Chapter 44: If You're Interested, I'll Summon You Again

Wen Ling's fingers lightly tapped the blanket, she said casually: "Zhou Yinhe, we're not lovers; questioning me in this tone is overstepping."

Zhou Yinhe felt stifled by her words, and he bit his lip hard.

His reaction was a bit strong; having once been bitten by a snake, he feared a well rope for ten years—he was terrified Wen Ling would leave again, and after she returned he had become somewhat spoiled by favor, but at that time, aside from feeling a bit wavering deep down, he was overly confident, thinking he fully understood Wen Ling's temperament and believed she wouldn't really leave.

He gripped the pen in his hand so hard his fingertips turned white, but he softened his tone and said softly: "Sorry, Ling Ling, I was just too eager just now."

Wen Ling had a smile in her eyes, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, but she merely gave a light "oh".

Zhou Yinhe felt unsettled by that sound, his voice low: "I'll come find you in a bit."

Wen Ling directly and bluntly refused him: "Don't come find me; wait until I'm interested again to summon you."

"No." Zhou Yinhe frowned, but Wen Ling didn't care, gave a light hum and hung up.

With a bang, the phone was thrown to the ground; Zhou Yinhe's face sank, his fingers trembling.

Chen Yu rushed in upon hearing the noise, seeing his grim expression startled him, and he said cautiously: "General Manager Zhou."

Zhou Yinhe lowered his eyes, silent for a long while, then said: "Book a stylist; tonight go to Chen Yue Fu to dye my hair."

"Huh?" Chen Yu froze; Zhou Yinhe lifted his gaze, his eyes sharp, startling him back to awareness, he swallowed and said awkwardly: "Sure, what color do you want to dye? I'll let the stylist know in advance."

"Red."

Chen Yu nodded and bowed, then hurried away.

Wen Ling sat on the bed, stretched, changed into a swimsuit, and went to the basement swimming pool.

Since her rebirth she's no longer afraid of water; after swimming a few laps she wrapped herself in a robe and walked to the side wine cabinet bar, pouring herself a drink.

She sat on the high stool, swinging her legs, lazily leaning on the bar table in a daze.

Aunt Zhou brought her phone down, took a towel from the side, and while wiping her hair said: "I'm going upstairs to tidy your wardrobe; I heard your phone ringing nonstop, so I brought it down."

Wen Ling instinctively thought it was a message from Zhou Yinhe, and slowly moved the phone over, lowering her eyes to glance at it.

Her face grew darker, and Aunt Zhou asked puzzled: "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I'm going out for a bit, Aunt Zhou, you don't need to wait for me for dinner." Wen Ling grabbed her phone and hurried back to her room, changed clothes, then had the driver take her away, with four bodyguards following in another car.

It was a bar called Mei Lan; the surroundings were sparsely populated, the location remote. Seeing this, Wen Ling frowned, puzzled as to why a wealthy young lady like Chu Yao would come to such a place.

Wen Ling had just gotten out of the car when a girl's shrill shouts and curses came from the nearby alley; she signaled the bodyguards, who nodded and rushed into the alley, with Wen Ling following behind.

Chu Yao leaned against the wall, her clothes torn apart, her makeup smeared from crying, struggling to keep several leering men from touching her, while shouting angrily: "Dare you touch me? Don't you know who I am? My brother will kill you!"

"I don't care who your brother is; around here I call the shots, nobody's getting away!" The lead tattooed man gave a hehe laugh, bent over, and grabbed Chu Yao, dragging her toward the parked van.

They had taken only a few steps when a fierce gust of wind came, and before the man could react he was knocked to the ground by a punch.

Chu Yao fell to the ground, forgetting the pain, staring blankly at the black-clad man who had saved her, and at Wen Ling who had followed him in.

The others exchanged a glance, then all charged at the black-clad man, but though they'd learned some skills from the jianghu, how could they beat the famous bodyguards on the mercenary list? Moreover, there were three of them.

The bodyguard who stayed by Wen Ling's side took off his coat and handed it to her, then stepped in front of her and Chu Yao to guard against a sneak attack from those men.

Wen Ling wrapped the coat around Chu Yao, her tone somewhat sharp: "Chu Lin raised his sister to be this pure—he should take responsibility."

Chu Yao heard Wen Ling's words, didn't quite understand at first, thought a moment, then reacted in disbelief: "You're scolding me??"

"What's wrong with scolding you? Isn't it deserved? If I hadn't arrived in time, your brother would have been out looking for you in those places!" Wen Ling's words were full of sarcasm, yet she gently helped Chu Yao up and led her out of the alley.

Chu Yao bit her lip, limping as she leaned against Wen Ling, until she got in the car she turned back into that proud peacock, glancing disdainfully at the clothes on her and saying while taking them off: "You dare put a bodyguard's clothes on me? Take it off!"

Wen Ling looked at her, her eyes icy, curled her lip in a cold smile: "If you won't wear it, I'll throw you back into the alley."

Chu Yao had been pampered by those around her since childhood; besides her own brother, no one had ever dared treat her like this. Instinctively her aura weakened, she trembled, quickly put the clothes back on with practiced hands, and muttered resentfully: "Fine, I'll wear it—why scare me?"

Wen Ling gave a cold snort, too lazy to look at her.

Chu Yao slumped in her seat, dazed, tears involuntarily dripping, she explained: "My friends said this place is more fun than Nys, that's why I came; otherwise who would come to this dump? I'd barely been inside before I wanted to leave, and as soon as I stepped out they dragged me into the alley."

Wen Ling remained silent; seeing her not speak, Chu Yao sobbed, suspecting: "Why did you suddenly come here? And just happen to rescue me?"

"What do you think?" Wen Ling turned her head to look at her, curling her lip: "You think I set someone up to scheme against you, then staged a 'hero saves the beauty'?"

Chu Yao's sobbing paused, she pressed her lips and shook her head: "It shouldn't be; you have no need to do that."

"Why wouldn't it be necessary? You're so pretty—I could kidnap you and sell you to those rich, perverted tycoons, or extort money from your brother; either would work."

Chu Yao instead stopped being afraid, lifted her gaze to face that exquisite countenance that made her unable not to envy, recalling how she had praised her own looks, her emotions completely collapsed, she wailed: "Where am I pretty? Clearly you're far prettier than me—are you mocking me?"

Her crying could be described as deafening, and she kept on without end, recalling all the times she'd been told in school she wasn't as pretty as others; Wen Ling got a headache from the noise and sternly scolded: "No crying!"

"Mm..." Chu Yao covered her mouth, eyes wide as she looked at the usually gentle and soft Wen Ling, now fierce and frightening, and dared not speak.

The four bodyguards dragged those men out of the alley and knocked on the car window.

Wen Ling lowered the car window, and the bodyguard respectfully said: "Miss, we've got them."