CM - 79

Zhou Shu-rong’s mind was in a whirl, her head ached, and her eyes felt sore. She hadn’t felt this way in years. She really couldn’t bear it. “You don’t have to sacrifice your life for me. I was born into an unstable family, and I’m willing to live a wandering life. You’re different. You were born into a life of stability.”

Shen Ting-wen became a slacker again. “What if I just don’t want to live a stable life?”

Zhou Shu-rong raised her hand, ready to hit him again.

Shen Ting-wen grabbed her wrist. “I’m only going to ask you one thing right now. Will you break up with me because my hands are covered in blood?”

Zhou Shu-rong hated her habit of being incredibly firm once she made a decision. She had already made her stand in front of Si Wen. She walked to the side and sat down, no longer looking at him. “Shen Ting-wen, I actually had my doubts before. Why did you like me so much? We’ve only known each other for a few days. How can a fate be like that? The truth is, there is no fate between us. This was all your one-sided effort, your one-sided arrangement.”

Shen Ting-wen listened to her carefully.

Zhou Shu-rong tugged at her fingers. “But what’s the use? I’m pathetic. I still fell for you.”

Shen Ting-wen laughed, grabbed her hands, which were clenched together, and pulled her into his arms. “Just love me. Leave everything else to me. I was able to impress the Teacher, so I should be able to make him give you to me.”

Zhou Shu-rong sat on his lap and saw his smug look. She poured cold water on him. “What if my dad just doesn’t agree? You lied to him, after all.”

Shen Ting-wen had answered a similar question before. “I told you, I’ll marry you, and if I can’t, I’ll kidnap you. The only thing that could stop me is the Teacher shooting me. If that happens, then I’ll die for you, and it’ll be a worthy death.”

Zhou Shu-rong really thought he was crazy. She reached out and touched his forehead. “You don’t have a fever, do you?”

Shen Ting-wen pulled her hand down and held it again. “But I cherish my life the most. If we really can’t be together, then we’ll elope.”

Zhou Shu-rong could feel the warmth of his palm. “Shen Ting-wen, what do you even see in me?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know, and you say you see something?”

“Not knowing how it came about is called following your heart. Knowing is choosing after weighing the pros and cons.” Shen Ting-wen believed that if you think about one person for fifteen years, it’s either love or it’s crazy.

His feelings for Zhou Shu-rong weren’t love at first sight; they were feelings that slowly formed over a long period of wanting to understand her and getting to know her.

It started with curiosity and ended with being unable to forget.

He remembered one time he was on a mission. Due to a miscalculation, he was caught on the spot and held captive in a desperate criminal’s bunker. He suffered a lot, and being beaten and humiliated were the least of it. During that time, all he could think about was Zhou Shu-rong.

He wasn’t the kind of person who would quietly protect someone without expecting anything in return. If he liked her, he had to tell her. But Si Wen had protected his wife and daughter so well that he had no chance to get close to them. And that was also when he became interested in killing.

Si Wen gave him an experience he never would have had, being born in a peaceful country. With the hot-blooded passion of youth, he wouldn’t give up a chance to overturn his past.

And so, he suppressed his strange feelings for Zhou Shu-rong and focused on being Si Wen’s right-hand man. Later, Si Wen trusted him more and more and slowly gave him some tasks to protect Zhou Shu-rong, but there was one condition: he couldn’t let Zhou Shu-rong know about his existence.

During this process, he saved one photo of Zhou Shu-rong after another, knowing more about what happened to her over the years than she did herself.

Zhou Shu-rong was a very brave person. Her courage and wit were exactly like her father’s. She had successfully escaped from dangerous situations several times when she clashed with evil forces in some savage places in Africa. She understood her strengths and weaknesses very well and had always used herself to her advantage.

But she was too ignorant of social norms. She was far from Shen Ting-wen’s ability to read people’s minds and was always straightforward in her interactions.

Shen Ting-wen knew that because she had never been shown overt fatherly love from Si Wen, she also wouldn’t overtly show affection to outsiders.

Vanessa was the first outsider to break through her emotional defenses and succeed. At that time, Shen Ting-wen was in the country and didn’t know what Vanessa had done to make Zhou Shu-rong trust her, nor what she had done to make Zhou Shu-rong choose to come back to China.

When Zhou Shu-rong came back, Shen Ting-wen was preparing to go abroad. It was much freer abroad, and it was more convenient to be around Si Wen.

Back in the day, Shen Cheng had also gone abroad to join the Mafia and became a big shot in Toronto. So, the chaotic environments of other countries were more suitable for their line of work.

He didn’t expect Zhou Shu-rong to come back, so naturally, he didn’t want to leave. After being a person who walked in the dark for so many years, he finally found his sunlight. He could finally stand in front of her and tell her his name. Why would he want to leave?

He knew her weaknesses, and from pretending to be a fool to being openly bold, every step he took made it impossible for her to refuse him. It was a jerk move, but so what?

If he liked someone, should he not try to pull her into his arms and instead watch her walk down the aisle with someone else?

Shen Ting-wen was not a saint. He was too selfish.

Zhou Shu-rong couldn’t respond to his words. She didn’t have his clear intentions or his decade-long plan. Her feelings for him weren’t that deep yet; she just liked him a lot right now. This kind of liking was a temporary, impulsive one, and it had an expiration date. She didn’t know how long that date would be.

She stopped asking questions, glanced at the room where Si Wen and Zhou Yan were, and asked Shen Ting-wen, “Can you walk on your own?”

Shen Ting-wen looked pitiful. “I can’t walk on my own. Will you take me?”

Zhou Shu-rong not only thought he was crazy, but also that he really wasn’t afraid of death. “If I take you today, the news tomorrow will be about your tragic death at home. You should know my dad pretty well.”

Shen Ting-wen didn’t want her to be angry anymore. “Okay.”

Zhou Shu-rong was very angry, but when she saw his still-swollen neck, she felt she was being too harsh. She asked him, “Does it still hurt?”

Shen Ting-wen nodded. “Yes.”

“And what about in Hong Kong, at the U.S.-Mexico border, and in the Golden Triangle? Did it hurt then?” Zhou Shu-rong asked.

Shen Ting-wen shook his head. “Surface wounds don’t count as pain.”

“A pierced spine and scraped bones are just surface wounds? Then what kind of injury counts as painful?” Zhou Shu-rong asked.

Shen Ting-wen didn’t know, but he said, “If you act like a turtle and retreat again, trying to break up with me, that would hurt.”

“You’re the one who’s like a turtle. No one says that just because you like me, I have to like you back. The decision to be with you or not is in my hands, not in the hands of those who think I should be with you.” Zhou Shu-rong grabbed his arm and started to walk out.

The door opened, and Shen Ting-wen was pushed out. He turned around, grabbed her sleeve, and started to act like a spoiled child. “Can I have a goodnight kiss?”

Zhou Shu-rong refused. “Are you leaving or not?”

Shen Ting-wen touched his face. “Then I’m leaving.”

Zhou Shu-rong grabbed him again, pressed her hand against his arm, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed his cheek briefly. “Get out.”

Shen Ting-wen wanted more. He pointed to his left cheek. “This side wants one too...”

“Shen Ting-wen!”

Shen Ting-wen understood. “Okay, I don’t want one.”

Zhou Shu-rong closed the door and turned around. Zhou Yan was leaning against the sofa, watching her. She was a little embarrassed and rubbed her nose, pretending to be angry. “Mom, why do you walk so quietly...”

Zhou Yan had just come out to get a glass of water and saw her daughter give him a kiss. She was also a bit embarrassed. “Your dad and I never had a habit of kissing every time we were about to separate.”

Zhou Shu-rong was even more embarrassed. “He just got beaten up...”

“And that’s why you kissed him?”

Zhou Shu-rong shook her head. “No. I kissed him because I like him. He can do his thing, and I can like my way. If I feel like kissing him, I’ll kiss him.”

Zhou Yan smiled. “You’re using the words we taught you to deal with us.”

Zhou Shu-rong walked over, helped Zhou Yan get some water, and said, “Mom, you guys can’t control me.”

“Yes, we can’t control you, but this is no longer just about you and Shen Yu-an. First, he concealed his intention to investigate your dad. He was just a child back then, and he had so many tricks up his sleeve. How could your dad trust him? Second, he’s Shen Cheng’s son.” Zhou Yan explained the current situation to Zhou Shu-rong.

Zhou Shu-rong used Shen Ting-wen’s words. “As long as you agree, you can leave the rest to me. My dad can take his anger out on me, and I’ll talk to Shen Cheng.”

Si Wen stood at the door and yelled at her, “Did you two plan this together?”

Zhou Shu-rong put the glass down, stood up straight, and said, “Dad.”

Zhou Yan explained Si Wen’s words. “That’s what he told your dad too. As long as we agree, your dad can take his anger out on him, and he’ll talk to his dad...”

When Zhou Shu-rong heard the second half of that sentence, it was as if she heard Shen Ting-wen himself saying it. He was swearing to Si Wen that he would eliminate all of his worries.