Savage Kiss - Chapter 24

Shen Yanzhou frowned and glanced up at Shen Yaoyao. “What are you doing here?”

Shen Yaoyao urged him, “Hurry up and board the plane! I was worried you’d have no one to take care of you on your business trip…”

Shen Yanzhou grew even colder. “Am I a cripple? Since when do I need your care?”

He always spoke to her with such harshness. Shen Yaoyao bit her lip, swallowing her hurt. “Go ahead and scold me. I like you anyway… even after sleeping with your brother, my heart only has you!”

With that, she turned and boarded the plane first. After all, his business was important; he would definitely board.

…

Xu Qingyi hung up the phone, finished washing up, and grabbed her coat to take it to the repair shop.

But as it turned out, they really weren’t open on weekends? The shop was completely closed.

She had no choice but to message Shen Yanzhou on WeChat: [Let me know when you’re back at work, and I’ll bring it over.]

After sending the message, she retreated into her small workspace to focus on the upgraded design.

She had the general concept in mind, but no matter how she tried to align it with the original design, something always felt off.

That one step, she just couldn’t get past it. The inspiration had completely dried up.

How strange!

The entire afternoon passed without any progress.

The next day, she sat for a long time at the seaside observation deck, but still, nothing came to her.

She deliberately wandered around, just as CEO Ke had suggested: changing locations, changing scenery, seeking different perspectives.

The results were minimal.

In contrast, even though she had been utterly embarrassed in front of Shen Yanzhou that day, nervous as she was, she had to admit she’d felt something.

With no inspiration striking, she set it aside for the time being and played games with Mi Lian instead.

Before she knew it, they were playing until 2 a.m.

When she finally logged off, Xu Qingyi checked her profile to review her hero rankings.

Under the “Recent Visitors” section, she spotted a familiar avatar, one that looked suspiciously like Shen Yanzhou’s WeChat profile picture.

She clicked into the visitor list and opened the profile, only to find it belonged to a Diamond-tier player with no match history.

Two minutes ago, this person had checked out her profile.

Upon closer inspection, though, the avatar wasn’t exactly the same as Shen Yanzhou’s… just very similar.

Xu Qingyi exited the game and went to sleep.

The next few days passed in a bit of a haze, so she took on a freelance job to clear her mind. On her way back, she bought a cup of hot coffee.

Just as she reached the apartment building’s entrance, a man in a hat, face obscured, suddenly strode toward her.

Xu Qingyi instinctively frowned and sidestepped.

But then, several other people appeared out of nowhere beside her, and before she could react, they grabbed her from all sides.

“You’re the girl from that day, aren’t you?”

“Oh, it really is you!”

Xu Qingyi’s nerves instantly tightened. “Who are you? Let go of me!”

Realizing her alarm, a woman quickly intervened, “Easy, easy! Don’t scare her! We’re here to present a commendation banner, not to rob her, let her go!”

At the mention of a “commendation banner,” Xu Qingyi’s heart sank.

“What do you mean?”

The woman beamed and clasped her hand. “Sweetheart, remember me? You saved my son that day!”

“He had pneumonia, and I couldn’t get away until now. The moment I had time, I came looking for you.”

“This is just a small token of our gratitude… please accept it!”

Someone nearby raised their phone, ready to film.

Xu Qingyi immediately pulled up her mask and lowered her head. “You’ve got the wrong person! It wasn’t me!”

But the woman was adamant. “No way! My friend’s friend confirmed it was you!”

“Can we take a photo together?”

“Or maybe a video for Douyin?”

Surrounded by seven or eight people, Xu Qingyi was completely trapped, unable to break free as they clamored to treat her to dinner and more.

Xu Qingyi raised her hand to shield her face, afraid of being photographed.

In that moment, she felt suffocated, dazed as if transported back to the scene of being besieged outside her university dormitory.

The taunts and insults, like relentless maggots, seeped into her nerves every night, vile and nauseating, until she woke up drenched in cold sweat.

And she endured that torment for over six hundred days.

In the end, it was Sister Li who came and pulled her out.

Sister Li knew about her social anxiety. After Shen Yanzhou had warned her last time not to introduce Xu Qingyi to any dubious leaders for promotions, Sister Li rushed over as soon as she heard something was happening.

Pulling her aside, Sister Li said, “Everyone, quiet! The girl is introverted. She appreciates your kindness, but that’s enough. Stop taking photos! She did a good deed, and everyone’s happy, you don’t want to make things difficult for her, do you?”

“Or, I can accept the commendation banner on her behalf and hang it in our community office. Wouldn’t that make the banner even more meaningful?”

It was a good solution, and the family was happy too.

The dinner was ultimately declined. Sister Li took charge, picking one red envelope from the stack the family had prepared for Xu Qingyi to keep, then saw everyone off.

Xu Qingyi returned to her apartment alone.

Of course, she didn’t notice the man who had initially rushed toward her standing across the street, watching her.

Back home, she locked the door, changed her clothes, and curled up in bed.

When the body is utterly exhausted, the mind seems to become unusually active, replaying chaotic scenes nonstop.

Judging from what that woman said, was it Shen Yanzhou who told them her address?

Xu Qingyi rested her head on her knees, picked up her phone, and directly confronted him on WeChat: [Did you tell them to send the commendation banner?]

Shen Yanzhou didn’t reply.

About half an hour later, he suddenly asked, [Where are you?]

Shen Yanzhou had received a call from Sister Li, but he couldn’t get away just then.

Seeing his response, Xu Qingyi typed, [So it really was you who told them I live here?]

His status showed “typing” for a long while.

Xu Qingyi already knew the answer.

[You’re a grown man, just because I didn’t agree or bring you clothes in the bathroom that day, you’d stoop to retaliating against a girl like this?]

Shen Yanzhou frowned. What nonsense was this?

He replied, [It wasn’t intentional. I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would turn out like this. Wait until I get back, and I’ll explain.]

Xu Qingyi tossed her phone aside.

Her fingertips were still icy cold at that moment.

He had helped her so many times before, which made it even harder for her to accept this kind of pettiness now.

Picking up her phone again, she typed out a line:

[I’ll return your clothes another day. Let’s not contact each other anymore. That’s it.]

She wanted happiness, but she wanted her life more.

Men were dispensable. She could live without one, there were plenty of alternatives, or she could always find another.

After sending the message, Xu Qingyi quickly blocked Shen Yanzhou on WeChat, leaving no room for regret.

She went to the kitchen and cooked herself three dishes. Though her culinary skills weren’t great, cooking helped her calm down gradually.

After finishing her meal and washing the dishes, she retreated to her small workspace to chase inspiration.

By the time she emerged, it was past eight in the evening.

She had blocked Shen Yanzhou on WeChat but not his phone number, and now she saw his call coming through.

For several minutes, she watched the number flash on her screen, then go dark, only to flash again.

This was quite troublesome. She often ran into him normally, and with her handling things this way, would he spread rumors about her to everyone by tomorrow morning?

In the end, Xu Qingyi blocked his number as well.

That night, she slept poorly.

When she woke up in the morning, she was surprised to see a WeChat message from her landlord sent late the night before:

[Xiao Xu, someone’s looking for you downstairs. Can you go check when you wake up?]