A Twisted Love Affair
Chapter 19: What’s Love_2

Chapter 19: What’s Love_2

No one in the bed and breakfast knew where he had gone.

Her condition required tetanus shots for prevention, along with an examination to ensure there were no glass shards left in her flesh. The doctor meticulously handled every step of the procedure.

All day long, Shen Jing sat on the sofa, letting the doctor administer injections.

Chen Yao personally delivered meals. He had somehow found a skilled chef who prepared exquisite, blood-nourishing dishes.

Pigeon blood, donkey-hide gelatin, oxtail soup.

Shen Jing found it too rich. "Losing so little blood really isn’t worth all this fuss."

"Just eat it," he said.

Chen Yao continued to serve her dishes meant for healing wounds. "After all, it’s the Second Young Master’s money. Are you worried about him spending it?"

"Does he treat other women the same way?" Shen Jing asked.

That is to say, would he care for anyone who got drunk? Would he kneel to tend to anyone who got hurt?

Chen Yao, playing with a spider plant by the window, said, "I’m not sure. It’s a world of many temptations. If you want to be with him, don’t take things too seriously, especially matters of the heart."

"He, ah, is quick to change his heart," Chen Yao added. "He can fall for three people in two days and forget someone in the blink of an eye."

"Maybe you should consider someone else. Brother Luchen is really not an easy person to deal with."

Hearing all this, Shen Jing countered, "Switch to whom?"

Chen Yao jokingly said, "How about me?"

The previous sentence had been spoken with great respect, calling him ’Brother Luchen’.

Who would take these young masters’ jokes seriously? Certainly not Shen Jing.

"Stop making fun of me," she said.

Chen Yao was naturally joking. They were friends, after all; how could he possibly touch Zhou Luchen’s woman?

When Young Master Zhou went to the police station, his first priority was to see Shen Jing. Only then did he bring in a lawyer to negotiate a settlement.

It is only natural for a man to instinctively pity and cherish a beautiful woman.

「In the afternoon」

Song Tingting came to see Chen Yao. She also brought fruit for Shen Jing, who was innocently caught in the middle and injured, as a form of apology.

Song Tingting was that former girlfriend. She wore a wedding ring on her ring finger, perhaps having come in such a hurry that she forgot to remove it.

Chen Yao stared at the glint of the ring for a long while.

As for the money Chen Yao had given Song Tingting, he did not bother to reclaim it. He considered it a farewell wedding gift to his former girlfriend.

Had he ever been in love? It didn’t seem so. There was real affection, but nobody’s feelings were pure.

To a young master from an aristocratic family, that sum of money wasn’t much. Rich men are willing to spend on their women; no amount is too much. However, who would be pleased if that money was used for her to marry another man and start a family? That’s a direct provocation of a young master’s temper.

At that time, Shen Jing was sitting in the yard slicing lemons for her water, and she overheard their conversation.

It must be said, Chen Yao’s ex-girlfriend is truly beautiful.

"Yao bro, he was drunk when he did those messed-up things. Please don’t sue him. His family keeps harassing me; it’s really annoying. You’ve let me off, can’t you let him off too?"

Chen Yao ate an orange, segment by segment. "I haven’t let you off; I just don’t want to argue over money."

Song Tingting stepped forward and clung to Chen Yao’s arm. "Then I’ll go back to Shanghai with you, and I won’t get married, okay?"

Chen Yao, smiling, removed Song Tingting’s hand. He leaned back, his hand over the back of his head, gazing up at the blue sky and white clouds. "You have to get married. Didn’t you accept the red envelope I gave you that day?"

He had indeed generously given a red envelope, so what? He’d even received their wedding invitation.

"Tingting, have I ever treated you poorly?"

Not too shabbily; he’d take good care of her. Chen Yao, albeit a playboy, would openly acknowledge a girlfriend when he had one—one at a time. But the Chen Family had already arranged a marriage partner for him. A Cinderella story with a prince had such a minuscule chance of happening, it was almost an impossibility.

Song Tingting lifted her eyes, brimming with tears. "I’ll be 28 next year. I really can’t afford to play around anymore."

"Tingting, we could have ended things amicably. If you had just been a little more compliant, our relationship could have developed in a positive direction."

But now, things had escalated to a point of no return.

Shen Jing watched the drama unfold with interest.

Wasn’t their relationship just a whirlwind of hedonism, where neither truly loved the other, merely attracted by superficial qualities? She found that the stories of the people around Zhou Luchen were really more fascinating than those on TV. As for Zhou Luchen’s own story, it might be even more thrilling. Otherwise, the Zhou Family wouldn’t be so harsh and strict with him.

Good thing their affair happened out of town. If the family elders in Shanghai found out, Chen Yao would be in for a rough time.

Song Tingting was crying pitifully. "Don’t I deserve to get married?"

"Go ahead. Congratulations, best wishes, may you have a blissful union. But pick someone better, for heaven’s sake. I’m embarrassed for you, having such a lousy husband."

Having said that, Chen Yao got up and went inside, indifferent.

Shen Jing carried a glass of lemonade into the room.

"Your ex is crying. Are you really so heartless that you won’t console her?"

Chen Yao seemed unconcerned. "Haven’t you ever seen a woman cry? Do I have to console her every time she does? Where were her tears when she wronged me? Haven’t you noticed how shiny that wedding ring is? Will she die if she doesn’t get married or what?"

Forget it; Shen Jing wasn’t going to ask.

Their dinner for two was takeout.

Song Tingting didn’t leave; she insisted on seeing Chen Yao.

Chen Yao lay on the couch playing video games, not even listening.

「By evening」

Shen Jing went hiking to watch the sunset and vent her frustration at the valley.

"Zhou Luchen!"

Her echo responded quickly.

Chen Yao held up his phone. "Believe it or not, I’m recording this."

He really hadn’t seen such a straightforward girl before. The girls around the Second Young Master were there either for money or to climb the social ladder through his influence. This girl seemed naive. Being with her felt incredibly comfortable to Chen Yao.

Regarding the car-smashing incident, if they had gone through legal proceedings, the Chen Family would have found out regardless. The call was on speakerphone; it was likely Chen Yao’s mother on the other end, furious.

"Just get married already, understand?"

"Such audacity! The illustrious Young Master Chen, running off to Qiao Town for a girl. Don’t you have any shame? Doesn’t the Chen Family? And Achen, did you have to trouble him to bail you out again?" Her tone was thick with the local Shanghai accent.

Chen Yao tried to change the subject. "Achen isn’t married either."

Chen Yao’s mother retorted, "Why don’t you two just get together then?"

Shen Jing couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

Chen Yao’s mother heard the laughter and immediately knew it was a young girl. "Is that a young girl’s voice? Whose young daughter are you leading astray now?"

Chen Yao quickly defended himself, "Don’t talk nonsense, the young girl is Achen’s."

TSK.

Shen Jing promptly closed the bedroom door.