Chapter 12 Lu Zhenyu ran away
Ever since Lu Zhenyu was pushed back, Feng Manman has stayed by her side without leaving for a moment.
At this moment, all she felt was regret.
I shouldn't have gone to the Shen family to cause trouble in a fit of anger, and I shouldn't have provoked Shen Jingsi into saying those outrageous things. Otherwise, Zhenzhen wouldn't be lying here.
Tears silently streamed down her face. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, and then a handkerchief appeared in front of her.
Shen Jinchuan silently entered her peripheral vision. Feng Manman, without a handkerchief, glared at him fiercely.
"Stay away from me. I don't want to see any of your Shen family members right now."
His handsome features appeared even more profound and three-dimensional under the light and shadow, and his posture was impeccably upright.
Shen Jinchuan didn't leave. He bent down, his knees bent, and took her hand, gently wiping her palm with a handkerchief that he hadn't had time to wash.
This man always handles things with such a slow and deliberate composure.
Even if the world were to end the next second, it wouldn't stop him from carrying the freshly brewed coffee to his hands, crossing his legs and sitting back on the sofa, letting the buildings outside the floor-to-ceiling windows collapse one after another, sipping his coffee, and quietly waiting for the destruction to come.
Feng Manman really annoyed him, but no matter how much she used sarcastic language, he didn't care, as if he had a magic shield around his ears.
bother!
"Stop pretending!" Feng Manman pulled her hand back. "You're just afraid I'll cancel the engagement. It's no use. If anything happens to Zhenzhen, I won't let your Shen family get away with it."
Shen Jinchuan stood up, and the moment his leather shoes hit the ground, he pulled her hand and placed it on her narrow waist under his suit jacket.
"Then pinch me a couple of times to vent your anger."
Feng Manman looked up. The more gentle and refined his smile, the tighter her brows furrowed. "This trick won't work today. Even if I beat you to death, it won't vent my anger."
He had been completely submissive to her for two years, harboring the intention of exchanging power with the Feng family. This man was truly capable of both yielding and asserting himself.
The small hand in his palm was pulled back, and the fingertips gently rubbed it twice. Shen Jinchuan straightened up and took two steps back. Just as he was about to speak, the ward door was pushed open.
Before the person even entered, Feng Manman's cold gaze had already shot over.
"No one with the surname Shen is allowed in this ward."
"Who cares?" Shen Jingsi had already reached the bedside. "Is he dead?"
Shen Jinchuan: "..."
Seeing him reach for Lu Zhenyu's wrist, Feng Manman leaned over and slapped him, "Don't touch her with your filthy hands that have touched that bitch!"
Shen Jingsi was too lazy to waste words with her. He gave her a look, and Shen Jinchuan, who successfully received the signal, carried her to the next lounge.
The ward was quiet. Shen Jingsi, holding onto the bedside table, bent down and slowly sat down in the chair, stretching his leg out under the bed to ease the pain.
He gently picked up Lu Zhenyu's left hand, which was covered by the testing device, pulled open the cuff of her hospital gown, and turned it inside out.
Under the dim light, the cut, which was about four centimeters long, was very faint and would not be noticed unless you looked at it with a specific purpose.
Shen Jingsi had experienced the feeling of cutting her finger before; she had cut her finger several times when she was sharpening paintbrushes for her.
The pain in my fingers is excruciating.
He didn't know what it felt like to cut his wrist, the thinnest part of his skin, but his heart ached at that moment.
Lu Zhenyu, who was in a coma, had a ventilator in her mouth, her eyebrows and eyes were closed, her shoulder-length short hair was spread out on the pillow, and she was so thin that she was almost buried under the quilt.
How come he didn't notice the old wounds on her lips and forehead last night?
Holding his hand in his palm and gently pressing it to his lips, Shen Jingsi's tears secretly flowed down his cheeks.
"Lu Zhenyu, why do I understand you less and less?"
"You already have money, status, and power in the capital. Since you love high-class relationships, why don't you try to climb up to me as well?"
"I can give you what Zheng Yaozong could give you back then, but I can't give you now. Please stop torturing me like this."
Shen Jingsi's heart ached terribly; the pain had started ever since he saw her collapse lifelessly.
Looking at her lying on the bed now, she was like a worn-out pearl, every glance at her was like a knife twisting in his heart.
Shen Jingsi admitted that he shouldn't have said those outrageous things in a moment of impulsiveness.
But he was really angry at the time, and his anger almost burned him to ashes.
"But why do you hate me so much? Even if you choose to marry that bastard Zheng Yaozong, you don't want to stay by my side."
Shen Jingsi looked up, gently brushed a stray hair from the woman's ear and tucked it behind her ear, his eyes red as he gazed at her intently.
Only now do I realize how jarringly thin this face is.
"He treated you badly, didn't he? He hit you, didn't he?"
"Last night, you kept calling out in your dream, 'Shen Jingsi, save me! Shen Jingsi, run! Shen Jingsi, I'm sorry!' Can you tell me what you were dreaming about?"
Last night, on the way back from the hospital, Lu Zhenyu fell asleep in Shen Jingsi's arms.
At first everything was fine, but after a while he suddenly started talking nonsense.
She cried and screamed, her voice trembling with pain. At the end of her cries, she began to tremble all over, repeatedly saying, "Chen Jingsi, go quickly, go quickly."
Shen Jingsi was helpless against her nightmare, but he couldn't bear to actually wake her up, so he held her tightly in his arms and comforted her again and again.
After returning to the Shen family home, he personally carried her out of the car, even in front of everyone, and did not allow anyone else to help her.
Despite her mother's sullen face beside her, she still carried her back to the bedroom and stayed with her until the middle of the night, only leaving when she was sure the girl was sleeping soundly.
But Chen Jingsi couldn't sleep.
Leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window by the bed, I smoke one cigarette after another, just like I have for over a decade.
It's simply because he can't understand it.
Shen Jingsi knew perfectly well that Zheng Yaozong, that bastard, had definitely laid a hand on Lu Zhenyu in the past five years.
What he couldn't understand was, if she wasn't happy, why didn't she come back? Why didn't she tell him?
Feeling guilty? Or simply too ashamed to face him?
I can't guess.
In other words, he never truly understood this woman.
-
Lu Zhenyu slept for a long time.
In her dream, she returned to the night five years ago, when the capital was shrouded in torrential rain.
By then, the Shen family home was already teetering on the brink of collapse amidst the raging storm.
One storm, one powerful minister.
The long-time strong backer of the Shen clan was kicked off the stage by the newly enthroned ruler.
As a result, the current head of the family, Shen Zhen'an, was first investigated for accepting bribes of over 100 million yuan from officials and endangering public order.
Then there's Shen Zhenmin, the second head of the Shen family and a current high-ranking official, who was suspended from his post and imprisoned for investigation on charges of abuse of power and other crimes.
The remaining dozens of members of the Shang and Zheng clans were investigated one after another, and most of the male members of the Shen family were taken away overnight.
Finally, when Shen Jingsi, the future heir of the Shen family, was out, he was involved in a car accident in the mountains for no apparent reason. The driver and the car fell off a cliff and died on the spot.
When Shen Jingsi was thrown out and was on the verge of death, he was rescued by Duan Xier who arrived in time, resulting in permanent disability in his right leg.
Given this situation, the Shen family is doomed.
That night, Lu Zhenyu, who was taking care of Shen Jingsi at the hospital, was called home by a phone call from Shen's mother.
“Zhenzhen, if the Shen family loses in this storm, the first one to die will be Xiao Si.”
Even if Shen's mother hadn't said it, Lu Zhenyu already knew all this.
Because Zheng Yaozong had contacted her the day before yesterday, he frankly admitted that he had arranged for Shen Jingsi's car accident to be caused.
As for the Shen family, they only chose the wrong side and shouldn't have been wiped out.
What exactly was going on behind the scenes? Apart from those few powerful figures in Beijing back then, no one truly knew.
Faced with Shen's mother's gaze, Lu Zhenyu lowered her head. "Godmother, what can I do?"
The ordeal of the past few days had left the matriarch of the Shen family looking haggard.
She took Lu Zhenyu's hand, her eyes filled with tears, her lips trembling as she tried to speak.
"Marry into the Zheng family and protect the Shen family. There is no other way."
In the pouring rain of a dark night, a three-meter-high door was pushed open, and a distraught Lu Zhenyu emerged.
The autumn rain was bitterly cold, and its rapid downpour created patches of white mist along the way.
She wandered aimlessly through it, the words of her mother echoing in her ears—
"But we must never let Xiao Si know about this. That child is impulsive by nature. When he was ten years old, he dared to beat Zheng Yaozong half to death for your sake. If he finds out that you had to marry into the Zheng family to save the Shen family, he will definitely cause a huge uproar in the capital."
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