He had to get to the bottom of this right now!
Gu Tingyan lowered his posture and coaxed her in a soft voice: “Qin Shu, be good.”
Be good, be good—she was too obedient, and that was exactly why he could bully her.
There was no helping it. Who told her that this bastard of a man preferred someone like Chu Sheng?
Qin Shu loved him, so she was willing to cater to him.
Qin Shu had no choice but to get out of the car. She stood by the roadside, watching the vehicle speed away, her face ashen, her heart sinking lower and lower.
“Gu Tingyan! You bastard!” She kicked at the grass by the roadside.
She really wondered what kind of woman could make him care so much.
Care so much that he’d abandon his own wife on the side of the road!
Qin Shu cursed Gu Tingyan out in her heart, then pulled out her phone and opened a ride-hailing app to call a car.
Because this place was far from the city center, with no residential buildings nearby, few cars ever came this way.
Qin Shu couldn’t get a ride, so she had no choice but to walk along the road.
Barefoot, carrying her high heels in her hand, she walked nearly two whole kilometers. Her feet were about to give out, and still, she hadn’t managed to hail a single car.
Her phone was also about to die.
Ding—Qin Shu’s phone vibrated once, startling her in the darkness.
She thought it might be a ghost.
Luckily, the moonlight was bright enough tonight; otherwise, she really would have cursed out eight generations of Gu Tingyan’s ancestors!
Qin Shu saw it was a call from her best friend Su Tuantuan, and she picked up: “Tuantuan.”
“Help me, come pick me up.”
Su Tuantuan asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Gu Tingyan got a call and left. He abandoned me on the road.”
Qin Shu said in a low voice, “There’s no village ahead and no inn behind. I can’t get a ride.”
Su Tuantuan flew into a rage on the spot: “Damn it!”
She jumped straight out of bed, grabbed her keys, and headed out the door: “Wait for me!”
“That Gu Tingyan deserves to be struck by lightning!”
Gu Tingyan was Su Tuantuan’s direct boss, but privately, she’d cursed him out in front of Qin Shu more times than she could count.
Still on the phone, Su Tuantuan said, “He must be going to see Chu Sheng!”
The sudden mention of that name—a woman who had been dead for five years—sent goosebumps prickling across Qin Shu’s arms.
Especially out here in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by desolation, a chill crept into her heart.
Qin Shu’s expression shifted slightly, and her voice trembled with fear: “Don’t scare me. You know—”
“I’ve been afraid of ghosts my whole life.”
Su Tuantuan got in the car, started the engine, and said seriously, “Chu Sheng isn’t dead. She’s back.”
“And that woman is scarier than any ghost!”
Boom—like a clap of thunder, it blasted through Qin Shu’s scalp, leaving it tingling.
“You’re joking, right?” Qin Shu’s face turned even paler, her fear deepening.
She felt as though there were people everywhere around her. How could someone who was already dead come back to life?
If Chu Sheng wasn’t dead, why hadn’t she come back back then?
Since she was alive, why hadn’t she returned in all these five years?
“I’ll send you a photo—I found it in my Moments.” Su Tuantuan opened WeChat and sent it over.
“A friend of mine took it at the airport.”
“That woman looks exactly like Chu Sheng!”
Qin Shu opened WeChat and zoomed in on the photo. In it, the woman was sweet and beautiful, dressed in a white gown that made her look as lovely as a fairy. Her smile was clean and pure, like a lotus rising unstained from the mud—bright as the moon, spotless and flawless.
That was unmistakably Chu Sheng.
In an instant, cold sweat broke out on Qin Shu’s back, and she felt as if a gust of eerie wind had blown past her.
A breeze swept up from behind, making her shiver. Her body stiffened, and her phone slipped from her fingers, clattering to the ground.
Thud—like a heavy hammer slamming into Qin Shu’s body.
She picked up the phone from the ground, her knuckles white. Her fingers, gripping the phone, were stiff, her gaze fixed ahead, her eyes unable to focus.
Hearing the commotion on the other end, Su Tuantuan asked worriedly, “Huahua, are you okay?”
Huahua was Qin Shu’s childhood nickname.
Su Tuantuan and Qin Shu had known each other since elementary school and only parted ways in high school, when Su Tuantuan’s grades weren’t good enough to get into the same key high school as Qin Shu.
Qin Shu spoke little, didn’t like socializing, and had only one friend—Su Tuantuan. Su Tuantuan knew all her little secrets.
Qin Shu loved Gu Tingyan. For this man, she had given up nearly everything, clipped her own wings just to stay by his side.
Qin Shu’s love was restrained, suppressed, and cautious.
The kind that wouldn’t turn back until she’d slammed headfirst into the wall.
When you’re young, you should never meet someone too dazzling—otherwise, the rest of your life will be filled with regret.
In her freshman year of high school, Qin Shu had fallen for Gu Tingyan. She’d loved him for nine whole years.
To have had him, and then lost him—it could take half her life.
Qin Shu’s mother passed away in her sophomore year of high school, and her grandfather followed soon after.
Her father hated Qin Shu and her mother. Chu Xuanming refused to even acknowledge her publicly.
Su Tuantuan was worried that Gu Tingyan would abandon Qin Shu and go back to Chu Sheng.
She was afraid Qin Shu couldn’t bear such a crushing blow.
She had already endured so much pain.
When Gu Tingyan loved Chu Sheng the most, Chu Sheng died.
The living could never outcompete the dead.
These past two years, their relationship had finally started to thaw, just beginning to show signs of improvement—and now Chu Sheng was back!
The dead white moonlight had come back to life.
The damage was too devastating.
Su Tuantuan felt worried for her.
A chill ran through Qin Shu’s heart. Her fingertips trembled, and her eyelashes fluttered as she said calmly, “I’m fine.”
Su Tuantuan tried to comfort her. “Huahua, you still have Chenchen between you and Gu Tingyan. Don’t worry.”
“Mm.”
A sharp pain shot through the sole of Qin Shu’s foot. She set down her high heels and sat barefoot on the curb. “I can’t walk anymore. I’ll send you my location.”
The moment Qin Shu finished speaking, a car suddenly pulled up ahead, its bright headlights shining directly on her. The glare was blinding, and she couldn’t help but raise a hand to shield her eyes.
The car stopped beside her.
A Zhong opened the door and stepped out. “Madam, President Gu sent me to pick you up.”
A Zhong was Gu Tingyan’s right-hand man, having worked by his side since childhood.
Qin Shu sent a message to Su Tuantuan: “No need to come pick me up. Gu Tingyan sent A Zhong over.”
Su Tuantuan: “Okay.”
“At least he has some conscience!”
She turned the car around and drove back.
Qin Shu got into the car, and the ride was quiet throughout. She wasn’t one for much conversation, so she sat silently in the vehicle, watching the scenery recede through the window. Her knuckles were stiff, and her mind was in turmoil.
…
Gu Tingyan drove off, watching Qin Shu standing there in the rearview mirror. Her figure grew smaller and smaller. He sent A Zhong an address.
This place was remote, with no taxis in sight. If he made her walk back, it might very well kill her.
Gu Tingyan also couldn’t understand why Qin Shu, who had grown up in the countryside, was even more delicate than the young ladies of the capital.
The slightest touch would leave bruises on her skin.
Moreover, Qin Shu was terrified of pain—afraid of needles, afraid of drinking bitter traditional Chinese medicine.
Gu Tingyan withdrew his gaze from the rearview mirror, placed his hands on the steering wheel, and focused on driving. “Come pick up Qin Shu and take her back. I have something to do.”
A Zhong: “Understood, President Gu.”
Throughout the drive, Gu Tingyan’s heart was far from as calm as his outward appearance. A storm was already raging within him.
Chu Sheng had come back from the dead.
As if a ghost had risen.
Gu Tingyan didn’t know whether this call was a prank or someone toying with him, but he had to go verify it himself!
And he couldn’t bring Qin Shu along.
He drove fast the entire way. When the car stopped at the villa’s entrance, he strode inside with his keys in hand.