“Don’t be so casual. How can you eat properly if you don’t have any preferences?” Qin Zhen pulled Shen Jin’an along, refusing to let go, and kept chattering beside him about the various types of dishes they could make, appearing extremely patient.
Shen Jin’an had a headache, casually picked up the box on the left, and tossed it into the shopping cart. “Just this one.”
The two left the seafood and meat section, pushed the cart to the snack aisle, and when Qin Zhen asked if he wanted anything, he was flatly rejected by the other man. Unwilling to give up, Qin Zhen dragged him to a stop in front of the pickled goods.
Qin Zhen felt that Shen Jin’an’s life was truly monotonous.
He had no preferences for food, didn’t eat snacks, slept restlessly, cooped himself up in that rundown little apartment of his, and never once complained of boredom even though his old-fashioned phone only had the Snake game to play.
Someone with such strong self-discipline was indeed prone to becoming a psychologically warped villain.
“Are you sure you don’t want any? These preserved plums are quite good. Do you want to try one?”
He was holding a transparent plastic container in his hand. Just as he finished asking, a couple walked past behind them.
The petite and lovely girlfriend leaned against her boyfriend’s shoulder, and the two were discussing the topic of marriage. She said that once they got married and had children, they couldn’t let the kid eat too much candy, otherwise, just like their mother who had to deal with dental fillings and root canals, it wouldn’t be good. She was suffering so much right now.
The boyfriend rubbed the girlfriend’s face and offered a few words of comfort.
Shen Jin’an shifted his body by a small margin, moving closer to Qin Zhen.
After the couple walked away, Shen Jin’an returned to normal, still frowning as he insisted, “No.”
This was the first time the two of them had gone out together, and Qin Zhen discovered that Shen Jin’an would become somewhat abnormal the moment he reached a place with living strangers.
Restless, anxious, or highly tense in spirit, his body’s imperceptible minor movements constantly revealed his discomfort.
Intending to test him, Qin Zhen picked up a box of preserved plums, tossed it into the shopping cart, then led Shen Jin’an to the cashier counter, handed his phone to him, and said, “Go pay the bill then. The password is 888999.”
Shen Jin’an’s face was full of resistance. “Why me? I’m not going.”
Qin Zhen patted the shopping cart, raising an eyebrow to signal. “Well, more than half of this is bought for you. You should at least pull your own weight, right?”
Everyone had their pride. Even the grand President Shen, who had never lifted a finger in his life, felt embarrassed to wait on Qin Zhen every day while expecting him to serve him.
Besides, he was currently living under someone else’s roof, and Qin Zhen’s request wasn’t considered excessive. He lowered the brim of his hat, took the phone, and pushed the cart toward the cashier counter at a very slow pace.
Qin Zhen didn’t follow over, standing far away by the shelves to watch him.
It had been a long time since Shen Jin’an had come out like this to face strangers. The further he walked, the more he felt the air thicken and breathing become difficult.
The faces of everyone around him distorted, looking like demons wearing masks. Subconsciously, he reached into his pocket to feel for his dagger to find a sense of security, only to find nothing there.
There were only a few steps left to the cashier. Seeing the person ahead finish paying and leave, Shen Jin’an took a deep breath, his teeth trembling slightly, his knuckles clenching tighter and tighter.
“Check out.”
A warm and deep voice suddenly came from his side.
It felt as though a heavy object had finally dropped to the ground in Shen Jin’an’s heart. He lowered his head and saw Qin Zhen’s hand firmly holding his.
Everyone else around seemed to return to their normal appearances.
Their voices and decibels also became much less ear-piercing.
Leaving the supermarket, Qin Zhen carried two full bags of things, while Shen Jin’an walked beside him empty-handed.
Lowering his gaze, he quietly stared at his hand that had just been held and then released, wondering what he was thinking.
The two rode the supermarket elevator up to the first floor of the mall, then took another elevator down to the underground parking garage. Out of nowhere, Shen Jin’an stated, “I’m not completely useless at everything either.”
Qin Zhen didn’t answer, giving him a look that was half-smile and half-serious.
The elevator door reflected Qin Zhen’s tall and slender figure, his slender peach-blossom eyes filled with a look of skepticism.
Shen Jin’an’s expression turned ugly. “What are you looking at? I can do it to begin with.”
999 wanted to praise Qin Zhen for becoming more capable, knowing how to take care of someone when going out. It felt that completing the mission within the deadline was looking promising!
However, the moment it flew out, it watched Qin Zhen ignore it entirely and hand the bag in his hand to Shen Jin’an. “Alright then, you carry one.”
He had zero gentlemanly demeanor.
Shen Jin’an stared at him in disbelief, stunned for a moment, and reflexively retorted, “I still have an injury on my body.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he pressed his thin lips tightly together, looking as though he deeply regretted showing weakness to someone over such a matter and wished he could take those words back.
Who would have thought Qin Zhen wouldn’t pay him any mind at all? Without another word, he shoved the bag into Shen Jin’an’s hands, carried his own bag toward the car, and left behind only a single sentence: “That’s all the more reason for you to carry one. Appropriate exercise helps with recovery.”
Shen Jin’an’s face instantly turned as cold as frost.
Carrying the bag toward the car, he discovered that the bag wasn’t heavy at all; unlike what it looked like, it was even somewhat light and airy.
After the rear of the beat-up little car was repaired, the old paint color around it became even more obvious.
Qin Zhen didn’t care at all. He opened the trunk, placed the heavy bag inside, and looked back with a smile at the displeased Shen Jin’an.
“Let’s go, time to go home.”
Huai City wasn’t exactly peaceful lately.
Shen Jin’an’s disappearance happened at a critical moment. Inside the group, they were facing the largest audit inspection in three years and three project transition periods.
Relevant department personnel had yet to see the Shen Group president, as he had been stalled by several senior executives. In just over a week, those executives were already showing signs of exhaustion, and employees were working overtime day and night for the projects.
To ensure the morale inside the group remained unshaken, the message leaked internally was that the president had gone on a business trip for a sudden overseas project.
However, various factions intertwined in Huai City, and the Shen Group had always occupied more than half of the city’s share. Plenty of people wanted to see the Shen Group fall again so they could grab a slice of the pie.
Manipulated by those with ulterior motives, a video suspected to be of Shen Jin’an getting injured and falling from a vehicle was soon leaked.
As soon as the video came out, many company shareholders who had relied on the Shen Group to start out were panicked. They knew better than anyone that when the Shen family suffered a sudden upheaval over a dozen years ago, their businesses had been tremendously impacted.
Now encountering this kind of matter again, no one could say for sure what the future held for the Shen Group.
Besieged internally and externally, the Shen Group happened to have dishonest senior executives intentionally slowing down the progress.
That same night.
When Assistant Wang called President Shen, he only heard President Shen sighing repeatedly, sounding as though he had many grievances, or perhaps as though he had nothing to say.
Feeling extremely uneasy in his heart, he held the phone, weighed his words for a moment, and asked cautiously, “President Shen, is there some problem with the place you’re staying? Do I need to handle that Qin Zhen? His public reputation online isn’t very good. Did he displease you recently?”
Shen Jin’an remained silent, which Assistant Wang interpreted as tacit confirmation.
“Alright, I understand,” Assistant Wang acknowledged inwardly.
“Things here in Huai City have also been deployed according to your instructions. The news of your accident has already been released, and now three factions in Huai City are secretly searching for your whereabouts. As long as you don’t show your face recently, there won’t be any problems.”
“President Yang hasn’t shown his true colors yet. It all depends on the project bidding the day after tomorrow.”