Since returning from the card ga, Shen Jing had not seen Zhou Luchen again. It was said that he had recently been staying in the West District Courtyard to celebrate the holiday with the old lady.
Shanghai’s representatives had sent a private plane several tis to pick him up, but the West District Courtyard had declined each ti.
The Spring Festival was bustling, but to Shen Jing, it was just so-so.
When she returned to Shanghai, she saw Wenxin. Their eyes t briefly before they passed each other by. Purely by coincidence, they ended up in the sa restaurant later; Shen Jing was dining out with her grandmother for a change of pace, while Wenxin was accompanying a client.
It was unexpected, with so many good days available. Why hasn’t Miss Wei married Zhou Luchen yet? Is their zodiac compatibility clashing? Could it be that I slept with Zhou Luchen and Miss Wen found out? Is she throwing a tantrum at Zhou Luchen?
Her grandmother noticed her distraction and tapped her chopsticks. "Do you know the young lady over there?"
Shen Jing explained, "She was quite a famous businesswoman before."
Her grandmother said, "Her aura isn’t that of an ordinary young lady."
Shen Jing humd in agreent and bowed her head to sip her soup.
The Wei Family had removed Wei Wenxin from her position as chairwoman, and Wei Sulin had taken over. It happened very suddenly.
The external dia naturally had not received the news, and Shen Jing was also unaware.
Halfway through the al, Shen Jing went to the restroom. As she pushed the door open to leave, she saw Wenxin washing and drying her hands by the sink.
Since they were not well-acquainted, Shen Jing did not greet her.
"Do you know what he did?" Wenxin suddenly asked.
Shen Jing reached her hand under the sensor faucet. "Zhou Luchen?"
Wenxin turned aside. "He threatened us, using the heads of the 72 international branches as his pawns. My marrying him ca with conditions: I had to leave the Wei Family and renounce the Wei surna. He even threatened the Zhou Family. He used the Zhou Family’s arranged marriage proposal to turn hostile, insisting the alliance be his alone. His uncles, his father, his grandmother—none of them were to interfere in his decisions. He’d act first and report later, and that’s exactly what he did."
Her father might be rotten, but not everyone in the Wei Family was. Yet his demands would force her to betray her family and alienate her kin. If she were to leave the Wei Family, where would her refuge be? Where would she rest when she grew tired? Alone, with only Zhou Luchen for company. Success or failure, her fate would thereafter be held in his grip. How cunningly he had crafted a prison for her, daring her to try it. She didn’t dare—Wei Wenxin did not dare.
Understanding, Shen Jing washed her hands leisurely. "Then you’re all being rather foolish, letting him turn the tables on a deal that was set in stone. You’ll have no more chances to hold the upper hand over him in the future."
Wenxin smiled faintly, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "I never imagined he could be so ruthless."
"However, you do seem to know Zhou Luchen quite well," Wenxin added.
Shen Jing pulled out a paper towel to dry her hands, tossed it into the waste bin, and replied indifferently, "Know what? He was with you in New York, yet there was also a Joanna. I truly admire you for not even getting angry and for even indulging him."
"Perhaps I no longer hold out any hope for his character," Wenxin said, then turned and walked away.
Shen Jing watched her lonely, desolate figure retreat and couldn’t be bothered to think any further.
After dinner, she escorted her grandmother back to the alleyway ho.
Her grandmother did not like bustling restaurants, yet for so reason, when Shen Jing had suggested it, her grandmother had agreed readily.
As Shen Jing turned to leave, her grandmother stood by the doorfra to see her off.
Shen Jing looked back, offering a smile.
"What’s so funny? Did that young lady bully you in the restroom today? Why have you been so gloomy since you got ho?"
Shen Jing shook her head with a smile. "No."
She stayed for only one day, then packed her things to return to Beijing.
Apart from its prosperity, this place still lacked warmth.
She heard that Chen Yao and Xing Fei argued from ti to ti but hadn’t split up.
She also heard that Xing Fei had gotten pregnant. Pressured by the Chen Family and not wanting to burden Chen Yao, Xing Fei had secretly aborted the baby.
By the ti Chen Yao arrived at the hospital, the baby was already gone, reportedly found in a dical waste container.
Xing Fei lay on the hospital bed, still under anesthesia and unconscious. She didn’t see the man crouching in the corner, silently shedding tears, his beautiful peach-blossom eyes swollen from crying.
It was such a pity she didn’t see the usually haughty young master of the Chen Family in tears.
The first thing Xing Fei did when she awoke was to ask hoarsely, "How were you going to protect the child? If I had given birth, would you have taken it back to the Chen Family to raise, Chen Yao?"
With his back to Xing Fei, Chen Yao didn’t want her to see his tear-reddened eyes. He tried to sound calm and detached as he spoke. "You could have told , and we could have faced it together. You always like to listen to your decisions, and I always go along with you. But this ti, Feifei, I can’t indulge your whims."
"I don’t want to face it with you anymore. Face it yourself." She was quite rciless.
"Fine. I’ll give you your freedom. From now on, you won’t have to deal with the pressure from the Chen Family."
Perhaps the young master was dissatisfied: with her unilateral decisions, her lack of trust, her cold-bloodedness, and her aborting the child without a word. Perhaps he was also dissatisfied with himself for crying so unexpectedly. When it ca to breaking up, he was decisive. He tucked the quilt around her to keep her warm, then turned and left.
"I’ll have soone take care of you until you recover and are discharged from the hospital," were Chen Yao’s parting words.
Xing Fei was very weak when she was discharged. She received a sum of money from the Chen Family and, with that money, flew abroad for a vacation.
She only returned to Shanghai after tiring of her leisurely travels.
It just so happened that at the airport entrance, she ran into Shen Jing, who was returning to Beijing.
Their steps paused in unison.
They smiled at each other and then shared a brief embrace.
"It’s really been ages, Jingjing! Hugging you is so nice; you’re so soft and sll wonderful."
Xing Fei’s pink hair was gone, bleached golden yellow. The new color made her complexion look even paler.
"Jingjing, rember to co back often."
"I know."
Shen Jing didn’t ask about the child. Everyone has private sorrows and old wounds that shouldn’t be prodded. Since she couldn’t solve anything, she didn’t pry. Seeing Xing Fei’s pale face, she rely reminded her to rest more and take care of her body.
Adult friendships often an more ti apart than together. After saying goodbye, Shen Jing boarded the plane and left.
She clearly rembered Chen Yao often saying, "How could we possibly break up? Whenever she gets angry, I just coax her. Whether it’s my fault or hers, I always placate her. She wants to break up? Not a chance."
But nonetheless, Chen Yao now spent his nights sleeping on liquor crates, drinking at midnight, and burying himself in work at the company during the day.
Whenever soone asked about his girlfriend, Chen Yao would pry open a liquor bottle. "She’s trash," he’d snap.
His friends would egg him on. "If you’re upset, then go get her back. How many years were you two together? Are you really not going to chase her this ti?"
Chen Yao would down the bottle. "Chase her, my ass. Every single ti, I end up with a top-tier piece of trash."
She had made him utterly lovestruck, and then she had dumped him.
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