Chi Ye watched the woman sitting at the dining table, eating her noodles nonchalantly. Earlier, when he had told her to get up, she had simply said she was hungry and had no strength to move.
After a standoff, Chi Ye had resigned himself to going downstairs and cooking her a bowl of noodles. There were plenty of ingredients in the refrigerator, but getting Chi Ye to cook noodles in the middle of the night was already asking enough.
Shen Zhiyi did not fuss over whether the noodles tasted good or bad. Most of the time, going without food was not an option for her. She had thought she might as well starve to death, but whenever hunger struck, an irritation and violent temper that welled up within her made her keep filling herself with food.
After eating, she had recovered a good deal of strength and patience, while the hands of the clock on the wall had already reached one in the morning.
He patiently watched her eat one mouthful after another, barely able to conceal the hostility in his expression. He had always been the one giving other people orders. Since when did anyone get to order him around?
But he had spent the entire evening being set up by Boss Zhao and the old man, only to be bossed around by Shen Zhiyi afterward. He did not have a good temper, but Shen Zhiyi had been dragged into this. He could not take his anger out on an innocent person.
"Miss Shen?"
Shen Zhiyi merely gave him an unfocused glance before looking away again. At that moment, her mind was peaceful, occupied only by that mouthful of noodles. Unable to hear her thoughts, Chi Ye could only continue speaking.
"I'm very sorry you got caught up in what happened today. How about this? I'll give you some compensation, then arrange for someone to take you home shortly. What do you think?"
Shen Zhiyi put down her chopsticks and thought for a moment. In the book, her part had been glossed over in a single line, with no further mention of her. Her storyline ended here.
She held up three fingers and left Chi Ye to guess. Chi Ye looked at her gesture, an "OK" sign. It seemed she was quite understanding after all.
"As long as you're fine with it," he replied. But the moment he finished speaking, Shen Zhiyi turned her whole body toward him, fixed her dark eyes on him, and raised her hand in the same gesture again as she said,
"This means three. Compensation!"
Chi Ye was holding his phone, about to contact a bodyguard to have her driven home. At Shen Zhiyi's words, he fell silent for a moment and blinked. Her apparent understanding earlier had been an illusion. This was her true nature.
Still, at least she was straightforward.
After messaging the bodyguard, he addressed Shen Zhiyi. "You mean thirty thousand?"
She neither nodded nor shook her head, so Chi Ye continued, "Three hundred thousand? Three million?" The woman slumped in the chair breathed slowly and evenly.
Chi Ye's patience reached its limit. What was wrong with this woman? She had barely said a word all evening, and when someone spoke to her, she could hardly be bothered to respond. Did she have any manners at all?
Angry, he rattled off more numbers in one breath. "Thirty million? Three hundred million? Miss Shen, aren't you being a little too greedy? Or do you have some other agenda?"
Only when Shen Zhiyi heard the anger in his final words did she look him in the eye. She was rather puzzled as to how the man opposite her had worked himself into a temper, having completely forgotten that her earlier gesture had left him guessing.
He gets angry so easily. He really is the villain. Chi Ye heard her thoughts again. It made no sense. What did she mean, he really was the villain?
"Miss Shen, don't let your losses outweigh your gains!"
She had simply felt a little empty and dazed after eating her fill. Now she remembered what she had meant earlier. Without the slightest fear, she met Chi Ye's angry gaze.
"I want three hundred thousand. Go get it ready."
She had originally intended to ask for thirty thousand, but on second thought, this was the world of a book. The readers would laugh at her if she asked for too little. Besides, as the villain, Chi Ye was even richer than the male lead. Taking three hundred thousand from him was not too much, was it?
After hearing that, Chi Ye's anger subsided at once. Why was she able to remain so calm? Since when had his own emotions become so easy to provoke?
After composing himself, he agreed to Shen Zhiyi's request. The bodyguard arrived just then as well.
He asked her for her bank account details on the spot and transferred three hundred thousand directly to her. Looking at the money credited to her account, Shen Zhiyi felt for the first time that being abducted here was not so bad after all. These old-school domineering CEO novels really had no logic whatsoever.
What had she done to deserve such a windfall for nothing?
She left the villa in the bodyguard's car without a trace of reluctance. She was in a far better mood than when she had arrived, but the person on the receiving end of that mood was the bodyguard driving.
"Thank you for coming out to drive so late."
The bodyguard had not expected her to say that. Looking at her face, he even began to stumble over his words.
"It's my job, Miss Shen."
Clinging to his last shred of courtesy, Chi Ye had seen her to the door, only to receive not a single word of thanks. She had even ignored him outright. After getting into the car, she shut the door without even opening the window or saying goodbye, then simply told the bodyguard to drive away.
Watching the car disappear into the night, he gave a cold snort and returned to the villa.
An Qian's classes had ended late that day. By the time she finished cooking at home, her usual mealtime had already passed. Thinking of her mother still waiting in the hospital, she hesitated before deciding to take the shortcut.
Taking this narrow lane to the hospital would save her ten minutes, but it was cramped and deserted. Not many people still lived there, but the area was rather disorderly. The hospital nurses would remind patients' families from time to time to avoid this route whenever possible.
Too many incidents had happened there.
An Qian had taken it once before without anything happening. Since she was late delivering the food today, she hesitated only briefly before entering the lane. This time, luck did not favor her again. Several men surrounded her in the alley.
She shrank back, fear showing in her eyes. The men's gazes were unfriendly. Their undisguised scrutiny and lewd laughter made her skin crawl.
The people who had come to her home to collect debts when she was little had been just like this. An icy chill filled her heart. She was done for.
"Little girl, trying to get through here? Hahaha. Didn't your family tell you this road isn't safe? How about you come with me? I'll take you out of here."
The man standing in the middle spoke first. His clothes looked as though they had not been washed in a long time, and the hand he extended was coated in grime.
An Qian backed away in fright, trembling all over and biting her lip hard. Little did she know that the sight of her like this only fueled these men's urge to destroy.
The sight of her trembling, her eyes reddening, and even the image of her begging beneath them stirred the violent impulses in their blood.
"Wh-what do you want?" she asked through a sob, making the men's laughter even more grating.
"Hahaha, she really is a little bunny. Asking what we want? Little girl, how about I take you to do something fun? Hehehe."
As he spoke, he reached out to grab An Qian, while the others closed in step by step. An Qian screamed and backed away.
"Stay away! Stay away! If you want money, I'll give you money. Please, will you let me go?"
"What nonsense are you talking, little girl? Of course we want the money, but we're certainly not letting you go either. Don't be scared. The more scared you are, the more excited I get."
An Qian could not believe the man before her could say something like that. She took her phone from her pocket and forced herself to speak.
"If you dare touch me, I'll call the police. They won't let you get away with this!"
Before you continue