Chapter 369: Volume 1, Chapter 369 – I Insist on Tasting the Bitterness of Love (9)

"Ning Brother, you're staring blankly?" Zhuang Hui had never seen him like this before.

Like a person who has fallen into the deep sea and is about to drown.

Ning Xun suddenly stood up, "I'm going out for a bit."

As soon as he finished speaking, he strode out of the milk tea shop.

Zhuang Hui was especially surprised: "He wouldn't be going to hit on a beautiful girl for her contact, would he? That's so despicable!"

Wuzihang rested his chin on his hand and gave a light chuckle, "Maybe."

…

Ning Xun ran out of the milk tea shop, looked around, and saw a figure turning the corner and leaving in the distance.

He didn't even know why he was following.

As if to confirm something.

He stopped at the corner, not far ahead of him…

A man got out of the car, walked to her side, reached out to open the passenger door, then returned to the driver's seat, and the car drove past before his eyes.

Ning Xun's thin lips were pressed tight.

The scorching sunlight lay deep in his pair of black pupils, cold and heavy.

As expected.

Women are all fickle-minded.

She's no different!

—

Inside the car.

Jiang Zhi, enjoying the cool air from the air conditioner, suddenly heard the system's notification.

【Villain Ning Xun's Hatred Value increased by 40 points】

She froze for a moment and asked, "Brother Seven, did the villain see me get in the car?"

777: "Yeah, he's been standing there a long time, pretty angry."

Jiang Zhi felt speechless.

The original owner didn't buy a car, and she couldn't go shopping lugging all that stuff.

So she hailed a ride‑hailing car.

That brat Ning Xun wouldn't think the driver was her boyfriend, would he?

Good heavens.

The drivers are all forty‑ or fifty‑year‑old uncles; she wouldn't be desperate enough to date one, would she?

She helplessly pressed her forehead.

When he comes back, I'll still have to coax this little brat.

Parked in the residential community.

After paying, Jiang Zhi carried her shopping bags home.

After throwing the clothes into the washing machine, she lay on the bed to rest for a few hours.

When it grew dark outside, she still hadn't changed into sportswear, still wearing the dress she'd been shopping in, took the elevator down, and came to the entrance of the residential community to wait.

The boy arrived at the community entrance right on time, ignored her waiting there, and strode into the community.

Jiang Zhi, wearing high heels, found walking inconvenient, so she stopped and said to him, "I've twisted my foot."

Ning Xun's steps paused for a few seconds, then he continued walking forward.

Jiang Zhi watched his retreating back, then had no choice but to sit on the nearby bench to rest.

After a day of shopping, her legs were sore and aching; thinking of tomorrow's signing event, Jiang Zhi felt only exhaustion.

The sky was black as dripping ink, scattered stars inlaid in the night sky; the summer night breeze was cool, blowing on the skin of her calves beneath the skirt hem, easing a bit of the heat.

She swung her legs up and down, her fingers resting on the bench, and tilted her head back to gaze at the night sky.

A steady footsteps sounded beside her.

It stopped in front of her.

"Where did you twist it?" the boy's voice was as cold as ever.

Jiang Zhi lowered her forehead; her dyed black hair fluttered in the evening breeze, a few strands brushing her cheeks, the corner of her mouth slightly curved, she stopped swinging her legs and pointed to her right foot, "Here."

The edge of her high‑heeled sandals was inlaid with metal‑crafted wisteria flowers, glittering with bright specks under the light.

Ning Xun half‑knelt beside her leg, reached out and gently grasped her ankle, while his other hand held the ointment, squeezing out a dab to apply.

Jiang Zhi let out a soft grunt, the cold ointment making her instinctively shrink her ankle.

Ning Xun thought he had hurt her, immediately stopped, and asked, "Does it still hurt?"

Jiang Zhi gazed at his flushed ears and let out a low laugh.

"Not painful."

Ning Xun felt her gaze fixed on him; his usually calm and composed emotions surged like a sudden wave, the fingers holding the ointment twitched slightly, his brows furrowed, and he forced himself not to think of her.

After applying it, he stood up, screwed the ointment cap back on, and said, "Can you walk?"

Jiang Zhi shook her head: "No."

Her eyes lit up: "Are you going to carry me?"

Ning Xun clenched the ointment in his hand and coldly retorted, "Delusional!"

Having said that, he handed her the crutch he'd used in the hospital.

Jiang Zhi let out a light sigh, her lowered lashes fluttering like butterfly wings, her red lips parting slightly, her voice soft as she accused him, "You're being so cruel to me."

Ning Xun stood in the shadows, his back to her, not uttering a sound.

Jiang Zhi could only lean on her crutch, walking forward step by step.

She came out of the elevator on the twelfth floor.

Jiang Zhi, who had stopped in front of his door, grabbed a corner of his clothing: "Why won't you even glance at me?"

As Ning Xun was using his key to open the door, his motion paused; after a long silence, he suddenly asked in a low, heavy voice:

"You already have a boyfriend, so why are you still trying to seduce me?" The youth turned around, his gloomy brows and eyes shrouded in thick shadow, his thin-lipped mouth curved in a cold, merciless arc, and he sneered: "What's the point of clinging to me for all these days? Do you just want to sleep with me?"

Jiang Zhi froze in place, the fingers gripping his hem slowly loosening; her face turned ashen, devoid of any color.

Ning Xun stepped closer, bringing a powerful sense of oppression; the shadow completely engulfed him, he glanced at her without a trace of emotion, and said offhandedly: "But I'm not interested in a promiscuous woman!"

Having spoken, he turned around, ready to push the door open and go inside.

"In your heart, am I really this kind of person?"

The woman gave a faint smile, released her grip on the crutch, which fell to the floor with a "clang," the sound startling the overhead corridor sensor light into brightness.

Ning Xun said nothing, strode into the room, and immediately shut the door.

The corridor light went out.

Darkness filled the entire hallway.

After standing a few minutes in front of the door, Jiang Zhi lifted her foot and walked back home.

The smile that didn't reach her eyes faded; she took off her high heels, pulled out a tissue, and wiped clean the ointment on her ankle.

777 was furious: "How could a villain say that about you? He doesn't know anything at all!!"

Holding back her anger, 777 whispered comfort: "Host, don't be upset; someone like him is destined to be single, he'll never have a girlfriend! In my heart, you're the best host—nothing like what he said."

Jiang Zhi raised her forehead—there was not a trace of sorrow on her face—and hurried to the computer, saying, "Brother Seven, don't speak first; I think I can write eight thousand words tonight!"

At this moment her thoughts surged like a spring; she wished she could stay up all night typing!

A few hours later.

After writing a full ten thousand words, Jiang Zhi glanced at the wall‑mounted clock—it was already 5 a. m.

Afraid she might die suddenly, she finished her bath, hurriedly lay down on the bed, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

…

The next day at noon.

Having gotten hardly any sleep, she was jerked awake by the alarm, rose like a corpse, washed up, and sat at her dressing table, the area under her eyes a bruised blue.

She applied light makeup, changed into the backless retro red‑checkered skirt she'd bought yesterday at the mall—a body‑con design with the hem ending at mid‑thigh, a perfect curve extending down to the ankle, sexy and alluring.

Wearing high‑heeled sandals, she hailed a car straight to the downtown book‑signing venue.

The signing event was held on the first floor of a commercial office building; after finishing lunch, she arrived to find a sizable crowd of fans already gathered.

With time to spare, she rested in the backstage lounge.

…

"Ning Ge, you're not looking right today? For this photoshoot, your stone‑cold stare is scaring me."

Ning Xun slipped his hands into his pockets and walked forward: "I'm going to the lounge to lie down a bit; call me when it's time to shoot."

Zhuang Hui replied: "All right, our lounge is the innermost room—don't get lost."

Ning Xun remained silent, striding ahead on his own.

The instant the lounge door opened, the sight that met his eyes was a woman curled sideways on the sofa, asleep.

The slightly short skirt had ridden up to the base of her legs, her two slender limbs glowing with a pale whiteness.