Savage Kiss - Chapter 25

Xu Qingyi only contacted her landlord when rent was due or when she couldn’t pay.

The landlord had always been lenient with her, so she couldn’t just ignore him, but she lied anyway: [I’m not at the apartment. I went into the city and probably won’t be back for a few days.]

Might as well pretend she wasn’t there. She didn’t plan on leaving the apartment all week, her fridge was fully stocked.

Since she had no inspiration for upgrading that outdated product, she switched to a more conventional one for redesign.

Without part-time work, her schedule was much freer, so she spent the evenings gaming.

When she logged into her account, she noticed that the Diamond-ranked player who had visited her profile late last night had sent her a friend request.

Unlike others who only praised her, his request read:

[Add me, Xu Qingyi. At least give me a chance to explain.]

The moment she saw those words, her chest tightened with a suffocating ache, and her hair stood on end.

Was he really Shen Yanzhou?

How did he even know this was her gaming account?

She had never told him she played Honor of Kings, let alone revealed her ID.

Xu Qingyi valued her privacy, she didn’t add strangers on WeChat, and even for part-time gigs, she’d delete contacts afterward.

That’s why the WeChat account linked to her gaming profile wasn’t even her main one.

She remembered Shen Yanzhou saying she had spent over ten hours with someone else but couldn’t spare time to return his clothes.

And the fact that he had been checking her profile past 2 a.m. made her skin crawl, it felt like she was being stalked.

She tossed her phone aside, regretting ever going to the bar that night.

Regretting giving in to her craving for touch.

Regretting getting addicted to him, why hadn’t she cut things off cleanly the first time?

Xu Qingyi grabbed her tablet. Maybe she should switch servers for a few days, so what if it cost a little money?

After some time passed, this whole mess would fade, and Shen Yanzhou would probably forget about her.

She browsed servers far from the capital’s city center, then looked for affordable hotels, she could treat it as a trip for inspiration.

After booking, she tidied up her apartment, gathered all the trash into one bag, and left it outside the door to take out later.

As she bent down to set the bag down, her peripheral vision caught Shen Yanzhou standing against the hallway wall, directly across from her door.

Xu Qingyi froze for just a second before emotions surged, her brows knitting together.

Shen Yanzhou, leaning against the wall, looked up when he heard the door open. His unkempt hair was disheveled, exhaustion written all over him.

But the moment he saw her, his eyes visibly brightened, and he pushed himself forward.

Without thinking, Xu Qingyi slammed the door shut.

Shen Yanzhou reacted just as fast, sticking his hand out to block it.

His wrist took the full force of the door against the frame, but he didn’t make a sound. Instead, he used his other hand to pull the door open slightly.

He lifted his foot as if to step inside, hesitated, then silently withdrew it, simply lowering his gaze to look at her.

“Did they hurt you?” he asked.

Xu Qingyi thought about the frustration of the past three days, the horror of being watched online, and now his seemingly genuine concern.

She couldn’t hold back, she raised her hand and slapped him.

Smack!

“Isn’t this what you wanted to see?”

Caught off guard, Shen Yanzhou’s face snapped to the side from the impact.

Then he turned back to her, as if the slap had somehow eased the weight in his chest.

Xu Qingyi’s palm stung, but she stared at him coldly. “I told you I don’t like you coming to my place.”

She didn’t dare to think, what if one day he intended to harm her? If he forced the door open, she wouldn’t even know how she died.

Shen Yanzhou’s jaw tensed slightly as he parted his lips. “If you’re still angry, go ahead and hit me again.”

Words like that were inexplicably infuriating.

Xu Qingyi really wanted to slap him once more, but she was also afraid of provoking him.

After all, the difference in strength between men and women was vast. Right now, she was only wearing pajamas, if something happened, she wouldn’t even have a place to run.

“Will you listen to my explanation now?” His brow was shadowed with tension.

Xu Qingyi didn’t want to hear it. She reached for the door. “Let go, or don’t blame me for being rude.”

“No.”

Shen Yanzhou was blunt and stubborn.

“You blocked me. I couldn’t contact you. I was worried something might have happened, so I had to come find you.”

Xu Qingyi turned her face away, refusing to look at him.

He shifted his position, stepping into her line of sight.

She turned her head the other way, but she could still see that Shen Yanzhou was wearing a leather jacket and jeans, looking travel-worn. His lips were dry, and his eyes looked like he hadn’t slept all night.

“I wasn’t trying to get back at you,” he explained, point by point. “And I would never hurt you.”

“As for the clothes, even if I felt uncomfortable about it, I wasn’t angry at you.”

Even if he had been angry, he wouldn’t have done anything to her.

“I just got back from a business trip. The day I asked you to bring the clothes, I wanted to tell you about my schedule, but you didn’t come.”

Xu Qingyi just stood there, refusing to react, waiting for him to finish so they could both go their separate ways.

Whatever he had to say wasn’t important to her.

“As for the good Samaritan incident, I wasn’t the one who told the family. Uncle Pang knew it was you and could guess you lived in Haibin District.”

Though he didn’t understand why she wouldn’t want anyone to know about her act of bravery, he respected her decision.

Uncle Pang had asked him if he knew her address, but Shen Yanzhou naturally didn’t say anything.

The air was silent for a long moment.

Xu Qingyi took a small step back into her home. “Are you done?”

Shen Yanzhou pressed his lips together, his gaze weary. “I’ve explained everything clearly. You-”

“Are you trying to replace me?” he asked. “You can just say it outright.”

Xu Qingyi almost laughed in frustration. Why did it sound like she was the one being unfair to him?

Even if she wanted to replace him, it wasn’t unreasonable.

She didn’t answer, instead reaching to pull the door shut.

Shen Yanzhou held onto it, preventing her from closing it.

Finally, she lifted her gaze slightly. “Starting today, please act like you never knew me. If that’s not acceptable, I can pay you off.”

Hearing this, Shen Yanzhou let out a bitter laugh. Why did she always try to dismiss him with money?

Xu Qingyi suddenly remembered something. “How did you know my gaming account?”

Shen Yanzhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he pressed his dry lips together.

“Liang Fanglin plays often and has matched with you several times.”

Xu Qingyi couldn’t verify the truth of that. She only cared about ranking up, who paid attention to teammates or opponents?

Shen Yanzhou said that last time, Liang Fanglin had turned on voice chat while gaming, and he happened to hear Shi Qing’s voice.

“I’ve run into him a few times. It’s obvious he likes you.”

“If you’re already in a relationship with him in-game, have you taken it offline too? If so, I-”

Shen Yanzhou didn’t finish.

For a fleeting moment, the thought crossed his mind, he wouldn’t mind being the other man.

Xu Qingyi had no intention of explaining that Shi Qing wasn’t actually her in-game partner, that was Mi Lian’s account.

On the contrary, she smoothly picked up the conversation: “Since you already know I’m with him, we really shouldn’t be in contact anymore. You don’t want to be a backup option, and I don’t keep people on the line. That way, everyone’s happy.”