CM - 70

Shen Ting-wen searched for a long time but couldn’t find her. She wouldn’t answer his calls or reply to his messages. He went to the organizers and demanded that they find her, but why would they listen to him? He offered them money, but they still refused. It was such a big event; how could they stop everything to look for someone just because he said so?

Shen Ting-wen’s phone was about to die. He thought he should have taken her to the restroom with him. How could a grown woman just disappear?

Or... was she taken by someone else? By whom? There were so many people here. Who could it be? Who took his Zhou Shu-rong away?

The incident happened so suddenly, in the blink of an eye, she was gone. Shen Ting-wen’s mind started racing, imagining the worst. He didn’t realize that all of this was just him overreacting, that he was too anxious about Zhou Shu-rong.

The organizers saw that he was losing his mind, so they told him they would help him ask around after the event was over.

The performances were scheduled to run for eight continuous hours, so the event would end in several hours. Shen Ting-wen wouldn’t have it. He wanted to get on stage and look for her now.

The organizers became impatient, “If you’re going to keep acting like this, I’ll call the police.”

“I’ve lost someone; can’t I be worried?”

“How can an adult get lost? If she’s really lost, you can call the police, and they’ll find her. Why do you have to cause a scene at such a big event?”

“Will the police be of any use when she’s really lost? You’ve organized music festivals for so many years; don’t you know there are plenty of people in the crowd waiting to take someone away? They could spike her drink, take her away for the night to do something to her, and we’d just have to accept our bad luck, is that it?”

The organizer in charge fell silent.

Shen Ting-wen wasn’t trying to cause trouble. He was genuinely losing his mind. The wealthy men he knew, like Yuan Geng-cheng, were not good people. They never attended these events for the music.

He had personally heard Yuan Geng-cheng talk about how a friend of his had tricked two girls into his car at an event like this and assaulted them.

With Zhou Shu-rong’s looks, how could no one have their eye on her?

The person in charge was also afraid of something happening, so he finally gave Shen Ting-wen a bit of time to go on stage and look for her. But just before he went on stage, Zhou Shu-rong called him. This was the only thing that prevented him from making a public appearance in front of the entire country.

Shen Ting-wen practically ran to Zhou Shu-rong and hugged her tightly. Damn it, he was scared to death. If he had lost her, he might as well have died.

Zhou Shu-rong was struggling in his embrace, “Your hands! You’re hurting me!”

Shen Ting-wen let go and immediately started yelling, “Are you a fucking idiot? Why didn’t you answer my calls? Is your phone just a decoration?”

Zhou Shu-rong was confused, “Why would I look at my phone when I’m in the restroom? You went to the restroom too, didn’t you? You can go, but I can’t? Are you crazy?”

Shen Ting-wen swallowed with difficulty, his voice weak, “You scared me to death. I thought I had lost you.”

Zhou Shu-rong’s anger, which he had just stirred up, immediately fizzled out. She said awkwardly, “Did you think I was three years old?”

This time, Shen Ting-wen hugged her gently, “Don’t scare me like that again. I’m not that brave.”

Zhou Shu-rong wrapped her arms around his waist, “I just went to the restroom. Nothing bad was going to happen to me. I have a brain. Don’t think I’m so stupid. Even if someone tried to overpower me, I have hands. I can fight back.”

Shen Ting-wen didn’t care. He held Zhou Shu-rong tightly, “I want to go back.”

Li Gun’s band had already finished their performance, so there was no need for them to stay. Zhou Shu-rong agreed, “Home or the hotel?”

“Home.”

Zhou Shu-rong canceled the hotel reservation and bought return flight tickets. She also sent a quick message to Zhou Xi-you, telling her what happened, but she didn’t dare to say that Shen Ting-wen was the cause. No one in their group chat knew she and Shen Ting-wen were together yet, and she wanted to keep it a secret for a little while longer.

She was afraid they would lose their minds if she told them.

The two of them emerged from the music festival grounds looking as if they had just been caught in the rain, completely drenched. The place was too intense, and their clothes, which were already thin, were now plastered to their bodies, showing every curve.

Shen Ting-wen had foresight and brought a jacket. He put it on Zhou Shu-rong as soon as they got out, then hailed a taxi and went to the airport.

It was past one in the morning when they got home. They walked on the street, and neither of them was tired. Zhou Shu-rong never expected that her first domestic music festival would end after less than two hours.

Zhou Shu-rong turned to look at the culprit, Shen Ting-wen, “All those tickets were wasted.”

Shen Ting-wen still hadn’t realized his mistake and was still thinking about how to spend the night at her house, “Rongrong, my heart is still racing. I don’t want to leave you tonight. Can I stay?”

Zhou Shu-rong gave him a sidelong glance, “Your heart is racing, alright. We went to Shanghai and back in one day, didn’t even get to see the whole music festival, and you didn’t get to see Zhou Xi-you. If I had known you would be so much trouble, I never would have agreed to go with you. You’re afraid of everything. You should just stay at home.”

Shen Ting-wen felt wronged, “But I thought I had lost you. I would have been worried sick if I had stayed there.”

“How could I have gotten lost?”

“Don’t you read the news? A lot of pretty girls get lost at places like that. Did you want me to take that risk?”

Zhou Shu-rong didn’t want to talk to him anymore. They were not on the same page. And she didn’t like his tone of disbelief in her. She had been trained by Si Wen for years. Was she really someone who could be so easily tricked?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She stopped and pointed at him, “You! Stay away from me!”

Shen Ting-wen refused and tried to get closer.

Zhou Shu-rong twisted his wrist.

Shen Ting-wen yelped in pain and moved a little farther away.

Zhou Shu-rong felt he wasn’t far enough, so she walked to the other side of the street.

Shen Ting-wen was furious. Why was Zhou Shu-rong so different from other girls? A car drove by, and he used the loud engine noise to yell, “Zhou Shu-rong, you’re a bitch!”

Zhou Shu-rong, on the other side of the street, suppressed her anger, “If you’re so tough, don’t say that when a car is passing by!”

Shen Ting-wen yelled even louder, “I’m not tough!”

“Then shut your mouth! Say another word, and I’ll break your leg!”

Fine, I won’t talk! Who cares about talking anyway! Shen Ting-wen fell silent and decided not to talk to her anymore. He had been so worried, and Zhou Shu-rong didn’t feel sorry for him at all; she even blamed him. What kind of girlfriend was that?

Zhou Shu-rong was even angrier. He had overreacted, and he almost caused a scene on stage. If the whole country had seen that, wouldn’t she have been mortified?

They walked in silence, both angry, not talking to each other, until they reached the entrance of Zhou Shu-rong’s community.

Zhou Shu-rong didn’t let him use her access card, so he had to stand outside.

Zhou Shu-rong was so angry she didn’t want to deal with him and didn’t even look back. She intended to just go home, but when she got to the building entrance, she turned back. She couldn’t just leave Shen Ting-wen at the gate alone.

When she got back out, she didn’t see Shen Ting-wen and thought he had left. Instead, she saw a face that made her sick: the guy who had picked a fight at the gym.

Shen Ting-wen was in the middle of them, clearly surrounded.