Boyfriend

Shen Yingchang sat upright at the table, surveying the furnishings in the room.

Wen Yunsheng, however, only looked at Tao Chu standing at the door with a mixture of grievance and resentment.

Tao Chu felt uneasy under that look, as if he wanted her to give him a proper explanation.

What explanation can she give?

How did she know a boyfriend would suddenly fall from the sky?

If she had known this would happen, she wouldn't have rushed to fish for Wen Yunsheng last night.

Now she's the one who cheated on her boyfriend with her childhood sweetheart, and now the "wife" and the "mistress" are sitting opposite each other, leaving her with the chair in the middle.

She couldn't explain, otherwise she would have ruined the show that Shen Yingchang had set up.

Thinking of this, Tao Chu glared at Shen Yingchang—if he wanted her to cooperate, he should at least give her a heads-up first!

Tao Chu stiffened his neck, put his hands in his coat pockets to show his strength, and found a mint.

She suddenly realized that someone had taken out a cigarette and been puffing away for five minutes, looking serious, but actually frantically thinking: What should I do? What should I make up to fool everyone...?

Tao Chu removed the wrapper from the mint with one hand, put it in his mouth, sat down between them, crossed his legs, and remained silent.

She was wearing only a nightgown under her coat, and half of her bare legs were dangling out, swaying gently.

Wen Yunsheng noticed that she was not very happy, so he turned slightly to look at Shen Yingchang.

How did Mr. Shen meet Chu Chu?

"At school."

"Oh, Mr. Shen also studied at C University—where is he working now?"

Shen Yingchang pushed up his glasses: "I'm still pursuing my doctorate."

Wen Yunsheng's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, and a smile appeared on his face.

"No wonder, he looks older than us. Being a PhD student isn't easy—what's his major?"

Tao Chu bit into a mint and glanced at Shen Yingchang.

Wen Yunsheng studied law and worked at Yuanmao Group for several years. If Shen Yingchang casually mentioned a common liberal arts or business major, Wen Yunsheng, driven by jealousy, would press him for more information to compare their strengths and weaknesses, and the truth would likely be exposed.

Her mind raced, and she heard Shen Yingchang say, "Analytical chemistry."

Nice!

Tao Chu smiled slightly, especially when she saw Wen Yunsheng stunned. She quickly lowered her head and bit her lip, afraid of laughing out loud.

“Oh, STEM fields—Chu Chu and I both studied humanities.” Wen Yunsheng nodded. “These days, finding a job isn’t easy, and there’s even this saying about ‘dead-end’ majors. But Mr. Shen has already earned a doctorate, so I suppose he plans to pursue academic research.”

“If Mr. Wen doesn’t intend to help me find a job, then I won’t trouble you with your career path.” Shen Yingchang glanced at Tao Chu. “We still have something to discuss.”

Tao Chu could tell that he was losing patience, so she forced a smile and said to Wen Yunsheng, "Why don't you go back first?"

Wen Yunsheng remained silent, sitting as still as a mountain, silently staring at Tao Chu, making her feel extremely guilty.

But the most pressing matter right now is to confirm Shen Yingchang's identity so that we can clarify our next steps, since there's still the "Sea Chaser" waiting for us with its gaping maw.

I have no choice but to solidify my "scumbag woman" persona for now.

Tao Chu walked over to Wen Yunsheng, bent down slightly, and said softly, "I was seasick last night and still have a headache. I just woke up and all this stuff hit me right in the face. Let me catch my breath—I'll contact you later about the 'Sea Chaser'."

Wen Yunsheng looked up and noticed that she didn't look well; no wonder she got up late today.

She kindly offered her a way out, and even though she was reluctant to let her be alone with Shen Yingchang, Wen Yunsheng didn't want her to be caught in the middle.

Moreover, Shen Yingchang is just a student; how could he possibly understand Tao Chu's current situation, let alone protect her?

She could only discuss the "Sea Chaser" project with herself.

Wen Yunsheng felt reassured and stood up to say to her, "Get some rest. I've booked a table at Chef Jin Cui's restaurant. I'll come pick you up later."

Tao Chu breathed a sigh of relief and was nodding when she noticed Wen Yunsheng raising his hand to touch her face, so she immediately dodged back.

Wen Yunsheng only touched her chin. Seeing her wide-eyed expression like a frightened fawn, he couldn't help but smile and instead rubbed the top of her head.

Fearing she would be angry, he only rubbed her twice before letting go and leaving.

Tao Chu couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Competitiveness really is a daring thing. To touch someone inappropriately in front of her 'official boyfriend,' Wen Yunsheng really isn't afraid of getting beaten up..."

As soon as the door closed, Shen Yingchang burst out laughing: "You're not even trying to hide when I'm rubbing your hair? Aren't you afraid they'll notice you're wearing a wig?"

Sure enough, he knew about his shaved head.

Tao Chu raised an eyelid and glared at him, annoyed: "You still have the nerve to laugh? Boyfriend? Shouldn't you be furious and go fight him?"

Shen Yingchang shrugged: "I'm a pretty easygoing person."

As he spoke, he took off his glasses and placed them on the table, then got up and took off his coat, draping it over the back of his chair.

Tao Chu noticed the muscles vaguely visible under his shirt, and saw him quickly walk to the door and window to check around. She couldn't help but say, "Shouldn't you introduce yourself by now?"

After checking outside the window, Shen Yingchang turned around, rested his elbow on the windowsill, and smiled at her: "I'm Hannah's colleague."

Upon hearing "Hannah," Tao Chu had a feeling of what was going on, but to be on the safe side, she continued:

"Hannah is a common name. How would I know who you're talking about?"

Shen Yingchang smiled and waved his hand: "Okay, I'll make a call."

He took out his phone, dialed a number, and handed it to Tao Chu.

The call was answered within seconds: "Hello?"

Tao Chu smiled when he heard the familiar female voice: "Hannah, it's me, Grace."

"Wow! He found you!" The other person was also delighted and switched to Mandarin with a slight English accent, "How are you doing there?"

"I've taken care of things at home, and as for myself... well... it's not too bad."

"Please accept my condolences. As for what happened later, Shen Yingchang will do his best to help you. He is my colleague and good friend."

Tao Chu couldn't help but turn to look at him. He raised his hand and waved it, silently saying "Hi".

"Okay, sister, I understand. Has things calmed down over there lately?"

"Right now, there are only a few scattered disturbances, nothing major. Take good care of yourself, see you later!"

"Okay, take care."

Shen Yingchang took the phone: "Good vigilance, that's a good thing. With Hannah vouching for us, can we sit down and have a proper talk?"

Tao Chu nodded.

Hannah is a Chinese-American policewoman in charge of the C University area. Last year, during the unrest at the university, Tao Chu's university was one of the focal points.

Tao Chu used his expertise in journalism to stabilize public opinion through social media and school speeches, and cooperated with local police to maintain order, which is how he met Hannah.

Hannah felt very guilty for not being able to protect Tao Chu at the scene. As they were both Chinese, she took good care of Tao Chu after he was injured. Before leaving C University for Jianglin, Tao Chu also told Hannah about the changes in his family.

However... Tao Chu did not expect anyone to come to Jianglin.

"Is what's happening here related to the turmoil at C University?" Tao Chu asked.

Shen Yingchang smiled and shook his head: "I can't disclose the details of the case. Let's talk about what you should do next—are you planning to go to the 'Sea Chaser'?"

Tao Chu usually equates "no comment" with an affirmative answer. If that's the case, Shen Yingchang would probably prefer to go to the "Sea Chaser" himself in order to investigate the case, right?

"I haven't decided yet. I feel... getting on the ship is too dangerous, it's not worth taking such a big risk."

“That makes sense.” Shen Yingchang nodded slowly a few times. “Then we’ll disembark when we reach the port tomorrow, and we won’t even stay on this ship.”

This surprised Tao Chu: "Really, we can disembark? Don't you need to investigate?"

Shen Yingchang shrugged: "I was just agreeing with you to make you happy. Whether or not I can get off the ship isn't up to me. Do you think Li Yue is so easy to talk to?"

Tao Chu frowned deeply. Was he being teased?!

"Can't you be serious for once?!"

Seeing her disgusted expression, Shen Yingchang laughed even harder: "I know you've met a lot of police officers, and they're all pretty serious. I'm a bit of an oddball, you'll see in time—I wish us a pleasant working relationship!"

Tao Chu looked at his outstretched right hand and thought about the wonderful show he had put on by descending from the sky. He gained a concrete understanding of his "unconventional" nature and couldn't help but hesitate whether to shake hands with him back.

Shen Yingchang grabbed her hand that was on the table and shook it symbolically, as if he had quickly signed some kind of contract, afraid that she would go back on her word.

"The ship will arrive at the port around 9 a.m. tomorrow, at the latest tonight. Li Yue will definitely come looking for you, most likely to threaten you into boarding the ship. So tonight, you can go to Wen Yunsheng's appointment and see if he's a powerful figure you can rely on or just a good-for-nothing young master—I'm very generous, you don't need to consider my feelings."

After he finished his analysis, he looked at Tao Chu sincerely and blinked twice.

What, we should thank him for his generosity?

Tao Chu lowered her head, not wanting to look at him, and put her hand to her forehead.

But he wouldn't stop talking: "If Wen Yunsheng is unreliable, then I'll have to go with you on the ship—wasn't the grand prize a double ticket? Once we're on board, we'll see what happens..."

Tao Chuteng stood up abruptly, and Shen Yingchang immediately stopped talking.

She looked down at him and said through gritted teeth, "I haven't eaten yet, you should go back to your room first."

Shen Yingchang wisely picked up his glasses, put them on, exchanged contact information, and then got up and left.

Before leaving, he turned back and gave one last piece of advice:

"Dressing up nicely tonight will increase our chances of success—if he gets angry, we'll save ourselves a lot of trouble."

He swiftly slipped out the door before Tao Chu could stride over and unleash a powerful punch.

Tao Chu leaned against the door, feeling suffocated with anger.

Who are these people? Hannah is so capable, how come she has such unreliable colleagues and friends?

Tao Chu took out her phone and called Cen Le to complain, but after the call connected, she didn't even know where to begin.

After a few seconds of silence, she said, "About half an hour ago, I suddenly found myself with a boyfriend..."