Chapter 4: Elegantly and Intellectually Raising the Middle Finger
Passersby glanced at the scene and watched it repeatedly, finding it refreshing. Neither of them were the type to feel embarrassed. Qiao Shu was even more used to being the center of attention. The silly things the boys who pursued her did were both exaggerated and eye-catching, so wearing a pair of shoes was nothing to her.
Qiao Shu stared at him silently.
Yu Zeheng took out a shoe, put it on by the toes, and then lifted it by the heel. He looked relaxed and natural, but his movements were not very skilled. He lifted the heel and it took him two or three tries to get it on. He pursed his lips and had no expression, but he seemed to have a good temper.
His behavior was too abnormal. Qiao Shu couldn't understand his purpose. If staying was a sign of his good intentions, then why did he suddenly appear tonight, put on an act in front of the old man, and now kneel down to change her shoes? What was he doing?
Qiao Shu was completely clueless. She tilted her head and looked at him, saying softly, "Young Master Yu, you weren't even this formal at our wedding."
The wedding was grand and extremely luxurious, but like their relationship, it was superficial, empty, and hypocritical. The ceremony was cut short wherever possible, with no earth-shattering vows, only an eagerness to get through the motions.
"Really? It's been fixed now." Yu Zeheng said calmly. He took off both shoes, hooked his hands on the heels of his high heels to get up, walked around to the other side, opened the door and got into the driver's seat.
They both made casual remarks, and she didn't respond further.
Qiao Shu sat up straight, her feet firmly planted on the ground. She bent down, her long, slender, white fingers stroking her ankles and massaging them. Flat shoes were much more comfortable. She lifted her eyelashes and said somewhat reluctantly, "Thank you."
The sound escaped from his throat, like the hum of a mosquito.
Yu Zeheng, fastening his seatbelt, asked, "What did you say?"
Qiao Shu sat up straight, turned around to fasten her seatbelt, crossed her arms, and resumed her imperious young lady demeanor: "I said, please drive, thank you."
"You're welcome."
Yu Zeheng started the engine and drove away. When he raced, he was aggressive and reckless, but when he drove normally, he was very calm and even more emotionally stable than most people. Even if someone deliberately cut him off or impatiently overtook him, he never swore. He remained silent throughout the drive.
Qiao Shu played on her phone for a few minutes out of boredom. After replying to messages, she began to observe the interior of the car. The combination of orange leather and real wood elements created a style that was not dull. She had always preferred bright and highly saturated colors, and this Bentley matched her style perfectly, exuding a British artistic feel amidst its flamboyant luxury.
She pressed her finger against the glove compartment, turned her head, and opened it after receiving Yu Zeheng's permission. The inside was clean and free of other clutter, except for his driver's license, which had the FIA blue and white cover printed on it. She had never seen it before, and when she opened it, she realized that it was a driver's license issued by the FIA to F1 racing drivers, also known as a super license.
Only a little over three hundred people in the world own one.
At first glance, it looks quite impressive. Qiao Shu's fingertips landed on his ID photo, which was taken a few years ago. At that time, they were not yet married, and he had not yet retired. He was young and vigorous, with sharp eyebrows and eyes, as if looking back at her through the photo. His eyes were aloof and sharp, with an arrogance in his bones.
They are very young, even naive like teenagers, not to be trifled with, and even malicious.
Qiao Shu compared the person in the photo with the person now. Yu Zeheng had his hands on the steering wheel, looking straight ahead. His jawline was clear and sharp. Under his dark suit jacket was a white shirt with the collar neatly folded. As he got older, his temperament became more and more composed, but she knew that this was just a facade. Occasionally, he would unleash his vicious side.
But now, it's barely somewhat pleasing to the eye.
Qiao Shu closed the ID photo, threw it back into the storage box, and then snapped it shut again.
She leaned back lazily in her chair, scrolled through her phone for a while, and after a few minutes of critical browsing, a message from Song Yue popped up—a link to a news article.
Song Yue: [Uncle Qiao has been photographed again.]
Qiao Shu frowned and clicked on the link, only to see her father's face. Beside him was a stranger, and the two were embracing intimately, oblivious to everyone else. He had been caught cheating again and it had even been made into gossip news. Because the woman was a minor actress who had played a few roles, his identity had also been exposed by paparazzi.
Qiao Mingjie, the second son of retail tycoon Qiao Zhenkai, is currently married and has a history of having affairs.
Qiao Shu closed her eyes and exhaled. Qiao Mingjie had been an idle and good-for-nothing playboy since he was young, with no ambition and no brains. He had become even worse in middle age. When would he ever stop? She thought the only time would be when he was hanging on the wall.
In the family group chat, the eldest brother, Qiao Kaiyu, forwarded a link to the same news article.
Qiao Kaiyu: [Second Uncle, I've already asked the public relations department to handle this matter. Don't worry, leave it to me. If necessary, I'll have the legal department take legal action to ensure you get justice.]
The uncle reprimanded Qiao Mingjie for going too far and out of line.
If the old man sees this, he'll get so angry he'll vomit.
Qiao Shu remained expressionless.
She opened the chat window and called Qiao Mingjie directly.
The phone remained unresponsive for a long time. When Qiao Shu's patience ran out, the call was finally answered, but the other end was noisy, with music mixed with the sounds of a man and woman flirting. She pressed her hand to her temple and tried to control her tone as she asked him where he was.
"We're outside, Xiao Shu, is there anything you want to tell your dad?" Qiao Mingjie's only redeeming quality was his mouth, and coupled with his complete lack of self-respect and shamelessness, he was still pretending to be stupid with her at a time like this.
Qiao Shu was no longer buying it, and asked in an icy voice, "What's wrong with you?"
Yu Zeheng's eyes flashed, and upon hearing the sound, he casually turned down the volume inside the car.
Qiao Mingjie's voice was tinged with laughter: "It's all fake. I didn't mess around. I was just having dinner with some friends. It wasn't just the two of us. Don't listen to those news reports. I'll have someone handle it. I have something to do here, so I'll have to go now."
The call was disconnected as soon as he finished speaking.
Qiao Shu laughed in exasperation. She was used to this kind of thing. She put down her phone, pinched the bridge of her nose, and knew that any negative news needed to be avoided before the old man read his will.
As she pondered, the car had already driven back to Nanwan. The lights in the distance were bright, like a fairytale ending where the princess and prince lived happily ever after. But in reality, she was the queen who handed him the poisoned apple, and he was the hunter who chased the princess through the forest. She pushed open the door, lifted the hem of her dress, and watched Yu Zeheng close the car door, walking towards her empty-handed.
She asked, "Where are my shoes?"
Yu Zeheng said, "It's lost."
Qiao Shu looked incredulous: "Do you know how much those shoes cost?"
Yu Zeheng said calmly, "It rubs against my feet."
"It's 170,000, 170,000, and you just threw it away like that." Qiao Shu turned around, clutching her skirt, as if looking for where he had thrown it away and whether there was any chance of getting it back, until she realized that he had already thrown it away before he even drove off.
Yu Zeheng reiterated: "Because it rubs against my feet."
Qiao Shu owns many pairs of beautiful high heels that could be called "beautiful torture devices." She wears most of them only once before putting them away, placing them in a whole shoe cabinet in her walk-in closet, where they serve as beautiful little waste.
Foot pain is insignificant compared to beauty.
What's wrong with you?
Without the aid of high heels, Qiao Shu was much shorter than him, but she was not inferior in terms of presence. She clenched her fist, pursed her lips, frowned, and her eyes were filled with emotions. More than anger, she was shocked. How could he take it upon himself to throw away her shoes?
She glared at him, looking like she was about to jump up and bite him.
"It's already lost, there's no point in saying anything more, is there? Aren't you tired?"
Not only was she not tired, she looked incredibly energetic. Yu Zeheng accepted her accusations without question. He turned and walked inside, with Qiao Shu following behind him, holding up the hem of her dress: "You have to pay for my shoes!"
He responded lazily, neither agreeing nor refusing.
"Did you hear me, Yu Zeheng!"
"asshole."
The curses behind me came one after another.
Yu Zeheng walked ahead, seemingly oblivious, a very subtle twitch at the corner of his lips.
That night, because there was someone beside her, Qiao Shu didn't sleep well. When she heard Yu Zeheng getting up, she closed her eyes, feeling sleepy and tired. Remembering that she had a Pilates class in the morning, she quickly took off her blindfold and got up with a resentful look, like a female ghost. After finishing the class and taking a shower, she collapsed back onto the bed, exhausted, until Aunt Chu's knocking woke her up.
Ye Yuzhen, her young stepmother, was waiting for her in the lobby downstairs.
Qiao Shu's face was buried in the soft pillow. She wasn't fully awake and mumbled that she knew.
After a while, she let out a reluctant gasp from her throat, got up again, washed up, put on light makeup, and wore a loose robe over her slip dress before going downstairs full of energy.
"Aunt Ye, you've arrived."
"Xiao Shu." Ye Yuzhen's voice was choked with tears. She held a steaming cup of black tea in her hand, her eyes were red and swollen, and her face was haggard and lifeless. She got up from the sofa and walked towards Qiao Shu, as if she had found her pillar of support, and her eyes lit up.
After the incident was exposed, she sent a message to Qiao Mingjie, but no one replied. She then called him, but no one answered. She was alone at home, tears streaming down her face. She didn't know who to call. Everyone around her wanted to see her make a fool of herself. After thinking it over, she decided to go to Qiao Shu.
Ye Yuzhen and Qiao Shu had a good relationship, without the hostile relationship between stepmother and stepdaughter. She was only in her early twenties when she married into the Qiao family. Her father only ran a small company, and she had no background. It was considered a marriage of convenience. The Qiao family treated her coldly and looked down on her. When she met Qiao Shu, she was uneasy, thinking that she would be rejected.
At the time, Qiao Shu, who was only eight years old, took her hand and looked up at her affectionately, asking, "Are you Aunt Ye? I like you, you are very beautiful."
Moved by her actions, Ye Yuzhen tried to take on the role of her mother, but because the two were not far apart in age, and Qiao Shu had a maturity beyond her years, their relationship was more like that of sisters.
Psychologically, Ye Yuzhen is more dependent on Qiao Shu.
Qiao Shu patted Ye Yuzhen's hand and asked gently, "Aunt Ye, have you eaten? I haven't eaten yet. Would you like to have some with me?"
Ye Yuzhen nodded, not having much of an appetite: "You eat first, I'll just have some tea."
"How can that be? Look how haggard you look. Have you not eaten all day?" Qiao Shu called over Aunt Chu and asked the kitchen to prepare two breakfasts. She then lowered her voice and asked Yu Zeheng if he had gone out.
Aunt Chu shook her head, glancing upstairs: "Study."
Qiao Shu raised an eyebrow slightly.
Ye Yuzhen kept crying, her voice broken and intermittent. She covered her face and sobbed, "Why did he lie to me? He promised me just a few days ago that he would never go out and mess around again. He was so sure of himself, I thought he really would change."
Qiao Shu handed him a tissue: "It's not the first or second time. Don't you know what kind of person he is? How can your body take it if you cry like this every time?"
She took back her knife and fork, her appetite halved amidst her continuous sobs, and slowly sipped her Americano.
Ye Yuzhen took the tissue and covered her eyes, lost in her own emotions: "I keep thinking, would it be better if I had a child with him? If we had a child, he would care more about our little family."
The answer at the time was no. As Qiao Mingjie's only child, Qiao Shu had never experienced any fatherly love; he only loved himself.
But humans are creatures obsessed with "what ifs," imagining a perfect outcome for themselves.
Ye Yuzhen had wanted to have a child for years, but she didn't want to. Qiao Mingjie didn't stop her. After more than a year of marriage, Ye Yuzhen became pregnant, but miscarried naturally. She hadn't conceived since, so she tried IVF, pricking herself with needles all over her body, but still couldn't have the baby.
Qiao Shu: "My dad is fifty years old. He drinks, smokes, and messes around every day. His quality has long been ruined."
“He has changed recently, really, and he really wants to have another child.”
This is hopeless. Qiao Shu put down her knife and fork, and asked the housekeeper to clear away the plates. She rested her elbow on the table, pressed her temples, and caught a glimpse of a gray corner out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw Yu Zeheng coming down the stairs.
He was wearing loungewear, the soft, loose fabric making his arms and legs appear even longer. He held a water glass in his hand, looking relaxed and casual.
When Ye Yuzhen saw him, she wiped away her tears and said shyly, "Zeheng is here too."
"Aunt Ye." Yu Zeheng nodded and greeted her.
Last night, he overheard Qiao Shu on the phone and saw his father-in-law's entertainment gossip, so he could guess why Ye Yuzhen had come to visit.
Qiao Shu rested her chin on her hand, smiled slightly, and said in a gentle and considerate voice, "Want to come down and get some water? Just tell Aunt Chu, and she'll bring you whatever you need. You don't need to come down yourself."
"You don't need to get down yourself" means, "Don't get down."
Yu Zeheng understood the implication in her words. He gently agreed and then walked over.
Aunt Chu heard the sound and came over to ask, "What kind of water would you like? The tea that was recently delivered is very good; it's the first flush of the harvest, and it has a sweet and refreshing aftertaste."
"No need, I can do it myself."
He pressed the water dispenser button, braced his hands on the countertop, and waited for the water to fill up. He then took the water glass and went upstairs, saying goodbye to Ye Yuzhen before leaving so they could continue their conversation.
Ye Yuzhen stared blankly at Yu Zeheng's disappearing figure. She lowered her head, her expression sorrowful: "Xiao Shu, I really envy you. Zeheng has never had another woman all these years."
Qiao Shu was skeptical about this. Whether it was true that nothing had happened or simply hadn't been discovered, he might just be more clever than Qiao Mingjie, preventing his private affairs from being exposed online. However, as things stood, he showed no signs of infidelity.
“He has a wife,” she said casually.
Ye Yuzhen was stunned: "Huh?"
Qiao Shu slammed his hand on the table: "His race car."
He's much more patient with racing than with his wife.
Ye Yuzhen was both amused and exasperated. She grabbed a tissue to wipe her tears, her voice choked with emotion several times: "If only your father were as focused as him."
The world has such low standards for men; if a man doesn't go out and mess around, he's already considered a good man.
Qiao Shu had no intention of criticizing or instilling new ideas in her. She stretched out her arm and held her hand, her bright eyes looking at her with sincerity: "Aunt Ye, although it's not appropriate for a daughter to interfere in her father's private affairs, you've always been very good to me. I can try for you. I'll talk to Grandpa and ask him to cut off Dad's credit card. Then we'll find an African country for him to train for a year or two. If the conditions are tough, he won't have time to go out and mess around."
Ye Yuzhen shook her head repeatedly: "No, your father is in poor health and can't endure hardship."
Qiao Shu's smile froze, and she loosened her grip on her hand again. She picked up her water glass to drink, trying to cover up her predicament. Every time she had to act this out, she would break down. Her patience was about to run out, so she frowned. Water moistened her lips, and when she raised her eyelashes, she saw Yu Zeheng coming downstairs again. He was wearing Bluetooth headphones and looked serious and focused, as if he was on a phone call.
His voice was low and not loud enough to disturb them.
Yu Zeheng watched her closely, from the moment her smile froze and she let go of his hand, to the moment she drank water to hide her impatience. He saw it all clearly. When Qiao Shu looked over, his eyes relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
The smile is intriguing.
Qiao Shu frowned but didn't speak, his gaze following the figure as he made himself a cup of coffee and spoke in hushed tones, clearly discussing the race with the team.
She didn't find it embarrassing for him to see her two-faced nature. After all, he had already seen her true self and knew that she was cold-hearted and opportunistic. As long as she achieved her goals, she didn't care who suffered.
What annoyed Qiao Shu was that he knew everything. How was she supposed to keep up the act in front of him? Every word and action of hers would seem ridiculous and contrived to him, and then, in some unintentional moment, he would casually say something like, "Why did I give him the opportunity to mock me?"
Ye Yuzhen was still saying that she naively wanted Qiao Shu to talk to Qiao Mingjie, since they were father and daughter after all, and Qiao Mingjie would sometimes listen to Qiao Shu.
Qiao Shu had no interest in listening to what she was saying. She remained silent until Yu Zeheng walked up the stairs and into the study.
She crossed her arms, her fingers resting on her shoulders. She glanced at Aunt Chu, who immediately understood. Aunt Chu went into the kitchen and asked her to cut fruit and prepare desserts. She brewed a pot of tea and a pot of coffee. Once everything was ready, she carried the heavy walnut wood tray, laden with fruit, upstairs.
Qiao Shu withdrew her gaze and got back into the zone, listening to Ye Yuzhen's imagined story of a prodigal son returning home. After listening, she took Ye Yuzhen's hand and said, "Aunt Ye, don't worry, I'll talk to my dad. I don't know if it will work, but I'll do my best."
"Xiao Shu, I really don't know how to thank you."
“You have to stand up for yourself too. After all these years, you should have realized what kind of person my father is.” Qiao Shu softened her tone. “What you need is not a man who can leave you at any time. Love and not love are meaningless. What you need is money, lots and lots of money.”
This was the third time Yu Zeheng had appeared in Qiao Shu's sight, and she was certain that he had done it on purpose.
Qiao Shu elegantly and intellectually raised her middle finger, her hand resting on her arm. Her face, which had been all smiles just moments before, instantly turned expressionless, conveying a silent warning.
Yu Zeheng raised his eyebrows, smiled happily, and calmly accepted it.
A note from the author:
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The other person gives you the middle finger and gives you a look that tells you to bow down.
Yu Shao: My wife is so cute.
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50 random red envelopes (kissing emojis)
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