Chapter 23

The place Jiang Chao should have been standing was now littered with broken shards of blue-and-white porcelain. And right now—

Zhou Xu had been forced down by Sheng Huaixi, barely landing on her knees atop the sharp fragments; her thighs trembled violently as she struggled against the pressure on her shoulder.

The cry Jiang Chao had just heard had been Zhou Xu’s, ripped from her when she lost her balance and was shoved to her knees.

“Madwoman! Let go!” Zhou Xu snarled, all trace of composure gone. Cold sweat had broken out at her temples.

“You look pathetic, Zhou Xu.”

Sheng Huaixi smiled faintly. As she leaned forward, her long curls brushed her cheek. Her lowered gaze swept over the shards on the floor, dark and unreadable, and she pressed down even harder with complete calm.

Those were the shards that had nearly struck Jiang Chao a moment ago.

Her eyes narrowed. Sheng Huaixi’s lips thinned, the corners of her eyes lifting with danger, her presence terrifying.

“You like throwing vases at people, do you? Then why not try it yourself, piece by piece?”

The words had barely fallen when Sheng Huaixi leaned in, while Zhou Xu was still staring in shock.

In an instant, a clearly defined wrist came down soundlessly on her shoulder.

The next second, a searing bolt of pain exploded through Zhou Xu’s arm. Her nerves seemed to ignite all at once, and she screamed, her body twisting in agony as she sagged helplessly.

The pain from the dislocated arm had not even faded when, in the next instant, her already useless shoulder was suddenly crushed under heavy force.

In the center of her pupils, the uneven shards on the floor seemed to sharpen and magnify in Zhou Xu’s eyes.

“Don’t!”

The tiled floor flashed coldly. Fear surged through her so violently that Zhou Xu couldn’t stop herself from screaming.

At the very last moment, another heavy blow struck her shoulder. Using that momentum, Zhou Xu rolled away in a hurry, baring her teeth as she scrambled to the side.

Taking Zhou Xu’s place, Jiang Chao did not hesitate for even a second. She stepped forward and pulled Sheng Huaixi into her arms, one hand lifting to cup the back of her head and press her into the crook of her neck.

“Sheng Huaixi, calm down!”

Ragged breathing brushed her ear again and again. The body in Jiang Chao’s arms was shaking violently, loose strands of hair spilling over her face.

She looked like a kitten drenched by rain, glaring at the sky and demanding to know why it had done this to her, even as her small body trembled helplessly in the cold wind.

Such a pitiful sight.

“I’m fine.” Jiang Chao’s palm slowly moved along Sheng Huaixi’s back, soothing her agitation. “Look at me, okay?”

She didn’t dare use much force; she only stroked her back again and again, her voice low, gentle, and patient.

Like a warm spring in the dead of winter, arriving just in time; whether it was the snow-bound chill of a tree or the thorns raised in defense, it held all of it in silence.

“Don’t dirty your hands because of her, okay?”

The hot breath buried in her neck gradually steadied. Sheng Huaixi drew a deep breath, the scent on Jiang Chao’s body drifting into her nose—faint, sweet, and intoxicating.

“Mm.” She accepted the words with a muffled murmur, taking the chance to nuzzle the skin at Jiang Chao’s neck, a dazed look flashing through her eyes.

The sweet fragrance was addictive; the soft, delicate skin felt like a cloud of cotton already soaked through with candy. With even the slightest movement, one couldn’t help but sink into it.

It was unbearably enticing.

And yet there was still one eyesore that refused to leave. Annoying.

Lifting her head from that warm crook of neck, Sheng Huaixi quietly rested her chin on Jiang Chao’s shoulder. Her soft cheek brushed the reddened tip of Jiang Chao’s ear as she murmured, “I’m cold.”

Jiang Chao froze for a moment. Her arms tightened around her, the two hearts in her chest seeming to knock at each other’s doors, eager to break in.

The pressure around her waist grew tighter. Satisfied by that feeling of possession, the smile in Sheng Huaixi’s eyes deepened.

Her eyelids drooped lazily as she looked at Zhou Xu, who had retreated to hide behind the cabinet of porcelain pieces. With a slight curl of her lips and faint disdain in her eyes, she silently mouthed a single word at her.

Idiot.

Seeing the bloodless face across from her flush with rage, Sheng Huaixi blinked once and slowly raised her right hand.

Bang—

The porcelain vase crashed to the floor. The sharp sound, exploding right beside Jiang Chao’s ear, made her go rigid with confusion.

Something soft and warm covered her ear, muffling the piercing noise that had rushed in.

It was a palm, and Sheng Huaixi’s cheek.

At last, hurried footsteps sounded all at once; the delayed security guards finally arrived and quickly restrained Zhou Xu on the floor.

The matter had been resolved, but Jiang Chao still didn’t dare turn around.

How had Sheng Huaixi dealt with the porcelain vase that had come at her from behind?

Her heart pounding wildly, Jiang Chao slowly loosened the arm around Sheng Huaixi’s waist and staggered back two steps, her gaze sinking unwillingly.

On that long, slender hand, bright red blood streaked between the knuckles, the fingers trembling uncontrollably, the joints flushed red.

Jiang Chao’s hands shook as she lifted that wrist into her palms, her thick lashes trembling hard.

Then a soft, complaining voice suddenly came from above her head.

“Chaochao, it hurts.”

Her hand jerked. Jiang Chao shut her eyes tight. A great many questions flashed through her mind all at once, but now was not the time.

She bit down hard on the tip of her tongue, using the pain to keep herself calm, and forced the breath she’d been holding in her chest out in a long, heavy exhale.

“Come on. Let’s go to the hospital.”

Her own voice came out hoarse and cool as it scraped from her dry throat; her expression turned cold.

She had to calm down. She had to.

“You wait for me at the entrance. I’m going to borrow an umbrella from the front desk,” Jiang Chao said.

Under that heavily clouded sky, rain could come pouring down at any second; when the heavens changed their face, they always did it especially fast.

It would be one thing if Jiang Chao got soaked herself, but if Sheng Huaixi’s wound were drenched in heavy rain again... it would be disastrous.

While waiting for the front desk to register the request, Jiang Chao kept glancing toward the entrance. That figure was obediently still for the moment, like a towering pine rooted in place.

Not moving at all.

She withdrew her gaze and was about to speak when, out of the corner of her eye, a flash of the character Sheng suddenly pulled her attention back.

A gold-embossed business card was lying squarely on the front desk.

Taking the umbrella handle, Jiang Chao stood there in silence for a long time. In the end, she asked in a hoarse voice, “Hello, may I take a business card?”

That single Sheng on the card had seized her gaze and held it in a vice.

Her eyes remained fixed on the figure at the entrance for a long while. Then, with a slight movement of her fingers, Jiang Chao finally sent a message to Yuan Bai on WeChat.

Please let this not be what she thinks it is.

Sheng Huaixi.

In the night, a speeding car cut through the shifting lights and stopped at the entrance of the city hospital.

The familiar registration desk, the familiar route, the familiar waiting.

The white fluorescent light overhead was blinding. Jiang Chao sat on the cold bench, one hand covering her face as she tried to hide the many emotions churning inside her.

Only the veins on the back of her hand stood out sharply with agitation.

Her phone chimed. Jiang Chao slowly lowered her hand, and the pure white screen before her seemed to give that notification the air of an unfeeling judgment.

- Zhu Xuan Restaurant has shares belonging to Sheng Huaixi.

Shares, the chaos, and yet no one had come to look into it for so long; the delayed security...

One thread after another linked together, and the only conclusion was this: Sheng Huaixi had lied to her.

Jiang Chao sat frozen for a long time, staring down at the screen in front of her. The light spread across her face, cutting her features into alternating patches of brightness and shadow.

The glow only made the expression on her face more obvious; her eyes were dark with thought, and the emotions she had been suppressing kept twitching beneath the surface, ready to burst at any moment.

Scenes flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern. Jiang Chao sifted through her memories little by little, then closed her eyes, trembling.

Sheng Huaixi had deliberately let her wrist be injured.

Jiang Chao clenched her teeth so hard it hurt, her palm tightening into a fist, her mind going blank under the weight of the truth.

A soft hand suddenly touched her cheek and lifted it.

“Your face looks awful. What are you thinking about? Tell me, hmm?”

Sheng Huaixi’s tone carried a teasing smile. Jiang Chao raised her eyes, and there before her was Sheng Huaixi’s beautiful face, magnified by their closeness.

Dangerous beyond measure.

Jiang Chao slowly lifted her eyelids. She was surrounded by Sheng Huaixi’s presence, aggressive and overwhelmingly oppressive.

A cold laugh echoed between them.

“About how you tricked me?”

“Or about how you deliberately hurt yourself?”