Chapter 40: Money-Giving Child or Accomplice?
Xu Yuewei sat on the bed, lost in thought, while the sound of water running from the bathroom continued through the wall.
Jiang Shiyan went to take a shower.
It's not that I'm doing anything shameful, it's just that I'm dirty.
Just now, after that sudden kiss, Xu Yuewei grabbed the iced cola next to her without thinking, unwrapped the towel covering it, pulled the tab, and threw it at him.
The whole process took a few seconds, more than enough time for a person with a normal nervous system to react and dodge, but Jiang Shiyan remained motionless, waiting for her to hit him, only blinking when the ice water was splashed on him.
His clothes were all wet and difficult to clean. Xu Yuewei vented her anger, but regretted it as soon as she felt satisfied.
The can spun and rolled away, the soda inside bobbing and spitting out. Xu Yuewei closed her eyes, pretending not to see anything: "I'll compensate you."
Jiang Shiyan said nothing.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw that he had taken off his shirt and thrown it on the ground at his feet. His upper body was bare, and his muscles were clearly visible, making him even more muscular than when he was dressed.
She had just experienced the strength in those shoulders and arms not long ago.
Xu Yuewei was stunned and forgot to look away.
I saw his hands on his belt buckle, skillfully unbuckled it, the belt came out of the buckle, and next was the zipper, but the zipper was pushed up in a bulging arc...
Xu Yuewei couldn't take it anymore: "You're a pervert!"
His laughter was like sparkling water, refreshingly sweet.
"I'm going to take a shower." He bent down, holding up his half-pulled-down pants with one hand, and hooked the shoelace of one of her high heels with the other. "Be a good girl and stay here for a while, you money-spreading brat."
Her response was to say that she would compensate him.
The bathroom door closed without making a locking sound.
Xu Yuewei grabbed the blanket to cover her legs, buried her head in it, and muttered "bastard" under her breath.
Who are you calling a spendthrift? It's all because he casually treats people lightly.
*
The "a while" that Jiang Shiyan was referring to was actually quite a long time.
It's not a physiological reaction caused by pure desire; it's half-hearted, hesitant, and slow to come out.
It was so uncomfortable. He wiped the water off his face, turned around, and looked at the shoe he had left outside the shower door.
Imagine it hanging loosely on the woman's foot, swaying high in the air with his rhythm...
When Jiang Shiyan emerged, refreshed and wrapped in a white bath towel, he immediately noticed Xu Yuewei with her lower body covered by a blanket, looking like she was sitting on a white foam. He couldn't help but find it amusing.
"Is it really necessary? You're already injured. If I were to actually sleep with you, would I even be human?"
She said, "My feet were very cold."
He cruelly said, "Then just bear with it."
He haphazardly dried his head with a towel and asked again, "Are you feeling better?"
How would I know?
She shifted her gaze and calmly accused, "I can't even get out of bed and try walking around."
Her eyes were extremely dark, and when they shone, they resembled black pearls. Jiang Shiyan loved the moments when she was quiet and her eyes were filled only with herself.
However, he had no heart to appreciate it at the moment. Thinking of the shoe that was still hidden in the bathroom, he felt a little guilty.
"Well, I'll get you a pair of disposable slippers."
"No need, I've thought it through."
While he was taking a shower, Xu Yuewei contacted Song Jinshu, hoping she could come to his rescue. However, Song Jinshu's sadistic tendencies suddenly kicked in, and she couldn't stop socializing.
The groom's sister brought her pet male model, and she was so generous, letting us touch him. He was incredibly tender, his biceps were so nice to pinch, and his breasts were so bouncy—did she use some kind of technology?
Xu Yuewei was impressed by how much fun these people had, yet she remained meticulous:
How many sisters does the groom have?
[Didn't you know? This is Yongle Department Store's only princess.]
Would you believe me if I said my brother is talking to her?
The "Ha" message sent by Song Jinshu took up almost a third of the screen.
Regardless of which of Xu Yaochen's lies were true, the fact that no girl had been hurt because of him made Xu Yuewei feel a weight lift from her heart.
As for the money he borrowed, she didn't want to deal with it anymore after being forcibly kissed. This messy debt would remain in Wuqiao; let those two wicked people deal with it themselves!
"No need for any honey trap. I won't be your accomplice. It's not like I forced you to lend it to him. If you don't get it back, it's none of my business."
Xu Yuewei threw back the covers, dangled her left foot off the bed and into her shoe, then stood up, holding onto the edge of the bed, intending to hop on one foot to find her other shoe.
Jiang Shiyan took a few steps to stand behind her and stopped her:
"Don't twist both your ankles, or I'll have to carry you back to your room."
“I’ll climb back, even if I have to.” She shook him off and continued jumping along the wall.
Jiang Shiyan carried her back to bed, as cruelly as catching a snail that was about to crawl back into the mud on a rainy day and then putting it back on the road.
He went to fetch her shoes, helped her put them on, and just when she thought she had regained her freedom, he told her to wait again:
"I have something to give you."
Xu Yuewei thought, "He wouldn't pull out a condom, would he?"
There was nothing she could do; that was how she perceived him.
But Jiang Shiyan took out a color from his black backpack, which was completely out of character for him.
A bright, somewhat gaudy orange-yellow.
It was a carrot-shaped bun that Grandma made for her.
Xu Yuewei can't leave.
If it weren't for her ankle injury, she would have rushed forward and snatched it away.
Xu Yaochen couldn't borrow the money from her, so he didn't give her the final payment. She thought she would never get it back.
"Aren't you glad I got scammed?"
Jiang Shiyan walked over and put the rope made of thick woolen yarn over her head.
But if she wanted to stretch out one hand and sling it across her shoulder like she did when she was a child, it would be difficult, so she had to wear it as a rather long necklace.
Xu Yuewei wanted to say, "No, that would just transfer the debt back to you and me."
But as she touched the carrot-shaped bag she had found again, a part of her heart softened just like it, and she called it, "The Money-Giving Boy."
Jiang Shiyan said, "I won't spend money; I'll use it to buy your time."
*
The room has a small balcony with two camel-colored outdoor folding chairs and a low table.
Looking out, the mountains and forests were bare, and the desolation of autumn and winter seemed to devour all the surrounding firelight.
Jiang Shiyan fumbled around for a while and found a string of star-shaped lights hanging on the pillar next to the balcony door. It didn't look like it was tied by the hotel staff; it was probably the work of the child brought by the previous guest.
He frowned, as if he was disgusted by the cheap atmosphere.
Xu Yuewei, however, felt it was just right. They relied on this flickering light to fight against the darkness, without needing the romance of candlelit night walks or fireside chats.
Moreover, the fairy lights have a nostalgic feel and match the carrot around her neck perfectly.
She recounted stories of how her grandmother would lull her to sleep, feed her, and help her say goodbye to other children before she went home. Strangely enough, she could now speak fluently about things she had never said to him before.
"The year I met Jinshu, my grandmother passed away, and her grandfather also passed away when she was very young. When we played together, if one of us cried when she thought of something, the other would cry too, and we would hide from the adults, as if missing someone was a shameful thing."
"Weren't you high school classmates?"
“I’ve known him since elementary school, and we’re also friends of my father.” Xu Yuewei turned her head to look at the man who was looking straight ahead. “Just like you and Meng Jiao.”
After she finished speaking, she noticed a very subtle look of helplessness on his profile, which appeared somewhat comical in the colorful light.
But instead of laughing, she became serious: "By the way, that incident didn't cause her any trouble afterward, did it?"
Jiang Shiyan looked at her, their eyes met, and the loneliness in his eyes flowed towards her.
He said, "You really don't care about me at all."
Xu Yuewei choked for a moment: "What are you talking about? Didn't you deliberately spread rumors about her?"
"Yes, but don't you know who it's for?" He pursed his lips, then relaxed. "Don't play dumb."
The conversation had circled back to this point, only to be met with her silence once more.
Jiang Shiyan took out a cigarette case and a lighter from his coat: "Do you mind?"
"Secondhand smoke causes cancer, of course I mind."
"You're too kind," he said with a smile, casually placing the items on the table.
“If it weren’t for you, I would have been polite and put up with it.”
Xu Yuewei picked up the lighter, pressed it, and a flame jumped out. "My dad smokes. He's under a lot of pressure and has a heavy smoking habit. We've tried to persuade him to smoke less, but he says we freeloaders don't understand him."
"Then what is he now..."
"He's dead." I guessed what he wanted to ask. "Not lung cancer, pancreatic cancer."
What did he do before?
"The steel business was quite profitable in the early years. Didn't I tell you that before?"
But thinking about it, they rarely talk about this kind of thing, probably because they both know each other's family backgrounds are not good and deliberately avoid it. But perhaps it is this commonality that connects them.
Jiang Shiyan nodded upon hearing this: "There is something to thank him for."
Xu Yuewei almost doubted that she had heard correctly.
"His death urged you to come back, which is why we met again."
"..."
Speechless, she turned off the lighter and took out a cigarette.
"Can I try one?"
Can you do it?
"No, but it shouldn't be difficult, right?"
"No, if you really want to try, why not have a piece of candy, or kiss me again?"
He snatched the cigarette pack, but Xu Yuewei still had a cigarette in her hand. She lit it and used it as a sparkler, swiping it around in the air.
"I have nothing more to say. Can I go back to my room now?"
“No, that would be too much of a loss for me.” He probed indirectly, “Tell me why you left Wuqiao.”
Xu Yuewei answered quickly: "Because my destiny favors metal."
"What?"
“The Fog Bridge belongs to the Wood element, which is my unfavorable element and clashes with me.”
Jiang Shiyan was utterly speechless.
But she said seriously, "To want to leave this place, to the point of resorting to metaphysics. You've never experienced this feeling before, have you?"
After a while, the cigarette butt burned out. Xu Yuewei threw it on the ground and was about to stand up and stomp on it when someone acted faster than her.
Jiang Shiyan's hair was half wet and half dry. He ran his hand through it, and now it was a fairly standard slicked-back hairstyle.
He crushed the cigarette butt hard, gritting his teeth and saying fiercely, "No, I still want to tie your brother up and beat him up."
"?"
*
On the other side, after the game ended, Xu Yaochen lay in bed playing games, delaying his time to take a shower.
The word "Failure" appeared on the screen. He rolled his eyes and prepared to start the next game.
At this moment, a message popped up:
Can you get some ointment? Your sister's injury is quite serious.
Xu Yaochen wanted to say "What's it to me?" but he couldn't. In front of this person, he had to try his best to maintain a friendly relationship with his sister on the surface.
Okay, the hotel should have a first-aid kit or something. I'll go ask.
But we're already here.
After the door opened, Xu Yaochen handed the plaster to Jiang Shiyan and said a few words of comfort.
Just as he was about to leave, Jiang Shiyan called out to him again: "I have some dirty clothes, could you take them to someone to wash them for me?"
Damn, they're really using him like a waiter.
He smiled at the creditor and said, "No problem, bro."
Jiang Shiyan invited him in, pointing to the clothes he had changed out of on the floor, which were soaked with cola: "That lump."
Xu Yaochen walked over helplessly. As he bent down to grab something, everything suddenly went dark. The curtains completely blocked out the moonlight, and the room was pitch black.
Xu Yuewei stood at the door, clutching the room card she had just pulled out, anxiously observing the two figures lying on the ground.
She had been hiding in the bathroom, and as agreed, she was to wait for Xu Yaochen to come inside, then remove the room key, and that was all she had to do.
Jiang Shiyan specifically told her not to come over.
She was so terrified that she dared not look anymore and closed her eyes again, burying her head in the sand.
Just as she closed her eyes, she heard Jiang Shiyan's calm command: "Alright, turn on the lights."
"So fast?" she exclaimed in surprise, turning on the power and slowly walking over.
Xu Yaochen, with a towel stuffed in his mouth, tilted his head in terror as he looked at her, making a pleading "mmm" sound.
Jiang Shiyan pinned the person's hands behind their back to the bed, and said with the air conditioning on, "You're only allowed to praise me like this at this time."
"..."
"He's thin but not very athletic, and he's quite clumsy," Jiang Shiyan said, giving her a quick glance. "Look how nervous you are."
Xu Yuewei admitted that she felt very relieved at that moment, but then realized that no matter how outrageous the matter was, this person downplayed it all. To her, he was still the danger itself.
"...What do we do now?"
Jiang Shiyan was also stumped by the question.
He originally planned to strip him naked and take some nude photos, or beat him up to vent his anger, but he couldn't do it alone, and if he did, he would be the one in the wrong.
After thinking for a moment, I had no choice but to be frank: "I've heard everything from your sister. Did you lie on purpose to cheat me out of my money? If you don't pay me back today, I'll make this public knowledge and see who loses face, you or me."
Xu Yuewei, with a look of righteous indignation, retorted: "Why are you afraid to tell the truth when you're borrowing money? Are you addicted to drugs?"
She stood to the side, looking down at Jiang Shiyan and interrogating him, looking every bit like an accomplice.
After removing the towel, Xu Yaochen shouted, "Nothing!"
Jiang Shiyan simply tied his hands with a belt, but the grip remained tight, lifting his arms higher and pressing them in the opposite direction.
Xu Yaochen let out a wail, but his face was buried in the bed, so the sound was suppressed.
"I confess, I confess, I confess! I used it for gambling..."
Xu Yuewei and Jiang Shiyan exchanged a glance:
Xu Yaochen, of course, couldn't see their silent exchange. He struggled to lift his neck and turn his face to the side, only to see the faint smile on Xu Yuewei's face. Anger welled up inside him, and he simply vomited everything up.
"Actually, it was my dad who corrupted me."
"It's all your fault! You've ruined him and us!"
"Boss Qiu had promised to bring his father into the real estate business. If you hadn't broken it off with his son, things wouldn't have ended up like that!"
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Author's Note: Oh my, thank you so much for the nutrient solution! [starry eyes][starry eyes][starry eyes][rose][kiss]
I really love the accomplice trope, hehe w
I've been putting it off these past few days, and it's been past midnight every time, which is awful. Fine, I'll change it to this time then. (Runs away with a pot on my head)
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