Chapter 50 p2
It was past breakfast time, but knowing Xu Jinnan’s sleeping habits, no one had disturbed them.
They got ready and went downstairs.
As Shen Shu was hurrying to leave, Xu Jinnan, worried she might get hungry, went to the kitchen to pack a couple of pastries for her. She overheard the servants gossiping about the original Xu Jinnan’s past, calling her a disgrace.
She didn’t have time for their judgment.
Xu Yincheng saw them to the door.
He gestured for Xu Jinnan to step aside, wanting to speak to her privately, so Shen Shu went to the car first.
“Even if I protect you, I can’t be by your side all the time. My work is sensitive, and I’m often away for months. I can’t always be there for you,” he said, his voice turning cold. “I only found out about the Yin Xue incident after it happened. You have to be more careful.”
Xu Jinnan, used to Xu Tao and Lu Yun’s fake concern, felt a twinge of awkwardness at his genuine worry.
“I’m fine. The Yin Xue incident is… over,” she said.
The news hadn’t reached North City, thanks to Li Lan’s intervention. She wondered if Xu Yincheng had heard about it from her.
“It’s not over for her. She’ll never get out,” he said, his voice laced with a chilling ruthlessness. Last night’s conversation between Xu Tao and Lu Yun had confirmed his protectiveness towards the original Xu Jinnan.
But she couldn’t understand why.
Did he know about the abuse she had suffered? Had she ever told him?
Or did he also know about the Qucheng secret, and as part of the Xu family, was he pretending to be ignorant to protect their reputation?
She hoped not. So far, he was the only decent person in the Xu family.
She changed the subject. “Does Li Lan know you’re back? She asked me to tell you to contact her.”
“Yes, I know,” he replied, then paused. “I talked to her.”
“She’s a good person,” Xu Jinnan commented.
Xu Yincheng smiled. “My little sister has changed. You’ve matured. It’s good. I used to worry about your friends, always wanting to get rid of them, afraid they would be a bad influence on you.”
“…” With the original Xu Jinnan’s personality, who was influencing whom was debatable.
“I don’t know Shen Shu well yet, but she seems decent,” he continued.
“As long as you like her,” Xu Jinnan replied.
“Exactly.”
“I’m leaving tonight. I don’t know when I’ll be back. But I’ll call you as soon as I can. If anything happens that you can’t handle, don’t be reckless. Wait for me. I’ll take care of it.”
“…Okay.”
He sounded more and more like a good person.
Not wanting to keep Shen Shu waiting, Xu Jinnan got into the car and left.
–
After they left, Xu Yincheng strolled over to the fishpond in the backyard and gestured slightly. A male Beta servant hurried over, his face pale.
“Young Master, what can I do for you…?”
Xu Yincheng took out a cigarette, and his female bodyguard immediately lit it for him. He took a drag, then asked, “Did you call my sister a ‘disgrace’ earlier?”
“I… I didn’t,” the servant stammered.
Xu Yincheng’s lips curved into a cold smile. He glanced at his male bodyguard, who, understanding the silent command, kicked the servant into the pond.
“Fish him out in ten minutes,” Xu Yincheng said, turning and walking away, his cigarette still burning.
–
After dropping Shen Shu off at the studio, Xu Jinnan called Professor Qin, intending to give him the powder from the box, but he said he was leaving for an international conference and wouldn’t be back for a few days.
She decided to keep it for now.
She didn’t know what it was, but the original Xu Jinnan’s cryptic message – the end – was ominous.
It was clearly something important, something she had kept hidden for a reason. Giving it to someone else could be dangerous.
She would wait for Professor Qin’s return.
–
At the office, there was nothing urgent, just a report from the property manager about a film crew wanting to rent space in the building.
Xu Jinnan said it was fine as long as it didn’t disturb the other tenants, the price was reasonable, and the schedule was flexible.
Perhaps because Shen Shu was now in the entertainment industry, she felt a certain fondness for film crews.
That afternoon, she messaged Shen Shu, asking if she needed a ride home.
They hadn’t had a chance to discuss last night’s events yet, and she owed Shen Shu an explanation.
A few minutes later:
Shen Shu: [No need. Having dinner with the studio staff tonight.]
Xu Jinnan: [Okay. Will someone drive you?]
Shen Shu: [We have a van.]
Oh, right. Tong Jia had arranged a van for Shen Shu.
Xu Jinnan: [Be careful.]
Shen Shu: [Okay.]
–
That evening, Tong Jia had a little too much to drink. She was in an unusually bad mood, having even preemptively arranged her work schedule for the next day to accommodate this drinking session.
She grabbed Shen Shu’s arm. “Shu Shu, I’m really not feeling myself today.”
Shen Shu, still not entirely comfortable with such casual intimacy, didn’t pull away, seeing Tong Jia’s distress. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Tong Jia sighed, glancing at the others in the room, then lowered her voice, the words slurred slightly. “Qiao Rui and I had a fight. About sex… She hasn’t touched me in ages. You know how important physical intimacy is in a relationship.”
Shen Shu: “…Oh.”
She didn’t know what to say.
She couldn’t exactly tell Tong Jia she wasn’t very experienced in that department either.
“Let me ask you something. Be honest,” Tong Jia said.
“Go ahead.”
“How do you and Teacher Xu keep things fresh?”
Shen Shu: “…”
She took a sip of her drink. “We just… maintain things normally.”
“Ah, newlyweds are different. Teacher Xu said the same thing,” Tong Jia said, taking a swig of beer. “She even teased me, saying I was being demanding. I didn’t tell her we haven’t even… Don’t tell her, okay? And she said I shouldn’t be thinking about it all the time…”
She slammed her hand on the table, startling the others.
She burped loudly.
“…” Shen Shu gently pushed her beer glass away. “You’ve had too much to drink. You should go home.”
“Easy for her to say!” Tong Jia exclaimed, as if she hadn’t heard Shen Shu’s words. “Don’t couples think about that? What does she mean, ‘all the time’?”
Shen Shu, unsure why she was even asking, said, “Think about what?”
“Thinking about kissing her, wanting to sleep with her! Don’t you feel that way about Teacher Xu? Don’t you want to kiss her, make love to her?”
Shen Shu: “…”
She took two more sips of her beer, the low alcohol content not affecting her much, but her mind felt strangely blank.
Tong Jia, despite drinking more, hadn’t thrown up. Shen Shu took her phone and called Qiao Rui, but the call went straight to voicemail.
She tried again, and this time, Qiao Rui answered, her tone slightly annoyed, probably due to their fight. “What is it? I told you I have a late class tonight.”
“It’s Shen Shu.”
“Oh, Miss Shen. Why are you calling? Where’s Jia Jia?”
Shen Shu briefly explained the situation, and after a moment of silence, Qiao Rui said, “But I’m still in class. Could you possibly take her home?”
Shen Shu didn’t argue.
–
After dropping Tong Jia off, Shen Shu returned home to find Xu Jinnan watching TV, her laptop on her lap, her legs crossed.
“Tong Jia isn’t very good at being an agent, is she? Taking her artist out drinking and getting drunk herself. How unprofessional,” Xu Jinnan commented, her tone half-joking, the corners of her lips curving upwards in a faint smile.
“How do you know she’s drunk?” Shen Shu asked, changing her shoes.
Xu Jinnan stood up and went to the kitchen island, washing a bunch of grapes. “She sent a series of voice messages. Completely incoherent. Drunk as a skunk,” she replied.
“She and Qiao Rui had a fight,” Shen Shu said.
“No wonder…”
Xu Jinnan placed the grapes on a plate, then started cutting a mango. “Do you want to eat first, or take a shower?”
“Shower first.”
“Okay.”
As Shen Shu emerged from the bedroom with her pajamas, she glanced at the kitchen and froze.
Xu Jinnan, holding half a mango, her slender fingers expertly slicing the flesh into cubes, then popping them into her mouth with her thumb, her lips parted slightly, her tongue tracing the sweetness of the fruit.
The image was unexpectedly sensual.
Their eyes met, and Xu Jinnan swallowed the mango, casually wiping her mouth with her fingertip, a playful smile on her lips. “Miss Shen, staring at me like that, I might think you have feelings for me.”
Shen Shu’s gaze shifted from the glistening mango to Xu Jinnan’s lips. “What if I do?”
Xu Jinnan: “…”
Leave a Reply