Chapter 15: For Me?

Chapter 15: Is This for Me?

Seeing Shen Ci looking rushed and disheveled, Zhou Yang gave him a strange look: "Hey, Shen Ci, even if Xie Yu is in the hospital, why are you in such a hurry?"

Shouldn’t Xie Yu’s contractual partner be hoping for Xie Yu to die soon?

Shen Ci hesitated, not responding: "Where’s Xie Yu?"

Zhou Yang pointed to the ward: "Inside, he’s trying to persuade Lin Yin."

The ward door was tightly shut, with a rectangular glass panel that offered a faint view inside. Shen Ci peeked inside and saw Xie Yu sitting on a high stool, his long legs awkwardly crossed, peeling an apple with a small knife as he leaned over to talk to Lin Yin.

"I’m not here to persuade you," Xie Yu held up three fingers, "He Zhiyuan probably has this much cash on hand, and the He family can offer double that. It’s up to you to decide how much you can get."

Lin Yin lay on the hospital bed, her face pale. Her eyes flickered slightly as she asked, 'You came here to tell me this?'

Xie Yu smirked, 'He hit someone, so he should face the consequences.'

Xie Yu was completely fed up with He Zhiyuan. If not for his character’s limitations, he would have already knocked out a couple of that drunkard’s teeth.

There was really nothing more to say. Xie Yu placed the peeled apple on the table, muttered a few meaningless pleasantries, and then pushed the door open to leave.

Zhou Yang looked up and asked, 'How did it go? Did she agree?'

Xie Yu shrugged, 'No, she didn’t. I’m not close to her, so of course I couldn’t convince her.'

Zhou Yang then turned to Shen Ci and said, 'You’ve spoken to Lin Yin before, why don’t you give it a try?'

Xie Yu frowned, 'Why should he go?'

Shen Ci and Lin Yin were in similar situations, both playthings under the control of wealthy heirs, and Xie Yu’s reputation was even worse than He Zhiyuan’s. Now that Lin Yin was lying in the hospital covered in injuries, what kind of message would it send to have Shen Ci go and try to persuade her?

Shen Ci, who had been silently standing to the side, suddenly spoke up, 'I can try.'

Xie Yu was taken aback, looking up to see Shen Ci with his eyes half-lowered, his emotions hidden beneath his lashes, unclear.

With that, he pushed the door open and entered.

Xie Yu sat down on the bench, thinking to himself, 'Strange.'

After about five or six minutes, Shen Ci came out of the ward and nodded slightly, 'She agreed.'

Zhou Yang was surprised, 'She agreed?'

Xie Yu raised an eyebrow and checked with the system, 'Was this in the original story?'

The system flipped through the novel, 'No, in the original story, He Zhiyuan did hit someone, but not in public. This time he lost control because he was drunk.'

Xie Yu found it amusing, 'The novel didn’t lose control, but now he did?'

The system explained, 'That’s how it is. He wanted to mess with Shen Ci before. In the original story, he succeeded, but now you took Shen Ci away on the cruise ship, and he’s been drinking heavily these past few days because he’s so upset.'

Xie Yu found Shen Ci’s behavior increasingly odd. Given Shen Ci’s later personality, which directly sent the original host to a mental hospital, why wasn’t he letting He Zhiyuan go to jail now? Instead, he was helping persuade Lin Yin—and succeeded?

He subtly observed Shen Ci. Teaching Assistant Shen stood quietly to the side, his slim and upright figure wrapped in a shirt, his eyes downcast and silent, appearing exceptionally docile.

Under Xie Yu’s silent gaze, Shen Ci’s face remained calm, but his fingers were hidden in his sleeves, his fingertips slightly rubbing together, as if he were nervous.

Xie Yu looked away, saying nothing: "If you still have classes, you should head back to school. Zhou Yang and I need to discuss a few more things."

Shen Ci hesitated for a moment, as if about to say something, but then nodded and turned to leave. His back was ramrod straight, and his steps were a little stiff.

Xie Yu flipped through the novel, and just as Shen Ci neared the end of the corridor, he suddenly remembered a key plot point and called out, "Wait, TA Shen, are you covering a class on Wednesday?"

Shen Ci stopped in his tracks. "Yes."

With the semester winding down, there were Q&A sessions for the undergraduates. As a teaching assistant, Shen Ci wasn’t responsible for lectures, but he handled the Q&A sessions. Wednesday morning was packed with his classes.

Xie Yu said, "Alright, I’ll come find you before your class on Wednesday."

There was a key plot point on Wednesday that required some prep.

Shen Ci’s brow flickered almost imperceptibly, and he said, "Okay."

He quickly walked away.

After he left, Zhou Yang tutted. "What’s the deal? Did he piss you off? You’re gonna give him a hard time?" When you brought up Wednesday just now, he went pale."

Xie Yu said, "It’s nothing."

The original text had some messed-up plot, but it didn’t matter—he’d tone it down.

Zhou Yang chuckled. "You also noticed that there’s something off about Shen Ci convincing Lin Yin, right?"

Out of the three in the original text, Zhou Yang was the only one with any sense. Lin Yin had dug in her heels at first, demanding a hefty payout. It was fishy that Shen Ci could talk her down so easily. It had to mean Lin Yin had an ulterior motive, and the He Zhiyuan mess wasn’t done.

Xie Yu played dumb and brushed it off. "You’re overthinking it. I don’t think it’s that serious."

He Zhiyuan, a minor character in the novel, was dumb as a rock and morally bankrupt—the king of trash. Xie Yu was about to head out on a trip; he didn’t have time for this nonsense.

Zhou Yang said, "Shen Ci probably thought you were gonna come down on him. He was scared stiff."

Xie Yu replied, "That’s not the case."

He walked past Zhou Yang. "I’m out too. I dragged myself here early, and I’m wiped."

Normally, he’d still be in bed at this hour.

He walked downstairs, avoiding the elevator. His morning vibe was pretty much wrecked by He Zhiyuan’s drama, so he wandered aimlessly around the hospital. As he wandered, he ended up in the special treatment area.

This area was funded by Xie Yu’s father, Xie Yuanshan, and was semi-private within the public hospital. It was linked with foreign teams for clinical trials of drugs not yet on the market. According to the novel’s background, Shen Ci’s grandmother should be staying here.

The novel barely touched on this old woman; she was just a background figure. Her illness marked the start of Shen Ci’s hardships. Suddenly, Xie Yu wanted to see what this old woman looked like.

Shen Ci had a class and was in a hurry, so he didn’t have time to stay at the hospital. He only stopped for a few minutes before leaving. Xie Yu slowly moved to the front of the ward and peered inside through the glass viewing window.

It was a single VIP room. A frail, skeletal old woman lay in the white sheets, so weak she seemed on the verge of fading away. Surrounding her were machines with names Xie Yu didn’t know, showing waveforms and scan curves he couldn’t decipher. An IV drip was set up beside her, steadily injecting medication into her veins.

In terms of bone structure, the old woman did resemble Shen Ci somewhat.

When reading the novel on a screen, all the characters seemed like background props, their lives and deaths insignificant. But now, standing in front of the window, Xie Yu suddenly felt that this was indeed a living person. The weight on Shen Ci’s shoulders wasn’t some sleazy, erotic plot point, but a real, crushing burden of life.

It was already very cold outside. Xie Yu’s breath fogged up the glass, creating a layer of white mist. He wiped the mist away with his hand and suddenly met a pair of eyes.

The old woman inside was looking at him.

Her tea-colored eyes bore a striking resemblance to Shen Ci’s. Her gaze was clear, and as she looked at Xie Yu, she first seemed slightly puzzled, then gave a kind smile.

Xie Yu paused, then returned the smile. After wiping the glass, he acted like he’d just been passing through and walked away.

*

On Wednesday, three days before finals at A University, a light drizzle fell in Jiangcheng.

Each autumn rain brings a chill. After the rain, the temperature dropped sharply, and the streets were filled with people wearing trench coats and padded jackets, some bundled up with hats and scarves, wrapped tightly.

Shen Ci glanced one last time at his lesson plan and closed the document.

He packed his things into his briefcase and, instead of entering the classroom, stood at the teaching building's entrance. Many students recognized him and greeted him courteously. Shen Ci nodded in response, and some students even came over to chat, asking why he wasn't going inside despite the cold weather.

Shen Ci just said he was waiting for someone. After about ten minutes, a Bentley pulled in slowly and stopped at the main entrance.

The car was impossible to miss, with its dual exhaust pipes and five-meter length, radiating luxury. Many students stopped to watch, and some even took photos with their phones. Shortly after, the window rolled down, and Xie Yu, sitting in the driver's seat, waved. Shen Ci pressed his lips together and, in plain sight of everyone, bent down and got into the car.

As the car door closed, the whispers grew louder.

This wasn't the first time Xie Yu had come to the school. His car’s license plate was recognized by many rich kids from wealthy families, and his identity had been thoroughly dissected on the campus forum. Shen Ci got dragged into it too, with various rumors spreading endlessly. Some called Shen Ci a kept man, while others said he was selling out to climb the social ladder.

Shen Ci had never cared about these rumors. His arrangement with Xie Yu was purely transactional, so being called a kept man or a sell-out was essentially true, and he didn’t bother to deny it. However, sitting in the car in front of so many people still gave him pause.

Xie Yu was dressed warmly today, wearing a grayish-brown scarf, his sharp features shadowed.

Shen Ci's fingers twitched slightly, feeling a bit nervous.

He’d gone too far in his conversation with Lin Yin. Xie Yu had been right outside, and with a little investigation, he might piece together most of it. It wasn't a wise move, but Shen Ci had a strange feeling that even if Xie Yu knew what he had said, he wouldn’t do anything about it.

This feeling was inexplicable and unreasonable. Young Master Xie valued brotherhood above all else. He had known He Zhiyuan for nearly a decade. In comparison, what was a disposable plaything? Yet Shen Ci had done it anyway. He hadn't thought much about it at the hospital, but now, sitting in the car, he grew nervous.

Would Xie Yu... be angry? Was he here to punish him today?

But this nervousness was slightly different from the countless times before. Although he was anxious, there was no pain or despair, and even a hint of inexplicable anticipation.

What did Xie Yu want with him?

Xie Yu didn’t leave him in suspense for long, simply handing him a box: "Here, wear it during class."

The square box bore a gold-embossed logo.

Shen Ci paused: "What is this?"

Xie Yu expressionlessly swallowed the scripted line, cursing the original text countless times in his mind, and simply said, "Open it and you'll know."

The title of this chapter was "Completely Shattered."

After all the previous plot points—beatings, torture, and games on the ship—the novel had reached the point where it needed to achieve complete psychological destruction.

In the novel, Shen Ci was extremely stubborn and refused to yield. What could be more torturous than beatings and punishments?

The answer was to humiliate his dignity in front of friends and family, to dissolve his personality in full view of the public, to make him wear something unacceptable and finish the lecture on the podium. Then, you could witness the beauty's complete breakdown.

Through the thick censorship, Xie Yu couldn't even finish reading this chapter.

Shen Ci pressed his lips together, holding his breath as he gently opened the packaging.

Inside was a scarf.

A golden-brown scarf, made of wool, soft to the touch, with a beautiful houndstooth pattern.

Xie Yu irritably gripped the steering wheel: "Wear it. Don't take it off for the entire class, or you know the consequences."

Shen Ci didn’t speak. His gaze swept over Xie Yu's neck, where the style and design of the two scarves were almost identical, as if they were a couple's set chosen by the store.

He cradled the soft fabric like a cloud: "...For me?"