Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After the event dispersed, I wasn’t surprised to see Zhou Jinyan’s Rolls-Royce waiting downstairs at the hotel.

He was leaning against the car, gazing at me with a look that bordered on obsession.

“Ah Ning.”

I gave him a polite nod. “President Zhou.”

A flicker of pain crossed his eyes. “You hate me, don’t you?”

“Don’t think like that, President Zhou.”

I let out a sigh. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now.”

“Don’t go.”

He reached out and grabbed the hem of my clothes, his voice trembling like a plea. “That day at the cliff… it’s not that I didn’t want to save you. I just… I grabbed Lu Sisi subconsciously.”

“Later, I sent people down to find you. They all said the cliff was so high, and since your hands were tied, falling meant there was little hope for survival.”

“But then, I saw you on the news the other day…”

I glanced down at my wristwatch.

Time was almost up. I really didn’t want to stand by the roadside listening to his emotional post-mortem on only my second day back.

So, I interrupted him with a polite smile. “I’m sorry, I have an appointment. I have to go.”

He asked, “Where are you going?”

Just then, a bright orange Porsche pulled up beside us.

The driver got out and opened the door. “President Cen has already booked a restaurant and sent me to pick you up.”

Beside me, Zhou Jinyan’s face turned pale instantly.

He watched as I got into the car. Just as the door was about to close, he suddenly reached out to hold it open and asked, “Who is President Cen?”

“I don’t believe that’s any of your business, is it?”

I curled my lips into a slight smirk. My eyes fell on the Rolls-Royce behind him, and I couldn’t resist a parting jab. “It’s been so many years, President Zhou. Isn’t keeping the same car a bit beneath your status?”

The car drove a long way off, but I could still see him through the rearview mirror, standing silently in place, watching me.

At the Sky Garden Restaurant in the very center of the city, Cen Yuqi was waiting for me.

She leaned against the back of her wheelchair, looking at me lazily. “Did you see Zhou Jinyan?”

I gave her a brief account of what happened, ending with a bit of self-reflection. “That last thing I said… it might have been a bit mean.”

“Mean? If anything, I think you weren’t aggressive enough.”

She flipped through the menu, casually ordered two dishes, and then handed the menu to me. “Next time you see him, remember to give it to him straight.”

“‘Zhou Jinyan, you’re a third-rate piece of trash. Stop acting like a pathetic loser.'”

I leaned against the table. “You really hate him.”

“Of course I do. While you were abroad doing your master’s and doctorate, I was back here competing with him, snatching several of his projects. Every time you had a reconstructive surgery, I arranged a scandalous trending search for Lu Sisi.”

She narrowed her eyes and smiled. “You might not hold a grudge, but I’m very vindictive.”

The warm yellow light fell on her face, her eyes sparkling with brilliance, her expression sharp and cutting.

That was exactly how Cen Yuqi was when I first met her.

Paralyzed in both legs and confined to a wheelchair, yet showing not a hint of despondency.

She had said with a smile, “I’m the one who had you fished out of the water.”

“Kid, you’re quite clever. You cut the rope yourself before you were pushed off, leaving just a tiny bit attached so no one noticed your little trick. Right now, Zhou Jinyan has hired a search and rescue team to dredge that area for your corpse.”

“If my yacht hadn’t happened to be nearby, how long would you have had to swim to reach the shore?”

I was soaking wet, huddled in a bath towel. I said in a low voice, “I would have swum for as long as it took.”

As long as I could completely escape Zhou Jinyan’s side, anything was fine.

She swirled her wine glass, slowly finished the entire glass of red wine, and then asked me, “How about I help you?”