Chu Li’s expression turned subtly odd again.
She caught sight of Shen Zhe’s self-satisfied, easy expression.
He arched an eyebrow at her, as if silently showing off, meaning that his brother was fiercely protective of him, and that he’d withstood the pressure to be with her.
Shen Zhe thought she ought to be moved by that.
If this had happened before, remembering the cold Shen Jichu from her memory, Chu Li might really have been intimidated.
But now, she’d already seen the bullet comments flicker across the sports car’s window.
They told an entirely different story.
【Hilarious, the original male lead’s so full of himself. He actually thinks his brother disapproves of the relationship because he values him, the little brother, so much.】
【Sure, he’s useless, but that dullness is perfect for our restricted-rated original male lead. Later, when the other guys are getting close with her, he can just sleep peacefully next door~】
Good thing Shen Zhe couldn’t see any of this.
Otherwise, with his temper, he’d probably lose his mind.
Shen Zhe: “What, you don’t believe me?”
Chu Li shook her head, smiling at him gently as always. A shallow dimple appeared on her cheek, looking utterly harmless. “I believe you.”
“Zhe, I’m going up to deliver the documents.”
Chu Li took the documents, and once out of the car, her smile faded as she walked toward the Shen family company, sorting through the current plot in her head as she went.
She was still a bit dazed.
But she could handle it well enough, after reading a few more lines, she pieced together the cause and effect.
The bullet comments said Shen Jichu hadn’t liked her at first. But as he kept scrutinizing the relationship for his brother’s sake, watching her secretly, time after time, in places she couldn’t see—
“Miss Chu?”
The secretary called out to her gently, and Chu Li snapped back to the present. She pressed her lips into a faint smile and handed over the documents. “Hello, these are for President Shen.”
“His younger brother asked me to pass them along.”
The secretary looked a bit surprised, glancing instinctively toward the door.
Shen Zhe’s flashy sports car was still parked outside, brazen as ever, and he was leaning over, chatting and laughing with Xia Zhi.
He seemed utterly unconcerned about Chu Li, the devoted girlfriend who ran all his errands. He’d simply turned to chat animatedly with another girl.
Qin Mian, left in the car, glared daggers at him, watching his every move to see if he’d do anything else to wrong Chu Li beyond just talking.
The secretary, imagining who knew what, looked at Chu Li with obvious sympathy.
She sighed and told Chu Li to hand her the documents, saying she’d pass them along: “President Shen, your documents.”
“Have her come in too.”
The secretary only knocked a few times, without telling whoever was inside what was happening.
Hearing this, she paused, slightly stunned. “Do you mean Young Master Shen, or—”
“Chu Li. Have her come in.”
Shen Jichu’s voice was low, and usually rather flat when he spoke, as if nothing besides work ever held his attention.
Oh, there was one other thing.
The Shen family’s elders had passed away early, and Shen Jichu had been thrown into the business world while still young. Perhaps the only thing he still worried about was his younger brother, whom he’d always indulged.
So it made sense that he’d also keep an eye on and scrutinize his brother’s little girlfriend.
That’s what the secretary assumed.
He stepped outside, and to his mild surprise, found Chu Li still standing by the elevator, hadn’t left yet, as if she’d anticipated this exact moment. “Miss Chu, President Shen would like to see you.”
Chu Li nodded, not looking surprised at all.
She had the bullet comments’ spoilers, after all.
She’d counted a few numbers standing there, and right on cue, the secretary had come to find her.
【The original plot’s probably that Shen Jichu deliberately gives her the cold shoulder to push for a breakup, using a clumsy excuse, claiming he’s only screening this poor girlfriend for his brother’s sake.】
【Big brother’s mouth is stubborn, no wonder he ends up scheming for his sister-in-law in secret later.】
【Trying to get the two of them to break up, isn’t that basically trying to move in on her himself?】
Chu Li pushed the door open and walked into the office at the top of the high-rise. She looked around curiously at the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, which overlooked the busy streets below.
Wow, rich people really did live well.
Could someone write her a script like this too, sometime?
Shen Jichu wore a deep blue suit, without a single wrinkle. He was tall, his figure mature, a completely different style from Shen Zhe.
When he turned around, his brow and eye contours resembled his brother’s, only deeper.
“Big Brother Shen.”
Chu Li called out to him the way she had as a child, sweet and obedient.
As soon as she said it—
She caught a flicker in Shen Jichu’s eyes, as if he wasn’t pleased with that form of address.
“You don’t need to call me that just because Shen Zhe does.”
His tone was cold as he spoke, his gaze landing on her face for a moment before drifting away, as if it hadn’t lingered at all. “I didn’t want to get involved in your relationship.”
“But Shen Zhe’s been taking things too far lately.”
Chu Li listened, utterly confused, and followed his gaze toward the floor-to-ceiling window. But aside from the faintly rippling blue sky and white clouds, there was nothing to see.
【Li Li, look down.】
【From where Shen Jichu was just standing, he had a clear view of the street below. He saw Shen Zhe bring Xia Zhi and leave you off to the side.】
Chu Li glanced at him.
No wonder his expression was a little cold, he’d just said Shen Zhe had taken things too far.
“Miss Xia is a fan of Zhe’s, she likes watching him race.”
Shen Zhe had paid her today.
“It’s really not a big deal, I don’t mind.”
Shen Zhe had paid her today, she repeated silently to herself a second time.
Shen Jichu’s expression turned unreadable.
Hearing her explanation, his thin lips moved slightly, as if turning over that intimate nickname, “Zhe,” in his mind.
In the end, he gave a cold laugh.
“You don’t have to cover for him. I’m his older brother, I know exactly what he’s like. Unfaithful in relationships, fickle, and doing it right in front of the company, no less, affecting the Shen family’s reputation.”
【Tsk tsk, what a righteous excuse.】
【Reputation, my foot. The moment he hears the name “Zhe,” he probably wants to disown him on the spot.】
Chu Li sometimes watched the bullet comments, which no one else could see, these things beyond reality.
She watched so intently, her round eyes unblinking, that it was easy to mistake her for someone lost in sorrowful thought.
Shen Jichu assumed his words had gone too far, that she was on the verge of tears.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose lightly and offered a flat apology.
He handed her a cup of warm, sweetened milk and pushed it toward her. “This is the flavor you like. Try it.”
Chu Li had already filled up on milk tea on the way, so she waved a hand. “I’m not thirsty.”
His hand paused, then withdrew.
Chu Li waited for the plot the bullet comments had promised, waiting for Shen Jichu to suggest she break up with Shen Zhe.
In her heart, she was already doing the math.
Wondering just how much she’d get for a breakup fee this time. The thought alone made her happy.
【Why didn’t Li Li drink that sweet milk on the table? It’s been spiked by one of the Shen family’s business rivals. If she’d drunk it, the two of you would’ve kicked off the restricted-content plot with big brother.】
【Guessed it, huh? Maybe she’s just not interested in big brother right now.】
Chu Li: “…”
That hot milk! Had actually! Been drugged!
If she said she genuinely just hadn’t drunk it because she was full of milk tea, would anyone believe her?
She couldn’t possibly be the first restricted-content female lead to miss a plot point because she was too busy drinking milk tea.
Still, good thing she hadn’t drunk it!
With the spoiler in hand, she quietly scooted a bit farther away, avoiding the cup of hot milk.
In Shen Jichu’s eyes, this looked like she was afraid of him.
His hand, resting beneath the desk, tightened slightly, the knuckles shifting.
After a moment, he spoke again in that same cold tone, asking her, as planned: “Shen Zhe’s fickle, he doesn’t deserve you. Break up with him.”
“The Shen family will offer you appropriate compensation.”
He’d already prepared himself for this.
As a child, Shen Zhe had once gotten lost and been taken in by an ordinary couple in a small town, who happened to be Chu Li’s neighbors. The two of them had essentially grown up together, but after Shen Zhe grew up, he’d been recognized and brought back into the family. Gradually he’d picked up the bad habits common to young masters in that world of wealthy second-generation heirs.
The first time Shen Jichu had met Chu Li, she’d been standing timidly outside the door, wanting to find Shen Zhe.
Over the years, he’d watched her grow up, still trailing after Shen Zhe like a devoted little shadow.
“Bro, is that little shadow of mine here looking for me again?”
Shen Zhe always teased him about it, his tone lazy, as if it were a bother, but with an undertone of youthful pride and showing off mixed in.
“Ugh, she’s so annoying.”
“But she probably likes me so much, so devotedly, that I guess I’ll just have to reluctantly go along with it.”
—Shen Zhe was no good match for her.
His thoughts circled back.
Shen Jichu repeated that conclusion to himself internally.
He looked up again, his long, slender fingers tapping lightly on the desk. “Shen Zhe’s too caught up in playing around. I’m planning to send him abroad, for further study.”
“You can break up with him.”
“Five million as a breakup fee.”
Chu Li’s eyes brightened slightly.
Hearing such a large sum, she was instantly wide awake, and her resistance to the current plot dropped considerably.
This was.
Five million.
【Li Li, rein in that look on your face, hahaha.】
【What, that’s five million we’re talking about. Hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to money itself.】
【You could tell him, besides the breakup fee, make him find you a new boyfriend too, hehe.】
Chu Li: “…”
She looked up again, ready to naturally act the part.
She was just about to work up some reddened eyes, choke up a little, express her reluctance and hardship, and thereby collect that so-called breakup fee.
Unfortunately, before she could get her acting warmed up.
The next instant, the door was pushed open. The secretary, wiping sweat from his brow, cast an apologetic glance at Shen Jichu, as if to say he’d tried and failed to stop this.
“It’s Young Master Shen, insisting on coming up to see you.”
Shen Zhe really knew how to pick his timing.
She hadn’t even gotten her five million yet, and here he was.
Chu Li pinched her fingertips, feeling a small pang of loss. Then she heard his carefree voice behind her. “Bro.”
“I just had my girlfriend drop off some documents for you.”
“Why are you starting in on the breakup thing again?”
Shen Zhe walked over and pulled her behind him.
He clearly misread the whole scene, thinking of himself as the male lead in some novel, unjustly separated from his love by his family. The more he was pushed to break up, the more fired up he got.
“She and I truly love each other.”
“You don’t have to be such an old fossil about it, still clinging to that whole ‘suitable match’ idea.”
“Right, Li Li?”
Chu Li blinked a couple of times, not particularly wanting to respond. Listening to him rattle on so smoothly, she felt strangely embarrassed.
So embarrassing, she didn’t even want to stay together, for heaven’s sake.
Equally unable to stand it were the bullet comments in front of her.
【Wait, he seems way too confident. His brother’s not looking down on Chu Li, he’s looking down on him for being useless.】
But Shen Zhe clearly didn’t see it that way at all.
In his eyes, Chu Li, gentle and obedient, was the most suitable choice for a girlfriend.
Shen Jichu had always given in to whatever his little brother wanted, surely he’d cave on this too, eventually?
Shen Zhe lifted his eyelids lazily, leaning against the wall, waiting for his brother to change his tune.
But his older brother.
Just stared at him, his gaze dark and unreadable, and after a long moment, asked with a flat sort of surprise: “Did you have a nice time chatting with that other girl, downstairs just now?”
Shen Zhe froze instantly, his body going stiff, caught red-handed.