Savage Kiss - Chapter 58

In that moment, she felt a pang of despair, hoping Shen Yanzhou would answer the call.

There had been no response for so long, did that mean he had hung up the previous call?

She had already apologized after calling him rude, so why was he holding such a grudge?

Xu Qingyi could only rely on memory, tapping the top-left corner of the screen again to redial.

Shen Yanzhou’s phone lit up once more.

Seeing him pick up his phone again, the family members grew visibly displeased. “Boss Shen, my son is still in the hospital fighting for his life, and this is your attitude?”

He was the one who had proposed negotiating compensation, yet he kept trying to escape via phone calls. If this continued, they would have no choice but to take legal action.

Shen Yanzhou gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles turning white. “My apologies. List your conditions, as long as they’re reasonable, I’ll agree to them.”

With that, he stood up and strode out of the reception room.

“Hello…” he answered, his voice low and devoid of emotion.

In the next second, Shen Yanzhou’s brow furrowed, and his already long strides became even more purposeful.

“Where are you?” he asked as he got into his car.

But the noise on her end was overwhelming, she probably couldn’t hear him.

Fortunately, she replied, “I don’t know. I was delivering a car…”

Then the call was cut off, abruptly disconnected.

Shen Yanzhou slammed on the accelerator and called Liang Fanglin. “Did she go to deliver a car? Who’s the car owner? Send me the car’s location now.”

Liang Fanglin was busy at the time and didn’t process the question immediately. “Who?”

Then he heard his boss roar, “Xu Qingyi!”

Liang Fanglin jolted in fright. He had already connected “her” to Xu Qingyi in his mind, but since the boss and Miss Xu seemed to have fallen out, he hadn’t dared to confirm. Now, he scrambled to find the information as requested.

Luckily, the car Xu Qingyi was delivering was still under their one-day service, and their factory had a special tracking feature.

It was bitterly cold outside, and rain had begun to fall over the mountain roads. Winter rain made the roads slippery and the air even colder.

Yet Shen Yanzhou didn’t slow down.

As he closed in on the location, he braked too hard, causing the car to skid. It nearly collided with the other vehicle.

She was still inside.

Shen Yanzhou wrenched the steering wheel hard, sending his car crashing into the inner side of the mountain. It teetered precariously before tipping into the roadside ditch.

The moment Xu Qingyi turned and saw Shen Yanzhou approaching through the window, her legs gave way. Tears welled up uncontrollably.

The window was smashed open. Shen Yanzhou pulled her out, and she clung tightly to his waist, burying her face against him. It took a while before she remembered to sob.

Shen Yanzhou wrapped his coat around her torn and disheveled pants, patting her back gently. “It’s okay now.”

A cough came from inside the car.

Earlier, the car owner had tried to force himself on her, but she had clamped her legs around his neck, cutting off his carotid artery until he passed out. Each time he regained consciousness, she repeated the move until he blacked out again.

By the time Shen Yanzhou arrived, she was nearly out of strength, surviving on sheer willpower.

Xu Qingyi released Shen Yanzhou and glanced back.

The car owner had gotten out on his own.

She nudged Shen Yanzhou, signaling him not to let the man drive away.

Shen Yanzhou kicked the owner to the ground, then hauled him up and pinned him against the car roof, his fist raised.

But he didn’t strike.

He looked back at her.

She had called him rude.

Xu Qingyi met his gaze and walked over. “Hesitating to hit him?”

As she approached, she picked up a rock. Right in front of Shen Yanzhou, she smashed it against the car owner’s forehead, far from ladylike.

She had to admit, she really didn’t think his way of solving problems with his fists was crude.

Shen Yanzhou called Liang Fanglin and Uncle Pang, one to drive and pick them up, the other to tow the overturned car back.

“Aren’t we calling the police?” Xu Qingyi frowned slightly.

Shen Yanzhou lowered his gaze to look at her. “If we call the police, he’ll be out after a cup of tea at most.”

“Since you don’t mind my roughness, I’ll handle it myself.”

Xu Qingyi pursed her lips. “It’s not good for you. What if he retaliates…?”

She didn’t want to drag him into trouble either.

Shen Yanzhou replied calmly, “Don’t worry, no one will die. I have friends who’ve got my back.”

His gaze swept briefly over her hand, and only then did he notice the cut on her knuckle.

He wrapped an arm around her and led her to the car, then leaned in to grab the iodine.

“Be gentle.” Xu Qingyi said, frowning.

Shen Yanzhou hummed in acknowledgment, carefully dabbing at her wound. “How did this happen?”

Xu Qingyi pressed her lips together. “Learned from you.”

The car keys were nowhere to be found, probably thrown away by the owner. She couldn’t open the door, so she had to break the window. Without any tools, she used her hand.

Turns out, hitting things with your fist hurts that much.

Last time, his hand was wrapped in gauze, he must have been hurt pretty badly.

Shen Yanzhou paused and lifted his eyes to look at her.

“I’m cold.” she said, her voice sounding weak.

She had thought, since things had come to this, if he just hugged her, it would all be over.

But instead, Shen Yanzhou took off his cashmere sweater, removed her coat, and then dressed her in his sweater layer by layer.

It was indeed very warm. She had nothing to say.

When Liang Fanglin arrived, he didn’t dare ask any questions. After picking them up, he focused on driving, acting like the most cautious driver of the year.

Back in the coastal district, Shen Yanzhou had Liang Fanglin drop her off first.

When the car stopped in front of her apartment, he asked, “Can you make it up by yourself?”

What he really wanted to ask was whether she wanted him to come up with her.

Xu Qingyi wasn’t actually injured, at most, her legs had been strained for too long, to the point of cramping.

After resting for a while, she thought she was fine and nodded. “I can.”

Shen Yanzhou’s lips tightened slightly. Though he turned aside, he didn’t get out of the car.

But as soon as Xu Qingyi stepped out of the car, she nearly collapsed. Her legs were so sore it felt like her muscles had dissolved, and her tendons seemed to be twitching.

She grabbed the car door for support and Shen Yanzhou reached out to steady her by the waist.

In the end, he carried her into the apartment.

Xu Qingyi entered the passcode herself. Shen Yanzhou brought her into the living room, poured her a glass of water, and asked if she had eaten.

She shook her head. “No.”

She had left in the morning, and by now, it was almost dinnertime.

Xu Qingyi wondered if he was going to cook for her. Did he even know how to cook?

But Shen Yanzhou only said, “I ordered takeout for you. It’ll be here soon.”

It seemed he was about to leave. “Call me if you need anything.”

Xu Qingyi was a bit stunned. With his attitude, she couldn’t bring herself to ask him to stay.

As soon as the door closed, her apartment fell into silence, and she began to feel drowsy.

She forced down a few bites of food before going to sleep for a while.

She woke up to her phone ringing incessantly somewhere. Sitting up, she searched for a moment before her eyes landed on her backpack.

She unzipped it and paused as she reached for her phone. Had Shen Yanzhou seen the toy inside her bag?

He had picked up her phone from that car and put it back in her bag for her.

“Hello?” She answered Shi Qing’s WeChat call without thinking.

On the other end, Shi Qing hesitated. “I… I want to apologize. You can hit me or scold me, whatever you want.”

Xu Qingyi only then noticed that he had previously sent a transfer, 200,000 yuan?

Xu Qingyi frowned, a bad feeling creeping in. “What did you do?”

Shi Qing clutched his hair in frustration. “I lost your painting… To be precise, that bastard Shen Yanzhou snatched it away!”

Xu Qingyi still didn’t understand. “What painting of mine?”

Shi Qing gritted his teeth. “On your first day at the art academy, I was sketching you from below.”

Xu Qingyi fell silent at once.

Shi Qing was a student at the art academy?

After a moment, Xu Qingyi frowned again. Shen Yanzhou had taken the painting, and on it, she was depicted without any clothes…

Did he think Shi Qing had drawn her privately while they were alone together? Just like how she had sketched him that day in the apartment?