Standing at the back of the line, Shen Li spent the entire day feeling as though he were living inside a dream.
His tongue pressed against the bite mark on the inside of his lip.
The salty sting gave him a small sense of reality.
When he recalled what had happened on the Ferris wheel, he no longer felt afraid.
If Yuanyuan were with him, he would gladly ride it several more times.
There were still five people ahead of him in line.
At the very least, it would take another five or six minutes.
Around him were all kinds of people.
Some boys were buying ice cream for their girlfriends.
Some parents were buying treats for their children.
Others were simply buying one for themselves.
At the front of the line, a young man finally got his ice cream.
The girl beside him accepted it with obvious delight and planted a kiss on his cheek.
“Thanks for your hard work!”
From a distance, Assistant Qi spotted his boss standing in line and immediately rushed over.
“Boss, let me take over for you.”
After a moment of consideration, Shen Li glanced toward the figure waiting not far away and waved him off with obvious disdain.
Assistant Qi wasn’t discouraged.
As usual, he pulled a thick stack of cash from his jacket pocket.
“Who wants to switch places with our boss…”
The moment he received another warning look, he froze in disbelief.
He stared at the man who was willingly wasting time standing in line.
Wasn’t his boss the one who hated queues the most?
The same man who always claimed that waiting in line was a waste of life?
Holding two different flavors of ice cream, Shen Li strode toward the girl sitting on a nearby bench.
As he approached, he deliberately slowed his pace.
He lightly shook his head to make his hair appear less messy and adjusted his breathing, which had become uneven from walking too quickly.
Then, imitating the young couples he had observed while waiting in line, he spoke gently.
“Yuanyuan, I bought the ice cream.”
Ning Zhiyuan looked up at him.
A delighted expression immediately appeared on her face.
Clutching her phone, she jumped to her feet.
“You’re back.”
Shen Li thought about the kiss the girl had given her boyfriend.
A faint sense of anticipation rose within him.
For a fleeting moment, he felt as though he and Yuanyuan were just another ordinary couple among countless others.
But the illusion shattered with a single sentence.
“I suddenly have something to take care of. I need to leave.”
The situation was urgent.
Cheng Ye’s life was hanging by a thread.
Ning Zhiyuan didn’t want to disappear without a word and leave Shen Li standing there.
That was why she had waited for him to return before explaining.
She didn’t want to lie to him.
But she couldn’t tell him the truth either.
So she settled for a vague excuse.
Shen Li didn’t press for details.
The hand holding the ice cream lowered slightly.
His dark eyes narrowed, and he pursed his lips.
“Then go take care of it.”
Ning Zhiyuan quietly let out a breath of relief.
Grabbing her bag, she hurried away.
“Yuanyuan.”
The deep voice behind her made her pause.
Several seconds passed before she turned around.
“What is it?”
Shen Li gazed deeply at her face.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
“Be careful.”
“Okay.”
As he watched her hurriedly disappear into the distance, the expression on Shen Li’s face gradually froze.
Assistant Qi noticed his boss had been left alone and immediately came over.
“Boss, why did Miss Ning leave?”
The evening air wasn’t particularly hot.
Yet the ice cream in Shen Li’s hand had already melted into sticky syrup, dripping down his fingers.
His eyes turned cold.
He tossed the cone into a trash can and wiped his hands with a wet tissue.
The moment Assistant Qi spoke, he regretted it.
He had clearly asked the wrong question.
Trying to recover, he added,
“Miss Ning probably had something urgent to deal with. Boss, should we head back to the villa now?”
Shen Li sat inside the car.
The sticky sensation on his palm seemed impossible to wash away.
Images flashed through his mind.
Yuanyuan’s nervous expression.
The wariness hidden in her eyes.
As though she were afraid of something.
What kind of emergency could make her rush away so desperately?
He couldn’t put his mind at ease.
Only after seeing her safe with his own eyes would he feel reassured.
A faint glimmer appeared in his gaze.
“Track the driver. Let’s see what urgent business Yuanyuan has.”
Meanwhile, the tracked vehicle was speeding through the city.
The driver had his foot pressed hard against the accelerator as they raced toward an underground gambling arena.
Night had already fallen.
The city’s lights illuminated the darkness, creating a beautiful yet lonely landscape.
Inside the car, Ning Zhiyuan sat quietly, processing everything she had learned.
Cheng Ye’s grandmother had passed away a few days earlier.
The debt collectors had seized his gambling-addicted uncle and aunt.
They had given him a final deadline.
Pay today, or prepare to collect their bodies.
Driven into a corner, Cheng Ye had gone to the Ning Corporation to find her.
He waited there all afternoon but failed to contact her.
With no other options left, he made a desperate gamble.
He went to the underground arena and signed a life-and-death waiver.
By the time Ning Zhiyuan arrived, the match was already over.
The air inside the arena was thick with cigarette smoke and the metallic scent of blood.
The audience seats were empty.
Cigarette butts and discarded snack wrappers littered the floor.
Only a single overhead light remained on.
Bloodstains splattered every corner of the square ring.
A cap and a pair of boxing gloves had been tossed aside.
At the center lay a figure dressed in a black tank top and knee-length shorts.
The boy’s hair had grown much longer and clung to his face with sweat.
His once handsome features were swollen and bruised beyond recognition.
A crooked one-centimeter scar ran across his brow, obviously stitched up by some small, unprofessional clinic.
His eyes were closed.
He seemed to be taking more breaths out than in.
No wonder the people guarding Cheng Ye hadn’t dared move him.
They had insisted that Ning Zhiyuan come personally.
They were probably afraid he would die before reaching the hospital.
If not for the distinctive tear-shaped mole beneath his eye, she might not have recognized him at all.
Squatting beside him, she asked,
“Are you still alive?”
Cheng Ye struggled to lift his heavy eyelids.
His unfocused gaze slowly regained clarity.
After recognizing her, he tried to raise a hand.
It barely left the ground before crashing back down.
His dry, cracked lips trembled.
Ning Zhiyuan leaned closer to hear him.
The boy’s voice was so weak it was little more than breath.
“Help… help… me… please…”
Those five words seemed to exhaust every last ounce of strength he had.
Ning Zhiyuan knew he was already at his limit.
She smiled at him.
Yet her words were cold and merciless.
“If you live, I’ll help you.”
If he survived and could be useful to her, she would help him.
But if he died?
Cheng Ye’s eyes widened slightly.
A look of misery crossed his face.
His lips moved as if he wanted to ask the question.
No sound came out.
He had begged her like this.
He had clung to his final breath just to wait for her arrival.
Why was this the answer he received?
Closing his eyes, Cheng Ye felt his life slowly slipping away.
He wanted to make one final gamble.
To bet on whether this wealthy young lady possessed even a shred of conscience.
She had failed to meet him as promised.
That was why he had ended up fighting here.
If these were his last words, would she still remain unmoved?
“If you die, I won’t spend a single cent on you.”
“Whether you live or die is the result of your own choices. It has nothing to do with me.”
“And if you’re gambling on whether I’ll feel guilty, I can tell you the answer right now.”
“I won’t.”
Cheng Ye lay motionless on the ground.
His chest rose and fell only slightly.
It was impossible to tell whether he was still alive.
An ambulance was already on its way.
Ning Zhiyuan had done all she was willing to do.
Frowning, she stood up and wrinkled her nose in disgust.
She couldn’t stand the smell of cigarette smoke.
Not for another second.
She had already wasted enough time.
If Cheng Ye couldn’t become the path she needed, then she would simply find another one.
Just as she turned to leave, a cool hand suddenly grabbed her ankle.
She looked back.
The boy on the ground had opened his eyes.
They were bloodshot and crimson.
He stared at her without blinking.
His lips parted.
His Adam’s apple bobbed.
It was as though she could hear the word he wanted to say.
“Okay.”
Later that night, Ning Zhiyuan accompanied Cheng Ye in the ambulance as it sped away from the underground arena.
Inside a parked car by the roadside, the driver frantically wiped sweat from his forehead with a towel as if scrubbing himself in a bath.
He shot a pleading look toward the passenger seat.
Assistant Qi silently sighed.
“Boss… are we still following them?”
Miss Ning really hadn’t changed at all.
She had just been on a date with their boss.
The next moment, she abandoned him and ran off to find another man.
Shen Li’s gaze was frighteningly dark.
His voice was low and icy.
“Follow them.”