Chapter 11: I Cherish Her Too Much to Bear

Lou Yi perked up the moment he heard this, pulling out his phone directly. With the hand still holding his cigarette, he swiped across the screen and asked Zhu Yuan, "Tell Brother how much you need, and I'll transfer it to you."

"No need, Young Master Lou. Li Jie was just joking; I'm not short on money." Zhu Yuan turned around, wanting to leave.

This was clearly a wolf's den; if she didn't leave now, was she supposed to stay and be eaten?

"Don't be in such a rush to leave." Li Jie blocked her, gripping her arm and digging her nails in.

Li Jie looked puzzled and said, "Didn't you go to the Pei Family Bank? You've already reached that point, so why say you aren't short on money? Do you think Young Master Lou is less wealthy than the Pei Family?"

"You went to the Pei Family Bank?" Lou Yi raised his voice.

Once he bellowed, everyone else in the private room heard him.

They stopped what they were doing one after another, looked at each other, and then turned to look over here.

Who would have thought that Zhu Yuan would dare to go to such a place?

Lou Yi was furious, "If you're going to borrow money from a place like that, you might as well come to me! At least I'll let you be with me alone. Did you manage to borrow the money?"

His tone was accusatory, as if he had been betrayed.

Zhu Yuan's expression darkened, "That is my own business."

Li Jie pinched Zhu Yuan's arm even tighter and smoothed things over, "She definitely didn't borrow any. She originally asked to borrow from me, but I'm a bit tight on cash and really couldn't lend it out. Young Master Lou, you like our Xiao Fengzheng so much, you surely wouldn't bear to see her go to a place like that to borrow money, right?"

"Of course, I cherish her too much to even bear that." As Lou Yi said this, he reached out to put his arm around Zhu Yuan's shoulder.

Zhu Yuan dodged his hand, turned around, and firmly gripped Li Jie's wrist, prying the other woman's hand off her arm.

"Li Jie, I came tonight to wish you a happy birthday. Since you've already received my birthday wishes, I'll be going now."

Having lost face, Li Jie narrowed her eyes and sneered, "Xiao Fengzheng, take a piece of advice from your sister. You're short on money, and I can help you find a way. Such a good opportunity doesn't come every day."

Out of the corner of her eye, Zhu Yuan caught sight of the door being pushed open by a waiter. The makeup artist was right; she still had to make a living in the theater troupe and couldn't afford to burn bridges.

She walked a few steps inside, took a glass of wine from the makeup artist's hand, raised it to Li Jie, and said with a pleasant expression, "Thank you for your concern, Li Jie. I'll find a way regarding the money. Happy birthday."

After finishing the wine, she strode toward the open door.

Lou Yi wasn't about to let her go easily; he took a step to the left to block her path, "Since you're already here, wouldn't it be a bit rude to leave now?"

"Have a drink with me before you go."

A glass of wine had appeared in Lou Yi's hand at some point.

Zhu Yuan watched calmly. She had already fallen for a trick once before and wouldn't easily drink something handed to her by someone else again.

Not to mention that Lou Yi was bent on having her.

This wine was not clean.

Previously, Lou Yi wouldn't have dared to move against her easily out of respect for the Lu Family.

But things were different now.

Lu Huaizhan was dead, she had no further ties to the Lu Family, and why would he care about the mere Zhu Family?

Lou Yi traveled with a Bodyguard; to leave Sheng Tang, one had to go through the main entrance. If she went downstairs now, she would be caught by his Bodyguard.

It probably wouldn't be so easy to leave tonight.

Li Jie watched her with a composed look.

How could she possibly offer to help when she was the one who set the trap?

Zhu Yuan suddenly curled her lips and leaned close to Lou Yi, whispering, "If Young Master Lou invites me for a drink, I must give you that face. However, with so many eyes watching here, it's not very convenient."

A faint, lingering fragrance drifted over. Lou Yi swallowed hard, his gaze toward Zhu Yuan turning intense, "Alright."

Lou Yi couldn't wait any longer; he immediately had someone open a room at Sheng Tang and coaxed Zhu Yuan upstairs as if he were coddling an ancestor.

"Xiao Fengzheng, I promise, I will be devoted to you. In the future, I'll make you the star of the theater troupe and ensure you outshine that woman surnamed Li." Lou Yi grew more excited as he spoke, rubbing his chubby hands together.

Zhu Yuan just smiled and said nothing.

It left Lou Yi completely infatuated.

Damn, she was just too good!

Even though he realized Zhu Yuan's attitude had changed too quickly, he figured, what could a little woman like her possibly do?

She was probably truly short on money and had compromised.

A moment of pleasure is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Lou Yi specifically chose a room with the best view by the river. Although he couldn't pick a room on the top floor, the second-to-last floor was quite good as well.

Not far away, surrounded by the Sheng Tang manager and a Bodyguard, Sheng Yu raised his eyes and happened to see the man and woman stepping into the elevator.

"Young Master Yu, it's Miss Zhu." Situ looked at this scene in disbelief.

The manager of Sheng Tang was still reporting the latest work to Sheng Yu when he saw the man suddenly stop in his tracks. The group behind him immediately froze as if a pause button had been pressed, not daring to continue forward.

"Young Master Yu?"

The man did not respond; it was as if the surrounding air had frozen in an instant.

The manager swallowed his saliva. He hoped he hadn't said something wrong.

Once inside the room, Lou Yi rushed to close the door and prepared to pounce on Zhu Yuan in the entryway.

"What's the rush?" Zhu Yuan's hand pressed against his chest, "I have a gift for you."

The dim light of the entryway cast a glow over Zhu Yuan's beautiful, sprite-like face.

"What gift?" Lou Yi couldn't wait at all; he quickly unbuttoned his floral shirt, panting as he said, "No rush, let's look at it after we're done, alright?"

"You just said you would be devoted to me and listen to me; it turns out you were lying to me." Zhu Yuan feigned displeasure, acting like a petulant little woman.

Lou Yi felt his bones go soft hearing this. He had never had the chance to see this side of Zhu Yuan before, so he immediately agreed to everything, "Fine, I'll look at the gift first. Don't be angry, my little ancestor."

Zhu Yuan smiled and reached her hand into her bag.

Lou Yi leaned in excitedly to look, "What..."

Before he could even finish his question, he saw Zhu Yuan quickly pull a black object from her bag and jab it into him!

"Ah!"

Lou Yi let out a miserable scream and collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

Zhu Yuan gripped the Electric Baton with both hands, looking at the person lying motionless on the ground, breathing heavily as she struggled to steady her nerves.

With so many eyes watching in the private room just now, and surveillance cameras everywhere in the hallway and elevators, she had to stun Lou Yi here so as not to leave behind any evidence.

The very moment Lou Yi was stunned and fell to the ground, the room door was pushed open from the outside!

As the light shone in, Zhu Yuan's heart leaped into her throat, and she whipped her head around to look at the doorway.

She met a pair of eyes as deep and dark as an abyss.

It was him!

Situ walked over quickly, first glancing at the Electric Baton in Zhu Yuan's hand with surprise, then crouching down to check Lou Yi's breath before turning back to say, "Young Master Yu, he's just been stunned."

The man strode over to stand before Zhu Yuan, his shoe sole stepping onto the back of Lou Yi's hand just as he showed signs of waking, causing Lou Yi to pass out from the pain again.

Zhu Yuan looked at the person who had appeared before her in disbelief; just as she was about to speak, Sheng Yu's tone carried a hint of warning: "Think carefully before you address me."

The room went quiet for a few seconds.

With her heart racing in a panic, Zhu Yuan whispered, "Yu Ge."