Chuxia had no comeback for the moment.
She turned and poured him a glass of warm water, hoping to ease the ambiguous tension between them.
Sheng Jingshi looked at her slight figure squeezed into the narrow open kitchen and couldn’t help but say, “What about the villa in Longwan? I transferred it to your name. Why haven’t you moved in?”
“I sold it,” Chuxia said.
Sheng Jingshi froze for a moment, then let out a derisive laugh: “Figures. A woman like you… whatever you catch, you better turn it into cash as fast as possible.”
Chuxia handed him the glass, catching his resentful gaze.
The Longwan villa was the place they had lived together, filled with memories of the two of them. And now she casually said she had sold it.
Sheng Jingshi drank the water, his thoughts drifting. The taste felt sour in his mouth, his throat tight. At that moment, he wanted to open her chest to see if she was really so heartless.
Chuxia didn’t argue. She said calmly, “I just want to ask… that night a month ago, I drank too much… nothing inappropriate happened, right?”
Sheng Jingshi cast her a cold, disdainful glance and sneered, “You mean… whether we slept together, right?”
Chuxia didn’t reply. She looked at him with her little fox-like eyes.
Her eyes tilted slightly at the corners—charming but not vulgar—especially those clean, shiny black pupils. Coupled with her habitual head tilt, she looked like a newly born little fox, pure and easy to deceive.
Sheng Jingshi had been captivated by these eyes.
He straightened on the sofa. At that moment, Chuxia knelt on the carpet by the sofa, shadowed by his figure.
His powerful arms rested on the sofa’s edge, his broad shoulders blocking her petite body completely. From the side, it looked as if he was holding her in his arms.
She watched him lean down, his face close to her ear, warm breath brushing her skin. His low voice came near:
“Sleeping with you would be beneath me.”
With that, Sheng Jingshi stood up and left, slamming the door behind him without a backward glance.
Chuxia went to the door and noticed his bespoke leather shoes left by the entrance, tilting her head in puzzlement.
Walk away, fine—but why wear her slippers? Crazy.
She took out her phone and marked “#3” off her list: “Eliminated. Next.”
Chuxia scrolled to the contact labeled “#1” and sent a sincere message, basically inviting him out for coffee the next day.
No reply came by the following morning.
She didn’t care, sipping fresh-squeezed orange juice, eating half an avocado and two egg whites, then starting her usual skincare and workout routine.
After leaving her Pilates class, she went straight to the luxury brand counters, made a round of purchases, and, seeing the time was right, put on her new Chanel suit and arrived early at the agreed-upon café. It was in a prime inner-ring location, a private courtyard converted into a café, surrounded by military compounds.
She had chosen this place for convenience—Shen Siren, a promising young prosecutor, had just been transferred back to the capital and had become a key second-in-command.
She sipped lemon water slowly, waiting over half an hour without a trace of impatience.
By dusk, the only response she received was a single message from Shen Siren:
“I’m busy.”
She felt nothing. Sitting by the window, she watched the raindrops slide down the glass, lost in thought.
The air was damp, the sky gray and heavy, as if it could crash down at any moment. She recalled the first time she met Shen Siren—it had been just such a rainy day.
Back then, Chuxia had just arrived in the city, knowing no one and having not a penny to her name. But relying on her looks and a set of fake luxury goods, she wandered through parties, snacking to stave off hunger.
At first, she wasn’t eating macarons—she was swallowing her pride.
Survival was her priority, so she tilted her head back and drank a whole glass of red wine, swallowing her pride lodged in her throat. Her stomach felt heavy, but her heart grew lighter.
Yet things didn’t always go smoothly. Once, she was exposed by Shen Siren’s sister, who pretended to be clumsy and knocked the pastries Chuxia had carefully wrapped in a handkerchief onto the floor.
“Ah, sorry, did I hurt you?”
Chuxia saw Shen Fuyu smile while apologizing, a mischievous glint in her eyes, while a chorus of teasing voices filled her ears—
“Oh my god, who let this person in? Acting like some socialite, taking food and stuff—so embarrassing!”
“Look at her dress—it’s all pilled. And those shoes… who pairs Chanel with canvas sneakers?”
“Wait, isn’t that fake?”
“Oh my god… could she be a thief?”
Chuxia stood silently in place. In that moment, she realized a truth: for someone like her to survive, abandoning her pride wasn’t enough—she had to abandon shame too.
So she slowly crouched down, picking up the broken pastries piece by piece, and wrapped them back in the cloth. Around her, people circled like they were at a zoo watching monkeys. Their eyes held pity, surprise, curiosity, and scorn—all at once.
Chuxia ignored them completely. She never let outside attitudes change her goal.
She stuffed the pastries into her pocket and tried to leave, but then Shen Fuyu said, “Wait, my ring is missing.”
Chuxia was stopped by the security guard and turned to her: “I didn’t take it.”
Shen Fuyu smiled generously: “I didn’t say it was you, but we’re all friends of the Shen family here. You’re the only one I don’t know. If you don’t mind, could you cooperate with a quick search?”
Chuxia remained silent. Around her, whispers filled the air.
Her hands clenched into fists in her pockets as the guard stepped forward to frisk her.
At that moment, a smooth, calm voice came from behind: “Stop.”
The crowd instinctively parted.
In an instant, Chuxia’s heartbeat drowned out the sound of the rain.
She saw a man walking slowly from the rain, holding an umbrella. Car lights behind him cast a halo-like glow, each frame like a slow-motion scene.
His expensive leather shoes tapped against the rain-soaked ground, each step echoing in her chest.
The umbrella obscured his face, revealing only a model-like physique, especially the long legs under his tailored trousers.
He slowly lifted the black umbrella, revealing a sharply defined jaw, a high nose, and a pair of silver-framed glasses adding a refined scholarly air while concealing a hint of sharpness in his eyes. Even his hair radiated a sense of noble care.
The guard immediately stepped forward, offering his umbrella, whispering: “Mr. Shen, she stole the young lady’s ring.”
“Evidence?” His tone wasn’t harsh, but it commanded respect naturally.
The guard hesitated, glancing at Shen Fuyu, and didn’t speak.
Shen Siren gave him a look, and Shen Fuyu dared not say anything.
He had someone pack up the Western food and personally handed it to Chuxia.
“I apologize. My sister has been spoiled. These are dishes from our new menu—please taste them and tell me what you think, okay?”
She would never forget the warmth of his gentle smile and the moment his gaze dropped from behind his glasses to her.
At that time, Shen Siren was like an iron pressed to the perfect temperature—smoothing over her embarrassment.
So even when he eventually abandoned her, she never spoke a bad word of him.
“Miss Li, it’s raining. Here’s an umbrella for you.” The café attendant handed her a black umbrella. “You should head back early; the roads are slippery.”
Chuxia nodded in thanks, paid, and left the café, holding the umbrella.
After she left, a black Audi slowly stopped opposite the window she had just been sitting at.
The driver’s shoulders were soaked from the rain. He turned respectfully to the man in the back seat: “Mr. Shen, the umbrella has been delivered. Where shall we go next?”