CHAPTER 258: UNTITLED SECTION_1

Zhou Luchen sat to one side, watching her eat. "Do you really like working overtime?"

Shen Jing mixed a bite of rice with her chopsticks and reluctantly explained, "Just tonight. It’s not like I work overtime every day."

She had nothing, and Sheng Peng was her only way out, no matter what she encountered.

Zhou Luchen swiped his phone with his fingertips, his voice nasal. "Staying up late, working overtime during the day—are you that eager to die? Can’t you just pay people to work themselves to death for you?"

Shen Jing put down her chopsticks and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Feeling sorry for me?"

"Aren’t you the one who seized power from the Zhou Family’s generation? You make them work themselves to death for you. Wouldn’t it be nice for you to take it easy? I’m learning from you."

Zhou Luchen glanced at her. After a few seconds, he said, "I taught you. You didn’t learn the good things, only these."

"I learned." She then playfully leaned close to Zhou Luchen’s ear, whispering alluringly and charmingly, "Uncle..."

Zhou Luchen chuckled, but Shen Jing barely registered it before the smile vanished.

He suppressed his emotions rather quickly.

"Eat," he rebuked softly.

Shen Jing immediately sat up straight and picked up her bowl and chopsticks again.

During the meal, Zhou Luchen stepped out to take a call. When he returned, she heard him say, "I need to go back to headquarters."

Shen Jing’s voice was muffled as she said, "Isn’t it a lot of trouble for you to keep flying between the two countries?"

Zhou Luchen’s words were brief and to the point. "Troublesome."

"What time is it scheduled for?" Shen Jing asked casually.

He, Zhou Luchen, never stuck to a schedule, always doing as he pleased. "Any time will do."

Shen Jing picked up her bowl, took a clean spoon, walked over to him, and fed him a small taste of porridge. "Oh, so you’re the president of United Bank. What does being on time matter? Who would dare say a word against you?"

Zhou Luchen hummed softly. "Finish your meal and go upstairs to help me sort the documents."

"Okay."

When she saw him go upstairs, Shen Jing put down her bowl and followed him into the study.

Perhaps they would soon be separated. On the night before his departure, he was deep inside her.

They quickly adjusted their positions. Zhou Luchen was on top of her, looking down at her, his ambiguous gaze holding a hint of admiration.

Shen Jing pulled Zhou Luchen’s neck down, challenging him, "Does Second Young Master... want to take me to Manhattan?"

Clearly, it was a pleasant night.

Clearly, she was the one teasing him.

In the end, it somehow turned into her constantly agreeing, "Yes, I’ll go, I’ll go."

「Dawn broke.」

The space beside her on the pillow was empty.

Usually, Zhou Luchen would go abroad for two or three days before returning to Beijing.

During these times, Shen Jing didn’t call him, nor did he call her. Knowing he was busy, and she was too, they were both accustomed to focusing on work when apart.

Zhou Luchen hadn’t taken Zhuang Ming with him, leaving him with her.

When Shen Jing went to work, Zhuang Ming would drive a Rolls-Royce Cullinan ahead, protecting her small Audi.

Shen Jing didn’t have time to ask how the accident was eventually handled; the car wasn’t recovered and ended up on the second-hand market.

That day, a business partner came to sign a contract and happened to see two cars arrive one after the other at the office building’s drop-off area.

Just as Shen Jing stepped out of her car, Zhuang Ming hit the gas and drove off.

The escort to work was too conspicuous.

The partner company’s CEO specifically waited for Shen Jing to enter the elevator with him. After observing her delicate, lotus-like complexion, he finally offered his congratulations, "Manager Shen, your boyfriend personally drives a Cullinan to take you to work! Oh, it looks like good news is on the horizon."

A joyful event? What joyful event? Was the misunderstanding really that big?

Shen Jing held her hands politely in front of her. "Director He, you’re joking. There’s no such joyful event."

Director He pondered for a moment, then said meaningfully, "Ah, I understand. That person must be *his* driver."

Shen Jing smiled without answering. When the elevator doors opened, as the representative of the host company, she politely gestured, "Director He, after you."

Director He nodded with a slight smile. "You really have changed. When I first met you years ago, looking at your proposal, you were still a naive and clueless child, even seen crying on the roadside after being bullied. Now, you can stand shoulder to shoulder with your elder sister."

"My elder sister is my role model." After saying this, Shen Jing paused for a moment, then a smile touched her lips. "Ultimately, everyone has something they strive for. If one doesn’t keep moving forward, life itself becomes tiring, don’t you think?"

Even Shen Jing herself hadn’t fully realized how much she had changed over the past three years. Yet, she clearly remembered how she used to love the pipa and storytelling performances in Su City, and the carefree life there.

She even had an inheritance that could have allowed her to live out her life peacefully.

She scrolled through her elder sister’s social media feed and saw a picture of their family of three on an outing. Shen Jing put away her phone and continued to listen to the speech from the visiting head office manager.

Perhaps it was generally known that she and Zhou Luchen were close.

When Shen Ci was out on business, she encountered Zhou Luchen, who was returning to the country. Thinking he was pursuing her younger sister, she greeted him politely, "Second Young Master Zhou."

Zhou Luchen paused. It took him a long moment to recall she was from the Shen Family, and he nodded slightly in response. "Mm."

Shen Ci smiled and nodded.

As Shen Ci turned to enter the airport, Zhou Luchen unintentionally noticed her wrist.

It was a red cord, a safety cord, similar to the one Sun Qiyan wore.

He recalled that when he had taken Shen Jing back to the Shen Family home before, Old Master Shen also seemed to wear a similar one. These red cords appeared frequently. Connecting all these observations, he arrived at a conclusion.

Zhou Luchen’s eyes darkened. When Zhuang Ming came to pick him up, Zhuang Ming was silent. He quietly opened the car door, watched Zhou Luchen get in, and then drove him to the courtyard house for dinner.

「Eight o’clock at night.」

A black sedan was parked in front of the Shen Family home. Over the phone came Zhou Luchen’s cool, clear voice, uttering two blunt words: "Come down."

Shen Jing, phone in hand, climbed out of bed. "You’re surprisingly punctual."

Zhou Luchen didn’t reply. The only sound from the receiver was the flick of a lighter.

He’s smoking again; his mood isn’t good.

"Zhou Luchen, what’s wrong?"

Knowing he was returning today, Shen Jing, still holding her phone, pulled open the curtains and looked down.

Under the dim night sky, Zhou Luchen leaned idly against the car. Throughout the call, he took drag after drag of his cigarette, his expression so faint it was almost colorless.

He didn’t look up at her, nor did he smile.

Gazing at the solitary, lonely figure of the man, who kept his head bowed, cigarette dangling from his lips as he inhaled, Shen Jing felt her breath catch. "Are you ill?"

Zhou Luchen lightly flicked the ash from his cigarette, his voice low and slow. "If you don’t come down, I’m leaving."