His Sunday Substitute - Chapter 37

“What are you trying to do?”

Qin Cangye stood up, his face as cold as frost, his gaze piercingly icy.

“N-nothing…”

Su Yinuo’s voice trembled as she spoke.

“Who were you trying to call?”

Qin Cangye pressed her word by word, “The police? Or… Ji Wenjun?”

“No!!” Su Yinuo mustered her courage and shouted, “I was calling my mom!”

Qin Cangye stared at Su Yinuo, his eyes filled with obvious suspicion. He knew she wanted to call Zhang Lihua, but he didn’t believe that was the only person she intended to reach.

“Really, I swear,” Su Yinuo said, tears falling from her eyes as she met his cold gaze. “Can’t you just let me call my mom? You have no idea how worried I am.”

“Worried? I don’t see it. So,” Qin Cangye picked up his phone, leaned forward, and lifted her chin with it, his posture overwhelmingly oppressive. “That relaxed, happy mood this afternoon, was it all an act?”

Su Yinuo closed her eyes, and large teardrops splashed onto the phone screen.

“To trick me into lowering my guard? To get your hands on my phone, was that the plan?” Qin Cangye demanded coldly.

“That’s not it at all, you… you bastard…” Su Yinuo didn’t know how to explain herself anymore. Wiping her tears, she began to sob angrily.

Qin Cangye smirked coldly, a fleeting pain flashing in his eyes. “Right. I am a bastard.”

He set the phone down, gripped the back of her neck, and pulled her close, licking the salty tears from her face.

His wet kisses trailed from her cheek to the corner of her eye, then down to her earlobe. In a low, hoarse voice, he commanded, “When you call your mom later, don’t you dare cry!”

Su Yinuo’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You’re letting me?”

Qin Cangye said nothing more. He released her, unlocked his phone, and handed it to her. Watching her bow her head and hurriedly dial the number, he silently transformed his heartache into a plea: I just hope that, in your heart, I’m not so irredeemably terrible.

Su Yinuo pressed the phone to her ear, anxiously waiting for the call to connect. She didn’t turn away or deliberately hide from Qin Cangye, she didn’t want to give him any more reason to doubt her.

“Hello, who is this?” Zhang Lihua’s calm voice came through the line.

Hearing that familiar, gentle tone, Su Yinuo’s tears spilled over again. She quickly wiped them away, took a deep breath, and cried out, “Mom!”

“Nuonuo! Whose phone are you using?” Zhang Lihua’s voice was full of delight, with no trace of tension or concern over her own disappearance. Though utterly confused, Su Yinuo immediately relaxed.

“Qin Cangye’s. Mom, why are you still up so late?”

“Almost asleep! I just arrived at Wu Heng’s place at noon and have been chatting with his mom. Let me tell you, his family is so warm and welcoming. Wu Heng has two younger sisters and a brother. the brother is still in middle school…”

Zhang Lihua rambled on about Wu Heng’s family, leaving Su Yinuo completely bewildered. She kept glancing at Qin Cangye, searching for answers.

Qin Cangye ignored her questioning gaze. With an expressionless face, he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace and resting his head on her left shoulder. He didn’t make any further moves, simply inhaling the faint fragrance emanating from her body and feeling the almost imperceptible tremors in her neck as she spoke.

“Nuonuo, are you okay? Are you adjusting well to the cram school? I know the closed-off environment must be tough, but you have to hang in there. How come you’re already sneaking a call after just one day? Even if Qin Cangye is sponsoring your education, we can’t waste such a good opportunity…”

Su Yinuo finally understood, Qin Cangye had sent her mother to Wu Heng’s house and lied to her, saying she had enrolled in a closed-off cram school. No wonder her mother had been so calm, not worried at all about her sudden disappearance.

After hanging up, Su Yinuo remained silent for a long time, lost in thought: Keeping Mom away from Beiguang City is indeed the safest option. That way, even if I expose myself to Qin Weishu, he’ll have a hard time finding her. He’ll direct his anger solely at me, and without any weaknesses left, I won’t be afraid of him!

Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner?

Su Yinuo felt a pang of regret, but soon, her furrowed brows relaxed.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought of it, everything had just happened too fast. When she had truly grasped the depths of Qin Weishu’s madness, fear had overwhelmed her mind. Her first instinct had been to retreat, to distance herself from Qin Cangye, to hide far away leading her to impulsively hurt him in a moment of stupidity.

By the time she calmed down, she was already trapped in Qin Cangye’s cage, powerless to do anything else.

Yet, despite being battered and bruised, Qin Cangye hadn’t forgotten to protect her mother.

Su Yinuo’s nose stung, and a few tears rolled down her cheeks. She set the phone aside, cradling Qin Cangye’s head against her shoulder, and choked out, “I’m sorry… I really was lying to you before. I never liked Ji Wenjun. I’ve always… liked you.”

The man on her shoulder didn’t respond for a long time. In the end, he only uttered two simple words: “I’m tired.”

He lifted his head, his eyes half-lidded, looking utterly exhausted.

“I won’t let you call anyone again,” he said, taking the phone from her and tossing it onto the distant sofa. Then, he pulled Su Yinuo back into his arms and lay down on the bed. Just before drifting off, he murmured drowsily, “I won’t let you go… You’re mine…”

This time, Qin Cangye slept deeply and soundly.

When the alarm woke him at six, the first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was the unbearably adorable face nestled in his arms. A sense of contentment washed over him, and for the first time in a long while, he felt the urge to sleep in.

He turned off the alarm without hesitation, lay back down, and pulled Su Yinuo close once more.

Mine, mine… You’re mine…

Lulled by this mantra, Qin Cangye fell back into a deep slumber.

At the headquarters of Ronghua Capital, in the high-level conference room, Qin Weishu, Qin Wangxuan, and the rest of the executives had already gathered. Qin Weishu’s expression grew increasingly grim as he stared at Qin Cangye’s empty seat. The others remained silent, the tension in the room palpable.

“Could it be that Brother isn’t feeling well?” Qin Wangxuan suddenly asked innocently.

No one in the upper echelons dared to respond, only Qin Weishu let out a cold, angry laugh.

Qin Wangxuan turned to Wang Yiliu, Qin Cangye’s assistant sitting by the wall, and asked with a smile, “Assistant Wang, have you managed to reach my brother?”

Wang Yiliu, sitting upright with her gaze fixed straight ahead, turned her head toward Qin Wangxuan and replied expressionlessly, “Apologies, President Qin. As of two minutes ago, Vice Chairman Qin’s phone was still switched off.”

“Oh, did my brother mention to you that he wouldn’t be attending the meeting…”

Before Qin Wangxuan could finish, Qin Weishu slammed the documents in his hand onto the table and roared, “Meeting adjourned!”

After the meeting, Qin Weishu returned to his office with a dark expression, arranging for a few trusted subordinates to familiarize Qin Wangxuan with company management. In the quiet office, only he and Old Yan remained. He walked to his desk, picked up the prized inkstone he adored, and gestured for Old Yan to approach. “That matter with Kong Wenxin—has it been settled?” he asked.

Though his tone was calm, Old Yan detected a hint of danger. He immediately bowed and said, “Forgive me, Master. The person who acted that day was a novice, unaware of the gravity of the situation, and things got out of hand. Although the police have caught him, his family is in my grasp. He knows exactly what to say and do, not a drop of trouble will splash onto you, Master.”

“Entrusting this to a novice, you must be losing your mind in your old age!” Qin Weishu swung the inkstone and hurled it at Old Yan.

Old Yan didn’t dodge. The inkstone shattered against his head, blood seeping out and trickling down the side of his face.

“Report on Qin Cangye’s recent movements!” Qin Weishu demanded angrily.

Old Yan closed his eyes for a moment, swaying slightly. Watching the blood drip and pool on the floor, he said, “The young master has been staying at the Hidden Mountain Villa near Chaoyang Hill these past two nights. His daytime activities have been unremarkable.”

“With whom?” Qin Weishu frowned.

“The night before last, the young master brought a girl back to the villa. It was too dark, and the tail couldn’t make out her face. Yesterday, only the young master left the villa alone, the girl must still be inside.”

“Investigate. Find out who that woman is!”

“Yes, Master.”

Inside Hidden Mountain Villa, Su Yinuo reclined on the sofa in the second floor living room, clutching the robe over her legs as she watched Qin Cangye preparing breakfast in the kitchen downstairs, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

Because of the chain on her ankle, she couldn’t wear pants. Every day, beneath her robe, she was bare, leaving her vulnerable to certain people taking advantage at any moment.

Like this morning, when she woke up to find a head emerging from beneath her.

She gasped, and the head ducked back down.

Covering her mouth and closing her eyes, she waited until, much later, he emerged from the covers, wrapping his arms around her and asking, “No discomfort? It looks much better now.”

Her face seemed veiled in a soft pink haze as her moist eyes slowly opened, and she gave a faint murmur of assent.

“Then let’s go again,” Qin Cangye smirked, gripping Su Yinuo’s ankle with one hand while picking up a condom with the other, tearing it open with his teeth…

…

“What are you thinking about?” Qin Cangye asked as he brought over two bowls of light noodles.

Su Yinuo snapped back to reality, lowering her legs from the couch and adjusting her robe with slight embarrassment as she looked at the noodles and praised, “It looks really delicious.”

“Just a plain noodle soup with a few greens. No need to force a compliment,” Qin Cangye replied indifferently.

Su Yinuo gave an awkward laugh and began eating. After a few bites, her eyes lit up, and she raised a thumb enthusiastically. “Wow, such a rich chicken broth flavor! It’s really good, no forced praise here.”

“It’s just store-bought stock cubes…”

Yet, just from Su Yinuo’s few words of praise, Qin Cangye felt warmth spreading through his chest, along with an itching restlessness.

“It’s just delicious.”

Su Yinuo grinned and continued eating happily.

After breakfast, Qin Cangye cleared the dishes. As he stepped out of the kitchen, he saw Su Yinuo standing at the foot of the spiral staircase.

She gazed at him, wanting to step forward, but the iron chain around her ankle held her in place, preventing her from moving any closer.

“Are you heading to work? I wanted to see you off,” Su Yinuo said, still smiling sweetly, gently.

Qin Cangye’s heart trembled faintly, the unbearable itch surging through his entire body. He strode forward, rushing to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist, pressing the back of her head, and capturing her lips in a kiss.

No matter how much he kissed her, he never grew tired of it.

The sweetness and softness of her mouth seemed to slowly erode his will, devouring his very life.

He no longer wanted to do anything else. He felt that the rest of his days should be spent entangled with her forever, never parting, turning into unyielding mountain stones, specks of dust in the wind, vanishing into time itself. That would be just fine.

After a long while, she pushed him away forcefully, gripping his clothes as she leaned against his chest, panting. “I… I couldn’t breathe…”

“Do you really… love me?” Qin Cangye murmured, rubbing her earlobe gently.

Su Yinuo hummed in agreement. “I’ve said it so many times already.”

“Good,” Qin Cangye chuckled, his hand sliding to her neck, kneading it lightly. “Then stay here forever. Never, ever think about leaving me.”

Though his fingers against the nape of her neck were warm, Su Yinuo felt a bone-chilling cold seep into her.