Chapter 32: Don't Bother With Her

Jian Yining's phone remained unanswered. He dialed it over and over again, until finally, a mechanical female voice came from the other end: "Sorry, the number you have dialed is powered off..."

"Damn it!"

This curse was directed at Jian Yining.

Sheng Hanyu was convinced that Jian Yining must know the whereabouts of Jian Yixin, so he left the Apartment and headed straight for the Jian Family.

……

The phone kept ringing in the car until the battery died and it shut down automatically.

Jian Yining went to the supermarket to buy daily necessities and groceries for Shi Youxuan; although the Villa was clean, there was nothing to eat or drink.

Only after the shopping cart was packed full did he come to the checkout counter. The cashier scanned the items one by one, bagged them, and asked, "Sir, will you be paying by cash or scanning a code?"

"Cash."

Jian Yining had just returned from abroad and was not yet accustomed to domestic code-scanning payments. He habitually reached for his wallet to pay, but the wallet was gone.

"Huh? Where is my wallet?"

Jian Yining searched every single pocket on his person, but found nothing.

There was a long line behind him, and someone already started urging him impatiently: "Hurry up! If you didn't bring cash, you can pay with WeChat or Alipay."

The cashier also reminded him: "Sir, you can pay by scanning the code."

Only then did he realize while looking for his wallet that he didn't have his phone on him either; he didn't know if it had been stolen or left in the car.

The group of elderly people behind him urged him on, their words becoming increasingly unpleasant. Even the cashier's expression turned sour, as if he were deliberately refusing to pay.

"I'll leave these here, go to my car to get the money, and come back to pick them up, okay?" Jian Yining said.

The cashier waved a hand impatiently: "Go ahead, don't hold things up here and affect other people's shopping."

Jian Yining's face turned pale then red. He was in the wrong, so he couldn't argue with them. Just as he was about to return to the car to get money, a phone was extended in front of the cashier: "How much is all this? Scan my QR code."

After the cashier finished scanning, the two pushed the shopping cart out of the aisle. Jian Yining thanked the woman: "Thank you, Miss. If it weren't for you just now, I would have been so embarrassed."

Jian Yining invited her to follow him to the parking lot so he could get the money and pay her back.

The woman pursed her lips into a smile and teased: "You really are a noble person who forgets things easily. We were chatting so well yesterday, and you forgot me in just a day?"

He had met many people at the cocktail party yesterday, and Jian Yining couldn't remember everyone all at once.

Seeing that Jian Yining hadn't remembered, Shi Yuke felt very disappointed inside, though it didn't show on her face at all. She smiled sweetly: "Forget it if you can't remember. I have things to do, so I'll be going now. Goodbye, Jian Xiansheng."

Shi Yuke was well-versed in male psychology and knew that the more mysterious a woman was, the more she could pique a man's interest. So, she deliberately didn't say who she was, letting him wonder. She had the confidence that Jian Yining would definitely remember who she was and take the initiative to contact her.

Jian Yining put the purchased items into the trunk by himself. He had indeed thought about it carefully, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't remember who that woman was!

Forget it, he would pay her back whenever he remembered. She probably wasn't in a rush for a thousand or eight hundred, so he would just pay her back tenfold when he remembered.

Yingzi was still in the Villa, lacking food and drink, and Jian Yining's main focus was on her.

Back at the Villa.

Jian Yining carried the bags into the living room. Of course, he didn't forget to bring the maid uniform and haircutting tools for Shi Youxuan.

"Are you really going to cut it?"

He looked at her hair, which reached her waist, and felt it was a pity to cut it.

Shi Youxuan picked up the scissors and with a "snip-snip," her long hair became short. Tears followed immediately: "It's not a pity. What shouldn't be kept must be removed; only then can I avoid a lot of trouble."

She spoke very rationally, but she still couldn't stop feeling sad.

"Hey, don't cry..."

Jian Yining couldn't stand seeing a girl cry, especially such a beautiful girl.

In his haste, he raised his hand to wipe Shi Youxuan's face. Where his hand touched, it was smooth and delicate... but he was slapped away: "Did you wash your hands?"

No.

"I'll go wash my hands." Jian Yining handed over a pack of tissues with a cheeky grin: "Don't cry anymore."

Saying he was going to wash his hands, Jian Yining went to the bathroom and turned on the faucet, but he splashed his face with cold water for a long time before the heat on his face gradually faded.

When Jian Yining returned from washing his face, Yingzi's hair was even shorter and unevenly cut, making her look like a tomboy.

Not only that, she had put on the maid uniform, and she had smeared something on her face that made her complexion look much darker.

The two sorted the daily necessities and food, tidying them up one by one. Jian Yining didn't dare ask about Yingzi's affairs for fear of bringing up painful memories, so he told her about what happened at the supermarket to pass the time.

Shi Youxuan asked: "Was the woman who helped you tall, with fair skin, big eyes, and chestnut-colored hair this long?" She gestured on her own body.

"Yes, yes."

Jian Yining nodded: "You know her?"

"I don't."

As she spoke, Shi Youxuan took paper and a pen, scribbled an address on it, and handed it to him: "Have someone send the money to this address to pay her back. Don't bother with her in the future; that woman has ulterior motives and has had her eye on you for a long time."

……

"How do you know?"

"None of your business!"

The conversation couldn't go on properly today.

……

After tidying up, it was time for lunch.

The kitchen had everything, but neither of them knew how to cook. Fortunately, Jian Yining had bought a rich variety of ingredients, including various instant foods.

Scallion-flavored pork ribs, braised beef... the noodles were steaming hot, and with the addition of braised eggs and ham sausages, it was a sumptuous lunch!

Shi Youxuan ate with great satisfaction, but Jian Yining frowned: "I need to find a housekeeping service and get you an auntie who can cook." He acted as soon as he thought of it, but when he went to grab his phone, he realized it was still in the car.

After retrieving the phone from the car, he found it was out of power.

He charged it and turned it on—countless missed calls flooded in like a tidal wave!

The vast majority were from Sheng Hanyu, with a few missed calls from his parents interspersed occasionally.

Jian Yining called back: "Hanyu Ge, are you looking for me?"

"Where are you? I need to see you immediately."

Jian Yining was just about to say he was near his house, but the words reached his lips and he swallowed them back, changing it to: "I'm at an old friend's house, my phone was out of battery just now..."

"Can you be back in ten minutes? I'm at your house."

It looked like he was truly in a rush, but in ten minutes, he couldn't even fly back.

"Make it an hour, I can't make it back in ten minutes," Jian Yining said truthfully.

"Give me the address, stay where you are, I'll have a helicopter go pick you up."

The helicopter belonged to the Sheng Family; only the old master had the connections to mobilize aircraft at will. Usually, Sheng Hanyu would never proactively occupy the Sheng Family's resources, but this time he was truly in a rush.

Jian Yining stammered a refusal: "Hanyu Ge, why don't you just say it over the phone? It's not very convenient for others to know my friend's address."

"Fine, then come back immediately, I'll wait for you."

Hanging up the phone, Jian Yining wore a troubled expression: "Yingzi, I have to go back immediately, Hanyu Ge is waiting for me at home, he said there's an urgent matter."

"Mm."

Shi Youxuan nodded to show she understood, but still worriedly urged: "Don't tell him I'm here."

Jian Yining didn't quite understand, but still agreed: "Okay."

After arriving home, he had just entered the main gate when Sheng Hanyu grabbed him by the collar: "Where is Yixin? Take me to see her."

Jian Yining reached out and touched Sheng Hanyu's forehead: "It's not hot, Hanyu Ge, you don't have a fever, why are you talking nonsense?"