skin
"Let me go!"
Wen Yunsheng refused to let go or give in.
He even thought it would be best if she shouted louder so that Shen Yingchang, who was only separated by a wall, could hear her.
He lifted her even higher, grasped her flailing legs, and placed them on his waist.
"Wen Yunsheng, stop right there!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Tao Chu was pinned down on the bed, sandwiched between softness and hardness.
He was completely devoted to her, wanting to possess her forever and never be separated from her again.
There can be no one else by her side, only him.
Tao Chu sensed his madness and struggled to suppress her instinct to fight back.
Her voice calmed down:
"It seems Shen Yingchang was right. You had ulterior motives from the beginning and never intended to help me."
Upon hearing her words, Wen Yunsheng stopped what he was doing, took a few breaths, and then looked up at her.
Her face was mostly covered by her messy long hair, and he didn't dare to brush it aside, afraid of meeting her angry and disappointed eyes.
He slowly got up, his chest heaving, and took several deep breaths to calm his feverish mind and body.
"Chuchu, I was too impatient, I'm sorry—"
Tao Chu lay there without getting up, not saying a word.
This silence made Wen Yunsheng feel uneasy. He waited for a while, but there was still no movement.
He had no choice but to carefully kneel and crawl on the bed, move to her side, and gently brush her hair aside, his hands trembling.
Seeing her face covered in tears, Wen Yunsheng's mind went blank, and he quickly went to wipe them away.
As the back of his hand touched her cold, damp face, he couldn't help but feel remorse.
"Chuchu, I was wrong, don't cry... it's all my fault..."
Her tears wouldn't stop, and her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling light, unmoved by his words.
It's obvious that he was frightened by his impulsive behavior just now.
He eagerly cupped her face in his hands and pressed his forehead against hers.
"I must have lost my mind—you can hit me or scold me, just don't stay silent."
Tao Chu could only weep silently, without even a sob.
Wen Yunsheng had never seen her like this before.
In the past, when she was angry, she would always vent her anger in one breath and never suffer in silence.
Tao Chu's quiet tears now frightened him.
He grabbed her hand and swung it forcefully at his face, but Tao Chu pulled it back with force.
He was at his wit's end, his eyes filled with pleading. After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Tao Chu finally looked at him.
"What's the difference between you and them?"
Her voice was very soft.
There was no shouting or vehement questioning, yet it shook Wen Yunsheng more than any angry outburst.
He remembered begging her to believe he was innocent, but what had he just done?
He mumbled "I'm sorry" repeatedly, unable to offer any further explanation.
He had already broken his promise by failing to stop her from boarding the "Sea Chaser," and she was forced into danger, but she was the one who was hurt first.
Tao Chu seemed to have calmed down a bit. She sat up, wiped away her tears haphazardly with her sleeve, and got out of bed to find the shoes she had thrown off during the struggle.
Looking at her disheveled long hair and lonely figure from behind, Wen Yunsheng had a gut feeling—
If they let her leave now, there will be no possibility for them anymore.
She will not give herself another chance.
"Chuchu, can we talk?" He didn't dare to reach out and pull her, so he could only follow behind her and plead.
"There's nothing to talk about."
She walked to the living room, bent down, and picked up her phone from the floor.
“I promise I won’t hurt you again. I want to protect you—it’s complicated on the ship, let’s sit down and talk.”
Tao Chu turned to look at him, her eyes filled with coldness and resentment.
"Protection? I can only get your protection by sleeping with you?"
That's not what I meant...
The sudden ringing of his cell phone interrupted him. He knew it was his father urging him, but he hesitated to answer, fearing that Tao Chu would rush out while he was on the phone.
Tao Chu had guessed it too, and turned to leave.
He had no choice but to block the doorway with his body, and answered the phone under her angry glare: "Dad, I'm coming right away—Chuchu is coming with me."
"What are you doing bringing her here?!" came a shout from the phone.
Wen Yunsheng did not answer and ended the call.
Tao Chu's eyes were full of wariness and suspicion. He explained, "I don't know how to make you trust me again. Please go and see for yourself, listen to what I have to say, and give me another chance, okay?"
"I don't know what tricks you're trying to play this time. I don't have time to play along."
"I plan to ask him about your mother in person—"
Tao Chu stopped pushing him and looked up at him.
Under her gaze, Wen Yunsheng felt uneasy and anxious, and couldn't help but loosen his collar.
"Will he tell the truth?" Tao Chu sneered.
"I don't know." Wen Yunsheng shook his head. "I just want you to know that I will do my best to help you find out the truth."
Tao Chu saw that the time was right, pretended to think for a moment, and finally relented: "It's fine to meet him, it's been a long time."
Wen Yunsheng sensed the anger brewing in her words and knew that this meeting was bound to be fraught with trouble.
However, he still had some confidence in his father.
Although her father was inevitably drawn into Aunt Xu Weirong's affair, at least he wouldn't harm Tao Chu.
After all, he had watched Tao Chu grow up, and she was only in her early twenties, still in school, and had nothing to do with the struggle for money and power.
At most, there might be some arguments, but he would naturally side with Tao Chu, making her understand his position and intentions so that she could make up for her previous mistake.
After Tao Chu agreed, he suggested that he go back and change his clothes, and asked Tao Chu to wait at the door for two minutes.
As soon as she entered the room, Shen Yingchang immediately jumped up from the sofa: "Why did I hear something strange just now?!"
The tone of his words was accusatory, but his eyes showed concern.
Tao Chu tossed out a "It's nothing" and rushed into the bedroom to grab a long dress, gesturing for Shen Yingchang to follow her into the bathroom.
As soon as the door closed, Shen Yingchang said, "No need to turn on the tap. I even checked the ceiling twice, and there are no eavesdropping devices."
Tao Chu felt relieved, stepped into the bathtub, pulled back the shower curtain, and began to change her dress, saying as she did so:
“I devised a plan to get him to take me to see Wen Tao—Zhou Bingcheng and the Li family are definitely looking for an opportunity to silence me. I’m going to investigate Wen Tao’s background and see if there’s any chance I can get his protection.”
With his back turned, Shen Yingchang's expression was solemn: "Wen Tao has been around for so many years, and he can even abandon the friendships of old friends of decades. You are just a junior, so it's best not to have too high hopes."
He paused, then added, "Going to see him directly is actually not as good as going through Wen Yunsheng—you can stay behind the scenes and let the father and son argue."
The rustling sound of dressing stopped, and Tao Chu suddenly pulled open the curtain.
Shen Yingchang subconsciously turned to look at her, only to find that her back was still exposed—the light from the skylight shone on her, revealing several indented scars on her fair back, some deep and some shallow.
He was a little flustered, and after meeting Tao Chu's gaze, he quickly said, "I'm sorry, I thought you had changed..."
He hurriedly tried to turn his head away again, but Tao Chu said, "It's okay, just help me pull up the zipper."
She stepped out of the bathtub and turned her back to him.
Shen Yingchang said "Oh," and pinched the small zipper at her waist, gently pulling it up.
The zipper was silky smooth, and her scars were gradually covered by the dark blue velvet dress, fitting perfectly.
He carefully lifted her wig, zipped it all the way up, and then let the wig down.
Shen Yingchang suddenly felt that Tao Chu was like a wig and clothes made into a skin to cover up his wounds and his past.
Has he now... seen through her inner self?
Tao Chu, with her back to him, had a solemn expression—Shen Yingchang actually knew about Wen Tao's framing of her mother eight years ago.
If he were truly a foreign police officer, even if he had investigated Wen Tao, who was involved, he wouldn't have known so much about his life.
Besides, back then, few people believed that her mother and Uncle Zou Ming were innocent. How come Shen Yingchang's words just now sounded like he was certain that Wen Tao was not a good person?
Is he a policeman or not?
And why doesn't she want to see Wen Tao?
Seeing that she was looking down and not turning around, Shen Yingchang assumed that she was also hesitating about whether to go or not, so he thought he would try to persuade her again.
"You know how dangerous it is on the ship, there's no need to provoke them."
Tao Chu relaxed her furrowed brows, slowly turned around, and smiled at him: "Don't worry, I won't make a scene. What if Wen Tao softens his heart?"
Shen Yingchang shook his head with a wry smile. It seems that the little girl still has her naive moments.
He helped her straighten her long hair that was draped over her shoulders: "If you insist on going, then go ahead, but be careful."
Seeing his worried expression, Tao Chu smiled and nodded.
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