Shen Nanyue and Zhong Li got along fairly well during their conversation.
She had assumed that Zhong Li was the quiet, reserved type, but to her surprise, he was actually quite humorous.
Every now and then, he would casually make a remark that left Shen Nanyue laughing out loud.
Sitting nearby, Zhou Yushen watched silently.
As his gaze fell on Shen Nanyue’s bright smile, a surge of anger instantly ignited within him.
What was so funny?
Sensing an inexplicable stare, Shen Nanyue’s smile faltered.
She glanced around, but didn’t notice anything unusual.
Zhong Li looked at her curiously.
“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
For some reason, she felt a chill run down her back, though she couldn’t explain why.
After dinner, she and Zhong Li headed downstairs together.
The elevator doors opened.
The moment they did, Shen Nanyue found herself staring directly into Zhou Yushen’s cold, aristocratic face.
She froze in place, her eyes widening in disbelief.
Wasn’t he supposed to be in Beijing?
While she was still stunned, Zhong Li had already stepped into the elevator.
Seeing that she hadn’t followed, he held the door open and called out, “Miss Shen, come on in.”
Noticing that Zhou Yushen had looked away from her as though she were a complete stranger, Shen Nanyue thought to herself that he had apparently taken her words to heart.
From now on, they were strangers.
Feeling strangely uneasy, she stepped into the elevator and stood with her back toward him.
The elevator doors closed.
They began descending from the fifteenth floor.
The elevator was silent.
Shen Nanyue wasn’t sure if she was simply being self-conscious, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that a scorching gaze was fixed on her back.
Suddenly, the elevator jolted.
Caught off guard, she lost her balance and stumbled sideways.
“Careful!”
Zhong Li quickly reached out to support her.
Instinctively, Shen Nanyue grabbed his arm.
For a moment, it looked as though she was leaning against his chest, though they still maintained a respectful distance.
Once she regained her footing, Zhong Li frowned at the elevator.
“Is the elevator malfunctioning?”
Zhong Li apparently had the world’s worst luck.
The moment he finished speaking, the elevator lights went out.
Then the elevator suddenly began dropping at high speed.
“It really is malfunctioning!”
Zhong Li tried to steady Shen Nanyue again.
But before he could, another hand gripped her arm.
A deep male voice sounded beside her ear.
“Lean against the wall. Bend your knees slightly. Don’t panic.”
It was Zhou Yushen.
He immediately moved to the control panel, pressing every floor button in succession before hitting the emergency alarm.
Zhong Li noticed that Shen Nanyue was trying to protect herself and quickly followed suit, pressing his back against the elevator wall.
Fortunately, the elevator only dropped a few floors before coming to a stop.
It halted at the fifth floor.
The doors opened.
Zhou Yushen pulled Shen Nanyue forward and made sure she exited first.
Zhong Li followed.
Zhou Yushen stepped out last.
The instant his foot cleared the elevator threshold—
BOOM!
The entire elevator plunged downward.
A deafening crash echoed through the building, sounding almost like an explosion.
A wave of fear washed over Shen Nanyue.
If Zhou Yushen had been even one second slower, he would have gone down with the elevator.
Remembering that he had just saved her, she wanted to thank him.
Just as she was about to speak, Zhou Yushen suddenly turned around and headed toward the stairwell without looking back.
His figure disappeared down the stairs.
Shen Nanyue let out a quiet sigh.
It seemed he had truly listened to what she said.
If that was the case, then perhaps it was best for them to remain strangers.
Even if he was in Fengcheng, there would be no reason for them to meet again.
At least, that was what she thought.
Zhong Li asked whether she was alright.
Shen Nanyue shook her head.
The two of them went downstairs.
By then, emergency responders and maintenance personnel had already arrived and rushed over to inspect the elevator.
The entire building was in an uproar.
After learning that the elevator had malfunctioned, nobody dared use one anymore.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yushen sat inside a car parked near the entrance.
Through the window, he watched as Shen Nanyue climbed into Zhong Li’s car.
The anger that had only just subsided immediately flared up again.
He picked up his phone and called Li Che.
“Come out. I need to ask you something.”
…..
An hour later.
Li Che arrived at the bar and found that Zhou Yushen had already finished two bottles of whiskey.
The corner of his eye twitched.
“Don’t start asking me questions while you’re drunk. Tomorrow, when you sober up, don’t deny everything and blame me again.”
Zhou Yushen shot him a cool glance.
“I’m not drunk. Sit down.”
With a sigh, Li Che sat down on the single sofa beside him.
A waiter came over with more alcohol, but Li Che stopped him.
“No more liquor. Bring some snacks instead.”
Surprisingly, Zhou Yushen didn’t object.
He got straight to the point.
“You said the blind date was arranged by Zhou Yu?”
So that’s what this was about.
A teasing smile appeared on Li Che’s lips.
“I thought it had nothing to do with you?”
Zhou Yushen frowned.
“The overseas branch happens to be short a manager…”
“Wait, wait, wait! Brother, I was wrong.”
Li Che surrendered immediately.
Sitting upright, he looked at Zhou Yushen with an ingratiating smile.
“Yes, Zhou Yu arranged it. According to An’an, Shen Nanyue resisted at first, but later she agreed for some reason. You probably don’t know this yet, but Zhou Yu has completely turned over a new leaf. She’s moved back into the Shen family home and says she wants to make up for the years she failed Shen Nanyue as a mother.”
Zhou Yushen didn’t care what Zhou Yu was thinking.
He simply frowned deeply, lost in thought.
As someone who had known him for years, Li Che immediately saw through his inner conflict.
“Brother, if you’re upset because of this, then it means you still have feelings for Shen Nanyue. You clearly like her, so just go after her. Why are you making things so complicated?”
Zhou Yushen turned and glanced at him, but didn’t answer.
The hurtful words Shen Nanyue had spoken in the hospital continued replaying in his mind.
If he went back and pursued her again now, wouldn’t that just be humiliating himself?
Li Che casually poured himself a drink.
“If you want to keep fighting with yourself, then I have nothing more to say. But let me tell you this—Shen Nanyue seems to have gotten over her fear of marriage. If you don’t act soon, she might really end up marrying someone else.”
“As men, sometimes we need to swallow our pride. Sometimes we need to be thick-skinned. Look at me. If I hadn’t kept chasing after Shen An’an, do you think she would’ve ever looked back at me?”
That was actually true.
When it came to shameless persistence, Zhou Yushen couldn’t compete with Li Che.
Still, crude as the advice was, it wasn’t wrong.
He couldn’t let go of Shen Nanyue.
At the very least, he needed to know why she had said those things in the hospital.
But he couldn’t keep clinging to her the way he had before, like some obsessive stalker.
This time, his methods would be much more direct.
“Be my informant around Shen An’an. If anything happens with Shen Nanyue, I want to know immediately.”
Li Che blinked in surprise.
Was he really that easy to persuade?
A trace of hesitation crossed his face.
“But what if An’an finds out…?”
Slowly, Zhou Yushen shifted his gaze onto him.
Li Che felt a chill run through his body and immediately sat up straighter.
“Don’t worry. Leave everything to me.”
Only then did Zhou Yushen look away.
Li Che felt utterly helpless.
If he had known things would turn out like this, he never would have encouraged him.
Being forced into the role of a double agent was giving him enormous pressure.
After that, the two of them discussed some work-related matters.
They didn’t drink much more.
When Li Che learned that Zhou Yushen had come to Fengcheng alongside the executive responsible for Wansheng Investment Bank’s partnership with the Shen Group, he looked at him speechlessly.
“You already found yourself the perfect excuse to get close to Shen Nanyue. Why are you pretending to be aloof in front of me?”
He had just claimed it was none of his business.
If it really wasn’t, would he be jealous to this extent?
— The end of the Chapter–
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