Xing Jiale was instantly robbed of his usual confidence in his good looks upon hearing this.
He stared at Shen Ying in shock: "What did you just say?"
"Have you completely abandoned all decency? Do you really think A’Chen and the others would believe you?"
Shen Ying replied, "Whether they believe it or not, you can figure that out yourself."
Xing Jiale instinctively followed her line of thought—those three idiots knew his stance all too well.
He had never shown any form of affection toward Shen Ying, aside from a brief mont of admiration when she first confronted Zhong Chen.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have trusted him to keep an eye on her while the other three were busy fighting among themselves.
Reassured, Xing Jiale smirked confidently. "Go ahead and send it. They won’t believe you anyway."
Shen Ying nodded. "You really have a lot of faith in your brothers’ generosity."
"How about this? Instead of sending the photo, why don’t you test the waters by sharing it yourself?"
Before Xing Jiale could react, his phone buzzed with a notification—the photo of him drenched had arrived.
Shen Ying gestured. "Why not post it in our little group chat and see what happens?"
Xing Jiale initially wanted to ignore her, but curiosity got the better of him. He couldn’t resist testing just how much those three actually trusted him.
After all, Shen Ying was bound to pull more stunts like this, and he needed to be prepared.
There was also a selfish part of him that believed, after all the sacrifices he’d made for those three idiots, he deserved their unconditional trust.
With these conflicting thoughts, Xing Jiale actually went ahead and posted the photo in their group chat.
Among the four of them, Zhong Chen and Xiao Yun were the least likely to joke around, while Xing Jiale and Gong Zhaoxi were the most unrestrained in private.
So sending a shalessly vain photo wasn’t entirely out of character. However, since Shen Ying had recently been added to the group—and given the recent infighting and cold shoulders—the chat had been unusually quiet.
The mont Xing Jiale sent the photo, replies flooded in within seconds.
Zhong Chen was the first to explode: [What the hell are you doing posting this in broad daylight? There’s a girl in the group! Who are you trying to seduce with this shaless photo?]
Xiao Yun chid in: [A normal photo would’ve been fine, but this is just inappropriate. Jiale, have you no sha?]
Gong Zhaoxi added: [Are you feeling lonely now that the three of us have found soone we like?]
[But let give you so advice—longing for love is one thing, but you’ve got to use the right thods. A photo like this is more likely to attract rich older won with… specific tastes.]
Xing Jiale hadn’t expected this reaction. His head spun in disbelief.
Defiant, he typed back: [What’s wrong with this photo? How is it shaless? Am I half-naked or exposing sothing I shouldn’t?]
Gong Zhaoxi replied: [Isn’t it obvious? Even Zhong Chen can tell you’re practically oozing mating signals.]
Xiao Yun added: [Just admit it—who’s caught your eye? Though I always thought you’d be the dominant type. Turns out you prefer being the one pursued.]
Zhong Chen cut in: [None of that matters. Are you actually doing the job we assigned you?]
[Just rember—if you’re going to flirt with won, clean up afterward. If I catch you flashing this look in front of Shen Ying, I’ll break your legs.]
Furious beyond words, Xing Jiale switched to voice ssages: [You idiots! So just her seeing like this ans I’m trying to seduce her, huh?]
[Weren’t you the ones who swore I’d never like her? Turns out you don’t trust at all!]
Gong Zhaoxi replied: [We also trust in Shen Ying’s charm. As long as you don’t give us reason to doubt you, we’ll keep trusting you.]
Xing Jiale’s phone slipped from his numb fingers. He stared blankly at the ceiling, eyes glistening—whether from the lighting or unshed tears was unclear.
Finally, Shen Ying patted his shoulder consolingly. "Told you it was leverage. You didn’t believe ."
Xing Jiale glared at her, eyes red with a mix of fury toward his so-called brothers and resentnt at her cunning.
Ignoring him, Shen Ying turned back to the handso n at the table. "Alright, let’s keep playing."
The bottle pointed to the silver-haired guy this ti. Shen Ying glanced at the exquisite fruit platter and high-quality sashimi on the table.
She remarked, "I think the plates here are poorly chosen. They ruin the appetite."
"If these dishes were served on sothing better, they’d be irresistible."
Xia ng, seemingly catching on, added, "True. The plates lack luster and don’t feel luxurious enough."
She turned to the silver-haired guy. "They’re not as smooth as your skin."
The silver-haired guy flushed instantly. "W-what—?"
Xing Jiale jolted upright, abruptly scooping Shen Ying into his arms and carrying her out of the room straight to the garden on their floor.
Fuming, he snapped, "You think just because you’ve got leverage over , you can do whatever you want?"
"And what’s with Xia ng? She’s wasted as a student—what kind of sisters are you two?"
When Shen Ying tried to wriggle free, Xing Jiale tightened his grip, nearly crushing her as he barked, "You’re not going back."
"Fine, send the photo to those three. Let’s burn this whole thing down. I’m sick of dealing with this ss anyway."
"Maybe it’s better if they misunderstand . At least then I won’t have to babysit you and wonder what you’ll do next."
Shen Ying raised a brow. "Oh? Not scared anymore?"
Xing Jiale scoffed. "You think I’m afraid of you? Do you really believe this threat ans that much to ?"
Shen Ying nodded. "You’re right—it’s not that important. It’s just that the last peacekeeper in your group will lose his standing."
"Just that all the tis you mocked them for being fools will co back to bite you."
"Just that you’ll beco the biggest traitor in the group, sinking to the bottom where even Zhong Chen can look down on your integrity, self-control, trustworthiness, and loyalty."
With every word, Xing Jiale’s expression darkened. He could already picture those three idiots lording over him, their scorn unbearable.
He knew Shen Ying had the ans to make his "seduction" seem real.
After witnessing how love had turned those three into complete morons, Xing Jiale had sworn never to end up like them.
And he absolutely refused to let those idiots look down on him.
Just as he was about to retort, his phone rang.
Glaring at Shen Ying, he answered—Zhong Chen’s voice ca through:
"Almost forgot to ask—how’s the mission going? Where did you guys go today? Who else was there?"
Xing Jiale snapped, "We hit a nightclub, invited eight or ten guys, and had a blast. Happy?"
Zhong Chen imdiately panicked. "What?! You were supposed to report any suspicious activity imdiately! How could you let this happen? Send the address—I’m coming right now!"
In the background, Xiao Yun and Gong Zhaoxi’s voices chid in, the three suddenly united in their urgency.
Xing Jiale’s eye twitched. Damn these idiots—only when it ca to catching infidelity did they suddenly get along.
As soon as he heard they were coming over, Xing Jiale imdiately felt resistant.
It wasn’t just because of Shen Ying’s threats—the parents of the three had just given him money, and if he didn’t follow their wishes to keep so distance from Shen Ying for the ti being, they’d likely be furious.
After going to such lengths to demand their compliance, only for it to be ignored so quickly, the parents’ punishnt would be hard to avoid.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Xing Jiale could only say, "Are you idiots seriously not getting that I was joking?"
"She’s fine. She’s singing with Xia ng and a few friends right now. I just stepped out for so air."
The three on the other end of the call relaxed slightly, but the sharpest of them, Gong Zhaoxi, pressed further, "What friends? Do we know them?"
Xing Jiale glanced at Shen Ying, who was watching him with amusent, and felt utterly defeated.
His voice drained of energy, he replied, "Just so of her middle school classmates. Nothing special."
But their suspicion didn’t waver. "We’ve never seen her keep in touch with them. Are they guys or girls? How close are they?"
"None of them secretly have a crush on her, right?"
Xing Jiale scoffed, "No crushes here."
Zhong Chen insisted, "Then describe them to ."
Xing Jiale snapped, "Will you cut it out already?"
Xiao Yun chid in, "Don’t get mad. We just want to know more about her. Honestly, we weren’t part of her past, so it’s natural for us to be curious."
Xing Jiale thought to himself, Yeah, right. Like I’d believe that.
But stamring now would only make him look guilty, so he spun a quick lie: "Well, there’s one with curly hair who’s really graceful when she dances, another with silver hair who sings well but gets shy easily, and a third with curls too—fiery temper, obsessed with motorcycles."
The descriptions imdiately misled the trio on the other end.
"All girls? Good, good. What’ve you all been doing?"
Xing Jiale rolled his eyes so hard it hurt. "Just childish nonsense—dancing, swinging on ropes, rearranging fruit and sashimi platters."
Zhong Chen broke into a satisfied smile. "That’s how girls are. Their gas are always a bit childish."
"I was worried Xia ng might be a bad influence, but it seems she’s really turned over a new leaf."
Xing Jiale: "…"
As if Xia ng even needed to corrupt her. Those so-called "girlfriends" of hers were already thick as thieves.
Zhong Chen finally relented. "Alright, no problem then. Stay with them, and make sure you take her ho afterward."
Xing Jiale hung up eagerly, then glared at Shen Ying with resentnt.
"This is the first and last ti I cover for you."
But Shen Ying shook her head. "No, this is just the beginning. There’ll be plenty more to co."
She stepped closer, and Xing Jiale’s senses sharpened with wariness, as if so fragile barrier of his was being breached inch by inch.
With a smirk, Shen Ying declared, "From now on, you and I are accomplices."
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