Chapter 163 Who Are You?
In the living room of 1601 SkyTrek, the air was like solidified jelly, so heavy that it was hard to breathe.
Yu Ling sat stiffly on the cold floor, the laptop screen dimly lit. The huge Shiba Inu logo that occupied the entire screen and the cold words "WANG HOLDINGS" were imprinted on her retina.
"Wangwang Group..." She murmured unconsciously, her voice as dry as sandpaper.
"Why, honey, do you want to change the brand of dog food for Wangcai?"
Zhao Chen's gentle, smiling voice echoed in her ears, carrying the freshness of morning and a touch of just the right amount of teasing. A cool, round blueberry pressed against her slightly parted lips, its sweet aroma filling her nostrils.
This extreme tenderness and the silent, majestic pressure on the screen create a thrilling sense of tearing!
Yu Ling shuddered, her head whipping around, her gaze meeting Zhao Chen's clear, frank, innocently questioning eyes. The cold light from the screen reflected from his gold-rimmed glasses, and his gaze behind them was calm and composed, as if the earth-shattering discovery had truly been nothing more than a discussion about a brand of dog food.
absurd!
The utmost absurdity!
A mixture of fear, anger, the frustration of being fooled, and a suffocating feeling of having nowhere to vent instantly overwhelmed Yu Ling's mind! She felt like a carefully manipulated marionette, being entangled and tightened by invisible silk threads. The manipulator was holding a blueberry and playing the role of a good husband with a concerned look on his face!
"Don't touch me!" Yu Ling slammed Zhao Chen's hand away, sending the innocent blueberry tumbling onto the carpet again. She jumped up from the floor as if scalded, so violently that she knocked over the nearby fruit bowl, sending the vibrant fruit tumbling all over the floor.
"Zhao Chen! Who the hell are you?!" She pointed at the screen, her voice shrill and crackling with excitement, her body trembling slightly with anger and fear. "This 'Wangwang Group'! This logo! Don't tell me this was drawn by Wangcai again! Don't tell me this is also the website of a gaming guild! Do you think I'm a three-year-old?!"
Her questions were like a barrage of questions, filled with the exhaustion of a sleepless night and the despair of being pushed to the brink. On the computer screen, Su Xiao's enlarged face was filled with shock and worry. She had obviously also seen the strange website, her mouth wide open enough to fit an egg, but she dared not make a sound.
Faced with this hysterical questioning, the smile on Zhao Chen's face slowly faded. He didn't get angry, nor did he argue. He just stood up quietly and looked down at the out-of-control Yu Ling.
Deep within those calm eyes, a fleeting, almost imperceptible, flicker of complex emotions—was it helplessness? Was it heartache? Or perhaps a chill of feeling that one's bottom line had been crossed?
The only sounds in the living room were Yu Ling's heavy breathing and the subtle rustling of fruit. On the screen, a giant Shiba Inu logo grinned silently, its eyes glaring disdainfully.
Zhao Chen bent down and calmly picked up a strawberry that had rolled to his feet, carefully wiping off the dust with a tissue. He stood up, and when his eyes fell on Yu Ling again, he had regained his usual gentleness, but within that gentleness, there was an unmistakable sense of distance.
"Lingling," his voice was low and steady, carrying a strange soothing power, but it made Yu Ling feel even colder. "You're too tired. You're under too much pressure, and it's easy to have wild thoughts."
He stopped looking at the computer screen, as if it were just an insignificant background. He walked towards the kitchen, and his voice came out clearly: "I'll go get you some hot milk. Drink it and have a good sleep. Wangcai's dog food is really running low. I'll go out and buy some new ones later."
He avoided all the key issues and tried to cover it up with a lighthearted "random thoughts" and a glass of milk!
Yu Ling watched his tall back disappear at the kitchen door, then looked at the huge Shiba Inu logo on the screen that seemed to be mocking her. A huge feeling of powerlessness and cold anger instantly gripped her!
She felt like a moth trapped in a glass cover. She could see the outside world but could never break through the transparent barrier!
She couldn't stay here any longer! Not even for a second!
Yu Ling suddenly grabbed the coat and mobile phone on the sofa, without even turning off the computer screen, and ignored Su Xiao's anxious shouts in the video. She stumbled out of the house as if fleeing!
"Bang!" The heavy security door closed behind her, isolating the space full of lies and huge shadows.
It was eleven o'clock in the evening. On the edge of Haicheng's old town, the pale light of a 24-hour convenience store carved out a small, isolated island on the quiet street.
Yu Ling sat on a high stool by the convenience store window, clutching a bucket of oden. The warm broth in the paper cup gave off a faint aroma, but it couldn't warm her icy heart at all.
She had no appetite and just mechanically poked the radish and konjac noodles with a bamboo stick, looking out the window at the deserted street with empty eyes.
My mind feels like a mess.
The huge LOGO of "Wangwang Group".
Zhao Chen's gentle yet unfathomable face.
The bizarre yet reasonable "explanations" sent by Su Xiao.
And the "no such company" and "no such person" that made her despair...
She felt like she was standing on the edge of a vast, bottomless vortex, her feet trembling on thin ice. The truth seemed within reach, yet it was shrouded in layers of carefully woven lies. This feeling of powerlessness was even more suffocating than facing Gu Qianqian's malice.
The automatic door of the convenience store made a soft "ding dong" sound.
A strong and pungent smell of alcohol mixed with the smell of cheap tobacco instantly spread.
A burly man with a face full of flesh, wearing greasy overalls, staggered in. His eyes were cloudy and his steps were unsteady, clearly drunk. With a clear goal in mind, he walked straight to the refrigerator, grabbed a few cans of the cheapest strong beer, and stumbled towards the cashier.
When passing by Yu Ling, his cloudy eyes seemed to be suddenly lit up by the figure by the window. His obscene gaze swept back and forth over Yu Ling, especially lingering for a long time on her slender waist and long legs wrapped in a professional suit.
Yu Ling felt uncomfortable all over when he looked at her. She frowned in disgust, turned sideways, and blocked the cup of oden in front of her.
The drunk paid and grabbed the beer bag, but he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he swayed and plopped down on the high stool next to Yu Ling. His heavy body made the stool groan under the weight. The strong odor of alcohol and sweat hit him in the face.
"Hey...beauty..." The drunk grinned, revealing his smoke-yellow teeth. He spoke in a slurred voice, his breath making people feel sick. "Are you alone? You're so...lonely...would you like to have a drink with me?"
As he spoke, he actually reached out to take the oden cup in front of Yu Ling, and his greasy fingers almost touched Yu Ling's hand!
"Get out of here!" Yu Ling abruptly retracted her hand and shouted, her body tense like a drawn bow. She instinctively reached for her phone in her pocket, her heart in her throat. Late at night, in a remote convenience store, with a drunk man… The scene instantly reminded her of those social news stories!
"Oh, oh... you've got quite a temper..." The drunk, instead of flinching after being scolded, seemed to become even more ferocious. He dropped the beer bag and staggered to his feet. His massive body, like a wall, loomed over Yu Ling with a strong sense of oppression. A hideous, lewd smile spread across his face. "Why are you pretending... so noble? I've got plenty of money... play with me..."
His greasy big hand actually grabbed Yu Ling's shoulder directly!
Fear, like a cold, poisonous snake, instantly entangled Yu Ling's heart! She tried to retreat, but behind her was the cold glass window! There was nowhere to escape!
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