Qin Shuzhi slept straight through until late morning, jolted awake by a nightmare.
In the nightmare, she was caught by those two thugs, their faces twisted with lecherous grins as they lunged at her—
And then, she woke up in fright.
Qin Shuzhi instinctively reached for her phone on the nightstand, only then remembering that her phone had died last night.
So she got up, grabbed her phone from her bag, plugged in the charger, and powered it on.
The moment it turned on, nine missed calls popped up.
They were from Shen Yichen.
Before Qin Shuzhi could even react, a new incoming call came through.
Still Shen Yichen.
Qin Shuzhi suppressed the disgust and rage in her heart and pressed answer.
The person on the other end seemed surprised the call had gone through this time, pausing for a moment before saying, “Done throwing your tantrum? Finally willing to pick up the phone?”
After waiting a while and getting no response, Shen Yichen’s tone turned somewhat displeased. “Do you have any idea how many times I called you this morning?”
Qin Shuzhi said coldly, “If you have something to say, say it.”
Whether it was because he felt guilty for abandoning her last night, or because he sensed the coldness in Qin Shuzhi’s voice, Shen Yichen’s tone softened a few degrees as he explained, “Yanyan hurt her leg last night, so I took her to the hospital…”
“Shen Yichen, we’re already broken up. Don’t tell me about the sordid affairs between you and your White Moonlight—it makes me sick.”
She never expected that after three years together with Shen Yichen and getting engaged two months ago, she still couldn’t compete with his ex-girlfriend who had only been back for a month.
“Qin Shuzhi.” Shen Yichen gritted his teeth. “Do you dare say that again?”
“If your ears aren’t working properly, I’ll say it one more time. Last night, the moment you chose Zhou Siyan, we were already over. The engagement is hereby cancelled as well. Notify your family on your own. From now on, we go our separate ways—we don’t even need to greet each other if we run into each other on the street!”
Qin Shuzhi finished in one breath and hung up directly, then blocked and deleted his number and WeChat entirely.
Shen Yichen, who was in his office, heard her words and was so furious he shot up from his seat, shouting into the phone, “Qin Shuzhi, over such a trivial matter, how much longer are you going to keep making a scene?”
Only after he finished speaking did he realize Qin Shuzhi had already hung up. In a rage, he hurled his phone to the ground.
His assistant Chen He walked in and saw this, his footsteps faltering for a moment.
“What is it?”
Shen Yichen asked irritably.
“President Shen, this was retrieved from the tent on the mountaintop.” Chen He placed the beautifully wrapped gift box on the desk.
Shen Yichen looked at it—it was the birthday gift he had given Qin Shuzhi last night. He frowned. “She didn’t take it?”
“No. Also, the cake and flowers are still in the tent…”
Seeing his expression grow increasingly grim, Chen He quickly added, “Perhaps Miss Qin simply forgot to take them last night. President Shen, how about… you deliver it to her now?”
Leaving his fiancée on the mountaintop on her birthday to go find his ex-girlfriend—even Chen He felt his boss had gone too far this time.
But Miss Qin was generous, kind-hearted, and deeply in love with his boss. As long as the boss sincerely apologized, surely he would still be forgiven.
Shen Yichen, however, rubbed his temples in agitation. “Forget it. She’s still throwing a tantrum. We’ll talk when she’s calmed down.”
Chen He: “…”
Jolted awake by a nightmare and then receiving a call from Shen Yichen, Qin Shuzhi felt her head throbbing with pain. She simply collapsed back onto the bed to sleep.
She didn’t know how long she slept before the doorbell rang, rousing her from her daze to answer the door.
Standing outside was Qi Yishan.
“Hey, I figured you’d be home at this hour.”
She bounced in cheerfully, closed the door, and winked at Qin Shuzhi. “So? Did anything… interesting happen between you and my cousin up on that mountaintop last night?”
Qi Yishan was her best friend, and also Shen Yichen’s cousin—their mothers were sisters.
“Yes.” Qin Shuzhi’s face was expressionless. “The story was absolutely riveting.”
“Really?”
Qi Yishan grinned suggestively. “I knew you two must have—”
“I broke up with Shen Yichen.”
Qi Yishan stared at Qin Shuzhi in shock, thinking she must have misheard. “…Broke up?”
She was about to say something when she suddenly caught sight of Qin Shuzhi’s left hand wrapped in gauze. “Shuzhi, your—your hand! What happened?”
Settling onto the sofa, Qin Shuzhi finally told her what had happened the night before.
“That bitch Zhou Siyan again.” Qi Yishan was so furious she jumped up from the sofa.
“I can’t believe my cousin—is he brain-dead? He left you alone on that mountain, and you almost got…” harassed by thugs.
Looking at Qin Shuzhi’s pale face, Qi Yishan couldn’t contain her anger.
“No, I’m going right now to disown him and tear that green tea bitch apart for you.”
“Don’t go, babe.”
Seeing her storming toward the door, Qin Shuzhi quickly grabbed her arm.
“We’re already broken up. From now on, I don’t want any connection with him whatsoever.”
Besides, Qi Yishan and Shen Yichen were blood cousins. Qin Shuzhi didn’t want her to fall out with him over this.
“…You’re really going to end things with my cousin?”
Qi Yishan looked at her, both heartbroken and anxious. “I know my cousin deserves it, but Zhou Siyan is clearly scheming to steal him away from you. If you break up now, aren’t you just letting her win?”
“If he can be stolen, then I don’t want him.”
Qin Shuzhi knew perfectly well that Zhou Siyan had deliberately called Shen Yichen away last night to send a message: in Shen Yichen’s heart, Zhou Siyan would always matter more than Qin Shuzhi.
Over the past month, Qin Shuzhi had indeed been hurt and miserable because of Zhou Siyan’s various provocations, even getting into several arguments with Shen Yichen. But now…
He was just trash. If Zhou Siyan wanted him, she could have him.
Qi Yishan hugged her sympathetically. “Babe, are you really sad right now?”
“Yeah, pretty sad.”
Qin Shuzhi rested her head on Qi Yishan’s shoulder, filled with regret. “I think three years ago, it wasn’t Shen Yichen who was blind. It was me.”
Qi Yishan was a bit confused. “Huh?”
“Tell me, how did I ever end up falling for a piece of trash like him?”
“…”
Qi Yishan scratched her head. “This is kind of my fault too. If it weren’t for me, you never would have met… that piece of trash.”
Qin Shuzhi had met Shen Yichen at Qi Yishan’s 20th birthday party.
Qin Shuzhi said, “Don’t blame yourself. This has nothing to do with you.”
Qi Yishan straightened Qin Shuzhi up and spoke with complete sincerity. “Babe, don’t worry. I’ll always be on your side. Even if he’s my cousin, if he dares to treat you like trash, I won’t help him.”
Qin Shuzhi took her hand. “Good thing I have you, sis.”
Qi Yishan looked down at her injured hand and asked with concern, “Is the wound deep?”
“Yeah, pretty deep and long. It bled a lot…”
Qin Shuzhi suddenly remembered something as she spoke and slapped her forehead in frustration. “I forgot to ask that kind person from last night for his contact information. He covered my medical expenses.”
“Then…”
“But I know where he lives.” Qin Shuzhi pulled Qi Yishan up by the arm. “Yishan, come with me.”
An hour later.
Qin Shuzhi and Qi Yishan arrived at Shi Yuanxing’s residence.
Qin Shuzhi stepped forward and knocked on the door.
Behind her, Qi Yishan held a bag containing a pair of men’s slippers and a shawl.
“Didn’t you say your benefactor is a young man? He lives in the suburbs?”
Seeing that no one answered after Qin Shuzhi had knocked for quite a while, Qi Yishan asked again, “Are you sure you got the right place?”
“That’s right, this is the house I went into last night.” Qin Shuzhi said with certainty.