Chapter 42: Stupid

Ke Zhongyu looked down at Jiang Lai: "How is it?"

Jiang Lai shook her head.

She had just steadied herself when Shen Xun pulled her over once again, stumbling a step to stand beside him.

Ke Zhongyu watched her stumble again and instinctively reached out a hand.

"President Ke, Jiang Lai is already married—she is my wife." Shen Xun put his arm around Jiang Lai, staking his claim.

Ke Zhongyu noticed Jiang Lai's feet were dirty and frowned, saying to Shen Xun: "Since President Shen knows she is your wife, why drag her around here like an object?"

Only then did Shen Xun notice Jiang Lai's feet—her heels were bleeding, her feet were covered in who-knows-what filth, and the ground was cold.

He asked: "Where are your shoes? Wait for me to have my assistant buy a pair. If you can't wear high heels, then don't. A poor imitation does you no good—it only hurts yourself and makes people laugh at you."

As soon as Shen Xun's disparaging words came out, anger flared in Jiang Lai's heart.

"Mind your own business, President Shen."

"Jiang Lai, must you speak to me in that tone? Relying on someone to back you up?" Shen Xun looked hostilely at Ke Zhongyu.

Jiang Lai said: "Don't drag others into this. It has nothing to do with President Ke."

Shen Xun demanded: "Then what gives you the right to attend the reception with Ke Zhongyu!"

Ke Zhongyu chuckled: "What's wrong with a secretary accompanying her boss to a reception?"

Jiang Lai looked over in surprise—Ke Zhongyu actually hadn't denied it.

"Rather than pursuing this here, President Shen, you'd better think about how to explain things to your female companion." Ke Zhongyu turned slightly.

Lin Shutong was standing not far away, eyes red.

Shen Xun immediately let go of Jiang Lai's hand and frowned, cursing inwardly—Ke Zhongyu was truly ruthless.

Bringing Jiang Lai to the reception on purpose was meant to ruin his reputation.

Lan Chuang had always been suppressing Xingyu; Ke Zhongyu wanted to suppress him too.

Shen Xun wasn't about to fall for it. He took a deep breath: "If President Ke can bring a secretary as his companion, I can certainly bring a friend as mine."

"Jiang Lai, you know that Shutong and I are just friends."

Ke Zhongyu looked over with great interest, curious how Jiang Lai would answer.

Jiang Lai twitched her lips: "I know."

Lin Shutong heard this from afar, and the corners of her eyes grew even redder, but not wanting Shen Xun to think she was being unreasonable, she gave a faint smile, then turned and walked away.

Shen Xun instinctively wanted to chase after her, yet was uneasy about leaving Jiang Lai alone with Ke Zhongyu.

He was instantly frantic.

Just then, Shen Xun's phone buzzed. He picked it up to look—Lin Shutong said she wasn't feeling well and was heading back first, so as not to disturb him and Jiang Lai.

"President Ke, excuse me." Shen Xun pulled Jiang Lai away, and only let go of her hand once they were far from Ke Zhongyu, instructing her: "Wait for me here. I have something urgent—I'll come back for you in a bit."

Jiang Lai nodded: "Okay."

Shen Xun had only taken two steps before he turned back and asked her: "What did you mean by what you said outside earlier? I didn't ask you in front of others—are you misunderstanding something?"

Jiang Lai knew which line he was asking about and shook her head: "I forgot which one. I was angry just now, you were dragging me outside, my feet hurt, and I spoke without thinking."

Shen Xun half-believed her.

"Don't say reckless things in the future."

"Understood."

She said her feet hurt; he only noticed that she had spoken without thinking.

Jiang Lai watched him stride away—in exactly the direction Lin Shutong had left.

The moment his figure disappeared, a cold laugh came from above her head.

A pair of white flat shoes was dropped in front of her.

Jiang Lai looked up.

Ke Zhongyu was simply inescapable.

She almost suspected she'd been fitted with a tracker—that was how fast Ke Zhongyu's mockery arrived.

"Put them on." Ke Zhongyu stood beside her, his gaze directed elsewhere.

Jiang Lai looked at the clean white shoes, then at her own dirty feet, and was about to dig out a tissue from her bag—her small clutch only held a phone.

Thud.

Tissues dropped in front of her, landing on her lap.

Thud.

Socks dropped in front of her, landing on the shoes.

Thud.

A box of band-aids dropped in front of her.

Was this person a treasure chest? Jiang Lai looked up curiously.

Ke Zhongyu stood with one hand in his pocket, strolling away unhurriedly. After a few steps he stopped, turned his head slightly, and caught from the corner of his eye Jiang Lai bending over to wipe her feet, then putting on socks for herself.

While putting on the socks she touched the wound on her heel, only then remembering she hadn't applied a band-aid, and took the socks off again.

"Stupid." Ke Zhongyu cursed under his breath.

……

After Lin Shutong sent the message to Shen Xun, she stood near the entrance until she saw Shen Xun's figure coming to find her, then she turned around.

Her back looked utterly forlorn.

"Shutong." Shen Xun cut through the crowd, striding briskly toward her.

The place was crowded, and the two—an attractive man and woman—quickly drew everyone's attention.

Shen Xun grabbed her wrist.

Lin Shutong pulled her hand back, eyes red, saying, "Don't be like that, it's not good if Jiang Lai sees."

Shen Xun: "She's behind, far away from here."

This is absolutely not the answer Lin Shutong wanted to hear; she wanted Shen Xun to say not to worry about Jiang Lai, that she herself was the most important.

"Since you're bringing Jiang Lai to the party, you should have told me; then I could find a male companion myself and wouldn't be miserably just waiting for you." Lin Shutong deliberately provoked him.

As expected, Shen Xun blurted out again: "You can't find (one)."

"What right do you have?" Lin Shutong felt extremely wronged.

After a moment of silence, Shen Xun said: "I will be jealous."

Lin Shutong felt happy inside but looked sad: "I'll be jealous of you and Jiang Lai too."

"You've misunderstood, Jiang Lai didn't come with me." Shen Xun explained, "She came with Ke Zhongyu."

Mentioning this made Shen Xun angry.

Shen Xun's face instantly turned cold.

Lin Shutong stared slightly, surprised: "Chief Ke brought her to the party? Then they……"

Shen Xun frowned.

"They won't have anything."

This sounded more like an explanation for Shen Xun himself.

What surprised Lin Shutong was that Ke Zhongyu could actually take a liking to Jiang Lai?

The Ke Family, which she would never dare to climb in her lifetime, has allowed Jiang Lai, this country bumpkin waste, to climb up?

If Jiang Lai were to climb onto Ke Zhongyu, wouldn't that make her far more formidable than her?

No, no, no, the Ke Family wouldn't look up to Jiang Lai, nor would Ke Zhongyu; at most it's just a fresh novelty, playing around in secret.

Lin Shutong felt a bit more balanced in her heart.

"A Xun, will you go out with me to relax a bit and come back later?" She reached out to hook Shen Xun's finger.

Shen Xun pulled her along as they went out.

Arriving at a slightly darker place, Lin Shutong deliberately fell into Shen Xun's embrace, tilted her head up and began kissing Shen Xun.

First the neck, then the chin.

Finally the lips.

Shen Xun's scalp went numb from being kissed, his breathing grew heavy, and he reached out to push her.

"Shutong, be careful someone might see."

"It's fine, A Xun, I miss you, I miss you so much, will you hug me? We haven't seen each other in years; after coming back, you've kept your distance from me. We finally got together with difficulty, and I want you to be closer to me, even closer."

Lin Shutong is really good at flirting.

Her flirting made Shen Xun's heart restless, and he ultimately couldn't hold back.

The two of them, in the corner, sparked like heavenly thunder and earthly fire.

But they didn't know someone had secretly recorded it.