,’ Wushu called softly, ‘I have always been very grateful to have met you, because you gave me hope of a way out of a desperate situation. That is why I believe you love and care for me, and will not count gains and losses or successes and failures against me. Because you have given me the best, I cannot bear to see it slowly deteriorate. After all this, I’ve realised that there are many things we can’t change. You have your responsibilities, I have my considerations, and we can’t be completely selfish or selfless, which is why we can’t hold on to both.”
She took out the ring Bei Tang Hao had given her and placed it in the palm of his hand, saying, “In fact, in my heart, there is no one who can take your place. Although this is not love, it is equally precious to me.”

 

Chapter 26

‘Is it because of him?‘
’What?‘ She suddenly looked up.
Bei Tang Hao’s dignified facade finally and irrepressibly cracked, “Because of Shen Shijiu, that’s why you rejected me again and again.”
’This time it has nothing to do with him.‘
’You already agreed to my proposal that day, and it was his appearance that made you waver, wasn’t it?‘ he pursued.
’That’s two different things.’ She sat on the bed with her head in her hands, not understanding how things had turned out like this.
‘Then tell me, do you still love him!‘ He grabbed her arm and forced her to look up at him.
She looked at him in surprise. His amber pupils were no longer calm, as if there were huge waves about to surge out. This Bei Tang Hao was a bit strange to her, because he had always been such a gentle and refined person, someone who could still smile and say they would never give up even after suffering a major blow.
’Answer me!’ He increased the pressure of his fingers.
‘No.’ How could she admit it?
He didn’t let go of her, however. His usual rationality had been obliterated by the blow of his emotional frustration: ’Then what was that in the elevator? Why did you let him hug you and kiss you? Why did you show that vulnerable expression? Any man who saw you like that would think you still love him. Do you know that you are giving him hope and making him unable to let you go!’
‘You…saw that?’ Wushu’s heart suddenly slowed down for a beat. Although her mind was a blank, she subconsciously shook her head, “No, I didn’t.”
Her apathy became a struggle and hesitation in his eyes. Ignoring her pale face, he shook her shoulders as hard as he could, ’How many times do you have to be hurt before you’re willing to give up? When I went to Germany, I gave you a chance to choose, but you chose to continue to entangle with him, and you haven’t given up until now! Kid, can you please wake up?!‘
’It seems like you’re the one who needs to wake up!’ Shen Shijiu replied. Leaning against the door frame, he watched Bei Tang Hao clinging to Wushu, trying to drive a wedge between them, his already gloomy face looking even more terrifying.
Bei Tang Hao turned with a clenched jaw and clenched his fists at the same time, and anger quickly spread between the two men who were bristling with tension. With Bei Tang Hao’s gentle and refined image of a 1.8-meter-tall young master, he was simply unable to compare with Shen Shijiu’s lean and tall physique. If they fought, the consequences were simply unimaginable.
Wushu had just stood up from the bed, but as soon as her head dropped, she fell backwards.
Seeing her like this, Shen Shijiu could no longer care about what Beitang Hao was saying. He walked over quickly, kneeled on one leg on the bed, reached out and touched her forehead, and found that her temperature was a little abnormal. He then picked her up from the bed.
The anger that had just been suppressed by worry rose again in Bei Tang Hao’s heart. He let out a low growl, ‘Shen Shijiu, you have no right to take her away.’
Shen Shijiu paused, slowly turned his head, his dark eyes flashing with cold light, and his muscles tightened as if he were about to spring into action.
Wushu had told Xiao Hena that he relied on ruthlessness in everything he did, and he could be ruthless towards anyone in his way, no matter how old, weak, sick or disabled they were.
Not to mention that the other party is also his love rival.
When the hostility coursing through his blood was about to burst, a hand suddenly covered his cool face and smeared it like mashed paste, almost obliterating his facial features…
What is love in the world? But one thing can overcome another.
She, Ning Wushu, has always been his nemesis, one that he can never overcome.
A sigh, and all his emotions were transformed into a thousand strands of helplessness. His thin lips chased after her fingers, wishing to bite all the troublemakers into his mouth and deal with them.

Beidang Hao seemed to be detached from the situation, watching this scene with a heart that grew cold little by little.

He knew that this time he had lost.
Shen Shijiu now resembles a wedge that has been sharpened to fit perfectly, and no matter how much Wushu changes, he can adapt to her. If a man can reach this point, it is only a matter of time before he can win back a woman’s heart.
Now, there is only one thing to believe in, what Chen Yiming said: when he loses patience, Wushu will be truly liberated.

At a certain point, her train of thought snapped, and Wushu forgot who it was that she saw in the last moment.
Beitang Hao? Or Shen Shijiu?
She stumbled into a desert, and the waves of heat that passed over her body were so scorching that they took her breath away. She couldn’t find a way out, so she just kept walking in the face of the wind and sand. When she felt incredibly thirsty, she saw water. After the excitement of suddenly discovering a large body of water in the middle of a barren desert, she felt as if she were dreaming… Dreaming?
After making an effort to pull her thoughts back to reality, she took a step out of the desert, only to feel someone shoving something into her mouth. Then a warm liquid slowly slid down her throat, but it was in the wrong place and she couldn’t get it up or down. She held her breath, and a mouthful of water suddenly choked its way up her throat, except that the object still stuck to her tongue.
A wet towel only wiped away the water stains at the corner of her mouth, and tears soon sprang from the corners of her eyes. It was so bitter! All the suffering she had endured up to this point was nothing compared to this moment. After struggling for a few times, she managed to open her eyelids, only to be greeted by a pair of dark eyes. The bitter taste in her throat seemed to be churning, causing her to arch her back and gag repeatedly. While she opened her mouth, two fingers were inserted into her mouth and stirred a few times, finally finding the bitter thing that had been reduced to half. It was impossible for her to swallow it, so she had to fish it out and throw it aside.
Wushu lay dying, her face red like a grilled shrimp, and the hot breath she exhaled sprayed Shen Shijiu’s face, which was filled with self-reproach.
‘Is it hard?’
She couldn’t answer, but still weakly lifted a finger and pointed at the cup in his hand.
“Want some water?’
As if he had suddenly come to his senses, Shen Shijiu hurriedly brought the cup to her lips. She took a sip of water, her cheeks puffed up twice, and she spit it back into the cup. Shen Shijiu was taken aback and had to pour a new glass of water, plus a new medicine.
She slowly opened her mouth and sneezed. Tears and snot flew out together.
She looked so dumb and pitiful that Shen Shijiu wiped her with a wet wipe again and again.
Don’t blame him for being surprised. Wushu had rarely been sick since she was a child, and he had never seen her look so pitiful. As for himself, he couldn’t remember when he had last taken medicine, so even though he was usually quite smart, he seemed clumsy doing such trivial things.
But the medicine still had to be taken.
The effective antipyretic was recommended by his personal physician, and it would be effective after half an hour. It was better to endure the bitter taste than the discomfort of a fever. When he told Wushu this, she didn’t even react. Her mouth, which had previously been able to open, was now clenched shut like a frightened clam.
Looking at her face, which looked like it had been toasted, he could only temporarily cool her down with an ice-cold towel, and then sat on the side, resting his chin as he thought of a solution. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to call someone for advice.
Luo Ze’s phone was switched off, so he called Gu Yuanqi instead. After a long silence, he said, ‘Boss, tell her if she doesn’t take her medicine, give her a shot in the butt.’
Shen Shijiu hung up the phone with a long face, then dialed Xu Lu’s number again. But when Xu Lu heard that he had not only brought the prick Ning Wushu home, but also had to take care of her while she was sick, she was surprised and her phone dropped to the ground with a clang.
When he asked Wu Xiangyang, he was surprised to hear him ask in return, ‘Isn’t there a doctor?’
Shen Shijiu really wanted to smash the phone. He realised now that these people of his just don’t know what they’re doing all day long, and they can’t even look after someone.
Just as he was feeling down, Xi Tianyu actually called him back, and it sounded like he was really excited.
“Boss, I just heard from Gu. Why didn’t you call me and ask? I have experience with this,’

Shen Shijiu decided to try Xi Tianyu’s method. If it didn’t work…
He bent down and gently patted her cheek. Her teeth were still clenched tightly, so he changed to pinching her nose until she finally let go of her mouth and let out a breath because she couldn’t breathe well. He changed to a more comfortable position, gently blocking her teeth with one hand while putting the prepared pills all the way to the root of her tongue with the other.
Probably because she was so scared before, Wushu reflexively tried to vomit the medicine.
He leaned over and blew hard into her mouth. He saw her throat constrict, and the pill actually went down with the breath.
Shen Shijiu’s expression relaxed, and he turned his head to look at the glass on the low cabinet. He suddenly thought of a way to feed her water…

The next morning, it was raining outside. However, in this house with first-class sound insulation, the person sleeping in the land of Nod was blissfully unaware.
Wu Shu woke up and stretched without fully opening her eyes. She felt physically and mentally comfortable, unlike last night, and realised that the fever had subsided. She rolled over, opened her eyes, and just as she was about to check the time on the alarm clock on the table, she suddenly screamed!
Where was she?
There was no familiar bedside table or alarm clock, and the whole room was absurdly large, five times the size of her room. She was so confused that she rolled over again, just wanting to see what was outside the window, but suddenly screamed again, this time using a decibel level she never normally used, which directly stimulated the man sleeping next to her to jump up.
‘Shen Shijiu!’ Ning Wushu’s eyebrows and eyes all squeezed together, and she grabbed the pillow on the bed and smashed it hard at his naked upper body: “Why are we sleeping in the same bed!”
When the hypotensive devil met the terrorist, Shen Shijiu, who had been smashed twice, quickly grabbed the murder weapon and threw it on the ground, and threw away the other pillow. Then he grabbed her hand and said, ’This is my bed.’
Wushu was stunned. Did she mean to say that she was taking over his bed?
This kind of lame excuse could only be used to fool an idiot. She was just having a fever, not being an idiot. Thinking about this, she rolled over without saying a word, put her legs around his waist, and raised her fists to hit him, but unfortunately he intercepted them. After all, she had been sick, and her strength was no match for a man who was like a wolf in the morning.
Shen Shijiu wrapped his arms around her and flipped her from bottom to top, fixing her in place on the bed: ‘Be good and sleep a little longer.’
‘Shen Shijiu, I’m not finished with you!’ Wushu couldn’t free her arms, so she had to kick, and her knee landed on his butt.
“I know, it’s my fault…’
‘Why are you apologising?’ She suddenly stopped moving and stared at him. There was only one possibility for an apology, and that was that he had done something dirty to her while she was sick last night!
Shen Shijiu was now in a difficult position, and could only say, “I withdraw my apology.”
This is called taking advantage of the situation! Wushu was so angry that she kicked him between the legs.
 

Chapter 27

According to her, this kick was meant to eliminate any future problems, so that his descendants would not follow in his footsteps and bring harm to the world. But Shen Shijiu felt aggrieved. A normal man like him, who had been holding back for so long, had reached his limit. It was hard to get her into bed, and he had to suppress his evil thoughts and not cross the line, all because he was worried about her stubbornness, which was as hard as a turtle shell. The reason he said he didn’t take a single step, not even half a step, is that he spent the whole night sleeping with his arm around her. Of course, she slept so soundly that she didn’t know.
At first, her body was like a steaming bun straight out of the oven, soft and warm. Holding her, he was aroused. There was no choice but to get up and take a shower. He turned around, held her head in his arms and nibbled on it a few times before he was satisfied. It was only in the early morning that she was so strong in her sleep that he was pushed to the other side.
Wushu’s plan did not work. The moment she raised her leg and landed, Shen Shijiu’s hands immediately grasped the root of her calf.
There was never any chance of winning a race against him.
When he first arrived at Nan Jing Club, he fought more often than he ate. He never fought one-on-one, even if the other person deliberately provoked him. It was said that it was difficult to control the strength of the attack that way, and usually he fought one enemy at a time, because that would distract the opponent’s attention, rather than focusing on one person. But this inevitably led to sneak attacks, and if he didn’t have an amazing reaction ability, how could he have come out unscathed?
Wushu’s face flushed red at this moment. It wasn’t because of the residual heat from the fever, but because she was so ashamed.
She was very competitive, especially with him. Shen Shijiu of course knew this very well, but he could not ruin her ‘happiness’ for the rest of her life just to spare her face.
However, the reason for her reaction was not just this, but the fact that her feet were not placed in the right place. The distance between the soles of her feet and her destination was less than 5 cm. If she tried to break free from his grasp now, she would inevitably touch… This was not the same concept as a touch and a kick. Now she was afraid of hurting the mouse and could only remain motionless to maintain the status quo.
Unexpected situations always arise at critical moments, and this time was no exception. Shen Shijiu’s phone played the piano piece Canon very sensitively.
Wushu waited patiently for him to let go of her hand to answer the phone, but he paid no attention.
The bedroom was filled with a faint, refreshing fragrance. The two of them just looked at each other, immersed in the beautiful melody.
The entire east wall is made up of goose-down yellow acrylic floor-to-ceiling windows, which change their sheen slightly. If there is not enough light outside in the morning, it will not open up to the view, but instead activate an intelligent system that simulates natural light. So even if it is raining outside, it will not affect the owner’s good mood – every day, they will open their eyes to clear, sunny weather.
This is Shen Shijiu’s luxurious mansion.
Outside the windows, which stretch in a straight line, there is a lush bamboo forest, and a babbling brook flows down the steps. To the sound of Canon music, Wushu seems to hear the sound of the water, and it gradually calms her chaotic thoughts.
But just then, the ringtone stops.
As if waking from a trance, the expressions on the faces of the two people change slightly.
Wushu glanced sideways and glanced at the phone. He suddenly thought, ‘Could this be the ringtone…’
The words ‘Huo Siqing’ had been ringing in his head since early morning, and it was not a good sign. There were only three possible reasons for a woman to care about another woman: either they were relatives, friends, or rivals in love.
This sudden thought scared Wushu.
‘What are you thinking?’ Shen Shijiu asked curiously when he saw her strange expression.
She was a little frustrated: ‘Let go, I won’t kick you.’
‘Wushu, when are you going to change this hot temper of yours?’ He sighed helplessly and unconsciously stroked her slender ankles with his palms.
When he touched her like that, a numbness in her legs shot straight up… What was that if not a tease? What was hateful was that she didn’t even bother to move again, just wanted to nestle under the covers and catch up on sleep while enjoying the comfort, even if it was just for five minutes.
This warm morning felt like a long-lost dream, and she almost lost her bearings. But then her eyes, which had just closed, suddenly opened wide. ‘Did you give me medicine last night?’
Shen Shijiu let go of her hand, leaned down, and looked at her, saying, ‘You were afraid of taking medicine.’
Their faces were too close together, and his gaze was so mesmerising that it was as if he wanted to swallow her whole, skin and bones.
Wushu was about to turn her face away, but he caught her chin and turned it back.
‘I’m asking you, was it just a lie when you said you wanted to take a sedative for your headache last time?’
‘Is this a lecture?’ She pursed her lips stubbornly.
‘Not at all,’ he laughed, his tone soft. ‘This is perfect.’
Even though he said so, the way he looked at her still seemed to hide layers of doubt and unease.
A soft female electronic voice sounded in the background: ‘Good morning, Mr. Shen. It is now 7:00 a.m. exactly. The temperature outside is 5℃ with light rain. The temperature inside is 19.6℃ and the air quality is good. I wish you a happy Monday.’
Wushu shook her head: ‘Your place is really exaggerated.’
Shen Shijiu said with a face of regret: ‘I originally planned to use your voice, but the simulation never quite got it right.’
He really knows how to comfort people, and she was actually a little moved. It’s a feeling that can’t be called happiness, but it’s got a subtle taste all its own.
‘You go back to sleep,’ he said, stepping onto the carpet barefoot as he spoke. He walked over to an invisible wardrobe, and the two metal doors slowly opened to reveal several rows of hangers.
She couldn’t help but look over, and she sighed inwardly. The life of a tycoon is really different from that of a gang leader. This is the difference between a man in clothes and a beast.
As if he had an eye in the back of his head, he noticed her attention and asked, ‘What do you think I should wear today?’
She asked back in a muted voice, ‘Who are you asking?’
‘Who?‘ He asked back unconsciously, and his hand suddenly paused as he looked back at her on the bed. He said seriously, “Apart from the maid, I’ve never brought anyone here before, you’re the first.”
Unexpectedly, he really explained seriously. Wushu spread her hands without embarrassment and casually pointed in a direction.
’That set.’
It was a very casual style, suitable for exercising at home, not for sitting at a conference table giving orders. Although she wasn’t very satisfied with the result of her random choice, he put the clothes on anyway.
Monday’s schedule would occupy his entire day: a 9am meeting with the skyscraper’s senior management for a workshop, a 10:30 meeting with the municipal officials, a 11:30 company reception, a 2pm groundbreaking ribbon-cutting event, and a 3pm meeting with Taihua Communications to discuss the acquisition…
In the bathroom, Shen Shijiu ran his hand along his chin in the mirror. He suddenly thought that if he left Wushu here alone, it would be a complete disaster. So he couldn’t work in peace until he had persuaded her to stay.
Wushu took advantage of his absence to quickly get out of bed.
She had a lot to do today too. After going to the Industry and Commerce Bureau to get the paperwork and license, she had to go to the bank to open a basic account.
She had just finished dressing when Shen Shijiu’s phone started ringing again. Wushu had heard this ringtone in his office before and guessed that it was Luo Ze calling.
By the time Shen Shijiu had finished washing up, the phone had stopped ringing. Seeing that Wushu was dressed and looking at a painting, he said, ‘Don’t do anything today, just rest here.’
‘It’s not a serious illness, there’s no need.‘ She said without turning her head, and pointed at the oil painting on the wall and asked, “Is this Sunflowers a genuine Van Gogh?”
’Yes, I bought it early last year.‘
’So you’re the mysterious collector mentioned in the news.‘
’To be honest, this is the only painting I bought at auction.‘
’Why?”
His mouth slowly curled up: ’Because this famous painting is more like a decoration.’
‘You really are more of a nouveau riche than a nouveau riche,‘ she said, turning around.
’Huh,’ as if he had received a compliment, the handsome face of the young man showed a hearty smile, like a ray of light from the bottom of the world, which almost hurt her eyes. After a moment, he made a gesture, picked up his phone and said, “I’ll call back.”
She nodded and ran away to brush her teeth and wash her face, as if to escape.
Many rich people will keep their bedrooms simple, but they will definitely make the bathroom a pleasing place to be. Imagine how unpleasant it would be for a narcissist like you to stand stark naked in front of a large mirror, admiring yourself, when suddenly you notice that the style of the environment is completely out of keeping with your perfect figure. This shows just how narcissistic Shen Shijiu is.
The hotel-style luxury bathroom has an impressive black, white and gold colour scheme, and just standing in it makes you feel happy, not to mention lying in the exaggerated jacuzzi, which is comparable to a small swimming pool, enjoying the spa-like care and surfing-like excitement.
No Shu reached out and touched the exquisite buttons arranged in an arc on the side of the bathtub. With a ‘beep,’ music played soothingly in her ears. Two titanium alloy panels almost noiselessly retracted into the wall, and the refrigerated wine rack placed inside pushed outwards, revealing two rows of pure French champagne and red wine.
Imagining Shen Shijiu slowly sipping champagne in the bathtub, she couldn’t help but shiver, then she licked her lips and went back to the bathroom.
New towels, toothbrushes and cups were neatly placed on the pure black vanity – he must have prepared them for her before.
She buried her face in the soft towel, took a deep breath, and felt the fresh fragrance of the sun and sea, as well as a sense of luxury.
In the bedroom, all the French windows were open to let in 100% of the light. It was grey outside, and the rain was making silent streaks on the glass. The room was very quiet.
Shen Shijiu had finished talking on the phone. He stood with his hands in his pockets, staring out of the window, lost in thought.
Wushu lowered her rolled-up sleeves and looked at his profile, asking, ‘What’s wrong?’
He came back to reality and said in a light voice, ‘Nothing.’
Whether there was something or nothing, she had some insight into it. It was just that he avoided mentioning it, and she would not make things awkward by pursuing the matter.
‘Since you’re not going to sleep anymore, let’s go have morning tea,’ he said.
‘I’m not in the habit of having morning tea right now.’
‘What do you like to eat, then? I’ll take you there.’
He walked over to the cupboard and picked out a man’s scarf, which he put around her neck without further ado.
‘It’s not a matter of what you eat. We…’ She tugged at the scarf, at a loss for words, not knowing how to explain to him in order to dissuade him.
Shen Shijiu knew that what she was going to say was nothing more than the words that they could never be together again. He also knew that she would respond to persuasion rather than coercion, but not all persuasion would work. So, he threw out an extremely tempting condition: ’As long as you are willing to stay here, I will agree to whatever you ask.’
Wushu was very surprised and secretly pondered the credibility of this statement.
If it was really as he said, then why would she bother going to Chen Yiming to collaborate, and just approach him directly, the chances would be much higher. Besides, Chen Yiming was a lot more difficult to deal with than she had imagined. One black, one rotten, and the fall of one will strengthen the other. She still has a way to contain Shen Shijiu, but she has no confidence in that person at all. A smart person will naturally be able to tell the difference.
‘If I asked you to give up the Nanqing Association and just be an ordinary businessman, would you agree?‘ she asked tentatively.
His deep eyes gazed at her, but he fell silent.
The corner of her lips, which she had been waiting for, gradually fell. “If you can’t do it, don’t make empty promises.”
’Nanqing has infiltrated Nantong too deeply. It’s not something that can be stopped just like that,’ he said at last.
‘Then why did you choose this dark path in the first place? You knew full well that it was a quagmire, and you would only sink deeper and deeper.‘
’This is the law of survival for any organisation. If you don’t advance, you will fall behind. If you want to advance, you have to remove all obstacles in your way.‘ He made a light analogy: “You can only see white paper turning grey and then black, but how can you see black fading back to white?”
’I only know that I am not as eloquent as you,’
Wushu snorted. Clichés had long lost their novelty, but watching him spout such twisted words made her feel as if something was scratching at her heart, making her nearly go crazy. Back then, she had been worried that Nan Jing would end up like this if she fell into his hands, and that was why she didn’t want him to take the position of chairman. But there were just too many people like him, so it was him, not her, who captured people’s hearts.
‘Let’s not argue about this anymore,‘ he said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s just think about what to eat. If you don’t want to go out, I’ll call for takeaway. The breakfast at Mingyue Hotel is good, you’ll like it.”
’You think I’m a three-year-old child who’s so easy to please!‘ The man’s promises were indeed like bubbles, which would burst if you poked them.
’If you were a three-year-old child, I’d hold you in my arms and soothe you.”
He had intended to ease the atmosphere, but it had backfired. Wushu’s face was taut and she held her breath as she walked straight past him, looking disgusted as if they were from different worlds. Seeing that she was angry, he quickly embraced her and really did rock her like a three-year-old: ‘Whatever you say, don’t go.’
Wushu wanted to struggle, but she lost her strength in his soft embrace.
Over the years, Shen Shijiu had only ever given in to her on trivial matters, so why had he suddenly changed?
Before she could think about it, she heard him whispering, ‘Reward me with a kiss.’

 

Chapter 28

Love is fickle.
Wushu had wondered before: what would happen if childhood sweethearts went their separate ways? The answer was that even if two parallel lines ever intersected, they would continue to drift further apart.
When she was 100 days old, her father, superstitious, hired a fortune teller to read her palm. The old man spoke of her destiny in mystical terms, saying that her life line had many forks and that she was destined to have a difficult life, with no one to rely on. If she had been born a boy, she would have seen many changes and would have gained fame and fortune.
The difference between the two sexes was really quite great. Her father was probably shocked by the fortune teller’s words, so he quickly gave her the name Wushu. Wushu means ‘no difference’.
It did have an effect, and her character was influenced by this name – strong-willed, heroic, and with a tendency towards feminism. The common point of feminism is to treat the same sex as warm as spring and as cold as winter.
In theory, this should at least win her the favour of many girls, but the opposite happened. She was a feminist, but didn’t like the things girls played with, which directly led to her being isolated from the group. The appearance of a girl with a boy’s face could not change the course of her destiny.
As for him, with a personality completely different from hers, a firm believer in the law of the jungle, he won the support of many people.
When a sheep with sharp horns met a wolf who was starving, the result was a strange love affair. The book says: this is something that nature will not allow.
Indeed. Even the fortune-teller said that she was destined to be lonely in this life.
In a limited love, at least this moment should be made perfect. Wushu thought, closed her eyes with a bitter smile, put her arms around his neck, and domineeringly pressed her lips against his.
This quiet kiss seemed to last a century. There was no unnecessary formality, just two people pressed close together, feeling the most direct temperature of each other. It was like the newlyweds standing in the wedding hall, imprinting their love with the deepest mark, intending to remember it for the rest of their lives.
‘Why are you crying?‘ he murmured as he ran his fingers along her moistened eye corners.
’I heard you say, Wushu, I’m sorry.‘
’When did I say that?‘
’You said it in your heart.‘
’You heard wrong, I said—I love you.’ He let out a low sigh and embraced her tightly, deepening the dizzying morning kiss.
Early in the morning is when men are at their most energetic.
If Wushu hadn’t shouted that his stomach was growling at the end, and poured a basin of cold water directly over his head, he would have been tempted by evil thoughts and boarded the nearby boat.
From the time they got up until now, the two of them had dawdled for half an hour before Shen Shijiu led her downstairs with a look of unfulfilled desire on his face.
They ordered takeaway for breakfast. The speed of delivery at the Mingyue Hotel was astonishing, worthy of seven-star service.
Just looking at the menu, Wushu was already half full.
Matsutake mushroom omelette, beluga caviar, wild blueberry jam, garlic toast, Emmental cheese, even the most inconspicuous milk is directly airlifted from New Zealand pastures every morning.
‘Why don’t you hire a cook?’ she asked. ‘That would be much more convenient.’
“I rarely eat at home.’
‘Bored?‘
He paused, raised his glass of red wine and took a small sip before slowly saying, “That would always remind me of the days I spent with you.”
She didn’t say anything, chewing on her food but unable to taste anything.
’Do you know what I’m most afraid of?‘ he whispered.
’What?‘
’How have you spent these past three years?’
Wushu slightly curled her eyes, as if she were smiling, but on closer inspection it didn’t look like it. Why mention it? On such a rare morning, she couldn’t even lie to herself.
‘I had a good teacher who taught me a lot in three years, especially the principles of being a good person.’
‘Who was he?’ Shen Shijiu looked down at the food he was cutting up. He knew that Wushu had never been an ambitious person, and she didn’t have the patience to set up a plan step by step. The information obtained from the previous investigation was all superficial and of no real use, which made him suspicious. He guessed that there must be an extraordinary figure behind her.
‘He is a psychological counselor,’
Wushu said. When she first arrived in Japan, she had very few conversations with other people every day, and even when she spoke, it was usually just simple words like ‘okay’ or ‘oh, yes, I see.’ At that time, she did not know that she was suffering from moderate depression. During the darkest days, her teacher used a method of countering depression with hypnosis to make her think of certain things over and over again. While others might have already broken down and gone crazy, she would always somehow miraculously overcome the critical moment. Because she realised that her future life was not really meaningless, and there were still some regrets waiting for her to make up for, such as the Nan Jing Club, a place that once held her dreams.
Hearing this, the knife and fork in Shen Shijiu’s hand fell onto the plate with a sharp, harsh sound.
‘It’s just that when I returned to Nanting with new hope, I found that I wasn’t as determined as I thought I was.’
‘Why?’ he asked, his voice hoarse.
‘Because I’ve lost a lot, I’ve learned to cherish it, and I have more concerns.’ She tilted her head: ‘What about you, is it the same?’
He gently clasped her hand resting on the table, and after a long while, he only managed to utter two words.
‘Silly.’
It had always been the case that her thoughts were very idealistic, and this was simply proof of that. But he didn’t want her to insist like this, because reality wouldn’t allow someone like that to exist.
Shen Shijiu was different from her. Because no one had taught him what was good and what was evil, he only knew that when others didn’t dare to speak up, whatever you did was right.
Over the years, he has used human greed and evil to build a tower for himself, and the fact that he can finally stand at the top of it says it all. It’s not that there’s no turning back, it’s just that there’s no need to.
Wushu certainly needs to be coaxed, but more importantly, she needs to be shown the facts. He is willing to play this game with her because she has now lost the recklessness of the past and has a stronger capacity to bear.
And… he believed that the person behind her would soon lose patience and resurface.
His hand had been holding hers for too long, and her palm was almost sweating. She pulled her hand away without saying a word and said, ‘It’s getting late, I need to go back and get my ID.’
‘I’ve already asked someone to bring your things over.’
Wushu was no longer surprised by his taking matters into his own hands. If he didn’t do this, she would find it incredible.
Shen Shijiu had deliberately prepared an en-suite with a study for her. The study was already filled with things, including a newly purchased laptop, books on the entire bookshelf, potted plants, some random things, and even the safe she had hidden under the bed.
Wushu took a deep breath. It looked like that place was indeed very insecure. She patted the safe containing the important things and asked, ‘Have you opened it and looked inside?’
‘I tried it,‘ he said with a depressed face, “but it’s not my birthday.”
’Don’t flatter yourself!‘ she said, feeling like crying but unable to. “Do you know that rummaging through someone else’s things is a very tasteless thing to do?”
’Doesn’t that just show that we were made for each other?’ he said, looking at her with a meaningful smile.
Wushu was speechless. Indeed, why should they laugh at others when they themselves were in the same boat, and give someone a reason to catch them out?
‘Don’t touch my things again, or I’ll move out immediately,‘ she declared viciously, rearranging things as she usually did.
’So, you’ve decided to stay?’ Hearing her words, Shen Shijiu was in a good mood, and affectionately put his arm around her waist. She saw this and quickly stepped away, saying, “Hey, don’t push your luck. I only said I’d stay here, I didn’t say I’d let you harass me.”
He withdrew his hand and pretended to be a gentleman, standing to one side.
‘And don’t forget what you said,‘ she added.
’In a few days, I will donate ten million in the name of the Nan Jing Club to charity.‘
’Stingy!‘
’US dollars!‘
She pouted, “Do you feel that this is like a cat crying over a mouse, fake compassion?”
’Yes,’ Shen Shijiu narrowed his eyes with a smile, ’if Bei Tang Hao did it, it would have a different meaning.’
She looked at him sideways as she arranged her books, ‘Did you not take all the books?’
‘What books?’
‘Don’t play dumb. All the other books are here, so why are there just a few German books missing?’
‘I had someone throw them away,’ he said.
‘Throw them away? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for doing such a thing?’ She widened her eyes, and then quickly looked for another item, but it was nowhere to be seen.
‘Where’s the small light yellow box I kept in the drawer?‘ The one Wen Qi had given her.
’I threw it away too,‘ he continued.
’You, you, you, you’re going too far!‘ She finally exploded.
’Are these things that important to you?‘ A flash of displeasure crossed his eyes.
’No matter if they’re important or not, they’re my things, and it’s my business how to dispose of them!‘ She asked, “Which trash can did you throw it in?”
’The bathroom.’
Wushu nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
After that, she searched through the trash cans in all the bathrooms in the house. When she returned to the study with anger building up in her belly and a look of being made a fool of on her face, ready to confront Shen Shijiu, he was no longer there.
‘You’re lucky you got away!’ She gritted her teeth and slammed her fist on the door, making a loud noise.

The work that had piled up over the past two days all came together on Monday morning, making this the busiest time of the week. Some people had not yet recovered from the relaxed mood of the holiday and had to plunge into the heavy and trivial work, and their resentment was like the morning drizzle, unceasing.
Wushu took the paperwork and went to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau counter to collect the firm’s license. After waiting for nearly an hour with no movement, he slightly hurried up: ‘Can you hurry up a bit? I’m in a hurry.’
The listless staff member slowly checked the information while saying in a grumpy tone, ‘What’s the rush? Can’t you see that there are so many people waiting?’
There was nothing he could do; the people here were the bosses.
Wu Shu waited too long and suddenly lost his patience. He simply sat down in the chair, pulled out the Financial Daily from the newspaper rack and started reading.
When he turned to page B, several big red words jumped into his eyes: Huo Donglin, chairman of Yuansheng Beverage Industry, is facing bankruptcy.
Below, in small print, it said: ‘Yesterday afternoon, the health department found enterotoxins from Staphylococcus aureus in a sample of various drinks produced by Yuansheng Beverage Co. The relevant regulatory authorities urgently organised the seizure of the suspected products and ordered the company to suspend production for rectification. As Yuansheng has basically been operating at a loss for the past six months, this turn of events is undoubtedly a disaster.
There was also a related news article that said: Shen Shijiu, the fiancé of Huo Donglin’s second daughter, has never gotten along with her future father-in-law.
After reading it, Wushu folded the newspaper and put it back on the shelf.

After taking care of a bunch of little things, it was already 12 noon.
The sky was blue after the rain, and she let out a long breath as she stood on the road. She thought to herself that life was like a play, full of changes, but you still have to eat.
She found a restaurant to fill her stomach, and then went to the intersection to wait for the bus. At this time of day, it was the hardest to wait for the bus. After ten minutes of being a signpost, a big red sports car stopped in front of her feet in a cool manner.
“Idol! I’ve finally found you!’
Wushu avoided this voice like the plague. She was about to walk away when Xi Tianyu leaned against the car door, made a dashing move, jumped out of the car, and grabbed her clothes, ‘Don’t go.’
She reached out and tugged her clothes back: ‘Hey, Xi Tianyu, don’t try to get close to me here.’ In the past, these people were the most arrogant when they opposed her becoming the president. It would be hypocritical to say that they didn’t have a prejudice.
Xi Tianyu casually brushed his super cool hairstyle: ‘How dare I get close to you? If I have to get close, it’ll be to the boss. He told me to come find you.’
‘Afraid I’ll run off with his family fortune, so you’re here to spy on me?’
He said with a smirk, ‘Then I suggest you take the boss with you, it’ll be more cost-effective.’
That’s not funny at all. Seeing her face fall, he had to say seriously, ‘I’m here to help you. Just let me know if you need anything.’
‘Oh,’ she paused and asked, ‘Xiao He’na has been discharged from the hospital?’
‘If she doesn’t get out, I’ll have to go in instead.’ When it came to Xiao He’na, Xi Tianyu’s expression became extremely shocked: ‘It’s fine if you boss me around like my husband, but if I don’t do it to your satisfaction, you use the boss to pressure me!’
She burst out laughing. ‘Then you’d better go. With me, you’ll get the slave treatment.’
‘No way, the boss will split me in two.’ He went to open the car door.
Wushu thought about it for a while and changed his mind. ‘Then take me to Changhong Road.’
She got into the car and regretted it a little. It was mainly because Xi Tianyu could talk a blue streak and always made you unable to respond.
Just as they were getting into the swing of things, he suddenly blurted out, ‘Idol, wasn’t the boss awesome last night?’
Wushu nearly broke her teeth, and she cursed out loud.
‘Good thing you’re sick!’ he said excitedly. ‘If you weren’t sick, how would we know that the boss would get flustered over a little thing and actually call Lao Wu and the others to ask them? Hahaha, it made me laugh to death.’
Words that should have moved people came from Xi Tianyu’s mouth and made people feel a bit devastated. And when he bragged about the method of administering medicine he taught, which was based on the experience he gained from keeping cats for many years, Wu Shu felt like strangling him and Shen Shijiu to death.
Suddenly, a Hummer pulled up very close to them. A few young men and women dressed in flamboyant clothes crowded together, giggling and laughing. One of them blew a short whistle in a rowdy manner, sticking out most of his head and shouting, ‘Brother Yu! The chick is pretty hot!’
‘Fuck you!’ Xi Tianyu gave them the middle finger, “This is my boss’s…”
Before he could finish the sentence about his boss’s girlfriend, the car suddenly let out a long beep. He looked back and saw Wushu pressing one hand on the horn, with a horrified expression as if he wanted to silence him. He was practically the second in command, so he quickly shut up.
As soon as the two of them stepped through the door of the office, they saw a few girls sitting on the sofa at the reception.
Xi Tianyu said with a sigh, ‘It’s quite lively.’
Wushu ignored him and walked a few steps inside, asking those people, ‘Are you here to meet Cheng?’
‘Yes,’ said a girl with darker skin, ‘Wait, the person in charge went to the toilet.’
Xi Tianyu flashed over, sat down on the coffee table in front of the sofa in a handsome manner, and pointed at Wushu next to him with his thumb up: ‘Look carefully, she’s the leader here.’
The girls were so scared by him that their hearts were racing, and they didn’t care who she was.
‘Big sister, you’re here?’
Song Xi came running over when she saw Wushu as she came out of the bathroom.
Xi Tianyu exchanged glances with her, while his eyes widened.
Song Xi stared because she recognised him as Shen Shijiu’s man, while Xi Tianyu stared because she looked like Chibi Maruko Chan. Not only did she have the same hairstyle and face shape, she even had the same eyes and spoke in the same voice.
She looked exactly like the real thing. ‘Puff!’ he thought it was too shocking and let out a puff.
Song Xi was not happy.
‘What did you just mean?’ she asked, imitating his puff.
Xi Tianyu imitated her puff in return and said, ‘That’s what it means.’
‘If you want to burp, go to the bathroom and burp!‘
’I like to burp wherever I like.‘
’Do you know that the gas you burp out is ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, mercaptan, indigo, and volatile amines, which seriously pollute the air?’
‘What the hell is this long list?‘
’The main ingredients of fart gas!‘
’Fart!’ Xi Tianyu finally vomited blood and turned back, shouting viciously, “Little girl, do you know who I am?”

 

Chapter 29

While they were arguing, negotiations had already been concluded with several candidates.
Closing the door to the manager’s office, Wu Shu could see through the glass window that two people were silently gesturing outside. Without turning around, he sat back in the large office chair and directed his gaze at the dark-skinned girl sitting in front of him.
The other party had maintained a natural expression at all times, in order not to give anything away. She said, ‘When I arrived, Mr. Tian told me to give you a message. He misses you very much.’
Wu Shu smiled and said, ‘Just get to the point.’
‘Shen Shijiu has a disk in his possession, which contains a detailed list of the Tianshen Group’s smuggling channels overseas in recent years. Mr. Tian hopes you can find it as soon as possible.‘
’He has this?‘ Wushu was slightly shocked: “I didn’t see him do anything.”
’That disk is specially encrypted, and even a top expert would need at least ten days to decipher it.
Wushu folded her fingers together, and her gaze became a little complicated: ‘Why does Teacher know so much?’
‘Because K found a record of decrypting the disk on Shen Shijiu’s personal computer.‘
’Really? K never told me he was doing this.”
She sent the email virus from her own computer. There are only two possibilities for K wanting to spy on Shen Shijiu’s computer: either she enabled remote control for him, or he enabled remote control for her computer behind her back. If it’s the latter… doesn’t that mean they were guarding against her?
‘I hope you can understand Mr. Tian,‘ said Meidun, pausing. “You seem to have too many concerns.”
It seemed that the fact that she had once agreed to Bei Tang Hao’s marriage proposal had reached the teacher’s ears. Who had told on her? It seemed that only Wen Qi had that possibility.
Wushu’s mouth sank slightly: “Even if it is the teacher, I still hope that he can respect my decision.”
The other party fell silent.
’There is one more thing. Why has K always refused to meet with me?’ she asked.
‘He just doesn’t want anyone to disturb his real life.‘ Although this reason was a bit far-fetched, it left no one else with anything to say. Wu Shu opened her phone and composed a text message: “Xi Xi, get ready…” After finishing, she stood up from her seat and said, “Three days from now, you can come here to work.”
’Okay, then I’ll go back, manager,’ the other person also stood up and said.

As she opened the door and walked out, Xi Tianyu walked in, threw himself onto the sofa, and pointed at Song Xi outside the door, saying, ‘That girl really makes people angry!’
Wushu laughed, ‘This flapping around, your mouth must be dry, right?’
Xi Tianyu licked his lips and said, ‘It’s a bit dry, actually.’
Wushu then shouted, ‘Xi Xi, bring in two cups of tea.’
Song Xi pouted outside, went to the pantry, brewed some tea, and carried it into the manager’s office. He placed one cup on the desk and handed the other to Xi Tianyu. Seeing that he was deliberately being arrogant, Song Xi leaned on the sofa like a master and refused to take it. He then stuck out his tongue at him and said, ‘I’m going to let go.’ As he spoke, he deliberately moved the phone in his hand that was holding the cup.
Xi Tianyu was shocked and was afraid that she would really do such a thing, so he quickly took the tea.
A few minutes later…
Wushu looked over at the sofa and called out, ‘Xi Tianyu?’
He hung his head and said in a low voice, ‘Hm?’
Song Xi pointed his finger and said, ‘The medicine is working.’
‘Will this kind of hypnotic drug work?’ Wushu asked a little worriedly.
‘Absolutely no problem,’ Song Xi said confidently.
Wu Shu felt in Xi Tianyu’s pocket and pulled out a wallet, then extracted a bank card and dragged over an office chair, sitting opposite him.
‘Xi Tianyu, what’s the PIN number for your bank card?’
‘168888.’
Wu Shu and Song Xi exchanged a glance, both at a loss for words. She asked again, ‘Apart from business rivalry, did Shen Shijiu and Chen Yiming have any other conflicts?’
Xi Tianyu nodded.
“When did it start?’
‘Four years ago.‘
Wu Shu frowned. This answer greatly surprised her. What kind of entanglements could there have been between Shen Shijiu and Chen Yiming four years ago when her father was still alive?
’What was it about?”
Perhaps because it was a bit complicated, Xi Tianyu found it difficult to explain, and he spoke intermittently for nearly twenty minutes before he had explained the general process.
It turned out that many people in the Nanting underworld secretly worked for Chen Yiming. They bribed the customs to smuggle cultural relics and drugs, and then used Tianxin to launder money. Four years ago, Chen Yiming’s people obtained a large amount of cocaine from Peru mixed in with frozen squid and prepared to transport it into the country. However, that day the customs temporarily transferred people over and insisted on inspecting all the squid freezers, thus exposing the shipment. Later, Chen Yiming learned that the seized cocaine was only a small part of the total, and the whereabouts of the rest was unknown. Since Nan Ting had only Nan Jing to influence him, he suspected that it was done by Shen Shijiu, but he could not produce any evidence.
Wushu could not help but take a deep breath: ‘Tell me, was that shipment a blackmail against Shen Shijiu?’
“The boss doesn’t always tell us what he’s doing—maybe Gu knows, he’s the one among us who is most favoured by the boss.’
Xi Tianyu did not give a direct answer, but a simple deduction made Wu Shu’s whole body perspire with cold sweat.
Shen Shijiu must have had the intention of acquiring the shares of Moreton Tower a long time ago, otherwise he would not have been able to raise the funds in such a short period of time.
From her joining the Nan Jing Club, to Huo Siqing and Xiao Hena, to Bei Tang taking advantage of Shen’s bad intentions to create opportunities for him, she was already aware of all of this, but she had missed one point. With such a large sum of money, how could an ordinary business satisfy his needs?
But drug trafficking is a dead end from which there is no return!
Wushu’s mind exploded, and when she suddenly got up, she accidentally knocked the teacup that Xi Tianyu had drunk from onto the ground.
The harsh sound of the glass shattering irritated Xi Tianyu, and he instantly regained his senses. He opened his eyes and looked at the glass shards at his feet with some confusion: ‘What happened?’
Xi Tianyu did not doubt it, twisted his sore neck and said, ‘I played too crazy last night, and I feel sleepy as soon as I’m free.’ He looked at the time. Damn, it’s almost 3 o’clock, and I haven’t accomplished anything.
‘I said idol,’ he rushed to Wushu, rubbing his hands together, “hurry up and get me something to do, otherwise how can I reflect the value of my existence as Xi Tianyu.”
Meanwhile, Shen Shijiu, accompanied by Luo Ze and three executives from Moreton Electronics, walked into the president’s meeting room, shook hands with the representatives of Taihua Communications who had come forward, and sat down in the owner’s position.
Several executives also took their seats one after the other, pushed away the documents in hand, and rows of data were displayed in front of them.
Tai Hua Communications is the third largest telecommunications operator in the country, with nearly 90 million 4G network users and a 29% share of the domestic market.
4G, or fourth generation communications technology, is a refinement and breakthrough on the basis of its predecessor 3G. It can not only be used to enable multi-party video conferencing, remote control of home appliances, doors, windows and cars, but also directly connect to the satellite system’s paid functions and provide more user-friendly customised services.
Here, Moret Electronics, chaired by Shen, is a key player in the consortium’s emerging technology industry and is a leader that goes hand in hand with financial investment. And in today’s high-speed development of the electronics industry, an excellent online platform is a highly competitive weapon. Therefore, this comprehensive acquisition of Taihua’s 4G network is imperative for Shen Shijiu.
The Taihua chief representative also gave them an analysis of the prospects for the 4G mobile network, pointing out in particular that the ‘customised humanised service’ is targeted at high-income people and has huge potential.
After some discussion, all ten pairs of eyes turned to the president, who was sitting in the high seat, waiting for him to make a final decision.
Shen Shijiu took the summary document passed to him by Luo Ze and looked at the total amount. His face, which had previously shown no emotion, actually broke into a faint smile. However, behind this smile was an unfathomable depth, and even the battle-hardened Taihua delegation could not help but become highly nervous after observing Shen’s expression.
It is dangerous to try to get something from a tiger.
Shen Shijiu pushed the document back onto the table, leaned back, and rested against the back of the tall leather chair, his indifferent gaze full of arrogance. When he spoke, it carried a shocking power: ‘With your company’s 29% share of the communications market, I really don’t see it worth 130 billion.’
The Thai-Chinese side turned pale at this.
Shen Shijiu slowly raised the corners of his sharp lips: ‘As far as I know, KBA, the number one domestic communications company, has successfully poached a number of core engineers from your company. I don’t suppose the representatives have factored in such important information?’
Not only Tai Huafang, but also several executives on the Moreton side looked at each other in disbelief. This was an absolute secret in the industry, and it was unexpected that the president would know exactly what was going on. No wonder he had remained calm throughout, it turned out that he had Tai Huafang completely under his control.
‘90 billion,‘ Shen Shijiu calmly and confidently threw out this figure like a tiger that has eaten someone and doesn’t spit out the bones.
The general representative of Taihua could no longer sit still, took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead, “Mr. Shen, this price is a bit harsh, isn’t it?”
’Oh?’ He rested his chin in one hand, his handsome face unruffled, ’Then I’d like to see who is willing and can afford this price.’
Skyscraper Electronics is a major client in the communications field that has always been vying for business, and offending Shen Shijiu is tantamount to voluntarily giving up this piece of fat meat. Moreover, Taihua has yet to deal with the issue of being poached, and if it is exposed, the market price will only get worse.
So should they reluctantly cut their losses, or just let it rot in their hands? Taihua obviously had lost its bargaining chip to raise the price.
In the end, the two sides signed an agreement, and the transaction amount was even nearly 10% less than the Skyscraper team’s own budget.
Leaving the Skyscraper headquarters, the Taiwa representatives all had a bitter look on their faces.
For them, this was a lost battle. But for Shen Shijiu, it was only natural. Business is business, and there is no such thing as kindness.
In the quiet of the president’s office, he poured himself a brandy at the bar, walked over to the wall and looked at the exterior while slowly sipping.
Luozhe, who had seen the Thai representatives off, returned soon after. Looking at Shen Shijiu’s unmoving back for a long time, he said, ‘Siqing wants to see you.’
‘Where is she?’
‘In the lobby on the first floor.’
‘Tell her to go back.’ He turned around, his cold face showing no trace of emotion.
Luo Ze raised his voice slightly: ‘Isn’t this too cruel to her?’
‘If you knew how Wushu had spent these years, you wouldn’t think I’m being cruel to her,’ he said mockingly.
Luo Ze sighed: ‘I know this is unfair to Wushu… but she has been with you for three years after all, and she hasn’t asked you for anything during these three years. And in my opinion, with something like this happening at Yuansheng Beverage, someone must be setting the Huo family up, and it could be you, Chairman.’
‘Luozhe,‘ Shen Shijiu said in a low voice, “I don’t want to say this a second time.”
Luozhe moved his lips, and finally said, “Maybe she’ll become the second Wushu.”
’Wait!‘ Shen Shijiu called out to Luozhe, who was about to leave, his eyes cold as ice. “What did you just say?”
’Huo Donglin is critically ill and has been admitted to an emergency ward. If he doesn’t make it this time, Siqing might…’
Even a stubborn person like Wushu almost chose to take his own life, let alone Siqing, who is naturally weak. Losing two of the most important people in her life at once, her outcome may be even more unbearable than Wushu’s.
Shen Shijiu drained the rest of the wine in his glass and said sternly, ‘Make a phone call to Director Hong of the Quality Supervision Bureau and send someone to investigate this matter.’
‘Okay,’ Luo Ze nodded and immediately got to work.

 

Chapter 30

The first floor lobby lounge area.
Huo Si tilted her head and covered it with a light purple silk scarf. She wore sunglasses on her face to hide her reddened eyes. Just as she was unable to sit still, she received a message from Luo Ze. Then, ignoring the surprised stares of others, she ran out of the lobby and kept running to the exit of the skyscraper parking lot.
Seeing Shen Shijiu’s car slowly drive out from inside, she bit her lower lip slightly and waited in front. When the car passed her, she said thank you to the man sitting in the car who didn’t even look away.
Shen Shijiu lifted his finger, and the driver understood and stopped the car and opened one of the windows.
Huo Siqing stood there, hanging her head, not even daring to look at his face. From such an unfamiliar distance, the pain in her heart rolled and rolled.
It seemed that all misfortunes were directed at her alone.
After the accident, not only did the bank terminate the loan, but the raw materials factory, with which they had cooperated for many years, also came to collect the money early, forcing her father to bow to pressure and ask her to come to Shijiu for help. At that time, she was extremely depressed because she had been bullied by Chen Yiming, and in a fit of anger, she blurted out that the two had broken up. She never expected that under the double stimulus, her father’s old illness would recur.
She and her sister were at a loss, and with no other choice, she could only dial the morning phone number with a glimmer of hope. However, what awaited her was a continuous busy signal.
Her keen intuition told her that he was with Wushu and had been the whole night. Later, she confirmed this guess from Luo Ze. Although she had been mentally prepared for a long time, it still broke her heart, not to mention the fact that it happened during such a chaotic time.
Shen Shijiu handed something out of the car, and Huo Si looked at his fingers holding the cheque. The grievance she had just felt instantly turned into tears. She choked and asked, ‘What does this mean?’
The man’s voice was as cold as metal: ‘Is buying out the past three years enough?’
Huo Siqing suddenly covered her mouth, and the taste of rust on her lips gradually spread. If she hadn’t come today, at least she could have retained a little bit of fantasy!
The car drove away in front of her, and the cheque floated in the air. It turned out that her feelings were just such a flimsy piece of paper.
After sadness flashed in the eyes behind the sunglasses, what remained was deep resentment.
Not far away, on the road, a car hidden under the shade of the trees slowly rolled up the window, and a bright red light could be faintly seen at the end of the cigar.

Today was the earliest Shen Shijiu had ever returned home, and the car had pulled into the garage before half past five.
He walked into the bedroom he had prepared for Wushu and saw that everything was there, so he let out a sigh of relief. He raised the corners of his mouth and laughed to himself, thinking that he had been as nervous as a young boy.
He sent her a text message: ‘The villa entrance has fingerprint recognition, and I’ve already entered yours.’
She quickly replied: ‘When did you steal my fingerprint?’
He knew she would be bothered by this, so he deliberately said, ‘When you were feverish and calling my name.’
‘I’ll call your name? Dream on!‘
’Come back early, I’ll be waiting for you.’ He curled his lips, threw his phone aside, changed his clothes, and walked into the indoor pool. After swimming back and forth a dozen times, he saw her figure on the surveillance video by the pool, so he swam with a strong stroke towards the railing, got out of the water, put on a loose shirt, tied it casually at the waist, and wiped his hair while walking towards the living room.

No Shu was just about to enter the door when she was embraced by a pair of strong arms. Before she could react, a long awaited kiss sealed her lips. The lingering kiss lasted less than three seconds before an inopportune exclamation came from behind No Shu. It caused Shen Shijiu, who was always methodical, to freeze and his handsome face turn black.
He quickly let go of the equally embarrassed Wushu, and two cold arrows shot from his eyes at the kid holding a pile of pots and pans as a shield. He shouted angrily, ‘Why didn’t you make a sound earlier!’
Xi Tianyu felt aggrieved and quickly defended himself, ‘Boss, you moved too fast, I didn’t even have a chance.’
For the first time, Shen Shijiu was at a loss for words and could only point angrily at the pile of things in Xi Tianyu’s hands and scold him, ‘What are you doing holding all this? Planning to change careers and become a cook?’
Xi Tianyu stumbled, and the pots and pans nearly fell to the ground. He lamented in his heart, Boss, please don’t banish me to be a cook because you’re embarrassed!
‘I bought it for use,‘ Wu Shu said apologetically from the side.
Shen Shijiu was taken aback, because he had never known her to use these.
’You don’t even have these basic amenities here, and it doesn’t look like home, it looks like a hotel,‘ she said as she walked into the room.
’So, you’ll cook from now on?’ he asked tentatively.
She nodded and added, ’You take care of the place, I’ll take care of the food, it’s fair.’
Although he had some minor complaints about her words, they did not affect Shen Shijiu’s pleasant mood. After all, from today onwards, the two of them would have a more intimate lifestyle.
Xituanyu, who had been left out, saw the boss’s dark face suddenly take a 180-degree turn. He really wanted to take one hand and pound his chest, so depressed was he. While the two of them were eyeing each other, he quickly put his things in the kitchen, then automatically disappeared in the shortest time possible before the boss told him to go away.

Shen Shijiu had put a lot of thought into the first dinner since the two had broken up, and had specially asked the hotel to prepare candles and flowers.
Wushu looked at the large bunch of black roses and smiled. He seemed to like black things, and what was hard to understand was that the flower language of black roses was actually gentleness and sincerity.
It could be seen that even the truest heart will wither one day.
She poured glass after glass of wine into her mouth. Red wine is warm in nature and needs to be sipped slowly, but she really wasn’t in the mood.
She really wanted to ask about the smuggling and drugs, but she was afraid of spooking the suspects, so she had to wait for the right moment. The day after tomorrow was her 26th birthday. She believed that many things would be revealed on that day.
Shen Shijiu touched her fingertips, ‘You can’t drink like that, you’ll get drunk easily.’
She propped her forehead on one hand and looked at him without blinking, ‘Have you read Paradise Lost?’
‘No, I’m not interested in myths.‘
’That’s a pity. You should read it. The character Lucifer in it is a bit like you,‘ she said seriously.
’Really?‘ He looked up and smiled.
’You think you’re a genius, don’t you?‘
’What’s the definition of a genius?‘ he asked in return.
’Here,’ she said, pointing at his temple. ’Do you think your head is full of genius ideas?’
‘Not really,‘ he teased her, “like right now, all I can think about is you, but unfortunately you’re an idiot, so I’m asking a stupid question.”
She burst out laughing, “That’s so cheesy!”
’You’re the most insensitive person I know!‘ He tapped her head lightly and suddenly said, “Your birthday is the day after tomorrow, I want to throw you a birthday party.”
’Forget it, I don’t like those kinds of occasions. Besides, you and Siqing…‘ She remembered the news she had read in the paper earlier that day.
’In a while, I’ll announce to the public that we’re breaking off the engagement,‘ he said after a pause.
’That’s not what I meant.‘ A wave of alcohol rushed to her throat, and she burped, saying, “Just invite a few people over to make a bit of a fuss.”
’If you like, that’s fine too.’ He complied with her opinion, after all, she was the birthday girl. ’By the way, what do you want for a present.’

Wushu half-lowered her eyelids, and her index finger circled the rim of the wine glass as she thought: I’m afraid you can’t afford what I want.
She suddenly remembered something and said, ‘Where did you hide the things Wen Qi gave me?’
This seemed to hit a sore spot for him. Shen Shijiu was silent for a moment, put down his cutlery, and left his seat.
‘Go to bed early tonight,’ he said, gently patting her shoulder.
Wu Shu stared blankly at his back as it disappeared on the second floor, and only then did she push back her dining chair. Red wine has a strong aftertaste and can make you feel a bit punchy. Walking, her feet felt as if they were stepping on clouds, very light. She pinched her annoyed chest and walked directly into the bathroom in her room, turned on the hot water and showered from head to toe.
As things progressed, she found more and more mysteries. Not only was there something fishy about the grudge between Shen Shijiu and Chen Yiming, but even the teacher Tianyi’s intentions were not as simple as they had agreed.
Back then, when Tianyi escaped from the kidnappers, he permanently lost the ability to walk due to delayed treatment after being shot in both legs, so he could only hide in Japan under the pseudonym Kurosawa Ichimei. He hated the forces of darkness and had never actually given up on the Noah’s Ark project. He said that the best way to curb violence is to control it and use it for your own purposes, which is more effective than direct destruction.
At first, Wushu agreed with this view, which is why she accepted his arrangement to return to Nanting, but now she has doubts about it. Too many previous examples have taught her that she must always be on her guard and that it is better to plan for the worst than to rest on one’s laurels.
However, doubt is after all only a vague shadow and cannot constitute the truth.
She suddenly thought that since Wen Qi was also one of the teachers’ people, his following her might be to assist her, but it might also be to keep an eye on her. Despite this speculation, she still chose to believe in Wen Qi, because his leaving at such a critical time might just be an excuse.
If that was the case, then there was something seriously wrong with the box he had given her. Maybe he was trying to tell her something through it?
In any case, she had to find a way to get the box first, and then make other plans.

After taking a shower, Wushu threw herself into the incredibly soft bedding. Faced with a pile of problems, she suddenly felt extremely lazy. And thanks to the alcohol, she quickly fell asleep, even though she normally had trouble sleeping. Before she knew it, a thought came to her: Shen Shijiu didn’t come to harass her, so it seems that he really was angry.

At 4am, Wushu woke up. The first thing she did after opening her eyes was to quickly turn around to see if there was anyone next to her. This time, there was nothing but the quilt. She flushed, feeling that her reaction was really a bit ridiculous. She got up from the bed, opened the safe, took out a pair of contact lenses with light-sensitive recording function, and went into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she walked out of the room barefoot, dragging her nightgown behind her.
Since Shen Shijiu had equipped this villa with the best security system, he must have kept some important things at home, such as the disk with the smuggling details. But which of the many rooms was his ‘treasure room’?
Like a sleepwalker, she walked through corridor after corridor, memorising the locations of each suspicious room in her lenses for later use. Finally, she stopped in front of Shen Shijiu’s bedroom.

 

Chapter 31

A figure was reflected in the glass wall, long hair flowing around her shoulders, a white dress fluttering in the breeze, as if a ghost was moving around. The man sleeping on the large black bed did not move at all.
Stepping on the smooth floor to the side of the bed, Wushu looked at him sleeping on his side in the faint light – the thick black eyelashes casting a deep shadow on the half of his face that was not buried in the pillow. The corners of his mouth, which were usually sharp, were slightly drooping, forming a pleasing sight with his determined chin.
She sighed inwardly, only regretting that such a good-looking face was hidden by a black heart. If he were to never wake up, it would be considered a blessing. With fewer sins on his hands, he would be able to reincarnate into a better family in the future. As she thought about this, Wushu’s righteous hands could not help but want to strangle him.
But…
‘Sneaking into someone’s room in the middle of the night is usually a sign of either adultery or theft.’ Wu Shu jumped slightly at the sound of an emotionless voice breaking the silence of the bedroom, no matter how prepared she was.
Shen Shijiu lazily propped up his head, his dark, bright eyes fixed firmly on her, clearly wide awake for a long time. He cunningly asked, ’Are you going to commit adultery or theft?’
Wushu, however, glared at him with murderous intent, and with both hands continued to advance, strangling him, and said, ‘Unfaithful person, kill! Unfilial person, kill! Unkind person, kill! Unrighteous person, kill! Disrespectful and foolish person who does not believe in others, by the order of heaven, kill, kill, kill!’
Seeing that she had even brought out the Seven Killings Stele, he could not help but straighten up, wrap his arms around her waist, and fall backwards, laughing maniacally, ‘Then…rape first, kill later.’
‘Not angry anymore?‘ She winked at him, her collarbone under her pajamas looking sexy and alluring.
He lowered his head and kissed the corner of her mouth: “Last time it was a ruse, and this time it’s finally the beauty ruse. You’re so cute!”
’What a big jealous person,‘ she said, running her fingers through the gaps in his hair. “You can grow your hair long again in the future.”
’Didn’t you not like it?’
‘Yes, but it’s fun to pull.‘ She curled her tongue and teased him mischievously.
Close at hand, there was the fragrance of her body, a faint apricot scent that seeped into his nostrils with her slightest movement. Shen Shijiu found that his breathing was getting heavier and heavier with each breath, and his throat was parched with thirst.
’Can you tell me,’ he asked with some difficulty, ’why did you react so strongly the first time I hugged you?’
Wushu was a little embarrassed by his question and turned his head away. After a while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: ‘It felt like you were bullying me.’
He was stunned, not expecting such a simple reason. Life is really full of surprises. If he had asked her clearly at the beginning, he wouldn’t have misunderstood her for so long.
‘Silly,’ he sighed, his voice sexy and hoarse. ‘How is this bullying? Two people in love doing this together is called physical and mental unity.’
She blushed at his bluntness: ‘There’s no need to spell it out for something like this.’
He nodded and chuckled: ‘Yes, you should do it.’
She saw that his appetite was growing, so she crawled back a little nervously. You can’t mix business with pleasure, or you’ll lose out in the end.
As soon as he reached out, he dragged her back.
“Where are you going?’
‘Heh heh heh, don’t tickle my waist.’ She twisted her body, and her pajamas slid down her shoulders in the commotion, revealing an extremely seductive posture to his eyes. She was still blocking the restless hand on her waist, but she didn’t expect that at this moment, she was just a delicious little white lamb in the eyes of a man being sent to the mouth of a wolf. He bent down and gently bit her shoulder.
She let out a muffled grunt, and just as she was about to rise up and resist, he bit into the large artery in her neck.
He jerked his head back, and she cried out, ‘Stop it, it tickles.’
He ignored her resistance, and his cool lips slid down to her collarbone, his tongue lightly licking the weak area in the depression, leaving a series of traces of extreme arousal on it.
Her mind gradually fell into chaos. There was too much pressure, and she couldn’t indulge in his affection like an ordinary woman. But when she tried to push him away, she found that she couldn’t muster any strength, because her body was already melting under his embrace.
‘Wushu,’ Shen Shijiu said in a slightly hoarse voice, ‘I’ve been waiting since the first day you left, waiting for you to suddenly appear in front of me and say, I’m back. Do you know how long three years is?’ He let out a soft breath, and without hesitation, his palm covered her breast, stroking it gently through the thin layer of clothing, ‘long enough for me to be ready to forget you completely.’
The area he touched was painfully swollen, and Wushu clenched her teeth to control her emotions. At this moment, she wanted to hold him tightly and let out her tears, because this hard, unfulfilled love was just a game she was afraid to be true to in her dreams.
‘Promise me, no matter what happens, don’t ever leave again, and don’t ever give me a reason to let you go.’ He undid the sash of her nightdress, so that their hot skin was pressed together. His voice was interrupted by his rapid breathing, and it was intermittent and rising and falling: ’Give me everything, so that I can promise not to let myself or anyone else hurt you.’
Wushu instantly straightened up, grabbed his strong and round arm with her hand, and pushed her knee against his abdomen, anxiously asking, ‘What exactly is involved in your engagement with Siqing? Last time you didn’t explain clearly.’
He was forced to stop moving, and after a few seconds, he embraced her and lay face-to-face on the wide bed. He squeezed her face a little helplessly and said, ‘Don’t ask such a depressing question at such a critical time in the future.’
The light was dim, and it was hard to make out the expressions on their faces. The only thing that could be felt was that his breathing had become steady.
Wushu felt an indescribable sense of guilt, so she took the initiative to press her face against his neck to show her intimacy. A musky scent mixed with a hint of mint slowly spread with his body heat, stubbornly entering her nose. She swallowed the saliva in her mouth without warning.
Noticing this small change, he couldn’t help but raise the corner of his lips, and slowly rubbed her head with his chin. Unwittingly, he let out a small sigh, ‘Sometimes I’m conflicted. With your inquisitive personality, if I don’t tell you, you’ll sooner or later accidentally break into a restricted area.’
Wushu’s fingers climbed up his well-defined face, rested against his hot and wet lips, and coaxingly said, ‘Tell me, what is it?’
He bit her finger: ‘I love u!’
She was overwhelmed, and fell into his trap again.
‘What about you?’ he asked.
‘……You know,’ she answered blankly.
‘Tell me!’ he said relentlessly.
‘I…’ she swallowed the last two words and quickly changed her mind, ‘Give me back my things, and I’ll tell you.’
‘Okay!’ He didn’t know if he was angry or laughing. “Then just keep those two words in your stomach,” he said, turning over.
Wushu let out a sound. He scratched his neck, but there was no response. He patted his back, and he pulled the quilt over himself.
‘Okay, I’ll say it!’ She leaned down to his ear and said loudly, a little disheartened: “Ning Wushu loves Shen Shijiu the most! Even if he turns into an old man with no hair, all his teeth gone and slurred speech, he’ll still love him to death. Hey! This is much more weighty than those three words!” The last sentence was said even louder.
Shen Shijiu finally couldn’t stand it anymore, turned around and pounced on her, and they kissed passionately again.

Seeing that he was insatiable, Wushu, who was already feeling down, was a little overwhelmed and pushed him again, exclaiming, ‘It’s almost dawn!’
Shen Shijiu’s forehead bulged with veins, and he lightly slapped her buttocks with his palm, saying, ‘Try pushing again, I’ll show you the hard way.’
‘Don’t you dare!‘ she retorted, her face flushing.
He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Who are you waiting for?”
This was really too much, and Wushu was choked by his words and turned her head, coughing a few times.
’Bei Tang Hao? Has he ever kissed you?’ He continued to make trouble, as if he was deliberately picking on her.
Out of shame, she turned the tables on him and asked him, ‘What about you? Have you ever kissed Huo Siqing?’
‘No,’ he answered with a straight face, making her look a little guilty.
‘And what about that guy Wen Qi?’
‘No,’ he finally answered honestly.
‘Oh, so that means Bei Tang Hao did?’ Unexpectedly, he suddenly made a comeback. Wushu was embarrassed for a long time, and suddenly pushed him and said loudly, “What are you doing? It seems like you were the one who wronged me first! Do you still want me to watch you get married and keep your chastity for you?”
Struck in a vulnerable spot, his tone softened, ’I told you, there was a reason.’
‘Yes, there is a reason, but who knows?‘
’I’m sorry.’ He sat up and said with some depression, propping his forehead: “In recent years, I have always dreamed of the scene where you shot Bei Tang Hao for me. I dreamed that I died, and you didn’t even look back at me. Do you know that every time I woke up, I was jealous and mad!”
Now she realized that she was not the only one haunted by nightmares, but she didn’t feel balanced in her heart because of this, but rather felt suffocated.
‘So you drove Bei Tang Hao to Germany, so that he would have no chance to return?‘
She had been guessing, but she never expected him to admit it so readily. This was a big surprise.
’Don’t tell me that his return this time was actually your plan…‘
’Since Bei Tang couldn’t wait to make a move, I naturally had to generously give them the opportunity to settle things quickly.’
Shen Shijiu never had the word ‘modest’ in his dictionary. Wushu mocked, ‘Your so-called opportunity is to force Beitang Hao to cooperate with Chen Yiming, so that you can use this as an excuse to expel the Beitang family from Moreton Tower. No,’ she suddenly dismissed this speculation, ‘even if their cooperation is exposed, Moreton Tower will at most be split up, which is exactly what they want. You can’t do nothing for nothing.’
‘Think about why Tianshen wants to take over the case of Century Garden?‘ he reminded her, “Chen Yiming is competing with me, but how much profit can he get from it?”
’You mean, Chen Yiming’s goal is not to make a profit at all?’ she finally came around.
‘The best way to launder dirty money is through real estate. Real estate operations require huge amounts of capital, and with the official cover, he then reached an agreement with Beitang, and with the help of a loan from the Skyscraper Bank, the money laundering became legal.’ His words were truly meaningful. If there is no individual purpose, where does the calculation and being calculated come from? After all is said and done, everyone is a gambler, it just depends on who is more ruthless, accurate, and decisive.
She secretly clenched her fists with fear. Chen Yiming used Bei Tang Hao to get a legitimate loan process, so even if the Bei Tang family knew his intentions, there was no turning back. The most ruthless person was still Shen Shijiu. This trick of killing two enemies with one sword was truly ruthless.
“In other words, you will definitely let Tianxin win this bidding. Then why did you switch the real bidding documents? Isn’t letting Chen Yiming win just right?’
He laughed and said, ‘Of course you have to be convincing when putting on a show, so that people will believe you. Because the smoother things go, the less reliable they are.’
Wushu suddenly thought that the source of Chen Yiming’s black money should be smuggling and drugs. Should she ask about that? If she did, would he still tell her the truth?
‘You’ve told me so much, aren’t you afraid that I’ll tell someone?’ she asked tentatively.
‘Would you?’ he asked in return, and without waiting for an answer, he put his arms around her and whispered, “I know you wouldn’t.”
She felt as if something had lodged in her throat, and she didn’t know what kind of feeling was welling up in her heart. It was like the monk Tang Seng putting a tight band around the monkey Sun Wukong’s head, except that Sun Wukong felt the pain in his head, while she felt it in her heart. It was all so paradoxical, and in the end, it was unclear who had been wronged. There was nothing to do but take things one step at a time.
He suddenly asked in her ear, ‘Wushu, are you unhappy being with me?’
She nodded absentmindedly. Seeing that he was staring at her without moving, she pretended to be relaxed and said, ‘Who can be happy being in a big vinegar jar all the time? Even when I was with Huo Siqing, you could put on a face like you were very unhappy, and you couldn’t bear to see me have friends…’ As she spoke, her voice faded, and a hint of bitterness crept into the corners of her mouth.
He rubbed her face to change the subject: ‘Didn’t Wen Qi say you could only open the box he gave you on your birthday?’
She nodded. It wasn’t hard to guess, and if it wasn’t, she would have already opened the present.
He said, ‘In that case, it’s not too late to give it to you tomorrow.’
Since he had already said that, she had no choice but to agree. She suddenly felt her eyes getting dry, so she subconsciously rubbed them with her hands, and suddenly she was startled. She didn’t know when, but the contact lenses she had been wearing had fallen off.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.
‘Nothing,’ she said, looking up, and gasped. With the faint light, she saw the thin contact lenses stuck to Shen Shijiu’s face.
He seemed to sense something unusual and was about to lift a hand to touch his face. In her panic, Wushu didn’t care about being reserved or not, and ‘passionately’ hooked his neck, bringing her mouth to his on her own initiative, even sticking her tongue into his mouth. He was first taken aback, but then couldn’t help but embrace her tightly. When their tongues met again, she removed the object on his face and held it in the palm of her hand.
Shen Shijiu was so immersed in her active but clumsy tongue kiss that he naturally didn’t pay attention to these trivialities. However, when he wanted to take it further, she was like a cat that had stolen its fill and was ready to slip away without a trace.
‘I can’t anymore, my head is a bit dizzy.’
‘You were fine just now, how could…’ Every time it was interrupted at a critical moment, his frustration can be imagined.
‘Maybe your body hasn’t fully recovered yet,‘ she said helplessly. “I want to go back to sleep for a while.”
’Then sleep here with me, I won’t disturb you.‘
’No,‘ she said quickly, “I won’t be able to sleep if you’re next to me.” It would be strange if she could sleep with a time bomb next to her pillow.
’Okay,’ he said, not insisting anymore, and helped her put on her nightdress and belt, before kissing her ear and saying, ’I’m going to take a shower.’
Wushu was about to leave the room when the bathroom door suddenly opened next to her. He poked half of his sexy body out from inside, with his head dripping wet, and exclaimed, ‘Baby, I forgot to tell you earlier, your breasts seem to have shrunk again. I’ll help you in the future…’
She quickly took off one of the slippers from her foot and slammed it hard in his direction: ‘Don’t you dare mention my nickname, let alone my breasts!’
She stormed back to her room, slammed the door shut, calmed down a little, and then thought about what she needed to do. She then quickly walked to the study.
The PDA had already received and stored what the contact lens had previously recorded, and played it back to the time period when she entered Shen Shijiu’s room. She pressed the pause button heavily, and after the cut was complete, her fingertips rested on the DEL button in the second half of the clip. She suddenly felt some inner struggle.
The night-vision function of this contact lens clearly recorded every vivid detail of his face, whether it was peaceful, elegant, smiling, gentle, domineering, or full of desire, all of which was the Shen Shijiu that no one else could see. The endless affection had not yet occupied her entire heart, and wave after wave of melancholy pressed in on her. Heaven had given him the most perfect thing, but also gave him an unhealthy soul. Was that fair or unfair?

 

Chapter 32

Before seven o’clock, Wushu went downstairs to prepare breakfast for the two of them. Someone has a very picky palate and doesn’t like congee, so she made some Japanese omelettes with sliced ham and red peppers. After getting everything ready, she went upstairs to call out to the person, but found the bedroom empty.
She approached the wall-mounted smart control touch screen and swiped the area on it, but was prompted with an error. She needed to enter the operating system with a fingerprint or password verification. She stood there for a long time before turning around and walking out of the room. Two minutes later, she finally found the person she was looking for in the shooting range on the top floor of the gym.

Shen Shijiu looked in good spirits, wearing a thin V-neck sweater, headphones and impact-resistant glasses. He was concentrating on shooting at the target in front of him. One shot, two shots, three shots, he kept pulling the trigger and hit the bull’s eye every time.
She watched quietly, and when he turned his head, she smiled and said, ‘That’s amazing.’
He reloaded the gun and said, ‘Do you want to try?’
She nodded, walked over, put on her headphones, took the gun from him, and when she aimed at the bull’s-eye, her hands began to shake uncontrollably. He put out his arm to support her wrists and told her, ‘Don’t be so nervous.’
She sighed, ‘I can’t.’
‘Just forget about the past and look straight ahead,’ he said, reassuring her, knowing what she was thinking. In fact, it wasn’t that he didn’t mind, it was just that it was more important now. It was precisely because he was astute that he wouldn’t be foolish enough to hold onto the grudges of the past and miss out on his and her future.
‘Forget it,’ she tried, and finally put the gun down, saying, ‘Let’s go have breakfast.’
‘You made it?’
‘I made it.’
‘Oh, let’s go,’ he said, acting cool, and walked out of the shooting room with his hands in his pockets, not at all expecting that his cheerful pace had betrayed his elation.
The taste of food prepared by a loved one really is different, although this may just be a psychological effect.
After finishing his own portion, someone still felt that ‘the meal was not satisfying enough’, and kept staring at Wushu’s plate. When she looked back at him blankly, he lifted his knife and fork and asked, as if hesitating, ‘Baby, can you finish eating this?’
As soon as she heard this, Wushu immediately lifted her own plate, hid to the side, and called out to him over her shoulder, ‘Are you an idiot? You just ate so much earlier.’
‘Men have bigger appetites…just one.‘ His knife and fork extended over to her very consciously.
’No way!’ She defended her plate. Damn, why are all the people I know like this? Is it more appetising to fight over food?
He suddenly pointed to the door and said, “Look, who’s here.”
She replied sheepishly, ’Is there a smarter trick?’
He waved his fork around: ‘I’m not full, so my intelligence is impaired.’
So he is a dunce. But if you don’t satisfy him at this time, he will do something even more unintelligent. Wushu knows him too well, so he can only pick the smallest omelette on his plate and hand it to him. But he went a step further and said, ‘It’s not enough to fill a gap.’ Seeing that she was about to confiscate it, he quickly stuffed it into his teeth.
“Your teeth are so big, you need to get them fixed,’ She said hatefully, watching him eat, but a sweet taste filled her mouth. A strange thought suddenly occurred to her: if his descendants were like him, it would be a real worry.
He finished eating contentedly, wiped the corners of his mouth with a wet towel, and returned to being the elegant and composed Shen Dajun.
‘What are you going to do today?’ he asked.
‘While I still have time, I’m going to learn how to be a capitalist,’ she said.
His eyes twinkled like stars, a little unpredictable: ‘Why not become a capitalist’s wife? It’ll save time and effort.’
‘No. A capitalist is more powerful, and can exploit people.’
‘Why won’t you listen to me? Wushu,’ he said, without smiling, his voice slightly lowered.
She gradually gathered her smile, lowered her eyes, and said, ‘How long will it take? A month, a year, or a lifetime? Do you want me to be a fool forever, dependent on you?’
‘I’m only looking out for your best interests.‘ His eyebrows knit a little, and the contours of his face seem to lose a little of their softness: “If you insist on starting a company, I can pick you some assistants.”
’Heh, the people you pick are all superhuman, I can’t afford to pay them.‘
’I can help you with that.‘
Of course he would arrange everything in an orderly manner. Wushu doesn’t say anything, and with an expressionless face, she tidies up the mess on the table.
’Leave it,’ he says, holding her hand, ’I’ll call the maid to clean up later.’
She pulled her hand away and ignored him.
‘Are you angry again?’
‘No, I’m just thinking.’ She looked at him and said, ‘Do you have to be like this?’
‘I have to be like this,’ he replied with complete certainty.
So that was it. First he made excuses for her to move in here, and then he controlled her time outside, keeping watch on her 24 hours a day. He had gone to a lot of trouble.
‘Suit yourself,‘ she shrugged, carrying the dinner plates into the kitchen and washing them up.
She couldn’t help it if both sides wanted to keep an eye on her.
’Hey, remember to pick a good-looking guy for me,’ she added loudly while washing the plates.
The jealous man followed her into the kitchen, embraced her waist vigorously, and asked “thoughtfully” with a pretence of sincerity, “what standard do you want?” After clarifying the question, he would pick someone according to the opposite situation she described.
She poked him in the nose with her free hand and said, ‘Let’s use this pig as the standard.’
He pondered for a moment and said, ‘That’s a tall order.’
‘Ha, are you handsome?’ she said, changing her tone of voice.
‘That’s a matter of opinion,’ he said, wisely. He meant that if she didn’t think he was handsome, it was either because she was being dishonest or she was mentally challenged.
‘You know what? The highest level of narcissism is not knowing that you’re being narcissistic.’
“I really don’t know,’
She looked back in surprise and carefully observed his expression—unrivaled seriousness and sincerity.

At 7:30, fearing that he would be late, Xi Tianyu rushed over without even finishing yawning. While ringing the bell, he leaned against the wall to catch up on the last few minutes of sleep. After entering the door, he swayed over to the sofa, climbed up and lay down, as if in a dream, saying, ‘Boss, it’s not too late for you to make out for five minutes before leaving.’
Wu Shu stared in disbelief at Shen Shijiu and said, ‘Your subordinates are really something.’
Of all the people, Shen Shijiu valued Gu Yuanzhi the most, but it was actually Xi Tianyu whom he trusted the most. Otherwise, he would not have sent him to protect Wu Shu’s safety outside. Of course, there was another important reason, and that was that Xi Tianyu would never become his rival in love.
If they knew that Shen Shijiu was hiding such a little trick in his stomach, they would probably hug each other and take turns vomiting blood.

After spending the morning there, Xi Tianyu felt like he was about to develop fleas. Yesterday, at least, there was Song Xi, a young girl, to keep him company, but today he had to go to a correspondence course on ‘business management’, which was even more boring than his high school textbooks. While digging his ears, he looked around to see if there were any beautiful women. Unfortunately, it was just a vegetable patch, full of ugly vegetables.
After scanning the area, the only attractive woman he could find was the idol next to him. He plucked up the courage to imagine in his mind’s eye how she and the boss would spend two intriguing nights together. He wondered if it would be a beautiful woman taming a wild beast, a bully taking advantage of a weak woman, or a wolf and a sheep conspiring together…
‘Xi Tianyu?’ Wushu had been looking at him strangely for a long time. It seemed that she had seen that familiar expression on Songxi’s face more than once.
Xi Tianyu muttered to himself, ‘I’m wondering if I should buy a few dozen packs of Durex to give to the boss?’ He was used to speaking loudly, and since the students were quiet and the classroom was empty, at least half of the people heard him. They all turned around to watch the show. The stares of the adults were mostly naked, which made Wushu extremely embarrassed. She slammed her hand on the table and yelled ferociously, ‘Why are you looking at me? I don’t know him!’
The entire classroom was so quiet that only her echo remained.
The two were expelled from the classroom.
Wushu felt this was a great shame, but she still admonished Xitianyu not to cause trouble, and the boy managed to hold back from lifting the professor’s podium.
‘Damn, that four-eyed frog has no idea who he is dealing with, and it’s obvious that he’s never been in the game…’
“Xitianyu, can you stop making noise?’
Wushu subconsciously patted him on the head, but it was only after she had done so that she remembered that he was not Wen Qi. However, Xi Tianyu’s carefree and indifferent appearance did somewhat resemble his.
She sighed inwardly. After Wen Qi left, there was no news, and she never took the initiative to call him because of Xiao Shi’s incident. No matter how angry she was, once time passed, what remained was sadness.
After the two walked out of the school gate, they sat down in the square not far away. Wushu wanted to be quiet for a while, but Xi Tianyu was like a fly, flitting around in front of her. Young people are after all impetuous and couldn’t sit still for a moment. She quickly sent him to buy drinks.
Not long after Xi Tianyu left, a Toyota hatchback came from west to east on the main road of the square and arrogantly parked in the middle of the road. A few people who looked like thugs got out of the car, and the people resting in the square got up and avoided them, scared. They made a small circle in the square and walked towards Wu Shu. One of them sat down next to her, took off his hat, and revealed a shiny bald head.
‘Miss Ning, do you still remember my bald head?‘ He shouted in a loud voice as if he was afraid that she couldn’t hear him at such a close distance, and his saliva almost flew in her face.
’Of course I remember.”
When they first went to the bar to ask about this person, they looked at his photo for a long time, but they couldn’t compare him to the fat kid they knew when they were young.
After Wei Kun dropped out of school, he followed a few other students who also didn’t go to school and became bullies near the school. Later, he started hanging out in society and had done all kinds of evil things since childhood—he had stolen an old lady’s money, hit a pregnant woman, molested a minor, stabbed a big shot, and been in prison… After he got out, he hung out with the Min Nan people in the western district, robbing territories and smashing places. Because he was ruthless and had seen a lot, he quickly became the boss. Most importantly, this Wei Kun has a gangster’s air about him, and he doesn’t even care about the Nan Jing Society. As the saying goes, the soft fear the hard, the hard fear the ruthless, the ruthless fear the reckless, and the reckless fear the desperate. Chen Yiming probably saw his desperation and ruthlessness and lured him to her side.
Wei Kun would come to see her, and Wushu was not surprised. She was just not sure whether this was Chen Yiming’s idea or whether he was simply looking for trouble. Of course, no matter what the reason, dealing with someone like this would not be pleasant.
It is easy to avoid an open attack, but it is difficult to guard against a villain. She knew that this would be someone who would give her more headaches than Chen Yiming and Shen Shijiu.
‘Just remember!’ Wei Kun’s piercing eyes twinkled as they looked at her. “They say that girls change a lot when they grow up, and the more they change, the more attractive they become. I must say, Miss Ning is much more attractive now than she was as a child. Look at this delicate skin and tender flesh, I wonder how it feels to touch it? Hahaha.”
The mocking laughter was met with her indifference, which made Wei Kun feel a little embarrassed. His subordinate cursed, ’Bitch! Kun is talking to you, do you hear me?’
‘Hey,’ Wei Kun waved his hand, “don’t be so rude.” Seeing that she was as unconcerned as a pig in boiling water, he simply cut to the chase, “The rules of the underworld are that you pay for killing someone and you pay for debts. Some time ago, Miss Ning beat three of my brothers to within an inch of their lives, so isn’t it only fair that she pays something?”
She finally responded, “What do you want?”
If he thought he was going to extort money, he was dead wrong.
‘How about this,‘ he said, shaking his legs and revealing his rascal’s face: “If you let a few of my men beat you up, we’ll call it even.”
’Haha,’ she thought it was funny: ’Why don’t you let me beat you up, and I’ll let you go for arresting my friend, okay?’
‘Fuck! Don’t be a bitch!’ He took off the cigarette from his mouth and slammed it on the ground. He had plenty of ways to deal with a sharp-tongued woman like her, and she would not be able to survive. He was about to do something to her when someone let out a pitiful cry. He turned around and saw one of his men rolling on the ground with a dislocated arm.
A few bottles of drinks were scattered on the ground, and Xi Tianyu was rubbing his fists, in contrast to his previous laid-back appearance.
‘My grandchildren are really good, they know that my hands are itching,’ he said, grabbing the collars of the two thugs and excitedly punching them left and right. His strikes were fast and fierce, and he was worthy of being the number one fighting king in the university. Those who were beaten could not defend themselves at all.
Wei Kun saw a newcomer appear out of nowhere, and his face became even more hideous. He took out a switchblade and aimed at Xi Tianyu’s vital points, ready to stab him in the chaos. Unexpectedly, a screwdriver suddenly appeared and blocked his throat. He immediately froze, his eyes rolling over.
Wushu’s hand holding the Swiss Army knife was tingling with veins on the back of her hand. She shouted coldly, ‘If you don’t want to get another hole to breathe through, take your people and get out of here!’
Wei Kun had fought with Wushu when he was a child and knew that this woman was capable of anything. He didn’t dare to make a move, raised his hand, and said with a hateful grin, ‘You’ve got some nerve. Let’s go!’ He waved his hand and his men ran faster than rabbits.
‘You just let them go? I’m still warm…‘ Xi Tianyu looked disappointed.
Wushu put away her multi-tool and reminded him, “Don’t tell Shen Shijiu about this.”
’Why? Is that bald guy your ex?’ Xi Tianyu guessed cleverly.
Wushu said worriedly, ’If your boss finds out that they took advantage of the situation because you left, he’ll be really angry, won’t he?’
Xi Tianyu pounced on her, embraced her thighs and worshiped her exaggeratedly: ‘My idol is brilliant! Don’t ever tell the boss about this.’

 

Chapter 33

In the afternoon, Shen Shijiu sat on the table with nothing to do and fiddled with a deck of tarot cards. Luo Ze walked into the president’s office with some documents and stood patiently watching.
‘How is the situation with Yuan Sheng?’ After a long time, he asked.
‘It’s been confirmed that someone is playing tricks, but it’s not aimed at us,’ Luo Ze said.
He raised his eyebrows: ‘Was it Chen Yiming?’
‘The chairman already knew?’
‘Just a wild guess. Last time you mentioned it to me, I thought about the batch of reaction tanks and refrigeration and heating equipment at Yuan Sheng’s beverage processing plant, especially those sealed warehouses… What other uses do you think these pieces of equipment could have?’ He asked with a smile, casually flipping over a card with the image of a devil: ‘Converting the beverage processing plant into a drug manufacturing base is not a bad idea.’

In the room of a luxury cruise ship, Chen Yiming is furious with his subordinates. He draws his gun, loads it, and points it at the head of one of the little heads who screwed up. He scolds him, ‘I told you to do things quickly and efficiently, and you’ve left a fucking clue for someone else!’
The person being pointed at doesn’t dare to breathe, is sweating profusely, and begs for mercy, ‘Boss. Give, give me another chance. I, I will definitely make up for my mistakes.’
‘I don’t raise useless trash.’ After a muffled sound, the silenced gun left a smoking bullet hole in the man’s head. Chen Yiming took the square cloth handed to him by his subordinate and wiped the blood splashed on his hands clean, saying, “Throw it into the sea to feed the fish.” Immediately, someone dragged the body out of the room.
Even so, his anger had not subsided.
Now that the regulatory authorities have determined that Yuan Sheng is not at fault, coupled with Shen Shijiu’s interference and the bank’s resumption of loan support for Huo Donglin, this means that his plan to take over Yuan Sheng at a low price is now out the window, and he will have to spend twice as long looking for a new target.
Wei Kun walked in with a few of his bruised and battered brothers. He had seen the situation clearly from the outside, and therefore looked very nervous.
Chen Yiming gave them a look, lit a cigar, and a sinister look crept into his face: ‘Shen Shijiu, there is a limit to one’s good fortune.’

There is an artificial hot spring in the east courtyard of Shangjing Villa, surrounded by rockeries and bamboo groves, with a beautiful view. At night, the surrounding lights are lit up, like falling stars in the sky.
Shen Shijiu found Wushu by the hot spring pool. She was wearing the cotton homewear he had prepared for her, her slippers neatly placed to one side, her feet comfortably soaking in the hot spring water, and her upper body reclining on a polished, smooth oval stone pedestal – looking like a big cat basking on its stomach.
He leaned against the stone pillar and watched for a long time, reluctant to break the atmosphere, which inexplicably made him feel warm and tranquil. He had lived in this villa for nearly a year, and although he had used many of the facilities only a few times, he no longer cared. Living alone doesn’t change anything just because you have a luxury home; sometimes a simple bed and sofa are enough. However, things were completely different now. He loved watching her explore the place and enjoy his world comfortably. As long as it was something she liked, it was valuable.
She suddenly rolled over halfway, her face pressed against the cool stone surface, and let out a soft cry. He then got the idea to tease her, and crept up quietly. Just as he was about to pinch her nose, she suddenly opened her eyes, gave him a bright smile, and then pushed him into the pool. The water splashed, and in the misty haze, he could see nothing, except her joyful laughter.
“Hahaha, you deserve it!’
She laughed so hard she bent over, her legs flailing in the water. ‘Serves you right for being sneaky and up to no good!’
He paddled over like a fish, stood up, and his wet clothes stuck to his chest, showing the outline of his muscles, which made her almost burst into a nosebleed. He threw his hair back, waved at her, his eyes gleaming, his tone extremely gentle: ‘Come down here.’
“I’d be a fool to come down here.’ She scrambled to her feet, just as he reached out and grabbed her ankle. She let out a yelp and then fell into the water, but luckily he was behind her, supporting her back so she didn’t get too badly wet. But her clothes were soaked, white and even more transparent than his.
‘Oh my God, I just changed these clothes!’ she exclaimed in exasperation.
He ignored her complaints and slapped her on the butt, saying, ‘This is a little punishment.’
‘I think you’re taking advantage of the situation!‘ She immediately fired back, grabbing his face with her hands and pulling it to the sides. His skin was even better than hers, and it was very elastic in her hands. She asked with a smile, “Do you usually do a lot of skin care?”
His face was scrunched into all kinds of strange shapes as she rubbed it, and his words were also mumbled indistinctly, “I go to the CLUB twice a week, where there is a top-notch health salon, and I do it occasionally.”
’Health? What do you do?’
‘Well…mostly massages.‘
She looked at him with an ambiguous expression and asked, “Is the person who serves you a male or female masseuse?”
’Both.‘ Seeing that she didn’t believe him, he said, “Next time I’ll take you to Billionaire Club and you can try it out.”
She knew about this club, a place where a bunch of rich people flaunted their wealth.
’Are the members of this club really all billionaires?‘
’Most of them are, and there are also some with special statuses, such as eight members of royal families from abroad.’
‘That’s amazing,‘ she jokes. “So have you ever thought about marrying a princess?”
’No,‘ he laughs.
’Have you never thought about it, or haven’t you seen any pretty ones?‘
’There is one Thai princess who is very pretty,‘ his fingers wander around her neck, next to her heart beating strongly: “Unfortunately, I’m only interested in this guy. What do you think?”
’What do you think?’ She takes a deep breath, the happiness is too strong and it scares her, afraid that in the blink of an eye, it will all become a bubble.
‘Then give yourself to me,’ he whispered, slowly tightening the line in his hands. You can’t rush it, or the fish will flop away. He had to know when the right moment was, and just now, with the warm water rippling around them, she had actually taken his waist in her own hands. She was beautiful as a painting right now, her honey-coloured skin flushed with moisture, long, curved eyelashes dripping with water, and her pale lips slightly parted, as if to say, ‘Kiss me.’
‘Shi Jiǔ…’ she murmured his name, her eyes a rare haze. ‘How come you can get aroused anytime, anywhere?’
Frustration! Frustration! Frustration! Three mountains suddenly weighed down on Shen Shijiǔ’s head.
As it turned out, spoiling a woman too much only made the man suffer. He didn’t bother arguing with her anymore, and kissed her hard. She whimpered and resisted for a moment, but eventually chose to compromise.
To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.

On another refreshing morning, Wushu opened her hazy eyes and found that she was surrounded by a sea of flowers. Not only that… She sat up straight: ‘Who are you people?’
Several strange women had barged into her room.
‘I’m Joy, and you’re mine for four and a half hours this morning.’ A man who looked neither male nor female and claimed to be the chief designer of Chanel Asia-Pacific snapped his fingers, and the women pounced, dragging Wushu out of bed. A few minutes later, she was sitting stiffly like a mummy in a Mercedes limousine.
Joy turned around and winked at her, ‘Miss Ning, please relax. Stress affects the elasticity of your skin and can even cause fine lines around your eyes.’
‘Really?’ Wushu subconsciously touched her face and sure enough, it was a bit rough. ‘But where are you taking me anyway?’
‘We’re here!’
She quickly poked her head out to take a look, and the few large diamond characters in the shopfront almost blinded her—Chanel Women’s Beauty Club.
Before she could see what was inside, she was already being pampered from head to toe by three or four pairs of hands. After having her sweat, cuticles and dead skin removed, she finally understood what a pig is thinking when it is about to be slaughtered.
Then came the aromatherapy massage. The beautician’s hands seemed to have magical powers, not only making her skin glow with firmness in the shortest time, but also almost making her fall asleep from the pleasure.
‘The final step is a complete makeover.’ JOY, acting like a master, lifted her hair and said, “Physically, you are not destined for nobility, but I see a kind of distinctive sexiness in you. It is unassuming but unforgettable. My goal is to make this feeling of yours stand out even more.”
She shook off the goosebumps all over her body. She was already used to the capable image of black clothes and black pants, and she was suddenly given the label “sexy”. She was really creeped out.
The hairstylist had wanted to create a short, flaxen look for her, but she kept shaking her head. After a quick change of plan, her hair was dishevelled and then trimmed, gathered into a loose bun on the left side, accessorised with a single earring, and finished with a three-dimensional honey-coloured, radiant makeup look. Finally, she put on a silver-grey, low-cut cocktail dress designed by JOY herself, and accessorised with jewellery.
Everything was ready. Wushu got up, walked over to the mirror and, after just one glance, was dumbfounded. Was the woman in the mirror really her? She turned around and her eyes grew wider and wider. It turned out that her face could be so perfect, her breasts so perky, and her legs so long… This is truly an amazing world. As long as you have money, even an ugly duckling can instantly become a swan.
‘Very beautiful!’ JOY exclaimed sincerely. “Miss Ning, you have a good foundation, don’t waste it.” JOY was heartbroken to learn from previous conversations that she was used to going without makeup. For top international designers like him, a woman who doesn’t know how to make herself beautiful is just as scary as a cockroach.
She always felt that her breasts were showing too much: ’Can I add a flower or something?’
‘Don’t move!‘ JOY screamed, as if she had done something heinous: “Do you want to kill me?”
’I’m sorry,‘ she said apologetically, “I’ve never been this ”revealing’ before.‘
’What are you apologising for? You should be proud of showing everyone your most beautiful side. Do you not think your breasts are beautiful?’
‘Is there any suspicion of fraud in forcing out this effect?’ She looked down at her deep cleavage and actually felt a little guilty.
JOY consoled her with a bitter smile, “Even if you have F-cups, you still have to squeeze to get the effect.”
She couldn’t understand, “It’s not like milking a cow.”
Puff! For the first time, JOY unceremoniously spilt the coffee in her mouth.
I’ve always said that elegance is not for her.

JOY looked at the clock and said, ‘Miss Ning, you still have a little time. You can rest a bit before you set off again.’
‘Huh?’ Wushu was sitting on a square stool, trying hard to get used to the ten-centimetre-high stilettos, and upon hearing this, she looked up: ‘What else is there to do?’
‘At eleven o’clock, you’re having lunch with Mr Shen.’
‘I’m supposed to eat with him dressed like this?’ She stood up, but her shoes restricted her movement, and her bearing suddenly weakened. At first glance, she did look a bit like a pretentious lady.
JOY said with a laugh, ‘Mr Shen will have a big appetite when he sees Miss Ning.’
She said to herself, ‘Then I’m in danger.’
‘What?’ The other person didn’t hear her.
‘Where’s the bathroom?’ She decided to straighten her breasts a little.
“Go out, turn left, and then right.’
Once she was outside, she noticed that the place was incredibly luxurious. The small decorations on the walls were so exquisite that she wanted to secretly slip them into her pocket. The corridor was covered in Persian wool carpets that were too luxurious to sleep on. There were spa rooms on both sides, with large tulip-shaped decorations inlaid on the doors. Even the bathroom door was filled with a rich, sweet fragrance.
A girl came out of the room, a towel wrapped around her head. When she saw him, she politely said hello.
‘Hi.’ Out of courtesy, Wushu had to stop and speak to the girl.
“Your clothes are very beautiful, designed by JOY, right?’ The girl’s sensitivity to beautiful things is like having antennae on her head, but her gaze quickly shifted from the clothes to the decoration on Wushu’s chest, and then she said in a surprised voice, ‘I didn’t expect to see Cartier’s ruby cheetah brooch here.’
Wushu was surprised too. Even though she didn’t know about fashion, she knew the Cartier brand, but she had only heard that it was the best French jewellery brand. How would she know that what she was wearing was actually top-notch luxury goods worth a lot of money.
Basically, the people who come here to spend money are the wives of rich men, rich girls, and secret mistresses who can’t be seen in the light of day. The difference between the two is that the former are well-travelled, while the latter are narrow-minded. Unfortunately, Wushu’s reaction as a country bumpkin was more in line with the latter in other people’s eyes. As a result, the girl’s eyes immediately changed, becoming more contemptuous, and her posture became higher. She didn’t even look at her again before she walked away, leaving Wushu extremely confused.
She spent a long time in the bathroom, but the fabric on her chest still couldn’t hide anything. She looked at herself in the mirror again and again, but her gaze was attracted to the brooch. She couldn’t help but think, ‘Maybe it’s a fake? Otherwise, JOY wouldn’t have even mentioned it.’ Little did she know that no one was surprised anymore. Back then, when Huo Siqing ordered a wedding dress from him, the natural South African diamonds set in the neckline alone were worth millions.
She didn’t pay any attention when someone pushed the door in, and it wasn’t until her name was shouted out by someone else that she turned around in surprise, only to see Huo Siqing, Huo Siqing’s sister.
‘I can’t believe you’d come to a place like this.’
‘I can’t believe it either.’ She was even more embarrassed, and she felt awkward and constrained when she ran into an acquaintance dressed like this.
‘It seems like you’ve been having a good time lately.’ Huo Siqi surveyed her in the mirror, looking very different from her usual self: “Unlike my sister Siqing, who stays at home all day long, looking sickly and listless.”
Huo Siqi really loved her younger sister. When they used to hang out together, she would joke with Wushu that, despite her clever face, Siqing was actually just like a little white mouse, easy to bully. Now, the person who bullied her sister is here. How can Siqi swallow this?
She took out her makeup case from her handbag, retouched her makeup while seemingly carelessly saying, ‘You probably don’t know, right? After the surgery three years ago, Siqing’s heart has never been very good. Shi Ji has contacted the best cardiothoracic specialist for her, and after repeated examinations over two years, she can now barely do intense sports. That’s why they haven’t lived together before.’
Wushu looked at Huo Siqi: ‘You telling me this won’t change anything.’
It wasn’t that she was heartless and refused to forgive others for their mistakes, but she knew that time could never be turned back, just like the relationship between the three of them, which would never be the same as it once was.
Huo Siqi sneered: ‘There are some things you don’t need me to say, you should understand. Just because a man can’t forget his first love doesn’t mean he doesn’t have feelings for his current girlfriend. Just like this time, when Shijiu came to the rescue of Yuansheng, wasn’t it because of my sister? A man like him has always done things his own way, and the fact that he feels guilty already shows the problem.”
Catching a fleeting change in Wushu’s face in the mirror, Huo Siqi’s words became even sharper: ’Siqing started going out with Shen Shijiu after you broke up with him, and when they were getting married, you came back. I really can’t figure out why, after all that happened, you would choose to go back to Shi Jiu.‘ Because Wushu is a strong-willed person, those who know her well know that otherwise she wouldn’t have had such a row with Shen Shijiu in the first place. “Is it to punish Si Qing? Because she betrayed your friendship?”
’You’re thinking too much,’ Wushu frowned, “I don’t have the energy to plot against Si Qing at all.” Even if she had resented her in the past, she could still tell who was more important.
‘So who do you want to plot against?’ Huo Siqi’s sharp mind tested: “Shi Jiu?”
Someone knocked on the door outside the bathroom, interrupting their conversation: “Siqi, are you done yet?”
Just hearing this voice made Wushu feel like her head had grown another size.
Huo Siqing pushed the door open and, distracted, she didn’t recognise who was standing next to her sister for a moment, and only slowly froze when she realised that the atmosphere was wrong. She had never seen Wushu like this before, transformed, glowing with an inner radiance – she could tell they were happy together, because Wushu had finally changed for the better. Despite her mixed feelings, she walked over to them, put on a faint smile and said softly, ‘Wushu, you’ve changed so much, I didn’t recognise you at first… Oh yes, I remember, today is your birthday.’
‘Sorry, I have something to do,’ she said curtly, brushing past them. The high heels on her feet were playing up at this time, turning every now and then, and she thought she must look very dishevelled. But she couldn’t care less about that. She needed to go out for some fresh air and sort out her chaotic thoughts.
Joy was talking to someone at the lobby counter. When she saw her walking towards the door in a hurry, she thought she was worried about being late for her date. She quickly went over to her and put a fur coat over her shoulders, saying, ‘Mr. Shen just called and said he’ll pick you up himself. He’ll be here in about five minutes.’
Wushu quickly rummaged through a pile of bags to find her own clothes, took out her phone and ran to the side to dial the number. The phone rang twice, and then it was answered.
‘I’m on my way, I’ll be there soon.‘ The brisk tone of his voice, accompanied by the lyrical song in the car, reached her ears, like a beam of magical sunlight, little by little dispelling the gloom in her heart. She covered her chest, her breathing gradually calming down, and she said slowly, “You’d better not come over, I’ll go to you directly.”
’Why?‘
’I want to…surprise you,’ she said, stammering.
‘Okay, I’ll wait for you at the Billionaire Club.’ Shen Shijiu turned the car around, in such a good mood that he wanted to speed on the road with a speed limit of 60 kilometers per hour.
It was still the same Mercedes-Benz limousine that took Wushu to the golden entrance of the club. The doorman opened the door for her, and the moment her feet touched the ground, she attracted the sideways glances of many people. Dressed like this, she didn’t dare to stay outside for long, and hurriedly entered the club.
In the foyer, a waiter came up to her: ‘Are you Miss Ning?’
‘Yes.’
‘Mr Shen is in the Western restaurant on the second floor. Please follow me.’
She was led forward in a daze, surrounded by people. She had seen several of them on TV, accompanied by girlfriends, either popular stars or wealthy women. Unfortunately, she was not a journalist, otherwise she could have stopped to gossip.
It was a feast for the eyes as she walked along. The western wall on the first floor was a huge marine aquarium with all kinds of rare fish, although she suspected that many of them were there to be eaten. The second floor was even more extraordinary, with tall Roman columns, lifelike murals of flowers and birds, and in the middle of the restaurant was a pool with a stage, in which large water lilies were blooming. The music was not played on an ordinary piano, but on a harp. Two beautiful young girls in white, with bare feet, were kneeling on the stage in a reverent posture, their fingers flowing over the strings of the harp. The listeners were all bewitched. This kind of atmosphere cannot be described as just rich and prosperous.
Shen Shijiu stood in front of the arched window at the dining table, staring out into the distance in a daze. His long, lean figure was dressed in a casual navy blue handmade uniform, and he looked as handsome as a pine tree. The sunlight shone through the beige Roman curtains and cast a halo of peace on his well-defined face. If he wasn’t the tyrannical Shen Shijiu, he would be the most charming prince charming that would make women’s hearts race. Many would be lining up to try on his glass slipper.
Wu Shu walked over and asked in a husky voice, ‘Mr. Shen, would you do me the honour of having dinner with me?’
Her coat was taken off by the waiter and put aside. He looked back at her and, after a full two seconds, his eyes lingered on her.
She immediately nervously hugged her chest and said, ‘Where are you looking?
Amused by her appearance, he leaned over, placed one hand on the back of her neck and kissed her on the forehead. ‘Happy birthday, baby.’
Can they be so intimate in public? She whispered, ‘Someone’s looking.’
‘Let them look,’ he said nonchalantly.
This club was his property, and those who qualified for membership were either business partners or well-connected political and business celebrities. It was only a matter of time before he brought her into this circle.
After the two of them were seated, the chef pushed over the freshly made champagne cheesecake and lit the candles for them.
His arm crossed the table and he took her hands in his, saying, ‘Make a wish…and remember to include me.’
She mumbled, ‘Grow up quickly.’
He bowed his head, a smile dancing in his eyes, ‘That doesn’t count. It has to be sincere, or it won’t work.’
‘How do you mean sincerely?‘
’Close your eyes and think of me, and your heart will be sincere.”
Some people’s faces are like tree rings, growing older with each passing year. In fact, she didn’t need him to tell her. As soon as she closed her eyes, all she could see was his face in front of her. She squeezed his warm hand, made a wish that she had wanted to make a long time ago, and blew out the candle in one go.
A strange thing happened after that. After she blew out the candle, she suddenly noticed a small openwork white gold jewellery box on the table. She was surprised and wondered, ‘What’s going on? Where did it come from?’
She knew that his hands had been holding hers the whole time, never letting go, so there was no way a third hand could have appeared.
He lifted his hands to show that he was innocent, ‘It seems to have fallen from the sky. Could it be that your wish came true?’
She burst out laughing, ‘It’s a little trick.’ He just wanted to lure her into saying what wish she had made, but she wasn’t falling for it. At most, she would be stifled to death by her curiosity.
They were custom-made 2032 enamel couple’s rings from FREY WILLE, a unique style. If you look closely, you will see that the letters on the inside of the ring in a circle are the initials of the two of them, meaning they are inseparable.
He put it on for her and said imperiously, ‘In the future, you can only wear the ring I give you on your hand.’
It turned out that he was still upset about Bei Tang Hao’s proposal to her. No wonder he gave her a pair of matching rings instead of anything else. But she found that she liked him this way, when he wasn’t being serious, just like any other ordinary lover, jealous, headstrong, and unreasonable. But as long as she reached out, she could touch the real him, and he no longer felt distant to her like he used to.
She watched him put on another ring and asked, a little dazed, ‘Do you mean you’re going to announce our relationship?’
He nodded, ‘I’ve thought about it for a long time and I think I should give you at least a sense of security. We can go wherever we want and do whatever we want, just like any ordinary couple. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters. Leave the rest to me.’
He must not have known how devastating those words would be…
Wushu began to frantically pick up the knife and fork. The rare steak on her plate was cut into pieces. She took a small bite and then went to get the wine glass. She drank quickly and forcefully until she choked and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Baby,’
Damn it! He called her that again, and she had reached her limit. She pushed back her chair, stumbled in her damn high heels and turned to his seat. Before he knew what was going on, she was on him like a koala bear, hanging onto him. Even though she had a thousand words to say, she couldn’t say a thing, just tightly hugging him, her face rubbing against the shirt on his chest, letting her heart contract with each beat, wishing she could bury herself in his body and never have to fear losing everything again. She heard a small, suppressed voice in her heart repeating: Shi Jiu, I love you. So please don’t let me live in despair anymore, please.
He stroked her slightly trembling back, and in a heart-to-heart manner, he whispered in her ear:
‘I love u too.”

It was like that for a long time. When Wushu looked up, her peripheral vision caught the surroundings, and she realised how crazy her actions had been – she had completely ignored the environment. In the club restaurant, where there were many wealthy people, she and Shen Shijiu had embraced without any concern for the others, which had probably affected many people’s appetites. She quickly got out of his embrace, ’I’m sorry, I embarrassed you.’
‘Silly, don’t say sorry. I had a really good time today.’ He was really happy, a little carried away, so how could he care about that.
She sat back down in her seat and couldn’t help but think, perhaps things weren’t as bad as she thought, and maybe it was just a false alarm. He was so smart, how could he possibly make that kind of mistake. If she asked clearly, maybe she could cancel the plan for the evening…
‘Shi Jiǔ,‘ she was about to speak when she saw a man in his forties approaching with a female companion. He greeted them from afar, “Mr. Shen, long time no see.”
’Mr. Wu,’ Shen Shi Jiǔ casually responded while maintaining his original posture.
The man walked closer, looked at Wú Shū, and noticed the matching rings on their fingers. His smile grew even wider, ’This must be Mr. Shen’s fiancée, Miss Huo, right?’
Shen Shijiu narrowed his eyes slightly, indicating that his previous good mood was getting worse. The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. The Director Wu was, after all, a shrewd person, and realised that he seemed to have mistaken the person. He hurriedly said, ‘I won’t disturb you two from eating, we’ll go first.’
A small incident made Wushu unable to ask the question she wanted to ask. She laughed dryly at him, teasing him, ‘You look really fierce now, like you want to bite someone.’
‘You’re not angry?‘ he asked after a pause.
’Why should I be?‘ she said. “What the two of us do is our business, and it doesn’t matter what other people think.” In fact, she didn’t want to make an already complicated situation even more complicated at a time like this. She couldn’t afford to be pretentious.
’I’m glad you feel that way,’ he said, finally relieved, and his face no longer looked so cold.

 

Chapter 34

After the meal, the two left the club holding hands. He drove her to a place they didn’t usually go to watch a movie. He thought it would be a beautiful romantic film, but it turned out to be a nonsensical comedy. She sat in the last row, laughing so hard she was on the floor, grabbing his arm and saying, ‘I can’t stand it, this is so ridiculous, why did we come to see this?’
Shen Shijiu was more curious about when she had become such a laugh-a-minute, and when she laughed, she pinched the flesh on the back of his hand, as if she were gritting her teeth.
They insisted on watching the film to the end. The ending was a bit sad: the heroine chose the silly guy as her husband, and her childhood sweetheart, no matter how good he was to her, was ultimately struck out by the director because he was the villain.
Shen Shijiu was obviously very dissatisfied with this result. After they left the cinema, they hardly spoke.
‘Go shopping with me, I want to buy something.’ Pretending not to care, she began to enjoy the privileges of being his girlfriend, where she didn’t have to seek advice, only make decisions. The way she looked now was like she had returned to her carefree youth, except that in the past, it belonged to the Ning family’s eldest daughter’s wilfulness towards her followers.
He said yes, and thoughtfully buttoned her jacket for her, so as not to let the spring breeze escape.
She dragged him into the world of ordinary people, without Chanel or Cartier. In the bright shopping mall, he and she stood out like a sore thumb, the focus of passing glances. Many people recognised him at first glance, and there was bound to be some behind-the-back gossip, as well as people taking out their phones to take secret photos of the two of them.
‘Come over here,‘ Wushu suddenly felt playful and dragged him into a coin-operated photo booth. The two of them appeared on the screen, and the computer said that the match rate was 95%. He finally broke out of his passive state and took the initiative, dragging her along and taking two sets of photos before he would stop.
The photos were printed out, and she held them in her hands, looking left and right, and making a sound of admiration.
’What do you think? Are they a good match?’ He leaned over intimately.
She snorted, ‘I think it’s a wolf, a jackal, a tiger and a leopard.’
On one of the photos, the two of them had originally struck a pose, but at the last minute, he suddenly turned his face around, intending to kiss her mouth. However, she had anticipated this and quickly pulled her fingers away and covered his face, then grinned triumphantly at the screen.
He laughed heartily, ‘Although the sneak attack didn’t work, the effect was good.’
‘This one has the best smile,‘ she said, pointing to the one where he rested his chin on her shoulder. “You look several years younger.”
’Why do you make it sound like I’m old?‘
’The depth of one’s experience is reflected in one’s eyes. If we judge by that, you’re already 40,’ she said.
He gave a confident smile. ’Forty is the most attractive age for a successful man.’
Perhaps he doesn’t like his youth, and although he is intimidating enough in public, when it comes to age, many people still won’t buy it. A man in his early thirties, surrounded by a halo, is at a height unattainable to ordinary people. He must do better than others to shut those people up, and once he is surpassed, what awaits him is not just loss. This is the difference between those in high positions and ordinary people.
Seeing her in a daze, he asked, ‘Am I fascinating?’
‘Yes, yes, I’m enchanted.‘ She snapped out of it, put the photos in her bag, and said viciously, “All the photos belong to me. If you make me angry one day, I’ll take these out and print them into flyers to distribute everywhere.”
’Threatening me? You’ve got a lot of nerve.’ Behind the strong tone was uninhibited gentleness. He lifted her chin and secretly slipped a coin into the slot, ’Give me a kiss and I’ll let it go.’
Wushu was almost instantly deprived of the right to say no, and he finally managed to get the photo he wanted most.
A large billboard hung above the entrance to the second floor of the mall. The style of the advertisement was classical and elegant. The man sitting in the chair had half his face immersed in the black background, and his deep eyes seemed to be able to see through people’s hearts. He propped his chin up with one hand, revealing an elegant and generous silver watch on his wrist, which contrasted sharply with his bronzed skin. Time transforms into a streamer of light, lingering between his fingers for a long time.
‘I’m going to the bathroom, wait here for a while,’ Wushu said to Shen Shijiu. She lied, went around in a circle, found the watch counter, pointed at the watch in the advertisement and said to the salesperson, ‘Give me this one, no need for packaging.’
He was answering the phone when he saw her come back, and said, ‘Just do it,’ before hanging up.
She walked over with her arms folded, curiously asking, ‘Who were you talking to on the phone?’
‘It was Yuanqi. I asked him to go do something.’
‘Was it urgent?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did I delay you? Why don’t you go off and do your work in the afternoon, and we can postpone the evening gathering a little?’
‘No need.’ He curved his lips and said, ‘I want to keep you company… What are you hiding behind your back?’
She just smiled, lifted his left wrist, and removed his expensive Patek Philippe watch, replacing it with the one she had just bought for him.
‘This watch is from an unknown brand, and the price is only enough for you to have a meal at the club. If you feel that it is beneath your status, you can throw it away at any time, or come and exchange it for yours.’
He looked down at her, ‘Do you mean that you want me to see you every moment?’
She smiled.
“If I could, I would like to preserve this moment in time forever.
She said, “Let’s go back and take a look.”

In January, the plum blossoms bloomed in clusters as pure as snow, and the grey Ning family mansion was silent on the side, isolated from the world. The long-idle courtyard was not overgrown with weeds as she had imagined, but clean as it had been yesterday.
‘I thought no one lived here anymore. Did you sell it?‘ She looked around in surprise.
’I have someone come here every day to clean,’ Shen Shijiu said, handing her a bronze key.
She lowered her head, her eyes a little moist. Pushing open the door, everything familiar jumped into her eyes. She reached out and gently brushed past every window and every piece of furniture. An indescribable feeling of warmth welled up in her heart.
Her room on the second floor remained exactly as she had left it. Only the passage of time had left a faint, youthful scent in the room. Memories of her time here flooded back with the scent.
It was as if she could see her former self sitting on the windowsill, pencil in her mouth, lazily looking out at the sky. The pendulum clock on the table ticked away, and every so often she would turn her head to look at it, feeling that the hands were turning too slowly.
That strange and novel kind of annoyance made it impossible for her to concentrate on her studies. She would write the Chinese name for Sean, Shen Shijiu, in her notebook, sometimes stroke by stroke, sometimes in all kinds of cursive script, filling page after page.
One year, two years, she and he lived under the same roof, but she was able to bury that budding youth very deeply, and even she began to admire herself. Until he told her father that she was not his type, an unacknowledged expectation that had always been in her heart was finally unable to see the light, and began to wither inch by inch.
That day, she returned to her room and took out her lighter and notebook. She would never let him know that she had once loved him so desperately, foolishly making her self-loathe. As she struck a match, he pushed open her door. She quickly threw the notebook under the bed and asked coldly, ‘What are you doing here?’
He just stood in the doorway, ‘I wanted to see what you were doing.’
She said in a strange voice, ‘Do you think I’ll hide under the covers and cry because of what you said, so you came to comfort me?’
‘Are you sad?’ He just went on talking as if he hadn’t heard her.
If before it was just disappointment, now she was really angry. She walked over to him and pushed him away from the door. When he didn’t move, she kicked him and said, without thinking, “Yes, I’m sad. I’m sad because the dog I raised doesn’t even wag its tail for me!”
As soon as the words came out, she regretted them and her face turned pale.
In fact, he was not wrong. He just didn’t like her. There is no law in the world that says if A likes B, then B must like A unconditionally. She was wrong. She knew it, but she couldn’t help hating him for not liking her. But what she hated most was herself for falling for someone so hopelessly!
She saw the mocking expression on his face.
Yes, that’s right. No one dares to yell at him outside, so why should he put up with her high-and-mighty temper when he comes home?
She slammed the door.
He still went out early in the morning and returned late at night, just as he always had. He still ate with her at the same table, but his eyes no longer lingered on her.
There were times when she wanted to clap her hands on the table and say to him: Go, leave the Ning family. You’ve already flown the coop, so why save on rent here and give me a headache every day I see you?
She never said it out loud because there was soon to be only her and him left at the big table.
In the early morning of late autumn, her father, who had been bedridden, passed away with a little regret. Perhaps because she was mentally prepared, she quietly accepted this fact and never shed a tear apart from her grief. When the funeral hall was being set up, a strong wind was blowing outside, and the dead leaves fell from the branches with a rustling sound, covering the courtyard floor with them, but no one cared. Her father liked to make a big show of things when he was alive, so naturally he wouldn’t like it when things were so bleak after his death. She picked up the broom and swept away the fallen leaves, but they kept falling again and again. He was watching from inside the hall, and finally he couldn’t hold back any longer, so he came out to stop her.
‘Stop sweeping,’ he said, frowning and looking glum.
She threw the broom down on the ground with a thud and yelled at the busy people in the hall, ‘Cut it down! Cut all these trees down for me!’
There was no time to cut them down. Hundreds of people came to pay their respects one after the other, and the cars were lined up for several streets, with no place to put the wreaths. The mourning hall was full of members of the club in black clothes and black trousers, and everyone looked up to him. She, the official young mistress, had no weight at all.
Do you know what she thought at the time? You bully me, so I’ll bully your boss.
Thinking back, she was naive and immature, and her competitiveness was extremely low. How could she bully him? She was just relying on the fact that he had never bullied her.
From the funeral to the burial, he stood by her side the whole time, giving her a little support. But the silence between them never really broke. Emotions are very fickle things, and it’s hard to pretend that something that happened didn’t.
It was late at night, and the house was quiet, or rather, the whole house was eerily quiet. Although this had been the case since her father fell ill, it was especially obvious that day.
She sat on the swing frame, looking up at the lonely stars twinkling in the endless night sky. His words echoed in her ears: ‘If you want to cry, just go ahead.’
Without looking at him, she stood up and walked past him.
‘Wushu,’ he called her name tenderly and apologetically, ‘I’m sorry.’
She had already walked away, but on hearing those three words, she could not help but turn around and yell, ‘Who wants you to say you’re sorry?’ All her patience failed at this moment. The moonlight shone on her face, and she, who never shed tears, finally tasted that bittersweet feeling.
He sighed, walked up to her, put his arms around her, and whispered, ‘If you turn around, you’ll see that I’ve always been here.’
But she was not willing to give up! She punched him again and again in the chest, and rubbed her tears and snot on his shoulders. With the force she used, even a copper coin would have rung loudly, let alone a living person. But he didn’t even frown, letting her vent her anger. Such a man finally made her drop her hands helplessly, and an inexplicable warmth rose in her heart.
Wushu squatted down and searched the box for a long time before finding the notebook with the leather already worn to a greyish colour from among a pile of old books.
That day, she had ultimately not had the heart to burn it, but had stuffed it away where no one would see it. When she left, her thoughts were in such a mess that she couldn’t even remember where she had hidden it.
‘What are you reading?’ Shen Shijiu came over.
‘Something from a long time ago.‘ She looked up and asked, “You haven’t entered my room since then, have you?”
’This place has always been off-limits to me.’ He sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.
He flipped open the first page, which was written crookedly: 2019, spring.
‘That was a long time ago?‘ he said in surprise.
’Look at your expression, you obviously didn’t take me seriously back then,’ she said, deliberately provoking him.
He threw up his hands in surrender. “It was hard enough getting into your room, let alone going through your things.”
She laughed. “You’ve got a point.”
She flipped to the second page and found that apart from his name, there was nothing else on it. He commented, “The handwriting is terrible.”
She looked at him and winked seriously.
He turned another page, and it still had his name on it. He flipped through the notebook until the end, and then he asked, pondering, ‘After all this writing, how come the handwriting hasn’t improved at all?’
‘Shen Shijiu, you rascal!’ She was furious and angrily grabbed the notebook and stood up.
He reached out and grabbed her wrist, gently pulled her, and she fell into his lap. The scent that belonged to him came at her, and she was kissed, losing all strength. After a long time, he reluctantly let her go: ’Do you know that there is a kind of love that will drive someone crazy when it reaches a certain point? Even if you regret it and beg for mercy, it’s already too late.’
‘You’re already crazy.‘ Her face grew hot, and she understood what he wanted to do.
’Baby,’ he said, slipping off her jacket and tossing it aside. He then took her ear lobe, which had become extraordinarily soft due to her rising body temperature, and bit down, whispering a low, seductive sound that went to the bone: “I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it.”
It was as if she had drunk the purest spirit, and she was too drunk to resist, collapsing onto the bed. She said softly, ’I can’t handle it, so I’ll just run away.’
‘Where do you want to run away to?‘ He put one hand on her shoulder and the other carefully unzipped her dress.
’The most dangerous place is the safest place,’ she said, slowly running her fingers over his heart. “How about running away here?” She was too tired to resist, and she was willing to let him take her captive. Whether she lived or died, she would leave it up to him to decide.
‘Okay.‘ This was probably the most beautiful thing he had ever heard, and a soft, morning-like radiance slowly spread across his stunning face—his girl had finally grown up.
’Say you’ll never leave me,’ he coaxed, getting more than he bargained for, as his palm covered the softness of her breasts and his warm lips began to explore the most sensitive places on her body, trying hard to arouse her most primal desires.
‘Time’s up… don’t…‘ She was forced to straighten her back with a groan.
’Say it,’ he said, gently urging her on, as his palm slowly increased the pressure.
She was afraid that the bloom of youth would soon fade, and that the end would come after the peak. She didn’t dare make a promise, but she rested her cheek on his broad shoulder, soaking up the fragrance of his body. The vines of passion spread through her blood, blossoming into enchanting flowers that wrapped themselves around his waist.
He was already holding back as much as he could, but how could he stand her deliberate caresses? He no longer wanted to wait, and he forced her legs apart. His most fervent weapon slowly penetrated the softest part of her body.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and endured the intense shock of his invasion. He lowered his head to kiss her eyes, her nose, her lips, and intertwined his fingers with hers. The air was filled with the smell of passion, and it kept getting hotter and hotter. Both of them were drenched in a fine layer of sweat. This was the second time they had united in so many years, and the pain of their first night was still vivid in their minds, but now there was only endless pleasure. Over and over again, they penetrated deeper and deeper, and over and over again, they were thrown onto the crest of waves. They gasped in the bright afternoon sun, intertwining into a beautiful melody.

‘You were so good this time.”
His voice had become hoarse, and he looked at her, limp and exhausted, as she lay on top of him. Her heart was pounding like a drum. She moved slightly, her face flushed. He smiled deeply, reached out and brushed the hair from beside her ear, and whispered, ’Let’s do it again.’

 

Chapter 35

After a passionate and intimate encounter, her body was covered in the marks of his kisses. Looking at him, who looked so contented, her senses suddenly returned to her mind. She let out a cry of surprise, rolled off him, and put her head under the pillow in a twisted position. She said in a muffled voice, ‘Oh my god, I’m so embarrassed, I can’t face anyone tonight. I actually came here to do this kind of thing with you.’
He couldn’t help laughing, and his fingers bounced lazily on her back. ‘Do it more often in the future, and you’ll get used to it.’
She suddenly poked her head out from under the pillow, her messy hair sticking up, glaring at him: ‘Why are you so horny?’
She had forgotten who had taken the initiative just now.
‘Yes,’ he didn’t expose her either, knowing that she had a thin skin, so he generously admitted, ‘but only for you.’
‘Actually, I’ve always wanted to ask you a question. When you were out there, did any women throw themselves at you?‘
He hesitated, probably wondering whether to tell the truth or a lie.
’Hey,‘ she said, pointing at his eyes, “don’t even think about lying.”
’Yes,‘ he had to confess.
’Attempted or successful?’
‘Of course it was an attempt. I have very high standards, and I don’t even think about women I don’t like.”
She was delighted, and her vanity was tickled: “So you think I’m more to your taste?”
He shook his head: “No, you’re the exception.”
She was taken aback, and realised that he was teasing her. She then took a pillow and pelted him with it, shouting, “Liar!” Her crazed appearance reminded him of when they were children, and he couldn’t stop laughing.
Before they knew it, the sun had set, and the evening glow floated up to the window, reflecting a dazzling, magical radiance.
Inside, there was a quiet serenity.
She rested her head on the arm he had extended, and joined her thumbs and forefingers to form a frame through which she looked at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling.
‘Do you…like Siqing?’ she asked suddenly, ‘even a little?’
He pondered for a long time before saying, ‘If I hadn’t met you, I might have.’
She glanced at him, wanting to say something, but in the end she just opened her mouth and gave up. Just then, the phone rang, and she reflexively went looking for the source of the ringtone. The bag in which she had placed her phone was on the table, and she wrapped the quilt around her and jumped all the way over. She took out her phone and looked at the caller ID, and she couldn’t help but groan inwardly.
He also sat up and casually asked, ‘Who’s calling?’
She hesitated and said, ‘Bei Tang Hao.’
‘Why didn’t you answer?’
She knew the answer but asked anyway. How could she answer the phone when she was half-naked? She hadn’t yet reached the point where she could do this with a clear conscience. For the time being, she lost her phone and hurriedly looked for clothes to wear. The ringtone stopped once, then started again. She saw that she was almost dressed, so she held the phone in her hand and went to the window.
‘Kiddo, it’s me,’ Bei Tang Hao’s voice sounded a little low.
‘Well, what is it?‘ She touched her face, which had started to burn with guilt, and glanced back at the man lounging on the bed. He was propping his chin up and staring at her, which made her feel queasy. She wondered if she should go to the bathroom to talk.
’Nothing much, just wanted to wish you a happy birthday.‘
’Thanks.’ She hungrily tugged at the curtains, wondering what she had done to deserve his constant thoughts.
There was a moment of silence, and then his voice dropped a little, ‘Are you with him?’
‘Yes,’ she answered a little sluggishly.
If you listen carefully, in addition to his breathing, there is also a faint sound of water, mixed with the friction of some machinery turning.
‘Are you on the Ferris wheel?’
‘Yes, I went for a walk. I didn’t know where to go, and before I knew it, I was here.’
Her heart felt heavy, but she didn’t know what to say.
‘A-Hao, go home early, it’s quite cold outside.‘
’I’ll go back after a while.’ There was silence again, and just when she thought he was going to say goodbye, an arm suddenly came around from behind her and placed itself on her chest. She turned her head and held up her index finger to her lips, telling him not to make a sound, let alone cause trouble. Shen Shijiu raised an eyebrow and pricked up his ears to eavesdrop on her phone call.
‘I’m sorry about the other day,‘ the voice suddenly said again, with a strong nasal tone: “I lost my temper and…”
’I understand, you did it for my own good,‘ she said.
’Are we still friends?‘
’Of course we are,’
‘So when we’re not busy, we can meet up and chat like normal friends?’ This humble, careful tone of voice made her feel awkward. If she hadn’t provoked him in the first place, he would still be the smug Bei Tang Hao today. She said in a difficult and obscure voice, “Okay.”
Shen Shijiu glanced at her, his expression on his face full of meaning.
Perhaps sensing his presence, Bei Tang Hao said, ’Then goodbye.’
‘A-Hao…‘ She called out to him, “Take care of yourself.”
’I will,’ he seemed to smile, “and so will you.”
After hanging up the phone, she let out a breath of relief. Shen Shijiu, who had been asked to keep quiet, took her phone with a jealous expression and saw that there was actually a heart symbol in front of Bei Tang Hao’s name. He asked discontentedly, ’Why haven’t you changed it yet?’
She took back the phone and said, ‘It’s just a symbol.’ Even so, she still deleted the symbol that made him jealous.
‘Saving the country through the curve.’
He said something so senseless that she was a bit speechless. She ignored him and went to put on her shoes. While she was putting them on, she paused, slowly turned around, and asked, ‘Shijiu, where is Wen Qi’s gift?’
It was better not to mention it, but as soon as he mentioned it, his face became even more despondent.

Wushu pondered for a moment, very suspicious that Shen Shijiu had already seen what was in the box, but the dissatisfaction he showed was clearly directed at Wen Qi personally and did not have any other meaning. She couldn’t help but wonder, could it really just be an ordinary birthday gift?
Back in the car, he took what she wanted from the storage compartment on the passenger side and threw it to her. She caught it with both hands just in time, but she couldn’t complain. Less talking, less mistakes. Anyway, no matter what she said now, he would be unhappy. Unless, she threw the thing out the window with a wave of her hand, then clapped her hands and said to him, ‘I don’t care about other people’s things.’ But that was impossible.
She slipped the box into her bag. After waiting for a while, she noticed that he didn’t start the car, but opened the sunroof, took out a cigarette and lighter, lit one, leaned back in the leather chair and smoked, while the other hand flicked the lighter cap, creating a crisp jingle rhythmically.
No wonder they say that a man has two faces: one in front of the bed, and one behind it. Before, he was constantly calling out ‘baby, baby’, but now he’s starting to put on airs.
After more than ten seconds of silence,
‘Are you leaving or not?’
‘Why don’t you open it and take a look?’
The two of them spoke at the same time, with no sense of mutual understanding.
His narrow eyes looked at her askance, ‘It’s no fun to go back and peek secretly.’
She was furious, ‘Who said I want to go back and peek secretly?’
She took the box out of her bag and looked at it carefully. She noticed that the wrapping paper was intact and didn’t look like it had been tampered with.
He spat out a puff of smoke into the sky, and the light smoke escaped through the skylight. He said lazily, ‘Don’t worry, I haven’t opened it.’ Despite his bad mood, he still had some grace.
Hearing him say that, she had no choice. If she was going to be coy, he would definitely take it personally, and his guard would be up. Then again, Wen Qi was also a smart person. If he really wanted to tell her something, he would leave a clue that only she could understand. Otherwise, if she encountered a similar situation, she would have to make a mistake in public.
Thinking about this, she began to unwrap the gift with peace of mind. The gift box was frosted, which was nice to the touch but nothing special. When she opened the lid, she saw that it contained a new MP5 player. At first, she was a little surprised. If it was just a gift, Wen Qi really didn’t have much taste, because she never used such things. After the initial surprise, she thought of something else. Without saying a word, she was about to put it away, but Shen Shijiu said, ‘Try it, maybe there’s something in it.’
She wanted to despise his sharpness from the bottom of her heart.
So, under the watchful gaze of those sharp eyes, Wushu nervously pressed the power button. Soon, an exquisite desktop appeared on the screen, and there was only one video file called ‘Happy Birthday to you’ on the desktop. It was a music video, and the name of the song was Happy Birthday to you. Wen Qi himself recorded the song, and he really put a lot of thought into it, from writing the lyrics, arranging the music, scoring the soundtrack, to the script for the music video.
Shen Shijiu, who was standing next to her, couldn’t help but say, ‘This kid’s got talent.’
‘Yes, if he develops a career in show business, his future will be limitless,’ she said absentmindedly. The music video was five minutes and sixteen seconds long. Apart from the last second of the video, which was cut out of sync and flickered rapidly, she didn’t notice anything unusual. She had to wonder if she had been paranoid again.
He tilted his head to the side and looked at her strangely, ‘I was talking about his enthusiasm for wooing you.’
She pretended not to hear and put her things away.
He didn’t say anything else either, extinguished his cigarette, closed the sunroof, and started the car.
Halfway there, their phones started playing a symphony. She was so busy answering the phone that she was frazzled.
Song Xi called and asked, ‘Big Sister, can you not wear formal attire tonight?’
She said, ‘As long as you don’t wear a swimsuit, you can wear whatever you want.’
Xi Tianyu called: ‘Idol, can you bring your girlfriend?’
She pressed her head: ‘Ask your boss about that, not me.’
‘The boss’s phone is not working.’
‘…How many are you bringing?’
Xiao Hena called and said: ‘Wushu, will Wu Xiangyang come to the party tonight?’
She turned to Shen Shijiu and asked: ‘Will Wu Xiangyang come?’
Seeing him nod, she replied: ‘Yes, if it’s inconvenient for you…’
‘Of course it’s convenient! How could it be inconvenient? I’ve even got the sulphuric acid ready!‘
She was shocked. “Why are you being so stubborn?”
’He went crazy on the golf course yesterday and broke three bones in someone else’s body.‘
She didn’t understand. “Are you trying to get rid of a menace?”
’No, that person is my boyfriend.‘
’You have a boyfriend again?‘
’Not anymore!‘
’Sigh.”
The last one was Xiaoshi’s call.
‘Big Sister, the floor plan analysis of the villa is out. The area of Shen Shijiu’s bedroom does not match the actual area, and the safe room must be hidden in the bedroom.‘
’Mm.‘
’At exactly 8 o’clock, I will use the KEY you gave me to turn off the security system for two minutes, but his phone may receive these abnormal operations.‘
’Okay.”

After hanging up the phone, she was stunned for a moment. Shen Shijiu next to her was using a Bluetooth headset and she didn’t know who he was talking to.

A champagne tower, a pastry table and a barbecue grill had been set up in the open-air garden.
Wushu was a little surprised to see this, and then she saw Luo Zeke, so she went over and said hello: ‘You’ve worked hard, Luo.’
Luo Zeke smiled gently and handed her a present: ‘Happy birthday.’
‘Thanks,’ she said, taking it and weighing it in her hands. It wasn’t light.
“Look, tell me if you need anything else so I can get it ready,’
Wushu thought for a while and whispered in Luo’s ear. Then she went back to her room, took a shower and changed into a comfortable pair of casual clothes. As she sat in front of the dressing table blowing her hair dry, she accidentally knocked the ring she had taken off before the shower off the ground and didn’t know where it had rolled to. She searched on the floor for a long time and finally found it in the corner under the bed. For some reason, looking at the ring, she always felt like it had a life, because it knew everything about her and deliberately avoided her.
She put the ring back on her finger and decided to think of the best possible outcome.
The disk with the details of the drug smuggling channels would end up in Shen Shijiu’s hands for one of two reasons. Either he would use it as evidence to bring Chen Yiming down, or he would keep the information for himself.
Regardless of the reason, she had nothing to lose by stealing the disk. Maybe when he found out, he would hate himself for being deceived, but at least he would be safe.
In fact, there was a little voice in her heart saying, ‘At worst, I’ll do my best to make him forgive me.’
She suddenly felt that she was quite despicable in some ways.
With all this in her head, she was startled when she exited the room and was pushed against the door frame by a melancholy Shen Shijiu, who made her take two steps back.
She couldn’t help but curse in her heart,
‘Baby.’ What a helpless tone of voice. If a man, a big man, a man who can call the shots and do whatever he wants, is willing to lower his head and act like a child in front of his girlfriend, it means that he has really given up.

Shen Shijiu is good at this. No matter how much of a scoundrel he may appear to be outside, he will never play false with Wushu, because she is not only his first love, but also his only family. However, the concept of family is a bit of a stretch for him. Those related by blood are not necessarily family, and family members do not necessarily have to be related by blood. Just like him, as the direct heir of the Shen family, he has uncles, aunts, cousins, and siblings, but he only interacts with them for their mutual interests.

 

Chapter 36

As night fell, looking down from above, Shangjing Villa was lit up like it was daytime, and it was magnificent. On the hillside, four sports cars raced along, competing to overtake each other, none wanting to be left behind. In the end, Xi Tianyu’s car arrived at the villa gate first, and he shouted from the road,
‘Same rules as always.’
The so-called same rules as always meant that no matter what was being gambled on, the stakes had to be an object that the person carrying it with them could choose for the winner.
‘Xi Zi, you’re pretty good at drifting,‘ said Gu Yuanqi, who was on good terms with him. He patted him on the shoulder and whispered, “Go easy on him, and I’ll introduce you to the winner of this year’s Miss USA contest some other time.”
’Sure thing,’ understood Xi Tianyu, and he took off Gu Yuanqi’s socks.
Xu Lu had her hair tie taken away because she had a lot of hair and it was fluffy. When she let it down, it looked like a lion’s head from a distance.
Wu Xiangyang was even worse off, having had his belt taken away, and his trousers slid down so far that he had no choice but to use his tie as a makeshift belt.
Shen Shijiu saw them come over with their clothes in disarray, but he didn’t say anything. Only Wushu was at a loss for what to do, not knowing what was going on.
Xi Tianyu went up to Wushu, took out a big red envelope, and slipped it into her hand, saying, ‘We didn’t know what to give as a gift, so we just gave money. Buy whatever you like.’
These people are so down-to-earth!
Wushu was a little surprised: ‘Why haven’t I seen your girlfriend?’
Xi Tianyu pointed at the sky, ‘As soon as she heard that she would be able to meet the boss here, she fainted on the spot. Damn, she’s really not giving me any face.’
Then Xiao Hena arrived, followed by a white poodle that got out of the car with her. When she saw Wushu, she said, ‘Today the Filipino maid is off, and Duo Duo has no one to take care of him at home, so I brought him along.’ Wushu petted the dog’s head, ‘What a pretty little thing.’ The dog was not at all afraid of strangers and actually stuck out its tongue and licked the palm of Wushu’s hand. However, when it saw Shen Shijiu walking over, it barked at him.
Xiao Hena laughed, ‘Duo Duo is a male and only likes beautiful women, not handsome men. When he sees someone who is more handsome than him, he barks even louder.’
‘Really?’ Shen Shijiu walked over to Wushu, put his hands in his pockets, glanced down at the dog, and said, “I quite like its fur.” The look in his eyes was absolutely creepy.
Xiao Hena quickly picked up the dog and coaxed, “Be good, Duo Duo, be quiet, this handsome guy is fierce.” The dog seemed to understand what she said, and really stopped barking. It even cooperated by showing a scared look and twisting its head away.
Wu Shu suppressed a laugh and pointed mysteriously behind her at a few people who were eating something. Xiao Hena glanced over and let out a cry, ‘Wu Xiangyang, what are you hiding from? Don’t think I haven’t seen what’s hanging from your crotch.’
…
It was already half past six. Just as Wushu was wondering why Xiaoshi and Songxi were not yet here, a large white figure appeared at the entrance. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a giant rabbit with two big, sparkling eyes. It was clutching three red, yellow and blue balloons in its hands, and its fat body was running towards her, crying out, ‘Big sister, Xiaoshi is bullying me!’ Xiao was following behind, chattering in her mouth, ‘You’re such a crybaby, you’ve got no right to cry!’
The big rabbit suddenly rushed past Shenshijiu and pounced on Wushu, sobbing.
‘You’re Songxi? Why are you dressed like that?’ Wushu was surprised.
‘Didn’t you say you could wear anything except a swimsuit?’ Songxi stopped sobbing.
‘Ugh.’ What could she say?
‘I’ve had this bunny costume for a long time, but I never had the chance to wear it.‘ Finally getting to the point, she gave the balloon to Wushu.
Xiao Shi added, “I already told her there wouldn’t be a masquerade ball, but she wouldn’t believe me. She said that’s how it’s shown on TV. Damn TV dramas really can turn people into idiots.”
’Then why is she crying?’ Wushu asked again.
Xiao Shi scratches his head, ‘I finally managed to get her into the taxi, but she said she’d forgotten her balloon, so I had to pull her out.’ She holds up the spherical object in her other hand and says, ‘I accidentally pulled off her bunny tail.’
Song Xi cries out again.
Xi Tianyu comes over, nibbling on a grilled chicken wing in his hands, and points at the rabbit, asking, ‘Who is this?’
‘The one you’re poking at,’ Wu Shi says.
‘Little Maru?!’ Xi Tianyu shrieked, holding the rabbit by the ears and plucking its head off. Upon inspection, it really was Little Maru, and the only difference from the other day was the torrential rain of tears on her face. What a cartoonish, comic-book character. Wolf Brother said to Rabbit Sister, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to eat barbecue.” Rabbit Sister said to Wolf Brother, “But I’m a vegetarian.” Wolf Brother was anxious, ’Don’t diet anymore, or you’ll have no meat left.’
Xi Tianyu laughed uncontrollably, covering his stomach.
When Wushu turned around, she saw Shen Shijiu, who had been left out, and saw that his lips were pursed into a line, showing traces of his patience. She couldn’t help but smile. He valued friendship over love, and that was the biggest reason why he didn’t like her having friends. A man’s possessiveness can be terrifying at times, and at others, it can be adorable.
In front of the champagne tower, everyone raised their glasses and clinked them together, ‘Cheers!’
‘Everyone, how about playing a game?’ The game queen, Xiaohua, knocked on the glass and said, “There are ten of us here, five men and five women. When the game starts, we have to touch each other…” She deliberately stretched out her voice ambiguously, ’Of course, we can’t just touch, we have to feel something, something soft, but also something hard. Whoever feels the most hard objects will be the king of this game… Hey, what are you all looking like? There can be many hard objects, such as necklaces, rings, mobile phones. What do you say? Do you have the guts?‘
Shen Shijiu’s gaze fell on Wushu, and his lips curved up in a shallow smile: “Yes.”
’Let’s get one thing straight: you’re only allowed to touch other people, not yourself. The person who touches the least will have to do a striptease,‘ Xiao Hena added.
’You guys go ahead, I’m going to the bathroom.’ Xiao took two steps back, a strange smile curling the corners of her mouth, and turned to go inside.
‘The game begins,’ Xiao Hena ordered, and the scene became exciting.
Xi Tianyu was going to take off Song Xi’s bunny suit, and Song Xi was jumping around screaming, “Ahhh!” When he wasn’t careful, the two of them fell into the flower bed. Luo Ze, Gu Yuanqi, and Xu Lu were the most gentle, exchanging comments in private while casually laughing. The most exaggerated ones were probably Wu Xiangyang and Xiao Hena. The two of them touched and felt, and they actually got into an argument. Xiao Hena scolded Wu Xiangyang for not being a man, and she was blind when she first fell for him. Wu Xiangyang sarcastically told her that she was so desperate that she even dared to want a married man. As they argued, they started to fight, shoving each other until they reached the edge of the wall, where they bit and nipped at each other like they were lost in their own world.
Wu Shu whispered in Shen Shijiu’s ear, ‘Wu Xiangyang is a bit like you.’
‘Indeed,’ he replied absentmindedly, his fingers touching her body, and all that came to mind was the afternoon’s soul-stirring lovemaking.
Wushu reached into his shirt, a little nervous, afraid that he would see through her motives. She first took his lighter, then slipped her hand into his trouser pocket and felt for his phone. Then she went behind him, looked at the time, 7:58 pm, and silently pressed the power button.
In fact, no matter how composed she tried to appear, her guilty conscience still made her heart beat restlessly, but fortunately it wasn’t beating too fast.
Xiao Hena and Wu Xiangyang returned to the same place with their clothes dishevelled, and they were still enemies who met and glared at each other. Song Xi sat on the ground with her head in her hands, wiping her tears angrily, while Xi Tianyu knelt next to her, apologising profusely and stretching out his arms to imitate a monkey to make her laugh. Xiao Shiye also returned, glanced at Wu Shu, and his expression was a little strange.
In the end, Xi Tianyu came in last.
As requested, he climbed onto a table and started a striptease to the cha-cha-cha music. Despite his bold moves and self-touching performance, he was ridiculously funny. There was a hush from the crowd, and he was told to get off the stage.
As the banquet drew to a close, the lights in the entire villa dimmed. Even Shen Shijiu was surprised. Of course, this was something Wushu had specifically instructed Luo Ze to do.
Xiao secretly slipped a note into her hand.
Fireworks went off all around, illuminating everyone’s profile.
Wushu took Sheng Shijiu’s hand and danced in the midst of the fireworks. This was the first time they had danced together, but their dancing was really not impressive. Not only were they out of step with the rhythm, they often stepped on each other’s feet. She laughed out of breath, ‘So you can’t dance either.’ She finally understood what annoyed him the most. But even so, she and he persevered in dancing, and she stepped on his feet over and over again, while he kept saying, ‘You stepped on me again and again,’ to the utter bemusement of the onlookers. They were extremely speechless.
When the music ended and the guests dispersed, Shen Shijiu was the only one left with Gu Yuanyi. He apologetically told Wushu, ‘I need to talk to Yuanyi about something, I’ll come back to keep you company in a bit.’
She quietly said yes, and watched them walk into the study. The door didn’t quite close, as if to show her that she was trusted. She returned to her room and, as instructed on the note, found the things Xiaoshi had left in the bathroom cabinet: a disk and a photo.
After entering the villa, Xiaoshi took the backpack containing the special tools and went straight upstairs, finding Shen Shijiu’s bedroom. At the agreed time, she entered the password on the touch screen on the wall and shut down the security system. Then, she took out her instrument and tested it, and found that there was something wrong with a certain wall through the resonance frequency. The surface of that wall really didn’t look any different, except that there was a famous painting hanging on it. She tried to take it down, but nothing changed, so she had to put it back and continue looking for the switch. However, the next moment she backed away again. There was a sixth sense, an experience gained from countless trials and errors. She pushed the painting back hard, and surprisingly pushed it into the wall.
Xiaoshi has done many cases and has been to places she can’t even count, but never has she been so shocked that she could hardly move her feet. The entire safe room was ridiculously large, like an office, but not quite. There was a whole wall of cabinets full of wads of colourful banknotes, and a shelf on one wall was lined with all kinds of luxury goods, some of which she had never even heard of.
There was a large black desk in the room, with some documents on it and a silver laptop. Xiaoshan went around behind the desk, opened the drawer, rummaged for a while, and found the diskette by following the label. Just as she was about to leave, she found some photos at the bottom of the drawer. They were samples of new drugs that had not yet entered the market.
Leaning against the sink, Xiaoshan felt in her pocket and found that she had forgotten to return something to Shenshijiu. She took it out and realised it was the lighter with the words ‘天長地久’ engraved on it. The words were so small that she could barely make them out, so she had never realised that it was the one he always used. She had heard him say that this relic left to him by his father was the only gift his mother had given to his father, and that his father had engraved the words himself. She had never thought that he had kept it with him all this time. It turned out that he didn’t really lack a sense of family, he just hid it very deeply.
She knew that it was already too late to realise this now. If she had tried to understand his true heart a long time ago and truly pulled him out of that twisted darkness, he might not have come to this point today.
She flicked open the lighter, staring blankly at the dark blue flame. She picked up the photo, set it on fire, and let it fall into the sink, where it was washed away without a trace.
Wu Shu didn’t know how she still had the strength to turn on the computer. Sitting in front of the screen, she looked at the contents of the disk that had been successfully cracked, and her heart finally fell to the bottom.
This disk not only recorded the details of the drug smuggling channels, but also the only password card to enter the global drug trading network. In other words, even if you get the details of the channels, without this password card, you cannot make contact or trade. Perhaps he tried every means to get rid of Chen Yiming in order to swallow the drug market of Tianxin.
K’s avatar flashed on MSN.
‘You found the disk?’ he asked.
‘Yes.’
‘Good! I’ll give it to Mei tomorrow.’ Mei was the contact person who had come to the office a few days ago to apply for the job.
Wushu closed his eyes and when he opened them again, there was a little more caution in his eyes.
‘This thing is very troublesome, I think it’s better to give it to you in person.’
K quickly replied, ‘That’s not safe, Shen Shijiu will find out where you are.’
‘Okay,‘ she could only give up, and asked, “So what does the teacher plan to do next?”
’With that disk, given time, we can destroy the entire drug network.‘
’In other words, for the time being, we won’t move Tianxin?‘
’That’s right.’
Tengyi had told her that the funding for Noah’s Ark had always been supported by the International Chinese Business Organization, so they had a responsibility to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businessmen were not infringed upon by other forces. For example, the restructuring of the Skyscraper Consortium three years ago was precisely due to the infiltration of the consortium’s forces led by Shen Shijiu. Of course, Skyscraper was not within their scope of responsibility, and the real target was Tianxin. Over the years, they had been investigating and gathering evidence, and her initial attempt to send Chen Yiming a veiled message was also Tengyi’s idea.
In fact, Wushu found it strange that what Tianyi had searched for so long and could not find had been obtained by Shijiu first. Could it be that Shijiu was more powerful than Tianyi? Also, Mei said that K knew that Shijiu had the encrypted disk because she had found a record of decrypting the disk on Shijiu’s computer. Perhaps she was not good enough and had not found it.
Seeing that she hadn’t replied for a long time, K sent another message: ‘You did a good job this time. Next, we’ll help you fulfil your wish.’
Wish…
Looking at those words, she felt how ironic it was.
Not long ago, she had sworn to her teacher that she would do whatever it took to get Shen Shijiu out of the Nanqing Club and out of the company. And when she thought she could change him, and with him the fate of Nan Jing, she realised that it was actually she who had been changed. She plucked the thorns from her body and, bloody, threw herself into his arms, hoping to be healed and given new life in the heat of his love. She even told herself to believe in him, because he loved you and he would not let you down.
Wushu closed the computer and walked to the door of his study.
She wanted to know how many secrets he was hiding. She also wanted to know which was more important, her relationship with him or his wealth and power.
Shen Shijiu’s low, cold voice came through the crack in the door a handbreadth wide: ‘So far, who do you think is the most suspicious?’
Gu Yuanqi said, ‘I think Luo Ze is quite complicated. Hasn’t he always liked Huo Siqing? It’s not surprising if he’s having second thoughts.’
Shen Shijiu said, ‘Then send some people to pay more attention to him and see if he has been hanging out with anyone recently.’
Wushu knocked on the door, ‘Can I come in?’
There was a pause, and she heard him say, ‘Yes,’ before she pushed open the door and walked in.
At this, Gu Yuanqi stood up and said, ‘I’ll be going then.’
Shen Shijiu nodded.
In fact, Gu Yuanqi was eager to leave because she didn’t want to be the third wheel, but Wushu misunderstood that they didn’t want her to intervene in the conversation.
Shen Shijiu sat on the fabric sofa, and although he had originally crossed his legs, he let them down and instead waved at her, saying, ‘Baby, come here.’

 

Chapter 37

She saw that his face was a little tired, and his slightly narrowed eyes were not as bright as usual. He looked a little sleepy and a little lazy.
She walked slowly over to him, her mind already made up, ready to ask all the questions she wanted to ask and get all the answers she wanted. She wanted to know the truth, no matter what the outcome.
He reached out and took her hand, so that she sat sideways on his lap. Then he put his arms around her and lowered his head to find a comfortable position on her chest. ‘Let me lean on you for a while,’ he said.
She closed her eyes too, her cheek nestled in his hair, and said, ‘Let me tell you a story.’
He said, ‘Okay.’
She gathered her thoughts and began: ‘A long, long time ago, there was a tribal chief called Lingjun. He led his people away from where they had been living to find more fertile land. They passed through a place called Yanyang, where there was a saltwater river and a beautiful saltwater goddess lived. The lowly goddess had lived alone in the river for hundreds of years. When she met Lingjun, she was overwhelmed by his heroic bearing and fell deeply in love with him. But Lingjun did not forget his ambitions. For the survival of his tribe, he had to choose to continue on. The goddess did not want him to leave, so every morning at dawn, she turned into a flying insect and led all kinds of flying insects to gather in the sky. The whole world became dark, and Ling Jun and his people could not tell which way to go and could not take a single step forward. Ling Jun later learned that it was the goddess who had done this. He thought of a way to get her to stop, and told someone to send a lock of his hair to the goddess as a token of his love. The goddess happily hung it around her waist. The next morning, there were still insects flying all over the sky. Lingjun stood on a hill and noticed a strand of hair floating in the air, so he drew his bow and shot an arrow in that direction. A mournful cry came from the sky, and the goddess, who had been shot, lost her magical powers and returned to her original form, falling from the sky…‘
’Dead?’ he asked.
‘Yes, she died. What really killed her wasn’t the arrow, but the fact that Lingjun broke her heart.‘
’Why are you telling me this story?’ He didn’t look up, his voice was vague.
She lowered her eyes and looked at the ring on his hand, her eyes a little hazy: “If one day I become an obstacle in your way, what will you do?”
He just said, “I’m not Lingjun.”
Her heart felt a little suffocated, and she muttered, ’You seem very tired.’
He slightly tightened his arms and said, ‘There are no people in this world who are made of iron. For a period of time, I only slept three to four hours a day. Sometimes I would sit in my office chair and fall asleep by leaning my head back. But it didn’t last long, and I would always wake up within five minutes and continue with my work. When I’m too busy, I don’t feel sleepy.’
She listened, and even her nose began to run. He had power and wealth, but that did not make him happy. This showed how relaxed he was with her, and how heavy his usual life was. The life of fighting for power and scheming had long ago made him develop a habit of always wearing a sneer of cold cynicism, even when he was smiling.
‘Do you want to know what I wished for today?’ she asked.
‘Of course I do.‘ He sat up straight, and his tired expression eased a little.
’Then tell me first, if you had to choose, would you choose to live an ordinary life with me, or would you choose to keep everything you have now and keep pursuing goals that you’ll never see the end of?’
Her question made him slightly distracted. Perhaps he was remembering the situation when he forced her to make a choice. At that time, he must have wanted to strangle the other person just as much as she did, right? They had really suffered. They obviously loved each other, but they had to watch each other struggle; they wanted an answer, but were afraid of being disappointed; they wanted to give up, but had to force themselves to persevere. But what other choice was there?
She hardened her heart and simply made her intentions clear: ‘If you choose the latter, then I don’t even want to mention my wishes, because—they’re none of your business.’
His fingers tightened around her waist, ‘Don’t you dare say such things!’ His tone was urgent, half-domineering, half-anxious.
She pushed his hands away and stood up from his lap, ‘Is this your answer?’
‘I can’t give you an answer yet. Because if I can’t stand at the top, I can’t give you the life you want.‘
’I don’t understand. Are the two things necessarily related?‘
’Yes,‘ he said. “The prerequisite is that you must trust me.”
’Wrong!’ she shook her head. ’You don’t want me to trust you, you want me to pretend I’m deaf and blind to what you’re doing.’
He moved his lips, but no sound came out. He just leaned over in annoyance, popped a cigarette out of the special case on the coffee table, held it in his hand for a long time, and then looked for a lighter. She watched him getting more and more annoyed, and because he couldn’t find a lighter, he vented his anger on the cigarette. He squeezed his fingers and twisted it into pieces, throwing it into the ashtray, just like he did to those who went against him.
She took the lighter out of her pocket and placed it on the table, saying, ‘If you are determined to do this, there is no way we can make it work.’
He glanced at the lighter, got up and walked over to the glass wall, leaning on it with one hand. He looked out of the window, not knowing where to look, and said, ‘Today is your birthday, can we not fight over this?’
‘I don’t want to argue with you, I just want an answer…’ She slumped her shoulders in exasperation: “What’s the difference between you and Chen Yiming?”
He didn’t turn around, but could clearly see her movements in the reflection on the glass curtain wall. His gaze fell on the disk she held up, and then slowly traced her eyes. Her clenched fist suddenly appeared, her knuckles protruding hideously, as if trying to break through the flesh.
He thought, it was all because of a dream, in which they had the happiest day of their lives and thought that every day after would be like it. Unexpectedly, the dream woke up at night, and then she told him personally that while he was having sweet dreams, she was methodically calculating him.
He finally asked, ‘Do you have a heart or not?’ The voice was really chilling to the bone.
‘If I didn’t have a heart, I wouldn’t have come to ask you,‘ she said.
’Then why didn’t you come to ask me before you got this thing?‘ he asked.
’You were afraid of spooking the snake and never finding an opportunity like this again?’ He pressed.
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ he said, his eyes dark and frightening. “I’ll tell you, I’m no different from Chen Yiming. If he can do it, I’ll do it even worse!”
She quickly grabbed the lighter on the table and said, “You just want this. Now I’ll burn it and be done with it!” She really set the compass on fire, and the pungent smell of burning plastic instantly filled the study.
He took a step forward and yelled, ’Ning Wushu!’
Those three words came to a sudden and abrupt end, like a waterfall pouring down. He laughed, the sound rising from low to high, from suppressed to unrestrained. ‘I really don’t understand. If you’re going to guard against me to this extent, why did you sleep with me?’
‘Why?’ She laughed bitterly. ‘Because I love you! Because of that love, I’ve hated and resented you, and I’ve tried hard to change. But why has it turned out like this?’
The ice-cold gaze suddenly flared up with burning flames: ‘You should know what kind of person I am. Even if you didn’t know before, you should have seen it very clearly afterwards. Then what do you love about me?’
She couldn’t answer this question. She began to feel lost. What is love, anyway? Is it about unreservedly accepting each other, or hurting each other in the name of redemption?
She felt her cheeks go cold, and when she touched them, she realised they were wet with tears. She looked at his blurred shadow, unable to see his anger, and suddenly it didn’t seem so hard. It was clear now: they were not meant to be. But as she turned to leave, he took a few long strides, reaching her before she could move, and slammed the door behind him.
‘What more do you want?’ Her sleepy eyes had lost any happy radiance, and her voice was exhausted.
Shen Shijiu didn’t say anything, just leaning against the door. She then went to pull him, first gently, then a little harder, but he was like having his feet planted on the ground, not moving an inch.
Wushu tilted her head up and forced the tears back into her eyes, ’If this continues, I don’t know who of us will go crazy first.’
He still didn’t say anything, just looked at her solemnly. Time passed by minute by minute, and the two of them just wasted away like this.
She had never won a battle of patience. Countless worms were gnawing at her marrow, unbearable. She suddenly turned sideways and slammed her head against the hard wall. It was numb when she hit it that hard, but she didn’t feel any pain because her heart hurt even more.
Just as she was about to take a second swing, he quickly reached out and held her head in his arms.
‘Don’t torture me anymore, baby,’ he said in a low, hoarse voice, mixed with a sense of utter helplessness. This was the last time, the last time he would give in.
With a heavy heart, Wushu stayed up all night. When it was just beginning to get light, she packed her important things and then quietly left the villa.
In fact, their fate had already been sealed when their parallel lines crossed. Wasn’t it silly to keep looking for a way out when you knew all along that there was no way out?

I saw her again one morning more than ten days later. It was raining heavily, and the traffic on Huasheng Road was moving extremely slowly during rush hour. Shen Shiji leaned back in the back seat, closing his eyes to rest. The driver, Rong Zhi, suddenly turned around and said, ‘Boss, I think I see Miss Ning.’
He opened his eyes and looked sideways. Raindrops fell on the car window and quickly slid down, leaving trails of winding water marks. Other than that, nothing else caught his eye. He asked, ‘Where?’
Rong Zhi was a little puzzled, and following his line of sight, he pointed to the sidewalk on the right: ‘Over there, the one in the grey overcoat.’
Wushu was indeed there, holding a thick folder in one hand and holding an umbrella with the other hand. She must have just got off the bus – it was raining, she couldn’t ride her bike, and it was very difficult to find a taxi in the morning, and there happened to be a bus stop behind her.
She took a couple of steps forward, bent down to fix the folder that was about to fall, but a reckless person ran up behind her, trying to catch the bus in front of her, and knocked her over. She muttered something under her breath, probably cursing, but she could only resign herself to squatting down to pick up the folder that had fallen to the ground. The wind blew her umbrella to one side, and most of her shoulder was soaked in the rain, but she seemed oblivious.
Across the driveway, cars passed one after the other, and her back was turned to his figure, appearing and disappearing like a common shot in a movie. The car in front had already driven away, and only a black Bentley kept stopping in the middle of the road, blocking the cars behind it and honking impatiently. Soon, a traffic cop walked over, leaned down and knocked on the driver’s side window. When the window was rolled down, he glanced behind and his stern face changed. Rong Zhi spoke to him for a few moments, and he nodded, walked to the back and guided the other cars to the other lane. Rong Zhi got out of the car with an umbrella and quickly ran to the sidewalk.
By this time, she had already put everything back in place, and as soon as she got up, she saw his driver and also noticed the ‘domineering’ car in the traffic.
She shook her head at Rong Zhi and then walked straight ahead without looking away.
Rong Zhi ran back and said to Shen Shijiu, ‘Boss, Miss Ning refused to get in the car no matter what.’
His eyes darkened and he waved his hand, ‘Let’s go.’
The next day, it was still raining. Wushu sat in the office of the law firm, listening to the sound of rain pattering outside the window, holding a newspaper, but not really paying attention to it. Song Xi had been busy with new research these few days and had been spending all day in the lab, so he rarely showed up. Xiao is only here when he is bored, drinking coffee and playing computer games.
Mei walks in holding an envelope and says, ‘Manager, a gentleman gave you this.’
Inside is a set of car keys and a note with unfamiliar words: ‘The car is in parking lot 5, space 1.’
She goes after him, calling out to Rongzhi, who is about to get into the elevator: ‘Wait.’
Rong Zhi drew back his foot and asked politely, ‘Miss, is there anything else?’
‘What is this?’ She waved the key in her hand.
‘The boss has assigned you a car,’ he answered.
‘Tell him I can’t drive.’
‘The boss says if you say you can’t drive, he’ll find you a chauffeur.’
‘I’m not used to this.’
‘The boss says if you don’t accept, you have to tell him yourself.’
‘Rong…’ Rong what?
‘Rong Zhi,‘ he reminded with a smile.
’Yes, Rong Zhi. When we speak, can you use 你 instead of 您? It sounds strange to me.‘
’Okay.‘
’Okay, take this back,’ she handed him the key: “Don’t make things difficult for me.”

Two days later, the weather started to clear up. At a little after 5 pm, Wushu rode out and met Beidang Hao at the teahouse across from the skyscraper.
She looked at the time and said, ‘I thought I came twenty minutes early.’
Bei Tang Hao smiled, ‘I came half an hour early.’ It seems that the two of them coincidentally wanted more time to adjust their emotions.
He ordered a pot of black tea, and a waiter brewed it for them.
‘How have you been recently?’
‘I can eat and sleep, which is pretty good.’
‘But you’ve lost weight.’ He immediately exposed her lie.
Wu Shu lowered her head, picked up the blue and white porcelain teacup, brought it to her lips for a small sip, and looked out the window without thinking. The curtain wall glass of the skyscraper standing on the other side reflected the afterglow of the sunset, like a straight javelin inserted into the clouds, awe-inspiring. She thoughtfully averted her gaze and casually chatted, ‘The bidding meeting for Century Park will start tomorrow morning.’
‘Yes, I wonder what the result will be.’ Bei Tang Hao pondered for a moment and said frankly, ’In fact, for the past three years, Shen Shijiu has never stopped acquiring shares of Mo Tian San. Now, he personally already owns 48% of the shares. The prospects for the Bei Tang family are not optimistic, which is why I have to go all out and cooperate with Chen Yiming. You know, the Shens and the Bei Tangs are in charge of industry and finance, respectively, and this bid for the development of the Century Park is very crucial. If he wins the bid, the general trend will be set. If he loses the bid, we will have a reason to criticise him. If we can find any more flaws in him, he won’t be able to keep his position as CEO.’
Wu Shu looked at the teacup with wandering eyes: ‘The one who wins may not be able to laugh last. The one who loses will still spare no effort to catch up. The business world is full of twists and turns. Before fighting like a crane and a clam, you have to see if there is any fishman around. After catching the cicada, you have to make sure you can escape the bird of prey’s claws. Just listening to this makes me feel tired for the person in the middle of the game.’
‘So for the rich, the most luxurious life is not material satisfaction, but being free from worries. Unfortunately, by this point, they often can’t help themselves—what’s wrong with you and him?‘ Bei Tang Hao finally asked. It was possible to guess a little, but I would rather confirm it from her mouth, so as to assess what she was thinking at this moment.
Her brows were slightly knitted, as if she was thinking about how to express it.
’Just say it.’
‘He once said that I wasn’t his type, and I’ve also thought that he wasn’t the ideal person for me. The more I get to know him, the more I feel that there is a huge distance between us, so much so that we shouldn’t have any intersection. It’s as if two people who don’t get along are forced together for no reason. And once there’s a problem, there’s only one way for me to deal with it, and that is to run, preferably until I can’t see him anymore. That way, I can deceive myself into thinking that once I calm down, maybe everything will work out.”
Bei Tang Hao sighed inwardly. His body had left, but his heart was still entangled with him, so how could she calm down.
She ran her hand through her hair and smiled, ‘Forget it, let’s not talk about it.’
She said not to talk about it, so he didn’t.
The two began to order food, and after eating, they sat for a while, talking about some light-hearted trivia from the past.
As they walked out of the teahouse, it was already dark. The city was as bright as day, as if it were the start of a new day.
Bei Tang Hao went to the car park to get the car, and she got on the motorcycle, about to put the helmet on her head. Unintentionally, her gaze turned to the right. In the observation elevator of the skyscraper, several dark figures became clearer as the elevator descended. As it approached the ground floor, she saw that he was also in it, walking out of the transparent elevator car surrounded by a crowd of people.
She turned her body around. Knowing that the chances of him noticing her were almost zero, she still held her breath nervously.
A homeless man came up to her and said in a low voice, ‘Miss, can you lend me some money? I’ve been robbed and can’t even go back to my hometown.’
She took out a 100 yuan note from her bag and said, ‘Empty your pockets and this money is yours.’
The man was obviously not expecting her to ask for this, and after a pause, he slunk away.
She put the money back in her bag expressionlessly.
This kind of scam is commonplace in the city. The best way to expose a lie is to find out if the person really doesn’t even have the money for a bus ticket.
A moment later, someone stood behind her. She noticed and impatiently raised her voice, ‘Are you done yet!’ She glanced back and caught a glimpse of a face that was all too familiar.
Shen Shijiu had a gloomy expression and a low, hoarse voice: ‘Do you really want to break up with me completely?’
She quickly put her helmet on her head, leaned over and started the car, but the engine only puffed a few times and soon died. She took off her helmet and cursed. Even the car was against her, choosing to malfunction at this time.
Beidang Hao’s car drove up the side ramp, and while looking for Wushu’s figure, he saw Shen Shijiu. He turned the steering wheel, drove up to Wushu, and asked, ‘Kid, do you want me to give you a ride?’
Wushu nodded as if he had seen a saviour, got off the motorcycle, walked past Shijiu and got into Bei Tang Hao’s car.
Seeing Wushu sitting in the passenger seat, Shijiu felt as if his whole body had been frozen. The car hadn’t even started yet, but he was already walking across the road with a determined look on his face. The cars coming and going sandwiched him in, some nearly hitting him, but he didn’t even slow down, just kept walking straight ahead, until Wushu was scared.
 

Extra: Our story 1

One
After spending a few months in the United States, it was finally time to go home.
Sean was taking his first flight, and several times he asked me if he could open the window to get some air.
I felt embarrassed next to him.

Two
At lunchtime, the flight attendant asked if we wanted Chinese or Western food.
Uncle San and I both ordered Chinese food, but Sean said he wanted Western food.
Soon after, the flight attendant returned and apologised, saying that the Western food was no longer available and that they could have Chinese food instead.
Sean asked what the Chinese food was.
The flight attendant replied that it was rice and noodles.
Sean said, ‘I’ll have the noodles, and add two steaks.’
I looked at his beautiful, confident face and really, really wanted to cry.

 

Three
Finally, we arrived at the airport and didn’t have to endure anyone’s funny stares anymore.
I was so happy to see Dad and his entourage huddled at the exit, waving at us, that I lost my head and was about to jump over to them when I accidentally stepped on Sean’s heel as he looked around and followed. In front of so many people, I fell on my backside.
I told myself that the character for forbearance (忍) had a knife above it.
Although I don’t know why I should forbear, I could have simply left him on the street to fend for himself.
Of course, that was just an imagination.
I have always been a person who finishes what I start.

I later learned that the reason my father asked Uncle San to take me to the United States for a change of scenery was not only because my mother had passed away, but also because some people in the underworld had a falling out with Nan Jing – do you know how many kidnappings there are in the world every year? 20,000! And the rate of kidnap victims being killed is as high as one in five.

5
Dad has a pair of sharp eyes, and at first glance he could tell that Sean had unusual bone structure. After some tests, he was finally convinced that his daughter had picked up a talent.
‘No matter how talented someone is, they still have to start from the bottom,’ I announced to him, and he, who was gobbling his food down, gave me a very sour smile.
On the table, seven or eight empty plates were stacked one on top of the other. He really is a glutton.

6
If I wanted to hide the fact that I was the daughter of Ning Tiancheng, the head of the student union, I couldn’t have two bodyguard-type guys with big muscles hanging around me. So the first thing Sean did as my follower was to go to school with me.
Before that, he had given himself a Chinese name, Shen Shijiu.
Shen is the homophonic of Sean, and Shijiu comes from the phrase ‘until the heavens and the earth last forever’, which is engraved on a silver lighter, the most valuable thing he owns.

Seven
We started junior high school together in the first grade.
His ‘advanced’ age of 15 made him the laughing stock of many boys, who thought he must be an extraordinary idiot. Soon, no one dared to laugh anymore. He explained to others with his actions a proof question that combined mathematics and philosophy: because A’s fists are harder than B’s, A’s brain is therefore safer than B’s, so B has a greater chance of becoming a fool than A.
Natural selection, and the weak will not stand.
Lower-grade students feared him, while upper-grade delinquents worshipped him as the new No. 1.
At first, no matter where I went, there was his shadow behind me. From then on, no matter where he went, there was a group of girls’ shadows behind him.

8
When you think he is incredibly handsome, even his lame Chinese becomes fashionable. For a while, everyone was imitating the sound of the word ‘er’ (儿) in his speech. The scene was like a group of people who had been stepped on the tail (yǐ) of a dog groaning in unison.
My teeth ached, and I wanted to groan too, but it was because I was angry.

Nine
He was a very good follower, always within a five-metre radius of me, the centre of attention. But no one ever connected him with me.
Look at me, so ordinary, and him, so dazzling.
While my English grades were always struggling to get above a passing grade, his Mandarin was improving by leaps and bounds.
When I was doing well in all my subjects, the older students’ textbooks were a piece of cake for him, so he went from being my follower to my part-time tutor.
But I never did well at it because I wasn’t focused on it. I was the daughter of Chang Tiancheng, and I could already see my future, so I put in less effort.
After learning a lot of new words, Shen Shijiu said to me, ‘A thug without education is at best a blind wanderer, but a thug with education will sooner or later become an upper classman.’ I was so angry that I couldn’t find the words to reply, so I just called him a scoundrel!

 

 

Extra: Our Story 2

My first period started in the second half of the first year of junior high school. From the experience of those who had been there before me, I already had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen. This was a very embarrassing thing to happen to me. I sat in my seat as if I had been frozen, completely stiff, and remained in that statue-like position until the end of the class.
He sat in the back row by the window, and it was easy for him to see me in the front row.
At that moment, as if by telepathy, he walked over to me and draped his school uniform over me. At 15, he was already 1.78 metres tall, so his uniform was long and just covered my bottom.
This sudden move attracted the jeers of his classmates. Amidst the speculative and giggling looks, he suddenly cupped my head in his hands and pressed a slightly dry kiss on my lips.
I froze.
The whole class, boys and girls, started to storm, overturning the previous correct guess: why her, this yellow-haired little girl? She doesn’t match at all!
He used this method to cover my withdrawal from the classroom. It wasn’t until I was outside the door that I woke up, and I realised that my innocence and my first kiss had been heroically sacrificed that day.

11
Compared to losing face, the physical discomfort killed me. After taking a few steps, I refused to take another step, my legs were intertwined like a twist.
He asked me if it hurt.
I said no – that was a lie, God knows at that moment I wished I was a boy!
He picked me up and carried me to the big supermarket near the school.
On the way, he curiously asked me how it felt.
I said in a bad mood, you’ll know when I stab you.
When we stopped at the women’s goods section, I heard a few girls over there guessing whether we were brother and sister or a couple. I was lying on his back, and I really wanted to turn my head and shout at them: ‘Stalker, it’s a stalker! It’s not brother and sister, and it’s definitely not a couple!’

12
After making sure that no one would give me trouble, Shen Shijiu began to skip school day after day. Because my father intended to cultivate him, he often took him to Nan Jing.
I discovered a serious problem. Every half day, if I didn’t see him, I couldn’t help but wonder where he was and what he was doing. I could even imagine specific scenes, like movie scenes, spinning in my head. And behind these scenes, there was always a scene of the first kiss in the classroom, which was about to happen.
I began to fall into endless worries.
This is terrible. Maybe I’m the only one who is obsessed with this problem. He has long forgotten about it.

13
In my first year of high school, I decided to get a dog and named it 19. 19 was a pure black German Shepherd. When he was young, he was quite cute, but when he grew up, he became very fierce. Every time I came home from school, he would rush out from the door and pounce at me on the road. At first, I could barely catch him, but as he grew bigger and bigger, under the force of gravity and acceleration, I was soon knocked to the ground by him, so that I could only take a detour home in the future.
Once, I climbed over the wall to get in. 19, who was waiting there, pounced on me as soon as I landed, unexpectedly, and sent me tumbling onto my back. I yelled, ‘19, get away from me, you rascal! I’ll send you away if you keep this up!’
At that moment, Shen Shijiu suddenly ran out of the back room and saw me at the base of the wall and 19 ‘messing’ with me at a glance. Then I was horrified to discover that he had casually picked up a wooden stick. Oh, my God! I quickly patted 19 on the head and shouted, ‘Run!’
19 is a very smart dog. Although he has not spent a lot of time with Shen Shijiu, he is always obedient to him. Whenever he told it to stand, it would stand; whenever he told it to sit, it would sit, without even breathing heavily.
Even I could smell the murderous intent, not to mention 19. But it didn’t run. Anyway, it could run for the first ten minutes but not for the next fifteen. So it just whimpered, lay down on one side, and looked up at him with pitiful eyes as he approached with the stick.
Shen Shijiu was about to raise his hand, but I suddenly pounced on him, grabbed his arm and yelled, ‘19 is my pet, you’re not allowed to hit it!’
19 took advantage of the chaos and slipped away.
I tilted my dirty face up and saw a shallow cut on the side of his knitted brow.
I asked, ‘How did you get hurt?’
He finally put down his stick and said that a woman had scratched him.

14
It was a hostess, very beautiful and sexy, but already quite old. Her fingers were long and thin, painted black, and she held an e-cigarette between them. Her red lips were slightly curled, and she exhaled a grey-white cloud of smoke slowly. She used such a charming posture to attract passing customers. Men just looked at her twice, but didn’t approach. For them, she had already lost her capital of youth.
I don’t know why Shen Shijiu brought me here. There is a depth in his eyes that I, at my age, cannot yet fathom.
The woman tilts her head and sees him. She comes over, twisting her waist, and gently places one hand on his face, her fingertips brushing past the scar on the side of his eyebrow.
She says, ‘My child, how contradictory it is that two different kinds of blood flow through your body.’
Her fingernails almost dug into his freshly scabbed wounds, while he was as still as a nightjar, only his dark grey eyes giving off a pure black aura.
This strange scene made me feel very uncomfortable.

Extra: Our Story (3)

15
When we left, the woman smiled at me, with a kind of crazy expectation in her beautiful eyes. A rush of blood went to my head, and I pushed Shen Shijiu away and ran out of the nightclub door, running all the way.
The ambiguity between the two of us was like a knife slowly slicing through my nerves. I remembered that he was just a scoundrel I had brought back from the dark alleys of San Francisco. There was no noble thought in his blood, and he would do those dirty things like many men.
In the empty alley, all I could hear was the sound of panting. He caught up with me from behind, wrapped his arms around my waist, and without saying a word, he let out a low growl with all his strength. Like a trapped beast, he tensed every muscle in his body, as if he wanted to crush me in his arms.
Why was this happening? What was wrong with him? I never asked these questions.
Being so strong made me lack the sensitivity that an ordinary girl should have, and also the courage to care about others. In the end, I blamed all this on the impulsiveness of youth, which doesn’t make any sense.

Sixteen
Time flies, and the first kiss of youth was finally buried deep in my memory, never to be unearthed again.
Growing up means having to face more troubles. The world in front of me is getting bigger and bigger, and I see more and more things in it, some of which are bright, some dark, and most of them are the grey area in between.
When I was young, my dream was to become a policeman, but my father told me that there were many things that policemen could not do. When I was ignorant, I seemed to understand the meaning of that sentence – the machinery of any country can only perform their duties according to set procedures. However, in a world where the economy is developing rapidly and power and money determine everything, many laws can only be used to restrain ordinary people. This is why many people are willing to take risks for power and money.
But I don’t want to be a cold-hearted person, because there are already too many of them in this society.

Seventeen
At the age of 17, I had let go of some childish ideas and at the same time strengthened some deeper beliefs.
My father named me Wushu, hoping that I would be no different from boys and escape my fate. But from another perspective, this was also an expression of his male chauvinism. I have never felt that girls should be weaker than boys. Physical strength can be developed through training, but only those with a strong mind are truly strong.
At the age of 20, Shen Shijiu also broke away from some things. He no longer used violence as directly as before, but learned to control people’s hearts. Only when the other party was stubborn would he rise from the darkness and extend his claws, which had been restrained for a long time.
Our relationship, with these intangible changes, unknowingly stood at a fork in the road. He chose the shortcut of darkness, while I yearned for the heroic light.

Extra: Our Story (4)

Eighteen

“The devil spread his huge black wings and tempted the princess, who was eager to succeed. He said, “I will make your country strong, but you must stay with me in hell. The princess did not want to lose her dignity, but the facts were in front of her, and only the devil could conquer the evil forces that had left her helpless.”

Which is more important, the process or the result?
I have always pondered this question and have been hesitant. During this time, Nan Jing experienced its most rapid development.
It is incredible that an organisation that is neutral to both the black and white worlds could have the influence it has today, but Shen Shijiu has achieved it.
Many people have tried to recruit him, from the underworld and the white world alike.
Everyone wants to add this sharp weapon to their arsenal, but they don’t know that his master has always been himself.
My father lamented to me that Shijiu had gone too far.
Everyone insisted that their own way of thinking was right, and that others’ opinions were merely dissent.

Nineteen
times of discord had caused Shijiu to stop mentioning gang affairs in front of me, and whenever I tried to get him to talk, he would find an excuse to leave. He became busier and busier, and we met less and less often. Fortunately, no matter how late it was, he would always return to the Ning family mansion.
His room and mine face each other across a corridor, and because it’s an old house, the soundproofing is not particularly good. Every night, I can hear the sound of him opening and closing the door. And only at this time can I close my eyes in peace.
Just like the old man in the story who waited for the young man upstairs to finish throwing his boots before he could go to sleep, this time, I only heard the sound of the door opening.
I pricked up my ears and heard a rustling noise coming from the door to my room.
He walked in with light steps, like a black cat with padded feet, and took each step closer to my bed.
I quickly closed my eyes, blocking my normal breathing in a slightly nervous manner, holding my breath to see what he wanted to do.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and did nothing, as if he was wasting time with me.
Ten seconds, thirty seconds, fifty seconds passed. I finally sprang up from the bed because I was suffocating.
He pretended to be surprised and asked me why I wasn’t asleep yet.
I said, ‘If you come to someone’s room in the middle of the night, you must be up to no good!’
He yawned and said, ‘I’m a bit tired. Let me lie down for a while.’ He even nudged me to one side. So the place I had fallen asleep in became his ready-made nest.
I calmed down and became furious: ‘Shen Shijiu! This is my bed! My bed!’
He muttered, ‘Yes, your bed. I’ll give it back to you later.’
Half an hour passed before he finally woke up, but he didn’t show any signs of waking up. I couldn’t help but ask myself why I let him do such inexplicable things. But when I looked at his unsuspecting sleeping face and listened to his even breathing, my heart strangely softened. I could only move to the other side of the bed, and then use the quilt to separate a space in the middle, and then sleep separately.
Fortunately, he would leave in the middle of the night every time, so I didn’t have to worry about being startled by his face when I woke up in the morning.

Twenty

After the first time, there was a second. Gradually, I became impatient.
I put two locks on my door and finally got a few good nights’ sleep as I wished, but the good times didn’t last long. One day I discovered that the two locks were useless.
I warned him viciously that if he ever “borrowed my bed” again, I would show him.
He flirted impishly, what colour? Yellow or Erotic (X)?
I gritted my teeth with hatred, but there was nothing I could do. He always found a way to make you so angry that you could only hold it in.
From then on, whenever he came to sleep in my bed, I would go and sleep in his.
Finally, one day, Dad noticed our unusual behaviour.

Extra: Our story (5)

21

Dad used to admire Shen Shijiu’s mature, worldly and composed appearance, but when he saw it in his own daughter, he was greatly displeased.
He pounded on the mahogany table and asked Shen Shijiu, who looked fierce but inwardly timid, why he was in his daughter’s bed.
Shen Shijiu let out a long breath and said, ‘I don’t see anything wrong with it.’
There was no clever explanation, just such a frivolous sentence.
He sat on the sofa, his right leg resting on the knee of his left leg, and a cigarette in his mouth. His tone was neither rebellious nor arrogant, but a kind of calm confidence. This confidence made his whole person exude a convincing radiance.
Dad asked me in private if he had bullied me. For the sake of my reputation, I had to answer honestly.
The ending was like a reversal drama.
Instead of scolding him, Dad praised him, saying that over time the boy had still been very measured. The implication was that he was not the kind of person who would just play around.
I felt that my father’s attitude was very problematic. He must have been secretly happy, thinking that this was a good thing that could not be found with a lantern.
Who told me to be stupid, fierce and unpromising.

Twenty-two

For some reason, after this incident, he stopped trying to take my bed. I returned to my old habit of falling asleep every night listening to the sound of his room door opening and closing.
As the college entrance exam approached, I, who had never believed in Buddhism, also began to hastily take refuge in Buddhism.
Even though I studied late into the night, I was unable to concentrate. As soon as I fell asleep, the black words on the page floated in front of my eyes like a summoning of spirits.
Sometimes I leaned back in my chair and fell asleep, dreaming that I was sitting for an exam, and when I saw the exam paper, my mind suddenly went blank.
Shen Shijiu was sitting behind me, and I heard the ‘s沙沙’ sound of his writing, so I turned around and asked him to copy it down for me.
He refused, and even called me stupid.
Damn it! I said to Shen Shijiu, ‘You bastard, don’t argue with me, or I’ll hit you.’
He said that if I wanted him to copy it down, I had to give him a kiss.
I was actually a little happy and a little shy. But there were people all around, so how could I kiss him?
So he yelled at the other people, ‘You all go out.’
Everyone left in a flash.
I looked at the situation and thought that this was my chance, so I quickly and openly copied his exam paper. As I copied, his mouth came up for a kiss.
It felt…like eating gummy bears, sweet, sticky and soft, and it was so good that I didn’t want to stop.
I am a person who lacks romantic cells, and even my dreams are very rational. In my dream, I was thinking, ‘This is a dream, right?’ After an intense struggle in my mind, I finally woke up, but I was surprised to find that I had fallen asleep in bed without knowing when.
Maybe it was an illusion, but I seemed to hear the sound of a door closing again.

Twenty-three
There was no suspense about the college entrance examination results. My score was miserable in Shen Shijiu’s words. He had long since known that my father had paid off the most famous private university in Nanting to let me in as an exceptional student with sporting talent.
University life was not as exciting as I had imagined. Students compared themselves to each other and bragged about their achievements.
The rich kids liked to hang out together more than the average students. They were everywhere, dressed brightly and pretentiously, as if to prove that the whole world revolved around them.
As for me, having a controversial family background doesn’t do me any favours, so hiding it is a must.
I often hear people talking about Nan Jing, sometimes in the cafeteria, sometimes on the playground. Of course, none of it is good. For example, a sophomore girl often goes to nightclubs, hooks up with Nan Jing Club member Shen Shijiu, and even rents a room in a hotel. The story is so convincing that it’s hard for people not to believe it.

Extra: Our Story (6)

Twenty-four
No one would believe it if I told them that the young master of the Nan Jing Club rarely sets foot in the entertainment venues he owns.
When I was young, my teacher told us that gambling was harmful, but I found out that my family owns a casino. I was angry with my father for a whole week because of this. Later, he reasoned with me and said, ‘Do you think your father is a bad person?’ I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Do good people just randomly stab people with a knife? I said, “No.” He said, ’A knife is something that will definitely exist, it just depends on what the person holding it does. This is the meaning of Nan Jing’s existence.
Although I gradually accepted this reason, my innate pride still made me slightly resistant in some areas.
It had been three years since I was last taken into a nightclub by Shen Shijiu, and stepping into this world of lust and debauchery again, I inadvertently saw another side of him.
Behind the huge crystal lamp was a set of wide black U-shaped sofas. On the metal and glass coffee table in front of them were a dozen bottles of foreign liquor I couldn’t name.
A dozen men and women were sitting around having fun and making noise. I could name a few of them: Gu Yuanqi, Xi Tianyu, Wu Xiangyang, and Xu Lu. They were the leaders of the Nan Jing branch.
Shen Shijiu, his shirt half open, sat lazily in the centre of the leather sofa, one hand resting on the backrest, sipping wine. Under the beautiful lighting, his whole body seemed to exude an evil aura, just like the one I saw in the alley in San Francisco at the beginning, which made people feel a chill.
Maybe to others, he looked even more attractive like this. A pretty girl moved away from the crowd and moved to his side, talking to him intimately. From where I was sitting, it looked as if his arm was around her shoulders. The two of them seemed very familiar with each other. The girl pouted from time to time like a spoiled child, while he looked at her with a half smile.
I took a small, medium-sized marble from the game box on the table, aimed at his profile, and threw it with all my strength. In college, I played volleyball, and smashing the ball hard was my strength.
The marble flew fast, and he suddenly turned his head, perhaps catching a glimpse of it in the corner of his eye, and managed to reverse it in his hand at the last minute.
Everyone next to him fell silent, probably wondering where the ball came from.
Before he looked over to me, I threw another marble, but this time, I missed his face. He stood up, scanned the area for a moment, and finally saw me not far away. His face changed slightly.
I raised my fist at him, and watched as the marble hit the post and bounced over, successfully hitting him in the head.
I ran, and he chased after me, covering his head.
We were like last time, one running, the other chasing.
I had nowhere to go, so I turned into a particularly narrow alley. He chased after me and suddenly turned back.
I gasped for breath and glared at him at the end of the alley.
He said, ‘Why are you here?’
I didn’t say anything and moved backwards. I was inexplicably nervous and afraid of him getting close to me.
He suddenly shouted, ‘Don’t move!’
It was too late. My sleeve had been slashed by a long, thin steel bar sticking out from the wall.
He squeezed in, grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the alley.
My palms were cold, and as I looked at him, my stomach churned.
According to the book, my situation was considered severe emotional cleanliness, which does not allow the slightest trace of dirt, and is inexplicably stubborn.
He was completely unaware of this, however, and rolled up my sleeve, seemingly relieved, saying, ‘Luckily, it’s just a scratch.’
I pulled my hand away and said, ‘None of your business.’
At this point, Gu Yuanyi and the others also came out of the nightclub. Seeing that we were not planning to come over, they waited at the intersection instead.
Is this what you have to do every day? I couldn’t help but say sarcastically to him, ‘Be careful, working day and night will wear you out.’
He frowned and said, ‘This kind of thing shouldn’t come out of your mouth.’
I said, ‘Don’t put on a face of a tutor in front of me, you’re just someone I… I suddenly couldn’t continue because his gaze became deep at that moment, with two clusters of cold fire slowly jumping within.
I knew, this was his weak point, and I also knew that it was hard to change one’s nature. Once young, so ignorant. Thinking that by reaching out a hand, you can redeem someone, but not knowing that you are leading sin towards yourself.
This time, we parted in discord again.
Not long after, I learned through the grapevine at school that the rumour about the sophomore girl and Shen Shijiu going to a hotel was pure nonsense, just idle gossip from some bored people with nothing better to do.
However, I was confused.
At the age of 18, I finally admitted to myself that I had hopelessly fallen in love with someone. I worried, I got angry, I was happy, I missed him, I struggled, but I never knew how to deal with it.
George Bernard Shaw said: ‘First love is just a little foolishness and a great deal of curiosity.’
My foolishness is to jump down without knowing what is at the bottom, and my curiosity is to want to know if he will be like me.
And I hope that he will change because of me.
This should be every woman’s dream, but dreams are often very far away.

Twenty-five
Our story continues.
There is always only one, no matter the process or the result. Because time will not turn back.

Extra: Old Story 1

Wen Qi They never understood why Wushu always chose the Blues Bar whenever he wanted a drink. It wasn’t because he liked it, but simply because he wanted to see… things had changed.

It was as if she had returned to that time and was looking at the old story through the eyes of the present.

As usual, Huo Si Qi would mention Bei Tang Hao after three glasses of wine, and even Huo Si Qing looked glum.

Huo Siqi in turn comforted her: ‘He’s just a kid! What’s the big deal? Have you heard of Master Wan’s famous quote? You’re a toad at the bottom of a well, and then you meet another toad. One day, when you climb out of the well, you’ll find that the ground is full of toads. Why get stuck with just one?’

‘Sister!‘ Huo Siqing cried out in exasperation, “Who’s the toad?”

’It’s me, okay? Come on, if you have time to feel sad, you might as well drink.’ With that, he poured a glass for each of them and gulped it down.

Huo Siqing’s drinking capacity was not good, and after a while, he collapsed on the table, while Huo Siqing continued to bemoan her sorrows. Only Wushu noticed the change in the atmosphere in the bar.

When Shen Shijiu walked in the door with his men, at least a dozen pairs of eyes were staring at him, and even though he was wearing sunglasses, a little girl was still shouting excitedly next to him, ‘Look at the handsome guy!’ Wushu saw him walk past her from behind, calmly, in the crystal clear glass of a wine glass. She saw the metal ring around his ear shine with a cold, sharp luster in the light, and it inexplicably made her feel irritated.

She stood up and said to the man who was lying on the table, not knowing which way was north or south, ‘I’m going to the bathroom.’

Walking past a few men who looked like door gods, Wushu walked into the women’s bathroom. She used cool water from the sink to cool down her hot face. After five minutes of dawdling, someone finally grew impatient.

Hearing a noise at the door, Wushu looked up at the mirror. Shen Shijiu’s face, without his sunglasses, looked unreal in her drunken haze—her personality aside, a man with such a complexion was naturally made to conquer women.

Shen Shijiu placed a suitcase on the countertop and then handed her a clean square of cloth, saying, ‘It seems that you have a good relationship with your new friends.’

Without waiting for her to say anything, he asked, ‘If they knew what kind of person you are, I wonder how they would react?’ His tone made it sound as if he couldn’t bear to see her with friends. The hazy beauty in Wushu’s eyes shattered into pieces with a crash, and her face hung down like a rotten stinky egg.

‘Cat got your tongue?’ Shen Shijiu suddenly reached out and grabbed her by the neck, shaking her. ‘Don’t always frown at me.’

‘Shen Shijiu, are you looking for death?’ Wushu hates his bad habit of getting physical with her the most, just like when he touched her breasts when she was little. She wanted to pull out his hair, pulling out a few strands at a time, but he said, ’Make me happy, and I’ll get the job done as quickly as possible, and the credit will still be yours. This is a pretty good deal.’

The thing is, Nan Jing will, in the spirit of harmony, decide to give up the traditional profiteering business and switch to a formal industry. This means that the income of the social democrats will decrease sharply. If it cannot be coordinated soon, it is feared that it will suffer from internal and external troubles. The investment in the new industry cannot recover the benefits in the short term, and the source of funds has become the biggest problem. Therefore, the Nan Jing Club decided to cooperate with the Motian Consortium, the leader in the financial sector in Nanting. However, the president of Motian Bank, Bei Tang Hao, is a person with mental cleanliness, and never deals personally with ‘unscrupulous’ people like the Nan Jing Club. Therefore, Shen Shijiu suggested starting with Bei Tang Hao’s special assistant. And that is the purpose of today’s visit.

Wushu finally managed to squeeze out a stiff smile.

‘That’s ugly,’ Shen Shijiu said honestly, and she smiled again. Looking in the mirror, she saw that the two smiles were worlds apart. She felt a little dazed.

The two of them leaned close in the bathroom, so close that she could see the pupils in his eyes, but in an instant he pulled away and said without a trace of emotion, ’Go change.’

It felt like Tom the cat being played by Jerry the mouse, chasing after the fish in his hand for a long way, only to discover when he looked down that there was no road beneath him and then he fell with a splash.

Only when she had returned to her identity as the young lady of the Nan Jing Club did she tie her hair up in a bun, change her sweater for a custom-made high-class silk blouse, her jacket for a crocodile-skin short trench coat, and put on a pair of light purple sunglasses, so that even if she met a classmate she would be hard to recognise.

In the VIP Rose Box, Xiao He’na is embracing and kissing a man. Even though she is mentally prepared, Wushu’s face cannot help but twitch uncontrollably.

Someone has barged in, and inevitably someone will yell, ‘Who are you people?’

She snaps her fingers behind her back.

Shen Shijiu sensibly walks forward and says with great poise, ‘We would like to talk to Miss Xiao.’

Xiao Hena is a person who has seen the world. She can still sit upright calmly even though she has been caught in the act. Her undisguised gaze moves from Shen Shijiu’s slightly open chest to his long legs. It seems that she is quite satisfied with his figure. So she slowly got up and extended her hand, saying, ‘Shen Handsome from the Nan Jing Club, I really feel that we have met too late…’

Shen Shijiu, on the other hand, put on a bewitching smile and took her hand lightly from his pocket.

‘It’s my honour.’

Even Wushu, who was standing nearby, was stunned, not to mention Xiao He’na.

Xiao He’na didn’t ignore her either. After sizing her up for a moment, she responded quickly, ’This must be Miss Ning, right? Nice to meet you.’

After the greetings and the dismissal of the bystanders, it was time to get down to business.

‘We need Assistant Manager Xiao’s help with something…’ Wushu, who was still new to the business, couldn’t hold her tongue and blurted out the request.

‘Would it be tiring for Miss Ning to stand here and talk to me?’ In contrast, Xiao Hena spoke with a confident air, like a true businesswoman. ‘I like to drink and chat at the same time.’ She clearly didn’t take anyone seriously.

‘I’d better keep Miss Xiao company.’ Shen Shijiu walked over and sat down next to Xiao Hena. “I heard that Miss Xiao is famous in the circles as a game queen. The more exciting the game, the more you like it. How about we play a game?”

‘Oh? What kind of game do you want to play?’

Shen Shijiu did something unexpected. He picked up the glass that Xiao Hena had drunk from and slowly finished the rest of the wine. At this point, Shen Shijiu’s body language and facial expressions completely resembled those of a womanizer. To put it nicely, he was charming; to put it bluntly, he was sleazy. That was why he went on to say the following words: ‘I believe I can make you scream with pleasure with just one finger?’

“Er…’

Wushu was originally sitting on the sofa on the other side, and when he heard this sentence, he really wanted to rush over and slap him for Xiao and Na. In fact, Xiao and Na were very excited, and their charming expressions could squeeze out moisture. ‘Are you that confident?’

‘Of course.’

‘So what’s the prize?’

“If I win, naturally I hope that Miss Xiao can do me a favour.’

‘And if you lose?‘

’I’ll do whatever you say.‘ He said without hesitation.

’Interesting,‘ Xiao Hena glanced at the silent girl to the side and said slyly, “If you lose, you will French kiss Miss Ning in front of me. Maybe if I’m happy, I’ll agree to what you want, how about that?”

’Don’t be ridiculous!’ No wonder she was still able to keep her composure and didn’t explode and overturn the table.

Xiao and Na laughed loudly, ‘I originally thought that the future owner of Nan Jing would definitely have extraordinary abilities, but I never imagined that she would be such an ordinary girl who gives up at the first sign of difficulty. What a pity.’

Wu Shu slammed her fist onto the coffee table, causing several cracks to appear in the thick layer of glass. She pointed a finger at Shen Shijiu, ‘No matter what method you use, you can only win, you cannot lose, or I will kill you!’ If he had a family, she would probably add the words ‘and your whole family.’

Xiao, who was stunned by the punch, took a long time to come back to his senses and look at Shen Shijiu. His expression was very complex, with a mixture of pity and a sense of enjoying the show.

Shen Shijiu was used to it and was not at all surprised.

“Then let’s get started,’

He had a calculating, confident smile on the corner of his mouth, leaning over, a posture that naturally caused him to rest one hand on the edge of the sofa, while the other landed on Xiao and Na’s sexy thigh, his fingers slowly and gently tracing the other person’s skin. I don’t know what Xiao and Na were thinking. She looked like a cat lounging in the sun, her eyes closed, stretching out comfortably.

For some inexplicable reason, she felt dry and thirsty, just like when she accidentally flipped over the pornographic pictures that her brother had hidden under the bed. At the same time, she was also very confused. Even a woman with the assertiveness and courage of Xiao Huna could easily fall under his control.

Time passed slowly, each minute seemed like an hour. Xiaohua unconsciously let out a gasp, and Shen Shijiu laughed again, gently lifting her foot and taking off her shoes that were in the way…

Wushu was planning to avoid them for a while and come back when they were done, but she heard an ‘Ah’ and Xiaohua popped up like a corpse, and then she collapsed on the sofa as if her muscles had been pulled.

Did she just scream? Wushu didn’t know whether to lift his butt up or down.

Shen Shijiu put down Xiao Hena’s leg, and his expression was the same as usual. He said, ‘There is an acupoint on the bottom of the human foot that controls the body’s most sensitive nerves. As long as you apply the right amount of pressure to this acupoint, a person will scream uncontrollably, especially when they are at their most relaxed.’

Xiao Huna muttered, ‘That’s too cunning…’ Her face showed her disappointment, even as she spoke.

Wushu was even more embarrassed than she was. There was nothing they could do; they had both gone off the deep end.

In any case, the outcome was already set. Xiao Huna was quick to agree and promised to give Bei Tang Hao a copy of the cooperation plan drafted by the Nan Jing Club.

As the two of them walked out the door, Shen Shijiu asked her sideways, ‘What are you thinking about?’

Wushu snapped, ‘Bei Tang Hao!’

‘I was working so hard just now, but you were thinking about another man?’ He was smiling, but gradually stopped.

‘Was that all you were doing?’ Wushu scoffed at him in front of his subordinates, “You were just flirting, weren’t you?”

Shen Shijiu stared at her condescendingly for a long time, then said coldly, “I’ve never met a woman as ungrateful as you.” With those words, he left without looking back.