Shen Nanyue shook off his hand and said lazily, “Mind your own business. Stop worrying about your ancestor.”
With that, she turned and left without caring about Chen Mu’s dark expression.
The next day, news of her and Chen Mu’s breakup spread everywhere.
Chen Mu publicly announced the cancellation of their engagement and even declared that he wanted to see who would still want “a worn-out shoe” that he had already used.
Many people in the Shen family were watching the drama with amusement.
Old Master Shen was gravely ill.
Originally, when Shen Nanyue and Chen Mu got engaged, the old man had specifically mentioned that the assets left behind by Shen Nanyue’s father would be returned to her as a congratulatory gift.
Unfortunately, Shen Nanyue had blown the marriage apart.
Her mother also called her, her tone icy cold.
“Your grandfather’s health is poor. You should understand what he means. One must first settle down before succeeding in business. Only after you’re married will he feel at ease handing those assets over to you. Since things have fallen apart with the Chen family, I’ll arrange another match for you.”
“You should worry more about Lin Siwan instead. Stealing her sister’s fiancé doesn’t sound very nice. As for me, if worst comes to worst, I’ll just find a pretty little kept man to marry into the family, just like you did.”
Shen Nanyue hung up the phone.
Her mother claimed it was a remarriage, but in reality, it was more like the Lin family marrying into her mother’s wealth.
The entire Lin family lived off her mother’s money.
Yet Lin Siwan still dared to steal her man and even drug her.
How much weight could Shen Nanyue possibly hold in her mother’s heart?
Still, she really did need a boyfriend to reassure Old Master Shen.
After falling out with the Lin family and her mother, Shen Nanyue moved her belongings out of the Lin residence the very next day and returned to her studio.
Coincidentally, she then received several calls in a row from her senior sister.
Apparently, she wanted to introduce Shen Nanyue to blind dates.
After thinking it over, Shen Nanyue agreed.
She really did need someone to pretend to be her boyfriend.
What she hadn’t expected was for Zhou Yushen to also be one of the blind dates.
The previous man had been balding.
Yet his demands were sky-high—he wanted two children within three years.
“No problem.” Shen Nanyue lifted her eyes and slowly interrupted him.
“But my needs in that department are pretty high. Seven times a night, eighteen centimeters. How are your kidneys?”
The man fled in panic.
A while later, Zhou Yushen sat down across from her.
Shen Nanyue froze for a moment.
After not seeing him for half a month, the man was still as coldly handsome as ever, carrying an air of calm nobility.
The faint sandalwood scent around him and the cool restraint between his brows created a sense of distance.
Completely different from the passion of that night.
Even after what had happened in the car that night, Shen Nanyue still had to admit he looked like an untouchable flower on a high mountain.
A little surprised, she quickly smiled.
“Mr. Zhou, what a coincidence.”
“My family’s been pressuring me to marry, so I came out on a blind date to deal with them,” Zhou Yushen explained.
When Shen Nanyue didn’t speak, Zhou Yushen lifted his eyes and looked at her meaningfully.
His voice was calm, cool, and low.
“Seven times a night, eighteen centimeters?”
Shen Nanyue didn’t blush in the slightest.
She leisurely replied, “Compatibility in that area is very important.”
Her red lips looked vividly painted, her black hair rippling like waves, her eyes flirtatious and radiant.
It overlapped bit by bit with the image of her from that night in the car.
“You have such high demands?”
Zhou Yushen’s tone was indifferent, but his gaze carried a faint teasing smile.
It involuntarily reminded people of the scene in the car, where she had been pinned beneath him, tearfully begging.
“They’re manageable.”
Shen Nanyue smiled sweetly, her tone seductive.
“It depends on the person.”
There was deliberate teasing in her voice, easily bringing to mind the satisfied, languid look she had worn in the car.
Zhou Yushen stared at her for a long moment before finally withdrawing his gaze.
“So after dumping Chen Mu, you’re unwilling to let it go and plan to start fresh?”
“Then would Mr. Zhou be willing to go with the flow and help me out by acting out a loving relationship with me?” Shen Nanyue smiled sweetly.
Chen Mu’s harsh words alone didn’t really matter, but Old Master Shen’s condition kept worsening.
She needed to put his mind at ease somehow.
Zhou Yushen said nothing.
Just as Shen Nanyue was about to speak again, her phone vibrated.
She declined the call and looked up at Zhou Yushen.
“Mr. Zhou, think it over carefully.”
Picking up a pen and paper, Shen Nanyue wrote down a string of numbers and handed it to him.
Her red lips curved upward into a charming, alluring smile full of captivating grace.
“After all, in the blind date market, my cost-performance ratio is actually pretty good.”
Zhou Yushen held the phone number she handed him, his expression cold and unreadable, without the slightest emotional ripple.
That afternoon.
Shen Nanyue waited quite a while but never received a call from Zhou Yushen.
She felt a little regretful.
Finding a man who neither feared Chen Mu’s influence nor lacked status himself was no easy task.
Instead, it was her friend Zhu Yuan who called her.
“You really don’t plan on going back to the Lin family?”
“What would I go back for?”
Shen Nanyue replied casually, “My mother never does anything without profit in mind. Go back so she can sell me off again?”
She understood her mother well.
An exquisitely polished but extreme selfish opportunist—blood ties meant less to her than power and influence.
Since things between Chen Mu and Shen Nanyue were over, naturally she would no longer interfere in matters between Lin Siwan and Chen Mu.
Besides, in her mother’s eyes, Shen Nanyue’s face could always fetch a good price.
Zhu Yuan hesitated before speaking again.
“I heard your mother really has arranged a marriage for you. Apparently it’s with someone from Beijing. I’m afraid it won’t be easy to deal with.”
For years, Shen’s mother had wanted to break into the Beijing market.
Shen Nanyue curled her lips slightly, though her eyes were icy cold.
After a long silence, she lowered her gaze and said quietly, “Let her do whatever she wants. I’m never going back.”
…
The next day, Shen Nanyue went to the university to collect the students’ submissions for a modern Chinese-style fashion design project.
The competition was jointly organized by her studio and the academy.
Over the past two years, the modern Chinese aesthetic had become wildly popular, and Shen Nanyue’s studio had risen to fame because of it.
The person delivering the documents to her was her senior sister, who immediately leaned closer to ask about the blind dates.
Smiling teasingly, she said:
“How did the blind dates go? One of them, Mr. Zhou, used to be the teacher’s favorite student. Looks and family background—top-tier in every way. Did our junior sister take a liking to him?”
Shen Nanyue looked troubled and sighed softly.
“I’m afraid he doesn’t like me.”
“How could that be? You seriously underestimate your own charm. Babe, have some confidence—there’s no man you can’t hook.”
Shen Nanyue merely smiled without replying.
Zhou Yushen was difficult to hook indeed.
Just as she was thinking that, a text message popped up.
It was from Zhou Yushen.
Shen Nanyue opened the message and froze for a second.
“Marriage is possible. Pretending is out of the question.”
Shen Nanyue: ?
Immediately after, another message appeared:
“I’m not the type of person who jokes about marriage.”
He was serious?
Shen Nanyue was genuinely surprised.
Zhou Yushen didn’t seem like some conservative traditionalist.
Untouchable flower or not, they were both adults—why play at pure-hearted romance?
“Sorry, I currently have no plans to get married.”
Shen Nanyue had never particularly longed for marriage.
Aside from Old Master Shen constantly worrying about her future, her marriage prospects were filled more with schemes and calculations than anything else.
Her mother had married her father with ambition in mind, and most of their lives had been spent as a resentful couple tormenting each other.
What was the point of that?
A long while later, another text came from the man.
“You could give it a try. After all, in the blind date market, my cost-performance ratio is also quite good.”
