Chapter 47

Zhou Junyao only found out that Yu Zhezhi had a new partner just before he returned.

This was one of the reasons he had rushed back. People in the country had intentionally kept it from him; it wasn’t until he returned home and pressed for details that his driver tremblingly mentioned Yu Zhezhi’s “marriage.”

Junyao’s first reaction was disbelief. He insisted on seeing it for himself to get to the truth. Until he saw Hua Luoyue in Yu Zhezhi’s house, he maintained that it was just a little trick Zhezhi had found to brush him off—just like the several times before.

But the mere fact that Hua Luoyue was present in Yu Zhezhi’s private residence made Junyao’s heart sink. Usually, the candidates Yu Zhezhi chose for these charades were incredibly perfunctory, selected solely to express a polite refusal. She was usually distant toward those fake partners, not bothering to fabricate a history of how they met or fell in love; she didn’t hold hands, didn’t kiss, didn’t make a show of being picked up from work, and certainly never let anyone step a single foot into her private domain.

Could it be that Zhezhi knew those hints weren’t working and had opted for a “levelled-up” version of the facade?

Junyao’s guess was infinitely close to the truth. However, Hua Luoyue had claimed they had “registered the marriage,” and she appeared alone in Zhezhi’s house at this time of day—she couldn’t have predicted he would show up, so it wasn’t a case of someone being called in at dawn to act a part.

It could only mean this person actually spent the night at Yu Zhezhi’s.

For anyone else, that would be normal, but for the extremely germaphobic Yu Zhezhi, it was practically impossible. Only one possibility seemed to remain: this was real.

Junyao’s face darkened. He believed it in his heart, yet he instinctively questioned: “Impossible—how can you prove it?”

The bewilderment on Hua Luoyue’s face grew more obvious, as if she were looking at a mental patient who had escaped from somewhere. Her eyes were filled with unfamiliarity and impatience. “What does my marriage have to do with you? Why should I prove anything to a weirdo like you? For that matter, who even are you? If you have nothing better to do, can you get out of the way? If you want to talk business, please go to the office; Sister Yu doesn’t fall for this kind of thing.”

She spoke quite rudely, her hostility clear.

Junyao knew she had actually guessed who he was, but Yu Zhezhi really wasn’t home—his driver had just messaged him saying he saw Zhezhi go to the office—and Hua Luoyue was pulling out her phone to call security.

Junyao grit his teeth. He really didn’t want to waste time on this strange woman. He gave her a frosty glare, turned, and left.

As he turned, Hua Luoyue heard him mutter with a tone of disdain: “How could Zhezhi like someone like this—and a woman, at that.”

He didn’t lower his voice for his monologue; it echoed clearly in the hallway. Facing his back, Hua Luoyue whispered with a smile: “He really is sick.”

She waited quite a while after he left before closing the door and heading downstairs. She sent a message to Yu Zhezhi to report the situation, then decided to proceed with her original plan to go to the hospital.

When she reached the ground floor, Junyao was nowhere to be seen. She noticed a bouquet of battered roses in the trash can; they looked like they had been torn apart in a fit of rage before being slammed into the bin, petals scattered all over the floor.

Yu Zhezhi had been feeling her eyelid twitch wildly since she left the house this morning. Not long after she sat down in her office, she received the message from Hua Luoyue.

The ominous premonition was quickly fulfilled.

Fortunately, Junyao likely knew where Yu Zhezhi’s bottom line was; he didn’t dare disturb her while she was working. Instead, he waited until lunch to send her a message [stolen content]saying he was waiting downstairs and inviting her for a meal.

After her meeting, Yu Zhezhi sat in her office munching on an apple. Only after handling all her backlog of messages did she click on Junyao’s. Checking the time, she replied with a straight face that she had already eaten, but they could go to a nearby cafe for a coffee.

Since Junyao had already shown up, she might as well strike while the iron was hot.

When Zhezhi went downstairs, Junyao was leaning against his newly bought sports car waiting for her, naturally attracting the attention of everyone passing by. Equally eye-catching was the massive bouquet of brilliant red roses in his arms, making his reason for waiting there obvious at a glance.

Unpleasant flamboyance.

Junyao spotted Zhezhi as soon as she exited the building and hurried to meet her, his smile bright and enthusiastic. “Long time no see. President Yu is a busy person indeed; it’s not easy to catch a moment with you.”

Zhezhi didn’t reach for the flowers. She gave a polite smile and said: “I’m a person with a family now. Let’s not indulge in these gestures that might cause misunderstandings.”

Junyao’s smile didn’t waver, and he didn’t force her to take them, casually tossing the flowers back into the car while apologizing: “It was my intrusion.” He made an inviting gesture. “Shall I drive you?”

Zhezhi declined again: “The cafe is less than five hundred meters away. It’s just a few minutes’ walk.”

She didn’t intend to waste much time with Junyao. Her excuse was valid—heavy workload—and there was nothing he could say.

The cafe had small private booths partitioned by hollow screens. They sat in an read the original at bailiantales.com inconspicuous corner and ordered two coffees. Junyao surveyed the somewhat cheap environment with a face full of disdain, but Zhezhi pretended not to notice.

“Hasn’t Young Master Zhou gone abroad to manage a new project? There are no Lunar New Year holidays abroad, are there? Why are you back so soon?” Zhezhi exchanged pleasantries with him, fully aware of the answer.

“You’ve sent my sister to a psychiatric hospital; how could I not come back to see?” Junyao said.

“So, is Young Master Zhou here to hold me accountable?” Zhezhi asked.

“No. I’m just here to see for myself,” Junyao said, having used visiting Xu Ningshuang as his official reason for returning. “My sister has been a bit hysterical since she was a child, and there’s a bit of a hereditary history on her biological parents’ side. I originally wanted to take her for a check-up, but I was afraid she’d be angry. Actually, I should thank you for helping find the symptoms so she could get timely treatment.”

The server brought the coffees. Junyao paused until she left, then raised his cup as if making a toast, saying with mock solemnity to Zhezhi: “Thank you…”

He spoke with such apparent sincerity, as if he truly believed Zhezhi making a public fool of his sister was for her own good.

The eldest Miss Xu had indeed been diagnosed with some psychological defects and had been cooperating with treatment recently. Modern people under high pressure often have minor issues like obsession or OCD; Miss Xu’s case was just slightly more severe—impulsive and irritable—but far from being mentally incompetent.

Families like theirs value face above all. If minor issues were found privately, they would be kept strictly secret. Having them dragged into the open so loudly made no one happy. Even if Old Mr. Zhou gained some benefits from the ordeal, there was bound to be dissatisfaction in his heart; while he used to check in on Zhezhi outside of work, there had been almost no extra greetings lately.

But Junyao truly didn’t care much about his sister or the family losing face. He returned under the guise of visiting his sister, yet after nearly a day back, he hadn’t even gone to see her before coming to give Yu Zhezhi a “surprise.”

Zhezhi knew he never liked Miss Xu much to begin with. He was just good at acting, coddling her until she lost her senses, but his private evaluations of her were never kind. When he wanted [Read on BaiLianTales]to please someone, insults about his sister would roll off his tongue.

But such duplicity was truly chilling.

Zhezhi couldn’t say she had never considered an alliance through marriage, but after weighing the pros and cons, she was confident in her own abilities and didn’t need it. Furthermore, the more she knew Junyao, the stronger her desire to stay far away became.

If she had to marry without love, she would rather choose someone like Hua Luoyue—who couldn’t offer any assistance but was obedient and sensible—to keep at home, rather than be with someone like Junyao in exchange for results she could eventually achieve through her own struggle.

But unlike his sister, Junyao appeared gentle, polite, and tolerant on the surface, so Zhezhi couldn’t easily tear away the pretense in public.

“How is Uncle Zhou lately?” Zhezhi decisively changed the subject.

“He seemed fine when we talked on the phone,” Junyao said. “But I only got back yesterday and haven’t seen him yet. He went on a business trip down south a couple of days ago and won’t be back until tomorrow at the earliest.”

That meant they hadn’t had a proper talk yet. Judging by the attitude toward the Miss Xu incident, Old Mr. Zhou had likely given up on the idea of Junyao winning over Yu Zhezhi. After all, Zhezhi was not as obedient as he had imagined, nor was she sufficiently concerned with the Zhou family’s face.

Zhezhi exchanged a few more platitudes with Junyao. Seeing that she had wasted enough time, she finally steered the conversation back to Hua Luoyue: “I heard you went to my house this morning?”

Junyao smiled. “She told you? I thought I’d found the wrong place.”

“How did you get my address?” Zhezhi asked.

“I asked Ji Ruoyin. Your… she should be your cousin, right? she delivered something to your house before.”

Distant cousin, Zhezhi added in her head—and a naive airhead, at that.

She didn’t delve into that issue with Junyao. Checking the time, she picked out the important points to say: “I hope you don’t go there again. Luoyue is usually home alone; she’s timid and doesn’t like meeting strangers. You gave her quite a scare this morning.”

Recalling Hua Luoyue’s hostile demeanor that morning, Junyao said noncommittally: “Is that so…?”

Zhezhi had no intention of arguing with him, simply stating: “Yes…”

She acted completely as if she were irrationally protecting her partner. The previous dialogue was just meaningless small talk; only now, returning to the subject of Hua Luoyue, were they discussing what they truly cared about.

Zhezhi was focused on brushing Junyao off, while the man across from her began to glimpse just how much she valued Hua Luoyue. Even if it was an act, it was too intimate. How long had he been gone? Zhezhi had even gotten married, and to someone he had never heard of before.

And what about him? After giving so much, all he received was Zhezhi’s ever-increasing coldness and avoidance.

Junyao felt indignant. Especially losing to some little girl who had appeared out of nowhere; he almost felt as if he were being insulted. Sensing the seriousness in Zhezhi’s words, he couldn’t control the barb in his own: “I thought you were picky about relationships.”

Zhezhi didn’t get angry, saying flatly: “Of course I’m picky about a life partner.”

Junyao countered: “Then how did you settle for this type? I’ve never seen you so…” He paused, making a downward gesture with his hand, showing his clear contempt for Hua Luoyue. “No money, no name, no ability. I heard she’s just a poor student who relies on you for support—just a face that’s passably pretty. But you, Yu Zhezhi, shouldn’t be such a superficial person. When did your taste sink to this level?”

He looked at Zhezhi, his words carrying a faint challenge. Yu Zhezhi was also a proud person; Junyao judged her by his own standards, thinking she surely couldn’t stand someone belittling her choices. If it were him, he wouldn’t think it was his fault, only that the person by his side was of such low grade that they made him lose face.

“My apologies, but I am that superficial.” Zhezhi set down her cup, her smile polite but fake. “You also don’t know me nearly as well as you think. Apparently, you didn’t know—this has always been exactly the ‘type’ I like.”