Chapter 6
"You say we don't know each other," Sheng Baiyan said in a cold voice. "Then what's going on?"
Upon hearing this, Su Jin couldn't help but think to herself, "What else could it be?"
But when faced with Sheng Baiyan, who had forgotten him, he couldn't utter a single word.
Su Jin is dead, and Sheng Baiyan, who once loved her, has also disappeared.
The encounter between wandering ghosts and spirits is of no significance.
Su Jin didn't dare to turn around.
The moonlight, like drowning pearls, exhales bubbles at the end of its breath, bursting and scattering among the leaves.
His mind was buzzing. After a moment's pause, he was suddenly pulled back by the person behind him.
Su Jinru was startled awake and tried to back away, but her back slammed against the wall.
He was considered tall for an Omega, but Sheng Baiyan loomed over him like a shadow, his arms forming a fence around Su Jin on either side.
"Not a child."
Su Jin turned his face away, avoiding Sheng Baiyan's burning gaze. His mind raced, and he came up with a ridiculous excuse.
"It's a composite photo of you, based on photos of you when you were a child."
Sheng Baiyan's eyebrows twitched, his tone tinged with anxiety, and his hand, which was resting against the wall, clenched slightly. "Why are you keeping my photos?"
"To attract romance."
Su Jin looked up, and, taking advantage of her drunkenness, began to spout nonsense with a straight face.
"It is said that Mr. Sheng is the most popular Alpha in the city, with an extremely strong peach blossom luck. Anyone who worships your photo for several months will find their own love."
Sheng Baiyan: "..."
Like a beetle flying into his throat, the man's expression was indescribable.
"Are you taking me for a fool?"
He gripped Su Jin's chin, the light streaming down her face like withered flower petals, falling onto her graying hair. Finally, a line of crimson light cracked in Sheng Baiyan's eyes.
"Attracting romance? Who else do you want to provoke?"
"Uncle!"
Suddenly someone called out, and the sound of light and heavy footsteps echoed not far away. It was the little assistant who was well taken care of by Sheng Baiyan.
Su Jin pushed Sheng Baiyan away.
"Mr. Sheng, being unfaithful to your lover will bring retribution."
He said righteously, "I don't even know you. This pulling and tugging will cause misunderstandings."
Sheng Baiyan frowned even more deeply, and stepped forward to pull Su Jin again, "What nonsense are you talking about..."
Just then, Su Jin's phone started ringing incessantly in his pocket. He took it out, and the phone displayed the word "Husband".
It was Ying Chengyu.
When an Omega does business, they will inevitably encounter some people with ill intentions. Therefore, Su Jin and Ying Chengyu made an agreement that if she had not returned home by 10 pm, he would call her. The word "husband" on the phone would help Su Jin avoid a lot of trouble.
Su Jin didn't answer, but when she looked up, she saw Sheng Baiyan's suddenly pale face.
It turned out that the assistant had already arrived beside them.
The assistant stared at the two of them, her eyes seemingly about to pop out, while Sheng Baiyan was momentarily distracted, looking extremely anxious.
If you panic when things are at their worst, why bother agonizing over it?
Su Jin chuckled and quickly moved away from the two of them.
The sound of fireworks drifted from afar, a dazzling display that reduced money to ashes, a fleeting moment of beauty.
You see, anything is beautiful as long as it's fleeting.
Don't break it, don't look back. The past may be full of twists and turns, but life should be mundane and simple.
Su Jin put her hands in her pockets and shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't overthink it. I just drank too much and felt like throwing up. Mr. Sheng helped me out for some fresh air."
"We can't just let you guys abuse dogs all the time."
Su Jin laughed exaggeratedly, her hands clenched into fists in her pockets, but outwardly she appeared relaxed.
"I have a boyfriend too, so please don't let him misunderstand."
Upon hearing this, Sheng Baiyan suddenly covered his forehead.
He swayed slightly, his brows furrowed beneath his silver-rimmed glasses, his platinum cufflinks almost tucked into his temples, and the blue veins on his forehead looked like snakes writhing under his skin, as if about to break free.
Needless to say, he has a headache.
Su Jin instinctively reached out to help him up, but the assistant had already supported Sheng Baiyan with a worried expression and softly asked, "Uncle, are you alright?"
"I'm sorry," the assistant said quickly, "Uncle has a history of migraines. We'll be back right away, so we'll have to trouble you."
I hate that I'm not a sculpture; this is all unnecessary.
Su Jin's hands felt awkward and didn't know where to go; they didn't feel like they belonged to her at all.
The assistant helped Sheng Baiyan away, and the designated driver arranged by the sales manager also drove over.
But Su Jin's heart felt like a broken spring, aching and restless.
He had the designated driver take the salesperson home, and then slowly drove along the road himself.
Just as he couldn't control his hands, Su Jin also couldn't control part of his heart, which is why he made his rationality seem ridiculous.
But what's even more ridiculous is that he doesn't even dare to indulge in his longing.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Ying Chengyu called to say he was coming to pick him up.
Su Jin agreed.
As a friend, Ying Chengyu had been incredibly kind and caring towards me. If I hadn't refused, he would have invested almost all his money in my company.
He said he was probably suffering from a "saintly complex," and that Su Jin was living such a miserable life that if he didn't help her, he would always have evil spirits haunting his dreams.
Of course, the evil spirit might be a child, pressing down on Ying Chengyu's chest and making it impossible for him to breathe.
But Su Jin knew the reason was simple: she was Ying Chengyu's Achilles' heel, her eyes bearing an eight-tenths resemblance to the other's deceased younger brother.
And his own child's eyes are said to resemble that person's when he was a child.
Missing her younger brother, Ying Chengyu felt like a widow, and her days were filled with a sense of sacrifice.
Su Jin wanted to offer advice, but didn't know where to begin.
He himself is living in a muddle, so how can he persuade others to be clear-headed?
So while people around him had gone through several divorces, his relationship with Ying Chengyu remained as solid as ever.
"Revolutionary friendship will live on forever."
They always said that during celebrations.
That's actually true. If people only make friends, they won't think about the future or eternity, and they won't develop a terrible possessiveness. Instead, they'll enjoy their freedom.
Su Jin paced back and forth in the central square, when he saw a beautiful black Audi behind him. It kept passing by him from time to time, about three intersections away, before finally stopping in a corner of the square.
"Sleek and coldly handsome," Su Jin thought, "just like Sheng Baiyan."
Su Jin thought of herself as an ordinary person.
On that gloomy afternoon, a beam of light cascaded down from the sky like a waterfall, gently striking Sheng Baiyan's shoulder, and his gaze always followed it.
A person's appearance is like a rough stone, but their lifestyle and temperament are like a sculptor.
Sheng Baiyan exudes this kind of dazzling skill, with brilliance hidden behind the ice, like an incomprehensible function in a gorgeous image.
To make matters worse, the wealthy businessman also understood philosophy; Sheng Baiyan was a fan of Heidegger and Borges.
In the bathroom on a rainy day, the steam rises like a song, and two people sink into the white porcelain bathtub, with roses symbolically sprinkled on the water's surface.
Sheng Baiyan hugged him from behind, while the silver snake stirred up trouble.
The man who took off his glasses had eyes full of tenderness. As Su Jin followed his movements like a small boat, his passionate breath brushed against her ear.
His magnetic voice resonated like the trembling notes of a cello, his tone languid.
He softly recited Borges's poem, while dark metal music played in the background.
Between me and my love
It will surely be separated by three hundred nights.
Like three hundred high walls
And the sea will surely be a magical encounter between us.
Half of his body was devout and elegant, the other half was primal and insane; at the peak of his life, his soul was pierced along with his body.
Su Jin thought Sheng Baiyan was cruel, and his words came true.
There were more than three hundred nights and three hundred high walls between them.
With the car's hazard lights flashing, Su Jin came to his senses and saw Ying Chengyu park the car and walk towards him.
The other person's face changed drastically as if they had seen a ghost. They immediately grabbed Su Jin's hand and said, "Su Jin, were you robbed? Your face is paler than a ghost."
"I'm fine." Su Jin touched his face; the temperature was normal. He laughed more when he was drunk. "The business deal should be done. I even drank some very expensive wine. It couldn't be better."
"I've wanted to say this for a long time." Ying Chengyu pinched the bridge of his nose. "If you're sad, can you please stop forcing yourself to smile? It's upsetting to watch."
Su Jin felt that the other person was overthinking things. "Where am I sad? At most, I just have a stomachache from drinking and being exposed to the wind."
As he spoke, his gaze was drawn to the side, to a young Alpha holding roses, proposing to his lover under a dazzling advertising billboard.
The Omega was so moved that he burst into tears.
“Look at other people.” Ying Chengyu raised his chin. “They cry when they should cry and laugh when they should laugh. Unlike you, who’s like a stagnant pool.”
Su Jin replied expressionlessly, "Oh."
“Li Sheng.” Ying Chengyu suddenly stopped, his face full of unbearable frustration. “No, Su Jin.”
"Can you please stop acting like this whenever you see Sheng Baiyan?"
His eyes were full of disappointment and frustration. "Even if they thought you were dead, it wouldn't stop you from being seen with your assistant and starting a new life. Maybe in a couple of years, something good will happen."
“Su Jin, you can’t let yourself live like a tombstone, with your life withered.”
Perhaps she and Ying Chengyu were indeed friends, and she felt that he was a widow, while he felt that he was guarding a grave.
They are all stubborn people who think they have seen through things, but can't see through them at all.
"It's easy for you to say that when you're not in my shoes," Su Jin shrugged again. "I also want to be all glamorous and walk with the wind in my step, but no one's proposed to me, so what can I do?"
“Who said there isn’t one?” Ying Chengyu suddenly took out a velvet box, knelt down on the spot, and said, “I’m proposing to you right now.”
Su Jin frowned slightly.
A black Audi in the distance had somehow turned on its high beams, blinding him.
He felt that Ying Chengyu should not be called by his current name, but should be called Ying Wuyu (meaning "silent").
Putting aside the fact that he magically produced the ring box from somewhere, the most important thing is that the two of them have absolutely nothing to do with feelings for each other.
Ying Chengyu mourns someone else in his heart, and he buries the past in his heart. Should the two of them be called the Funeral Love Family?
"What are you putting on this for?"
Su Jin pressed her left hand to her forehead and put her right hand on her hip, looking like a CEO inspecting work. The combination of her posture and Ying Chengyu's was extremely strange, and passersby turned their heads to look.
“The old man is sick.” Ying Chengyu looked directly at him. “He’s been desperately trying to find me a partner, and I’m at my wit’s end.”
"I don't want to harm anyone." He paused, his gaze fixed on Su Jin without flinching. "But you owe me so many favors, so I can take advantage of you with a clear conscience. Even Xiao Su has been living off my information network to avoid any trouble."
He said, "Of course, most importantly, there's no future for you and Sheng Baiyan. He's completely forgotten about you. Su Jin, why not spend the rest of your life repaying your important friends? After all, one should repay kindness."
“After all,” Ying Chengyu lifted the ring up a little more, “there’s definitely no future for Sheng Baiyan and you. That’s all you’re worth.”
Su Jin: "......"
The knife hit the mark perfectly.
No wonder their ancestors were in business; they laid out clues and foreshadowed events far in the future—taking care of the child while managing the career, Su Jin isn't a god, and she doesn't know how much she owes the other party.
It turns out that interest is charged here.
"I want your Tianxing Enterprises," Su Jin said calmly. "After the acquisition, I will have a dominant shareholding."
Ying Chengyu's face showed a hint of pain; his jaw tightened, and after a long while, he nodded, "Okay."
Su Jin took the ring, opened it, and was dazzled by its tacky size.
A three-carat diamond, shimmering with iridescent colors.
He couldn't help but think of the black Olaf that Sheng Baiyan had given him back then—the black diamond was so special that probably only the other person would give it to him.
“I accept your proposal.” Su Jin sighed. “Ying Chengyu, you’re right. It’s better for us to hurt each other than to hurt others.”
After speaking, Ying Chengyu stood up. He had been kneeling for a long time and kept complaining of foot pain, so Su Jin helped him move forward.
The Audi across the street seemed to have some kind of problem; it suddenly started, and its high beams were aimed directly at the two of them.
Su Jin considered herself to be well-mannered, but at this moment she couldn't help but curse him inwardly as being crazy.
Just then, several buses pulled into the square, blocking the Audi's high beams, and Su Jin's eyes were finally free from the torture.
Ying Chengyu parked his car not far away; it was just a few steps away.
The other party started the car and drove off immediately; the Audi was never seen again.
——
Ying's father was indeed ill, but he refused to receive treatment. His face was sallow, and he could not speak.
Only when he heard that Ying Chengyu was finally engaged to Su Jin did a glimmer of light appear in his eyes.
Ying Chengyu's mother divorced Ying's father a long time ago, and Ying's father was ill, so the two of them had to handle all the engagement matters themselves.
Ying Chengyu spoke to Su Jin very gently, but he always seemed to stare into Su Jin's eyes while doing anything.
It felt as if I wasn't a living being, but rather a ring setting for a gemstone eye.
Su Jin was honestly a little creeped out, but she also understood Ying Chengyu's predicament—he was probably hypnotizing himself.
Because they shared joys and sorrows, he became less resistant.
The two went to the dress shop to pick out clothes, both feeling dizzy and lightheaded, but they had to force themselves to be on high alert—it's easy to fool themselves, but difficult to fool Yingfu.
Ying Chengyu searched through the entire inventory of dresses across three layers, and then found all the matching accessories unsatisfactory. Even the most wealthy and beautiful waitresses looked exhausted.
"Bring out your most prized possessions."
Ying Chengyu didn't seem like someone who enjoyed shopping or browsing, and his patience was wearing thin. "What is all this?"
Su Jin smiled apologetically—coincidentally, this was also the shop where he used to work, and he understood the girl's pain.
“Mr. Ying really loves you.” The girl could only manage a forced smile. “He strives for perfection in everything.”
"There are some things that only the general manager has the authority to view. I'll go and apply for permission."
"No need."
A man dressed in a silver-gray suit slowly descended the spiral staircase.
Sheng Baiyan pushed up his glasses and smiled politely.
The last time I saw him, Sheng Baiyan was gloomy.
To put it dramatically, he resembles a vampire count in a black and white film, with a withered and dejected air about him.
But today was a completely different story. He was impeccably dressed and looked every bit the glamorous figure in a financial magazine.
The moment Su Jin saw the other person, her heart began to pound wildly.
It felt as if the other person had a missing part of him, and his magnetic field became disordered as soon as they got close.
It felt like there was a whirling compass in his ribs, causing a dull ache.
Sheng Baiyan seemed oblivious to Su Jin's disheveled state. He walked steadily and casually to Ying Chengyu's side and patted him on the shoulder.
"You're getting engaged already?" He smiled as if he and Ying Chengyu were old friends. "It's like a spy operation, kept completely secret."
"It's alright." Ying Chengyu glanced at Su Jin and coughed lightly. "What happened to your hand? It's all bruised."
“This,” Sheng Baiyan looked at the back of his hand, “I have migraines and some chronic gland problems. I had several IV drips.”
When Su Jin heard about the IV drip, his eyelashes trembled involuntarily, but he restrained himself from looking at the other person.
"Is Mr. Ying engaged to Mr. Li?"
Sheng Baiyan then looked at Su Jin, a social smile that was hard to decipher.
"I wonder if you could tell me about your experiences?"
"Cough cough." Ying Chengyu almost choked. He mumbled, his words becoming increasingly awkward, "After years of unrequited love, it finally came to fruition. In short, it was me who relentlessly pursued him."
"Where there is a will, there is a way."
Sheng Baiyan nodded, "Mr. Li is very fortunate. Cheng Yu is indeed a good choice. It was definitely the right decision to choose him."
After he finished speaking, he introduced that the dress shop actually belonged to his company, and he had just received two of the most exquisite dresses, which he would soon give to Ying Chengyu and Su Jin to try on.
"Remember to invite me to the engagement ceremony." Sheng Baiyan's smile deepened. "I will definitely prepare a generous gift."
Su Jin had been wondering about the last time they met—Sheng Baiyan had been so aggressive, she didn't know if he was faking amnesia or if he really was.
But this time, he felt that Sheng Baiyan might have truly let go.
Otherwise, why would the other party be so nonchalant about their engagement and even actively promote their own dresses?
Sheng Baiyan was eloquent, describing the details of the dress in an incredibly detailed way. Su Jin was a little flustered listening to him, so she could only look at the accessories in other places to distract herself.
At a glance, one could see the inner room of the VIP lounge, where a whole glass cabinet was displayed, with many black diamonds on it—large and small, like black holes in the universe, captivating the eye.
He turned his eyes, only to meet Sheng Baiyan's gaze, which was like a lake where crows gathered, with a kind of oppressive and unfathomable depth.
However, this was probably Su Jin's misperception, because the man quickly called a waiter and urged others to help him change his clothes.
Like the most bored wooden puppet, Su Jin let people fiddle with him in the dressing room for a long time—he was somewhat surprised that the dress, which should not have been made for him, fit him perfectly in every way.
After he went out, Ying Chengyu suddenly disappeared.
“Cheng Yu’s father had a problem at the hospital. He couldn’t wait and left first. I’ll drive you there in a bit.”
Sheng Baiyan walked up to Su Jin and straightened his tie, behaving as politely as a stranger.
"This dress suits you perfectly, it looks amazing on you, and you'll definitely shine at your engagement ceremony with Cheng Yu."
Su Jin responded hesitantly, feeling a tight, suffocating pain in her chest.
To be honest, he didn't want to hear Sheng Baiyan's congratulations.
"Ah," Sheng Baiyan suddenly spoke up, "There's a matching gemstone lapel clip that's too expensive; it seems to be in the safe. Mr. Li, please come with me."
Su Jin nodded, and Sheng Baiyan led him to the safe room without taking anyone else with him.
The room was dimly lit, and the walls were made of silver-gray metal.
"Mr. Li loves Cheng Yu very much, doesn't he?" Sheng Baiyan took out a tie clip and gently fastened it for Su Jin. "He once had a lover, a love that lasted until death; most people couldn't bear that."
Su Jin roughly knew who it was, and just nodded haphazardly.
Sheng Baiyan gave a knowing smile and moved a few steps closer to Su Jin.
The door slammed shut suddenly, forcing Su Jin to retreat against the wall. She couldn't help but push him away, crying, "Mr. Sheng, you—"
"Li Sheng." Sheng Baiyan's smile gradually disappeared, his pupils like snow holes carved into the ice. He gripped Su Jin's shoulders. "Su Jin."
Su Jin wanted to say something, but a slight pain in her neck caused her to lose consciousness.
When he woke up again, he was in an unfamiliar room, and with just a slight movement, the sound of shackles rattling on his wrists could be heard.
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