The girl downstairs had completely disappeared from sight. Shen Hanyu stood up.
“I’ve already given you what you wanted. I still have something to do, I’ll leave first.”
“Mr. Shen,” Manager Li said, “we sincerely hope you’ll join us. You’re so intelligent—being trapped in the Shen family is a waste. Please think it over carefully.”
Shen Hanyu showed no reaction and kept walking without stopping. He left the café and went up to the fourth floor.
On the way, he took out his phone and reread Jiang Sui’s messages one by one.
He replied with a single word: “Okay.”
He put the phone away and walked into a very unusual ocean-themed bookstore. It didn’t just sell books—it also sold various marine fish tanks. Colorful little fish swam gently inside beautifully crafted aquariums, lively and bright.
As usual, Shen Hanyu stared at the fish tanks.
The lighting inside was dim, giving off a deep-sea atmosphere. The small fish inside stared blankly, slowly moving through seaweed and shell decorations.
The first time he saw these tanks, he had liked them immediately.
Keeping fish inside was interesting enough—but to him, these tanks were also suitable for “keeping people.”
Pale ones, blood-red ones; motionless ones, or violently struggling ones.
That would definitely be interesting.
Suddenly, a fish with a bloated belly flipped over and floated to the surface, one lifeless eye staring straight at him.
It had died.
Shen Hanyu quietly watched it for a moment until a female clerk walked over. She looked at him with surprise and nervous excitement, her cheeks slightly red.
She recognized him—this handsome man came once every few months.
Each time, he would look at the fish for a while, then buy a lot of books. Once, she remembered, he had asked her the maximum size of fish tank the shop could make.
But he had eventually been deterred by the price, showing a hint of regret.
She had been thinking about him ever since, hoping to see him again. This time, she finally gathered her courage.
“Are you here to buy books again today?”
He lowered his eyes and looked at her. He was extremely handsome—especially those eyes: narrow and sharp, double eyelids well-defined, pupils dark like ink.
Deep, cold, and mysterious.
Her heart pounded wildly, her face flushed, and she didn’t know what to say next.
“It’s dead,” she vaguely heard him say.
His voice was clean and cool, with a faint magnetic tone, but his expression was flat and emotionless.
Only then did she notice the dead fish floating in the tank.
“I’ll handle it right away,” she said hurriedly.
By the time she fished the dead fish out, the handsome man was already gone. She felt disappointed.
The fish in the shop had been dying frequently lately for unknown reasons, and each one had an unusually bloated belly, as if something were growing inside.
She took the fish into the break room.
Her hobby was growing mushrooms.
The bookstore had all the equipment needed for maintaining fish tanks, creating a perfect environment—temperature, humidity, nutrients—all ideal for mushroom cultivation.
In a corner, there were two open tanks.
One contained only black soil, with dead fish buried underneath—rotting fish provided nutrients for mushroom growth.
The other, in a misty humid tank, already had a palm-sized blue mushroom growing. It glowed faintly, beautiful and strange.
She was pleasantly surprised—it was the largest mushroom she had ever grown.
She took out her phone to take a photo.
Suddenly, the mushroom cap expanded like a balloon—and then bang! it burst, releasing a cloud of blue spores.
The clerk coughed violently, covering her mouth and nose for several minutes.
She felt dizzy, maybe from lack of oxygen… so sleepy…
Thud.
She collapsed.
Meanwhile—
Jiang Sui decided she should pick up Shen Hanyu and go to the hotel together. After all, as an engaged couple, attending together made sense.
Unexpectedly, Shen Hanyu was in the same shopping mall.
They met at the entrance.
Jiang Sui had bought a lot of desserts, snacks, and miscellaneous items. She drove out from the parking garage to pick him up at the main entrance.
It was around six o’clock, peak traffic time, and the road was slightly congested.
As she slowly moved forward, her gaze suddenly paused.
She saw Shen Hanyu standing by the roadside at a glance.
He wore a black sweater, tall and lean. His dark hair and pale skin gave him a cold-toned presence that felt out of place in the bustling crowd.
As if he didn’t belong in this world at all.
The car pulled up and stopped. Shen Hanyu got in, carrying a faint coolness of late autumn.
He only glanced at her and said nothing.
Jiang Sui felt a little awkward. They weren’t the kind of people who could casually chat anyway. But since they were going to dinner together later, total silence felt strange.
She forced herself to speak.
“It’s gotten colder lately.”
“Mm,” he replied flatly.
There was no desire for conversation whatsoever.
Jiang Sui gave up. Fine, let it be awkward.
The banquet hotel was nearby, only a few minutes’ drive away.
The Jiang family had rented a large private banquet hall. Many relatives had arrived, along with a few from the stepmother’s family and the father’s ex-wife’s side, all chatting in small groups.
Jiang Sui’s father was a typical “phoenix man” who rose to wealth. After his wife died, he remarried his mistress.
So most of the Jiang relatives came from rural backgrounds, many of them fond of gossip and judgment.
As soon as Jiang Sui and Shen Hanyu entered, they were immediately stared at by relatives—curiosity, mockery, and disdain all mixed in their eyes.
Some pretended to greet them politely, but soon one aunt asked with a smile:
“Oh, Jiang Sui, you’re not young anymore. When are you and Young Master Shen getting married?”
Jiang Sui replied casually, “Still considering it.”
The aunt immediately continued, “What’s there to consider? You should get married when it’s time. The sooner you marry, the sooner you can have children. You’ve been engaged so long—are you dissatisfied with each other?”
Jiang Sui looked up, her almond-shaped eyes bright and innocent.
“Auntie, does your family sell plumbing?”
The aunt froze. “No… why would you ask that?”
Jiang Sui smiled sweetly.
“Then why are you sticking your hands so far into other people’s business?”
Someone nearby laughed. The aunt’s face flushed red, realizing it wasn’t a compliment.
Angry, she snapped, “I’m just caring about you! You really have no manners.”
Jiang Sui replied calmly, “Yes, I don’t. Call the police on me then—have them teach me manners on my dad’s behalf.”