The entire ride back, Shang Chenyan didn’t say a word.
Shi Ying cautiously stole glances at him. “President Shang… is there something urgent at the company?”
Expressionless, Shang Chenyan replied, “What? You still hadn’t eaten enough?”
“Well, no…” Shi Ying sensed that he seemed to be in a bad mood and immediately stopped talking.
The rest of the drive passed in silence.
When they arrived at the company, Shi Ying got out of the car, only to notice that the man was still sitting in the driver’s seat.
“President Shang, aren’t you coming up?”
Shang Chenyan gripped the steering wheel tightly. “You go ahead first.”
His mood was terrible right now. The moment he thought about how happily she and Shang Yu had chatted at lunch, jealousy churned violently inside him like a stormy sea.
He needed time to calm down.
Shi Ying gave an “oh” and didn’t ask further questions. She jogged into the company building by herself.
Watching the girl disappear inside, Shang Chenyan received a phone call.
“President Shang, we caught him.”
His brows lifted slightly. “Where?”
“Abandoned factory No. 20 in the western suburbs. He’s pretty crafty—knew we were blocking the airport, so he hid himself there.”
Hearing that, Shang Chenyan let out a cold laugh. “Keep an eye on him. I’ll be there immediately.”
He had been sitting on a stomach full of anger with nowhere to vent it. And now someone had delivered themselves straight to his doorstep.
***
With Shang Chenyan absent, Shi Ying spent a leisurely afternoon at work. After getting off work, she even went out with Jiang Mingxue for a while.
That night, a white car drove along the quiet road.
The restaurant had been far away, so Shi Ying simply hailed a taxi home.
She was playing on her phone when suddenly, the car jerked violently to one side.
Bang!
The vehicle slammed into the roadside guardrail.
“What happened?” Shi Ying jumped in fright and hurriedly protected her head. Thankfully, she had her seatbelt on, otherwise she definitely would’ve hit something.
“The car seems to have broken down.”
The driver got out to check before apologetically saying, “The engine stalled. Don’t worry, I’ll call someone to tow it.”
To avoid nighttime traffic, the driver had taken the elevated highway through the western suburbs. For the moment, Shi Ying couldn’t get another taxi, so she could only wait with the driver for the insurance company to arrive.
The western suburbs were especially quiet at night.
Leaning against the seat, Shi Ying rolled down the window slightly to get some fresh air when she suddenly noticed movement in the woods across the road.
A shadowy figure stumbled out from the trees.
Several men chased after him and kicked him hard to the ground.
“President Shang, I know I was wrong! Please… spare me…”
Shi Ying couldn’t see clearly what was happening, but the sharp, desperate screams sent chills down her spine.
***
Liu Yong’s clothes were tattered, his head covered in blood.
He had struggled out of the factory with all his strength, only to be caught again.
Despairingly sprawled on the ground, he stared at the man walking toward him surrounded by others.
The man held a cigarette between his long, clean fingers. Wisps of white smoke curled upward, brushing past the veins faintly bulging on the back of his hand before silently dispersing into the air.
Shang Chenyan looked down at the crying man from above and casually exhaled a ring of smoke.
He wore a black suit, though two buttons at his collar had been undone, making him look far less restrained and meticulous than usual.
Moonlight fell across his sharp, strikingly handsome face, illuminating the cold ruthlessness in his expression.
Ignoring the injuries covering his body, Liu Yong scrambled forward on his knees and begged desperately, “President Shang, it’s all my fault! I shouldn’t have lied to you! I’ll return all the money you lost—I’ll pay back double!”
Seeing those filthy hands trying to grab his pant leg, Shang Chenyan clicked his tongue in disgust and stepped directly on them.
“Ahhh!” Liu Yong screamed miserably.
“You think I care about that bit of money?” Shang Chenyan slowly crouched down. “You’re the first person who’s ever dared to play me.”
Liu Yong was in so much pain he could barely breathe. Regret flooded his heart.
How had he been so blinded by greed that he provoked a lunatic like this?
Watching him tremble like a sieve, Shang Chenyan let out another disdainful click of his tongue.
Where had all that courage gone when he betrayed him?
A vicious glint surfaced in his eyes.
He lifted the hand holding the cigarette and pressed the glowing red tip against the back of Liu Yong’s hand.
Liu Yong’s scream rang out.
The driver nearby shuddered so violently that he accidentally hit the horn.
Beeeeep—
The sound was exceptionally piercing in the silent night.
Shang Chenyan immediately turned to look over.
And at the moment he turned around, Shi Ying finally saw his face clearly.
Her breathing stopped.
Her scalp went numb, and she reflexively rolled the car window shut.
Inside the car, only her hurried breathing remained.
That was… Shang Chenyan?
Before she could recover from the shock, Shang Chenyan had already crossed the road and walked toward them.
Knock knock.
He tapped on the window.
After a long stalemate, Shi Ying could only brace herself and slowly roll the window down again.
“It’s so late. What are you doing here?” Shang Chenyan’s expression was still gentle, as though the screams she had just heard were nothing but an illusion.
She swallowed nervously. “The car… broke down…”
Seeing her slightly pale face, his gaze tightened.
“Did I scare you?”
Shi Ying clutched the hem of her clothes tightly.
A little.
She really had been frightened.
She never expected to run into Shang Chenyan here. The version of him she had just seen felt completely different from the man she usually knew.
Shang Chenyan frowned slightly. “The person you saw just now wasn’t a good man.”
“He stole the core technology for Shang Corporation’s drone project next quarter and sold it to my competitor. The company lost three hundred million because of him. I spent months tracking him down.”
Shi Ying’s eyes widened in shock. “Corporate espionage?”
Shang Chenyan sighed. “Yeah. It was a project I’d prepared for a very long time. Now it can’t even move forward.”
He glanced back toward where they had been moments ago. His men had already efficiently cleaned up the scene.
“I was too angry, so I wanted someone to teach him a lesson.”
“B-But… he broke the law. It’d probably be better to just call the police…” Shi Ying said dryly.
Shang Chenyan nodded. “You’re right. I acted impulsively.”
Hearing him say that, Shi Ying froze slightly.
At that moment, another car pulled up beside them.
Shang Chenyan opened the car door for her. “It’s too late. I’ll take you home first.”
Shi Ying hesitated.
Shang Chenyan directly bent down and leaned into the car, helping her unbuckle her seatbelt. His warm fingertips brushed against the hand she’d been gripping the belt with the whole time.
The two of them were extremely close.
She could feel his warm breathing.
Without warning, Shang Chenyan turned his head slightly, and their gazes tangled together.
Flustered, Shi Ying pushed him away and hurriedly got out of the car herself.
Tonight, she was wearing a linen-colored off-white coat. Dark blue jeans wrapped around her slender legs, and the night wind lifted her silky black hair into soft arcs through the air.
Shi Ying no longer wanted to remain stranded in this deserted area, so she simply got into Shang Chenyan’s car and let him drive her home.
As Shang Chenyan fastened her seatbelt for her, he caught the faint fragrance lingering at her neck.
He was reluctant to let her go so easily.
But he still couldn’t do anything reckless.
He couldn’t scare her away.
“Where to?”
Shi Ying gave him her address.
The car fell silent.
Shi Ying felt a little dizzy.
She sniffed lightly, feeling as though there was a faint smell of tobacco lingering inside the car—subtle, intermittent, but unpleasant.
She rolled the window down a crack.
From the corner of his eye, Shang Chenyan noticed her movement and frowned slightly.
Did the car smell strange?
Cigarette smoke?
Or perhaps the lingering scent of blood that hadn’t fully faded?
“This is someone else’s car. There’s probably some odd smell inside. Roll the window down a little more and air it out.”
Hearing that, Shi Ying quickly lowered the windows further.
The cold wind rushed in, scattering the heaviness in her chest.
An hour later, the car stopped outside her apartment complex.
Shi Ying was about to thank him and get out when, under the glow of the streetlights, she noticed blood seeping from between the joints of his fingers.
“What happened to your hand?”
Without thinking, she grabbed his hand to look at it.
The soft pads of the woman’s fingers brushed across his knuckles.
Shang Chenyan instantly stiffened all over.
Violent emotions surged through his chest.
After five years, three months, and twenty-one days…
This was the first time Shi Ying had touched him.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. His voice came out slightly hoarse.
“It’s nothing. That man injured me while resisting earlier.”
In reality, he’d hurt himself from hitting too hard.
“Don’t be afraid of me.”
Shi Ying’s gaze paused slightly. Stammering, she replied, “I-I’m not afraid.”
She felt a little awkward. Pulling a pack of wet wipes from her bag, she handed them to him.
“Thank you for bringing me home, President Shang. Remember to buy medicine for your hand. I’ll go up first.”
Shang Chenyan watched her retreating figure, the obsession in his eyes so thick it refused to fade.
Shi Ying was still just as soft-hearted as ever.
He lit a cigarette and stared in the direction she had left for a very long time.
So long that even the streetlights eventually went dark.
Only then did he finally look away.
A scarf had been left behind on the seat beside him.
She must have left in too much of a hurry and forgotten it.
Shang Chenyan picked up the scarf and slowly lifted it to his nose, breathing in its scent.