Chapter 42: Riding a Donkey to Find a Horse

Shi Yucheng did not suspect anything; he felt his blood pressure surging and his head buzzing, and he knew without measuring that his blood pressure must be high.

"You aren't going to let her out, are you?" He was still a bit uneasy.

Jiang Yadan pointed at the key in his hand: "The key is in your hand, what would I use to let her out? A kitchen knife to hack the front door?"

"Fine, I'm going to take my medicine."

Shi Yucheng returned to his room to take his medicine with peace of mind. Jiang Yadan watched him walk into the room, immediately took out the spare key to open the door, and whispered to her daughter: "Stop crying, hurry up and leave while your dad isn't around."

Shi Yuke wiped her face messily with the back of her hand and ran out barefoot, but halfway down the stairs, she remembered she couldn't just leave like this.

"Mom, my bag."

Her phone and ID card were both in the bag; without her ID, the Villa couldn't be registered in her name!

Jiang Yadan locked the door again and stared nervously at her own room, terrified that Shi Yucheng would suddenly come out and run into them.

What time was it, and she was still thinking about her bag.

Jiang Yadan waved her hands incessantly, telling Shi Yuke to hurry away: "You go out first, I'll send it to you once I get my hands on it."

Shi Yuke went back downstairs and ran out the front gate barefoot. She was afraid of being discovered by her father and kept running and running... when she spotted the car at the corner, it was already too late to hide!

"Screech—"

Jian Yining reacted quickly and slammed the brake pedal to the floor. Although Shi Yuke lunged onto the car, she was not injured.

He had come out of the Ginza Building and, while passing the supermarket where he had bought things that day, suddenly remembered he hadn't returned the money yet. Since it wasn't far, he took a detour on his way.

He didn't expect to almost hit someone just after entering the residential quarter.

He got out of the car to check: "Miss, are you alright? Quickly, see where you're hurt, I'll take you to the hospital for a check-up..."

"What a coincidence, so it's you."

As Jian Yining recognized Shi Yuke, Shi Yuke also recognized him. She was overjoyed and hurriedly said to Jian Yining: "It's so great to run into you. Could you take me out? Just to a place outside where I can catch a taxi is fine."

"Get in the car, I'll help you."

Jian Yining helped Shi Yuke into the car, drove out of the residential quarter, and said: "Miss Shi, I think I should take you to the hospital first? It'll be better to have a check-up so you can rest easy."

Shi Yuke lowered her head and said nothing; she had already guessed that Jian Yining coming to her residential quarter was most likely to find her!

She had originally given up hope and had even felt annoyed at why she had been so confident back then.

If only she had given him her phone number or address at the time, or at the very least given her name and told him she was Second Young Master Jian; but in the end, she had given him nothing.

Shi Yuke had confidently believed that she would pique Jian Yining's curiosity, and then he would find her by any means necessary!

She felt that men were just cheap; they wouldn't cherish what they got easily, and one had to satisfy a man's curiosity to keep him in hot pursuit... but since Jian Yining hadn't been in touch for many days, she started to regret it, which was why she had started batting her eyes at Sheng Yukai again.

Now that Sheng Yukai was already going to buy her a Villa, Jian Yining had finally come to find her. Shi Yuke was feeling very conflicted and torn, not knowing for a moment whether she should grab onto Jian Yining first or hurry to see Sheng Yukai.

"Miss Shi, Miss Shi?" Jian Yining's question went unanswered, so he called out twice more.

"Huh?"

Shi Yuke raised her head and smiled apologetically at Jian Yining: "I'm sorry, I was just spacing out. What did you say?"

Jian Yining took a stack of cash out of his wallet and handed it over: "I'm so sorry it took me so long to return the money I borrowed from you last time."

Shi Yuke took it and smiled shyly: "It's fine, you really are a timely rain; you sent this just when I was in urgent need of money to tide me over. A moment earlier or a moment later wouldn't have helped, only this moment is just right."

There was a hidden meaning in her words, and Jian Yining asked curiously: "Why?"

Shi Yuke's eyes immediately turned red, and she described exactly how her father had locked her in her room and wouldn't let her out, but she changed the reason.

Shi Yucheng wouldn't let her go see Sheng Yukai, but she framed it as her father forcing her to go on a blind date with someone old enough to be her father. Her father didn't care about that, he only wanted the sky-high bride price!

She "escaped" to work and earn money to support herself and be self-sufficient, and the money just returned would be used for rent, food, and so on...

Shi Yuke pointed at a deer and called it a horse, spouting nonsense that made Jian Yining believe her completely.

Jian Yining didn't know much about the Shi Family, but he had just learned that the Shi Family's second daughter, Shi Youxuan, was a fool, yet she had been married off to Sheng Hanyu by Shi Yucheng.

If a fool was worth a sky-high bride price, could Shi Yucheng be any good?

What she said fit perfectly with Jian Yining's understanding, so he believed it easily and was filled with sympathy for Shi Yuke.

When people's sympathy overflows, they are willing to provide whatever help they can to the other person.

He said to Shi Yuke: "Come work at my company, there are many positions, there's bound to be one that suits you. If you can't find a place to stay, you can come to me."

After saying that, he handed over his phone: "Add my WeChat, it'll be convenient to stay in touch."

When Yingzi gave him the address, he told him that Shi Yuke was no good and to ignore her, but Jian Yining had forgotten all about that now.

This couldn't be blamed entirely on him; Shi Yuke was exceptionally good at disguising herself when she was out, and she was completely different at home versus outside.

Shi Yuke was overjoyed inside, but her expression was very troubled: "That's too much trouble, it's not appropriate."

"It's no trouble, just a small favor, helping each other is only right."

Shi Yuke refused again: "Better not, I have a very close female classmate who can help me. I'll go find her first, and if she can't help, I'll come to you."

"That works too."

Shi Yuke didn't take the phone, but asked Jian Yining if he had a Hallucinogenic Pen?

Jian Yining told her it was in the drawer in front of the passenger seat. She took it out and carefully wrote the WeChat ID on the inside of her lapel, then said: "My phone was confiscated by my dad, I can't add WeChat for now. I'll add you once I buy a new phone."

Jian Yining took out his wallet again and, without counting, took out all the cash inside and stuffed it into Shi Yuke's hand: "Take this to tide you over for now."

Shi Yuke refused to take anything; she didn't want the money, nor did she want Jian Yining to take her to the hospital.

She only asked him to drive the car to the entrance of the Half-Mountain Residential Quarter and not to drive inside, giving the reason: "I don't have a boyfriend yet, and if my classmate finds out, I'm afraid she'll misunderstand."

Jian Yining didn't suspect a thing, expressed his understanding, and was about to leave when he noticed she was still barefoot.

There was a pair of alligator Spring Shoes in the car, but they were a men's style.

He had just bought them and hadn't worn them yet, and he wanted to give them to Shi Yuke so she could make do with them.

She refused to take anything, pointed at the supermarket at the entrance of the residential quarter, and said she would go in to buy a pair of slippers to wear to her classmate's house.

The reason was the same—she was afraid her classmate would misunderstand, which wouldn't be good!

Jian Yining drove away. Shi Yuke kept waving until the car was out of sight, then she took off running into the residential quarter.

It was enough to leave a good impression on Second Young Master Jian; next, she had to hurry to see Sheng Yukai.

Before Sheng Yukai exhausted his last shred of patience, he finally waited for Shi Yuke to arrive.

She appeared before him, panting and out of breath.

Her hair was messy, her exquisite makeup was smudged, her gorgeous dress was covered in dirt and filth from when she fell, and she was even barefoot!

Sheng Yukai frowned; he had always only cared about a girl's appearance, and Shi Yuke's current state severely lowered his overall image, making him somewhat regret wanting to buy her a house.

"How did you end up like this? You didn't even know to put on a pair of Spring Shoes before coming out?"

Just as Shi Yuke was about to explain, Sheng Yukai covered his nose and mouth in disgust: "You reek of sweat; do you have body odor?"

Her heart skipped a beat; she actually did!