Chapter 52: Wait for me to return, and we will settle the old and new scores together

During the time Zhu Yuan had been in contact with Sheng Yu, she had managed to barely figure out the shifts in his moods.

For instance, at this moment, he was clearly displeased.

But what had she just said to make him unhappy?

"I..."

But Sheng Yu stared into her eyes like a wolf eyeing its prey, making it impossible for her to think; she struggled to look away from his gaze, her peripheral vision catching the piece of gauze taped to his forehead.

"Are you hurt?" she tried to change the subject.

The hand Sheng Yu had around her waist tightened slowly, and he said nonchalantly, "I thought your eyes were just for decoration."

Zhu Yuan explained, "I saw it from a distance, I just hadn't found a chance to ask you yet."

"Is that so."

Sheng Yu released the hand pinching her chin and propped it on the car window, while his other hand remained firmly wrapped around her waist, just staring at her face like this, "Don't you want to ask how I got hurt?"

"Will you tell me?"

"You'll know if you ask."

This was clearly teasing her, yet Zhu Yuan asked him anyway, as if possessed: "How were you hurt?"

The man said casually, "Played bumper cars, had a little accident."

Zhu Yuan thought of the bumper cars children played with at amusement parks; Sheng Yu was clearly messing with her—not to mention he wasn't that childish, he was a conglomerate president, where would he find the time to play bumper cars?

Looking at the woman in his arms who looked speechless but dared not protest, Sheng Yu's lips curled up, and he lowered his head to kiss her lips, "Did you use the ointment I bought you?"

Zhu Yuan nodded.

Sheng Yu seemed not to believe her and pulled at her collar, "Let me see."

Before Zhu Yuan could press his hand down, Sheng Yu had already dragged her collar down.

After some time, the color of those marks had become deeper, setting off the skin of that section of her neck to look even more delicate and fair.

She must have showered and not yet had the chance to use the ointment; there was no scent of ointment, only a sweet, fragrant smell.

Sensing the man's nose tip rubbing against her skin, Zhu Yuan was so flustered that her toes curled up.

"I'll use it when I get back." She wanted to pull her collar back up.

Who knew Sheng Yu would pin her hands behind her back and lower his head to suck on her neck, "Since it has to be used anyway, I don't mind adding a few more."

Zhu Yuan closed her eyes in pain, having assumed the man would stop after leaving a few marks like he had in the morning.

When she realized the man's hand was burrowing into her hem and gripping upward, she froze in shock.

Her body couldn't stop trembling.

"When does your period end?" The man only touched her, not continuing, but instead gently rubbed her slender waist, as if soothing her.

All of Zhu Yuan's attention was focused on that hand inside her clothes, terrified that if she were careless for even a second, it would start making trouble.

Thinking of his reaction in the morning, he seemed to really not understand women's matters, so she exaggerated, "Ten days at the least, half a month at the most."

Sheng Yu's lips were wandering on her neck, and upon hearing this, he bit her.

Zhu Yuan cried out in pain.

"Once a month, half a month each time—do you take me for someone with no common sense?" As he spoke, Sheng Yu made a move to bite her again.

Zhu Yuan hurriedly begged for mercy: "I was wrong."

Sheng Yu raised his head and stared into her eyes, "If you were wrong, you need to be punished even more."

In the dead of night, the faint sound of a woman's pained gasps drifted from inside a black sedan parked by the roadside.

This time, Sheng Yu was not limited to leaving marks on her neck; he went further down, leaving several marks on both sides before he was willing to stop.

Before getting out of the car, Sheng Yu wiped away her tears and kissed her eyes with good temper: "Wait for me to come back, we'll settle the old and new scores together."

The car door opened, and the moment Zhu Yuan stepped out, her legs nearly gave way; a low chuckle from the man came from behind her, and she stood up, embarrassed and angry, before jogging away.

Just as she went upstairs, she saw Feng Mingyue standing outside her grandfather's hospital room.

Feng Mingyue's eyes were red, and with a cold face, she grabbed Zhu Yuan's wrist, "You come with me!"

Zhu Yuan was dragged along for two steps; she didn't need to guess to know it was about the rumors, "It's not what's being spread online, I have nothing to do with the Second Master of the Pei Family."

"Your father is hospitalized."

Feng Mingyue stopped.

Zhu Yuan's expression faltered.

She had thought that if Zhu Chaoqin found out about those rumors, he would be furious, but she had never thought it would make him sick.

Zhu Chaoqin's hospital room was on the floor below Zhu Qi's room.

Arriving at the door of the room, Feng Mingyue looked at Zhu Yuan with no expression on her face.

"I now suspect that I'm simply incapable of being a good mother, because I can't teach you well. Business for the Zhu Family hasn't been easy lately, and your father has been busy and stressed every day, which is why his health collapsed. Today, he fainted from anger because of your rumors. When you go in, don't upset him again. If he says anything or scolds you, don't talk back."

Her tone and demeanor were as if she were completely disappointed in Zhu Yuan.

Zhu Yuan didn't say whether she would or wouldn't; Feng Mingyue sighed and pushed open the hospital room door.

Zhu An'an was bent over, watching by the bedside; after waiting for Zhu Chaoqin to finish drinking water, she took the cup and placed it on the nightstand.

She turned around and saw the person at the door.

"Yuanyuan?"

A glimmer of sharpness flashed in the depths of her eyes.

Zhu Yuan looked past Zhu An'an at the pale-faced Zhu Chaoqin on the bed.

It had been a while since she last saw him, and Zhu Chaoqin had lost a significant amount of weight; thinking of what Feng Mingyue had said, it turned out that the Zhu Family's business really was struggling.

Ripples stirred in the depths of her heart, and she called out in a low voice.

"Dad."

"Mingyue, close the door." Zhu Chaoqin did not respond to her, only looking at his wife.

Feng Mingyue frowned, but still obediently closed the door behind her, looking at Zhu Yuan with a complex expression.

The moment the door closed, before Zhu Chaoqin could even speak, Zhu Yuan fell to her knees on the floor with a thud.

This caught Zhu Chaoqin, who was preparing to fly into a rage on the bed, off guard; he suppressed his anger and asked, "What are you doing?"

Feng Mingyue and Zhu An'an were also stunned.

In the past, Zhu Yuan was stubborn to death and never willing to admit her mistakes.

"Mom has already told me; this matter is my fault."

Zhu An'an narrowed her eyes slightly.

Zhu Chaoqin questioned her coldly: "So you admit it!"

"I am not admitting it; I have no relationship whatsoever with the Second Master of the Pei Family, nor did I borrow money from the Pei Family Bank. Those matters were all someone framing me."

Zhu Yuan watched as Zhu Chaoqin gripped his teacup; with his anger, the lid rattled with a *clack-clack* sound, as if it might be hurled at her at any moment.

"But for public opinion to have developed to this point, it is my fault for making you angry."

"For things to have developed to this point... Heh, so you also know things have developed to this point! The reputation of the Zhu Family has been ruined by you!" Zhu Chaoqin angrily smashed the teacup in his hand onto the floor!

A piece of the shattered porcelain flew toward Zhu Yuan, and she dodged it just in time to avoid being cut.

But the next second, Zhu Chaoqin pointed at her, "If what you say is true, then what about the contraceptive pills!"