Chapter 20
Shen Yishu could no longer stomach the table full of food.
As long as she remained in that room, the vulgar voices of the Shen father and son kept echoing in her mind. From beginning to end, they had not regarded Lin Luosheng as a person, but merely as a tool to be used in their scheme.
Even though Shen Yishu and Lin Luosheng were barely acquaintances who only exchanged greetings, hearing those words still made her skin crawl.
Ji Xiangyu brought Shen Yishu to the private room she had reserved, intending to let her sober up before they returned to the hotel.
“I need to go back and shower,” Shen Yishu said seriously. “I smell terrible.”
She was not drunk, but the alcohol had slowed her thoughts by half a beat. Whatever entered her mind came straight out of her mouth without being filtered.
“Does the alcohol smell bad?”
Ji Xiangyu poured her a glass of water and handed it over.
“No. It’s more like… a disgusting smell.”
Shen Yishu frowned.
She felt that after spending half an hour in the same room as the Shen father and son, their foul stench had somehow rubbed off on her.
She lifted her arm and carefully sniffed it.
Then she lowered it with a miserable expression, leaned toward Ji Xiangyu, and raised her right arm.
“Sister, can you smell it?”
Her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol, and she looked at Ji Xiangyu aggrievedly, the word disgusted written plainly across her face.
Zhu Li had washed Shen Yishu’s clothes in the hotel washing machine, so they carried the clean fragrance of industrial detergent.
Only a faint trace of alcohol clung to the white fabric, so light that it smelled as though she had merely taken a sip.
Ji Xiangyu shook her head.
She could not tell whether Shen Yishu was truly drunk. She only felt that the young Alpha had become much bolder than usual.
Shen Yishu genuinely was not completely clearheaded.
Seeing Ji Xiangyu shake her head, she assumed the distance between them was too great for her to smell properly.
So she leaned even closer, until her cheek was almost touching Ji Xiangyu’s lips.
“Sister, smell again?”
Ji Xiangyu lowered her eyes and looked at the dazed young Alpha before her.
She finally realized that Shen Yishu was probably somewhat intoxicated.
Normally, Shen Yishu could not wait to place an enormous distance between them. She would give Ji Xiangyu face in front of others, but in private, she drew an unmistakable boundary.
Even at her most proactive, she merely spouted a few outrageous remarks while constantly maintaining her behavior as an “innocent young Alpha.”
Ji Xiangyu pressed her lips together and said softly, “There’s no smell.”
She did not even dare move.
The youthful face was only inches away. If Ji Xiangyu leaned forward even a single centimeter, their lips would touch.
Shen Yishu relaxed.
If Ji Xiangyu did not think she smelled bad, then she definitely did not.
She leaned back against the chair and drank two glasses of water in succession.
Several minutes passed, and her mind gradually cleared enough for her to think normally again.
“Tonight’s recording should prove that I didn’t plan what happened that night and knew nothing about it.”
Shen Yishu released a long breath of relief inwardly.
Fortunately, the original owner had been relatively stupid. The others never told her the details of their plans, which had allowed Shen Yishu to escape this disaster.
“I’ll explain everything to Zheng Shu and Lin Luosheng,” Ji Xiangyu said, finally relaxing as well.
Even with one-hundred-percent pheromone compatibility, she could never keep a genuinely malicious person by her side.
Shen Yishu smiled with relief.
The greatest crisis she had faced since transmigrating had finally been resolved.
She owed everything to Ji Xiangyu, who had been willing to trust her and give her time to search for evidence.
“Does Lin Luosheng not know what happened that night?”
Shen Yishu suddenly remembered that Lin Luosheng had never confronted her about it.
The only times Lin Luosheng had mocked her were because she disliked seeing Shen Yishu near Ji Xiangyu.
“She doesn’t know. Neither Zheng Shu nor I told her.”
Ji Xiangyu glanced at her.
As their gazes met, Shen Yishu suddenly remembered all the outrageous things she had said while pretending to be a spoiled playgirl.
“Sister, about that…”
Shen Yishu could no longer lift her head.
She had never wanted Ji Xiangyu to hear those words in the first place.
Who was Ji Xiangyu?
Everyone in the entertainment industry treated her with respect and admiration. Even though she had not appeared in an arthouse film for years, offers continued to arrive endlessly.
She was the unattainable first love in countless people’s hearts, a supreme goddess.
Yet inside this tiny private room, she had listened to Shen Yishu exchange vulgar remarks with the Shen father and son for half an hour.
Even Shen Yishu herself found those words filthy, much less Ji Xiangyu.
“You had a reason. I’ll keep it a secret for you.”
Ji Xiangyu did not find the words particularly unbearable.
She had been born into a wealthy family and entered the entertainment industry at a young age. She had heard things far filthier than this.
Besides, Shen Yishu had only spoken that way to coax information out of them.
“I’m sorry,” Shen Yishu apologized sincerely.
“It’s fine. If necessary, you can use your pheromones to seduce me.”
Ji Xiangyu lifted the glass beside her and took a small sip, concealing the smile at the corners of her lips.
Shen Yishu: “…”
She would never dare!
Still, after Ji Xiangyu made the joke, Shen Yishu no longer felt quite as nervous.
In Shen Yishu’s heart, Ji Xiangyu was now like a divine maiden descended to the mortal world.
She solved Shen Yishu’s problems, protected her secrets, and asked for nothing in return.
Shen Yishu could not imagine anyone else in the world possessing such a kind heart.
Just as she was about to speak, Ji Xiangyu’s phone suddenly rang.
Ji Xiangyu silently stared at the name flashing across the screen.
The phone’s default ringtone sounded harsh as it echoed around the small room, resembling a death knell.
Only after half a minute did she slowly answer.
“Dad, what is it?”
The smile that had been on her lips vanished completely.
Her thin lips pressed into a straight line, and her expression became distant.
“I saw your license plate in the parking lot. Are you at Springtime?”
Springtime was the name of the private restaurant.
The smell of alcohol seemed to travel through the phone, making Ji Xiangyu instinctively frown.
“I am. Get to the point.”
Ji Xiangyu had already lost her patience.
“I’m in Room 302. Come say hello. How long has it been since you last came home?”
Shen Yishu watched Ji Xiangyu worriedly.
She had never seen her like this before.
Ji Xiangyu’s back was drawn into a tense curve, and her fingertips unconsciously scratched against her thigh.
Several pale streaks appeared across the blue denim, while her fingertips turned red from the force she was using.
Only her expression remained cold and distant.
She maintained her composure so perfectly that all anyone could see was disgust, not the unnatural movements beneath the table.
“Later. I still have something to do.”
Ji Xiangyu lowered her eyes and took a deep breath, yet she still could not bring herself to refuse directly.
“What could you possibly be doing? Instead of filming properly, you’re in the city. Don’t tell me you’re accompanying—”
Before the person on the other end could finish, Ji Xiangyu hung up.
Shen Yishu had heard most of what came through the phone.
Now she understood why Ji Xiangyu could remain expressionless after listening to Shen Yishu’s vulgar performance.
It turned out someone in her family spoke even more offensively.
“Sister.”
Seeing Ji Xiangyu press her lips together so tightly that they had turned pale, Shen Yishu called to her.
Ji Xiangyu’s fingers dug firmly into her thigh and trembled faintly as she restrained her emotions.
“I’m fine. Wait here for a while.”
Ji Xiangyu took a deep breath and forced a smile at Shen Yishu.
“I’ll go with you.”
Shen Yishu truly did not feel comfortable allowing her to go alone.
A father who could speak so offensively to his own daughter might do something even worse once she arrived.
Shen Yishu did not want Ji Xiangyu to suffer such humiliation.
Someone so cold, elegant, and untouched by the world should not be treated that way.
“Are you very worried?”
Ji Xiangyu glanced at Shen Yishu’s tightly furrowed brows.
The string pulled taut inside her suddenly loosened.
“You don’t want to go,” Shen Yishu said.
“Mm.”
Shen Yishu understood.
Even someone of Ji Xiangyu’s status could still be controlled by others.
“I’ll go with you. I can wait outside.”
Shen Yishu felt that as long as she remained close enough, she should be able to protect Ji Xiangyu.
“Mm.”
Ji Xiangyu picked up her phone and led Shen Yishu toward the third floor.
“If you hear anything inside the private room later, don’t rush in recklessly,” Ji Xiangyu suddenly said as they approached the third floor.
“?”
Shen Yishu did not understand.
“Be good and listen to Sister.”
There was only one private room on the third floor.
The elevator stood in the center, while the corridor lighting was deliberately dim to preserve the guests’ privacy.
The moment they reached the floor, loud voices and a powerful smell of alcohol surged toward them.
A middle-aged man walked toward the stairwell, his voice on the phone loud and piercing, like a broken, low-quality speaker in some rundown small town.
“Hello!”
Shen Yishu turned toward the sound.
Before she could see the approaching person clearly, someone was forcefully pushed into her arms.
“Hide me.”
Ji Xiangyu lowered her voice and whispered into Shen Yishu’s ear.
Shen Yishu wrapped her arms around Ji Xiangyu’s shoulders.
Only then did she realize that Ji Xiangyu was trembling faintly.
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