At that moment, the lighting inside the car was intimate, and the atmosphere was perfect.
Shen Nanyue curled her red lips into a smile.
“Mr. Zhou, are you trying to take advantage of the situation?”
“So…” Zhou Yushen smiled faintly. “May I?”
Shen Nanyue’s heartbeat skipped faster.
“Next time.” She pushed him away and got out of the car.
Though she said “next time,” Shen Nanyue felt as though she had been bewitched by a handsome face.
She really hadn’t seen enough of the world if she could fall so easily for a man’s charm.
She must have lost her mind to find Zhou Yushen’s suggestion tempting.
So the next day, when Zhu Yuan called and invited her to a club to “broaden her horizons,” Shen Nanyue didn’t refuse.
Zhu Yuan and the others were having a great time.
Halfway through, someone suggested playing dice—highest versus lowest.
The loser had to do a dare.
Shen Nanyue had always been someone who could have fun easily, so she rolled up her sleeves and joined the game.
Unfortunately, she started badly and rolled a very impressive one.
Grinning mischievously, Zhu Yuan leaned over and announced the dare:
“Go ask that handsome guy if he’s free tonight.”
Shen Nanyue followed the direction she pointed.
It was Zhou Yushen.
She hesitated slightly.
Rationally speaking, she shouldn’t get too entangled with Zhou Yushen.
He was mysterious, his intentions unclear, and yet somehow their paths kept crossing.
“Pick another one,” Shen Nanyue tried to resist.
But Zhu Yuan and the others laughed and stubbornly refused.
“That guy is so handsome! Nanyue, go for it! Don’t be scared!”
Taking a deep breath, Shen Nanyue walked toward Zhou Yushen.
She had come to broaden her horizons—how had it turned into broadening them with this man?
Waving a hand lightly, Shen Nanyue asked, “Handsome, are you free tonight?”
Under the dazzling lights and shifting shadows, he lifted his eyes toward her.
His gaze was dark and deep as his thin lips lazily uttered two words:
“I’m free.”
Silent flirtation was always the deadliest kind.
Shen Nanyue suddenly felt strangely thirsty for him.
Just then, Lin Siwan’s surprised voice rang out:
“Big sister, why are you here? Didn’t Mom say she was introducing you to Mr. Meng?”
She clung to Chen Mu’s arm, triumph and delight flickering in her eyes.
But after clearly seeing Zhou Yushen’s face, the joy in her expression faded somewhat.
“Is this gentleman my sister’s new lover? No wonder she’s having too much fun to leave—even Mom’s wealthy bachelor isn’t good enough for her anymore.”
Chen Mu glanced at Shen Nanyue with a cold expression.
“So this is the man you fell out with me over? Satisfied now?”
Shen Nanyue and Chen Mu had known each other for more than ten years.
They had grown up together as childhood sweethearts, so she understood his coldness and selfishness very well.
Clearly, he had cheated first, yet he still acted self-righteous.
Before she could speak, Zhou Yushen suddenly spoke up.
“I don’t understand the love-hate entanglement between the two of you, but…”
The corners of Zhou Yushen’s lips curved slightly, making his refined features appear even more strikingly handsome.
“I wouldn’t exactly call myself Miss Shen’s new lover. I’m still pursuing her.”
“To put it more simply, I’m her simp.”
Zhou Yushen spoke slowly and calmly.
His cool, elegant demeanor paired with his perfectly serious nonsense gave him an almost devilishly charming air.
Then he leisurely added, “This gentleman here—is he planning to take a number and wait in line?”
Wait in line to simp for her together?
Both Chen Mu and Lin Siwan’s faces turned green.
Meanwhile, Shen Nanyue felt thoroughly satisfied.
After a long pause, Chen Mu finally turned away, his face filled with disgust.
“This is all you’ll ever amount to in your life.”
No wealthy, high-status man would ever truly want a “used woman” he had already played with, and the Shen family would never hand over its fortune to a woman like Shen Nanyue.
At best, she would spend the rest of her life clinging to her little studio, barely scraping by.
As for the man in front of her—a man who had barely appeared a few times within Fengcheng’s elite circles—he was probably only interested in Shen Nanyue’s face and wanted to toy with her for fun.
Harboring such malicious thoughts, Chen Mu left with Lin Siwan.
Sometimes, Shen Nanyue genuinely couldn’t understand him.
Chen Mu’s resentment toward her often came out of nowhere.
They had been childhood sweethearts for so many years.
No matter how cold and selfish he was, it shouldn’t have reached the point of overflowing hatred.
It was almost as if she had been the one to cheat on him first.
But clearly, he had been the one entangled with Lin Siwan from the start!
She turned her head, only to crash straight into Zhou Yushen’s gaze.
“You just asked me…”
The man’s voice was low and deep, his eyes dark and intense.
Shen Nanyue’s heartbeat quickened as she heard him ask calmly:
“Am I free tonight?”
Desire churned in the depths of his eyes.
For a moment, Shen Nanyue was speechless before hurriedly explaining, “Sorry, Mr. Zhou. That was just because I lost a dare.”
“That’s all?”
Coming back to her senses, Shen Nanyue said, “Thank you for earlier.”
He really had helped her save face.
Chen Mu was probably going to remember that line—“Are you planning to take a number and wait in line?”—for a very long time.
Zhou Yushen raised a brow.
One hand suddenly caught her wrist and pulled her against him.
Leaning down slightly, he brushed aside a strand of her hair and asked faintly,
“Then tonight…”
Shen Nanyue curled her red lips into a smile.
“I’m afraid tonight won’t work.”
Zhou Yushen looked at her quietly.
Leaning close to his ear, Shen Nanyue whispered, “I’m not lying to you. My period came today.”
Zhou Yushen’s eyes darkened slightly, but he didn’t force her.
Releasing her wrist, he said calmly, “When it’s over, tell me.”
Shen Nanyue couldn’t help laughing.
“What exactly is this supposed to be? If we can’t become husband and wife, then lovers instead?”
He glanced at her indifferently.
“Wasn’t 18cm the thing you cared about most?”
Zhou Yushen seemed to have something else to do and didn’t stay long before getting up and leaving.
Still, a handsome man at his level naturally drew attention from Zhu Yuan and the others.
After Zhou Yushen left, Zhu Yuan stared eagerly at his departing figure before excitedly leaning closer.
“Who was that hottie? He’s seriously gorgeous.”
Shen Nanyue replied calmly, “Not close.”
They had slept together, but they weren’t close.
Thinking about it carefully, aside from Zhou Yushen’s name, she knew absolutely nothing else about him.
Zhu Yuan, however, seemed to have quite a favorable impression of Zhou Yushen and suggested with a grin,
“Aren’t you looking for someone you can develop a long-term relationship with? Someone to slap Chen Mu in the face? This guy’s perfect. Handsome, and he carries himself with real class.”
“He’s not suitable,” Shen Nanyue explained. “He’s into pure romance.”
After sleeping with her once, he already wanted to get married.
If that wasn’t pure love, then what was?
Though Shen Nanyue suspected Zhou Yushen’s reason for marriage probably wasn’t really about taking responsibility for her.
Zhu Yuan sighed dramatically.
“In this day and age, there are still handsome men that pure?”
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she warned her:
“Speaking of which, you should settle things sooner rather than later. That Meng Yan your mom arranged for you is definitely not a good person. His family background is complicated too. His older sister married into one of Beijing’s top elite families. If this guy decides to pull some forced-marriage power play nonsense, he won’t be easy to deal with…”
Shen Nanyue paused slightly and lowered her eyes.
“I’ll be careful.”
Remembering something important, Zhu Yuan added,
“Oh right, about the thing you asked me to investigate—the hospital records from last year show that Chen Mu’s younger sister really did undergo surgery once.”
Shen Nanyue’s heart suddenly skipped violently.
— The end of the Chapter–
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