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Si Tingyan’s brow subtly twitched, but his face remained expressionless as he walked over.
Cheng Mi immediately sensed something was wrong and ran towards him.
Reaching Si Tingyan, she dropped the high heel in her hand and cupped his face with both hands: “Do you have medicine?”
Her fingers pressed against his cheeks, her voice more anxious than at any other point that night.
Even though he was clearly in a bit of unbearable pain, Si Tingyan acted as if he didn’t feel it. His dark black denim jacket dropped onto her.
Her slightly torn dress was tightly wrapped and covered.
After doing this, Si Tingyan’s eyes moved from Cheng Mi’s face to her neck.
Cheng Mi still had the black leather belt around her neck, its metal buckle resting against her throat.
Her skin was very white, with the black belt starkly across it, revealing a morbid allure.
It almost instantly burned Si Tingyan’s eyes.
The recessed lights above emitted a cold white light, falling on Si Tingyan’s skin, revealing a floating, transparent sense of fragility.
He reached out. Cheng Mi felt a sudden constriction around her neck, almost as if he was going to just rip it off, not even waiting to unbuckle it.
His long fingers clasped the belt, and Cheng Mi could feel his knuckles pressing and applying pressure to the skin on the side of her neck.
Then, that pressure slowly disappeared, until it was completely gone.
Cheng Mi’s gaze followed Si Tingyan closely.
His eyes also left her neck and looked at her.
Then, his hand reached for the belt’s metal buckle. His movements weren’t gentle; the hard leather rubbed against Cheng Mi’s neck. With a metallic click, Cheng Mi’s neck suddenly loosened.
The inner side of the metal buckle had already absorbed Cheng Mi’s warmth. It fell to the ground, flung by Si Tingyan like discarded trash.
It landed with a loud thud, like a whip cracking on the ground.
Not far away, the floor was a mess, blood mixed with tiny shards of glass.
Those who had rushed in a panic to Li Shen’s side were drawn by the sound and looked over.
Cheng Mi didn’t spare them a glance, her attention fixed on Si Tingyan’s expression.
His breathing had steadied; he was fine.
As Cheng Mi exhaled a sigh of relief, Si Tingyan’s thumb pressed onto the left side of her face, where there was a drop of red blood.
It wasn’t his; it was Li Shen’s.
Cheng Mi didn’t ask him anything.
Si Tingyan also said nothing to her, rubbing the drop of blood with his thumb.
That spot gradually grew hot, until finally, Cheng Mi’s skin there turned red from the friction.
There was a chaotic din of voices. Some people were frantically giving Li Shen first aid, some were calling an ambulance, and others were calling the police.
But none of this concerned the two of them.
Only now did Cheng Mi allow her limbs to relax and go limp. The material of her dress was damp with sweat on her back; the drug’s effects were still lingering.
She leaned into Si Tingyan’s embrace, resting her chin slightly on his shoulder, her entire weight supported by Si Tingyan.
There was not a single tremor; Si Tingyan held her very tightly.
“He drugged you?”
Cheng Mi said: “What, do you want to do something else?”
Si Tingyan didn’t speak.
Cheng Mi didn’t want Si Tingyan to get into more trouble. If it were just her, she wouldn’t care.
But Si Tingyan was different.
She turned her face slightly, her lips touching his ear.
“If I say let’s just let it go, will you listen?”
Si Tingyan spoke: “What if I don’t?”
Cheng Mi whispered in his ear: “Be good, Si Tingyan.”
Her voice held no helplessness, just a hint of tenderness, her trailing tone uncontrollably tinged with something infused with wine, emanating from her breath in a lingering caress.
It could melt a person’s bones.
Si Tingyan’s expression remained calm and cold, the chilling sharpness emanating from his very bones undiminished in the slightest.
But he didn’t persist, at least not in that moment.
Suddenly, over Si Tingyan’s shoulder, Cheng Mi saw Jiang Mingzhou.
Unlike those who were gathered around Li Shen, she had just emerged from her room and was now approaching Li Shen.
Then, without even glancing at Li Shen, she reached out and stopped the person who was already calling the police.
“Give me your phone, I’ll handle this.”
It was at this moment that Jiang Mingzhou’s peripheral vision caught Cheng Mi’s gaze, and she looked over.
Cheng Mi leaned on Si Tingyan’s shoulder.
Jiang Mingzhou said nothing to her. She took the phone, put it to her ear, began negotiating, and turned to walk to a quiet spot at the end of the hallway.
Si Tingyan suddenly moved. Cheng Mi’s body was lifted from his shoulder. He held her shoulder, making her lean against the wall.
Actually, Cheng Mi wasn’t completely unable to stand or walk now. The effects of whatever Li Shen had given her had largely worn off, and the most disoriented and weak period was over.
But when Si Tingyan leaned her against the wall, she just stood there, making no effort to struggle.
Cheng Mi leaned against the wall, watching Si Tingyan.
Si Tingyan squatted down in front of her, holding her ankle with his knuckles and palm: “Lift it up.”
From Cheng Mi’s perspective, the sharp crease that appeared when Si Tingyan’s eyes looked up extended clearly to the corner of his eye.
His gaze, looking up from below, made his dark pupils appear even more somber than when he looked at people at eye level.
Her cold ankle was warmed by his palm.
She watched him for a moment, then slightly lifted it.
Si Tingyan’s hands, the same ones that scored him first in his grade, moved from her ankle to the sole of her foot, putting the high heel back on her.
The world was bustling with human voices, but none of it concerned them.
After putting the other shoe back on Cheng Mi’s foot, Si Tingyan stood up, walked back to get Cheng Mi’s bag, his eyes unwavering as he passed the group of people.
Returning to Cheng Mi’s side, Si Tingyan’s forearm wrapped around her waist, over his jacket.
Cheng Mi took the opportunity to lean away from the wall, her hands climbing onto his neck and then around him.
Behind them, amidst the chaos, people still tightly wore their masks of civility.
They didn’t look back, leaving the turmoil behind them.
________________________________________
This location had a distinct geographical advantage. Stepping out of the hotel, one could hail a taxi immediately.
The city lights were sparse but shone brightly among the varying heights of buildings.
After Si Tingyan closed the car door, Cheng Mi crawled onto the back seat, moving to his side and naturally leaning into his embrace.
She rested her head against the side of his neck, her forehead touching him.
Si Tingyan’s arm held her tightly, almost as if he wanted to crush her bones into his body.
Their souls drew warmth from each other in this crazy, pathological world.
The incident just now had been sudden. Si Tingyan had suddenly appeared before her, and Cheng Mi hadn’t even had time to ask him how he found this place.
Although her head was still a bit fuzzy, she remembered everything clearly that had happened before she completely lost consciousness.
She remembered hastily pressing her phone to call the police before completely blacking out outside the private room.
Now, it was obvious that call hadn’t gone through.
Cheng Mi asked Si Tingyan: “How did you find this place?”
A police car whizzed past outside the taxi.
Red police lights reflected on the car window, and the siren whirred past.
Si Tingyan’s gaze fell upon it, and he suddenly spoke: “Li Yeheng’s daughter called the police.”
Cheng Mi was startled: “What?”
Si Tingyan’s eyes returned from outside and looked at her: “She called the home landline.”
Cheng Mi, having just unexpectedly heard Li Chu’s name, hadn’t reacted immediately.
Now, after a brief thought, she pieced together the whole story. She was still resting against Si Tingyan’s neck: “Did she call to ask if I had gone home yet?”
Si Tingyan looked at her: “Mhm.”
Cheng Mi was a little confused at this point. Li Chu had sent her the message about Li Shen’s studio contacting her for collaboration because she, like Cheng Mi, thought “studio contacting for collaboration” sounded reliable.
Because she thought it was reliable, she sent it to her.
Furthermore, Li Shen was a major director; no one would have imagined such a prominent figure would be such an animal.
She asked Si Tingyan: “How did she think to call home and ask?”
Si Tingyan said: “Because she saw some scandals about Li Shen.”
Better safe than sorry, so Li Chu called.
As for why Li Chu would see Li Shen’s scandals, Cheng Mi found it easy to understand.
Li Chu had never been one to read gossip; it couldn’t have been an accident.
Cheng Mi told Si Tingyan: “After she confirmed I wasn’t home, she told you the hotel address.”
“Mhm.”
“I went to find you, she called the police.”
This precise division of labor was truly characteristic of these two.
Si Tingyan’s neither overly warm nor overly cold tone made Cheng Mi briefly curious about his communication style with Li Chu.
But it wasn’t hard to guess, really. Neither Si Tingyan nor Li Chu were frivolous people.
Unlike her.
Cheng Mi thought about how Si Tingyan and Li Chu had already coordinated calling the police, and she slightly lifted her forehead from Si Tingyan’s neck.
The air was cold in the early morning, and her forehead instantly felt a chill.
She still lay on him, her eyes on Si Tingyan’s profile: “The police have already been called. Why did you still hit Li Shen like that?”
When Cheng Mi said this, there was no blame, no anger.
It was very calm, very ordinary, more like she was asking a question that had been perplexing her for a long time.
Si Tingyan turned his gaze to her.
Cheng Mi said: “Even if we were the victims initially, as long as we hit someone, we’re criminally liable.”
Si Tingyan kept looking at Cheng Mi.
Suddenly, he said: “And then what?”
Cheng Mi also looked at him and said: “That blow you gave Li Shen, it’s at least a minor injury, punishable by less than three years in prison. What if it’s more serious?”
She thought Si Tingyan would at least think for a moment.
But he didn’t. He quickly replied: “So what?”
Si Tingyan’s pupils were very dark, like a bottomless abyss.
Deep and mysterious, making one wonder what lay hidden beneath.
When he gazed at her, it was as if he wanted to pull her entire being inside.
Cheng Mi also stared intently at him.
Si Tingyan’s pale face and dark pupils were two extremes.
“His dirty hands touched you,” Si Tingyan began.
“I’d want to go to jail.”
Even though Cheng Mi was usually so adept in the game of love, at this moment, she had no response to the person in front of her.
She looked at Si Tingyan, staring unblinkingly.
Si Tingyan met her eyes, his expression cold.
“I’d rather go to jail.”
If anyone touched her, even a fraction, he didn’t want to live like a normal person.
Cheng Mi didn’t know when these feelings had taken such deep root in Si Tingyan’s body.
Her gaze lingered on his eyes for a long time.
“Si Tingyan, when did it start?”
When did you start liking me, when did you start having these thoughts?
Si Tingyan’s face was unusually pale, his expression calm, and his tone was: “Do you think I’m scary?”
But at this moment, Cheng Mi wasn’t listening to that question anymore, because she noticed something unusual about Si Tingyan.
Si Tingyan seemed to finally be unable to endure it. He placed his right hand over his heart.
“Si Tingyan,” Cheng Mi called his name, reaching out a hand to touch his face.
The taxi stopped below the residential building, but she didn’t push open the car door, instead fumbling in her jacket for something.
Si Tingyan seemed to know what she was doing. His lips were already a bit pale: “On the left.”
Cheng Mi fumbled a medicine bottle out of his left pocket, asking: “How many pills?”
Then Si Tingyan snatched it from her.
Ignoring his pale face, he looked no different from a normal person, and his expression showed no discernible clue.
He calmly opened the medicine bottle.
Cheng Mi asked: “No water?”
Si Tingyan didn’t reply to her. When he took the pills, only his Adam’s apple moved slightly, incredibly cold.
The driver upfront sensed something was wrong and turned around from the driver’s seat: “Do you want me to drive to the hospital now? You’re taking medicine; you seem to be in a lot of pain.”
Cheng Mi smiled at the driver: “Master, can you let us rest here for a while?”
The driver quickly nodded: “Of course, certainly.”
But Si Tingyan handed money to the driver, then pushed open the car door and got out.
Seeing this, Cheng Mi also pushed open the car door and got out. As soon as she got out, a gust of wind swept by, and her long curly hair plastered against her face.
Cheng Mi walked towards Si Tingyan, reaching up to push her hair behind her head.
She originally wanted to go and support Si Tingyan, but he walked even more steadily than she did.
When Cheng Mi had just gotten out of the car, her feet felt weak the moment they touched the ground.
________________________________________
The two returned upstairs together. The house was completely dark. The early-sleeping Si Huiru knew nothing of what had happened that night, nor that they had gone out and hadn’t returned.
After entering the door, Cheng Mi went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water for Si Tingyan.
Si Tingyan was on the sofa. Even leaning back against the seat, his posture remained straight, one hand resting on the armrest beside him.
His neck was slightly tilted back, resting on the edge of the sofa backrest, his eyes closed in repose.
Moonlight streamed through the glass door from the balcony, casting a pearly white glow on Si Tingyan’s face.
As if a slight touch of a fingertip would cause it to shatter.
His eyelashes cast a shadow beneath his eyes. His nose bridge and tip were very straight, and his thin lips had regained a bit of color.
The only vibrant hue under the cool light.
At this moment, it was hard for Cheng Mi not to feel captivated.
After watching him silently for a while, she walked towards the sofa.
As if sensing something, Si Tingyan opened his eyes and looked at her.
As Cheng Mi approached the sofa, she lightly slipped off her heels, then climbed onto the sofa.
Si Tingyan watched her.
Cheng Mi climbed onto his neck, her lips drawing near, adhering to his.
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