Shen Jianian struggled desperately in Fu Jichen’s arms, pounding on his shoulders. His arm firmly encircled her waist, his large hand gripping the back of her neck tightly. No matter how she flailed, he refused to let her go.
A drunk person’s strength was surprisingly strong, how had she thought he was at a disadvantage before?
Shen Jianian, filled with rage, opened her mouth and bit him mercilessly, tasting the metallic flavor of blood. He finally released her in pain, and she took the opportunity to retreat from his embrace, raising one hand high, ready to slap him hard like last time, to show him she was not someone to be trifled with.
The slap never fell because she saw the tear at the corner of Fu Jichen’s eye. He frowned, murmuring her name, "Shen Jianian."
This time she was sure she did not see wrong. The crystalline liquid sliding down his eye was indeed a tear.
Shen Jianian’s raised hand slowly fell as she wiped her lips back and forth with the back of her hand, her heart full of grievances with nowhere to release them.
She silently seethed for a while, then took a summer quilt from the wardrobe in the dressing room, spread it out on the sofa, took a quick shower in the bathroom, forgoing her skincare routine, and curled up to lay down, planning to make do for the night.
She left a wall lamp on in the room, just in case something happened at night, so she wouldn’t have to fumble in the dark.
Shen Jianian pulled the quilt up over her head, recalling the events of the night, thinking that agreeing to go out with Fu Jichen was a mistake.
In the latter half of the night, Fu Jichen woke up with a splitting headache, stumbled to the bathroom, and vomited, the burning feeling in his stomach easing quite a bit.
He stood in front of the sink, rinsing his mouth and washing his face, noticing a cut near the corner of his lower lip, stinging slightly. As he looked in the mirror, recalling how it happened, he couldn’t help but smile wryly.
After coming out, he saw Shen Jianian sleeping on the sofa, most of her quilt falling to the ground. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novelꞁire.net
Fu Jichen walked barefoot on the floor, found a clean set of sheets in the wardrobe, replaced the sheets on the bed that smelled of alcohol, and gently carried Shen Jianian to the bed, picked up the quilt that had covered her, shook it out, and covered her with it again.
The diamond ring she refused to accept lay lonely on the bedside table.
Fu Jichen took Shen Jianian’s hand and slipped the ring onto her ring finger; the fit was just right.
He quietly gazed at the person on the bed, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. After a moment, he gently set down her hand, turned off the wall lamp, and quietly left the room.
It started to rain at night, the downpour was heavy, pattering against the leaves, the noise disturbing sleep.
At the Fu Family’s old house, Fu Yuling had a restless sleep, got up, and poured herself a glass of water. She was wearing a cream-colored camisole nightgown, the back largely open with only a few thin straps holding it together.
Fu Yuling sat at the edge of the bed, placed the cup back on the bedside table, and casually picked up her phone, still charging.
Earlier that evening, she went to a hair salon to get her hair done, dyeing it back to black and straightening the previously permed waves. Last time, when Grandpa asked about Fu Jichen’s criteria for a partner, and he implicitly referred to Shen Jianian, she knew he hadn’t forgotten that woman. She felt depressed and upset yet had no other options. After a struggle, she ultimately chose to compromise, trying to change herself to align with Shen Jianian’s style.
Fu Yuling felt quite pathetic, failing to win Fu Jichen’s heart after three years, only to end up forcing herself to become the person she despised the most.
She had put away all those flashy clothes in the wardrobe, replacing them with the simple and elegant colors and styles Shen Jianian once liked.
Fu Yuling leaned against the pillow, scrolling through her WeChat messages.
While she was getting her hair done, out of boredom, she chatted a bit with her girlfriends. They had planned to attend the anniversary celebration of a bar, having heard there would be lots of handsome guys.
They invited her to come, but she had declined early on, not liking the noise of bars.
Later, she got busy ordering clothes with sales reps from various luxury brands and didn’t continue chatting with them.
It was only now that she saw one of her friends had sent her a dozen photos, all from the bar scene, without even the desire to open and look at them.
The handsome guys in bars were so tacky, could they compare to Fu Jichen?
As she scrolled down, that friend had also sent her a few voice messages. She clicked on the first one, the excited screams of the friend mixed with the bar’s noise, echoing in the quiet room late at night.
"Yu Ling! Is your hair not done yet? Hurry to the AE Bar, we saw your brother Fu Jichen here!"
As soon as one voice message ended, it automatically moved to the next.