Shen Zhiyi's palm was even redder than his, yet she hadn't cried out. She looked at him speechlessly.
Men are such a pain. Her inner voice rang out. Chi Ye looked down at her and couldn't help glaring at her before speaking.
"I only wanted to bring you something to eat today. I won't talk about any of that, okay?" His deep voice carried a pitiful note, the very picture of a man playing innocent.
Shen Zhiyi wanted to take the things he had just put inside the doorway back out, but Chi Ye crouched down and held them in place, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on her. He refused to believe she wouldn't soften.
As hard-hearted as Shen Zhiyi was, she didn't even understand what that look meant. She simply found it terribly bothersome. Everything was such a mess.
Not wanting to engage in those meaningless struggles with him, she got up and went inside. Seeing that she wasn't closing the door anymore, Chi Ye couldn't help smiling secretly. He picked up the things, closed the door, and followed her in.
The next-door neighbor had watched everything through her peephole from beginning to end. She had originally wanted to step outside and make a few snide remarks, but after seeing how viciously Shen Zhiyi hit people, she sheepishly abandoned the idea.
Shen Zhiyi was actually quite nice. Despite all the gossip she had made up about her, Shen Zhiyi hadn't hit her. She merely stopped greeting her. She was a pretty decent person.
So the neighbor thought.
"Shen Zhiyi, come eat."
He took all the dishes out of the bag and called the person sitting in front of the television over to eat. Shen Zhiyi shifted her gaze from the television to the dining table.
Four dishes and a soup made for a lavish spread-at least, the most lavish meal Shen Zhiyi had seen in a while. It smelled wonderful, too.
She stared at it. The aroma stirred her long-empty stomach, bringing a faint acidic sensation with it. Every day, she had been eating nothing but some bread to stave off hunger. Compared with these dishes, that stuff probably didn't even qualify as food.
"What are you standing there for? Eat. It won't taste good once it gets cold. I've poured you some soup."
She still hadn't moved. Chi Ye looked at the dishes on the table. Was he being too obvious about his intentions? But he really didn't have much time left. Madam Ye's vacation was almost over. Once she returned, it wouldn't be as simple as him asking Shen Zhiyi for help.
The thought of the profiles of society ladies in Madam Ye's possession made him shudder. He could handle work with ease, but when it came to dealing with those ladies, he feared he would lose patience and offend them all. That would only make Madam Ye angrier.
The old man favored Shen Zhiyi, so he would put in a little effort and get her to cooperate with him.
At that thought, he went straight over and pulled her to the dining table.
"Eat. I really didn't come to persuade you today. I just noticed that you don't seem to have gone out these past few days, and it doesn't look like you cook at home. Has it been a long time since you had a decent meal?
"Today's food isn't all that great either, though. How about I take you out for a meal tomorrow or the day after?"
She lowered her head and drank the soup. It was a very savory bamboo shoot soup. Bamboo shoots were in season, and Chi Ye had specifically chosen that soup when ordering the takeout.
She didn't reply, but Chi Ye didn't mind. He pushed the dishes beside him toward her as he spoke.
"If there's anything you want to eat in the future, you can tell me. I'll bring it over when I have time. Still, this place isn't very convenient, and your uncle looks like he'll keep causing you trouble.
"Do you want to call the police about it?"
"It's only a suggestion. What you do is up to you. If you need help, just come to me. I have both a lawyer and the recording. Just remember to take me off your blocklist."
Shen Zhiyi ate the same way she usually did everything else: exceptionally slowly. She seemed to move at a snail's pace no matter what she did.
Her face was intimidating enough, though. With those cold eyes, she looked like someone you shouldn't mess with.
Chi Ye was hungry too, so he focused on eating. Afterward, he washed some fruit and set it on the coffee table in the living room. Shen Zhiyi lay there hugging a cushion and watching television, utterly focused.
A variety show was playing. The guests worked hard to entertain, and laughter filled the show, yet Shen Zhiyi's expression didn't change at all.
Chi Ye couldn't quite understand how someone could wear the same expression all day long, as rigid and mechanical as a preset program.
"I'm heading out. Remember to lock the doors and windows tonight."
Taking the takeout containers from earlier and the trash with him, he closed the door himself and left Shen Zhiyi's home. Most of the people living in the alley were elderly. Lights shone in every home, and the sounds of playful laughter, televisions, and conversation rose and fell.
Chi Ye turned back to look at the window of apartment 302. Only that place was quiet. On a night like this, even the light spilling out from inside carried a sense of loneliness.
An old man spotted him and greeted him.
"Back to see the girl in 302 again, young man? Is little Shen not home?"
Chi Ye shook his head and replied.
"No, sir. Zhiyi's home. Could I trouble you to keep an eye out for me? Her uncle came to talk to her about some things today. If he comes again tomorrow, could you give me a call?"
Chi Ye had met the old man when he asked for directions on his first visit. As it happened, he lived in the neighboring building.
The old man understood as soon as he heard that.
"Her uncle came? Oh dear, he's no good. I know Fang Yue. He used to come here all the time several years ago. Later, he gradually stopped coming so often. Why has he suddenly come back?"
Chi Ye hadn't expected the old man to know anything about it, but he didn't feel it was right to ask too much behind Shen Zhiyi's back. He simply asked the old man to keep an eye out, left his number, and turned out of the alley.
Fang Yue didn't come to cause trouble as Chi Ye had anticipated. Something even more terrifying happened instead: Shen Zhiyi disappeared.
When he came to her door again the next day, the middle-aged woman next door spoke mockingly.
"Oh, back again? She's long gone, though. Left with a suitcase first thing this morning. I doubt she'll be back for at least two weeks."
Chi Ye's expression darkened. Holding back his anger, he asked,
"How do you know?"
The neighbor replied smugly,
"Because I have a good memory. I remember the last few times she went away. When she takes a suitcase, she usually doesn't come back for about a month. Without luggage, she comes back in around a week.
"Could it be that you annoyed her by coming so often? Tsk, tsk."
She was enjoying the spectacle. Although the neighbor no longer dared spread gossip about Shen Zhiyi, she could still mock Chi Ye. Who told him to be so rude? To think she had once wanted to get to know him and make him her live-in son-in-law. What a waste of a handsome face.
With Shen Zhiyi gone, finding her would be like looking for a needle in the ocean. Getting her to cooperate had already been difficult; now it was as hard as ascending to heaven.
"Shen Zhiyi, you're ruthless."
Mistakenly believing she was avoiding him, Chi Ye returned to the company in a fury.
Meanwhile, Shen Zhiyi had arrived at the location her client had specified. She had come to a small town renowned for its fine timber. The client wanted her to make a tea table. The wood had already been selected, and all that remained was for her to begin.
Shen Zhiyi's work had been making woodblock prints, and she had later branched out into handicrafts. She made tea tables and all kinds of little figurines, all carved from wood.
She now remembered who that Boss Zhao was. He had previously commissioned a tea table from her, then used his status as her client as an excuse to strike up conversations every few days and try to invite her out to eat.
Shen Zhiyi had turned him down every time. Who would have thought that old bastard would turn around, have her tied up, and send her to Chi Ye?
Before you continue