Zhou Yushen seemed unwilling to let Shen Nanyue see him in such a vulnerable state.
Staggering to his feet, he stumbled toward the door.
His back was slightly bent, and his entire figure seemed enveloped by a dark, oppressive aura.
He looked drained of strength, leaving only a wavering silhouette moving forward step by step.
A faint ache stirred in Shen Nanyue’s heart.
Setting the autographed photo on the desk, she quickly followed him.
Reaching out, she grabbed his arm.
“Sit down.”
Zhou Yushen still tried to resist.
Shen Nanyue’s voice hardened.
“If you walk out now, don’t even think about stepping into my office again.”
The hand hanging at Zhou Yushen’s side slowly clenched into a fist.
This time, he stopped struggling and obediently allowed Shen Nanyue to help him over to the sofa.
“Is it a headache?”
Seeing that he had been clutching his head the entire time, Shen Nanyue placed a hand against his forehead.
No fever.
She stood up, intending to call Assistant Xu and have him drive Zhou Yushen to the hospital.
But Zhou Yushen caught her wrist and said softly,
“It’s fine. I just need to rest for a while.”
His condition…
It couldn’t be something Shen Nanyue found out about.
Hearing how weak his voice sounded despite his stubbornness, Shen Nanyue felt a little annoyed.
In the end, however, she said nothing.
She poured him a glass of water.
After drinking it, Zhou Yushen sat quietly on the sofa for a long time before some color gradually returned to his pale face.
Throughout the process, Shen Nanyue kept observing him from time to time.
Although the blood had returned to his complexion, exhaustion still lingered in his eyes.
“Are you sick?” she asked.
Zhou Yushen shook his head.
“I’m fine.”
Shen Nanyue chose not to press further.
“I’ll call Li Che and have him come pick you up.”
As she spoke, she pulled up Li Che’s number on her phone.
Just as she was about to dial, Zhou Yushen reached out and took the phone from her.
“I’m fine. I can go back myself.”
Shen Nanyue frowned.
“Don’t push yourself. If you get into a car accident on the way, I don’t want to be held responsible.”
Zhou Yushen chuckled softly.
“If I get into a car accident on the road, what does that have to do with you?”
“You walked out of my office looking half-conscious. Anyone who saw you would think I’d done something to you.”
A look of realization crossed Zhou Yushen’s face.
After thinking it over, he nodded in agreement.
“That’s true. It does have something to do with you. If you hadn’t made me angry, I wouldn’t be like this.”
Shen Nanyue stared at him in disbelief.
So now he was actually trying to blame her for it?
“I’ll have Assistant Xu drive you.”
She made the decision decisively and stood up to leave the office.
But Zhou Yushen grabbed her wrist again.
“I have something to tell you.”
His expression was unusually serious.
After a moment’s thought, Shen Nanyue sat back down beside him.
“What did Mi Xin and Ming Zifan come here for today?”
“Ming Zifan just came to say hello. As for Mi Xin, I think you’d be better off asking her yourself.”
Shen Nanyue’s face remained calm.
Watching her, Zhou Yushen couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“When your brand’s new clothing line is released, replace the spokesperson.”
After a brief pause, he added, “My company has more artists than just her.”
Shen Nanyue looked at him in surprise.
Wasn’t he being a little too decisive?
“We’ll talk about it later.”
Then she remembered that before meeting Mi Xin, she had been messaging Zhou Yushen.
She still hadn’t given up on seeing Chen Mu.
“By the way, why did you come here? To take me to see Chen Mu?”
“What’s there to see?”
Zhou Yushen sounded dissatisfied.
Shen Nanyue teased him lightly.
“What? Are you keeping me from seeing him because you used torture on him?”
Zhou Yushen said nothing.
His face darkened noticeably.
Shen Nanyue immediately abandoned the joke.
In a calmer tone, she said, “I just wanted to see if I could get any information out of Chen Mu.”
“Don’t worry. If there’s any information, I’ll tell you.”
Zhou Yushen patted her shoulder and stood up, heading toward the door.
“You’re leaving already?”
He stopped and turned his head to look at her.
“What? Can’t bear to see me go?”
His dark eyes held a desire that was impossible to ignore.
Shen Nanyue felt a jolt run through her.
“Nothing. You can go now.”
She answered almost immediately.
Zhou Yushen let out a soft laugh and didn’t linger any longer.
He had come and gone in such a hurry.
What exactly had he been trying to do?
Shen Nanyue couldn’t figure it out.
It wasn’t until her phone rang that she snapped out of her thoughts.
The number was unfamiliar.
After answering, she heard a low, hoarse male voice on the other end.
The voice had been electronically altered, making it impossible to identify.
“If you want to know how your father really died, come to Linlu Bar at eight o’clock tonight. Don’t bring anyone with you. Otherwise, I’ll kill Shen An’an.”
The caller said only that before hanging up.
Shen Nanyue stood frozen in place.
It took her a long time to recover.
The truth about her father’s death.
An’an had once said it was connected to the Chen family.
Now that Chen Mu had been captured, it didn’t take much thought to figure out who might have made this disguised phone call.
After considering it, Shen Nanyue decided she still had to go.
She handed all of her remaining work over to Assistant Xu, then went to a shopping mall and bought a tracksuit to change into.
There was no telling what might happen tonight.
She needed to make sure she could move freely if a fight broke out.
At the same time, Shen An’an received a phone call with almost identical content.
The only difference was the location.
She was told to go to the Chen family’s old residence.
When she answered the phone, Li Che happened to be nearby.
After hearing the secret revealed in the call, his expression darkened.
Seeing how calm Shen An’an remained only made him feel even more uneasy.
“You’re going?”
Shen An’an nodded without hesitation.
“I suspected she was at the Chen family three years ago. But in those three years, I never managed to find any trace of her. This is an opportunity.”
Li Che remained silent, his face clouded with displeasure.
Shen An’an knew he was worried about her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder, gently rubbing against him.
The simple gesture instantly dissolved the anger that had been rising inside him.
“This time, I need your help.”
The girl’s soft, sweet voice slipped into his ears, extinguishing the last of his irritation.
Li Che wrapped his arms around her in return and replied unhappily,
“So now you remember I exist? Why should I help you?”
He sounded surprisingly tsundere.
Shen An’an knew exactly how to handle him at times like this.
Smiling, she said, “Because you’re my boyfriend. If you don’t help me, then you won’t have a girlfriend—”
Before she could finish, her lips were silenced.
When the fierce kiss finally ended, Li Che pulled her into his arms.
His expression still wasn’t particularly pleasant, but a faint blush had appeared on his face after finally getting to kiss the girl he loved.
“You really don’t know how to avoid saying unlucky things. Consider that your punishment.”
Shen An’an buried her face in his chest.
Her cheeks were as hot as boiling water.
“Shameless.”
Her voice was muffled.
Li Che only curled his lips into a smile.
“Things were better when you were a little mute. Now that you can talk, all you do is bite people. I must really owe you something.”
He lightly tapped her head.
Yet his arms tightened around her even more.
“This time, I’ll protect you no matter what.”
Shen An’an could feel Li Che’s unease.
She didn’t know how to explain it away.
All she could do was hug him back and offer silent comfort.
— The end of the Chapter–
TL note : Join Patreon to support the translation and to read up to 50 chapters of the release :
https://www.patreon.com/DeCakraWnloverz
