Savage Kiss - Chapter 13

Xu Qingyi carried a glass of milk as she walked over to grab her phone.

But it wasn’t Shen Yanzhou.

It was Shi Qing, replying to their conversation from a few days ago:

[Added you. Accept?]

Xu Qingyi logged into the game and opened the friend request page. The latest ID was just a single dot: “.”

She tapped accept, and Shi Qing immediately sent her a team invite.

Afraid of missing Shen Yanzhou’s reply, Xu Qingyi adjusted her phone settings.

Normally, she disabled WeChat notifications while gaming to avoid distractions, but this time, she kept them on.

She quickly glanced at Shi Qing’s profile and noticed he mostly played jungle roles. As a paid companion, she instinctively switched her preferred roles to support.

Shi Qing messaged in-game: [Play whatever you want.]

It was the first time someone had been so considerate toward her. Most guys she encountered would start making snide remarks the moment they saw she was a female jungler, looking down on her just for being a girl.

In-game, Shi Qing was also incredibly attentive. Whenever she supported a teammate who then died and blamed her, Shi Qing would always step in to defend her.

Her support skills weren’t as strong as her jungle play, and their team’s marksman was genuinely terrible, so they lost the first match.

Xu Qingyi felt a little guilty.

But Shi Qing turned on voice chat, his tone light and teasing, “Did we make you cry?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry you to victory!”

That night, they played joyfully together, winning almost every match after the first loss.

By the time she logged off, Shen Yanzhou still hadn’t replied with a single word.

Had she crossed a line this time? They were supposed to be strangers, yet she’d asked him personal questions.

But she’d asked as a customer.

As the month drew to a close, the weather grew colder. No matter what part-time job she took in winter, the cold was unbearable, so she was desperate to get that car.

She had even asked Mi about it, but the cars he suggested all started at hundreds of thousands, anything cheaper seemed beyond his comprehension.

Then one day, Shi Qing suddenly messaged her on WeChat:

[Looking to buy a used car?]

Xu Qingyi sighed but wasn’t entirely surprised.

Sure enough, Shi Qing admitted: [Heard it from Mi Lian.]

Mi’s real name was Mi Lian, as Shi Qing had told her.

Now, Mi Lian and Shi Qing had become something like brothers and rivals, constantly competing over who could invite her to play more games or send her bigger red envelopes.

What surprised Xu Qingyi was that Shi Qing showed up unannounced, traveling all the way from the city to see her.

Only after arriving did he say, “Meet me at the intersection. I’ll take you to check out some cars.”

Xu Qingyi threw on a dress, skipped makeup, didn’t even bother fixing her hair, and rushed downstairs.

Shi Qing was wearing jeans and a black leather jacket, his medium-length Japanese-style hair giving off a refined yet rebellious vibe. “Let’s go!”

He seemed completely at ease, forward but not in a way that made her uncomfortable.

Xu Qingyi, however, was completely unprepared.

Beneath his stylish hair, Shi Qing’s fair face broke into a smile, his eyes crinkling. “Free consultation! This offer won’t last.”

That much was true. On WeChat, Shi Qing had mentioned he knew cars.

When they reached the roadside, Shi Qing handed her a helmet.

He had ridden his motorcycle all the way from the city.

“Hold on tight, or you might fall,” Shi Qing warned, glancing back.

Xu Qingyi had initially grabbed the hem of his jacket, but the sudden acceleration made her sway, forcing her to wrap her arms around him instead.

I should’ve just taken a taxi.

Shi Qing took her straight to Haibin Auto Repair.

As luck would have it, every time she’d come before, at most Liang Fanglin would be at the front desk while the others were busy in the back. But today, a whole group of people were sitting around the long table outside the shop.

The sound of Shi Qing’s motorcycle drew the attention of everyone at the table.

Through her helmet, Xu Qingyi caught sight of Shen Yanzhou, sitting alone at one end of the long table, impossible to miss.

When Shi Qing removed his helmet, Liang Fanglin recognized him at a glance.

He stood up with a smile to greet him: “Bike trouble?”

Shi Qing set his helmet aside, then turned to help Xu Qingyi remove hers, answering Liang Fanglin as he did so, “No, just bringing her to check out a used car.”

Liang Fanglin looked at Shi Qing, then at Xu Qingyi climbing off the back seat.

Were they together now? Since that night at the bar?

Xu Qingyi had no intention of greeting Shen Yanzhou either. She hadn’t even replied to his WeChat messages, he probably wouldn’t acknowledge her. It wouldn’t do to pretend to be familiar just to haggle over prices later.

Shen Yanzhou set down the pen in his hand and looked at her. “We don’t have the car you want.”

Shi Qing chuckled. “We haven’t even said what we’re looking for yet.”

“Doesn’t matter. We don’t have it,” Shen Yanzhou said flatly before standing up. “Back to work.”

The people around the table gradually dispersed.

Shi Qing, thoughtful, asked Xu Qingyi, “Qi Bao, is he your ex? That’s some serious hostility.”

Occasionally, when Shi Qing was in a playful mood, he’d mimic Mi Lian and call her Qi Bao.

Xu Qingyi was used to it by now.

But Shen Yanzhou’s footsteps noticeably faltered, his gaze flickering over in their direction.

Xu Qingyi could feel him scrutinizing her from head to toe.

She’d left in a hurry today, her hair wasn’t brushed, and after removing the helmet, it was a mess, as if she’d just been through some intense, unspeakable activity. Her outfit wasn’t much better either, with her skirt reaching just above her knees. On her calves were bruises from yesterday’s mishaps and faint scratches from testing out toys with her nails.

All in all, she looked only slightly better than she had that night after her unrestrained encounter with Shen Yanzhou.

She subtly turned slightly to avoid his probing gaze.

Shen Yanzhou had already turned and walked into the shop.

Xu Qingyi could tell Shen Yanzhou was doing this on purpose, clearly, he didn’t want to sell her a car.

Originally, she thought about letting it go, but she felt an inexplicable surge of irritation. And when it came to Shen Yanzhou, she didn’t feel like holding back.

She said to Shi Qing, “Wait here for a bit.”

Shi Qing: “What for?”

“Nothing, just wait.” Xu Qingyi headed into the shop, intending to talk to Shen Yanzhou.

The back workshop was large, divided into several sections, likely for repairing different types of vehicles.

Liang Fanglin pushed open the first door for her and pointed to the right. “Brother Zhou is in the room at the far end.”

Xu Qingyi walked to the office door, left ajar, where Shen Yanzhou stood by the window, watching her with a cold, detached expression, as if she were a stranger.

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Turning to face him, she got straight to the point: “What’s your problem?”

Shen Yanzhou took off his earphones and said to the person on the other end, “I’ll call you back later.”

Leaning against the window, he tucked his hands and earphones into his pockets, staring at her. “What do you want?”

Xu Qingyi didn’t beat around the bush either. “I know you’re doing this on purpose. Last time, you mentioned that used car dealers work with you, so your shop definitely has car for sale. You just don’t want to sell to me.”

His expression didn’t change. “Yeah, that’s right.”

Xu Qingyi was taken aback, he was surprisingly blunt.

Then she smirked. “Says who? You don’t get to decide. I’m buying from here whether you like it or not!”

Shen Yanzhou: “Says me… this shop is mine.”

Xu Qingyi froze.

Wasn’t he just a mechanic? A motorcycle taxi driver? A paid companion?

Xu Qingyi was instantly humiliated, gradually enveloped in a sense of shame as her emotions flared up.

“Shen Yanzhou, I know you look down on me, but you could’ve just said it outright on WeChat.”

“I’ve been asking for days, why put on airs and not reply at all, forcing me to come all the way here just to hear it?”

“Fine, I slept with you, but you agreed to it too.”

“Why bully me just because I don’t want anything more than that with you?”

Xu Qingyi had originally intended to calmly talk things out when she arrived.

She hadn’t expected to end up with her chest heaving, on the verge of tears, her eyes stinging with pain.

Shen Yanzhou’s brows furrowed as he fixed his gaze on her. “When have I ever looked down on you?”