#43: She Couldn’t Afford to Gamble with Si Tingyan

I only heard Qi Yunmiao’s voice, but hadn’t yet seen Si Tingyan.

Cheng Mi could already feel a prickling sensation on her back.

She knew that if she turned her head now, her eyes would meet his without fail.

But she didn’t.

The finger that was toying with the menu paused for a moment before returning to normal.

Her back, which hadn’t been tense since she walked in, was still straight as she rested her chin on her hand, waiting for the waiter to come over.

Qi Yunmiao’s voice grew closer and closer, and then stopped abruptly right next to her.

Clearly, Qi Yunmiao had also seen her. The incessant chattering in Si Tingyan’s ear suddenly stopped, cut off mid-sentence.

The air seemed to stand still.

Si Tingyan’s gaze was the most impossible to ignore. Cheng Mi could feel it.

Aside from Cheng Mi’s own issues, the gossip about her and Si Tingyan had been all over the place these past few days. Even though the forum was gone, gossip was human nature, and there were always ears to hear it.

Both Cheng Mi and Si Tingyan were top-tier in looks at Feng Gao, so they were never short on attention. Previously, the news of Cheng Mi pursuing Si Tingyan had been posted on the forum and caused a huge stir.

And recently, after their relationship as step-siblings was exposed, it didn’t just spark curiosity; it shocked people completely.

Living under the same roof, and an older sister pursuing her own step-brother?

Once this layer of taboo was added to their relationship, the discussion about them was just as heated as the gossip about Cheng Mi’s own mess.

Countless curious eyes from the surroundings landed on Si Tingyan and Cheng Mi.

And there was also Miss Qi Yunmiao, the rival in love, right next to them.

What a lively scene.

This awkward atmosphere didn’t last long. Zheng Hongkai came back from outside.

After ordering his food, he went to the nearby supermarket to buy a pack of cigarettes. He brought a few people back with him, and the group was laughing and chatting loudly.

The small restaurant instantly seemed incredibly crowded.

Si Tingyan didn’t even glance at the group of people behind him, and he didn’t look at Cheng Mi again. He said to Qi Yunmiao coldly, “Don’t follow me.”

After saying that, he walked to the only empty table not far away and sat down.

Qi Yunmiao’s cold stare at Cheng Mi was withdrawn.

Zheng Hongkai returned to the table at this moment. He had a thing for Qi Yunmiao and wanted to say something to her.

Qi Yunmiao completely ignored him, not even giving him a sidelong glance, and followed Si Tingyan.

Cheng Mi sat there, and Zheng Hongkai stood with a pack of cigarettes in his hand.

She clearly heard the sound of him crushing the cigarette pack.

A friend of Zheng Hongkai’s next to him said, “This girl is so hot, Zheng Hongkai, are you really going to fail? How long has it been, and you still haven’t gotten her?”

Zheng Hongkai rudely dragged a chair out with a sharp screeching sound. He sat down and cursed, “F*ck off.”

Then he introduced his friends to Cheng Mi: “These are some of my buddies. Let’s just sit together at this table.”

Cheng Mi didn’t reject them: “Sure.”

The eyes of the few thugs hadn’t left Cheng Mi since they came in. They slowly sat down and asked Zheng Hongkai, “Who’s this beauty? Aren’t you going to introduce her to us?”

Zheng Hongkai asked the waiter for a bottle of liquor: “Introduce my ass. We’re all from the same school. Didn’t you only come over after hearing we were eating together? Tsk, tsk, why are you all pretending to be gentlemen?”

The anger that Zheng Hongkai felt from being ignored by Qi Yunmiao was still burning. Now, he was even more annoyed by Si Tingyan over there.

Zheng Hongkai deliberately raised his voice, kicked the guy next to Cheng Mi under the table, and taunted him, “Didn’t you say you were going to go after Cheng Mi outside? How come you’re now in front of her and you’re too scared to even fart?”

After he finished speaking, the group of guys burst into laughter, and their voices filled the entire restaurant.

Cheng Mi and Si Tingyan’s tables were a bit far apart, and they were back to back, so they couldn’t see each other.

After hearing Zheng Hongkai’s words, Cheng Mi, unlike some young girls who would blush, simply smiled generously and didn’t say anything.

Being Zheng Hongkai’s friends, these guys were naturally not good people either.

They treated love and relationships like a game, and what’s more, Cheng Mi’s reputation was currently very bad, so there was no way they wouldn’t know.

The guy wasn’t coy and started talking to Cheng Mi directly.

“I’m Cheng Yao, from Class 17 on the floor above yours.” The guy looked a little more “decent” than Zheng Hongkai and the others. The rogue-like vibe wasn’t as obvious on him, and he was quite good-looking.

Cheng Mi smiled: “I’m Cheng Mi.”

Cheng Yao: “I know. We have the same last name.”

Zheng Hongkai and the others were speechless. They picked up the toothpick holder on the table and threw it at the guy: “Damn it, how cheesy! How cheesy!!”

“You came here to hit on her, not to find a relative!”

Cheng Mi didn’t respond, she just smiled.

The few guys had big appetites and ordered a few more dishes later.

The group was chattering, eating, and drinking. Fortunately, the guys ate quickly and didn’t spend their entire lunch break in the restaurant.

When Cheng Mi was about to leave, it was a bit of a coincidence that Si Tingyan and Qi Yunmiao also happened to finish their meal.

Si Tingyan’s table was near the door, and because his back was to Cheng Mi, he didn’t even glance at her and left.

Qi Yunmiao quickly followed him.

Cheng Mi’s gaze didn’t linger on them for long, and she returned to school with Zheng Hongkai and the others.

________________________________________

For the next two days, Zheng Hongkai’s friends pursued Cheng Mi very aggressively.

They brought her breakfast, bought her snacks, and got her bubble tea. They came to find Cheng Mi after every class, standing outside her seat window to talk to her.

Although the food ended up in the stomachs of Zheng Hongkai’s friends.

Lately, Cheng Mi was disliked by everyone, so she shouldn’t have had anyone to talk to.

But these past two days, it had been noisier around her than usual.

Except at home.

These past two days, the relationship between Cheng Mi and Si Tingyan had reached a freezing point. The two of them hadn’t said a word to each other.

But both of them didn’t reveal any emotions, and their behavior was the same as usual, so Si Huiru and the others didn’t notice that anything was wrong between them.

Lately, Cheng Mi had been going straight home after school and hadn’t gone to Si Tingyan’s classroom again.

She hadn’t looked for him again.

And Chen Zhaochi also seemed to have vanished for a while, not appearing in front of Cheng Mi again.

This person was always so unpredictable.

When people were feeling anxious, he would torment their souls endlessly. Or when people finally let their guard down, he would cover their mouth and nose without warning, suffocating them to death.

Just like today, when Cheng Mi was walking to her residential building, Chen Zhaochi gave her a big surprise.

He showed up downstairs at Si Tingyan’s house.

Cheng Mi knew he would find her at any time, but she didn’t expect it to be here.

After a few days, she saw him again.

The dilapidated residential building in the bustling area was crowded, and the electric wires on the walls were tangled and winding.

The setting sun slanted against the building’s walls. Outside, the traffic was bustling, and horns blared.

And Chen Zhaochi was standing there downstairs, his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette, and holding his phone in the other hand, looking at something.

Having just come out of jail, he had a buzz cut, and a layer of short, almost invisible stubble was against his scalp.

There was a long knife scar on his forehead that extended all the way to his eyelid.

But today, there was a fresh mark on his forehead in addition to the scar—a slightly bleeding piece of gauze on the corner of his forehead. It wasn’t fully wrapped, revealing a bruise and some scabs.

It hung on his eyelid, as if it was going to grow into his eye.

Through the smoke, his eyes were watching Cheng Mi from behind.

Cheng Mi’s footsteps only paused slightly, almost imperceptibly, but he saw it in a single glance.

Chen Zhaochi bit on his cigarette and said to her, “Cheng Mi, that’s not like you.”

“Why,” the cigarette in his mouth moved a couple of times, “what do you have to be afraid of?”

He said this with a smile, but even though he was smiling, it seemed to be laced with a chill.

At this moment, with the sun still not set and a bit of warmth still in the air, it felt like a cold snake crawling up Cheng Mi’s ankle.

It was as if it wanted to go straight for her heart, to drag out that bit of fear from within her to mock and torment.

But Cheng Mi didn’t let him get what he wanted. She didn’t show any emotion on her face. In fact, while Chen Zhaochi was talking, she ignored him and walked straight into the building.

Chen Zhaochi wasn’t angered by her attitude. He was still lazy and casual. He got up from the wall and swaggered in front of her to block her way: “You’re not giving me any face, are you?”

Cheng Mi looked up at him, her tone indifferent and calm: “Get lost.”

Chen Zhaochi chuckled: “Don’t be so cold, Cheng Mi. In return for the big gift I gave you, shouldn’t you give me a smile?”

With people like Chen Zhaochi, the tougher you are, the more he gets worked up, but at the same time, the weaker you are, the crazier he gets.

Cheng Mi had always been the former with him.

But this time, when Chen Zhaochi asked her to smile, she actually did.

“Chen Zhaochi, don’t you think people smile at you because they feel sorry for you?”

Her smile was beautiful, but it was a smile that made people’s teeth itch with hatred.

She had clearly made Chen Zhaochi unhappy, but he still smiled.

“I don’t really like your smile.”

“You make me want to give you another gift so you can smile a little more beautifully.”

After he said that, he pressed something on his phone with the hand hanging by his side.

Screams, the sound of clothes being torn, and angry curses suddenly poured into the air from the phone’s speaker.

Even if Cheng Mi died in this life, she would know what kind of scene that sound was.

Chen Zhaochi was actually watching the video of him dragging Li Chu onto the rooftop that year.

And at this moment, he was pervertedly turning up the volume.

Cheng Mi found it difficult to stay calm: “Chen Zhaochi, are you sick!”

As she said this, she reached out to grab his phone.

Chen Zhaochi was prepared. He put his phone back in his pocket, grabbed Cheng Mi, and pinned her against the wall.

He reached out to hook her chin and said with a smile, “That’s it, this is how you should be. I don’t really like looking at a dead face. Losing your temper is so much prettier.”

Cheng Mi looked at him: “Chen Zhaochi, delete that video for me.”

“Why should I?”

Then he spoke for her: “I’m not worthy of watching Li Chu?”

“Cheng Mi,” Chen Zhaochi chuckled, “I’m watching her, and she’s happy about it.”

“Shut up, do you hear me?” Cheng Mi said coldly, and she was about to raise her leg to take him out.

Chen Zhaochi had suffered at her hands before, so he restrained her. The look in his eyes suddenly became unpredictable.

“Why should I delete it? Cheng Mi, I not only watch Li Chu, I also watch you.”

Cheng Mi stared at him, but she still managed to maintain her composure.

The ruthlessness on Chen Zhaochi’s face relaxed again: “The two years I was in jail, I thought about it every day, every moment—the way you left a scar on my face with a knife, and the feeling of bleeding.”

“Did you know? After I got out, I watched the video and found that what I remembered and what was recorded were identical, not one frame was different.”

Chen Zhaochi said, “How could I possibly forget you?”

There was a hint of a smile in his eyes.

Chen Zhaochi raised his hand, his thumb stroking down from the corner of her right forehead, and finally stopping at her eyes: “You should have experienced this feeling.”

Putting aside the fact that she had dragged others down with her, Cheng Mi was not afraid of Chen Zhaochi. She said, “If you have the guts, do it now.”

“Also,” Cheng Mi looked at him and said word by word, “I want to tell you, Chen Zhaochi, you deserved it.”

“I deserved it?”

Chen Zhaochi suddenly grabbed her by the throat: “Cheng Mi, I deserve to die, but don’t you?”

Chen Zhaochi was imprisoned because of Jiang Xunzhi. Jiang Xunzhi had some responsibility for that car accident as the deceased, but Chen Zhaochi also had responsibility. In the end, Chen Zhaochi was sentenced to two years in prison.

“We were supposed to keep each other company in there, but what about you?” Chen Zhaochi said, “Why did you conspire with that woman to escape from there?”

The knife wound Cheng Mi had inflicted on Chen Zhaochi’s face resulted in her escaping the handcuffs because of a criminal settlement letter from Chen Zhaochi’s mother.

Cheng Mi’s side paid a huge compensation fee and reached a settlement with Chen Zhaochi’s family. As a result, Chen Zhaochi’s mother issued a letter of understanding, and the matter was resolved privately between the two parties.

That letter of understanding was the result of Li Yeheng’s intervention.

It was Li Yeheng and Li Chu who had bailed her out of jail.

On that day, after she got out, Li Yeheng and Li Chu were waiting for her outside and then took her back home.

And Chen Zhaochi was firmly left behind in prison.

Chen Zhaochi tightened his grip on Cheng Mi’s throat: “You hate that woman the most in this world, so why would you give her money?”

In the days Chen Zhaochi was treated like a dead man by his mother—no, even worse than a dead man, even worse than an animal—he was beaten, cursed at, abandoned, and sent to be humiliated by others.

In the end, his deep love for his mother turned into deep-seated hatred.

The hatred had become so obsessive that he couldn’t live without it.

Chen Zhaochi said, “Why did you let her make the decision for me? Why did you give her money? Do you know that she took the money and ran away?”

“She and her husband and son took the money and ran off to live a good life.”

Cheng Mi was about to suffocate, but she only frowned and didn’t show any signs of pain. She tried to break free, but the difference in strength was too great. She couldn’t get away at all.

The smile on Chen Zhaochi’s face gradually became twisted: “Let’s go back to you, Cheng Mi. With so much history between us, how could I possibly let you go?”

“We’re both rotten people, so let’s rot together.”

After he said that, he let go.

The air rushed in, and Cheng Mi coughed lightly, her eyes fixed on Chen Zhaochi.

Chen Zhaochi’s moods were unpredictable. One second he was glaring with his eyes wide, and the next second, he was smiling.

“Oh, and I also wanted to ask you something. There were so many things to say when we met that I forgot to ask.”

Cheng Mi was still a little uncomfortable, leaning against the wall.

Chen Zhaochi suddenly moved closer to her, his smile full of malice: “How can you be so much of a failure? You tried to seduce Li Yeheng, but you only managed to lead him to another woman’s bed.”

Chen Zhaochi had known since way back that Cheng Mi had a thing for Li Yeheng.

But he never went after Li Yeheng, not because he was intimidated by him as an elder, but because he knew how to torment Cheng Mi in the most painful way possible.

What could be more heartbreaking than watching the person you love marry, sleep with, and have children with another woman?

A conscious feeling of complete despair was much worse than the regret of holding a dead person.

Chen Zhaochi enjoyed this kind of twisted torment.

And what Chen Zhaochi didn’t know was that Cheng Mi wanted him to think this way.

Chen Zhaochi said, “Now that you can’t seduce Li Yeheng, you’re going after his wife’s son? To disgust the couple and destroy their marriage? Is it necessary to love Li Yeheng so much, Cheng Mi?”

Cheng Mi was glad he thought this way. As long as he believed that she was getting entangled with Si Tingyan to destroy the relationship between Li Yeheng and Si Huiru, it was fine.

And not that he knew how important Si Tingyan was to her.

As long as she could push Si Tingyan to safety, anything was fine.

She couldn’t afford to gamble with Si Tingyan.

She would die if she had to go through the experience with Jiang Xunzhi and Li Chu again.

Even if there was only a slight possibility, Cheng Mi would not let Si Tingyan take that risk.

Chen Zhaochi was a rotten person, and he would really drag all of them down to hell with him.

Chen Zhaochi knew none of these things that she was thinking.

Chen Zhaochi was still talking: “And, Li Yeheng isn’t even interested in a little woman like you. No matter how many guys you date, he won’t even look at you.”

“You’re getting with his stepson, but he doesn’t want you.”

“So what?” Cheng Mi’s voice sounded very nonchalant. “Does it matter to you?”

“Of course it matters to me. Why wouldn’t it?” Chen Zhaochi chuckled. “I’m concerned about you.”

“How does it feel, watching Li Yeheng marry and have children with another woman?”

Cheng Mi ignored him.

“You’re even living together, right?”

Chen Zhaochi hissed: “Then you must be able to hear them-”

Cheng Mi knew what he was about to say, and a wave of nausea washed over her.

She raised her hand and delivered a solid slap to Chen Zhaochi’s face, but there was no grinding of her teeth at all. Her tone was light.

“Chen Zhaochi, if you want to be reborn into a better life, it’s best to watch what you say.”

A better life, a better mother.

That single sentence struck a nerve with Chen Zhaochi.

Chen Zhaochi’s face instantly turned dark.

Cheng Mi knew he was about to go crazy again.

Chen Zhaochi wanted to kill Cheng Mi. His fist swung, a gust of wind trailing behind it. He never cared if the person he was about to beat was a man or a woman.

But before the punch could land on Cheng Mi’s face, a hand suddenly shot out from the side and grabbed it.

The long, pale fingers of a girl used a lot of force, grabbing Chen Zhaochi’s arm.

Chen Zhaochi turned his head to look.

So did Cheng Mi.

It was Li Chu. She was wearing a black leather jacket, which, along with her face, gave her a beautiful and cold elegance.

Li Chu’s outfit didn’t look like she had just happened to be passing by.

Cheng Mi’s eyes were on her face.

Li Chu’s gaze shifted from her face, and her next words left Cheng Mi momentarily stunned.

Li Chu said to Chen Zhaochi, “Let’s go.”

Yes, she was talking to Chen Zhaochi.

Chen Zhaochi looked at Li Chu for several seconds, and then, giving her a lot of face, he let go.

He turned back to look at Cheng Mi: “I’ll let you go this time, out of respect for her.”

Li Chu had been gone from home a lot these past few days, and she wouldn’t say where she went. Cheng Mi finally knew who she was hanging out with.

And she now knew that Chen Zhaochi had been waiting for Li Chu downstairs at her house.

Chen Zhaochi turned around and wrapped his arm around Li Chu’s shoulder.

Cheng Mi reached out to pull Li Chu: “Come back with me.”

Li Chu was pulled by Cheng Mi and turned her head. Her eyes were neither cold nor warm. After staring at Cheng Mi for a while, she pushed her hand away and didn’t say a word to her.

She walked away with Chen Zhaochi.