All the way, Shang Shenyan didn’t speak.
Ying cautiously stole glances at him. “Mr. Shang, is something urgent going on at the company?”
Shang Shenyan replied expressionlessly, “What, you still haven’t had enough to eat?”
“Not really…” Ying sensed that he seemed to be in a bad mood and fell silent.
The trip back to the company was quiet. Ying got out of the car, but noticed the man was still sitting in the driver’s seat.
“Mr. Shang, aren’t you getting out?”
Shang Shenyan gripped the steering wheel tightly. “Go upstairs first.”
His emotions were very unsettled right now. Thinking of how she and that man had been talking and laughing together earlier, a surge of jealousy churned violently in his chest.
He needed to calm down.
Ying responded with an “oh” and didn’t ask further, running lightly into the company building.
Watching her disappear inside, Shang Shenyan received a phone call.
“Mr. Shang, we’ve caught him.”
Shang Shenyan raised a brow slightly. “Where is he?”
“Abandoned Factory No. 20 in the western suburbs. He’s quite cunning—he knew we were waiting for him at the airport, so he hid in this abandoned factory.”
Shang Shenyan let out a cold laugh. “Keep him under watch. I’m coming over.”
He just happened to be full of anger with nowhere to vent—someone had delivered themselves to him.
Without Shang Shenyan around, Ying had a relaxed afternoon. After work, she even went out with Jiang Mixue for a while.
That night, a white car drove along a quiet road. The destination was a bit far, so Ying decided to take a taxi home.
While she was scrolling on her phone, the car suddenly swerved violently and crashed into the guardrail with a loud bang.
“What happened?” Ying was startled and quickly protected her head. Fortunately, she had been wearing her seatbelt and wasn’t injured.
“Something seems wrong with the car,” the driver said after getting out to check. “It broke down. Don’t worry, I’ll call for a tow truck.”
To avoid traffic congestion, the driver had taken the western suburban overpass. Ying couldn’t immediately get another ride and could only wait with him for help.
The night in the western suburbs was quiet. Ying leaned back in her seat, and when she rolled down the window for air, she noticed movement in the forest across the road.
A black figure staggered out, and several people chased after him, kicking him to the ground.
“Mr. Shang, I know I was wrong! Please, spare me…”
Ying couldn’t see clearly what was happening, but the sharp, pleading screams made her scalp tingle.
Liu Yong’s clothes were torn and covered in blood. He had just barely escaped from the factory, but was still caught.
He lay on the ground in despair and saw the man approaching under the moonlight.
The man held a cigarette between his slender fingers. White smoke curled upward, brushing past the veins on his hand before dissipating into the air.
Shang Shenyan looked down at him indifferently, exhaling a slow puff of smoke.
Dressed in a black suit with two buttons of his shirt undone, he looked nothing like his usual meticulous self.
Moonlight fell on his sharp, handsome face, reflecting a cold and ruthless expression.
Liu Yong crawled toward him, begging desperately, “Mr. Shang, it was my fault! I shouldn’t have lied to you! I’ll return the money—I’ll pay you back double!”
Shang Shenyan glanced at his filthy hand reaching for him and clicked his tongue lightly, stepping on it.
“Aaagh!” Liu Yong screamed.
“I’m short of this little money?” Shang Shenyan slowly crouched down. “You’re the first one who dared to play me.”
Then, with a cruel expression, he pressed the glowing cigarette butt onto the man’s hand.
A bloodcurdling scream rang out.
A horn suddenly sounded from the roadside.
“Beep—”
Shang Shenyan turned his head sharply.
In that instant, Ying also saw his face clearly.
Her breath froze.
She instinctively rolled up the window.
Inside the car, only her rapid breathing remained.
…Was that Shang Shenyan?
While she was still frozen in shock, Shang Shenyan had already crossed the road and approached.
Knock knock.
After a long silence, Ying slowly rolled the window down again.
“So late. Why are you here?” Shang Shenyan asked gently, as if the scene she had just witnessed was only an illusion.
“My car… broke down…” she stammered.
Shang Shenyan studied her pale face. His eyes darkened slightly.
“Did I scare you?”
“…A little,” she admitted.
He explained calmly, “The person you saw just now isn’t a good man.”
“He stole core drone technology for the next quarter from the Shang Group and sold it to my competitor, causing a loss of three billion. I’ve been looking for him for months.”
Ying widened her eyes. “An industrial spy?”
“Yes,” he sighed. “I worked hard on that project, and now it can’t proceed.”
He glanced back. “I just lost my temper and wanted to have someone teach him a lesson.”
Ying hesitated. “That… that’s illegal. You should report it to the police.”
“You’re right,” he nodded. “I acted impulsively.”
Hearing this, Ying was slightly stunned.
A car arrived shortly after.
“I’ll take you home,” Shang Shenyan said.
Ying hesitated, but he leaned into the car and unfastened her seatbelt. His warm fingers brushed her hand.
His breath was close—too close.
She pushed him away in panic and got out herself.
Eventually, she still got into his car.
He buckled her seatbelt, and the faint scent of her lingered at the tip of his nose.
He didn’t want to let her go yet.
But he couldn’t scare her away.
“Where to?”
She gave an address.
Inside the car, it fell quiet.
Ying suddenly noticed a faint smell of smoke. She rolled the window down slightly.
Shang Shenyan frowned faintly.
Smoke? Or blood that hadn’t been cleared?
“It’s someone else’s car. There’s a smell. Roll the window down more to air it out.”
Ying immediately complied.
Cold night wind swept through.
An hour later, the car stopped at her residential gate.
As Ying was about to thank him and leave, she noticed blood on his knuckles.
“What happened to your hand?”
She instinctively grabbed it.
Her soft fingertips brushed his joints, and his body instantly stiffened.
For the first time in five years, three months, and twenty-one days, she touched him again.
“It’s nothing,” he said hoarsely. “Just got scratched when that man struggled.”
“Don’t be afraid of me.”
“I… I’m not afraid,” she stammered.
She handed him wet wipes. “Thank you for the ride, Mr. Shang. Please remember to take medicine. I’ll go first.”
He watched her leave.
Then lit a cigarette, staring in her direction for a long time.
On the seat beside him lay a scarf she had forgotten.
He picked it up and slowly brought it to his nose, inhaling its scent.