The man’s voice was filled with frustration and disappointment.
Cen Zhen looked up and saw a handsome, refined face.
It was none other than the “hot commodity” Zhao Dahai had mentioned—
Gu Xingyan.
The man had a gentle and handsome face, with a straight nose bridge and clean lip lines. He usually wore a warm smile, but at this moment, his gentle face was tense, his brows furrowed deeply.
He was both angry and distressed.
Just seeing him, Cen Zhen couldn’t help but recall the terrifying scene of Zhao Lingxi going crazy at her workstation last time.
Instinctively, she took a step back.
Her wrist struggled subconsciously. “Let go!”
Gu Xingyan refused to release her, his handsome face filled with disappointment and anger. “Cen Zhen, marriage isn’t a game. How could you marry someone so casually without even thinking about it!”
His grip was firm, and soon, Cen Zhen saw her skin turn red where he held her.
Pursing her lips, she said coldly, “Gu Xingyan, from what position are you saying these things to me?”
“I…”
Meeting her emotionless gaze, Gu Xingyan felt as if a lump of cotton was stuck in his throat.
Right.
What position did he have?
If he had controlled himself that day and hadn’t mistaken someone else, the situation where she married someone so casually wouldn’t have happened today.
Ultimately, the responsibility lay with him.
Not far away, Jiang Feng, who was driving, spotted a man grabbing Cen Zhen’s wrist.
The next second, he quickly reported to his boss, who was feigning sleep in the back seat, “Mr. Fu, there’s a man who seems to be harassing Mrs. Fu.”
Hearing this, Fu Linyuan opened his eyes and looked in the direction Jiang Feng indicated.
He saw Cen Zhen’s pale face and her slight struggle, while the man opposite her pressed his hand on her shoulder, his posture forceful.
His expression turning stern, Fu Linyuan immediately pushed open the car door and strode toward the two.
As he approached, his aura was icy and imposing. Without hesitation, he pushed Gu Xingyan’s hand away.
Taking Cen Zhen’s wrist, he quickly pulled her behind him to protect her.
Lifting his gaze, he coldly stared at the slightly surprised man and spoke in a deep voice.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Gu Xingyan was abruptly pushed back by Fu Linyuan, staggering two steps. His expression shifted from shock to confusion. Staring at the man with an intimidating presence before him, he instinctively asked, “Who are you?”
Without hesitation, Fu Linyuan replied, “Cen Zhen’s husband.”
Gu Xingyan froze.
At that moment, it was the peak of rush hour.
With people coming and going, there were inevitably colleagues from the same company around. Cen Zhen didn’t want to cause any more trouble and said coldly,
“Gu Xingyan, don’t come looking for me again. I’m married, and you have a fiancée. Continuing to harass me like this will only make a joke of us and make everyone unhappy.”
Hearing this, Gu Xingyan stiffened on the spot, his face alternating between green and white, as if he had been slapped out of nowhere.
He looked pained, his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something, but his throat ached, and he couldn’t utter a single word.
He could only watch helplessly as the two walked away side by side.
In another car, Wen Zhiyun, who had witnessed the entire scene, was livid with anger. Turning to the man beside her, she vented her frustration.
“You see? I told you Cen Zhen is completely unworthy of my brother. Already married, yet still flirting with other men outside—and worst of all, this man is her sister’s fiancé-to-be. Last night, she even put on that haughty act, demanding I investigate and apologize to her. Hah, as if she deserves it!”
Beside her, Qiao Jialv sighed softly.
“Don’t be so hasty. Everything requires evidence. What if the things you heard are just rumors? How will you get along with your sister-in-law in the future?”
At these words, Wen Zhiyun’s anger flared even higher.
She glared fiercely at the man. “Qiao Jialv, are you even my childhood friend anymore?”
Qiao Jialv dared not provoke this young lady’s temper.
He quickly smiled apologetically. “Of course I am.”
Wen Zhiyun snorted. “From now on, if you keep siding with that Cen Zhen, don’t blame me for cutting ties with you!”
Over ten minutes later, Wen Zhiyun and the others followed Fu Linyuan’s car, arriving at a shabby, chaotic vegetable market.
The ground was damp.
The surrounding air was thick with the smell of rotting vegetables and fish.
The shouts of vendors, the chopping of meat, chatter, and haggling all jumbled noisily in their ears.
With a casual glance, Wen Zhiyun even spotted several flies buzzing around the meat stalls and vegetable baskets.
Instantly, her brow furrowed tightly.
Tugging at Qiao Jialv’s sleeve, her tone grew even more disdainful. “What on earth is this woman trying to do? Why would she bring my brother to such a dirty, messy, smelly place? Doesn’t she know my brother only eats imported food?”
Watching Cen Zhen squat in front of a vendor, bargaining, her disgust deepened.
“Such a petty, low-class air. She’s simply not from the same world as my brother.”
“She completely lowers my brother’s standards!”
Qiao Jialv didn’t join in the criticism.
Instead, seeing Fu Linyuan patiently help Cen Zhen carry the grocery bags, he remarked curiously, “Don’t you think your brother seems quite down-to-earth when he’s with her?”
Wen Zhiyun sneered. “More like reeking of poverty!”
Later, when she saw Cen Zhen take a bag from the vendor and accidentally knock her bracelet against the metal rack, nearly shattering it against the iron pipe, her heart clenched, her breath catching in her throat.
“That’s our family heirloom! How could Cen Zhen be so careless? It infuriates me!”
“She’s completely wasting Grandma’s goodwill toward her!”
After all, that bracelet was passed down only to women in the Wen family, not to men. Grandma had originally intended to pass it to her aunt, who would then pass it to her daughter. Unfortunately, due to an accident, both her aunt and cousin had passed away.
Before, Wen Zhiyun had even begged Grandma to let her inherit the bracelet, but Grandma had never relented.
Yet when Cen Zhen appeared, she gave it to her so easily.
And now, Cen Zhen showed so little regard for it.
How could Wen Zhiyun not be furious!
Seeing her on the verge of exploding, Qiao Jialv didn’t know how to console her, so he gently tugged at her sleeve to remind her.
“Keep your voice down. Let’s not get caught.”
Wen Zhiyun let out an unwilling “hmph.”
“No way. I must get that bracelet back. Otherwise, she’ll just ruin it!”
From the moment Cen Zhen entered the vegetable market, she faintly sensed a pair of hostile eyes glaring fiercely at her.
A chill ran down her spine.
After she and Fu Linyuan finished buying the bird’s eye chilies, she deliberately led him through winding paths within the market.
About two minutes later, Wen Zhiyun and Qiao Jialv looked up and realized that the two people who had been nearby just moments ago had suddenly vanished without a trace.
Panic immediately set in, and Wen Zhiyun began scanning the surroundings.
“Where are they?”
“How could they disappear so quickly!”
Wen Zhiyun grew increasingly agitated. “Qiao Jialv, hurry up and help me look. Where did she take my brother…”
Before she could finish, a faint, eerie female voice suddenly came from behind.
“Are you looking for me?”