A Twisted Love Affair
Chapter 21: Compensate her with a case of _1

Chapter 21: Compensate her with a case of _1

Is that possible?

Zhou Luchen rather felt like hanging up the phone.

Shen Jing said, "Is my hairband with you? If it is, I’ll stop looking for it."

Zhou Luchen still reached into his trouser pocket. When he took out his lighter, a thin, pink hairband embellished with a pink crystal charm came out with it.

He hung up the phone, looked down, and gently twirled the satin hairband between his fingertips before slowly letting go and tossing it out the window.

The wind brushed through his crisp, short hair, leaving him looking detached and indifferent.

「Evening.」

Shen Jing received a gift box of hair ties and scrunchies, all in pink. There was also a tube of ointment, a reminder of the previous night’s lack of restraint.

Shen Jing took off her clothes and examined the marks in the mirror. They covered her body down to her waist, remnants of Zhou Luchen’s unrestrained activities throughout the night before.

She didn’t remember how it had started or how it had ended.

She took a cold shower but didn’t use the ointment.

The Second Young Master had rudely hung up on her and then sent hairbands. Who did he think he was deceiving?

Out of the whole box of hairbands, she only chose one to tie up her hair, leaving the rest in the room.

Shen Jing and Chen Yao spent a long time in Qiao Town before heading to the neighboring city with Xing Fei.

After a few days, they all grew tired of it.

Chen Yao was all about fun. "I’ll take you diving 1,000 meters under the sea someday," he said.

Just the thought made Shen Jing refuse.

During her final visit to the police station, the matter with Chen Yao’s ex-girlfriend was closed. The new groom was jailed for extortion and malicious destruction of property, which included the injuries inflicted on Shen Jing. He would have to serve his time and reform properly.

One night, Chen Yao got completely drunk—hardly surprising, given he’d been drinking by the case.

Hugging a bottle, Chen Yao was particularly heartbroken. "I’m not short of money. I just want to find someone to share genuine feelings with. Why is that so damn hard?"

Shen Jing was utterly disgusted. "You don’t have a sincere heart yourself. Who would offer theirs to you?"

Chen Yao responded, "Luchen is the one without a heart, and yet so many people are willing to offer theirs to him."

"Who?" Shen Jing asked.

Groggy, Chen Yao said he couldn’t remember. Then, as if recalling something, he fumbled for his phone to make a call. He intended to call Song Tingting but dialed the wrong number.

"Tingting, find a better husband. Don’t sell yourself short."

On the other end was Zhou Luchen, who remained silent, allowing Chen Yao to rant drunkenly.

"I’m returning to Shanghai tomorrow. I’m probably going to get married too—to the Liang Family’s second daughter. We’re very close. Who would even like her, huh?"

"That wedding ring of yours is so ugly. I’m going to buy her one a thousand times prettier than yours."

Childish. Conceited.

Shen Jing reached out and took the bottle from Chen Yao’s hand. "You’ve had enough. Weren’t you so heartless and ruthless in front of her? Why do you spill everything when you drink? I’ll have your driver come and help you back to your room."

From the phone, a man’s deep voice slowly came through, "Why are you still there?"

Shen Jing’s eyelid twitched.

Only belatedly realizing Zhou Luchen was asking her, she looked at her phone and said, "I went on a trip—hiking and enjoying the outdoors."

His tone was slightly cold. "With Chen Yao?"

Shen Jing just hummed in affirmation.

After a pause of a few seconds, Zhou Luchen, who was organizing files on his end, asked, "Have you been drinking?"

"I haven’t," Shen Jing said, her voice growing softer, tinged with a slight tremor. "Aren’t you going to come pick me up?"

Zhou Luchen’s voice, low and slightly husky, answered, "I don’t have the time."

The autumn wind whistled, rustling the leaves. Shen Jing wrapped her arms around herself and looked up at the starry night sky. "Oh."

「Shanghai.」

The entire CBD Building was brilliantly lit, a beacon of prosperity, though its inner offices showed only a few figures hurrying to finish their work.

The CEO’s chair swiveled. Zhou Luchen looked out the glass window, his gaze hazy as he took in the night view of Shanghai.

On the other end of the phone, the young woman’s breathing was soft. The "oh" she’d uttered trembled slightly, her disappointment palpable.

He switched the phone to his other hand, his lips curling slightly. "I’ll send someone to pick you up."

Shen Jing said, "No need. I’ll go back with Chen Yao. Oh, a friend of mine is with us too. Chen Yao said he’s chartering a flight back."

Master Zhou hadn’t deigned to come himself, so what was the point of him sending someone else? She wasn’t a child; she knew how to walk and take transportation.

Zhou Luchen seemed to ask casually, "Has the wound healed?"

Shen Jing looked down at her arm. "There’s a scar. It’s particularly ugly."

It was clear she cared about her appearance.

Her skin was tender and smooth. The purple bruises he had left on her waist looked particularly stark. Such exquisite white porcelain, now marred by a few scratches he hadn’t inflicted—it truly wasn’t beautiful.

Zhou Luchen raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, his eyes lightly closed. "I’ll get you a doctor."

"Ms. Lu would be angry if she knew, wouldn’t she?" Shen Jing said this with a sigh, her tone heavy with meaning.

Zhou Luchen’s thin lips curved slightly. "Why didn’t you ask that question when we were in bed?"

Shen Jing focused on the brightest star in the night sky, her lovely, fox-like eyes blinking. "She can’t see. If you don’t tell, and I don’t tell, then she won’t know, right?"

Mentioning Ms. Lu was just a jest on her part, but she was indeed holding a grudge—she was particularly good at it.

"Would Master Zhou generously tell her?"

Zhou Luchen’s smile remained unchanged. "Do you enjoy having an affair with me?"

For a moment, his unrestrained, low chuckle seemed to ebb and flow, resonating distinctly in the night.

Shen Jing could vividly imagine him sitting in the top-floor office of some skyscraper, looking so distinguished and noble.

Shen Jing asked, "Don’t you like it?"

He chuckled on the other end, then hung up.

When she returned, Shen Jing didn’t stay in Shanghai but hurried back to Su City for work.

She didn’t take Zhou Luchen’s offer to contact a doctor for her seriously, assuming he was just humoring her on a whim, toying with her.

Lately, patrons often waited specifically for "Plum Blossom Ode" to buy tickets, forcing Shen Jing to perform it three or four times a day.

That day, after finishing her performance, Shen Jing saw many missed calls on her phone. She dialed back. It was a hospital from Shanghai, calling to discuss treating her scar and scheduling an appointment.

Shen Jing leaned by the window, watching the small boats on the river. A couple was sweetly taking selfies. Then, the man took photos of the woman, but when he couldn’t get a good shot, they started to argue.

Shen Jing closed the window, grabbed her bag, and went home.

She cooked a pot full of soupy dishes.

Just as she left the kitchen, the front door was suddenly pried open by a locksmith. She lived in a studio apartment; surely a thief wouldn’t be so brazen...

She was just about to look for something hard to throw at the intruder when Feng Jian entered unabashedly. "Why weren’t you answering your phone? I thought something had happened to you, so I called a locksmith company."

Shen Jing listened to his flimsy excuses and ignored him.

Feng Jian asked, "Did you move your household registration?"

Shen Jing’s voice was icy. "Yes."

Feng Jian sat opposite her. "Ajing, I raised you for ten years. How can you just leave like this? Even if you’re not my biological daughter, surely there’s some bond from all the years I cared for you? Uncle is very hurt by what you’ve done. I’ve always treated you like my own daughter."

So, that’s why he’s here, Shen Jing thought. He came for money.

Shen Jing continued to eat, ignoring him. The Shen Family had provided child support for her, delivered punctually on the first of every month, and all that money had ended up in Feng Jian’s pocket. Yet now he claimed to have raised her. What a joke.

Feng Jian put on a kindly smile. "Do you... have any money on you?"

Shen Jing put down her soup spoon. "Yes, I do."

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