Chapter 15: Why am I not practicing restraint?

The next day, Sheng Yu stayed at the Sheng Family home to have breakfast with the old Mrs. Sheng, a rare occurrence.

Sheng Yu poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of the old lady.

Rarely seeing such a filial side to her grandson, the old Mrs. Sheng picked it up with a smile, looking at him with a face full of affection.

"You've worked hard just returning from your business trip; although you are still young, you should still practice some restraint. Your own health is what matters most."

"How am I not practicing restraint?"

Sheng Yu held a spoon and drank his porridge.

The servants left the dining room one after another, leaving only the butler and Situ standing not far away.

The old Mrs. Sheng cleared her throat, "When you came back last night, your shirt was a mess; they all saw it."

Such a conspicuous lipstick mark, who wouldn't see it?

"Loose-lipped." Sheng Yu raised his eyes and looked over lazily.

The butler shuddered in fear and immediately lowered his head.

"Since you have a woman, why didn't you say so earlier?" The old Mrs. Sheng was very dissatisfied with his concealment.

It caused her to worry and search everywhere for suitable blind date candidates for him.

Sheng Yu picked up a napkin to wipe his fingers, "My own person, why would I need to tell you all?"

"If your father knew you had a partner, knew you were willing to settle down and start a family, he would certainly be very happy..."

Sheng Yu crumpled the napkin into a ball and tossed it to the side.

The atmosphere at the dining table suddenly turned cold and stagnant.

The old Mrs. Sheng's words came to an abrupt halt, knowing he was angry.

"I'm in a good mood today, don't bring up irrelevant people in front of me."

The old Mrs. Sheng's expression stiffened; the relationship between father and son could not be changed in a day or two, so she sighed and didn't bring it up again.

In the afternoon, at the Beijing Drama Theater.

Yuan Fengye sized up the Sheng Yu beside him, wanting to speak but hesitating.

"Keep staring at me, and I'll dig your eyeballs out to use as balls to kick." Sheng Yu picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Yuan Fengye immediately raised his hand to cover his forehead, "Yu Ge, how come I heard from those people at Sheng Tang that you were... that way last night?"

He made an ambiguous gesture.

"If you don't know how to talk, then pull your tongue out and iron it, straighten it out before you speak clearly."

Yuan Fengye shrank his neck, his voice growing even quieter, "I was just curious which young lady it was that could catch your eye."

"You want to know?" Sheng Yu glanced at him sideways.

Yuan Fengye smoothed his hair back from his forehead with the hand he had been using to cover it, touching the back of his cooling neck, "No, I'm not worthy."

"If you know you aren't worthy, then don't ask."

It really wasn't Yuan Fengye's fault for being curious; everyone at Sheng Tang was curious. Sheng Yu had gone to Sheng Tang last night; he was perfectly fine when he arrived, but when he left, there was a red lipstick mark on his collar.

The manager was terrified, and the group of Bodyguards didn't dare to look around at all.

This news reached Yuan Fengye's ears.

But no matter how Yuan Fengye asked, they didn't know which woman it was.

The lipstick mark on Sheng Yu's collar was left at Sheng Tang, but Sheng Yu certainly wouldn't touch those girls at Sheng Tang.

Yuan Fengye couldn't help but wonder, had Yu Ge really hidden a beauty in a golden house somewhere he didn't know about?

He was just too curious!

As he was pondering this in his heart, the lights on the stage suddenly changed, and he looked up.

Zhu Yuan was not the lead in this play, but she was still a very important supporting character.

Dressed as a student from the Republic of China era, in a blue top and black skirt, two braided pigtails hung in front of her chest, swaying left and right as she ran.

There were several women on stage dressed like this, but the lights seemed to favor Zhu Yuan alone.

The stage lights shone on her face like a rose in full bloom in the morning, with a little less allure and a little more purity.

Yuan Fengye couldn't help but exclaim, "Looking at her like this, the little sister-in-law is actually quite pure."

After all, his first impression of Zhu Yuan was that her appearance was by no means that of a virtuous woman, but rather the kind that would hook a man's soul.

Of course, that was Zhan Ge's fiancée; although he had passed away, even a rabbit doesn't eat the grass by its own burrow, so no matter how beautiful Zhu Yuan was, he wouldn't touch a friend's wife.

He still preferred playing with purer women.

"Don't you think so, Yu Ge?" Yuan Fengye leaned closer to Sheng Yu.

Sheng Yu leaned against the back of his chair with his gaze fixed on the stage, his right hand resting on the armrest, his thumb rubbing the leather, "If you want to watch, shut up; if you don't want to watch, get lost."

Yuan Fengye was truly between laughter and tears; he was just expressing his own opinion, and Yu Ge was already snapping at him.

He hadn't originally intended to come to the theater; it was Yu Ge who wanted to come.

Even now, he still didn't understand when Yu Ge had started liking to watch plays.

He never used to watch them before.

Yuan Fengye received a phone call, and after hanging up, he whispered a request to the person beside him, "Yu Ge, I have something to take care of at home and need to head back; I can't continue to watch with you."

"Mm." Sheng Yu lit a cigarette.

After Yuan Fengye left, no one around dared to speak to him.

The surroundings quieted down, and Zhu Yuan's lines on stage were clearly audible—I don't want an arranged marriage from my parents; I want free love and to marry the person I like!

She gave a sly smile, looking exactly like the triumphant expression she had after leaving the lipstick mark on his shirt last night.

Sheng Yu took a drag of his cigarette, watching her with half-closed eyes.

Zhu Yuan was just preparing to retreat backstage when she suddenly felt a gaze full of aggression land on her.

Subconsciously, she looked toward the audience.

The Theater had a high attendance rate today; it was almost a full house.

Yet, Zhu Yuan spotted Sheng Yu in the front row at a single glance.

However, he was not looking in this direction; someone beside him was lighting his cigarette, and he leaned slightly to the side, his deep brows and eyes revealing a sense of nonchalance.

Suddenly, as if he sensed her gaze, he turned his head.

Caught off guard, their eyes met, and Zhu Yuan was so startled she nearly fell down the stairs; fortunately, a colleague beside her caught her.

After the curtain call, what was on Zhu Yuan's mind was that the IOU she had prepared had not yet been given to Sheng Yu; she could not let him think she was reneging on the debt, or that she expected to wipe the slate clean just because of that small favor from last night.

A person of his status was usually very busy and not easily seen.

Zhu Yuan took out her phone; the phone number was one she had asked Situ for before leaving last night, though it was Situ's number—she hadn't dared to ask for Sheng Yu's.

The call connected.

"Situ, have you left yet?"

"At the back door," a nonchalant tone came through.

Zhu Yuan's heartbeat skipped a beat for no reason, and she instinctively covered the receiver.

It was Sheng Yu's voice.

There were quite a few cars parked at the back door of the Theater, and it took Zhu Yuan a while to find Sheng Yu's car under a banyan tree; his license plate number was easy to remember, a number that traveled through Kyoto without obstruction.

Situ opened the car door, "Miss Zhu, Young Master Yu is inside."

Zhu Yuan nodded and climbed in.

"Yu Ge."

Sheng Yu shifted his gaze away from his laptop.

She hadn't had time to remove her makeup yet and was still wearing the Republic-era student outfit from the stage.

Zhu Yuan pulled a neatly folded A4 paper from her pocket, unfolded it, and handed it to him.

"This is the IOU, please take a look."

The handwriting could not be called good; it was even somewhat scrawled, as if the hand that wrote it lacked strength.

Sheng Yu only took one look, "Who taught you that an IOU doesn't need a thumbprint?"

Zhu Yuan was slightly stunned; it was her lack of consideration.

She gave a dry laugh, "I have no experience."

But where was she supposed to find an inkpad to make a thumbprint now?

She suddenly remembered she hadn't removed her makeup, so she raised her right hand, wiped her thumb across her lips, and without hesitation, pressed her thumbprint onto the signature line of the IOU.

"Look, is this okay?"

Sheng Yu glanced at the thumbprint, then raised his eyes to stare at her lips, where a patch of color was missing, revealing their natural peach-pink shade, his eyes harboring a dark shadow.

He didn't say a word, and Zhu Yuan thought it still wasn't enough.

"If it's still not okay, I'll go back to the Theater and see if I can find an in..."

However, before she could finish her sentence, Sheng Yu suddenly leaned in, one hand bracing against the car door, and moved close to her face!