Chapter 10 Desperate Measures

Everyone turned around at the sound and saw a beautiful figure standing in the glow of the sunset at the doorway.

With a pale face, Lu Zhenyu walked step by step through the light and stood in front of Feng Manman, shielding her behind her just as Shen Jingsi had protected Duan Xier.

But she was too thin and small, and only half of her body was covered.

Instead, when Feng Manman saw that thin but straight back, her heart was suddenly gripped, and her nose tingled.

"Zhenzhen, go to the back. I'm going to show him today just how much of a bastard he is!"

Lu Zhenyu pinned down Feng Manman, who rushed out from behind, and pushed her into Shen Jinchuan's arms.

Looking him straight in the eye, she said, "A man should protect his woman in crucial moments."

"Otherwise, what makes you say you love her?"

!

It wasn't just Shen Jinchuan who was struck by that simple sentence; Shen Jingsi was also affected.

The familiar words were like a hammer, smashing open a corner of the man's heart that had been frozen for a long time.

It was a long night twenty years ago. He was punished by his father to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days and three nights. The girl cried her eyes out and climbed in through the window to secretly bring him food.

“Shen Jingsi, stop pretending, okay? I’ll go tell my godfather that I’m the one who crippled Zheng Yaozong. If the Zheng family wants to arrest someone, let them arrest me.”

The girl's swollen eyes clearly showed that she had been crying for a long time. Although she was only two years older, Shen Jingsi was already more than half a head taller than Lu Zhenyu.

He shifted his knees, which had stiffened from kneeling, and pinched her cheek. "Why are you crying? I'm not going to die."

“I don’t want you to be whipped by your godfather, and I don’t want them to send you away.”

The once quiet and composed girl now buried her face in his chest and cried uncontrollably.

Feeling the violent trembling in his arms, ten-year-old Shen Jingsi already understood what heartache was at this moment.

His back was covered in whip marks, making it impossible for him to bend over. He could only rest his chin on her head, and his hot, thin lips would occasionally touch her cool forehead as she trembled.

His tone, however, remained that same irreverent, smirking manner. "It's nothing serious, just consider it Old Shen helping me get some relief. Besides, isn't going to America a good thing? I'll buy a gun to practice with first, and then I'll shoot that beast when I get back."

Lu Zhenyu peeked out from his embrace, tears clinging to her eyelashes, "You're talking nonsense again!"

A light pound of her fist against her chest, but the pain came from the whip marks behind her.

Shen Jingsi grinned, revealing a set of bright white teeth. "Just trying to make you laugh. Stop crying, okay? Your crying is making my heart tremble."

Lu Zhenyu wiped her face, sniffed her red nose, and got out of his arms. "Then you should eat first, eat all of this."

He watched her lower her head, choking back tears, and reached into her coat collar, pulling out three meat buns.

It was still steaming when he opened it. He laughed, "Where did this come from?"

"I secretly saved this for dinner." Lu Zhenyu mumbled, pinching off a large piece of meat from the steamed bun, which Shen Jingsi took from his mouth.

He mumbled through his chewing, "You left your dinner for me?"

The girl lowered her head, her nose red, and said, "I have no appetite."

She was worried about Shen Jingsi, who had been forced to kneel there, and also because she hadn't been able to eat since the day she was almost raped by Zheng Yaozong.

Although he didn't succeed, he tore her clothes and touched her face, waist, thighs, and ankles with his disgusting hand.

Just thinking about these things makes Lu Zhenyu gag uncontrollably.

In the dimly lit ancestral hall, Shen Jingsi looked at her outstretched arm after she finished breaking the bun, her collarbone rising upwards, and her neck covered with bruises from excessive washing.

It seemed that after that one glance, the boy secretly vowed in his heart that this would be the last time, and it could only be the last time.

If there's a next time, even if it costs him his life, he'll kill that beast Zheng Yaozong, chop him to pieces, and make sure his soul is scattered and he can never be reincarnated.

"Shen Jingsi, why are you so good to me?"

In the dimly lit ancestral hall, the two sat side by side, heads close together, under a long table with dozens of rows of memorial tablets.

Shen Jingsi laughed, "I'm a man. What kind of man am I if I can't even protect the girl I like when it matters?"

"But I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

Shen Jingsi straightened up, sat up, and leaned closer with bright eyes, "You feel sorry for me? Then you like me, right?"

Lu Zhenyu did not answer, but pursed her lips and avoided his gaze.

When she looked up again, her expression suddenly hardened. "Next time, next time it'll be my turn to protect you."

The little girl, who only reached his chest, with a soft, round face, said she wanted to protect him.

Perhaps it was genuine, but Shen Jingsi just laughed it off and teased her first, "So how do you plan to protect me?"

I'll protect you even if it costs me my life.

Looking at the earnest face that was staring at him, Shen Jingsi was stunned for a moment, then chuckled and reached out to ruffle her hair.

"You little punk, you're actually quite touching. But you don't need to risk your life, I'll protect you."

In the darkness, the girl did not refute Shen Jingsi's words, but slowly closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder again.

Shen Jingsi, I will really protect you.

And it's true, it seems like I... kind of like you.

The images in his mind gradually blurred and receded, and the dark ink clinging to Shen Jingsi's eyes unknowingly spread, revealing a sense of shame within the turbidity.

Shen Jinchuan took the person over, but Lu Zhenyu didn't give him a chance to speak, turning her head to look at Shen Jingsi again.

She couldn't get over this face when she dreamed of it in the middle of the night.

Every time she reunites with her dream, she pretends to fall asleep upon waking in the morning, using her nearly exhausted imagination to rekindle the happiness that abruptly ended in the dream.

For the first twenty years, she wanted to love but wasn't qualified; now she may be able to love, but she has lost her status.

To put it simply, it all boils down to four words—destined to meet but not to be together.

Shen Jingsi stared into Lu Zhenyu's fox-like eyes. In just a few seconds, he seemed to see her go from hope to disappointment and then to despair.

Remembering the line, "She, Lu Zhenyu, has no right to it," he inexplicably wanted to avoid her gaze.

Lu Zhenyu smiled, a smile tinged with bitterness and helplessness, ultimately ending in boundless bewilderment.

“What you said is right, and what they said is also right. How could a woman like me, who is ungrateful and heartless, be so shameless as to come back and get in your way again?”

She looked directly into Shen Jingsi's eyes; he was clearly smiling, but his tone was full of self-mockery.

"Just like you said last night, I really was a fool. I chose that bastard Zheng Yaozong over such a good man like you. Do you want to know why?"

"Why."

Under Shen Jingsi's increasingly icy glare, Lu Zhenyu hardened her eyes and said, "Because I love him too much. I love him so much that I'm willing to give up everything. What does giving up you mean?"

"Zhenzhen, don't be like this..."

"Godmother, you don't need to say anything."

Lu Zhenyu interrupted Shen's mother without even glancing at her, only looking at Shen Jingsi in front of her.

His expression gradually froze; he frowned, his chest heaving, as if suppressing some kind of anger.

"Go on."

The words were squeezed out between Shen Jingsi's teeth, his chest heaving deeply, and his fierce eyes blazing with a crimson light.

Lu Zhenyu saw this and raised an eyebrow. Rather than being open and fearless, it was more like she was determined to burn her bridges.

"If you keep talking, then you'll probably be wrong about what you said this afternoon. I've never regretted abandoning you to marry Zheng Yaozong. Even if I had to do it all over again, I would still marry him without hesitation."

She tilted her head at him, a smirk playing on her lips, a hint of defiance in her bitter smile, "Is this answer satisfactory, Mr. Shen?"

Shen Jingsi clenched his fists at his sides until the veins bulged and his knuckles turned white. His chest heaved violently, and the frost in his eyes could freeze a person three feet deep.

The last time he was this angry was at Lu Zhenyu and Zheng Yaozong's wedding, when she confronted him in front of everyone, saying to him who had come to steal the bride:

“Shen Jingsi, I don’t need your love. And please remember, I don’t love you, and I certainly don’t love a powerless, good-for-nothing cripple.”

Enraged to the extreme, Shen Jing suddenly burst into mocking laughter.

His laughter was desolate yet satisfying, but his eyes churned with surging hatred. "Satisfied, very satisfied."

He reached behind him and pulled Duan Xi'er into his arms. The woman was stunned for a moment, then reacted and gently snuggled against him.

Shen Jinchuan was even more surprised. In all these years, he had never seen his cousin behave intimately with any woman other than Lu Zhenyu.

Shen Jingsi stared directly at Lu Zhenyu the whole time, showing her that he was doing it regardless of the consequences.

"I really have to thank you for making room for me and letting me meet such a wonderful girl."

Then he looked at Feng Manman, arrogant and resolute, "From today onwards, Duan Xi'er is my fiancée, Chen Jingsi. On our wedding day, I would like to invite you both to the wedding banquet."

Lu Zhenyu's heart clenched after Shen Jingsi's words, and then exploded with the next sentence.

All the blood in my body flowed backward, and accompanied by disordered breathing, my whole body suddenly went limp.

She clenched her fists to suppress her laughter, a desolate and ruthless smile on her face. "Fine, we look forward to that day."

After saying that, he took Feng Manman's hand and strode outside.