Meng Yan said nothing.
He simply stared at her without blinking.
His deep blue eyes were like the ocean—calm on the surface, yet concealing turbulent undercurrents beneath.
Anyone who got too close would be dragged into the whirlpool.
After a long while, he curled his lips into a smile, his voice cold and wickedly charming.
“Shen Nanyue, it was your mother who came to the Meng family asking for this marriage alliance. Before, when you humiliated me in public, I let it go because you’re a woman. But this repeated playing hard to get of yours—isn’t it going too far?”
Shen Nanyue looked at him as if he were an idiot.
Meng Yan continued, “I know there’s a man by your side. Just some poor nobody. What do you think his purpose is in being with you?”
Shen Nanyue didn’t answer and silently shifted her gaze away.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Zhou Yushen walking toward them carrying the medicine.
Tall and slender, with a clean and refined aura, merely looking at him lifted one’s mood.
Meng Yan followed Shen Nanyue’s line of sight.
Seeing Zhou Yushen approach, a cold sneer escaped his throat.
He continued from where he left off.
“His goal is obviously to use you to get the Shen family fortune. That way, he can enjoy wealth and luxury without working for it. If Miss Shen is smart, she should dump him immediately.”
By the time he finished speaking, Zhou Yushen had already reached them.
He didn’t even spare Meng Yan half a glance, as if he didn’t exist at all.
“I’ve got the medicine. I’ll take you home.”
“Okay.”
Shen Nanyue originally intended to stand and walk by herself.
But Zhou Yushen bent down first, lifted her into his arms, and turned to leave.
“Hold it!”
Meng Yan’s face darkened as he called out coldly.
Zhou Yushen stopped and turned toward him in confusion.
“Were you calling me?”
“If not you, then who else?”
Meng Yan walked over and stood in front of Zhou Yushen, openly sizing him up from head to toe.
His gaze was aggressive, lacking the slightest respect.
“Miss Shen is my fiancée. What the hell are you? Put her down right now!”
“Meng Yan, since you’re already at the hospital, why don’t you get your brain checked too? Don’t let some delusional disorder make you think you can covet just anyone.”
Before Zhou Yushen could speak, Shen Nanyue coldly shot back.
Zhou Yushen smiled.
“I was also present at Madam Zhou’s birthday banquet. Miss Shen already publicly rejected your engagement. Mr. Meng, perhaps you should direct this clingy behavior toward someone else instead of disturbing Nanyue.”
His voice was gentle, yet inexplicably carried a chilling coldness—like snow in the south, subtle but instantly freezing one to the bone.
After speaking, he ignored how ugly Meng Yan’s expression had become and carried Shen Nanyue away.
Meng Yan glared at their departing figures, a suffocating frustration lodged in his chest, impossible to vent or dispel.
Only after the two disappeared through the entrance did he take out his phone and make a call.
“Investigate Zhou Yushen for me. The more detailed, the better!”
…
Sitting in the passenger seat, Shen Nanyue rubbed her ankle while giving Zhou Yushen a thumbs-up.
“You’re pretty good at shutting people down. I approve.”
Instead of responding to her teasing, Zhou Yushen asked a question instead.
“That drug from the club that night… Meng Yan was the one who gave it to you?”
The smile on Shen Nanyue’s face froze.
After a few seconds, she nodded.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“Nothing major happened, and I didn’t want to make things bigger.”
She leaned lazily against the seat with her eyes closed.
Sunlight spilled across her long curled lashes, making them resemble fluttering butterfly wings.
“What if the person you ran into that night hadn’t been me?”
“As long as it wasn’t Meng Yan, anyone would’ve been fine.”
She answered carelessly, as though it were the simplest thing in the world.
Beside her, Zhou Yushen’s hand tightened around the steering wheel.
His expression turned slightly cold, though his tone remained calm and indifferent.
“The last time you were drugged, if the person you met when you came out hadn’t been me, would you have done the same thing?”
Shen Nanyue answered without hesitation.
“Of course. If I didn’t get an antidote, I would’ve died.”
What she said made sense.
But the bitterness and anger rising in Zhou Yushen’s heart still surged uncontrollably.
He drove expressionlessly, an icy aura unconsciously radiating from him.
After that, the two remained silent the entire way.
After taking Shen Nanyue home, Zhou Yushen drove back to Yunding Apartments.
Located in a quiet corner south of the city center, Yunding Apartments was the best residential complex in Fengcheng, and also Zhou Yushen’s temporary residence.
As soon as he arrived at the complex, he saw Zhao Xuan already waiting downstairs.
The moment Zhou Yushen got out of the car, Zhao Xuan walked over with a stack of documents and began reporting in a businesslike manner.
“President Zhou, all of the group’s cooperation projects with the Meng family this year are here.”
Zhou Yushen took the files, reading them as the two walked upstairs together.
Inside the black-and-white-toned apartment, Zhou Yushen sat in the office chair in the study while Zhao Xuan sat opposite him.
After finishing the documents, Zhou Yushen set them on the desk.
“There’s a fashion show in Fengcheng next month. I heard they’re looking for investors.”
Zhao Xuan nodded.
Although he had only recently arrived in Fengcheng, as the outstanding chief special assistant of the Zhou Corporation, he was thoroughly familiar with the operations of every branch company.
“That’s right. I heard it’s being jointly organized by the Fengcheng authorities and the Fashion Designers Association.”
Zhou Yushen tapped the desk lightly with his knuckles.
“What do you think about us investing in it?”
Zhao Xuan frowned slightly, confusion flickering in his eyes.
He roughly understood the upcoming runway show next month.
Although the government was involved, the participating brands were mostly obscure labels.
Even if the show was held, it probably wouldn’t create much buzz.
But seeing that Zhou Yushen had clearly already made up his mind, Zhao Xuan pursed his lips thoughtfully before speaking.
“President Zhou wants to invest in that fashion show?”
“Fengcheng itself has a rich cultural foundation in fashion and trends. Over the past two years, the city’s tourism industry has boomed, and every industry has developed rapidly—except fashion, which has grown slowly. This year may very well become the turning point for Fengcheng’s fashion industry.”
Zhao Xuan nodded, inwardly agreeing with Zhou Yushen’s assessment.
But…
“What does this have to do with the Meng family?”
Just moments ago, President Zhou had clearly been reviewing the cooperation projects with the Meng family, yet the topic had suddenly shifted here.
If someone claimed President Zhou’s thoughts simply jumped around randomly, Zhao Xuan would never believe it.
Zhou Yushen glanced at him and pulled one document from the stack before handing it over.
“The Zhou Corporation is going to invest money into the Fengcheng fashion show. That means we don’t have any extra funds left to cooperate with the Meng family on the western suburbs amusement park project. Go make the arrangements.”
Zhao Xuan’s eyes widened in shock.
This project had been personally negotiated by Meng Yan, the future heir of the Meng Group.
Back then, after intense price bargaining, Meng Yan had agreed with a dark expression on his face.
Now they were outright rejecting the cooperation altogether.
Zhao Xuan couldn’t help wondering whether that gloomy-tempered heir would explode on the spot.
Still, no matter how intimidating Meng Yan was, he was nowhere near as terrifying as President Zhou.
Zhao Xuan accepted the documents, acknowledged the order, and then left the apartment.
The enormous office was instantly left with only Zhou Yushen.
With his back to the light, his entire figure was hidden beneath the shadow cast by the office chair.
One hand rested casually on the desk, absentmindedly spinning a fountain pen between his fingers.
Then his phone rang.
His pale, slender hand picked up the phone and answered the call.
Xu Ping’s deep and serious voice came from the other end.
“Based on the surveillance footage you provided, there’s no direct evidence showing Meng Yan drugging Shen Nanyue. But I have a way to make him pay under the law.”
— The end of the Chapter–
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