My Paranoid Girlfriend Asks Me to Be Her Kept Woman (Rebirth) - Chapter 20

Zhao Chengye looked out the window. The torrential rain washed over the entire city, the curtain of rain striking the glass like marbles and making a crackling sound.

He picked up his phone and walked to the window. The distant high-rises were blurred by the heavy rain.

He smiled and said, “The rainy season has arrived.”

Huaicheng’s rainy season had arrived?

Zhao Qi thought, and her mind could not help drifting to Lin Yi.

Had she brought an umbrella? If she went back without one, would she catch a cold?

She probably would not. Zhao Qi had already arranged for Assistant Li to assign Lin Yi a private car.

Today, she should be taking that car back.

The bodyguard drove the car up in front of Zhao Qi, and the bodyguard behind her stepped forward to open the door.

On the phone, Zhao Chengye smiled and said, “The car’s here? Then stay in Europe a while longer. Wait until things over there stabilize.”

Zhao Qi walked toward the car. “Eldest Brother, I have something to go back for.”

“There’s Assistant Li at the company. It’ll be fine.”

“What do you take me for?”

Lin Yi’s voice echoed in Zhao Qi’s mind again. She said softly into the phone, “It’s a private matter of mine…”

Bang!

A gunshot rang out!

“Miss!!!”

“Xiao Qi!!!” Zhao Chengye heard the gunshot from the other end of the phone too!

Zhao Qi stood there blankly, holding the phone. Before she could turn around, the phone fell to the ground with a clatter, and the screen went black.

Zhao Chengye’s call was cut off. Anxiously, he dialed again, only to hear the phone prompt.

“The number you have dialed is unavailable. Please try again later…”

“Xiao Qi…” Zhao Chengye muttered to himself, finally remembering to call the bodyguard.

After several calls, it was finally answered.

The bodyguard was panting heavily. “Master.”

“What happened to Xiao Qi?!!!” Zhao Chengye shouted in agitation.

“Miss was shot. We just arrived at the hospital!”

“What?!” “How could she be shot?!” “Who fired the gun?!”

Zhao Chengye fired off several questions in a row. The bodyguard caught his breath and watched as the young miss was safely sent into the emergency room. Only then did he exhale and answer, “After Miss was shot, we rushed to get her to the hospital. The criminal has already been subdued by security.”

“The shooter was the person from the meeting just now!”

“He was resentful that Miss removed him from his position as the person in charge! He actually chased her out with a gun!”

“The police are investigating whoever provided the firearm!”

Bang! Zhao Chengye was so anxious in his office that he could not sit or stand still, and he punched the wall.

How could this happen?!

“Is Xiao Qi all right?” he asked urgently.

“Miss was shot in the abdomen and suffered major blood loss. The doctors are currently trying to save her,” the bodyguard answered truthfully.

Zhao Chengye’s heart chilled for a long while. Then he ordered, “I’m coming over immediately! Watch over Miss!”

“Yes, Master.”

The rain in Huaicheng grew heavier and heavier, the curtain of rain blocking the city from view.

Zhao Chengye arranged for a helicopter, but he could only wait until the rain stopped before leaving.

Lin Yi wore headphones, turned the music up to the loudest volume, and struck the drum set.

She hit it hard, the drumstick thudding against the drumhead.

Zhao Qi still had not called her back.

Disappointed, she wondered whether that woman had her in her heart at all.

Following the drumbeat in the music, she struck heavily again.

With a slap, her hand hit the drum directly, reddening in an instant.

The drumhead let out a messy bang.

The drumstick had actually broken.

Lin Yi took off her headphones and stared blankly at the deep scratch the broken drumstick had carved into the drumhead.

Outside the window, the rain fell harder and harder. The city sank into darkness. The sky gradually turned black, yet the rain still showed no sign of stopping.

Lin Yi stood in front of the drum set in a daze, and the room also fell into dimness.

Fan Texi knocked on the door. “Lin Yi, come eat with us.”

No one answered. He clicked his tongue, knocked again, and directly pushed the door open.

“Lin Yi?” The room was pitch black. Fan Texi felt around and turned on the light. “Oh, you’re here?”

Lin Yi narrowed her eyes from the sting of the light and looked toward the door.

Fan Texi put his hands on his hips. “Do all you artistic people have weird habits?”

He saw Lin Yi with headphones hanging around her neck, sitting in front of the drum set.

“It’s pitch black in here. Aren’t you afraid of hurting your eyes?”

Lin Yi put down the drumstick. “What’s wrong?”

“I ordered takeout. With rain this heavy, it won’t stop anytime soon. I came to call you to eat,” he said irritably.

Lin Yi took off the headphones and rubbed the back of her hand.

“I’m not eating.”

“Huh?” Fan Texi was stunned. “Where are you going?”

Lin Yi picked up her bag. “I’m going back.”

“Going back now?” Fan Texi walked a few steps to the window and looked outside. Hesitantly, he said, “Wait until the rain stops before leaving.”

“The car and driver aren’t in place yet. How are you going back?”

Lin Yi was restless and irritated, her lips pressed together. “I want to go out for a walk. Do you have an umbrella?”

Fan Texi blinked, confirming once again that artistic people really did have strange habits.

With rain this heavy, what use was an umbrella? She would still end up soaked.

He still wanted to persuade her, but Lin Yi slung her bag across her body. “Forget it. I remember there are umbrellas downstairs.”

She turned and left.

Fan Texi called out several times, but could only put his hands on his hips helplessly.

“Why are every single one of them so stubborn?” he grumbled angrily.

Lin Yi took an umbrella from the complimentary items provided by the building downstairs.

She stood at the exit and hesitated for a moment. The rain was indeed heavy. The sky was dark and gloomy, as if it were about to collapse.

Rain struck the road beside the building. The branches and leaves of the locust trees were in disarray; emerald leaves and fragile twigs had fallen onto the road. On the cement ground, rainwater gathered into little streams and continuously washed over the surface.

The moment she stepped onto it, the rainwater already covering the road rushed into her shoes and intimately touched her toes.

Lin Yi held the umbrella. The blue umbrella provided by the building wrapped around her upper body, while her thighs felt the cold raindrops striking against them.

So cold. That was Lin Yi’s first feeling.

Holding the umbrella was like building herself a safe fortress as she slowly flowed into the city.

The rain crackled against the umbrella, then slid down along its surface and fell to the ground.

She walked in the direction of home for a long time. The pants on her legs were basically soaked through, and her shoes were filled entirely with rainwater.

Her whole body was icy cold. Lin Yi’s small face was pale from the cold by the time she walked back to Sangzhu Apartment.

Sangzhu

The property manager at the entrance asked gently, “Miss Lin, are you all right?”

Lin Yi’s eyes moved. She turned toward the manager and froze for a moment. After a while, she finally revealed a faint, miserable smile.

“When I came back, I didn’t expect the rain to be this heavy.”

The manager also sighed. “Yes, who would have thought this year’s first rain would be so heavy?”

“This year’s… first rain?” Lin Yi repeated after the manager.

The manager smiled and handed over a hot towel that had already been prepared for residents. “Miss Lin, wipe off the rainwater.”

She then answered, “Was Miss Lin not in Huaicheng this year?”

“This is indeed Huaicheng’s first rain since entering the rainy season.”

Lin Yi took the towel and pressed it over her face, sighing deeply.

“You could say… I wasn’t here.”

The manager did not dig further into the resident’s words. She followed Lin Yi’s words and said, “Miss Lin, Miss Zhao Qi entrusted us the day before yesterday to install a soundproof room at home for her. The piano arrived today, but the workers installing the soundproof room were held up halfway because of the rain. The home may be a little messy. We have already done our best to remedy it.”

Lin Yi looked at the manager as she bowed apologetically. She asked in a daze, “A soundproof room?”

The manager smiled. “Yes. Miss Zhao Qi said someone at home needed it, and it was to be installed in one of the rooms on the east side.”

“We have already moved the piano inside. According to Miss Lin’s instructions, it was placed on the shaded balcony.”

Lin Yi tugged at the corner of her mouth, unable to describe what she felt inside.

She wanted to laugh, but she also wanted to cry.

Every action that woman took seemed to say she loved her, yet in behavior, she also pushed her far away.

Lin Yi stood in place, caught between advancing and retreating. She could not bear to let go, yet she also could not take another step closer.