Miao Jing smiled sweetly: "My first boyfriend pursued me for two years. He was an exceptionally good person—sunny and cheerful, and very caring. It was my first time realizing that a boy could be like this: clean and polite, never using foul language, well-mannered, understanding compromise and accommodation, never arguing with anyone. Everything he did made people feel comfortable."
The faint smile on Chen Yi's face began to falter, desperately needing a cigarette to soothe his emotions: "That sounds pretty good..."
His Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't finish his sentence.
Miao Jing shifted her body backward, the knife tip continuing downward as she sliced open his trousers. Blinking her charming eyes, she pressed the thin blade against his body at a slant, revealing an enigmatic faint smile.
Chen Yi's eyes widened, his heart turning cold, his face alternating between pale and ashen. Was she planning to castrate him? To get revenge?
"Miao Jing... I haven't done anything to wrong you..."
"How much money do you have now?" Miao Jing tilted her head, asking him seriously. "Excluding fixed assets and deducting expenses for the billiards hall incident, how much liquid assets?"
He frowned, unsure of her intentions, nervously calculating: "About one hundred seventy or eighty thousand."
"Not planning to save up for marriage?"
"What marriage? Become another Chen Libin and raise another Chen Yi? I'd rather die than go through that." He sneered, "I'm still young, we can talk about it in ten years."
Miao Jing examined the dagger in her hand: "I've already returned that bank card to you. There's two hundred thousand I saved inside—consider it your money returned with interest. The password hasn't changed, you can withdraw the money and spend it yourself."
"You've only graduated a few years ago, where did you get that much money?" His expression was stunned, his tone displeased. "Who told you to deposit that money?"
"You said yourself I got scholarships in college. I also worked part-time jobs, and after starting work I saved some more. I'm giving you all my savings." Miao Jing paused, contemplating for a moment before speaking calmly again, "Chen Yi, do you remember? I said before that someday, I would repay all the money I owed you. Thank you for taking me in, raising me, and giving me money for college. From now on, I owe you nothing. We're even, completely settled."
His chest heaved, his breath irritable: "So you came back specifically to repay debts?"
"Yes, I worked hard to save this much. And because of Cen Ye's situation, I had an opportunity to return." Miao Jing's tone carried slight sarcasm as she smiled coldly. "You really don't need to keep impatiently telling me to leave. Just keep the money properly. I have my own plans. When it's time for me to leave, I'll naturally go. After I leave this time, I promise I'll never return to Tengcheng again in this lifetime, never appear before you again, never have any relationship with you again."
"Fine!! You're really something! Just great!!"
Chen Yi fiercely closed his eyes, refusing to speak further. His body lay sprawled, disheartened on the hospital bed, his heart aching with continuous, needle-like pain.
Every time, she could accurately strike where it hurt most.
The private hospital room fell silent for a while.
"Chen Yi." The voice calling him suddenly turned gentle and light.
His face ashen, he pretended to be dead and didn't respond.
She might as well just stab him to death.
There was rustling movement against his body, a soft, boneless hand gently caressing. His body stiffened heavily, unable to muster interest in this sudden pleasure, yet his body responded automatically."One last time?" She leaned in, her soft, fragrant body pressing close to him. "Chen Yi? I often think about the old days too..."
Gentle and unhurried, spirit and desire, love and resentment—all seemed to dissolve in that moment. She took the lead while he watched with shadowed eyes. The hospital bed offered limited space, their clothes still fastened, yet the constraints heightened the intensity.
Their garments tangled in disarray as she lay draped across his chest. He kissed her damp forehead. "Is that all the strength you have?"
Miao Jing’s gaze was hazy with exhaustion as she rested in his embrace, breathing in shallow pants. Eventually, she rose languidly, straightened her dress, and went to the bathroom to clean up.
When she emerged, she was the composed Miao Jing once more. Approaching the hospital bed, she pulled open a drawer under his silent gaze, retrieved a cigarette case, lit one unhurriedly, and placed it between Chen Yi’s lips.
His first cigarette since the incident. Clumsily, he held it, taking a slow drag.
After so long without smoking, the taste was bitter, astringent, harsh.
Frowning, he smoked in brooding silence.
Miao Jing ran her fingers through her long hair, then suddenly turned back to him. "Oh, there’s something on my phone I’d like you to hear."
"What is it?"
She set the phone on a chair and played the recording.
A slightly fuzzy, staticky voice filled the room—a conversation between Zhou Kang’an and Chen Yi from before. They discussed the fire at the billiards hall, Zhai Fengmao’s escape, and Chen Yi’s plan to return to Yunnan.
Chen Yi froze, the cigarette dangling from his lips. A long ash fell onto him unnoticed.
Damn...
Miao Jing.
What a move!
Her slender figure leaned against the window, arms crossed, her expression calm and profound as she watched him steadily.
"Is this why you disappeared, Chen Yi?" she asked softly by the window, offering a gentle smile. "Not long after I left, during a clash in Tengcheng, Bo Zai was crippled. You cut contact with me. That nightclub got shut down. You vanished completely for two years and four months—in Yunnan? Was it related to that fugitive boss Zhai? Did you suspect the billiards hall fire was retaliation? Yunnan, Myanmar, the Golden Triangle... those places are tied to drugs and guns. That year, I reported you for drug use after overhearing your call. Zhou Kang’an contacted me later; he even helped me out. After you disappeared, he comforted me. He’s a detective—you’re connected to him, yet he never arrested you... Chen Yi, have you been working with the police?"
Chen Yi’s brow furrowed deeply, his expression awkward as he remained silent.
"I don’t want to dig into the details or understand the full story. It’s all meaningless now. But if I released this recording, wouldn’t you be finished?"
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