When she was dragged out, Shi Sheng nearly had her sleeve torn off.
Qi Ye was simply too strong.
It wasn’t until they had walked a considerable distance that Shi Sheng finally reacted:
“Wait, we forgot something!”
She was referring to the clothes, bags, shoes, and jewelry that she had been clutching in her arms earlier—items that had nearly crushed her.
Qi Ye’s forehead veins bulged as he roared:
“Do you think I’m dead?! Did you actually think I’d let you carry all that stuff back yourself?”
“I already sent someone over to move everything, you idiot!”
Shi Sheng: “…”
She quieted down. “Oh.”
Great. She’d been scolded again.
Shi Sheng was pulled into the car by Qi Ye.
He seemed genuinely furious—his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that veins surfaced one by one.
Not gonna lie, he looked pretty terrifying.
Shi Sheng thought for a moment, then carefully said:
“Ah Ye, you left Ms. Wen at the restaurant.”
Qi Ye: “…”
His tone was harsh: “What, does she not have legs to walk on her own?”
Shi Sheng shut her mouth completely after that.
Indeed, men were all unreliable.
One second they’re sharing a tender, romantic dinner, the next they abandon the woman and leave with another.
As “the other woman,” Shi Sheng didn’t dare say a word.
Qi Ye never bothered to hide his emotions. When he was in a bad mood, his face was covered in dark clouds—he might as well have had “I’M ANGRY” written across his forehead in big letters.
Shi Sheng kept her mouth shut, not daring to speak.
In the past, she might have tried to soothe him, since Qi Ye was indeed fairly easy to appease.
But this time was different.
Shi Sheng recalled how comfortably Wang Duanshu had been attending to her, and immediately felt a pang of guilt.
Shi Sheng felt guilty; Qi Ye felt suffocated.
All he could think about was—does Shi Sheng really not get jealous at all?
He had punished her all day! Openly flirting with another woman right in front of her. If Shi Sheng had lost her composure even for a single second, Qi Ye wouldn’t be feeling this angry and wronged right now.
But she didn’t.
Qi Ye closed his eyes, his expression growing even darker.
Both of them were lost in their own thoughts. Neither spoke a word until the sports car drove into the villa district and reversed into the garage.
This time, just like before, Qi Ye opened the door and left, abandoning Shi Sheng alone.
Shi Sheng didn’t mind. She got out of the car as usual, stepping out of the pitch-black garage in her flats.
She looked up—there was no one ahead.
Qi Ye had probably already gone inside.
Good. She really wasn’t in the mood to face Qi Ye’s childish handsome face anyway.
Counting the days, if she could just endure this one month, it would be smooth sailing—the sea wide open for fish to leap, the sky vast for birds to fly.
Neither Qi Ye nor Duan Ye would have anything to do with her.
At that thought, Shi Sheng felt completely at ease, walking toward the villa with a light heart.
Click.
The fingerprint lock opened.
Before Shi Sheng could even change her shoes, a surge of force slammed her against the wall!
Her waist was seized, the entryway plunged in darkness.
The next second, Qi Ye’s scent rushed toward her with overwhelming aggression.
Shi Sheng instantly realized what he was about to do.
—Qi Ye was going to kiss her!
In a panic, Shi Sheng didn’t even have time to think. She instinctively turned her head away, dodging his touch.
Warmth grazed her cheek.
Both of them froze.
Shi Sheng was trembling all over. She pressed her hands against Qi Ye’s chest and shoved him away with all her strength.
Qi Ye’s eyes were bloodshot, staring at her intently.
After a moment, his voice came out hoarse: “What, not allowed to touch?”
Shi Sheng was still shaken, barely managing to find her focus.
She pressed her lips together, a flush spreading from her ears to her cheeks, making her look somewhat humiliated and indignant:
“You—you clearly said you wouldn’t touch me!”
Hearing this, Qi Ye sneered: “I drafted the contract. If I want to change it, I’ll change it.”
Shi Sheng: “…”
She closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down: “The contract isn’t something you can just change on a whim. Even if you called your lawyer over right now, they’d have to ask me whether I agree first.”
Hearing this, Qi Ye’s expression froze for a moment.
After a long pause, he gritted his teeth: “So what you’re saying is, you don’t want me touching you, is that it?”
Shi Sheng pressed her lips together, saying nothing.
The answer was obvious enough.
Qi Ye was practically laughing out of anger.
He stared at Shi Sheng and said:
“Fine. You win.”
“You won’t let me touch you today—fine. But from now on, even if you beg me, I won’t touch you even once!”
With that, he turned and headed straight back to his room.
The living room lights weren’t on either, so not long after, Shi Sheng heard the sound of him tripping over a chair and crashing to the floor because he was moving too fast.
Followed by a string of curses.
Shi Sheng: “…”
Impressive.
After a while, the sound of a door opening and closing rang out.
Shi Sheng closed her eyes, only then slowly sliding down the wall to the floor.
She tried to steady her racing heartbeat, nearly on the verge of tears.
Damn it, she’d almost kissed that filthy man.
Ugh!
And he said something about her begging him to touch her…
Pfft!
The only thing in this world that could make Shi Sheng willingly kiss was money!
And even then, money would have to wash itself clean and line up properly, waiting for her to grace it with her favor.
The more Shi Sheng thought about it, the angrier she got.
How could Qi Ye have no sense of contractual spirit at all? The contract clearly stated there would be no intimate behavior…
Forget it. Thinking about it now was completely useless.
Shi Sheng wiped away her tears and stood up, turning on the light and walking slowly into the living room.
She casually picked up the chair Qi Ye had tripped over and set it back in place, then returned to her own bedroom.
Before entering the bedroom, she didn’t forget to turn off the living room light.
Back in her familiar space, Shi Sheng could no longer hold it together. She threw herself onto the bed and cried silently.
She had never been a particularly strong person—when bullied, tears just wouldn’t stay put, and she could only hide away alone to vent in secret.
Like right now.
Shi Sheng hugged the plush bear in her arms, feeling that crying alone wasn’t enough to vent her frustration.
So she got up, grabbed a notebook from her desk, and started drawing turtles.
And after drawing each one, she’d write Qi Ye’s name on its back.
Shi Sheng cried with a cold face, silently cursing Qi Ye as a bastard in her heart.
After cursing, she finally felt a bit better inside. Just as she was about to wash up and go to bed, her phone suddenly rang.
Shi Sheng picked it up and glanced at it—the name Duan Yujing was displayed in large letters.
She hesitated for a moment.
Right now, Shi Sheng didn’t really want to see anyone connected to Qi Ye, so she planned to leave him hanging.
Shi Sheng thought silently—if she just kept not answering, maybe Duan Yujing would run out of patience and stop calling.
So Duan Yujing called three times in a row.
Shi Sheng: “…”
What patience.
She reluctantly picked up the call.
On the other end, Duan Yujing didn’t question why she’d taken so long to answer. Instead, he spoke softly and slowly:
“I talked with Qi Ye this morning. He said you two are just having a temporary spat—that he’s trying to get a rise out of you. Is that true?”
Shi Sheng wiped her tears clean with her fingers, trying her best to act as if nothing was wrong, and let out a cold, aloof “Mm” in a lowered voice.
But she failed to control it, and her voice cracked directly.
It landed in Duan Yujing’s ears—muffled, carrying a hint of grievance.
He paused.
Ignoring the strange sensation in his body, Duan Yujing rose and turned toward the floor-to-ceiling window, his voice softening:
“Why are you crying?”