Chapter 39, Chapter 39: I really like this kind of 'house arrest'...
This is the first snowfall of the winter.
Wen Yu woke up in Shen Jinhuai's arms. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the world outside the window covered in silver.
"It's so beautiful, let's go outside and take a look."
Wen Yu felt relieved and pulled Shen Jinhuai out of the room.
To their surprise, when they arrived at the front yard, they saw Zhou Shiye kneeling on the ground.
Zhou Shiye's hair and shoulders were covered in snow, and his eyelashes were frosted with it.
At first glance, it almost looks like a snowman.
But he was completely unaware of this, and was still focused on sculpting a small snowman that was beginning to take shape.
The man's fingers were frozen red and purple, and his movements were stiff, yet he remained unusually focused and attentive.
Zhou Shiye caught a glimpse of Wen Yu out of the corner of his eye and looked up in surprise.
Then they saw that Wen Yu was standing next to Shen Jinhuai, and the two of them were embracing each other.
Zhou Shiye's face, pale from the cold, stiffened slightly. He then forced a stiff smile.
He looked at the snowman cautiously, then at Wen Yu, his tone unusually ingratiating: "Xiao Yu, look, doesn't this little snowman look like the one you built when you first came to our house?"
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Shiye belatedly realized that Wen Yu didn't remember anything at the moment. His smile froze, and panic and annoyance flashed in his eyes.
After a long pause, he awkwardly forced a smile, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty: "I know you don't remember, but it's okay..."
Zhou Shiye's gaze involuntarily fell on Wen Yu's hand, which was holding Shen Jinhuai's arm.
His eyes darkened, a hint of despair flashing across them.
After a moment, Zhou Shiye looked away with difficulty, licked his dry and cold lips, and said in a hoarse voice, "As long as you, as long as you like this little snowman, that's enough."
Then, Zhou Shiye carefully picked up the rather exquisite little snowman on the ground with his uninjured hand.
The man lowered his eyelashes, concealing the turbulent emotions in his eyes. He hunched over and brought the small snowman in his palm closer to Wen Yu, his posture almost humble.
The movement sent a sharp pain through Zhou Shiye's arm, which was in a cast, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.
But the man lowered his head and looked at the ground, biting his lip, effectively concealing his emotional turmoil.
Naturally, Wen Yu didn't know if Zhou Shiye's arm hurt.
She looked at the glistening little snowman in the other person's palm, and her memory of Zhou Shiye's words about liking little snowmen went completely blank.
Out of the corner of her eye, Wen Yu's gaze fell on Zhou Shiye's trembling, purple hands, but there was not a trace of emotion in her eyes.
Yes, but only a faint sense of estrangement.
Mr. Zhou,
Wen Yu's voice, like the weather before her, was cold and devoid of warmth: "You don't need to do these things. Even if I used to like snowmen, that's all in the past. Now..."
Wen Yu no longer glanced at Zhou Shiye, and completely ignored the little snowman he was holding in his palm. Instead, she grasped Shen Jinhuai's warm, dry hand beside her, leaving only the words: "Right now, I only care about who's next to me."
Before she could finish speaking, Wen Yu took Shen Jinhuai's hand, turned around, and left.
Zhou Shiye stood frozen in place.
The man's face, already frozen and numb, lost all color, leaving only a deathly pale ashes.
As Zhou Shiye watched Wen Yu and Shen Jinhuai walk away side by side, his once arrogant eyes were now filled with utter despair.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but the words seemed to freeze in the cold wind, and he couldn't utter a single word.
Meanwhile, in the study on the third floor, Zhou Yingchen stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, taking in everything that was happening in the front yard downstairs.
The cigarette between the man's fingers burned slowly, and a long, grayish-white ash accumulated, but he was completely unaware of it.
Only after Wen Yu and Shen Jinhuai's embracing figures completely disappeared from sight did he slowly raise his hand, take a deep drag of his cigarette, and slowly exhale.
Thick smoke rose before his eyes, blurring Zhou Yingchen's deep and unfathomable gaze, and also concealing the sharp curve of his tightened jawline.
After some time, there was a knock on the study door.
Zhou Shiye pushed open the door, walked in, closed the door, and leaned against the door frame dejectedly.
He glanced at Zhou Yingchen's figure, his bloodshot eyes filled with confusion and despair.
"Brother, Xiaoyu won't forgive me, will she?"
Zhou Shiye's voice was hoarse, filled with despair: "What should I do? What should I do?"
Zhou Yingchen looked out the window without turning around. After a moment, he stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
"What's the rush? Time heals all wounds."
Zhou Yingchen turned to look at Zhou Shiye, his voice icy and devoid of any emotion: "Besides, the race car was tampered with, and you were punished for that, weren't you?"
"Didn't you say we had a common goal, and now... we're giving up?"
At this point, Zhou Yingchen took two steps forward, his jawline taut, his eyes revealing an almost cruel calmness: "Zhou Shiye, this isn't like you."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Shiye's dejected heart was suddenly pierced open, and a fierce energy mixed with unwillingness and obsession surged up again.
His prominent Adam's apple bobbed violently, and his eyes gradually hardened, becoming resolute.
"That's right, I shouldn't give up."
"Brother, from now on my law firm will listen to you. I'll do whatever you tell me to do."
Zhou Shiye clenched his fist, crushing the delicate little snowman in his palm, and cold water dripped from between his fingers.
·
After that day, Shen Jinhuai still stayed by Wen Yu's side every day.
However, Wen Yu noticed that Shen Jinhuai was answering phone calls much more frequently.
Sometimes he would deliberately avoid her and go to a more distant terrace to answer the phone.
Even after finishing his phone call and returning to Wen Yu's side, Shen Jinhuai would always immediately take her hand and give her a gentle smile, but Wen Yu could still keenly sense the lingering fatigue between the man's brows.
In particular, sometimes when Wen Yu woke up in the middle of the night, she would open her eyes and see Shen Jinhuai sitting on the sofa in his bathrobe, frowning at the computer.
During breakfast, Shen Jinhuai would stare blankly at his coffee, which had long since gone cold, after finishing a phone call, until Wen Yu touched the back of his hand, at which point he would snap out of his reverie and give her an apologetic smile.
Wen Yu knew that all of this stemmed from the Zhou family's relentless and increasingly aggressive targeting of the Shen Group.
So, when Wen Yu saw Shen Jinhuai leaning against the railing in deep thought after finishing a phone call on the balcony, and saw how tired the man's back looked in the night, she secretly made up her mind.
That evening, while Shen Jinhuai was holding a last-minute video conference on the balcony, Wen Yu went alone to the door of Zhou Yingchen's study on the third floor.
She took a deep breath, raised her hand, and knocked on the door.
"Mr. Zhou, may we talk?"
At that moment, Zhou Yingshen was reviewing documents when he heard Wen Yu's voice from outside the door. The pen he was signing fell to the table with a "thud".
The man looked up toward the door, a hint of disbelief flashing in his eyes. He then stood up, buttoned his shirt, straightened his already impeccably tailored suit collar, and strode toward the door before stopping again.
Zhou Yingchen closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress the rapid heartbeat and surging emotions in his chest before slowly opening the door.
"Xiaoyu? Is there something you need?"
Zhou Yingchen's voice remained as deep as ever, but he opened the door a little faster than usual.
"Come in and speak."
Wen Yu entered the study.
This was the first time Wen Yu had ever stepped into Zhou Yingchen's study since she lost her memory.
But for some reason, as soon as she stepped into this place, an invisible sense of oppression made her feel inexplicably uneasy.
The warm yellow light outlined the girl's slender yet upright back.
Wen Yu rubbed the ring on her right middle finger with her hand behind her back, pressing hard with her fingertip as if she could draw power from the ring.
After a while, the inexplicable fear deep in her heart gradually faded away.
Mr. Zhou,
Wen Yu looked at Zhou Yingchen, her voice indifferent, revealing little emotion: "I want to... talk to you."
Zhou Yingchen had already adjusted his facial expression.
He stood calmly in front of Wen Yu, staring intently at her: "Alright, what do you want to talk about?"
“I know the Zhou family has been kind to me. I've never intended to deny that completely. But…”
Wen Yu looked up to meet Zhou Yingchen's scrutinizing gaze and continued, "I hope the Zhou family can stop targeting Jinhuai's company. You promised me this when we were on the island, but you didn't keep your word."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yingchen's eyes flickered slightly.
A complex mix of emotions flashed across the man's eyes, but when he spoke, his voice betrayed no sign of panic, instead carrying a calm, businesslike demeanor: "The business world is like a battlefield. The Shen family is facing normal commercial competition, and so is the Zhou family."
"Mr. Zhou knows perfectly well whether it's normal business competition or not."
Wen Yu continued to rub the ring behind her back, her fingertips turning white from the pressure, as if she could draw courage from the ring indefinitely.
“Mr. Zhou, I don’t want to see you fight like this, and I don’t want to become the cause of your conflict. If, if the kindness of the Zhou family in raising me needs to be repaid in this way…”
Wen Yu paused, her rubbing of the ring stopping, her tone unconsciously turning colder: "Then I'd rather leave. I will repay the Zhou family's kindness in other ways, to the best of my ability."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yingchen's expression turned cold.
The composure the man had been trying so hard to maintain just a second ago cracked; his naturally drooping fingers tightened, and his fingertips turned white.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Yingchen leaned forward, closing the distance between them.
The man's low, hoarse voice demanded, "Does it have to be this way? For Shen Jinhuai? Is he that important? Worthy of you threatening to leave me?"
"yes."
Wen Yu answered without hesitation and with unwavering certainty: "He is the most important."
"Oh,"
Zhou Yingchen was so angry he laughed.
The man's chest heaved violently, his body trembling uncontrollably despite his forced restraint.
Zhou Yingchen stared intently at Wen Yu, trying to find even the slightest flaw in every subtle expression on her face: "Wen Yu, you have no idea who he is. When you disappeared, it was Shen Jinhuai who deliberately interfered with our clues and prevented us from finding you. Isn't that the same as putting you under house arrest and cutting off all your contact with the outside world?"
“Xiaoyu, this kind of person is deep and terrifying. You’re telling me he’s the most important person? You…”
Zhou Yingchen took a deep breath and swallowed back the words "crazy" that were on the tip of his tongue.
Wen Yu simply stared at the man before her, her clear eyes remaining completely undisturbed.
Then, Wen Yu's lips curved into a faint smile.
"So what?"
Zhou Yingchen's pupils shrank: "You, what did you say?"
Upon hearing this question, Wen Yu took a small step closer to Zhou Yingchen.
Her voice wasn't loud, but every word struck Zhou Yingchen's tense nerves: "Jin Huai respects me, cares about my feelings, and puts my wishes first in everything. When you were trying every means to force me to come back according to your ideas, even resorting to commercial means, he gave me a place where I could breathe freely, without fear, and truly be myself."
Wen Yu's gaze swept over the oppressive study in front of her, and then glanced at the deep courtyard outside the window, a symbol of confinement.
"Compared to here,"
Wen Yu looked at Zhou Yingchen again, her eyes becoming increasingly calm: "Mr. Zhou, I prefer the island that Jin Huai and I lived on, that... the island you won't let me stay on any longer."
Wen Yu knew that Shen Jinhuai was hiding something from her.
But she knew even more that all his concealment was to prevent her from being hurt again.
On the island, there is sunshine, sea breeze, her favorite art studio, and carefree embraces.
She experienced a freedom and being cherished that she had never felt before after losing her memory.
“Such 'house arrest',”
Ignoring Zhou Yingchen's increasingly ashen face as she spoke, Wen Yu said, enunciating each word clearly, "I like it very much."
After saying this, Wen Yu didn't linger. She turned around and walked towards the study door.
Before leaving, she gripped the doorknob without looking back, leaving only her final words: "I've said what I needed to say. If Mr. Zhou continues to disregard my wishes and target Jin Huai, I will leave with him."
"I mean what I say."
Then, Wen Yu opened the door and went out.
The door closed, leaving Zhou Yingchen alone in the study.
He stood frozen in place, the veins on the back of his hand, which was braced against the table, bulging. His eyes were filled with utterly defeated rage, pain, and... a tremendous panic that even he himself was unwilling to admit.
Wen Yu actually knew what Shen Jinhuai's actions meant.
But she doesn't care?
Why?
Why can she be indifferent to what Shen Jinhuai did to her, yet completely forget about him and Shi Ye?
The usually calm and composed man swept away the priceless documents on his desk.
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