“Still not heading back?”
Shi Ying was happily sipping her hot milk tea when she suddenly heard an unexpected voice. She nearly choked.
“Cough, cough, cough—”
Shang Yu instinctively reached out to pat her back, but someone moved faster.
Expressionless, Shang Chenyan walked over and naturally rested a hand against her back, gently patting her.
“Drink slower.”
After swallowing the pearls in her mouth, Shi Ying hurriedly stood up.
“President Shang, why are you here?”
Shang Chenyan raised the hand wearing his watch in front of her.
“What time is it?”
“Two thirty…”
It was time to go back to work for the afternoon.
Shi Ying pouted slightly.
Wasn’t he the one who told her to look after Shang Nian? She’d thought she could spend the whole afternoon playing with her instead of going back to sit in the office.
Watching the drama unfold at the side, Shang Yu grinned.
“Uncle, you really know how to exploit your employees.”
Shang Chenyan glanced at him coldly.
“What day is it today? You’re neither at school nor at the company. Since you seem so free, you can go on a business trip tomorrow.”
Even though Shang Yu was his own nephew, Shang Chenyan simply couldn’t suppress the disgust, jealousy, and irritation rising inside him.
Shang Yu immediately raised his hands in surrender.
“My bad. I’ll head back to school right now.”
Before Shi Ying even had the chance to say another word to him, Shang Yu had already slipped away faster than oil on the soles of his feet.
Looks like he was genuinely afraid of Shang Chenyan.
This must be what they called bloodline suppression.
As soon as Shang Yu left, the atmosphere suddenly fell silent.
Shi Ying lowered her head and shot Shang Nian a pleading look.
Shang Nian instantly reached out and tugged lightly at Shang Chenyan’s pant leg.
The man crouched down and picked her up.
“What did you play just now?”
Since Shang Nian couldn’t speak, he was obviously asking her.
Shi Ying answered, “Shang Nian played soccer with the other kids in the park for a while.”
“And how did you run into him?”
After a brief pause, Shi Ying realized he meant Shang Yu.
“It was just a coincidence. I don’t know why he happened to be here either.”
Lowering her head, she nervously pinched the hem of her clothes and cautiously asked,
“President Shang… are you really sending him on a business trip?”
Then wouldn’t she only be able to contact Shang Yu through her phone?
Shang Chenyan suddenly stopped walking.
Shi Ying had been following behind him, and before she could react, she walked straight into his broad back.
She stumbled backward a few steps and rubbed her aching nose, her eyes unconsciously turning red.
Shang Chenyan turned around, lips pressed tightly together. A sour ache spread through his entire body.
“You don’t want him to go on a business trip?” he asked quietly. “Do you like him?”
“No, no, no!”
Shi Ying waved her hands frantically in denial.
She was only doing a mission. There was no way she would develop real feelings for a mission target.
Even though this world felt incredibly real, deep in Shi ying’s subconscious, everything here—every person and every object—was nothing more than data fabricated into existence.
Who would genuinely fall in love with a fictional character?
“I just meant… earlier, Shang Nian and I stayed out too long and got cold, so he went to buy milk tea for us. If anything, we were the ones who delayed him…”
The man stared at her silently.
Shi ying’s voice grew softer and softer.
“Anyway… it wasn’t really his fault…”
Shang Chenyan felt like even his teeth were turning sour.
***
The Meng Family Residence.
As soon as Meng Shuyan woke up, the housekeeper entered and said,
“Miss, Miss Xia has been waiting downstairs for a long time.”
Sitting before her vanity table, Meng Shuyan brushed her hair impatiently.
“What is she here for again?”
The housekeeper shook his head.
“She wouldn’t say. She only insisted on waiting until you woke up.”
“Then let her wait.”
Meng Shuyan was in an awful mood lately and didn’t want to see anyone.
Because of what happened last time, the family company had nearly stopped functioning altogether. Her father came home every night scolding her. She had wanted to beg Cheng Suyun for help, but that old woman had no backbone at all and couldn’t influence Shang Chenyan in the slightest.
The whole situation irritated her so much that she no longer even had the energy to curry favor with Cheng Suyun.
After taking her time picking out clothes and changing outfits several times, Meng Shuyan finally sauntered downstairs.
Xia Qian sat stiffly on the sofa. Even indoors, she was still wearing sunglasses, her fingers wrinkling the hem of her clothes from nervous gripping.
“Shuyan!”
The moment she saw her, Xia Qian hurriedly stood up. She finally removed her sunglasses and looked toward the staircase.
Only when Meng Shuyan walked closer did she notice how swollen Xia Qian’s eyes were. They were so puffy they had nearly narrowed into slits.
“What are you here for?”
Meng Shuyan sat down on the sofa while Xia Qian quickly grabbed her arm.
“Shuyan, you have to help me! That lunatic Shang Chenyan bankrupted my family! My dad’s been begging everywhere for funding, but no one’s willing to lend us money!”
Xia Qian’s family only owned a small company. They weren’t even in the same social circle as Meng Shuyan. To Meng Shuyan, Xia Qian was nothing more than a useful lackey. There was no way she truly intended to help her.
“What can I possibly do about that?”
She was just about to refuse when her voice suddenly paused.
“Although… you could try begging him.”
“Beg him?” Xia Qian frowned. “Stop joking. I can’t even get close enough to see him. How am I supposed to beg him?”
Meng Shuyan poured herself a glass of water, fingers slowly stroking the rim.
“Then think of a way to make him come see you. If you had some leverage over him… or someone important to him in your hands… wouldn’t he come willingly?”
Xia Qian’s eyes shifted thoughtfully as she narrowed them.
At that moment, Meng Shuyan added casually,
“That woman we saw last time—apparently she’s Shang Chenyan’s secretary. Who knows what kind of shameless relationship she has with him? She even managed to convince him to target us.”
Then she grabbed Xia Qian’s hand.
“It’s not that I don’t want to lend you money. My situation isn’t any better. My father’s been so overwhelmed lately that he even froze all my cards.”
“How about this? There’s still tens of thousands left in this card. Take it for now to get through the emergency.”
Meng Shuyan pulled out a bank card from her purse and handed it over.
Xia Qian was deeply moved.
“Thank you, Shuyan. I know what to do now.”
“Oh my, I was just speaking casually. Don’t do anything too impulsive.”
But Xia Qian couldn’t hear a word anymore.
If her family really went bankrupt because of her, her father would beat her to death.
Watching Xia Qian hurry away, Meng Shuyan leaned lazily against the sofa and smiled leisurely.
***
Nine o’clock that night.
Shi Ying had stayed late working overtime with Shang Chenyan until this hour. She was so sleepy she couldn’t stop yawning.
But ever since they returned that afternoon, she could clearly feel that the man beside her had been in a terrible mood. He had someone send Shang Nian home, and throughout the entire afternoon, he barely spoke to her at all.
Shi Ying secretly rolled her eyes.
The thoughts of older men were seriously impossible to understand.
“Let’s go.”
Just as she was silently complaining to herself, Shang Chenyan curled a finger and tapped lightly against the desk.
“It’s late. I’ll take you home.”
“There’s no need. I can go back by myself.”
Shi Ying hurriedly grabbed her coat and bag and followed after him.
“It’s too late. You worked overtime for so long today. I won’t feel at ease unless I personally take you home.”
Bathed in the moonlight spilling through the hallway windows, Shi Ying secretly glanced up at him.
His expression was still indifferent, but his tone had softened considerably.
“Then… thank you, President Shang.”
Once again, she got into his car.
The black Maybach drove silently through the streets, and half an hour later, they arrived at Shi ying’s neighborhood.
Shang Chenyan parked by the roadside. Smiling, Shi Ying waved at him.
“Thank you, President Shang. You should get some rest early too.”
“Mm.”
Shang Chenyan watched her walk into the residential complex. Even after her figure disappeared from sight, he still couldn’t bear to leave.
When Shang Yu was mentioned earlier today, he could clearly feel that Shi Ying wanted to get close to him.
But there had been no affection in her eyes.
He had seen what she looked like when she truly loved someone—her eyes glittering like they held an entire galaxy, as though that person was her whole world.
So what exactly was she trying to do?
After thinking for a long time without finding any answer, Shang Chenyan was about to start the car when he suddenly saw a man supporting a semi-conscious woman as they walked out of the residential complex toward a car parked beneath the trees.
Shang Chenyan narrowed his eyes.
The woman’s face was obscured, but her clothes…
Shi ying!