Early the next morning, Father Shen and Mother Shen appeared at the dining table looking exhausted.
Ye Ran was still asleep, so there were only three people at the table.
When Mother Shen heard what Shen Shi said, she almost thought she was still dreaming.
“What did you say?” Mother Shen put down her bowl of porridge in disbelief. “You want your father and me to go abroad for a while?”
“Mm.” Shen Shi took a sip of vegetable porridge. “The Cheng family is unhappy that we still haven’t responded. They’ve been trying to schedule a meeting these past few days to discuss the engagement. I’ve put them off each time.”
“What! Outrageous!” Mother Shen was furious. “They can’t wait a few days? I’ve already heard, they’ve been going around outside acting as if they’re already Ranran’s in-laws. I ignored them for Ranran’s sake, just wanted to keep Ranran a bit longer. And yet they still push their luck!”
Father Shen also frowned, clearly displeased with the Cheng family’s behavior.
Shen Shi put down his spoon. As if remembering something, he casually added, “They didn’t mention Ranran though.”
A sharp clang rang out.
Mother Shen was so angry she almost crushed the bowl.
“That family is truly—!”
Her teeth clenched in rage. But after calming down and thinking carefully about Shen Shi’s proposal, she realized it wasn’t a bad idea. They weren’t members of the Ye family. They were merely temporarily filling Ye Huaishan’s role to help Ye Ran deal with the Cheng family. But at the end of the day, they were still outsiders. As long as she and Father Shen left the capital, the matter could be stalled even longer.
Mother Shen had grown increasingly dissatisfied with the Cheng family’s behavior these days. She originally thought that once Cheng Jiaming married Ye Ran, he would naturally settle down. But seeing how greedy and overbearing the Cheng family acted, she even began questioning Cheng Jiaming’s character.
“Fine.” Her expression cooled, and she let out a cold laugh. “Your father and I will go to New Zealand for a few days. If the Chengs come again, just tell them we’re not here and let them keep waiting.”
Shen Shi nodded. It was already late, nearly eight in the morning. He stood up and grabbed his jacket. His tall, lean figure and the deep blue vest tracing his solid chest muscles, paired with his handsome, cool, unhurried face, made Mother Shen glance at him twice.
“It’s raining today. You’re still wearing so little?” she asked.
“I have a coat.”
Shen Shi lifted his eyes to glance outside. When he retracted his gaze, he accidentally caught the figure standing at the staircase landing.
Ye Ran had woken up at some point. He wore loose, soft loungewear. One hand rested on the banister, his figure slender. His eyelashes cast a faint shadow across his face. His soft lips were pressed together as if he were lost in thought.
Standing in the bright dining room, Shen Shi quietly looked toward him. He didn’t speak. His dark eyes were deep, like turbulent waves beneath a shadowed sea. After a moment, he raised his wrist slightly to check the time.
“I’m leaving,” he said as he picked up his coat. “I won’t be back for lunch.”
…
It was morning rush hour, and the road was packed with cars.
Rain misted the air, the fog scattering everywhere.
When Shen Shi arrived at the company, it was already nearly nine.
He stepped out of the car and saw Xu Wen waiting for him. As his assistant, Xu Wen had remained in the capital these past days handling various matters. The moment Shen Shi saw him, he knew something had happened regarding Cheng Jiaming.
Shen Shi straightened the collar of his shirt and walked toward the building at an unhurried pace, eyes lowered slightly. “What is it?”
Xu Wen looked embarrassed. “President Shen, let’s talk inside.”
Shen Shi narrowed his eyes but didn’t ask further. He took the executive elevator to the top floor.
The office air conditioner was on, set to 26°, the fan blades humming softly.
Shen Shi removed his coat, rolled his sleeves to his elbows, and casually took the contract Xu Wen handed him. The contract merely needed his signature to take effect. He skimmed it, signing as he listened.
“President Shen, there’s news,” Xu Wen said.
“What news?” Shen Shi didn’t look up.
“It’s just that…” Xu Wen took a deep breath, expression complicated. “That young master from the Cheng family… booked a hotel room last night.”
Cheng Jiaming had been invited out by Ah Ming and the others last night. He drank all night, and when he woke, his head throbbed painfully.
He was completely naked in the warm blankets. His slowly returning awareness felt like being submerged in hot springs. When he felt warmth beside him and touched it, his hand met bare skin.
His muddled mind jolted awake. He snapped his eyes open—
“Young Master Cheng.”
A soft female voice sounded. Like thunder, it exploded in his skull.
Cheng Jiaming practically rolled and fell out of bed. The strange feeling in his body told him exactly what had happened. He had slept with enough women to know the signs.
“Who are you?!”
His chest rose and fell violently. His hair was a mess. His wide, bloodshot eyes were terrifying.
The woman on the bed sat up clutching the blanket. She looked panicked and helpless. Her cheeks were flushed, and there were marks on her neck. Anyone could see at a glance what had happened.
“Young Master Cheng, it’s me.” Her face turned deathly pale as she read the realization in his expression. Her tear-filled eyes were pitiful. “Are you… are you angry at me?”
His mind was still a mess. The woman’s face looked familiar. He stared, then finally recognized her as the one who fed him wine at the banquet that day.
Last night, Ah Ming had invited him to the biggest bar in the capital. The lights had flashed, the atmosphere burned. He’d lost himself in the excitement. When Ah Ming brought over several women, he immediately saw that familiar face.
Remembering how he had been scolded by his parents in public because of her, Cheng Jiaming had been uncomfortable.
She had also recognized him and leaned close, soft and delicate. With her striking looks and her phoenix eyes, the flickering lights made her seem strangely familiar and alluring.
Tipsy and irritated by Ye Ran’s distant attitude these days, he had let her feed him the wine she hadn’t succeeded in giving him that night.
Cheers erupted around him. Ah Ming and the others watched enviously. Egged on, he’d drunk more of the “beauty’s wine.”
He had been under strict watch by his parents recently. Every meeting came with lengthy lectures, terrified he would behave poorly and upset the Ye or Shen family.
He hadn’t planned on going astray, but being scolded so often had left an uncomfortable resentment.
He was the one who saved the Ye family.
Why did he now have to flatter the Ye family?
Mother Cheng saw his unhappiness and finally allowed him to go relax last night. Before he left, she had even lectured him gently:
“Jiaming, Mom knows you’re upset. But just endure for now. After you’re married, everything will be fine. Once you’re married, Ye Ran will be tied to you for life. Divorce becomes a matter between two corporations. He wouldn’t dare.
“So be good for now. Don’t provoke him, and don’t provoke the Shen family. Do you understand?”
Hearing that had made him even more upset.
…He didn’t even know whether Ye Ran wanted to marry him anymore, let alone what would happen later.
It was because of all this that he had done something so reckless in his drunken state.
Now sober, he knew clearly: if the incident got out, it didn’t matter what happened to him, Father Shen and Mother Shen would destroy the Cheng family.
All color drained from his face. His mind was a chaotic mess.
The woman on the bed, hearing no response, leaned closer. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she begged softly, “Young Master Cheng, please don’t abandon me.
“I can be your lover for life… I just like you.”
Cheng Jiaming’s vision blurred. His hand moved reflexively, landing on her shoulder. He froze for a long moment. Then his expression turned icy. He kicked her away, strode forward, and grabbed her chin viciously, staring into her tear-streaked face.
“You knew who I was and still got into my bed?!” he snarled. “Do you know I’m about to get engaged?!”
The woman sobbed. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I’m so sorry. I just like you… I liked you from the first moment I saw you.”
“Shut up!” he barked. Sheer anger overtook any earlier hesitation. His expression shifted darkly. After thinking for a long moment, he yanked her hair and hissed, “Remember this. What happened today stays between you and me. Heaven and earth know. If a third person finds out, I’ll kill you.”
She froze in terror, tears running down her swollen eyes. “I understand… I understand, Young Master Cheng.”
The air conditioning made the room unbearably warm.
After the burst of rage, all he felt was the filth on his skin, as if crawling with germs.
He shot the woman a cold glance, then strode into the bathroom. He turned the water to its coldest. Outside, rain fell steadily. By the time he stepped out, the woman still without tact hadn’t left. She lay on the bed, crying silently.
He hesitated. Before he could speak, his phone lit up.
Ye Ran: [Jiaming, let’s meet later.]
Cheng Jiaming’s suppressed emotions shifted abruptly. His breathing sped up. He immediately sent a voice message: “Senior? Where should we meet?”
He stared fixedly at the screen. A moment later, it lit up again.
Ye Ran sent a voice message too.
“Windbell Café,” he said softly, his voice as gentle as always. “Jiaming, see you soon.”
…
Windbell Café.
By the time Ye Ran arrived, Cheng Jiaming was already there.
They hadn’t seen one another in half a month. Cheng Jiaming wore an impeccably tailored suit. Ever since meeting Shen Shi, his style had changed. It was as if he’d transformed overnight from a bright, cheerful boy into someone entirely different.
As Ye Ran entered, Cheng Jiaming, who had been staring out the window, sensed something and immediately turned his head.
“Senior!” he said, breaking into a radiant smile.
Ye Ran unconsciously smiled back. “Jiaming.”
He sat across from him. The sky was gray, rain falling lightly outside. Ye Ran’s hair was slightly damp from the walk. A server quickly brought dry napkins. He thanked them and wiped his hair.
Cheng Jiaming’s gaze fell on his face, greedily taking in his appearance.
Just seeing him once like this, all the resentment in his heart dissipated without him noticing. The black hair at the front of Ye Ran’s forehead was dampened; his complexion was already fair, his nose delicate, and his lips looked even softer and more vividly red in contrast.
Cheng Jiaming couldn’t help reaching out to hold Ye Ran’s hand. “…Senior, I really missed you.”
Ye Ran paused, suppressing the urge to pull his hand back. He lowered his eyes, his eyelashes long and thick, casting a faint gray shadow over his pale face. “Jiaming, the reason I asked you out today is because I have something I want to tell you.”
“Mm, Senior, go ahead.” Cheng Jiaming’s mind drifted as he stared at Ye Ran’s long, pale fingertips. He really wanted to touch them, but remembering Ye Ran’s personality, he restrained himself and simply held Ye Ran’s hand quietly.
Ye Ran raised his eyes to look at him, his expression very serious. “Jiaming, if I get engaged to you, it means the Ye family is getting engaged to the Cheng family. It has nothing to do with the Shen family.”
Cheng Jiaming froze, and after a moment, looked away. “…Ah, I know.”
“As long as you know.” Ye Ran didn’t seem to notice how he avoided his gaze and continued, “After we get engaged, the Shen family will return. They won’t come to the capital again. Aside from holidays, they won’t visit me. We’ll live our life, and they won’t provide any help.”
“What do you mean? The Shen family has a problem with you?” Cheng Jiaming frowned, instinctively feeling a bit irritated. “I knew it. That Shen Shi, just one look and you can tell he’s the petty type. He definitely doesn’t like you getting too close to his parents. If that’s the case—”
The hand in his suddenly slipped away, leaving an empty feeling in his palm.
Cheng Jiaming looked up in confusion and met Ye Ran’s somewhat cold gaze. “Jiaming, what nonsense are you talking about? The Shen family has helped me no less than the Cheng family has, and Shen Shi is not the kind of person you’re describing.”
Caught off guard by Ye Ran’s sharp words, Cheng Jiaming grew annoyed. “How is he not that kind of person? Do you know that when I went to see you before, he was the one who stopped me?!”
Ye Ran truly didn’t know about that. His brows knit gently, and after thinking for a moment, he said, “At that time, we indeed shouldn’t have been meeting.”
Cheng Jiaming’s eyes widened, and he blurted, “We’re an engaged couple, why shouldn’t we meet? The Shen family just has a bit of money—”
“We’re not engaged yet.” Ye Ran looked calmly at the suddenly frozen Cheng Jiaming. “Jiaming, I also know about the Cheng family borrowing the Shen family’s name to pull business deals recently.”
The color drained from Cheng Jiaming’s face instantly. His heart turned cold.
Suddenly, he remembered back in university, when Ye Ran’s roommate had used Ye Ran’s name to sell fake painting drafts. At that time, Ye Ran had just won the gold medal in an oil painting competition, at the peak of his rising fame. The roommate made a fortune while hiding it from him. After Ye Ran found out, he directly reported it to the Academic Affairs Office.
The final punishment was disciplinary probation.
The roommate had cried and begged Ye Ran to let him off, but Ye Ran coldly refused to say a single word on his behalf.
How could he forget how Ye Ran couldn’t tolerate even a grain of sand.
“I—” His mind went blank. Violent waves of regret and shame surged over him, suffocating. Vaguely, he thought of what happened at the hotel that morning.
…What should he do?
If earlier he still held a sliver of delusion that Ye Ran might soften if he explained or begged, then in this moment, that sliver shattered.
If Ye Ran found out he cheated, he absolutely… absolutely would not forgive him.
Those eyes would look at him with that same coldness.
What should he do?
Cheng Jiaming’s face turned completely pale, not a hint of color left, even his fingers trembling.
Ye Ran found it strange. After a moment of silence, he softened his voice to ease the mood. “I’m not in a position to meet your parents right now. When you go back, tell them what I said. I don’t want to hear anything about the Cheng family having ties to the Shen family again.”
At that moment, Ye Ran’s voice blended with Mother Cheng’s words.
“…How can you say we’re borrowing the Shen family’s influence?” A vague shadow of Mother Cheng appeared in his mind, patiently whispering in his ear. “Jiaming, you must remember this well: you are the one who saved the Ye family from bankruptcy. You are their great benefactor. At most, we’re just collecting the profit. And if Ye Ran is unhappy about it, that’s because he’s stingy and petty.”
Cheng Jiaming’s eardrums trembled. His eyes stared blankly at the air.
In that moment, his body no longer felt under his control. Too many emotions pressed onto shoulders still dazed from last night’s chaos. All at once, a destructive, furious impulse surged up within him.
He looked up at Ye Ran across the table.
Ye Ran wore a simple gray hoodie. The hood was large, making his face look small. His soft black hair clung to the curve of his pale neck. His fingertips peeked out from the sleeves, long and translucent like flawless jade. Because it was cold, he lowered his gaze and took a sip of cappuccino; moisture clung to his lips, and the steam made them even more red and full.
Cheng Jiaming let out a short laugh, then spoke darkly, “Senior, are you blaming me?”
Ye Ran paused, hearing something wrong in his tone. “Jiaming?”
Cheng Jiaming looked down at him from above, his breathing unsteady. “Don’t forget, it was me who injected capital into the Ye family, who revived it.”
Ye Ran’s eyelashes trembled as Cheng Jiaming continued in a suppressed, gritted voice, “The Shen family may not owe us anything. But without the Shen family, what can the Ye family give us? Senior, you know our family does business. We don’t do losing deals.”
“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have had any connection to the Shen family at all.”
His expression cold, he stood up. Looking at Ye Ran’s pale face, a strange, chilling calm settled in his heart.
As if what he did earlier that morning balanced things out. Compared to the great merit of saving the Ye family, he had only slept with a woman. What businessman didn’t have a few mistresses?
A malicious thought flashed through him.
That Shen Shi probably had plenty too.
So elegant and restrained on the surface, who knew what he was like in a woman’s bed.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ye Ran sat in the chair, his figure slender and quiet in the dim light. When Cheng Jiaming snapped back to himself, he unexpectedly didn’t dare meet his eyes. His mind was a tangled mess, panicked and disordered. He fled.
After leaving the café, he walked in the light rain for a while.
Ye Ran’s phoenix-like eyes seemed to float before him, shimmering with moisture, pure and clear. They vaguely resembled another pair of eyes.
Heat rose under his skin. His expression turned unreadably dark. A few seconds later, he pulled out his phone and dialed an unmarked number.
“Young Master Cheng…”
“Saturday night, eight o’clock. Meet me at Shenghua Hotel.”
The woman’s breath hitched. Then, delighted, she replied, “I understand, Young Master Cheng. I’ll definitely be there on time.”
After hanging up, Cheng Jiaming let out a rough breath as he struggled to suppress the burning agitation. He got into the Porsche parked on the roadside and sped off toward the Cheng residence.
As for what Ye Ran had said earlier…
Naturally, he would not tell Father Cheng and Mother Cheng.
…
A long time after he left, Ye Ran finally came out of the café.
His slim figure was wrapped in a loose fleece hoodie, his thin, pale wrist supporting the umbrella. His elegant profile was softly outlined by the dim sky. He tilted his head slightly upward, staring blankly at the rolling dark clouds.
On the café’s second floor, Xu Wen felt a pang of sympathy. “President Shen—”
With such heavy rain, if Ye Ran really walked some distance with just an umbrella, he would definitely get wet.
In the quiet, spacious private room, the man sitting by the window lowered his gaze. His expression was cool, his bearing calm and detached. Under his long, straight lashes, a pair of deep, unreadable eyes looked through the rain at the motionless figure of Ye Ran with heavy intensity.
The server had already brought over a black wool coat. A gold-stitched logo stood out on the chest, the fabric neatly pressed, the traces of earlier rain completely gone.
Shen Shi stood up, put on the coat, and without lifting his eyes, said to Xu Wen, “Go bring the car.”
Xu Wen exhaled in relief, about to reply, when Shen Shi added, “Spread the word. This Saturday, I’ll be hosting a reception at Huating.”
…A reception?
Xu Wen instinctively looked at him, only to see the faint, dark hostility rising on Shen Shi’s always cold profile.
Like a lion completely provoked, its fangs beginning to show.
Xu Wen’s eyelid twitched as he instantly understood. “…Do we need invitation letters?”
“No.” Shen Shi had already stepped out of the private room, the hem of his coat brushing the air. He held the hot drink the server had brought and said calmly, “Anyone who wants to come can come.”
