CM - 30

At the internet cafe, Shen Tingwen arrived with Yuan Gengcheng.

Yuan Gengcheng, twenty-one or twenty-two, was the young owner of the international shooting range Shen Tingwen frequented. His acquaintance with Shen Tingwen wasn’t solely based on finding him personable; it was mainly due to his father, Shen Cheng.

Shen Cheng, a golden brand name, had allowed Shen Tingwen to live smoothly for almost twenty years, riding on the coattails of those two words.

While proud, he also felt that with such a powerful father, he would probably be “Shen Cheng’s son” his entire life, and there would never be a day when someone referred to Shen Cheng as “Shen Tingwen’s dad.”

Yuan Gengcheng brought over two cups of coffee: “You’ve got to carry me to a high rank.”

Shen Tingwen opened Steam and launched PUBG. “I’ll play one game with you. If you’re terrible, I’ll solo queue.”

“Damn... Can’t you consider that I’m older than you and my hand speed might not be as fast?”

Shen Tingwen looked over: “Does hand speed have anything to do with age?”

Yuan Gengcheng misunderstood, leaning in and putting his arm around Shen Tingwen’s shoulder: “Then, does it have something to do with being single?”

Shen Tingwen removed his hand and showed him the small hair tie on his wrist.

Yuan Gengcheng was a bit surprised. He wanted to pull Shen Tingwen’s wrist closer to see what brand of hair tie it was that made him stop wearing even his tourbillon watch: “Oh, oh, oh, got a girlfriend?”

Shen Tingwen pulled his hand away: “Are you playing or not?”

“Playing, playing!”

Just as the two entered the game, Liang Jifan and a few others came upstairs. Someone beside him first spotted Shen Tingwen, nudging Liang Jifan with his elbow: “Fanzi, Shen Tingwen.”

Liang Jifan turned and saw him, said nothing, and went to a window seat to open a computer.

Chen Fuyu followed, dressed in high street fashion, chewing gum. She seemed to have moved on from the pain of Chen Ziqian going to the juvenile detention center. Quite fast, too.

She had come to find Liang Jifan, but when she saw Shen Tingwen, her malicious thoughts began to stir again.

Liang Jifan and his friends were five-stacking in a League of Legends Diamond match. Chen Fuyu sat on the couch next to him, her hand on his shoulder, whispering in his ear: “Zhou Shuirong, is she the only girl you haven’t managed to get?”

Liang Jifan was annoyed. He took a drag from his cigarette, opened the chat box to type out some profanity, and at the same time said to Chen Fuyu: “What’s so good about that girl to pursue? I don’t lack a parent; why would I pursue her to worship her?”

“I think you’re just incompetent. How else did Shen Tingwen get her? He’s even wearing her hair tie. Those two, the more I look, the more annoyed I get.”

Liang Jifan extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray: “Get lost, get lost, stop being so sour around me. Can’t you see I’m busy? If you’re upset that Zhou Shuirong got Shen Tingwen, go find her. Why are you babbling here?”

Chen Fuyu’s voice grew louder: “Liang Jifan! Do you have any conscience? This isn’t like last night when you were coaxing me not to use a condom, is it?”

At that shout, many people nearby looked over.

Indeed, Liang Jifan and Chen Fuyu had reconciled, but only because he needed a way to satisfy his physiological needs, and Chen Fuyu was eagerly throwing herself at him. So he treated her like a free bitch; at least it was better than whoring, at least there were no diseases.

He didn’t know that in Chen Fuyu’s heart, he was merely one of her many backup plans, and one who was decent in bed. He treated Chen Fuyu like a bitch, and Chen Fuyu treated him like a wild ass—a perfect match.

She had indeed liked him before, but as she said, that was “before.” Ever since he had set his sights on Zhou Shuirong, all her feelings for him vanished.

Liang Jifan put his arm around her waist, coaxing her: “Alright, alright, I have no conscience, I have no conscience. Wife, go wait for me over there for a bit. I’ll take you for skewers after I finish this game.”

Chen Fuyu refused, grumbling: “I get annoyed just seeing Shen Tingwen. Can’t you kick him out?”

This was a bit unreasonable. Liang Jifan let go of her hand: “Stay if you want to, get lost if you don’t! Who are you trying to act like a spoiled princess with? Have I spoiled you?”

Chen Fuyu tilted her head, not backing down: “Fine, when I walk out that door, I’ll spread the word about your five-minute issue!”

Liang Jifan flushed with anger: “Whose five minutes?”

Chen Fuyu was doing it on purpose; spreading rumors was her specialty. She knew how to make rumors sound true. When she liked Liang Jifan, she cherished him. Now that she didn’t like him as much, she wanted to drain his last bit of value: “Don’t you have any idea? And that’s including foreplay.”

This was what men cared about most. Liang Jifan couldn’t hit her in public. Finally, he pulled her aside, suppressing the urge to slap her, and said, “Tell me, what do you want me to do?”

Chen Fuyu pointed at Shen Tingwen: “Kick Shen Tingwen out.”

Liang Jifan took a deep breath, gritting his teeth, and said, “Fine.”

He walked up to Shen Tingwen, first offering him a cigarette: “Brother, can you do me a favor and go play somewhere else? I’ll pay for it.”

Shen Tingwen ignored him.

Yuan Gengcheng looked at Shen Tingwen’s reaction, then at Liang Jifan: “Do you know each other?”

Liang Jifan said, “We’re from the same school.”

Yuan Gengcheng didn’t understand, stood up, his attitude somewhat off: “So you’re telling us to leave? What’s wrong? Is there a grudge?”

Liang Jifan’s friends saw Yuan Gengcheng stand up and all went over, standing behind Liang Jifan.

Chen Fuyu took a picture of this scene and posted it on her Moments: “Ran into someone provoking me online, luckily my Brother Liang was there, easily diffused it, haha, Brother Liang is awesome.”

She clearly captured Shen Tingwen’s face, and the injuries Zhou Shuirong had inflicted, but no one knew those injuries were from Zhou Shuirong. Looking at the picture, they would assume Liang Jifan had inflicted them.

Soon, her comment section exploded.

Zhou Shuirong heard the news at 8 PM. Fu Linying told her. He saw Shen Tingwen wearing Zhou Shuirong’s hair tie, and Zhou Shuirong hadn’t explained it, so he also assumed they were together.