Chapter 93: Cracks (Part 1)
The morning light is gentle, and the morning breeze blows through the floor-to-ceiling windows, rolling up a corner of the gauze curtains.
Yu Ling's fingertips still retained the warm touch of Zhao Chen's lips, and the corners of her mouth seemed to still be lingering with the sour and sweet strawberry jam and the numbness brought by his domineering yet gentle kiss.
The childish pride in her words, "The cookies I bake are the sweetest," still rang in her ears. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she glared at Zhao Chen in reproach, earning him a contented, unclouded smile.
"Yes, yes, Chef Zhao's is the sweetest in the world." Yu Ling picked up her half of the toast with blueberry jam, took a bite, and deliberately made a loud noise to try to cover up her accelerated heartbeat.
Zhao Chen smiled with his eyes curved, picked up his piece of strawberry jam toast and was about to put it into his mouth.
“Ding Dong——”
The clear and abrupt sound of the doorbell once again broke the hard-earned tranquility.
The two of them stopped chewing at the same time.
The smile on Zhao Chen's face froze instantly, and a trace of extremely obvious impatience and anger at being interrupted flashed across his brow. He put down his toast and wiped his hands with a napkin, his movements expressing a restrained irritation: "I'll go check it out."
He strode towards the entrance, his back straight but revealing an invisible low pressure.
Yu Ling's heart sank at the sound of the doorbell. A bad premonition, like icy seawater, crept over her. She subconsciously glanced at the white envelope she had just tossed into the trash can—the one with the golden rose wax seal and the disgusting composite photo inside. It now lay quietly in the clean trash bag, like an ominous prophecy.
Soon, Zhao Chen returned. His expression was even darker than before, like the sea before a storm, oppressive and cold. In his hand was… an identical, thick white envelope! The same exquisite material, the same blank, unmarked envelope. And on the seal, affixed to it was the same, ostentatious, golden rose wax seal!
It's here again!
Yu Ling's breath hitched, and the chill that had been suppressed by the sweetness suddenly came back, and her fingertips became slightly cold uncontrollably.
Zhao Chen's eyes were like ice-hardened blades, fixed on the envelope, as if it weren't paper, but a venomous snake spitting out its tongue. The low pressure emanating from him made the air in the kitchen stagnant.
"Or...put it in the mailbox at the gate?" Yu Ling's voice was a little dry.
"Hmm." Zhao Chen squeezed out a cold syllable from his throat. He squeezed the envelope with such force that his knuckles turned white, almost crushing it! He didn't open it immediately. Instead, he looked up at Yu Ling. The look behind his glasses was complicated and surging. There was surging anger, endless murderous intent towards Gu Qianqian, and even... a subtle nervousness, afraid that she would be hurt again.
"Lingling," he said, his voice hoarse and tense, "go back to your bedroom and rest. I'll take care of it." He tried to isolate her from this dirty harassment.
Yu Ling shook her head firmly. She took a deep breath, suppressed the uneasiness churning in her heart, and held out her hand to Zhao Chen. "Give it to me." Her voice was soft, but it carried an undeniable calmness. "What must be faced cannot be avoided. And," she added, noting the nervousness in Zhao Chen's eyes, "I believe you."
The three words "I believe you" seemed to have a magical effect, causing Zhao Chen's extremely tense jawline to relax slightly for a moment. The violent anger in his eyes was forcibly suppressed. He looked at Yu Ling deeply, and finally handed the hot potato envelope to her.
It still felt heavy in my hand. The golden rose wax seal, reflecting a glaring, cheap luster in the morning light, was like a silent mockery.
Yu Ling did not hesitate and tore off the wax seal along the seal.
This time, there were still photos inside.
But no longer a composite bed photo.
This is a...candid photo.
The background is an extremely luxurious, ambiguously lit, upscale restaurant. A crystal chandelier casts a hazy glow, while dark velvet dining chairs and exquisite silverware reflect a cool light. The focal point of the photo is a dining table for two by the window.
Zhao Chen, dressed in a perfectly tailored dark gray suit, faced the camera sideways. He tilted his head slightly, as if listening. His handsome profile appeared particularly stern in the dim light. His thin lips were tightly pursed, and between his brows was a habitual aloofness and... a subtle hint of impatience? His gold-rimmed glasses reflected a cold light, partially obscuring his gaze.
And the person sitting opposite him was Gu Qianqian!
She was wearing an expensive, off-the-shoulder, champagne-colored gown, her makeup exquisite, and her chestnut curly hair meticulously styled. She leaned forward slightly, a bright smile that was incredibly intimate, even a little coquettish, as she spoke to Zhao Chen. From the angle of the photo, the two of them looked incredibly close! Gu Qianqian's red lips were practically touching Zhao Chen's ear, a gesture that was incredibly ambiguous!
In the lower right corner of the photo, the scarlet handwriting was still threatening:
"Even the way he spoke to me sounded more noble than you. Face the reality, fake."
"boom--!"
The impact of this photo is completely different from the clumsy composite photo just now!
The composite photo is fake, a malicious fabrication. But this one... is a real candid photo! The background, the lighting, the people, the expressions... everything is eerily real!
Especially Zhao Chen's stern yet unrejecting profile, and Gu Qianqian's almost whispering, intimate gesture! The word "noble" was like a poisoned needle, accurately piercing Yu Ling's deepest inner self, the inferiority complex about her family background that she herself was unwilling to admit!
My mind was screaming: What could this mean? Perhaps it was a business appointment? Perhaps it was family pressure? Perhaps it was Gu Qianqian's deliberate scheme! Zhao Chen's expression was clearly one of impatience!
But my emotions were like a wild horse running free, stung by the "noble" atmosphere and the glaring intimacy in that photo! The word "fake" was like a demonic sound in my ears!
Is she worthy? Is she, an ordinary office worker, really worthy of Zhao Chen, who looks so noble and aloof even in the silhouette of a top restaurant?
The aura of a celebrity that emanated from Gu Qianqian's bones, the "nobility" that seemed to belong to the same world as Zhao Chen... was something she could never learn no matter how hard she tried!
A huge bitterness and an indescribable feeling of being outdone washed over her like an icy tide! Her fingers gripping the photo were icy cold, trembling slightly, their knuckles turning white from the force.
"Lingling?" Zhao Chen's voice was filled with a subtle nervousness. He saw Yu Ling's face turn pale and the pain in her eyes, and his heart suddenly tightened!
Yu Ling suddenly raised her head! Her clear eyes were filled with shock, hurt, anger, and even a hint of... a shaky suspicion that even she couldn't control! That look was like a blunt knife, piercing Zhao Chen's heart!
She held up the photo, her voice trembling slightly from trying so hard to suppress it, and asked sharply, even to herself, "What... is this?! Zhao Chen, when did this 'garbage' come about?!" She deliberately emphasized the word "garbage" with a strong sense of sarcasm, but her eyes couldn't help but turn red.
Zhao Chen's eyes fell on the photo. When he saw the content of the picture and his own cold but not explicitly rejecting attitude, he was instantly seized by a wave of overwhelming rage and panic! Even more intense than when he saw the composite bed photo!
"Fuck!" He growled like a thoroughly enraged lion! He snatched the photo from Yu Ling's hand and, without even looking at it, crumpled it into a ball! The force was so great that the hard photo paper groaned harshly and instantly twisted and deformed!
"Fake! This is also fake! It's all photoshopped! It was all made up by that crazy Gu Qianqian!" Zhao Chen's voice suddenly rose, with an extreme rage and unprecedented intensity of being slandered!
Veins throbbed on his forehead, and his eyes behind the lenses were bloodshot. He stared at Yu Ling intently, as if he wanted to completely burn away any trace of doubt in her eyes with his gaze! "Lingling! Look at me! Look at me! How the hell could I possibly have dinner with her alone?! And in a place like this?! Am I crazy?!"
In his extreme anger and eagerness to defend himself, he spoke rapidly, even cursing again! That out-of-control, furious look was something Yu Ling had never seen before! Even when dealing with Gu Qianqian's "clean up the trash" order, he had been cold and calm! But now, like a ferocious beast whose reverse scales had been stepped on, he exuded a destructive aura!
Yu Ling was so shocked by his unprecedented violent reaction that she took a small step back, her back pressed against the cold edge of the island.
She looked at his handsome face twisted in rage, at the unpretentious fury and pain of being wronged that was almost bursting out of his eyes. Her mind told her: His excitement just proved his innocence! He cared about her reaction!
But deep in her heart, the pain of "nobility" and "humility" evoked by the photo, as well as Zhao Chen's overly intense and almost out-of-control denial at this moment, were like a quietly growing poisonous ivy, entwining her trust!
Why such a strong reaction? Was it because someone had hit a sore spot? Or... was he really just furious at Gu Qianqian's slander?
The words "Even the way he speaks to me is more noble than you" echoed in my mind like a spell.
She looked at Zhao Chen's hands that were trembling slightly due to rage, looked at his red eyes, looked at the photo in his hands that was crumpled beyond recognition... A huge feeling of fatigue and confusion swept over her.
"It's not Photoshopped..." Yu Ling's voice was soft, with a hollowness that was unfamiliar even to herself, as if she was stating a cold fact, "The background is real, the restaurant is real, and your clothes are real." She even remembered that he did wear this dark gray suit when he went out last Wednesday night, saying that he had an important "project meeting."
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