Chapter 14 Reunion
Chen Jingshu's expression softened slightly as he lowered his eyes to look at Lin Yujing. [Rewrite!]
Lin Yujing belatedly realized she had overstepped her bounds, and by the time she wanted to apologize, Chen Jingshu had already hung up the phone.
She rubbed her head in frustration, not knowing where her sudden temper and confidence came from.
She'd asked for favors before for projects, even resorting to drinking and flattery, but today, after only waiting two or three hours for Chen Jingshu, he treated her with respect, providing food and drinks.
It seems that she instinctively wanted to bully Chen Jingshu just because the target was Chen Jingshu.
It truly confirms what someone said years ago: she's just a paper tiger, only daring to be fierce towards Chen Jingshu.
But years have passed, and Chen Jingshu is no longer the small-town boy who was full of sincerity towards her.
What was once a mountain stream in spring is now the Chen family heir whom you should not aspire to marry.
If it weren't for this investment promotion conference, given their current social status, they would never have any further contact with each other in their lives.
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With Chen Jingshu not returning, Lin Yujing had no reason to stay any longer.
She tiptoed until she stepped out of the reception room before landing on her heels.
The exquisitely landscaped courtyard house—it is where she came from, and where she will return.
As the elevator descended, the central axis, gleaming with dazzling golden light, finally rose from beneath her feet, transforming into an unscalable giant of the imperial city.
As the evening breeze blows through the streets, all the dust of the day and unrealistic dreams of the old city are carried away with it.
People!
One must live with self-awareness.
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In the early morning, long lanterns hung high on Chang'an Avenue in Beijing.
A black Rolls-Royce with license plates from three different regions was parked abruptly on the main road opposite the Huaren Wanxiang Hotel.
Yuan Shu was in the driver's seat. He used to be Chen Rongqing's driver and was very good at reading people and situations in officialdom.
The young Mr. Chen who was following him now was, in his opinion, the most flesh-and-blood, warm-hearted person in the entire Chen family. However, there was always an inescapable sense of weariness about this young master.
Chen Jingshu sat in the back seat, the car window half-rolled down, dressed in a suit and tie, his back straight.
Yuan Shu followed his gaze and looked out. In the dim light, a slender figure walked out of the hotel's revolving door.
Lin Yujing wore an ordinary white top and black bottom business suit, her long, slightly wavy hair cascading over her shoulders. She carried her high heels in one hand and descended the steps barefoot.
She has a flamboyant and romantic appearance, but there is an inexplicable sense of melancholy in her eyes, similar to Chen Jingshu's.
"Let's go." Finally, just as the person was about to disappear around the corner, a cold and weary voice came from the back row.
Yuan Shu started the car unhurriedly and asked, "The subway is out of service now, and there have been inspections recently, so it might be hard to get a taxi on Chang'an Avenue. Need a ride?"
Chen Jingshu rolled up the car window, his tone cold and flat, "Yijing has so many people, do I have to give a ride to every single one of them?"
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The early autumn night wind was strong, and Lin Yujing's exposed calf was stinging.
As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly; while standing on Chang'an Avenue, one couldn't even hail a taxi.
The phone calls were like a death knell; they wouldn't stop ringing unless she answered.
After her patience wore thin, she perfunctorily turned on the speakerphone, and immediately loud DJ music and a man's rude cursing came from the other end: "Sis, quickly transfer me 10,000 yuan."
Lin Yujing could no longer move. She sighed and slumped her shoulders. "I've already given the living expenses to Mom. Ask her for it."
"Lin Yujing, I'll say it again, transfer me 10,000 yuan." Lin Yuyan only ever called her "sister," and if she gave him the money, he would hang up immediately; if she didn't, he would start throwing a tantrum.
Lin Yujing was exhausted and weak, and her tone was flat. "I only have money left for food and paint. If you want to eat, drink and fool around, go ask Mom for more."
"You've been using this excuse for months. You're not tired of it, but I'm tired of hearing it." Just as she was about to hang up, Lin Yuyan changed his tone again, "I have something good about you here. If you don't pay me today, don't blame me for disregarding our sibling relationship."
Before she could understand what Lin Yuyan meant, she received a screenshot of an album. Although it was blurry, it was still recognizable as a scene from when she took a shower at home last week.
At the time, she wondered why there was a red spot flashing inside the socket, but now she realizes that it was a pinhole camera.
"Tell me, if I label these photos and videos as 'Huaqing Academy of Fine Arts's sexy bath photos posted online, along with your phone number, wouldn't that help you expand your business? You can only earn a little money by taking on commercial projects."
In an instant, Lin Yujing felt her blood rush backward, the streetlights went out, the world plunged into darkness, and a sharp ringing in her ears never stopped.
The mouth was filled with the stench of blood.
Across from him, Lin Yuyan continued his incessant tirade, spewing all sorts of despicable and shameless threats: "If you don't pay today, you'll be ruined. You little bitch, I'll destroy you."
Lin Yujing's emotions finally broke down to the extreme after a whole day, but she still held back the tears that kept welling up in her eyes. Knowing her younger brother as she did, she knew that as long as she gave him money once, the photos and videos would become his weakness to blackmail her.
So she could only remain calm and composed, saying in a gentle tone, "It's just a few nude photos and videos, go ahead and release them."
"What did you say?" Lin Yuyan asked in surprise.
“I told you to post it,” Lin Yujing repeated, then added, “I’ll also give you a brief explanation of the law. Illegally taking private photos of others and then blackmailing them for money by threatening to expose them, and then distributing them to pornographic websites, is a criminal offense. With multiple charges combined, I can get you at least ten years in prison.”
"Are you trying to scare me?" Lin Yuyan said dismissively.
"Lin Yuyan, I never scare people. If I'm ruined, our whole family will die together." At the end, she laughed shrilly, like a female ghost in the middle of the night, "Little brother, are you afraid of dying? Watching your blood slowly flow out of your body, your body temperature slowly dropping, you want to call for help, but you find that you have no strength at all."
"Lin Yujing, are you crazy?!" Lin Yuyan's mental defenses gradually collapsed, and he cursed viciously.
"You're only just realizing I'm sick?" Lin Yujing suppressed her laughter and said solemnly, "I'm warning you one last time. If you want to continue being a freeloader, learn from your mother and shut your mouth. If you want to die, learn from your father..."
The phone beeped three times, and the person on the other end seemed eager to escape, and the world returned to calm.
Lin Yujing took a long breath and looked up at the sky, only to find that the stars and full moon were gone, replaced by a cluster of shopping malls.
A one-dimensional perspective reveals that this city, built of reinforced concrete, is completely obscured.
It turns out that when grief reaches its extreme, even tears cannot fall.
It seemed that even the heavens were moved, and they shed large tears for her.
Lin Yujing felt like a stray dog crouching under the eaves of a narrow shop to avoid the rain.
The city's rainwater is untouched by the salty sea breeze; only the smell of mud and dust can be detected in the nostrils.
The misty rain met the ground, and at the end of her vision, a pair of gleaming black leather shoes gradually disappeared.
Looking up, she saw a tall, slender man in the rain. As he walked towards her, he exuded an air of effortless confidence and charisma.
Chen Jingshu gentlemanly moved the black umbrella over her head. His brows still showed the familiar nonchalant and roguish air, but there was no longer any trace of the carefree and romantic small-town boy in his temperament.
Even the way he looked down at her was filled with the empty, unfamiliar gaze of a superior.
Lin Yujing's emotions finally burst like a punctured balloon. She looked up into Chen Jingshu's eyes, and tears slowly slid down her cheeks.
She opened her mouth, but found that she didn't even have the courage to call his name.
What I fear even more is that what's before me is just a pipe dream.
Chen Jingshu glanced down at her, looking at her shattered state, and sneered, "What a pity. Why study painting? You should study acting."
Otherwise, the phrase "a star in the sky, a tear in XX" would be a description of her.
"Get up, I'll take you back to school." His tone was still chillingly cold.
Lin Yujing sniffed, her cautious fear deepening. "No need to trouble President Chen."
"Not going to bother me?" Chen Jingshu's jaw cracked. "Then if you encounter danger or an accident on the road, the police will investigate, and the first person they'll check will be me."
"Even if something unexpected happens to me, what does it have to do with President Chen?"
"Aren't you very knowledgeable about the law? Don't you know that the first thing to investigate in an accident is a crime of passion?" She left his place tonight, at that time and place. Without any media manipulation, it would be fabricated as a sex scandal.
“We don’t…” Lin Yujing was about to deny it, but before she could finish her sentence, she thought of those nights they had spent together in Pengzhen, so intimate and reluctant to part.
Chen Jingshu didn't respond, but simply turned around and said, "If you're not leaving, you can just stay here and enjoy the breeze."
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Lin Yujing followed closely behind him. When Yuan Shu saw them, he smiled and respectfully opened the car door.
"Miss Lin, where are you taking me?"
"Huaqing Academy of Fine Arts, Ditang Apartment in the South Campus".
The rear air pressure was extremely low, and only Yuan Shu gently intervened, saying, "Miss Lin is truly outstanding; that's a master's degree apartment."
Lin Yujing replied modestly, "No."
Then a mocking laugh suddenly came from beside her, "Miss Lin is too modest. If you had applied to the Film Academy back then, you would probably be pursuing a doctorate by now."
Lin Yujing gritted her teeth, unable to utter a single word of rebuttal in the face of the mockery.
With tears welling up in her eyes, she turned to look out the car window, trying to minimize even the presence of her breath.
But given this rare opportunity to be alone, she quickly adjusted her mindset, took out a printed copy of the Hundred Schools Alliance materials from her bag, and said, "Mr. Chen, if you have time now, could we talk about the Hundred Schools Alliance project?"
She held up a thick stack of reports in both hands, while Chen Jingshu casually flipped through the pages a few times. "I'm very curious, how did a project that relies heavily on public welfare manage to motivate Ms. Lin, who is so sophisticated and self-interested, to participate so enthusiastically?"
Everyone has their original aspirations.
"Original intention? Or the original intention of seeking fame and fortune?"
The barbed and sarcastic remarks made Lin Yujing feel as if she had swallowed a mouthful of sand.
However, she lacked the confidence to argue with Chen Jingshu. "President Chen, no matter what misunderstandings you may have about me, the alliance project represents the hard work of many people. I still hope you can give us a chance."
"It's so late, let's talk another day," Chen Jingshu said dismissively, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"When is 'another day'? Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow?" Lin Yujing looked at him and asked anxiously.
Chen Jingshu's eyes betrayed his weariness. He looked at her and gave a low, mocking laugh. "Miss Lin, as an adult, if you don't want to be met with a polite refusal another day, you should know better than to just agree."
Lin Yujing bit her lip and nodded, "Okay, Mr. Chen, you've worked hard today too."
She stopped talking, turned her head away, and stared at the street scene outside the car window.
But the slightly bumpy carriage was always filled with a subtle and elegant scent of ebony and sandalwood, as if it were emanating from Chen Jingshu.
She remembered that the boy used to only have the fresh scent of soap and laundry detergent on him.
The smell, however, made it difficult for her, who already suffered from severe insomnia, to keep her eyes open. So she rested her forehead against the car window and drifted off to sleep.
She didn't wake up even when we got to the dormitory building.
Even on the road, she curled up and lay down on the back seat. But her mind wasn't completely out of control, and she maintained a safe distance from Chen Jingshu.
"Should we wake Miss Lin?" Yuan Shu asked in a low voice.
In the quiet campus, Chen Jingshu's expression softened. He looked down at Lin Yujing and noticed that she still liked to frown and curl up to sleep, just like before, which was a sign of a severe lack of security.
“Investigate that Lin Yuyan,” he said.
Yuan Shu quickly understood his meaning: "The results will be available by tomorrow afternoon. Should we preserve the evidence or call the police directly?"
"Preserve evidence while ensuring that the photos and videos are not leaked."
Yuan Shu agreed, and then the carriage fell silent again.
He stared at Chen Jingshu, his gaze fixed on the sleeping girl.
A face devoid of expression, revealing no emotion, let alone love or hate.
It wasn't until Lin Yujing rubbed her eyes that he quickly looked away and gazed out the window.
"We've arrived!" Lin Yujing stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Chen, for bringing me back."
Chen Jingshu ignored her, so she had no choice but to push open the door and get out of the car.
Yuan Shu, however, kindly lowered the car window and said, "Miss Lin, please get some rest."
Lin Yujing nodded her thanks and saw two people walking side by side in the distance. One of them was her roommate, Qi Woxue, who was also one of the founders of the Hundred Schools Alliance.
The boy next to her was also a member of the alliance. Upon seeing her, he immediately abandoned Qi Woxue and ran over.
The lively puppy, brimming with youthful energy, spoke in a sweet voice, "Senior Jingjing, are you rushing to finish your work in the art studio again today? Why didn't you ask me to come with you? It's too unsafe to come back so late."
"No." Zhang Jiale had always been overly enthusiastic towards her, but today Lin Yujing inexplicably looked at Chen Jingshu in the car with a guilty conscience.
Chen Jingshu glanced at them in the direction of the voice, then dismissively looked away and coldly addressed Yuan Shu, "Aren't you leaving? Planning to stay here?"
A note from the author:
A Song for Myself
Singer: Young Master Chen
[Tragic][...][Holding the microphone][Her love, buried and smoothed over in her heart, still lingers after all these years.]
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Chen Jingshu's entire body, except for his penis and mouth, is hard; his heart is made of soft tofu!
Young Master Chen: I thought you were studying hard, but it turns out you're building a fishpond at the art academy.
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Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 01:33:51 on September 3, 2023 and 01:00:23 on September 4, 2023!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: 悱恠1;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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