Chapter 50:

Qiao Lin was about to say something rather unpleasant, as a friend. “With this level of intelligence, it’s no wonder Wang Jiaqi was so thoroughly deceived by Fang Zheng,” she thought, watching Wang Jiaqi with a helpless expression, one that clearly conveyed her disbelief. This expression made Wang Jiaqi feel deeply ashamed.

“Qiaoqiao, I know I’m acting really pathetic,” Wang Jiaqi sighed, her voice slightly choked as she fought back tears, staring at the ceiling to prevent them from spilling. “But just imagine being in my position. I know Fang Zheng’s words can’t be trusted, so I’ve decided not to believe him, yet I still can’t help feeling hurt. Not for any other reason, but because this man still tried to deceive me when I still held hope for him.” She lowered her head, looking at Lin Qiao, hesitating for a moment before continuing, “To be honest, although I’ve decided to believe you, I still can’t help feeling sad. I can’t control my heart. I know how strange and unreasonable I must seem, getting jealous over things that don’t even matter. But if I could control myself, I wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

Lin Qiao crossed her legs and massaged her temples, turning her gaze away evasively, saying nothing.

Wang Jiaqi was silent for a while before saying, “Actually, there are some things I didn’t plan to tell anyone, but maybe I can tell you.”

Lin Qiao looked at her, signaling her to continue.

Wang Jiaqi said, “From the moment Fang Zheng said those words, I knew he was beyond saving. But Qiaoqiao, I can’t testify for you. Although I really did see him take you to the car, given my family’s current situation, we can barely protect ourselves, let alone help you.”

Lin Qiao replied indifferently, “It’s fine if you don’t help me. I didn’t expect you to anyway.”

Wang Jiaqi stared at her, surprised.

Lin Qiao asked, “Is that all? Anything else?”

Wang Jiaqi pursed her lips and glanced toward the staircase. Seeing that Shen Qingzhou and Wang Jin showed no signs of coming downstairs, she lowered her voice and said, “I don’t know whether Fang Zheng will end up in jail this time. If he doesn’t, I still want to stay with him.”

Lin Qiao looked at her in disbelief, as if she no longer recognized her.

“You don’t have to be so shocked. I’m not saying I want to continue living with him. I just want to use my own ability to make him face consequences.”

Lin Qiao sighed, “The problem now isn’t whether you can bring yourself to retaliate, but that even if you’re willing to stay with him, he won’t accept you anymore.”

Wang Jiaqi froze, staring blankly at Lin Qiao, deeply hurt.

“I know this is hard to hear, and you might not be able to accept it right away, but that’s the truth. Fang Zheng is the kind of person who has no deep feelings for anyone. He could even harm your own child—what else is he capable of doing?” Lin Qiao stood up, exhausted. “You should think carefully. Talk of personal revenge— even if he were willing to accept you again, how could you possibly retaliate against him? He’s so cautious, would he even give you the chance to get close to him? You’d just be hurting yourself again. Jiaqi, we’ve known each other for so many years. I’m sincerely advising you to think this through. You’re still young. Even after breaking up with him, you can still find a good man. Don’t let yourself regret this.”

After this long speech, Lin Qiao stood up and walked upstairs. No matter how intensely Wang Jiaqi stared at her back, she had no intention of looking back.

Wang Jiaqi watched Lin Qiao’s tall figure disappear around the second-floor corner, her hands gripping the sofa tightly. She bit her lower lip hard, almost to the point of drawing blood, trying to suppress her sobs.

Although Lin Qiao’s words were harsh, they were full of truth. Wang Jiaqi knew Lin Qiao had her best interests at heart. At that moment, she felt too ashamed to face anyone, wishing she could just disappear into a crack in the floor.

After going upstairs, Lin Qiao found that Shen Qingzhou hadn’t been talking to Wang Jin at all—he had just been playing a game of Go with him.

On the Go board, the black and white stones formed a classical painting. Hearing footsteps, Shen Qingzhou looked up and saw Lin Qiao had arrived. He casually placed a stone and stood up, saying, “Mr. Wang, it seems they’ve finished their conversation. Let’s go downstairs.”

Still confused, Wang Jin stood up, asking, “Master Shen, weren’t you going to talk to me?”

Shen Qingzhou didn’t look at him. As he walked toward Lin Qiao, he said, “Didn’t we just talk?”

Wang Jin looked at the Go board, speechless. “That was the talk?”

Shen Qingzhou glanced back at him, his tone calm and expression serene. “Playing Go can cultivate one’s temperament. Mr. Wang, you have too much aggression in you. I’m doing this for your own good.”

Lin Qiao’s lips twitched slightly. She tugged at Shen Qingzhou’s sleeve as he approached and whispered, “Don’t be like that. After all, he’s your senior.”

Shen Qingzhou withdrew his gaze from Wang Jin and looked downstairs, nodding lightly. “How did your conversation go?”

Lin Qiao massaged her temples, showing her current helplessness.

Shen Qingzhou put his hands into his pants pockets, hesitated for a moment, and then said to Wang Jin, “Mr. Wang, let’s end it here today. Both of you should go home and rest.”

Wang Jin hurried to the stairs, frowning. “That’s it?”

Shen Qingzhou: “What else?”

“Aren’t you going to reveal how you’re going to deal with Fang Zheng?” Wang Jin seemed very interested.

Shen Qingzhou looked downstairs, where Wang Jiaqi had appeared at some point, gazing up at them.

Shen Qingzhou glanced at Wang Jin and gestured for him to look down. Seeing his daughter, Wang Jin swallowed his words, sighed deeply, and said, “I’m leaving first.” Without another word, he strode past Lin Qiao and Shen Qingzhou, taking Wang Jiaqi with him.

Lin Qiao followed Shen Qingzhou to the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor, watching Wang Jin drive away with Wang Jiaqi. Her expression was somewhat distant.

Noticing her unusual expression, Shen Qingzhou gently asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Qiao honestly replied, “I just feel that time is terrifying. Someone who used to be so lively has become like this now.”

Shen Qingzhou, his hands behind his back, gazed at the retreating car carrying the Wang father and daughter, and slowly said, “She met the wrong person and misjudged him. The consequences are something she must bear herself.”

Lin Qiao glanced at him, “By your logic, she deserves this?”

Shen Qingzhou replied indifferently, “Not exactly. Nothing is absolute.” He turned around, continuing before Lin Qiao could speak, “I need to go out for a while. This afternoon you can go to the company and take a look. I’ll be busy for a few days, so behave yourself.”

Lin Qiao followed him, displeased, saying, “You say it like I’m usually so misbehaving.”

Without turning around, Shen Qingzhou said, “What I mean by ‘behave’ is for you to stop looking for those men.”

“Those” men meant more than one. Lin Qiao recalled—these probably included Qi Zheng and Qin Muyao.

Speaking of Qin Muyao, Lin Qiao hadn’t seen him in a long time. Since their last unpleasant encounter, they hadn’t been in contact. Recently, the class monitor from university had contacted her about attending a class reunion, but she had declined out of fear of the awkwardness of meeting Qin Muyao. She didn’t know how Qin Muyao was doing now.

Actually, no matter how he was doing, it had nothing to do with her anymore. Since she couldn’t accept his feelings, she shouldn’t keep appearing in front of him, causing only more sadness. All that talk about being able to remain friends even if they couldn’t be a couple was just an excuse to cover up one’s own petty feelings.

Shen Qingzhou said he would be busy for a while, and indeed, he was extremely busy. There were two or three days when Lin Qiao didn’t even see him.

The next time she saw him was when she took the initiative to call and arrange a meeting. He hadn’t returned home for several days, so if she wanted to see him, she had no choice but to do it this way.

At 7 p.m., the two met at the entrance of Deyun She. With her arms crossed, Lin Qiao watched Shen Qingzhou step out of the black Audi. He looked much more tired than a few days ago, yet his expression remained as composed as ever as he frowned while crossing the road.

When Shen Qingzhou reached her, Lin Qiao said, “Master Shen, so busy managing the affairs of the day and night, it’s really not easy to see you.”

Shen Qingzhou looked at the Deyun She sign and asked, “You want to listen to crosstalk?”

Lin Qiao nodded, “I’ve never gone out with you to have fun before. Do you want to listen too?”

Shen Qingzhou glanced at his watch, looking somewhat hesitant. Lin Qiao, noticing this, became slightly angry. “Fine, if you’re so busy, go ahead. I can watch it by myself.” She huffed, “I already knew you wouldn’t have time, so I only bought one ticket. Goodbye.” With that, she turned and walked toward the entrance.

Shen Qingzhou grabbed her wrist, looking at her helplessly. “Some things really can’t wait. I don’t have time to watch crosstalk with you, but I can have dinner with you.”

Lin Qiao looked at him and asked, “How much time do you have for dinner?”

Shen Qingzhou looked at his watch again, hesitating for a moment before replying, “Twenty minutes.”

Lin Qiao let out a scoff, not saying a word.

Shen Qingzhou looked at her for a while, then suddenly said, “How about you come with me to meet someone? Once that’s done, we can go have dinner.”

Lin Qiao frowned at him and asked, “Meet who?”

It was Qi Zheng.

Lin Qiao never expected that the person Shen Qingzhou was so busy with that he couldn’t go on a date with her was Qi Zheng.

When Qi Zheng came to meet Shen Qingzhou, he was wearing a snow-white short-sleeved shirt. A pen was tucked into the upper pocket of his shirt. His tall figure strode steadily toward them, exuding grace and poise.

Lin Qiao and Shen Qingzhou sat on one side of the table. The other side was empty, reserved for Qi Zheng.

Shen Qingzhou seemed puzzled when he saw that Qi Zheng had come alone. He kept looking behind Qi Zheng, and when he didn’t see the person he was expecting, his expression instantly turned cold.

The unexpected happened after Qi Zheng sat down opposite them. Just when they thought that was all, the teahouse door was pushed open again, and Zhao Chunjun’s thin figure appeared at the entrance. He immediately spotted their table.

Lin Qiao’s eyes widened as she looked at Zhao Chunjun, who was wearing a black trench coat even though it was the middle of summer. There wasn’t a single bead of sweat on his forehead or face, as if he weren’t hot at all. His complexion was as pale as the first time she had seen him, the dark circles under his eyes still present. His sharp, cold eyes fixed on them as he approached step by step.

Qi Zheng didn’t even need to turn around to know who had arrived, judging from the reactions of Shen Qingzhou and Lin Qiao. He actively made space for Zhao Chunjun, only slowly speaking after Zhao had sat down beside him.

“Mr. Shen, I’m very sorry, but I couldn’t bring Ji Tong,” Qi Zheng apologized first, then awkwardly introduced, “This is Dr. Zhao Chunjun, Ji Tong’s attending physician.”

Lin Qiao sat stiffly, watching Zhao Chunjun’s eerie smile, feeling uneasy as she tightly gripped Shen Qingzhou’s hand resting on his lap.

Shen Qingzhou glanced at her, then returned his grip on her hand, casually looking at Qi Zheng and saying, “If you can’t bring Ji Tong, then just leave. We don’t entertain anyone other than Ji Tong here.”

Qi Zheng was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Shen Qingzhou to be so direct. Zhao Chunjun, however, spoke in a bland tone, his expression full of meaning: “Mr. Shen, this isn’t Mr. Qi’s fault. Ji Tong is my patient, and his condition isn’t suitable for going out, so I insisted on coming personally to explain. Originally, Mr. Qi didn’t want me to come along. He’s innocent in all this.”

He emphasized the word “innocent” so heavily that it felt nauseating.

Qi Zheng frowned at Zhao Chunjun and said, “The message has been delivered. Since Mr. Shen has issued a dismissal, we’ll leave first.”

Zhao Chunjun stood up indifferently, ready to leave with Qi Zheng. After watching them for a while, Shen Qingzhou suddenly said, “Qi Zheng, may I ask you a question?”

Qi Zheng turned back to look at him, indicating he was listening attentively.

Shen Qingzhou furrowed his brow, as if deeply puzzled, asking, “With your level of intelligence, how did you even become a doctor? Choosing someone like you to treat Ji Tong, I suspect you never really intended for him to recover, did you?”

Qi Zheng’s body stiffened, his expression turning somewhat grim. Seeing this, Shen Qingzhou smirked contemptuously, “I guess I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?”