That spot had just been knocked against the car’s gear shifter, leaving a large patch of red on Shen Jin’an’s fair skin.
Qin Zhen leaned over to take a look.
He was just about to apologize, as he had acted out of necessity earlier. Mu Xiaoxiao had wide connections and loved to gossip; if she had seen him, he wouldn’t have been able to explain himself.
Most likely, the news would have reached Huai City by tomorrow.
Who would have thought that before he could even open his mouth, Shen Jin’an had already glared at him and sarcastically remarked, “You really know how to think for others.”
Qin Zhen knew he was dissatisfied with tonight’s events and didn’t want to argue with him, so he just sat in the driver’s seat, tilted his head back, and let out a deep sigh.
“What else can I do? Leave her in the house and let her walk away on her own tomorrow?”
Shen Jin’an naturally wouldn’t accept that either.
He wouldn’t accept this, and he didn’t want to accept that. Annoyed by his own rare indecisiveness, he didn’t want to speak anymore and furrowed his brows tightly.
The night was heavy, and the trees on both sides of the road had dense foliage.
Lian City’s economic development didn’t match that of Huai City, yet it still retained traces of the old days among its complex web of streets.
After arriving home, the two didn’t speak again, each washing up and resting in their own space.
1:00 AM.
When Shen Jin’an struggled to wake from his dream, his pupils were unfocused. The indoor air conditioner was set to 24 degrees, yet a thin layer of sweat seeped from his forehead.
He had poor sleep quality over the years and rarely dreamed of his whole family.
The first half of the dream was warm and pleasant. The Shen family of over a dozen people was driving several off-road vehicles through forests and deserts, arriving at a beautiful sea with tour guides and tourists nearby.
They were as passionate as fire.
But they were all demons. They laughed and pushed the family into the sea.
That sea was also a demon, a man-eating monster. It opened its blood-stained mouth, revealing its fangs, and swallowed all his closest kin.
Shen Jin’an didn’t know how he escaped that sea. He only knew his mouth was full of the rusty taste of old blood, and on the return journey, he was all alone.
That car had been driven for over ten years, and it had always been him alone.
He wanted to struggle, wanted to jump out of the car regardless of the consequences, but he had persisted until now. He wanted to make those people and that sea pay the price.
Devils who do evil should pay the price.
He gripped the dagger in his hand and hurried forward, but the end of the nightmare wasn’t him alone.
The end of the nightmare was a rainy night, a rainy night of carrying heavy burdens, where a blurred but tall figure suddenly appeared.
1:30 AM.
Qin Zhen was fast asleep when he suddenly felt his hand being pulled.
He thought it was sleep paralysis and angrily shook his hand, but who would have thought the grip would tighten even more.
“Damn it! What is that?”
Qin Zhen was most annoyed when someone disturbed him while he was sleeping; gods or demons, it didn’t matter, none of them were allowed.
He jerked his hand away, then heard a familiar soft groan. Half-asleep and half-awake with his eyelids half-closed, Qin Zhen saw Shen Jin’an standing by the sofa watching him.
It was like a scene out of a horror movie.
Qin Zhen broke out in a cold sweat. He sat up abruptly, his speech incoherent, “The… the middle of the night, what are you doing here?”
Shen Jin’an had just been inadvertently shaken off by Qin Zhen, and his toe had hit the sofa leg, making it go numb with pain. He showed no reaction on his face, though, and reached out to pull Qin Zhen’s finger, his voice husky from just waking up, “I obediently removed the stitches today.”
“?” Qin Zhen didn’t understand. “And?”
“You didn’t give me a reward.”
Qin Zhen felt himself unravel. He wiped his face, eyes full of disbelief, “Just because of this?”
Shen Jin’an nodded. “Yes.”
“No, this, do you know what time it is now?”
“I know,” Shen Jin’an held his basic phone up in front of Qin Zhen. The screen displayed huge Arabic numerals indicating the time. He said, “1:20 AM.”
“Then…” The light from the screen blinded Qin Zhen, leaving him speechless. “Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“Because Mu Xiaoxiao was here, and I couldn’t come out.”
The reason was sound. Qin Zhen was powerless to refute it and felt faintly guilty.
“What about after sending her home?”
“At that time, I didn’t want to talk, and you didn’t take the initiative to speak to me.”
Shen Jin’an’s calmness made Qin Zhen’s scalp tingle.
He swallowed several times and struggled with himself for a dozen seconds. His mind clearly told him that he absolutely should not compromise, as not being disturbed while sleeping was his bottom line.
But as if possessed, he got up to take the preserved plums from the items bought at the supermarket, returned to the bedroom, unscrewed the lid, and stuffed one into Shen Jin’an’s mouth.
The preserved plum hit his palate with a heavy, sour astringency that slowly faded into sweetness.
The reward was too small. Shen Jin’an’s cheeks were puffed out and he was clearly dissatisfied, but for the first time, he didn’t say anything, simply savoring the plum quietly.
This back-and-forth left Shen Jin’an sleeping soundly, while Qin Zhen was completely unable to fall back asleep.
He tossed and turned on the sofa several times, finally sitting up and leaning back against it.
Shen Jin’an possessed an unusual stubbornness and powerful self-discipline, able to cling to the smallest promises he made.
But in his past life, did their relationship ever reach this point?
Clearly not.
Back then, whenever Qin Zhen’s gaze swept over, Shen Jin’an would always avoid his eyes or glare back coldly, then shut the bedroom door without Qin Zhen knowing what he was doing inside.
Every detail of their time together had invisibly changed its pattern. These trivialities magnified the things that were once ignored right before his eyes.
He seemed to be on the verge of redemption, yet also seemed to be far from success.
The next day, when the sun was high in the sky, in the small two-story villa.
When Mu Xiaoxiao woke up, she felt a headache that was different from a hangover.
She sat on the bed in bewilderment for a long time. Half an hour later, standing in front of the bathroom mirror, she stared at the two bruised bumps on her head and flew into a rage.
“Hello.”
When the phone connected, Qin Zhen was standing in the underground garage, face silent.
He never expected that what Shen Jin’an said yesterday wasn’t a joke.
Shen Jin’an really had gotten him a new car, an Audi A8, with a sleek black body, worth far more than his beat-up little car.
The contrast was striking.
“Qin Zhen! Tell me what you did to me last night!”
Mu Xiaoxiao’s screeching voice came through the receiver. Shen Jin’an’s expression shifted slightly, but he said nothing, simply tossing the car keys to Qin Zhen and raising an eyebrow to signal him to try the car out.
“What do you mean, ‘what did you do’?” Qin Zhen took the keys, having no intention of getting into the car, and answered the question on the other end of the line indifferently.
Mu Xiaoxiao: “I have two big bumps on my head! Did you hit me while I was sleeping yesterday?”
Qin Zhen frowned, his tone normal, “You’re overthinking it. Can I earn money by hitting you or what? I’ve already found a designated driver to drive your car back for you.”
Was it that simple?
Mu Xiaoxiao laid back down on the bed, feeling dejected. She didn’t know what was wrong with her; hearing what Qin Zhen said made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
Last night, she knew Qin Zhen had driven her home, and it seemed there was another person beside Qin Zhen, a man.
Unless she had lost her memory or was haunted, she couldn’t have been wrong.