Extreme Pampering-Chapter 34 - Should This Thorn Be Removed
Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Should This Thorn Be Removed?
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Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Should This Thorn Be Removed?
The flight that had been booked was canceled, so I switched to staying overnight at the winery. When Shen Zhiyi awoke, it was still dim outside. Realizing Pei Yu wasn’t by her side, she shuffled her feet in search of him and saw that the light was still on in the study next door.
She gently pushed open the door, momentarily dazzled by the brightness of the light. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Pei Yu’s broad and upright figure from behind.
He was loosely wearing a robe, his lips clenching an unlit cigarette, eyes slightly downcast, holding a fine brush in his fingertips, focusing intently on something he was drawing on the paper.
Shen Zhiyi didn’t approach him. Leaning against the wall, she yawned. Pei Yu seemed to sense something, looked up, and when he saw her, his hand paused, dropping the brush and discarding the cigarette.
“Why are you awake?”
“The wind is noisy.”
In the midst of talking, he had already come closer, touched her shoulder which was cool with moisture, furrowed his eyebrows, and draped the robe over her.
“Sleep a bit more?”
“No,” Shen Zhiyi shook her head, “My assistant is coming to pick me up in a bit. Do you have work today?”
“Yes.”
Pei Yu responded but didn’t really care. He had been busy lately, mainly out of necessity, as there weren’t many situations that could actually request his presence.
Looking up at him, Shen Zhiyi asked, “Are you going back to Huating later?”
Huating was his home, and her status as an outsider made her uneasy when he didn’t return.
“Yes.”
With the tips of his fingers, Pei Yu gathered the robe around her exposed shoulders, curving his lips subtly.
While they were talking, suddenly a loud noise erupted from outside. Shen Zhiyi listened carefully for a moment, recognizing the sound as all too familiar.
At that moment, Xun Zhouxing was arguing irritably with the winery manager, “Is it so hard to get a list? I just want to find someone!”
The manager also looked troubled, “Mr. Xun, our guests have special identities. It’s not so simple to just view the list.”
Xun Zhouxing, who knew the nature of this place having visited a few times with his father, understood its function well; however, seeing the winery bluntly hindering him was frustrating. It wasn’t just any entertainment venue, and those backing it did not share the names Pei or Fu.
Feeling that he was already compromising enough, he said, “Can I just check for my friend alone? Just tell me which room she’s staying in.”
Having journeyed this far to block her just to see her face, not finding her was too much to bear.
The manager considered it and then asked, “Your friend is…?”
“An actress,” Xun Zhouxing said with a cold laugh, “Now you can check for me, right?”
An actress, after all, what’s there not to check?
The manager had someone look through the list, but they couldn’t find the guest’s check-in record.
“Are you sure your friend has come to our winery?”
Xun Zhouxing was stunned. He had received the information from Song Ran; it couldn’t be wrong.
Having no other option, he had to call Song Ran in a rage to settle scores.
A cigarette butt fell to the ground, and just as he was about to curse, the person he had been searching for all morning suddenly appeared, bringing him both shock and delight, “Shen Zhiyi!”
She was indeed here!
From a distance, Shen Zhiyi glanced in his direction, recognized him, but showed no intention of greeting him, and bent down to get into the car.
Xiaodong commented in a low voice, “How can we encounter him here? Is Director Xun always this idle?”
Having clearly refused him but still being persistently entangled not only involved him trying to call and message Shen Zhiyi but also his delusional attempts through the company to create opportunities to meet her, which was utterly annoying.
Shen Zhiyi had already guessed that this was no chance meeting when she heard some rumors in the morning; Xun Zhouxing was probably here for her.
It was too coincidental to be true; someone must have tipped him off.
“It was Song Ran who told him.”
No wonder the otherwise distant Song Ran had suddenly become friendly. They must have agreed on this long ago.
Xiaodong was shocked, but then realized, “It’s unbelievable. I thought she just lacked a sense of propriety, but it turns out she’s deeply calculating. Isn’t this using you to curry favor with Xun Zhouxing?”
She said indignantly, “That’s too much.”
Shen Zhiyi wasn’t really affected. In her years in the circle, she had no friends because she was aware that everyone was just using each other. Today they might call you ‘sister’, and tomorrow they would mercilessly trample and slander you.
It was pointless.
Her indifferent attitude infuriated Xun Zhouxing, who cursed out loud with the phone still on.
After listening for a while, Song Ran hinted, “I heard Shen Zhiyi is cozying up to Secretary Qin from Songjian. She probably looks down on you.”
Xun Zhouxing, especially sensitive in this respect, exclaimed, “Looks down on me?”
He took a deep drag on his cigarette and sneered, “Is Qin Fangru really better than me? Such a loser. She’ll get bored of Qin Fangru soon enough; how stupid of her to choose him over me!”
The more he thought about it, the more it stung. He had pursued Shen Zhiyi for over three years, longing for just one proper glance from her, let alone having her by his side. The more unattainable she was, the more he obsessed over her, particularly now that she was with Qin Fangru; wasn’t that a slap in his face?
The curses were incessant and unbearable. Nearby in the car, Secretary Qin was almost tempted to block his ears, while Pei Yu remained indifferent, carelessly flipping through the contract in his hand.
“Isn’t the Xun family bidding for that mine in Lingnan recently?”
Xun Zhouxing’s father had ambitious plans to swallow up that mine for raw material extraction, and had been shamelessly seeking favors far and wide to secure the deal, sending out many gifts, anxiously waiting for good news.
Secretary Qin, able to stay by Pei Yu’s side for so long, naturally sensed the implication in his words.
“The talks are nearly concluded, but the contract isn’t signed yet.”
Pei Yu closed the file, lazily propped his chin, and his cold eyes briefly swept over Xun Zhouxing outside.
“Then let’s not sign it.”
The deal was almost within their grasp; the Xun family wouldn’t just let it go. They would certainly look for a reason. And of course, the reason would be because they had Xun Zhouxing, such a ‘wonderful’ son.
Secretary Qin understood completely.
A few years ago, Xun Zhouxing’s failed investments led to a loss of two hundred million, resulting in his father beating and scolding him to the point of a hospital stay for half a month. Now, his actions were likely to hurt the company’s major business dealings; it was bound to cause serious harm.
The car was quiet for a while; Secretary Qin thought of something and asked very cautiously, “What about Huo Heng…”
Shen Zhiyi had been injured by Huo Heng’s sasaeng fans, but it wasn’t exposed. How infuriated Pei Yu was, his secretary knew all too well. Even though Miss Shen and Huo Heng were history, Huo Heng remained a thorn in Pei Yu’s side.
Was it time to pull this thorn out?
After a long silence, Pei Yu said emotionlessly, “Leave him.”
What use was it if the man disappeared? No one could replace his place in Shen Zhiyi’s heart. What the eyes don’t see, the heart still longs for.
He was greedy; a simple “dislike for Huo Heng” was far from enough. What he wanted was for this man to completely roll out of Shen Zhiyi’s heart.
If Huo Heng didn’t give up his position, how could he, who seized his opportunity, come out on top?
So this man not only needed to stay but also needed to live energetically, to gradually wear away any last good impression he had in Shen Zhiyi’s heart.
Having only taken a drag, Pei Yu snuffed out his cigarette, flicked off the ash from his fingertip, and looked out at the scenery.
He was waiting.
