When Shen Lin woke up, it was almost midnight. He opened his eyes and saw a familiar scene. He moved his body slightly and felt a sharp pain. He frowned. At that moment, a voice sounded beside him.

"Stop moving, do you want the wound to reopen? This isn't the first time you've done this. You shouldn't do it more than three times."

Shen Lin turned his head and saw that the person next to him was none other than Gu Shilin.

He looked around but couldn't find Ye Xinning in the bedroom, and his eyes immediately showed an unconcealable sense of disappointment.

Perhaps sensing his disappointment, Gu Shilin added, "What, do you really want her here waiting for you to wake up?"

Shen Lin closed his eyes, choosing to ignore him.

"Don't tell me, didn't you think that going to see Song Xiang would offend her and implicate our Gu family? You're far from the emperor's reach, so no one can do anything to you, but I'm different. If my mother knew that you offended Song Xiang for a woman, she would probably scold you to death."

"My aunt hasn't been involved in anything for so many years, do you think she would scold me for such a trivial matter?"

"..."

"We'll see."

Shen Lin looked down at his fingers and said casually, "Song Xiang is indeed powerful, but Song Zhengchu is still in charge of the Song family now. How could your Gu family be implicated by me? That's impossible."

Gu Shilin, “…”

Originally, she only wanted to scare Shen Lin with those words, but she didn't expect that even when the man was lying in bed, he was still so meticulous when he was thinking about things.

"Okay, it's not very good, but I should be the one saying that."

"Stop talking nonsense, where is he?" Shen Lin ignored Gu Shilin's words and asked this question in a cold voice.

"I thought you could hold back from asking."

Gu Shilin glanced at the time and clicked his tongue in disapproval, "He only managed to hold back for three minutes. What a coward."

Shen Lin rubbed his temples, utterly speechless at Gu Shilin's excessive talking.

"The person went back. They left after dropping you off?"

"What? You left after dropping me off?"

Shen Lin's sharp gaze fell on Gu Shilin. Gu Shilin withstood the pressure and lied without batting an eye, "Yes, she left as soon as she dropped you off here. Otherwise, do you think she would have stayed?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lin's eyes were filled with nothing but disappointment, devoid of any other emotion.

He kept his head down and didn't speak. His dejected appearance made Gu Shilin feel a little sorry for him.

But he had a way of doing it; he was told to say those things by others.

He didn't want to take on this responsibility, but he had no choice.

"I'm saying, why don't you find someone else you like?"

Gu Shilin thought of what Ye Xinning said when she left.

—I'm leaving. Don't let him know I was here. I don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, for Ye Xinning, Shen Lin was just a nuisance.

Whenever Gu Shilin thought of this sentence, he felt that in his current state, there was really no need for him to be so persistent in liking Ye Xinning alone.

Shen Lin made no response to what Gu Shilin said, as if he had not heard him at all.

"Actually, I'm telling you, with your status as the president of the Shen Group in Nancheng, plus a face that seems to be favored by the Creator, with such superior external conditions, you could have any woman you wanted. Why are you so fixated on that one person?"

"How about this, you stay in France for a while longer. You don't like the girls in Nancheng, so I'll introduce you to some from abroad. Actually, there are a lot of nice girls here in France. Once your injury is almost healed, I'll take you to experience it properly."

Gu Shilin had just finished speaking when a pillow flew towards him, followed by a low, hushed voice from Shen Lin: "Get out."

Gu Shilin hugged his pillow and exclaimed, "Seriously? Are you that fierce? I'm just making sense. You're not going to stick to one thing forever, are you?"

Shen Lin kept his head down, his voice cold and deep, "If you say another word, I'll move out of your villa right now."

Gu Shilin compromised, repeatedly saying "yes, yes, yes" to each other.

"Okay, I won't say anything more. Are you hungry? I'll have someone prepare some food and bring it to you."

"Get out, I don't want to eat."

Gu Shilin knew he would say that, and regardless of whether he really didn't want to eat, he turned around and arranged for the servants to make him something to eat.

Once he's fully recovered, he can do whatever he wants, but until he's fully recovered, he absolutely cannot let her act up anymore.

...

Ye Xinning, who left, was unaware of the conversation that Shen Lin and Gu Shilin had after she left. She then returned to the Song family.

Song Zhengchu was waiting at the door. When he saw her return, he immediately went to greet her.

"Ningning is back."

Ye Xinning nodded to Song Zhengchu, "Dad, don't worry."

"Let me see if you're hurt anywhere."

"I'm not hurt."

"She didn't do anything to you?" Song Zhengchu adjusted his glasses, somewhat surprised.

"To be precise, I did do something. She wouldn't let me leave, but Shen Lin came and took a blow for me."

"Shen Lin went too?"

"Um."

Ye Xinning responded indifferently, but Song Zhengchu stared intently at her, his gaze never leaving her for a moment.

She clasped her hands together, and for some reason, she felt inexplicably nervous. "Is Dad trying to say something to me? Why is he looking at me like that?"

"Isn't Shen Lin supposed to have no feelings for you? He's saved you time and time again. It doesn't seem like he doesn't care about you."

"..."

Ye Xinning pursed her lips, pondering how to answer the question.

“Dad, my situation with Shen Lin is a bit complicated, and I can’t explain it in a few words. Just know that my marriage with him is over. I am grateful to him for saving me, and I have promised him that if he ever needs me in the future, I will definitely repay this favor.”

Song Zhengchu gently patted her head. Even though Ye Xinning had gone through a failed marriage, to Song Zhengchu, she would always be his child.

"The favor has been repaid, but what about the feelings?"

"dad."

"I don't know if you want to hear these words, but I really don't know much about you and Chen Lin. I only found out about you and Chen Lin when you called to tell me you were getting married. After the marriage, you never said anything to me, so I always thought you were happy. Until recently, when you told me that you and Chen Lin were getting divorced, I realized that this marriage hadn't made you happy. Ningning, I'm your father. Seeing you and Chen Lin like this for so long, I just want to ask you one question: Do you still love him?"

Ye Xinning fell silent after Song Zhengchu's long speech. Song Zhengchu did not urge her and gave her ample time to think.

After a long silence, Ye Xinning looked up at Song Zhengchu and gave a firm answer.

"like."